Car audio brands- what's junk, whats good enough?

[O No 3.0!]

I just got some new speakers & a small amp for the old 94 chevy work truck from ebay. 4 skar audio 4x6 speakers & a taramps 100 watt mini amp was about $90. They sound really good for the price. I have gone wayyy overboard on the ranger sound system tho. I am up to 5 amps & 13 speakers so far. I have 8 6x9s, 2 4" titainium tweeters, 2 full range 1000 watt ea 8" subs & 1 3000 watt 10" sub. All together i have about 7500 watts rated. I think its going to be loud...

 

[gaz]

@Chapap ,
To make my budget stronger I follow this:
• used subwoofer
- Infinity RSDS, Kickers or West Coast Customs (WCC, all built by Harman Kardon))
• used sub amp
- Alpine, Kenwood, iNFINITy or WCC
• new separates (mids and tweets)
- Alpine, Nakamichi, MB Quart, iNFINITy or WCC
• used main amp• new head unit
- Alpine, iNFINITy or WCC

In a Ranger, my favorite set up is a set of 5¼" mids in the doors with separate tweets in the dash and a single 10". I use this power proportion:
• 50wrms for the mids/tweets with passive crossover
• 3x +/-15% mid/tweet amp arms power for the Sub with an active crossover

 

[94_PurpsRange]

I know this is an old thread, but I did read something in it I don't necessarily agree with...
Now I am NOT saying this is an amazing way to go... but I am really fond of it, and I felt like I should share.
I fairly recently upgraded my truck audio to a BOSS HU and Cerwin Vega speakers (6 x 9 all the way around) .. My BOSS HU is the elite 7" touch screen and it couldn't be more functional in my opinion. It does everything I need it to do. CarPlay works flawlessly and the detachable screen doesn't move an inch when I'm out being rough with my truck. The EQ allows for multiple settings and customization. I have had no issues what so ever. The sound is better than it ever has been in its life. I actually liked the HU and Speakers so much that I will also be doing the same set up in my wifes rig. (05' Tallhoe)

I am sure I am going to get a lot of flack about this but frankly I don't care haha.
I upgraded my speakers and head unit for a total of like $310.00 and I now have everything I needed and then some.

I used to be an audio head in my younger years and had everything Rockford Fosgate. 2 massive subs and ruining kids naps and waking neighborhoods was the game back in the day... but now I like a nice bass with crisp clear sounds... and I like to be able to talk to my customers easily when I am on the road. This set up i have now allows me to do that and ejoy the awesome sound that comes from my stereo.

HATE ME ALL YOU WANT hahaha I like the NEW and IMPROVED BOSS audio stuff.

 

[RobbieD]

No flak; no haters here. TRS is a "kinder and gentler" mental institution.

Sounds like a good setup you put together. It's your truck, your ears, your tastes and your money; you like it, and that's what counts.


I worked in car audio back in the crazy days (like when cassettes were the newest thing and Fosgate was JUST Fosgate). And I'm sure that was a big part of why I'm deaf as a stump these days (along with shooting and pnuematic tools, and no hearing protection).


I guess with me it's a "full circle" thing; these days, as I've put stock radios back into my old trucks. Because it just "looks" better!


But . . . I can still ROCK OUT with the best of 'em:

. . . featuring good 'ole state-of-the-art '60s technology.

 

[fastpakr]

I installed several Boss radios in the last few years to get cheap access to Android Auto in vehicles. For the price, I had no complaints at all. The unit I just installed in my new car is definitely a little smoother, but I'd expect that for ~50% more. The value was rock solid.

 

[superj]

i like stock too, because i looks better.

but i am in the at hearing loss group too, because of low riders and trying to set all the car alarms off in the mall parking lot when the bass hit. (and also being the m60 guy in the army and then the jackhammer guy, sometimes, when i was doing construction)

i will tell you though, these new hearing aids they give you that blue toothed to your phone are awesome. they last 23 hours on a charge and you can answer calls and listen to the radio and videos with them.

 

[Shran]

Recently I have bought one Pioneer, one Kenwood, and two Sony head units for our vehicles. These were all the single DIN basic models with no CD player, just radio/aux/USB/Bluetooth. My preference leans towards the Sony ones... they seem to keep their Bluetooth connection alive, I always have trouble getting the others connected and the settings menus on those suck. The volume knob on the Pioneer is also really super sensitive. I used to be a JVC guy but they are kinda hard to find locally.

Also have purchased several sets of 6x8 speakers from Kenwood and Pioneer lately. I guess I am not super impressed with them. They are better than stock but just barely.

As far as amps & cheap stuff goes - back in the early 2000's I was much deeper into car audio but my budget was limited so I bought a used 10" Audiobahn sub, some Pioneer 5" door speakers and a couple Dual amps from Best Buy. Those amps were really pretty decent and I still have them in my F150... Dual & Boss were kinda the cheapest budget stuff we could get. Dual is total junk now, I have used a couple of their head units in recent years and they were just terrible.

I do remember the bass tube, BTW

 

[superj]

my kids found an old 8" bass tube in a used car they bought and once i told them what it was, they loved it. its probably still in the garage because when they sold the car, they kept it

 

[White_4x4Ranger]

I recently put a Boss HU in my 03 Ranger and it is great, I got it on sale at Walmart for like $100 bucks and it has Apple CarPlay and a 7" screen. I also have some Pioneer 6x8's in the front doors, also from Walmart. The rear speakers are stock, and given the head unit can supply 85 watts I'm surprised they haven't blown yet. When they do I'll replace them but for the moment they're fine. This is my first Boss HU but so far it seems like great value, especially since i got it on sale. I plan on getting a 8" Boss under seat subwoofer at some point too.

 

[94_PurpsRange]

HAhahaha thanks for the information guys!!!
I just installed a "dual" in my wife's *tallhoe* and she seems to love it so far... but she doesn't do much these days except tote the shitrens around town and show off to the community that she's mildly fast and loud hahaha I also put some Rockford door speakers and tweeters in her truck (my brothers used ones) and he truck sounds amazing IMO... I'll do more audio work to it once the kids are a bit older.. we have a baby still and I'm looking to get her as deaf as me haha

I have thought about doing a sub under the seat but I have no clue how to achieve that and im not sure if i really need it. I am going to add some sound deadening to the cab of the truck to help with the sound a bit but because i am on the road a lot seeing customers... im not really in need of rattling their windows every time i pull up hahah

but i will for sure let everyone know when my cheap HU's die and i am here apologizing to everyone for being a dick hahah