I have the Bose QC2 headphones....BUT I am not comparing anything to them, for me they are in a league of their own (and Im sure there are even better ones)

What I am comparing the Fits sound to is every other sound system
That I have played my music or listened to music on. My standard is I should not be "missing" anything and with the Fits stereo I miss alot between the hight pitched stuff and the clunky bass. Those two are crisp wether or not I like it, but I practically hear very little with regards to anything else.


as far as luck with life....
I wish

 

i think i'm one of these people. as are the many that complement me on my cars stock system. but then again, it is a 16k hatch back.

Injundon, i do appreciate all your helpful info, especially since this forum is one of the few on this site that makes me feel very noobish!


what are some good decks that you can reccomend at a decent price point? i'm talking like 250 or less? and is it worth it to upgrade the tweeters themselves. (or are they the 'components' in audio savvy speak? )


and are any of these said units compatible with the 'aux' input for listening to mp3 players/ipods? i would hate to give that up!

 

There are a few major brands that will always produce quality head units:
Clarion
Pioneer
Alpine
Kenwood
Eclipse

Basically anything you can find(caraudio.com has some good links for lowwww priced sellers) from any of those manufacturers for around $250 will be very good quality.

The Eclipse CD5000 is going for a ridiculously low price of like $270 at woofersetc. That headunit would certainly be one of if not the best bang for the buck at that price.

Also, "component set" comprises of at least 2 woofers(midrange), 2 tweeters, and 2 crossovers. Upgrading your front speakers with some quality aftermarket components will be a very significant upgrade.
The audiophile gurus list the significance of car audio upgrades in this order: 1. Head unit.
2. FRONT components & Amplifier
3. Subwoofer & amplifier
4. Rear speaker upgrade(coaxials, nothing too expensive, rear fill is really barely supposed to be heard, completely overwhelmed by the front speakers for proper imaging.


What's your price range on components?(Usually you'll want to buy an amp to power the components)
Low price range: CDT CL-61A-25 pro - $160ish
Mid range: Alpine SPX-17REF - $210ish
Mid-high range: Boston Acoustics Pro 60 - $320ish
Super-Awesome range: Rainbow AudioCS 275.28 Platinum - $2900ish

Amplifiers:
Low range: Orion HP-2400 - $150ish
Mid range: elemental Designs NINe.2 - $220
Mid-high range: JL 300/2 - $300
Super-awesome range - Hifonics XXV Maxximus - $2700

And for the aux input: you can always always just hook up an RCA->1/8" cord from the back of your headunit to come out near the passenger's feet. You could even put it under the carpet if you want a clean look.

 

so when changing the head unit you lose the aux jack?

 

Yes and no.. if you get it professionally installed it takes an extra 20 minutes time to splice and RCA into the OEM aux in plug.

 

LOL! i was gonna mention something about you wishing for bose, "no highs, no lows... must be bose!"

and why aren't you going to the mega meet, punk?

 

ah, i see.


thanks for the info! i'll make sure that when it happens, the installer does this.

 

thanks for the tips and clarifications! for components i'd probably stick in the midrange with the alpines, i dunno about an amp though, i'm not looking to blow the doors off. as far as the head unit goes i'd probably like to stick with alpine, as they seem to offer the cleanest looks.

+1 rep to you man! thanks again.

 

Thats funny I have never heard that before...haahaaaa

I just dont know if I can make that long of a drive yet, I have secretly been testing my endurance (dont tell the GF ) and I am getting way better, but thats still one heck of a drive...ugh!
Trust me though I really, really want to go!!!

 

eldaino, one thing to keep in mind when buying component speakers is that they shine when amplified. If you just power them off of the headunit instead of by a dedicated amplifier they won't really even sound much better than coaxial speakers at 3/5th their price.

The best way to pick out speakers for your car is to listen to some. We can tell you all day about what we or other people think sounds good, but at the end of the day it's your car. Check out some car audio shops around you if you can, they usually have speakers set up that they can play for you. As far as coaxials go, I don't remember the last time I listened to any, so I can't make any recommendations.

Stay away from: Lightning Audio, Audiobahn, Sony, Rockford Fosgate, Planet Audio(In order of most-terrible to least-terrible in my opinion).

