700 bucks max

Remember, all things are negoitable. What I mean by that is when doing business, especially with an internet retailer like www.ikesound.com you can haggle for a better price, especially if they know that you're willing to buy more from them. For instance, if you go to ikesound, which I would highly recommend, then go there willing to buy your Head Unit and Speakers at minimum. Discuss price and then if you find an amp as well, then throw that in and see what happens. Now, don't be a jerk and try to get something for free, but negoitating a price from $200.00 to $175.00 is very reasonable. Make sure that you include the cost of shipping and handling as well, otherwise you'll get burned there. I for one was on a budget and bought my Head Unit, Pioneer Premeir DEH-P550MP and a pair of JBL GTO635's all for, and including shipping, $250.00. Do some research and check prices all over the internet that way you can be assured that you're getting the very best price.

Head Unit, Amplifier, Speakers and then Sub would be my recommendation for the order of importance. You've got to have a solid brain for your system to run and no matter how good the speakers are they'll sound like crap if you have distorted power going into them. I would recommend the Pioneer Premeir DEH-P550MP if you can find one and go with US Acoutics because they give you the best bang for the buck and are very affrodable with solid sound. MB Quart would be my choice of speakers and you can find some very good deals on e-bay if you look carefully and are patient. Be wary of the sellers as you can get took if you don't do your research on them. Make your sub your last purchase as the lack of one will not keep you from acheiving good SQ.

Hope this helpS!

Regards,

Razorbacx

I agree, what good are subs if there is no music to go with them?

But....having installed before, I know that some people have NO EAR FOR SOUND AT ALL!!!

So, if you're friend wants a factory HU (some actually sound ok) and a couple of subs with cheap crappy full range speakers running off of HU power..go for it.....it will sound like crap, but don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm talking about.

On a serious note: start with the HU, you will be glad you did. You can probably get some bass response from the speakers you already have if you amp them and set the crossovers properly. Then get subs, but $700 is plenty if you spend it wisely. You can go to a big box store with that and walk out woth pretty much nothing.

framedragger, is this all of the money that your friend is looking to spend on an entire system.  If that's all that he wants to spend he can get a very nice sounding system that can turn heads adn still sound good.  I have heard and watched some of the cheapest systems around sound good and even win competitions.