What, in your opinion, is the best head unit for under $ 250?? What about highs ?? I was thinking about a pair of JL audio 5x7s for the front and infinity kappas for the rear,

 

I have Rockford Fosgate in my truck, good sound a bit pricey, but I wouldn't trade my system for the world, or maybe a BOSE I trade for...

 

For a head unit i would say going with kenwood, alpine, or panasonic; the first 2 two being my favorite....stay away from sony...Me i got the Kenwood Excelon 917 its sweet expensive tho

For highs i would say Kappa's would be a good choice. I own 4 of them there nice. Other ones i would look into are kenwood ,fosgate,polk,jbl, and pioneer

 

For the head unit, go with alpine. I have had one in my truck fo a year now and it is GREAT! Plays all my burned cd's and i have about 75 of them. I think there is one for like 230. That is the one i have. Great Head unit.

Hunter

 

polks are nice speakers. i have 4 EX series. they only cost me 140 for all of them and they sound great. if you are putting in a headunit you may need better speakers cause you have more power. but with the factory headunit the EX are great.

-steve

 

I use an Eclipse deck and wouldn't consider anything else.
I also run the JL Audio XR series 5x7s and think they sound
amazing. They aren't cheap, but you get what you pay for.

 

i have rockford fosgate 5x7's . they sounds great and so crisp. i like them alot.

ohh yeah and ptbf150, how do you have your 12w3 set up behind your seat. waht kind of box and stuff. got any pics of it

 

4RD,

No pics yet, but the subwoofer setup is like this:

sealed box right behind the seat for the 12" sub. The back part of the box was made so it extended out to go the entire width of the seat so it fits snugly. One amp is mounted to the extended
piece and another amp is under the passenger side. I have a bench seat btw. I hope to get some pics taken soon. It isn't really fancy, but it looks good and sounds great.

Perry

 

yeah man, let me know when you get picks. send them to pritch_pup@homtmail.com
i wanna see how this is setup,a nd ill show you how i did mine. its ok, i want to get another amp and do to 10w3 when i get more cash

 

In my opinion, I feel that Boston acoustics make the best car stereo speakers for their price range. I have the polk DB 6.5 components in my girlfreinds truck, I had JL audio in my old truck when I first got it, I've had the kappas. About 3 years ago I switched to Boston, and never regretted it.

In the F-150, I installed the RC 80 (5x7 component speakers) up front and the RX 87 (coax 5x7) in the rear with a competitor 10" woofer. While the woofer isn't exactly what I wanted for this truck, I already had it from another project. The sound is very balanced, and acoustically pleasing.

I started in the F-150 with a clarion DXZ-615, but it was a piece of crap. I really like clarion, but their new line seems to be made for the ricer crowd. I swapped it out for an Alpine 7873, which is great. I already had an Orion 500.4 amp, so that went in as well.

Mitch

 

I just installed the JVC KD-SH99 MP3/CD deck in mine. It made the factory speakers sound great, and after I installed the Audiobahn ACX680p two way plates in the doors it is even sweeter.

I can fit around twelve whole CD's on one CDR, it sounds phenominal and the deck cost me just 305.00. This included shipping, a wiring harness adapter, and a DIN adapter.

The speakers have a five inch round mid-driver, and a one inch tweeter mounted on a 6x8 brushed alluminum plate. Each speaker comes with a seperate 2-way switchable crossover that all fit in the factory openings like a champ. The speakers are 4 Ohm, and are rated at 110 watts RMS, with a frequency response of 50Hz – 21kHz . The mounting depth was a mere 2.85 inches.

This week I will be installing an MTX Thunderform sub, and then I hope to post a full review and guide on this site in the next month.

 

a buddy hooked me up with open-box prices, but I got a pioneer head unit with 2 preouts for $225 (usually $325) and Boston Acoustic RC820 separates up front for $220 (usually $300 i think)... sounds great with the 10" sub and MTX amp... pics at www.weslazara.com/screw

 

As you see, everyone has an opinion and they're all different.
There is no "Best" because features and tastes are different for everyone. All I would recommend is that YOU buy what YOU want and not what your buddies say you should like or get just because it happens to be the current "hot" name. One thing I think you'll find out for yourself........components will sound better in your front stage more than anything else. Amp them. Doesn't have to be megawatts either. A modest 50-75W amp is fine. Spend you money on quality (and that's NOT the most expensive thing, either!) and the best sound reproduction you can afford, including a decent woof and its own amp. If you've put good components in front, don't sweat getting "great" speakers in the back. A good set of midrange (or even tweets) for rear fill (not amp'd) will do the trick. If I had it to do over again, I'd even wait to do my rear. Live with the sound awhile first, and fiddle with the rear later.
Try these for more info:
http://clubknowledge.com/phpBB/
http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/caraudio.htm
http://www.competitionsound.com/
http://www.ampmanaudio.com/index.asp
Do your homework. Be critical. Have fun.