Head Unit: Kenwood 7015 or 7017(newest model #)

Up Front Components: Focal 165K2P or BA Z6 or recommendations. Budget is $400-$600. I'm going to have pods built similiar to the ones by nissan_fanatic. I'll attach a pic of his pods. I listen to rock and alternative, and I listen to it loud. This may sound stupid, but I'm leaning toward the BA Z6's for looks as well. Since they will be in pods the "yellowish" color of the focals may look stupid next to the burnt orange seats.

No rear speakers.

Subs: One 10" Rockford Fosgate T1 or one 10" Alpine Type X. Again, this may sound stupid but I'm looking for looks as well as sound. I'm going to mount the sub "inverted" so the magnet will be shown. With my style of music I guess I'm looking for a "punchy" bass as opposed to a "deep/earth trembling" bass.

Amps: Someone recommended Phoenix Gold "Xenon" Series

What are your thoughts or things you may do differently???

Thanks.

 

I haven't heard any Focal components so I can't comment on those. I am running the Z6 and love them.

I'd recommend either the Xtant or Zapco line for amps. Xtant has the 1.1i which is very smooth but costly. 100x1@$350 a pop isn't cheap.

Subs, Image Dynamics is a good choice.

 

Any online resources for the brands you recommended?

 

as far as purchasing, i don't know. they all have a website though.

www.xtant.com
www.zapco.com
www.bostonacoustics.com
www.imagedynamicsusa.com

 

Definitely get the Z6s for the front.

For subs - get a Boston G5. The driver is gorgeous beyond believe and they pound hard! I'm running 1 10 in my daily driver and with a GT24 amp (900 watts) it hits 144db in a 0.5 cu-ft box. I'm sure it would be 1dB or more louder in the Z's hatch. The G5s can be stripped and painted too if you want which also adds to the likebility.

www.woofersetc.com sells Boston online cheap.

 

BTW - you're not going to touch Z6 Bostons for under $600 unless they are used or open box. They are suppose to sell for $1k, some places sell them around $799. $650 is cost on them for reference - unless someone is taking a serious loss on the speakers this is the price they pay from Boston.

 

Yeah I was asking in reference to purchasing. I will check their sites for authorized dealers.

I think I've about decided on the BA Z6's.

 

LS350Z,
Thanks for the info and the website address. Thats one I haven't seen yet.

 

I think you should run rear speakers as well. IMO, you'll need them to complete the sound stage. I have one 12 inch T112d4 in the trunk. It sounds really good. I understand the cosmetic issue also. It matches the interior perfectly. In my case, I needed to add a decent set of rear speakers also. The Fosgate sub hits really hard and can drown out my current set-up if I don't turn the bass gain down. I have the VC's wired in parallel to drop a 2ohm load. My amp is juicing the sub as hard as it will push, with about 600Watts RMS.

 

Most everyone I've talked to said that unless you're doing 5.1 surround then the rear fill is a waste. I'm just thinking that if I put more money up front with a good quality set of components and amp I'll be fine. Out of all the subs, the Rockford is all that I've heard, and it hit hard and sounded good.

 

I agree...my rears are disabled and the sound stage is right up front near the center of the dash. Good luck with the project.

 

Run 5.1, you'll thank me later. I've got the BA Pro4.5 as my center channel and the SL65 in the rear. With the Kenwood 7015/17, it's worth it. If you were to get just a cd/mp3 player, maybe not. But why get the 7015 if you're not going to play movies?

 

I heard 5.1 at Zdayz and it sounded amazing. He played Star Wars - Phantom Menace, it was awesome. I was just leaning away from spending the extra money on rear speakers, larger amp for additional speakers, upgrade to Kenwood #8017 for 5.1 processing, and then a center channel speaker that would have to be installed in the nav compartment. Thats where I have plans for my ipod mount. Music is number one to me, watching a couple of dvd's is second.

 

A center channel speaker can be mounted in the sunglass holder location...but I agree with audio #1 and video #2.

 

Worry about 5.1 later. Spend all your money on the front stage now - it will pay off 10 fold. I compete in sound quality events and if you run any rear stage at all you're going to get destroyed in staging, imaging, and dynamics. If you want killer front stage, run the component tweeters in the kickpanels and grab a set of ambient tweeters (boston type Ms) and run them in the stock location. This will give you a wider stage that's much more realistic and full.

Here's a picture of mine:

 

Never thought of that, cool idea! Keep the comments coming!

 

LS350Z, thanks.

What are some more amp choices? If I go with the BA Z6's up front and one 10" RE XXX in back.

I'm leaning toward Phoenix Gold X200.4 for the Z6's and Phoenix Gold X1200.1 for the sub.

Thoughts???

 

If no rears, why use a 200.4 when a 200.2 will work? I have yet to get my setup installed (Focal 165K2p's in front, 200.2, no rears, basslink, deh960mp, xm) but maybe I'm missin' something . . .

 

My 2 cents: Focal's kick butt.

 

Since the Z6's are rated to 400 watts RMS I plan to bridge the 200.4 and get 400 x 2.