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[Owtlaw333]

I know this site USED to be good, but I haven't looked at it in a long time. I tried lookin' around and it still looks pretty helpful, so check it out.

CrutchfieldAdviser.

You can also buy stuff from their main site as well. Juss try ta stay away from BestBuy if you can. Local shops are usually much better at both informing you, giving you a good product, and installation (if you find a decent shop and not some place that's only been around for 2 years). Normally because they actually make more money as they build a customer base, so they like to please.

[jesterrace777]

QUOTE(Juniorman030790 @ Mar 27 2006, 05:57 AM)

Ok, I just got my first car. It's a 95 Eagle Talon with 81k miles on it. It's in pretty nice condition. It could use a few touch ups which i will be taking care of soon. I may post pics once i'm done fixing all the minor problems.

Anyway, i'm looking to get a little more bass out of the stock system. Maybe just add a woofer? The sound is overall great so If I need the money for something else it may get put off.

I'm also looking for a new In dash unit since the button paint has been worn off and the cd player won't play my cd's.  I looked at bestbuy.com and saw several dash units that I liked but I do not understand most of the things they are talking about soundwise.

If anyone has a site that may give me more insight on car audio and general upgrades(interior, minor body fixes, etc.) Please post or PM me a link.

Make sure your replacement deck has a subwoofer pre-out on it.  I'm partial to the Clarion Pro Audio decks as well as the Eclipse decks.  Both are superb for sound quality.  Not sure if you will get your money's worth out of the factory speakers though.  As for a sub, you might want to have a look at an amplified bass tube if you just want a little extra bass.  There are space saving subs out there but that all depends on the layout of your car.  

[Owtlaw333]

QUOTE(jesterrace777 @ Mar 27 2006, 12:46 PM)

Make sure your replacement deck has a subwoofer pre-out on it.  I'm partial to the Clarion Pro Audio decks as well as the Eclipse decks.  Both are superb for sound quality.  Not sure if you will get your money's worth out of the factory speakers though.  As for a sub, you might want to have a look at an amplified bass tube if you just want a little extra bass.  There are space saving subs out there but that all depends on the layout of your car.

Almost all new aftermarket HUs have a Sub Out on 'em, so that's the least of his worries. I myself have a Pioneer Premier HU that's about 3-4yrs old in my other car and it sounds juss dandy. And I remeber when I had it replaced that the sound quality did improve a lil juss by doing that alone (although I did replace the speakers later on). As far as space saving, that too is no problem. You can find a JL W0 for cheap and they're extremely thin (at least compared to my w6v2 or a w7 for that matter). Tubes are only good if ur really lazy. Don't care for 'em too much myself. But Eclipse is also a good brand, and I'll give clarion some credit for some of their "budget" priced stuff.    Just a few brands to look at.

[brutalsun]

Esi or TSI? This is a valid question... if it is a Tsi then a NEW turbo and BOV would sound much nicer than any old woofer
www.dsmtuners.com is your friend

[Owtlaw333]

QUOTE(brutalsun @ Mar 27 2006, 07:00 PM)

Esi or TSI? This is a valid question... if it is a Tsi then a NEW turbo and BOV would sound much nicer than any old woofer
www.dsmtuners.com is your friend

Sound? Who care what a turbo sounds like as long as it performs. To me, some BOVs are just obnoxious. And why let the guy next to you reving his engine know you've got a turbo? lol

[jesterrace777]

QUOTE(Owtlaw333 @ Mar 28 2006, 02:11 AM)

Almost all new aftermarket HUs have a Sub Out on 'em, so that's the least of his worries. I myself have a Pioneer Premier HU that's about 3-4yrs old in my other car and it sounds juss dandy. And I remeber when I had it replaced that the sound quality did improve a lil juss by doing that alone (although I did replace the speakers later on). As far as space saving, that too is no problem. You can find a JL W0 for cheap and they're extremely thin (at least compared to my w6v2 or a w7 for that matter). Tubes are only good if ur really lazy. Don't care for 'em too much myself. But Eclipse is also a good brand, and I'll give clarion some credit for some of their "budget" priced stuff.    Just a few brands to look at.

I'm with ya on the JL Audios, won't touch anything else for subs myself.  However, Pioneer are horribly overrated.  They aren't bad per se but you can definitely achieve better sound quality for the money.  I just suggested the tube as it sounded like he really didn't want to put a whole bunch of effort or money into it, just wanted some extra thump and as you pointed out they are pretty good for that.  

