The $1000 Audio Challenge!!!!!

[chuyler1]

Man those IPODs are so tempting...my whole music collection on something smaller than a gameboy? I'm working on Macs now at work and I hate to admit it but I'm starting to like OSX, especially the new Panther.

Apple always has the right ideas (eg. Newton) but they aren't a big enough company to corner the market for them. They are too greedy with their hardware and software licenses. Pretty soon other companies will have better versions of the IPOD and they'll be much cheaper.

Anyway, I would love to make one the centerpiece of my car install. Purchase the remote and hotwire a system so it controlls it. If only Apple would join up with Alpine or Kenwood so we could have a head unit it just plugs into. It could take over the display, volume and other controls. That would be sweeeeeet.

 

[Bass Addict]

-----Head Unit-------
Clarion DXZ735MP (plays MP3's)
$219.99-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofers-----
(2) Cerwin Vega VEGA 104's (10's)
$89.99 each-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofer Box----
Box from Cerwin Vega-$149.99-thezeb.com

****Total So Far-549.96****

-----Components-----
Front-Pioneer TS-C1653 6.5" Two Ways-$99.99-thezeb.com
Rear-Pioneer TS-C1353 5.25" Two Ways-$94.99-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofer Amp----
Visonik-V417SX 600 watts RMS total-$199.99-thezeb.com
****Total So Far-$944.93***
Leaves $55.07 for wiring...

 

[Midnight22]

-----Head Unit-------
Clarion DXZ735MP (plays MP3's)
$219.99-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofers-----
(2) Cerwin Vega VEGA 104's (10's)
$89.99 each-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofer Box----
Box from Cerwin Vega-$149.99-thezeb.com

****Total So Far-549.96****

-----Components-----
Front-Pioneer TS-C1653 6.5" Two Ways-$99.99-thezeb.com
Rear-Pioneer TS-C1353 5.25" Two Ways-$94.99-thezeb.com
-----Subwoofer Amp----
Visonik-V417SX 600 watts RMS total-$199.99-thezeb.com
****Total So Far-$944.93***
Leaves $55.07 for wiring...

what do u want!? 16ga wiring? holy crap decent wiring systems are into the 100s, lol, unless u do a custom wiring... then it is quite possible i like the selection

 

[Bass Addict]

Its close...you can wait and save up some more before wiring it all up.

 

[Rider69]

You can do excellent wiring for under $50 from Knukonceptz.com!

 

[Midnight22]

would u recomend them for ground kitz? custom ground kit

 

[1sty]

$50 isn't going to cover the RCAs aswell.
Also 4 guage wire really doesn't change much brand to brand. The terminals can be a different story

 

[walight01]

you can get a complete 4 ga wiring kit with 2 sets of rca's for 36 buck, a distrubition block for like 7 bucks, and you set.

 

[Rider69]

Yeah, the $50 does cover the cost of RCA's. They are included in the kit that costs $36 and like walights said, a distro block is only like $7, with shipping it would still be under $50.

And if you want to do a ground wire kit, you can do that from them as well. Just get enough wire and a bunch of their 4 gauge connectors and you can do a very good ground kit for about $40. That is what I did in my car. Or you can spend more and get a premade kit from 1stMP3inNH that uses monster cable.

 

[gooch03ES]

Here is a system that I was going to try out, I have all the speakers, but a different head unit (CQ-DFX983U, with MP3 Support)

Head Unit - Panasonic CQ-DF903U CD Player $229.95
Fronts - Phoenix Gold Tantrum-X 5.0 comp Component Speakers $149.95
Rears - Phoenix Gold Tantrum-X 69.0 coax 2-Way Speaker $149.95
Amp - Phoenix Gold T200.2 2-Channel Amp $199.95
Sub - Phoenix Gold Tantrum-X 10 Subwoofer $149.95
Wiring - Phoenix Gold Tantrum TSX84 Amplifier Wiring Kit $37.05
Box - Q-Logic QLH-.6510SE Subwoofer Enclosure $54.95
Extras - Scosche SA68 Universal Speaker Adapter $7.95 (To make the 5 1/4" Comps fit)
Wiring Harness and Dash Kit are Free w/HU.

Total: $940.60
Shipping: $29.95
Grand Total: $970.55

Source: http://www.sounddomain.com

There you go. A decent sounding system for less than a grand, all bought from SoundDomain. I honestly don't like Q-Logic at all, but I figured this system was to be easy and building a box is a lot of work for some people. You could pocket the $55 on the box and build a good one and have some money left over to buy a bigger amp.

gooch

 

[MoJoeTCM]

I bet i can get a kick ass system for 1000 bucks, i work at circuit city..... I am a bass head so i would just buy:
-Ported box for two 12's $60
-Two infinty kappa perfects dvq's $181 <--yea at cost they are
900 togther
-tsunami cap, amp kit, anl fuse, rca's, dynamat, $231
-MMATS 700.1 Class D..... $250 ahhh, it is nice to know the
owner of the company

With the rest of the money i would just buy a converter for 20 dollars with two pre outs...

Next would be the components...kappa perfects... 96 dollars
6x9's infinty...............45 dollars....

