I have decided to to a full system in my Z, and as much as I would like to have the money to do a 3000+ dollar system it's just not in the budget. I already have the head unit, which I got a spectacular deal on, now I'm looking to see what anyone thinks about the balance of the system. I'm doing the install myself, so I can afford to put nicer equipment in and do it "right". So, here's the setup, let me know what you guys would change if it were your system, keeping in mind my budget is not unlimited.

Head unit Jensen VM9311TS (already purchased) I figured this is the easiest to upgrade later, so I cheaped out a bit here.
Sound deadening: RaaMMat 125 sq. ft + closed cell foam $341
Front Speakers: Focal 165V2 components $240
Sub box: Custom sealed box in stock location $75
Subwoofer: Alpine SWE1042 $70
Single channel amp for sub: Pioneer GM7200M $100
2 channel amp for front speakers : Pioneer GM6200F $110
Door pods: Custom made $100
Amp install kit: $80

Total cost not including head unit $1116

My goal is to have a nice sounding system without breaking the bank. The Z is my DD, so it has to be functional, I need the grocery space in the trunk, so an understrut box is out of the question. I have about $1200 to play with, so upgrades to the proposed system are possible, but I'm not certain where the money would best be spent. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

well what about the rear 6.5's?....I have the pioneer REV series as my old speakers...they are in perfect shape if you want them for the rear 6.5 location....they sound really good....I got them for $200 when they were new....so I'll give them to you for 80 bucks free shipping.

 

My plan was to ditch the rears all together, possibly at some point add 6" mini subs just for additional bass, but I had concerns about phase matching with the sealed box, and I didn't want to muddle up the front sound stage.

 

got it

 

I am by no means an audio expert, but I would suggest starting with a better head unit. It does not make sense to me to get nice speakers where you are just pumping garbage sound through them.

 

lol....he's right...

 

I decided on that head unit for a couple of reasons.

1: It's reviewed better than every other single or double din dvd touchscreen on the market, including Pioneer, and Alpine.
2: I have no intention of using the internal amplification from the head unit. Digital decoding of my Ipod and conversion to low level rca outputs which I am feeding to decent amplifiers should keep my sound quality decent.
3: It's my DD i'm not showing the car, i'm not taking it to competition, and the only reason I went with the dvd touchscreen is for the IPOD interface.
4: Including the IPOD cable the deck was $390 shipped to my door.

Bottom line I'm looking to get the job done nicely without spending a fortune. If I had unlimited resources I probably wouldn't be driving a Z and I wouldn't be asking people questions about a sound system that I am installing on the internet. I would take my Aston Martin to a professional audio shop, give them my credit card # and tell them to go hog wild. But, seeing that is not the case and I am doing the system myself, this is where I am at. I'm just looking for ideas of ways to either improve the setup (without changing the head unit) or do it for cheaper. I'm not saying I will never upgrade the head unit, but of all the parts in a car audio setup, it's by far the simplest to change out. I could do it in the Z on lunch while I'm at work. Therefor when I decide to go cheap, I go cheap there.

 

What's the point of this post? Translated, here's the way I read this; "I don't know what I'm talking about, but I would change out the one thing that you specified as already being decided upon. I have no useful input, I just like to be heard"

If you want to help me out, by all means please do so, if you don't then just keep it to yourself.

 

Were did you read that at?

 

I got my customer review information from Crutchfield.com Here's the link:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-HtBxsMx...110VM9311T#Tab

Here is the link to all DVD receivers if it doesn't sort from the link, do a sort by customer rating, then look at which comes up at the top of the list. It's also been rated by more people than most of the other units. It may not be definitive, and I know the low price factors in, but it says a lot for the quality of the unit itself.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-HtBxsMx...=Y&o=r#see_all

 

Hey man you asked for an opinion, you got one. It's your f'in car, do whatever the heck you want with it. Why even bother with your original post...

 

You're right I asked for an opinion.......... about the speakers, amps, and everything except the head unit. The point of the post was to get ideas and opinions about the balance of the system. The reply in question was not relevant. Never mind the fact that you prefaced the whole thing by stating in no uncertain terms that you did not know what you were talking about. I'm looking for input on anything to do with the system except the head unit, apparently that is far too difficult of a task.

 

What kind of feedback do you want? NONE!?!?!?!?!

"What's the point of this post? Translated, here's the way I read this; "I don't know what I'm talking about, but I would change out the one thing that you specified as already being decided upon. I have no useful input, I just like to be heard"

If you want to help me out, by all means please do so, if you don't then just keep it to yourself. "

That's a harsh retort! If you truly want input and this is not a "look at me....how smart am I" affirmation post............CHILL OUT!

 

Apparently I guess it's not possible to get a serious answer, perhaps if I start a thread asking about snow tires I would get some reasonable opinions about speakers. If you read my original post I thought I was pretty clear about what I am doing, why I am doing it, and what I'm looking for.

All I'm saying is; I ask for opinions and ideas about the 90% of the system that is not the head unit, and I'm not getting any on topic feedback. So I guess this thread is pretty worthless. If I made a retort about somebody's opinion about my speaker choice, or amp choice I would totally be wrong, but that isn't the case. On topic opinions are all welcome, off topic opinions are not, is it really that hard to understand?

 

Let me know if you plan on making the VM9311TS so you can watch DVD's or music videos while the vehicle is in motion. If you don't hook up your pink brake wire and insert a DVD while the car is started, the blue screen will come up. Hit stop twice on the remote.. enter 1264 on the remote, hit the down button once... hit enter.. hit the down button once more.. hit enter.. then hit the system store button twice. This will enable the player to play dvd's while in motion and will allow you to play avi's, mpegs, etc. This will be a blind operation as the screen will not work but after a couple of tries i'm sure you'll get it. Screw what everyone says about that head unit. I have one and it's great. Enjoy

 

I did find the override code on another forum, but thank you for the reply. I love the unit, I've been playing with it using the stock speakers, and it's fantastic. My only complaint is when you have a playlist in the Ipod and you access it from the 9311TS the songs all come up in alphabetical order. Of course if the playlist is running when you plug it in to the interface the play order comes up correctly. Have you had any similar experiences?

I have a library of 8200 songs, so navigating my library is a trick at best, thus the touchscreen.

I picked up the 9311 from Millionbuy.com a couple weeks ago which means I paid the same price for ordering it online as I would have if I had picked it up at Wal-Mart 2 weeks later. I guess it's all the same really, just a weird coincidence that the same time I order the unit it's available locally. Maybe next week I'll be able to buy Focal's over at Target.