Great system at a great price?

I put together my system for under $1500.

Eclipse Deck = $375 installed w/ 3-yr warranty

Xtant A4004T = $200 online retailerXtant A2002T = $150 online retailerMB Quart PCE 216 = $300 online retailerImage Dynamics IDQ Sub = $200 online retailerCables/install supplies and materials for sub box = $150$1375

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

I just slapped this together right now: eclipse head unit (~$300) memphis belle 16-MC600D(~$500) infinity kappa 62.5i (~$120) infinity kappa 60.5cs (~$175) adire koda 10 or 12 (~$229-$259) Jon

Don't like rockford subs? Then don't look at my car =)

Good job guys, the reason I did this was to get a good idea of what brands to look at for my car. I've noticed that when asked you get some off the wall answers, but if you throw down a challenge, wel... no one likes to get beat, thanks again

gjones77 wrote: See, now we're getting there, but come on, we can drop that Blaud deck and replace it with a nice Alpine, or Eclipse and still stay in price range

Blau will beat Alpine (at the same price point) for SQ.  It doesn't compete with Eclipse, though, so yea, go for Fujitsu and you can't go wrong.

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If blau beats alpine in sq , how come i never hear about em>?

poor marketing to begin with... i've always been a fan of Blaupunkt they do make a great product, but they dont market in the mainstream....heck, there are lots of people out there that have still never heard of Nakamichi, does that make Nak junk?????Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

I totally agree with Kevin on that. Grundig makes great head units....But who here has heard of em?    In my experience, I've found that the "higher end" products get heard of mainly through word of mouth rather than agressive marketing. I myself have actually never seen an ad for brands like Nakamichi, McIntosh, Rosen, or Audison. I just happen to have met people who were using those brand products in their cars and then I just did the research on my own. I guess it kind of depends on how the company wants to develop their product lines. From what I see, most companies market their lower end line to the masses to draw people in-and then they bring out the higher end stuff. Duane...

If you think you're confused, imagine how you feel.   

Here is what I have put together: Sony cdx-f5700 hu ($180) Sony mono sub amp ($180) 2x sets of Pioneer 4-way 6"x8" speakers ($80 each) 2x Infinity Kappa 10's ($200 total, on order) When I add some brown bread in a few weeks, it will come out a tad over a grand, with building costs. Everything but the door speakers was ordered from crutchfield, which gives great service, slightly lower prices than retail, free shipping, and holds many brands, with installation materials for all their decks. The door speakers I got at onlinecarstereo.com, and they are amazing. You can get them for 20 bucks more at a retail store, per set, but you probably don't want them since they are for an explorer (weird speaker sizes). While I have not put the infinity subs in yet, I have heard them and they did sound nice. I really like the infinity speakers though, look for the ones with the rotating tweeter, they are sweet. Hope you got what you are looking for. The bottom line though is if you do your homework and spend some time on google you can great deals. People talk crap about ebay, but I know a guy who got some 500 dollar alpine components for 250 on ebay, and they sound great. I got my interim sony subs on ebay for 30 bucks each shipped. Retail is 80-100 a piece for those subs, which is a total rip off. Best of luck.

icu400 wrote: Here is what I have put together: Sony cdx-f5700 hu ($180) Sony mono sub amp ($180) 2x sets of Pioneer 4-way 6"x8" speakers ($80 each) 2x Infinity Kappa 10's ($200 total, on order) When I add some brown bread in a few weeks, it will come out a tad over a grand, with building costs. Everything but the door speakers was ordered from crutchfield, which gives great service, slightly lower prices than retail, free shipping, and holds many brands, with installation materials for all their decks. The door speakers I got at onlinecarstereo.com, and they are amazing. You can get them for 20 bucks more at a retail store, per set, but you probably don't want them since they are for an explorer (weird speaker sizes). While I have not put the infinity subs in yet, I have heard them and they did sound nice. I really like the infinity speakers though, look for the ones with the rotating tweeter, they are sweet. Hope you got what you are looking for. The bottom line though is if you do your homework and spend some time on google you can great deals. People talk crap about ebay, but I know a guy who got some 500 dollar alpine components for 250 on ebay, and they sound great. I got my interim sony subs on ebay for 30 bucks each shipped. Retail is 80-100 a piece for those subs, which is a total rip off. Best of luck.

Sounds fine, except I would definitely replace that sony head-unit with a blaupunkt one, and maybe US Acoustics for the amps.

I really don't know how to compare sound quality from the hu to others honestly. I know it is not top notch, but it works for me in reality. To be really honest, I LOVE the DSO feature of the sony hu's. It is the most unique thing I have seen of sony decks over others, it is really innovative, i think. But I agree, it is somewhere in the middle line, probably lower middle, but right now I am saving up for alpine, and here is why. Alpine is coming out with a line soon that will integrate with the ipod perfectly, and allow you to control it from the deck. I am a die hard mac fan and love my ipod. But what is the point of hooking it up to aux and having to control it with your hand and all that, when you could wire it into a harness in the glove box, and control it with ease!!! Should cost a lot, but will be well worth it when the thing comes out, will probably be a much belated christmas present for myself, if its out by say april :P. But also, are blaupunkt really better sq than alpine? I guess its possible, never used either, just curious. As for the amp, if I see a problem with the infinity's when I install them, I might think on replacing it, but I doubt I will need to. I MIGHT add a set of components to the whole shibang later down the road, and certainly for that amp I would go higher quality than sony, but I think this newer amp that they made for 2004 isn't all that bad (at least in comparison to the stereo amps that they make....) Thanks for the input though :P