Cheapo Setup needed in P5

[NoOne]

I'm no car stereo guy at all but Mazda musta saved a ton of money in the P5 on the stereo cause it sucks

It really does sound bad and I've adjusted and it adjusted it.

I'd like to upgrade but really don't want to spend alot and I need my room in the back, thats why we bought it.

We just won't make it through winter listening to this thing the way it is, our stock Miata stereo sounds better with the 2 little 5 inch speakers up front and the headrest units.

I can see adding a small sub. I listen to alot of easy/female performer stuff, but I also listen to alot of older punk, and some early 90's industrial...don't think there is more of a mix than that

I'd like to keep the stock headunit if its OK, in fact I'd REALLY like to see Mazda come out with an MP3 adapter that plugs into the little Multifunction spot on the radio.

I'd switch to get a superior MP3 unit but I want the car to remain looking stock, I don't want the full color screens and all that, just something easy to use.

I'd get a Keg if it wasn't so exspensive, I have a huge MP3 collection, been getting Mp3's for almost 9 years now and still have the first one I ever downloaded from the Newgroups.

Clarity is most important and if it has a sub I prefer one that may be lower in power but has a nice clear punch to it.

Like to spend less than 700 dollars, I'll even buy used, especially the sub and that.

Thanks

 

[pr5owner]

well, i think most people would agree with me..

a Headunit will always make the biggest diffrence even with the crappy ass stock paper POS speakers. But that would ruin the stock look so the next best thing to get would be a good pair of speakers. or you can leave the stock HU and disconnect it and have a headunit in the glove box or something

 

[RollinPR5]

this is what i did... 1st of all dont go to Best buy or Circuit City... try Etronics.com and look at some of the Cd/Mp3 players that have a silver front... look similar, and dont look far off stock. I have JVC KD SH707, i had the stock speakers in for a bit but ended up taking them out, bought Kenwood 5X7 for the front and Alpine 6.5 for the back... then installed a California Profile amp(100 bucks or so) 250X2 (i have it bridged to 1 channel) Then just get any sub that can hold decent power... Kenwood or Alpine Type S are nice... I have Infinity Perfect 10.1(200 Bucks) basically the HU-$ 250, HU kit and wiring harness-$40, 5X70 $75, 6.5-$80, Amp- $130, Amp Wiring Kit $50, Sub in Box was- $300(you can definatly get something Cheaper if you dont need BOOMING Bass) that is $920 for a system... that sounds awesome...just my 2 cents

 

[Cyberglitch]

You could easly get a good system install for $700 or less. I do not have any recomendations. But like you I wanted to remain stock as well. I left the factory head unit in and it is functinal. Now my nice little mp3 headunit(only plays mps from a hard drive) is located in the glovebox. Getting an IR Extender put in hopefully saturday so the glove box can remained close but can still control volume/next/back etc..

System I had installed is
EMPEG in the glove box
MB Quarts Components.
2 12" Pro Audio Subs
700 Watt Pro audio Amp
Custom Boxes for trunk and glove box.

All this ran right at $1,000 even. If you do not want much bass you could easly loose the high end subs/amps go with maybe smaller 8"'s and then wouldn't need a monster amp either.

I'll be taking pictures of my setup soon and be posting then on the boards. I wanted to keep as much room as possable in the trunk as well. I still have roughly 60% or so usage of my trunk with no problems and can access spare as well.

Your biggest noticable differences will be in getting a new head unit and component speakers.

 

[20ESGUY]

couple of suggestions for you:

Pioneer head unit probably below the 6400 model
(if you decided to change that)
if you dont like the small buttons of the pioneer you can pick up an Alpine unit for under 200 bucks

Pioneer TS series/ Infinity Reference series speakers

JL 8W0 sub

100W amp to power the sub (Brands really not a big issue just as long as the componetry in the amp is quality)

If you wanted to leave your stock head unit but have a sub you can use the rear speaker leads and a line level converter to power the amp and sub combo. The biggest step is the speakers though...paper cones sux anyway you look at it. The problem is when upgrading speakers you're still limited to the stock radio's output and adjustment features. The system above with the alpine deck and Pioneer speakers will probably run close to 800.00 which isn't bad at all....you figure most guys to get what they want will spend upwards of 1500.00 just to get started.

 

[pr5owner]

if you wish to leave the HU stock, make sure you get speakers with a high sensitivity to get the most out of the low 25W output from the HU.

EX: 95dB Sensitivity is louder/more Efficent than 85dB with the same power

 

[talon4x4]

Here's what I did for around $850 and where I got it from.

http://www.hookedontronics.com

- Alpine SPR-136A 5" Components for the front $158
- Alpine SPS-1629S 6" rear door $58
- Alpine MRD-M300 $202 (amp for sub)
- $24 for shipping

http://www.knukonceptz.com

- 4 guage/4 channel amp install kit $38 (comes with 2 sets of RCA/4 guage ground and power/12 guage speaker wire and a bunch of other connections and misc stuff)
- Distrobution block for ground $6.00
- Distrobution block for power $11
- $5 for shipping

http://www.etronics.com

- Alpine MRV-T320 (amp for components) $199
- don't remember shipping

http://www.ebay.com

- JL Audio 12W3-D2 in a custom box $150 shipped

I already have a HU so I don't have to pick one up, but both of the amps I got have line-level input so they can easily be used by the stock HU.

I also spent another $20 or so on some wood and carpet for the amp rack and misc things needed for the install. The speakers I chose did not fit without first making some templates, but it took only about 15 minutes to make all 4 of them.

Any questions just shoot me an email, I should have some pics next week.