[Owtlaw333]

QUOTE(jesterrace777 @ Mar 27 2006, 10:35 PM)

However, Pioneer are horribly overrated.  They aren't bad per se but you can definitely achieve better sound quality for the money.

Hence why I didn't exactly recomend it, lol. They ARE over rated, yes, but it gets the job done, and that's all that mattered to me (and I didn't pay for it, so that's a plus, haha). It plays MP3 CDs, I have an RCA input attached... like I said... it's juss dandy. For my current car, my next investment in the stereo will be to get an Alpine flip-up HU. But I have a dozen other things I have first on my list of things I gotta do, so that can wait, lol.

[jesterrace777]

QUOTE(Owtlaw333 @ Mar 28 2006, 07:59 AM)

Hence why I didn't exactly recomend it, lol. They ARE over rated, yes, but it gets the job done, and that's all that mattered to me (and I didn't pay for it, so that's a plus, haha). It plays MP3 CDs, I have an RCA input attached... like I said... it's juss dandy. For my current car, my next investment in the stereo will be to get an Alpine flip-up HU. But I have a dozen other things I have first on my list of things I gotta do, so that can wait, lol.

Yup, outside of their PC DVD Burners I don't care much for anything they make.  Glad to see you didn't pay for it.  I would definitely take one for free, but man I have heard some $200-$300 Clarion and Eclipse decks that can completely blow away $350-$400 Pioneer Premir decks in terms of sound quality.  Which reminds me.  I thought I was going to get away with the stock system in my Saturn SL2 for a while.  For being stock it isn't bad but the CD Deck is a tempermental POS (skips quite a bit on the slightest scratch), that and I found that some brand new discs that I had burned were all screwed up after being played in the stock CD Player.  Thank heavens I didn't try any of my originals in there.  I would be PISSED!!!!!!  So now I am debating whether to just replace the deck or the deck and all 4 door speakers.  If I just replace the deck then I will probably pick up an Alpine as they are pretty good and cost-effective.  If I decide to replace the speakers as well then I will probably go with a Clarion Pro Audio or Ecipse deck.  Not much point going all out on a deck if you aren't going to match it up with good aftermarket speakers.  Although the stock deck does have an EQ which means I could end up having to replace the whole thing anyways as the stock speakers never sound the same once you remove the EQ.  Decisions, Decisions.

[Owtlaw333]

If the HU is ur biggest problem at this point, I'd replace that first, save up, THEN buy new speakers (if you can't get 'em at the same time). You'll be fine with the stock speakers for a while. Not sure if ur system is like mine though. If so, that may be a problem. What year is ur car?

[jesterrace777]

'97 Saturn SL2.  It's the loaded down model if that makes a difference.

[Owtlaw333]

Yeah, then you shouldn't have a problem (at least I think you shouldn't, lol). The way my car is, is that the signal from the stock HU is actually a slightly amplified signal, which is then sent to the stock amp, and then sent to the speakers (which are made to work with the wattage the stock system provides! lol). Which causes a problem if I were to just change the HU. It's funky. And expensive for whenever I decide to get a knew system.

[ubernewb]

QUOTE(Owtlaw333 @ Mar 29 2006, 08:43 AM)

Yeah, then you shouldn't have a problem (at least I think you shouldn't, lol). The way my car is, is that the signal from the stock HU is actually a slightly amplified signal, which is then sent to the stock amp, and then sent to the speakers (which are made to work with the wattage the stock system provides! lol). Which causes a problem if I were to just change the HU. It's funky. And expensive for whenever I decide to get a knew system.

amplified system in a saturn? unless it's brand new someone lied to you...

[Owtlaw333]

QUOTE(ubernewb @ Mar 29 2006, 12:51 AM)

amplified system in a saturn? unless it's brand new someone lied to you...

Haha... no. 2000 BMW, my friend.

Some newer cars have the funky setup like mine now-a-days.

[ubernewb]

what model? you don't have the factory dsp system do you?


nvm.. just saw in other thread it was a 3 series. you're not too horribly off then. i can do those in my sleep.

[Owtlaw333]

323Ci, bone stock.

EDIT: Yeah... it's got DSP.