NEW: The $500 Audio Challenge!!!!!

[chuyler1]

Times are tough and the economy is bad so I see a trend of people looking to upgrade their factory sound systems without paying an arm and a leg. $500 seems to be an average wallet size for people on this forum where aren't looking for a $1500+ audiophile setup. There are some nice ideas under the $1000 challenge but lets face it, most of use don't have $1000 to dish out all at once unless we just got our federal tax return in the mail.

RULES:

1. All gear required should be listed from head units to wiring harnesses. Only complete systems are acceptable.

2. The total cost must not exceed $500.

3. All prices must be listed with gear and a link if available online.

4. In order for others to properly compare options, all prices must be obtained from authorized vendors (brick-and-mortar stores or online retailers such as Crutchfield and SoundDomain). Do not list items found on eBay.

5. Include shipping costs if prices reflect a specific online retailer.

6. Try to explain why you selected the gear so that others can see the recommendation from your point of view.

 

[chuyler1]

Basic upgrade: $499.97
Head unit + 2 pairs of speakers.

You are looking to improve all aspects of your system. You want mp3/wma playback, decent bass, cleaner highs, and louder overall listening levels.

Alpine CDA-9856 CD/MP3/WMA Receiver $199,99
The CDA-9856 is a great starting point for a system at a great price. You get an internal 4x18w amplifier, CDRW/MP3/WMA playback, 3 sets of pre-outs for future amplifier upgrades, and an AiNet connection for future changer, ipod-control, sat-radio, or hd-radio upgrades.

Alpine Type-R SPR-57LP 5" x 7" 2-way Car Speakers $149.99
These speakers are an easy drop-in to Mazda3s and Proteges with 5x7 front speakers. At 40w RMS power handling they are a good match to the CDA-9856 receiver.

Alpine Type-R SPR-17LP 6-3/4" 2-way Speakers $149.99
To compliment your front speakers a pair of 6-3/4" rear speakers will give you some additional bass. Mazda3 owners may want to simply get a second pair of SPR-57LPs to fit the rear 5x7 openings.

Wiring Harnesses, installation kit, and instructions: FREE from Crutchfield.

BASS Upgrade: $459.95
Amplifier + 2 12" subwoofers

You think the factory system sounds fine except there is no bass and you need something pounding out bass lines in your hatch or trunk.

Alpine MRP-M450 250W x 1 Car Amplifier $199.99
When thinking about bass, you need to pick an amplifier first because it's the biggest ticket item and it will determine which subwoofers you can run. This Alpine monoblock is priced just right to fit our budget and will put out 1x400w @ 2ohms. 400w is more than enough power to compliment the factory speakers. Any more and you'll be drowing out the midbass and treble.

2 Alpine Type-E SWE-1242 12" 4-ohm subwoofers $149.98/ea
No bass system is complete without a pair of 12" subwoofers. Sure you could find a single 12" subwoofer that can handle 400w but these babies will give you the wow factor when you open your hatch or trunk.

Q-Logic QLH-12D125 Dual 12" Hatchback Subwoofer Box $69.99
A basic dual subwoofer box will be fine for the subs we picked out.

StreetWires PS08BI 8 gauge<!-- Ext Adj Item Price --> Amp Wiring Kit Blue with Patch Cable $39.99
Since you are only connecting one amp rated under 500w an 8 gauge wiring kit should be fine.

The Alpine amplifier has speaker-level inputs so you won't need a line-out-converter. Add on $10 for some 14-18ga speaker wire. Shipping is free from Crutchfield.

SQ Upgrade: $489.95
Amplifier, speakers, and 10" subwoofer

You like bass...but more importantly you like a well rounded system with great SQ. Eventually you will upgrade the head unit but for now you can live with it.

Alpine MRP-F250 40W x 4 Car Amplifier $199.99
Start with a moderately priced 4 channel amplifier that can be used to power both a set of speakers and a subwoofer. This amplifier also has speaker-level inputs so you won't need to purchase a $30 line-out-converter.

Infinity Kappa 682.7cf 6"x8" 2-way Speakers $149.99
You could splurge and buy a set of $200 component speakers but these speakers are 2-ohms and will give you a little more power from the alpine amp. They will see 2x50w instead of 2x40w. It's a small difference but every little bit counts when you are on a budget.