Then the four channel amp....maybe 200 watts mtx..... looking at about 75 dollars then the wiring.....should be right at about 1000

I love my job

 

[servoeyes]

Thing is...1st Mp3 can do a tweeter system like that, with better pieces...but not everyone can. I spent well over $1k for my set up...by well I mean about 200$ hundred, but that's still a low cost sytem and I had a decent base to work from. The only thing that I'd change in my system right now is the sub box...I'd keep it the same size, but rebuild it and seal it right.

It's really amazing what you can do for only about a grand...even without deep discounts!

 

[1sty]

It's really amazing what you can do for only about a grand...even without deep discounts!

Which is the point of this thread.

There are some deals available I can not even speak about.

 

[sndsgood]

rainbow componets $3000 damn.....

um

focal sub $1300 damn


i lose.

 

[chr0nic]

MY System:

my jl subs come in a box all ready built from my local shop so no s&H

2 10" JL wo's subs in a box $250 (sound concept)

Sony CDX-M800 XM Ready CD Receiver w/Changer Control(etronics.com) $239 With shipping

PowerAcoustik A600-4HP 600W A Series 4-Channel Amplifier (for speakers),
Legacy LA190 High Perfomance 240 Watt 2 Channel Amplifier(for subs),
$142 for both with shipping (etronics.com) really bootleg and cheap amps good for saving money.

(front speakers)Infinity Reference 6800cs $118 with s&h (ikesound.com)

(rear speakers)Infinity REF6002I 6 1/2" Two-Way Speakers (Pair)
$75 with s&h(etronics.com)
$55 for amp wiring kit frhom sound concept with 2 disrtubution blocks and 4 gauge wire and 8 gauge wire.
$10 for speaker wire (sound concept)
I can install this myself, but i could have it installed at sound concepts for free since i work there
total: $889

 

[UT01MP3]

Okay, new to the forum but this is what I'd probably do with 1k...

HU - Blaupunkt Casablanca - 95$
Front/Rear/Sub 4v Preamp Outputs
No MP3 but hey, it's under 100 and I've used one so I know the sound quality is high even using the internal amp.

FS - Audiobahn Audiobahn ACX680P - 83.70$
Full component speakers without cutting a hole in the door for your tweeter.
94db

RS - Audiobahn Audiobahn ACX692 85$
95db

Sub - Audiobahn ALUM10Q -105
800 Watts RMS
95.6db

Sub Amp - Audiobahn A1800T - 182$
RMS Power Output (Watts x Channels) 400 x 1 4 ohms 800 x 1 2 ohms
THD at Rated RMS Power 0.02%
Signal to Noise Ratio 100 dB

Cap - Audiobahn ACAP1Q - 95$

Sound dampening - Dynamat Xtreme 10455/12005 110$

All from www.ikesound.com - shipping included

Complete 4gage amp install kit from KnuKonceptz - 30$

Sub enclosure materials - local - under 50$

835.70

Leaving me more than enough room to work another amp in and additional wiring.

 

[1sty]

Welcome to the site UT01MP3!

WOW!
So do you like audiobahn? (rofl)

Nice post and thanks for participating.

 

[UT01MP3]

Audiobahn

I'm a big fan of their quality and love of their product. And ontop of that they sound pretty damn good, though their mids are a bit basey. But I think the most important thing is they don't yet have a name that you have to pay for such as Infinity and the like so you get alot more BOOM for your dollar. Same goes with the higher end Blaupunkts. The aformentioned Casablanca, I run a 2001 version of it, is probably the lowest cost HU with 4v preouts and a decent S/N and THD on it's internal amp. (Course I payed 180 for mine back in 2001 not 95) I'm no expert but I've done some homework.

Another company I've found gives alot of bang for buck is Planet Audio. Very high quality speakers and amps. Went that route in my wife's car, course she's not as particular so I was able to set up her system for under 400 bucks.

 

[sharkonwheels]

$1000? WTF can you get for $1K?
Here's what's going in my PR5:

HU: venerable Pioneer Premier DEX-P1R
Processor: RF EPX/2 Symmetry (14 channels!!)
Front/rear stage amps: Phoenix Gold ZX450's 1 channel per driver
Sub Stage Amp: Phoenix Gold ZX350 or 500 (got 350, looking for a 500)
Subs: JL 10W6-6 DVC
Speakers: MB Quart 6.5's with MB Tweets rear/JL Tweets front

All i need is the ZX450 and maybe the ZX500. And then, finish the box
design. Then, figure out where to put all that crap, with totally giving up the hatch area.

 

[servoeyes]

$1000? WTF can you get for $1K?
Here's what's going in my PR5:

HU: venerable Pioneer Premier DEX-P1R
Processor: RF EPX/2 Symmetry (14 channels!!)
Front/rear stage amps: Phoenix Gold ZX450's 1 channel per driver
Sub Stage Amp: Phoenix Gold ZX350 or 500 (got 350, looking for a 500)
Subs: JL 10W6-6 DVC
Speakers: MB Quart 6.5's with MB Tweets rear/JL Tweets front

All i need is the ZX450 and maybe the ZX500. And then, finish the box
design. Then, figure out where to put all that crap, with totally giving up the hatch area.

For 1k you can do pretty well...remember JL's system in the Vibe from a year back that was all TR and e-series stuff. It was a best of show at CES but it was their cheapest stuff. I'm sure for 1k you could do a TR and E set-up...hmm...have to talk to 1sty about posting that.