Car Stereos

So I've been driving for quite a while now, and I'm getting pretty sick of all of my CDs. I've got ~500 songs spread out on like 20 CDs. So I've been looking into getting a digital stereo system. (They do exist, right? Detachable MP3 players?) Does anyone have anything similar? No cds = no hastle. What do you guys recommend?

Also--
Just how much would a subwoofer or two improve the sound quality? I've got a pretty awesome factory installed system and don't know if it'll be worth messing with it.
('03 Pontiac Sunfire, in case anyone is wondering.)

How about an mp3 player and a tape adapter/stereo w/input?

It's what I use. But if I was rich (no pun intended) I'd hook my car up proper.

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Originally Posted by Cowutopia

How about an mp3 player and a tape adapter/stereo w/input?

It's what I use. But if I was rich (no pun intended) I'd hook my car up proper.

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That works as a temporary solution (I've used that combo before) but it really derails the audio quality. Also, if you have equalizer settings on your radio and mp3 player, you can get some pretty bad audio distortion besides what you're already getting from the tape converter anyway.

Yeah I'm looking for something proper. I'm willing to go up to around $400-500 (Pretty much from my parents for Xmas)

Kenwood (and a few others) makes a "keg" that is pretty much a harddrive for your car. Holds a shit load of songs but it's pretty expensive (I think 500 just for the keg, you need a head unit that will work with it too).

You could get a head unit that plays mp3 encoded discs to cut down on the amount of cd's you need to carry around (can get about 200 songs on an mp3 encoded disc) but it can be a pain in the ass to navigate through all the songs (this is probably the cheapest route). Then there are the new radios that have an input for an ipod and you got the old standby of a cd changer (6-12 discs). I have a 12 disc changer, the head unit I got supports mp3 cd's so I can listen to about 20 discs worth of music at any given time (road trips rule with this shit).

As for the sub, do you want your car to bump? If you like bass, it's the way to go. I got a 600 watt amp and an 8" tube sub (both Bazookas) for about 150. And I fuckin love it. It's exactly what I wanted. Good price and at low volumes it supports and fills out everything nicely and then when you crank it up you can feel it shake your kidneys in the front seat. I throw everything at it, metal, rock, techno, rap and it keeps up like a champ. Only problem is organazing all that shit in your car.

I have a 10 disc Sony cd changer if your interested. Sell it to ya mad cheap (but you need a Sony head unit to use it).

Im in a similar situation. There might be some info in the thread I started too.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/s...ad.php?t=32918

I decided to go with the Clarion. Mp3 playback, 4 volt preamps, and I like the way it looks. I'm only doing the head unit for now.

My friend just hooked his car up with an Alpine head unit and Boston Acoustic speakers & subs. Cost him about $1500 for everything including install. It sounds amazing, but I think it cost too much.

For myself, I'm going to do my own install, and save a little money.

Check this out: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-w44pWoc...rch=HDA%2D5460

What kind of car do you have?

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Originally Posted by JefmcC

Check this out: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-w44pWoc...rch=HDA%2D5460

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Wow, that's cheap.

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Originally Posted by Rumpy

Kenwood (and a few others) makes a "keg" that is pretty much a harddrive for your car. Holds a shit load of songs but it's pretty expensive (I think 500 just for the keg, you need a head unit that will work with it too).

You could get a head unit that plays mp3 encoded discs to cut down on the amount of cd's you need to carry around (can get about 200 songs on an mp3 encoded disc) but it can be a pain in the ass to navigate through all the songs (this is probably the cheapest route). Then there are the new radios that have an input for an ipod and you got the old standby of a cd changer (6-12 discs). I have a 12 disc changer, the head unit I got supports mp3 cd's so I can listen to about 20 discs worth of music at any given time (road trips rule with this shit).

As for the sub, do you want your car to bump? If you like bass, it's the way to go. I got a 600 watt amp and an 8" tube sub (both Bazookas) for about 150. And I fuckin love it. It's exactly what I wanted. Good price and at low volumes it supports and fills out everything nicely and then when you crank it up you can feel it shake your kidneys in the front seat. I throw everything at it, metal, rock, techno, rap and it keeps up like a champ. Only problem is organazing all that shit in your car.

I have a 10 disc Sony cd changer if your interested. Sell it to ya mad cheap (but you need a Sony head unit to use it).

