New sound system or wait...?

[AZDJedi]

Hi,

I have 8 months left on my M3 lease but want to get some speakers put in.

I know nothing about car audio or prices or anything at all...total newbie.

If I buy something now, can I take it out and put it in my next car? What are the chances that it won't fit in my new car? Maybe some of thw tweeters won't fit, but what about the sub and amp...anything you can offer in terms of experience would be great.

I listen to house and trance and beats etc, and want something that will have good bass and overall just good sound for my mp3's. Do I need to get an entirely new setup or can i just get one or two new pieces and hook it up to my stock MP3 HU?

thx

 

[ecniemann]

If you are planning on amps and subs, you can always transfer those later to another vehicle, unless the sub is custom to the car, but that would require fabrication. Can also re-use wiring (ie. power cable, RCA's, etc.) later. If you are planning on a new head unit you will need a custom install kit to fill the empty space in the dash. Crutchfield and other places sell them separately or give it to you free with stereo purchase. Other forums on here describe this along with how the LCD display will respond in various situations. If you are planning on keeping stock stereo, you will need line output converters (LOC's) which transfer speaker output to line level (RCA). Speakers are a different story. Most Ford's (Mazda's) have 5x7 (6x8) speaker sizes front and back. These most likely will not transfer to another car unless fabricated to do so or unless same size speaker. For instance, GM vehicles usually have 6x9 rears and 5 1/4 or 6 1/2 inch fronts. If you do decide to replace them, it is super easy since the door panels are almost entirely held on by clips. Again, Crutchfield has directions how to do this with speaker purchase or you can buy the directions for like $10 if get the speakers elsewhere. If you do components, you will have to drill to mount the tweeters, which you probably do not want to do to a leased vehicle. Get coaxials, meaning the tweeter is mounted with the woofer in same enclosure. It will make a huge difference in sound quality, regardless. I could not believe the crap that was in the door when I removed the stock speakers, weighed about an ounce and paper cones. Any other questions have probably already been answered in much more detail on these forums as many of the people here are very talented and knowlegable. Read around to get some ideas.

 

[AZDJedi]

thx for the reply ecniemann (what does that say anyway?)

I went ot Best Buy and a pretty good amp and bass, with installation and the converter thingy, came to about $1000. I think I'll just get those things for now and then when I get my new car buy the speakers...that way I won't have to worry about getting an set that won't fit.

Will the bass sound more or less like it did in the store, or does putting it in a car totally change things?