budget of 1200, what would you buy?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=106645
Printed Date: May 14, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Topic: budget of 1200, what would you buy?
Posted By: knudt
Subject: budget of 1200, what would you buy?
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 4:00 AM
i plan on spending around(can be a little bit over) that much for my new car. So what sub,amp,and speakers would you get with a $1200 budget? oh, and i like to listen to bass heavy music if that helps.
Replies:
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 6:19 AM
knudt] wrote:
oh, and i like to listen to bass heavy music if that helps.
We gathered that due to the fact that there was no mention of top end speakers or amplifiers for those speakers. You have to have some kind of idea what brand of equipment you are looking at. If you give us a few names that you are looking at, we can possibly let you know if it is a decent brand or if falls in the category of AudioJunk.
Posted By: lnhiv
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Does this 1200 include a new head unit, too, or do already have one in the car?
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2003 Chevy Cavalier coupe
Posted By: knudt
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Yes i didn't put the head unit in thought. That would be great if you could derive a list of what would be your favorite setup of these if you had this budget.
Posted By: knudt
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 2:17 PM
[/QUOTE] You have to have some kind of idea what brand of equipment you are looking at. If you give us a few names that you are looking at, we can possibly let you know if it is a decent brand or if falls in the category of AudioJunk.[/QUOTE]
What i'm trying to say is, what brands would you look to if you had this kind of budget. Im quite the rookie when it comes to car audio, so i was looking for advice from more experienced people on what they prefer or recommend i should get with this budget.
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 2:49 PM
<Dave shrugs his shoulders>
Dude, my DECK was $1800 retail! Not braggin', just sayin'.
$1200 isn't much coin, especially if you want an ENTIRE system with any kind of quality built-in.
Audiobahn or something of that ilk is about all you're gonna get for a whole setup, and still fit into the 1.2K bag. Sure, you'll have change left over, and a crap system, but you can do it.
An Eclipse 5 channel will be about 450-600, a deck worth listening to will be about 300, decent separates will set you back 200 or so. A good sub can be had for 250, without enclosure. You will not have a loud system, but it'd be respectably clean.
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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: lnhiv
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Head Unit: Pioneer Premier DEH-P600UB - $230
Harness: $20-100 depending on the car and where you buy it
Dash Kit: $25
Front Speakers: Diamond S600s - $200
Rear Speakers: disconnect them
Speaker Amp: Alpine PDX-2.150 - $275
Sub: Alpine SWR-1242D - $115
Sub Amp: Alpine MRP-M500 - $200
Sub Box: make your own - $40
Wiring: Dual Amp Kit by Rockford or Tsunami - $100 (I'd grab some Monster if you wanna spend a little more)
Total before tax, installation and/or shipping: $1205-1285
Also, these prices are all online prices...if you go to a retail store you're gonna spend a lot more. Save yourself some more money and do the install yourself, too.
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2003 Chevy Cavalier coupe
Posted By: megaman
Date Posted: August 08, 2008 at 6:29 PM
This is the most common situation presented to every audio salesman in history. How can I get a complete system for almost no money. Yes, $1200 bones is a lot of money to the average person to invest in the black-hole cash machine called car audio, but it's also not that much. It's like going to the car dealership and trying to buy a new car with $5000. Unless you are financing, you'll be lucky to get four wheels for that kind of money. My advice: get yourself a good solid deck, with a good install, then add subs and an amp to power the subs. You'll dump $1200 into it, and even though it's not a complete system, sans mid's/high's, you'll be happier. Then after the initial shock of unloading 200 hours of McDonald's drive-thru work into your ride, you will have saved up to buy nice mid's/highs later on down the road and be a whooooole lot happier.
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