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Thanks man. Looks like the mp3 discs are the best route. I can live with 3 discs segregated by music type. Any info on where to go from here?

As for the sub--definately. My bass is always pumped up though being a factory install, the difference isn't that amazing. Only thing is I have a small car and won't be able to fit much in it. (Pontiac Sunfire, '03)

I would say definately get a sub. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, I have a single 10" sub which is more than enough if you aren't trying to rattle the neighborhood. One good thing many people forget about when you add a sub is that you don't have to pump up the bass in the other speakers, allowing them to handle those mids and highs that they are really designed for. The rear speakers in my car has low bass filtered out, and they can get LOUD and still be clear since it's not trying to pump bass it can't handle.

As far as the head units go...I have an Aiwa in one car and a Clarion in the other. Both are good. The Clarion sounds better, but the Aiwa is a great unit for cheap bastards, and it has a front aux input that comes in handy. Kenwood and Alpine are always good choices, Sony is crap.

Check out epinions.com and punch in model numbers, you can get some good results, but try to get a feel for if the guy writing the review knows what the hell he's talking about.

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Originally Posted by Rich

Thanks man. Looks like the mp3 discs are the best route. I can live with 3 discs segregated by music type. Any info on where to go from here?

As for the sub--definately. My bass is always pumped up though being a factory install, the difference isn't that amazing. Only thing is I have a small car and won't be able to fit much in it. (Pontiac Sunfire, '03)

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With the newer head units, it'll read the ID tags and display 'em on screen so navigating isn't that bad. It's best to just burn the songs into a few folders (like I put all 6 Korn albums on 1 cd, each folder is one album). Navigating isn't that bad, it's just the only complaint about that set up I can come up with.

It doesn't take a whole lot of money to make a great car sound system. Like GohanX said, with a subwoofer it takes the bass strain off your speakers so they can go loud without turning to shit. I got my sub and amp from Circuit City (they were on sale) and you could get a sub with the amp built in to save a bit more money. I'm 100% happy with the 8" Bazooka sub, so I recommend them (I heard their 6" isn't that great so I went with the 8"). You can spend a fortune on subs (and their boxes) but I think it's just overkill in most cases (unless it's a show car).

For head units, it's really easy to spend a ton of money on one. It's all about the kind of screen it has. Touch screens, colored screens, varying amounts of text can be displayed...just poke around the internet for the best prices. Here's the one I have http://carstereo.pricegrabber.com/se...sterid=1695610 and I really like it. Some things I don't like about it, but it's great for that price. And like Gohan said, don't get a sony. Pioneer and Alpine make great shit.

Oh yeah, when it says "XM Ready" that just means the head unit will display the text (channel, artist, song) from XM. You still need an antenna and decoder to actually get XM (another 200 bucks or so). So instead of having that thing that attaches to your radio (in the ads they have red text), the head unit displays/controls it.

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Originally Posted by Rumpy

Oh yeah, when it says "XM Ready" that just means the head unit will display the text (channel, artist, song) from XM. You still need an antenna and decoder to actually get XM (another 200 bucks or so). So instead of having that thing that attaches to your radio (in the ads they have red text), the head unit displays/controls it.

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I already have an XM ready head w/ an XM antenna. FM sucks. :)

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Originally Posted by GohanX

I w One good thing many people forget about when you add a sub is that you don't have to pump up the bass in the other speakers, allowing them to handle those mids and highs that they are really designed for. The rear speakers in my car has low bass filtered out, and they can get LOUD and still be clear since it's not trying to pump bass it can't handle.

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This is a GREAT point a lot of people dont realize.

It works even 10 times better if the head unit, like my Pioneer and actualy crossover the speakers for you, or you at least use some crossover capacitors.


If you have a to cash and the space, run external amps to EVERYTHING. You will be amazed how much better a real amplifer can sound over the tiny IC based amps built into even the best head units.

I run my Pioneer Head (With XM of course) to a Alpine 25Watt X 4 channel amp, with an electronic crossover to run a set of Orion Component Speakers in my doors. That means the Tweeters get thier own channel of the amp, as well as the mid-basses. The Signal the are feed are crossedover to only the frequencies I want those speakers to see, which also gives you the most effeicent use of the amps power, that combined with the proper placement of the speakers and the baffling of the hollow channel in the door where the mid-bass resides, equals some pretty kick-ass sound.