stereo upgrade

[special_K]

Hi!

I've had my 2002 Protege 5 now for a month and I'm looking at getting some speakers and a head unit in the near future. One of the rear speakers is blown. I've read the $500 and $1000 threads and the thread on rear speakers. There hasn't been much added to those lately. I'm hoping to keep this a fairly basic/affordable upgrade. I was thinking of just replacing the 4 factory speakers with better ones and maybe getting a double din head unit too. I've had Alpine head units and subs in the past and I have no complaints. I see Infinity gets a lot of recommendations around here. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to get, what to do? I'm open to comments/ideas/suggestions. If you know of any deals on last years equipment too, I'm all for that.

Thanks!

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Just wondering, but what kind of car did you have before the P5...

 

[special_K]

I was driving a 1996 Dodge Stratus. What a difference the P5 is! I made the switch to manual tranny too and I'm loving it.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Just wondering...haha...there is a member on club3g...third gen eclipse forums with the same username...I have met a few on here that are also on that site...

 

[dj4monie]

Plenty of decent to good to excellent 5x7/6x8 speakers on the market since 99% of all late model Fords have that speaker size and so do Mazdas.

Any reputable brand will do, nothing special. On Online Car Stereo, the JBL GTO series 6x8's are $58 a pair, check it out.

If you want a Double DIN HU, I'd look at the Pioneer FH-8000BT or the Clarion CX-609. Both are about the same price, $300. Both have Bluetooth as well, nice looking.

I think that fits under your $500 budget....

 

[SpeedToBleed]

For $240 I got 2 sets of 5x7 db571 coaxial polk audio speakers and a JVC KDHDR30 deck (single din though) from buy.com. I'm sure for around the same price you could get the same model speaker in 6.5" to do it right. I installed the fronts today and they sound excellent on the stock deck. I don't think you'll find a better set of speakers for that price.
As for the deck, I haven't received the new one yet but I do have the same deck in my work truck. The two things that drew me to the deck are front aux port and built in HD Radio. Obviously I like the deck a lot hence why I purchased one for my P5. You may or may not find a better deck for this price, but not with HD Radio.
IMO there is no need to amp this set up. The only other cost will be a harness and mounting kit.

 

[dj4monie]

For $240 I got 2 sets of 5x7 db571 coaxial polk audio speakers and a JVC KDHDR30 deck (single din though) from buy.com. I'm sure for around the same price you could get the same model speaker in 6.5" to do it right. I installed the fronts today and they sound excellent on the stock deck. I don't think you'll find a better set of speakers for that price.
As for the deck, I haven't received the new one yet but I do have the same deck in my work truck. The two things that drew me to the deck are front aux port and built in HD Radio. Obviously I like the deck a lot hence why I purchased one for my P5. You may or may not find a better deck for this price, but not with HD Radio.
IMO there is no need to amp this set up. The only other cost will be a harness and mounting kit.

I agree with selection of the HDR30, JVC has been improving its lineup for last few years and it shows. SQ is up and feature sets are quite good. They have the most affordable Single DIN Built-In HD radio on the market IMHO. The Dual HD Radio is around $99 and I have sold a few of them, nice deck as well.

If you listen to FM quite a bit (I don't) then you can't beat HD Radio. I have Sirius, still too many adverts and "heavy rotation" to deal with FM on a regular basis.

 

[special_K]

Thanks for the input guys! I like the look of double DIN HU's. I've read a lot of positive things on the Pioneer FH-8000BT. The Clarion CX-609 is one i don't know much about. I'll have to czech it out. Can anyone comment on either of these units? Pictures of them installed?