Infinity Reference 1040w 10" 4-ohm Subwoofer $59.99
This infinity sub is priced cheap and will go nicely with the 6x8 speakers we selected for the front. It can handle more power than the amplifier will dish out but it will make the most out of the 100w with a 91db sensitivity.

StreetWires PS10BI 10 gauge Amp Wiring Kit $29.99
You'll be running under 300w so a 10 gauge wiring kit should be fine. If you plan on upgrading the amp later you might want to splurge for an 8ga kit.

Add an additional $10 for speaker wire and you're good to go. Shipping is free from Crutchfield. When installing the equipment, you can opt to keep your factory front tweeters and rear speakers connected to the stock head unit. I don't recommend it but the option is there.

 

[got wake?]

this was a tad harder than i first expected(boom07) i wanted to use quality equipment, all from the same place so there wouldn't be a bunch of different boxes getting delivered to someones house.


i'd stick to using the factory HU, but install the LOC behind the factory radio so the RCA's will already be run when the stock HU is replaced(thumb)

$23 for a PIE 4-channel LOC.

since i'm of the mindset to plan for upgrading, a 4 guage, 4 channel amp wiring kit will be used:

$80 for a nice kicker amp wiring kit.

since this is a tight budget, picking an amp was tough. i settled on a pretty cheap 4 channel amp:

$120 for this clarion is a pretty decent deal.

since i'm a fan of components, picking a set is tough on this budget, so i decided to keep clarion the brand for amp, comps, and sub:

$120 for these clarion comps will have to do.

$60 for this clarion sub wouldn't be my first choice, but for the budget it works well.

and since i'm fairly certain that most people won't want to build thier own enclosure, we'll have to settle on prefab:

$46 for a sealed R/T enclosure.


total from cardomain = $448.73
shipping = $23
total = $471.73

that leaves almost $30 for beer(cheers)

 

[4thundr]

Ok, I have a question regarding this. Would this only be for Pro's that don't have the upgraded Kenwood systems like the MP3's, MP5's, Speeds and such? Seems like these would have more to work off of. Although I didn't have anything but the Kenwood front and rear speakers with no subwoofer and a crappy deck that the previous owner left me with.

 

[Bala]

Great concept chuyler1! My MSP speakers have been "fading" in and out along with other funky things (one rear door speaker sounds blown) so timing is perfect. (thumb)

 

[tsunami]

very nice write up chuyler... and grats on the audio mod...

 

[chuyler1]

If you want to do a MSP or MP3 $500 system then just notate it as such but keep in mind that a good percentage of the kenwood head units are faulty and people seem to easily blow the subwoofer.

 

[tsunami]

my 500$ set up

this is a good system to start with and to upgrade down the road

knukonceptz 8awg wiring kit 13.99 didn't feel like signing up to figure shipping.. can't be that much?

the rest are all from crutchfield (yay free shipping (thumb))

for the price this isn't a bad little amp 40x4 alpine mrp-f250 199.99

polk audio 5 1/4 components not a huge fan of 5 1/4 but polk speakers have a good reputation and the price is just right for this budget and if you really wanted to bang and knew what you were doing (with x-over pts) you could bridge both channels of the amp to these speakers until you could afford a subwoofer and box. 152.99

and this HU from kenwood to finish it off. it plays mp3's, is ipod and sat. ready and has preouts for your amp. I have had a few a/m kenwood decks and didn't have any compliants so i stuck with them here. 129.99

the total

482.97 goes to crutchfield and it includes all the brackets and harness' and what not to hook all the components and HU up.

and 13.99 + shipping to knukonceptz

total of 496.96 + shipping on the amp kit... i would think it may come to just over 500$$ damn shipping charges.

with this set up it would be easy to upgrade down the road and add a small subwoofer and box if you used 2 channels of the amp for the sub and 2 for the components. It will give you some nice sound and sq.... no spl awards being won here but overall a nice set up.

 

[chuyler1]

One more example from the master system designer. This time I used www.sounddomain.com and tried to utilize some of the deals they have going on to get the most bang for your buck.

High power SQ Upgrade with tight bass: $482.73
Amplifier, Components, and Dual 8" subs

Audiobahn A6004T Multi-Channel Amp $154.98
I know Audiobahn isn't the greatest brand but they manage to pack 75x4 in a sub $200 package. It doesn't have speaker-level inputs so you will need a PIE EIS-LOC4-T Aftermarket Amp Interface Adapter for $22.95 and a Stinger Hyper Series SHR417 Interconnect Signal Cable to connect it to your factory head unit. MSP'ers and MP3'ers won't need the PIE adapter.