Check out: JL, Diamond, Alpine, Infinity, Eclipse, MB Quart, Pioneer, Kenwood(In order of very best to least best in my opinion, however sometimes Kenwood speakers sound better than JL speakers in a certain price range)

But the main thing is that you just find what sounds best to you.
Oh, and make sure you tell them to turn off the subwoofer and run the speakers off of the headunit's power if you can. That way you can hear what they'll actually sound like.

 

thanks a lot for the help man!


just so you know how lost i was before i read your last post, i thought component speakers where a package type deal that included the tweeters. now i realize they would actually sound different than just replacing the front doors witho coaxials and some seperate tweeters.


i ve gone to best buy and circuit city, and remember i'm just looking for better than stock, with less distorsion at high levels. replacing the head unit and getting some aftermarket speakers i think should do the trick, and the lins that were supplied had some AMAZING prices for the products.

there is some really decent pioneer stuff that i liked....and now that i know that there may be a neglible difference between coaxials and components without and amp, it'll be even cheaper.

again, thank you for all the help, this was all very valuable to me!

 

oh, components do come with tweeters, but.. well, here.

COAXIAL:


Notice that this is a speaker with a woofer AND a tweeter.

Component:

With components you get woofers, seperate tweeters(for mounting in other places, gives better imaging), and crossovers. The crossovers are sort of what make a speaker set sound amazing. The crossovers modify the signal and filters out frequencies in order to give you some incredible sound.

And while components WILL always be better than coaxials, coaxials are much less expensive for near the same performance WHEN ONLY POWERED BY A HEADUNIT. If you decide later down the road that you DO want to juice them, the components will blow coaxials so far out of the water it'll be silly.

Sorry to complicate your decision, but at least now you're fully informed :-P

 

Have you ever thought of Nakamichi dek units. they are plain and simple but have great sound quality.

 

and no reliability. Erickson comsumer, Nak's canadian distributor ceased purchases of new nakamichi units due to an overwhelming number of returns due to poor laser tracking. Other than them skipping and getting read errors constantly they are great head units.

 

if you're really set on keeping stock headunit.. but turning it up without an amp.. i think better off sticking your money into some low wattage coaxial's..of course a good brand.. was told once, but don't know how true?, you're actually likely to damage the speaker underpowering it?.. i had some infinity reference speakers.. and for the lower end speakers they sounded pretty good "unamplified"..

but just think about spending your money wisely, you may just do things a little at a time.. and still could get a full system.. maybe speakers first.. then head unit.. then amplifier.. ?? gl

oh yeah don't know if anyone mentioned.. keep sampling speakers in person.. you will like the sound you like.. i've gone through how many speakers.. on the recommendations on the net.. and kept some for maybe weeks/months.. and parted them out back to ebay.. eg..

infinity kappa --> good overall sound, but lacking bass, tweeters a little painful

diamond hex's --> i hated um.. i probably was underpowering them.. because each channel i only sent 70 watts.. but then remembering.. i even tried bridging.. and still didn't like it.. and i even tried giving them thicker wiring.. and still didn't like um.. they didn't have the range..?? and sounded very "lifeless"..

infinity coaxial's (higher end)

infinity reference

mbquart's (lower end)


** a properful powered component system.. gives you such cleaner sound reproduction because each range is filtered out and split to tweets and mid-woofer

 

so is there anyway to add an amp for the door speakers and an amp + sub to the factory head unit?

 

rockford fosgate 3sixty.1 or 3sixty.2 + 5 channel amp

 

so you have to get something like that? theres no way to just somehow wire it into the oem HU, or its possible but it will just sound crappy?

 

btuner, what town and state are you in? I might be able to find somebody local for you.

Chances are you can use a quality PAC or Peripheral hi/low adaptor to convert the HU signals to RCA's and go right to a quality four channel amp. Two channels for the front and the rears for rear speakers. Later you can use the HU to power the rears and then use the rear channels of the amp for a subwoofer addition. I didn't check the output of the factory radio on mine as I was too quick to remove it and replace it.

Some amplifiers take high level inputs so you wouldn't have to use any adaptors. Working with a quality local car audio shop is the best way to venture into this. Staying away from Best Buy and CirCity and forum advice will probably yield you the best overall car audio experience.

 

yeah i already have a quality local audio shop. i have 2 nice kenwood amps plus a IDmax 12 v.3 sub from my last car and just have never got around to putting it in the fit, cause i didnt want to put in an aftermarket HU. I really dont feel like spending $400 on that 3sixty.1 thing. any links to something similar that wont break the bank?