ZGolfer

Since most of you know more about this than me, you guys would be a great help in choosing the parts to my audio upgrade. My deficiency is knowing what products are better than others. I have read a lot of posts, which I found very helpful. Thanks. You can gauge my budget amounts from the approximate prices listed with each unit. Based on what some of you are doing I find myself below some of your standards but its what I’m comfortable spending. The total cost for parts only, not including the head unit, is about $500. I realize that there will be additional costs, but for recommendations stick with about $500 for speakers and an amp.

I value your opinion on my picks and if you have other choices let me know as long as they are around my price range.

Head units:
Alpine CDA-7894 (XM)
Clarion DXZ835MP (Sirius)
I’m trying to include in my decision which satellite radio company to go with.

Amp:
Based on several posts here people recommended Soundstream so I chose the PIC4.640 ($249)

Speakers:
Front components – Infinity Kappa 60.5cs ($140)
Rear – Infinity Kappa 63.5i ($125)

Should I get the components up front or just another set of 63.5i’s? If yes, since they have 1” tweeters, will they fit? I saw some suggestions for the MB Quarts with the ¾” tweeters. Maybe these would be better.

Thanks for your help.

OMEGATLC

Hey ZGolfer:

I put an Alpine 7995 headunit feeding into a Rockford Fosgate 550X amp. With that amp, I'm running the Infinity Kappa components that you have selected and a Kenwood DB 10" sub.

The sound is great from the Infinity's and can become somewhat "piercing" when playing music with lots of highs. Overall I'm very pleased with the setup. I'll probably add another amp to run the sub and install rears to run off the 550X. I don't miss the rears at all, but I've heard there good for "rear fill".

With the 7894, you can run the fronts and sub via amp and rear off the deck depending on your listening tastes. The 7995 is a preamp only deck that didn't afford me this choice.

Regarding fit, the tweeters fit just fine. Spacers had to be made to accomodate the main speaker. Any good installer shouldn't have a problem.

Hope this helps.

Red350Z

Hi Golfer--personally, I would head over to your nearest shop and listen to some various component speakers. In my opinion, there is a MAJOR difference between the sounds of a hard dome tweeter and a soft dome (usually silk) tweeter. Soft domes tend to have a "softer", "warmer" sound, while hard domes are usually going to have a "crisp", "sharp" sound to them. This isn't ALWAYS the case, but the Infinity set has a pretty crisp tweeter. Not to say that one is better than the other, (because great sound is a matter of opinion), but they are definately different sounds, each deserving a listen. Good Luck!!

BTW, thanks again for the V-1 review--it's working great!

ZGolfer

I was thinking of the RF 500x before other recommended the Soundstream.

Thanks for the advice and kind words. Keep 'em coming.