Infinity Reference 6810cs Component Speaker System $159.95
A great deal on a great set of speakers. I've heard these many times and can safely say you wont find a better set for the price. They should really shine with 75w from the Audiobahn amplifier.

Rockford Fosgate Punch Stage 1 2-Pack Subwoofer $79.95
That's right. Two 8" subwoofers for $79.95. They might not be high power top of the line but they come fully warrantied and will pound out some tight bass when wired in parallel for a 4ohm load. The Audiobahn amp should be giving them 300w RMS from the rear channels when bridged.

Stinger Custom Pro SWK8 Amplifier Wiring Kit $23.95
You could pick up one from KnuKnocepts but I just grabbed this one for simplicity.

Shipping: $14 (some of the items have free shipping)

Not included in this estimate is a subwoofer enclosure. Neither Crutchfield or SoundDomain sell a box for 2 8" subwoofers. The good news is that there is money left over for a sheet of 1/2" or 3/4" MDF. Use your trusty table saw and make one yourself. If you don't have access to power tools then you could pay a shop to make one for you. It will cost about $100-200 and put you over budget though.

 

[the tortoise]

If you don't have access to power tools you can have home depot cut the MDF for you. Figure $10 for the cuts (max).

That's what I did and the cuts were reasonably accurate, nothing a little sanding couldn't cure.

 

[bazooka joe]

great thread!

 

[NoRotorNoMotor]

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4332445

Clarion Clarion DB355MP
CD receiver with MP3 playback

about $80 shipped

would be better than stock unit

 

[got wake?]

well, since i'm a DLS fan, here's another suggestion:


$255.20 for the magnesium comps (you can get them for just over $200 from other dealers who do not sell online).

they use the same UP1C tweeter found in the $400 ultimate comps.

since the comps cost so much, amp choice is very limited (when sticking with DLS):

$175.12 for this CA22 amp, which has high level inputs and auto turn on.

it's a good quality amp at a decent price. with the high level inputs and auto turn on you don't have to worry about RCA's or running an amp turn on wire.

for the sake of simplicity, i chose a complete wiring kit:

$13.99 from knukonceptz.

save the RCA's for when the HU is replaced.


total is $444.31. save the difference to save up for another amp and a sub(thumb)

 

[chuyler1]

Is MobileSQ an authorized DLS dealer?

 

[got wake?]

Is MobileSQ an authorized DLS dealer?

yup. they are authorized for all the brands they carry. i think they are one of the only places to get brax anymore.


[font=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Disclaimer:[/font] [font=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Please check our listing for a dealer nearest you. Mobilesq.com can only offer it's products if a dealer is not available in a 50 miles radius from your area of residence. All orders and payments made to Mobilesq.com will be refunded if a dealer is located in your area. Thank you
[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]they have 3 stores in CA.

 

[chuyler1]

Nice. I just bookmarked them (although I got a better deal by just calling a store in NJ since there isn't a retailer in New England).

 

[kid prodigy]

I was thinking of getting 2 10's for my car, amp, and upgrading my front and rear speakers. I found the 2 10's but not sure which amp and which speakers would work best with it. I'll be using my stock 6-disc HU still, until i find one that i like. Here's the link to the 2 10's :

http://www.cardomain.com/item/ROCP110S42PAK

~Thanks

 

[Protege52003]

total from cardomain = $448.73
shipping = $23
total = $471.73

that leaves almost $30 for beer(cheers)

thats a case of beer for the install time!

-R

 

[chuyler1]

I was thinking of getting 2 10's for my car, amp, and upgrading my front and rear speakers. I found the 2 10's but not sure which amp and which speakers would work best with it. I'll be using my stock 6-disc HU still, until i find one that i like. Here's the link to the 2 10's :

http://www.cardomain.com/item/ROCP110S42PAK

~Thanks

I just created a $500 system on the previous page that would be great for you. It will cost about $550-600 with the 10" RF subs and a pre-fab box. (I recommended the 8" version and to build your own box)

Here is the post:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2328695&postcount=9

 

[kid prodigy]

If I go with the dual 8's, how about this set up :

Alpine MRP-F250
Infinity Reference 6810cs Component Speaker System
Rockford Fosgate Punch Stage 1-2 Pack Subwoofer
StreetWires PS08B1 8 Gauge

Maybe this set up with the 10's also ....