Eclipse Audio and Sound for $1500

Hey.

I'm a musician (student still) as well as a recording engineer (also a student still). I'll be turning 17 in a month and I want my Jeep Cherokee to have superior sound quality. I'm pretty demanding of quality sound. I'm going to want the crisp/clear highs for cymbals and harmonics as well as tightness of the bass drum and guitar. I listen to mainly old music - if I had to pick a category, it would be classic rock. I do like the more full/tight sound of some modern rock, however. In my car I'll be listening to Zeppelin, The Dead, Pink Floyd and modern stuff perhaps The Black Crowes, Blind Melon, and Oasis. I want the car to sound as good as the music should, and I'm more often than not going to listen to the music as it was mixed. If I feel more bass or treble is desirable I have no qualms turning up either, but what I'm saying is I generally listen to music flat. If you didn't already get the impression, I am not looking for boomy distorted bass to impress my rapper 17 year old friends. Instead, I want supreme sound quality through the whole frequency spectrum. I want clarity and depth.

I'll be paying for the system. I figure I'll put $1500 iinto it. I really don't want to spend more than that. A $1500 guitar amp can get you very far, I would hope the same goes for car audio. Considering the premier audio packages car manufacturers offer typically run for $500-700 and sound good (but definitely not good enough) to my ear, I figure $1500 should be an immense improvement in sound and should please my ears.

I first went to Best Buy to see what they had - completely unimpressed. Then down the road to P.C. Richard, there the car audio guy created this setup for me:

This was in their car audio place, I didn't hear anything in the car. This came out to around $1100 w/o installation or cables. Assuming they didn't have any hidden amps for the interiors or anything, it did sound good to my ear. Almost good enough. There were problems, however.

I was a bit worried that I was buying 4 identical speakers to reproduce the same frequencies, the lack of crossovers got to me. But the Fosgate interiors gave me the quality of mids I wanted, for the most part.

I went to another place, specializing in car audio, named Sound Dimensions. They told me it might be a good idea to amp my interiors, and pushed a brand called MMATS. They did not give me any specific model numbers or anything, but did say components MMATS speakers in the front and some type of coaxials in the back. I didn't hear anything in their sound room as they were re-doing it. But they addressed my concerns about crossovers and different interiors.

I went to a place American Soundcraft as well, they pushed a brand Boston Acoustics I think, and I was entirely unimpressed by their setup. They wanted me to purchase a 5 channel amp, which I did A/B vs. the face powering the interiors and did improve sound quality, but was very expensive and not to my ears worth the extra cash. I did not appreciate anything w/ Boston Acoustics. I have some model information...

600 KDC-X65OD Kenwood Amp

Those figures do not include labor/cables either which were almost 600 if I remember correctly.

Lastly I visited another car audio specialty place by the name of Audio Planet. Its staff pushed the brand Eclipsed but also spoke of MTX and some other brands, and seemed incredibly knowledgable and honest. He did not give me model names and numbers but told me if I came in with $1500 I would get taken care of. He also played me some Fosgate speakers which sounded nice (their sub especially). He told me to research the store and Eclipse on the Internet, so here I am. If anyone lives around my area, the Audio Planet is in Long Island NY on Rt. 110.

Now, we finally get to my questions. Am I going to get the sound I want (as best as I could describe above) with $1500. What can you guys tell me about Eclipse and Audio Planet (I'm more than up for reading about it as I understand I'm a newbie and reading will be the best for me). The Audio Planet guy, Mike, told me to read the specs on all the speakers/amps because that's the only way to tell their quality. All the stores told me that the sound inside the soundroom wouldn't sound like in a car.. but my question remains, how do I know if my $1500 is going to be worth it.

If I did not elaborate or wasn't descriptive enough please let me know and I will type whatever is needed to get the information I need. If I had to purchase the system today I'd go to Audio Planet and get the Eclipse gear w/ $1500 as that is my gut - but please, tell me what I should read and how I can listen and make sure the $1500 I spend will please my ears for years to come. Thanks in advance for ANY help that can be offered. And I apologize in advance if this was too long but it was typed in an effort to be complete and help you guys help me. THANKS.

Thanks GlassWolf - I appreciate you spending some time and helping me out.  First and foremost, it's a Jeep Cherokee (with the classic body style)... not a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The road noise/metal clank are still gonna be there, but if it makes a difference the rear speakers are on the rear roof and not the rear doors.  Also that changes some dimensions I guess, but I just wanted to clarify that.

I have some questions on what you wrote

"Audio Control equalizers/crossivers (EQL or pair of EQTs)" is Audio Control a brand? A device? EQL or EQT's models or brands?

You really think I need two subwoofers? I was thinking one 10" or one 12" max.

What's an alternator?

Do you think a 17 year old w/ some experience in guitar/recording wiring could wire the car well? If not I'll just let the place I buy the gear from wire it. The problem is, I anticipated more than "entry level" sound - if for $1500 the sound won't be a tremendous, and I mean tremendous increase from the stock system, then I'll just cry a river and skip it.  But I'm not gonna spend fifteen hundred dollars on something that won't satisfy my ears.

As far as quality vs. SPL, yes, quality is absolutely first priority. I agree with you also that sometimes the extra kick in the bass is desirable.  We seem to share good taste in music as well.  And if the amplifier is going to give me the transients in the highs, then I certainly won't neglect getting one.  And, for the record, I do like it loud - if we need a standard of comparison, maybe volume 4/10 on my 100 W Marshall JCM2000's Dirty Channel is close to the max volume I desire. But I want tone to improve with volume, not distort.

What type of sound damping? Expensive?

I could still go w/ MMATS stuff from the place Sound Dimensions, but I get the feeling my $1500 will go a lot further w/ Eclipse gear.

And, just to make sure, you understand in your model setup you told me to do JL sub, speakers, and amp? The lack of Eclipse just makes me want to double check. If the JL's will sound better for cheaper it's fine by me, but I'd like to make sure.

Again thanks a million - the more I learn the better my truck will sound, the less I'll spend, and the more advice I'll be able to offer others. THANKS.

Hey might me a bit late, but as far as my opinion goes for good companies.  BA (boston Acoustics) is good if installed right, as is MMATS. 

As for overall fidelity of sound, which seems to be what you're going for.  I prefer Eclipse.  They're a lil more on the pricey side...but you get what you pay for. 

On a budget, you might wanna check out MTX.  Hell, do what I do...mix 'em up....MTX amps and crossover, Eclipse speakers, and try a kenwood source unit, or an eclipse...just an idea.