Count me in as one of the crazy group. To date my prices are as follows
head unit 400
front speakers 400
custom door pods 60 and some personal labor
sub, amps, wiring 400
sound deadening 250ish
misc hardware, disposables, installation junk 50
zenclosures single 10 understrut box (yes to those who know me I caved, and you are the first to know) 150

Total 1710 give or take a bit, and I did the install myself. Feel free to add at least 300 for pods or kicks if you don't make your own, and figure there's probably 15 - 20 hours of intelligent labor into the install. (of course it's been well over 20 hours already, but I wouldn't exactly call myself an "intelligent" installer) You figure even at $50 an hour (which is mega cheap) for 15 hours that's 750 bones and there you are your very own 2800 car audio system with only 2 front speakers and 1 sub.

 

And people wonder why America is swimming up to it's eyes in credit card debt.

 

No credit card debt , but...
I’ve been following this thread, and would like to offer my personal experience. I don’t want to get into a debate or argue with any of the good points presented here. I just want to present where I started and where I ended up.

I have a 2003 Performance model that had the OEM equipment (stock radio, Clarion components in the doors, I have no idea what was in the rear position, and no amp). I decided to do a build-up, but with no real plan. In retrospect, that was a huge mistake. My first add was an Eclipse amp. That was better, but not great. Then I swapped in a good Clarion H/U. Again, better, but not great. Then I replaced the junk stock rear speakers. That was a huge improvement, so much so I actually faded out the fronts so I could hear the better rear speakers. That was totally stupid (fading out the front speakers because they sounded so bad and listening to better rear speakers that could not be staged properly). So I was at a point where I finally realized I needed a professional (somebody like bing). There are hardly any high-end installers in my city since Best Buy and Circuit City own the retail market here. But, I found a good installer who managed to keep most of the components I had already installed (the Clarion H/U, the Eclipse amp, and the Infinity rear speakers). The installer replaced the front door speakers with Focals, and balanced the system. And, now it sounds just great. I regret driving the car with a horrible audio system for years when I could have had a nice sounding system from the start. I have about a $2.5K investment in the entire system (including aftermarket navigation). No subW because I need the space for baggage (golf club bags and suitcases).
--Spike

 

so the reason you are posting in the audio forum is to tell us how lame we are for spending our cash on a nice sounding system? hehe

j/k with ya dude...

acutally, 90 percent of mycustomers pay with cash or check or MO hehe, very few CCs

 

so back to this coaxial vs components theory...are you saying I would get better sound if I were ...to say...ditch my factory component location setup, and instead get a set of coaxials mounted in...say...the Wicked C.A.S. door pods?

 

that question is hard to answer...coaxials byitself isnt bad interms of the desing, there are good high end coaxials that sound very good, such as the morel integra, or a SR6500 mounted coaxially

i would say a decent set of coaxials mounted in the wicked cas pod, driven off an amp, would definetly be better than the factory set up

b

 

heres my deal.

The optimum set-up IMO would be the zenclosure door pods with tweeter attached. This way, the mid is in a good, unobstructed controlled environment, and the tweeter is also not obstructed and close to the mid. But again, this is high maintenance and costly.

The second best option IMO is to buy components and mount the tweeter here
I MAY do this, but I hesitate drilling my doors. Im conservative this way. I like the option of removing my equipment (since I trade cars almost every year)

Third... good coaxials in a door pod, fourth in the door.

last place: components with tweeter in the sail panel.

 

im about to be ready for the next thing to do to my car which is the sound part and i have about 2k for equipment and what ever else for installation, i was wondering what you would consider with this amount of money bing? and i was wonder what is your own setup, just curious, any pics?

 

16psibrick, I wish there was a mechanic version of you, a guy at the the dealer ship version of you, and a alignment guy version of you. Too bad you're not in SOCAL.

BTW Im loving my BLOSE. I had a setup in my old car that I spent some $$ and never got it to sound right.

You all lose, carputer FTW..

 

i have my tweeters in the stock location and they sound pretty good.

 

of course they sound good. The left one is 2 feet from your face

j/k with you

my set up:

alpine with time correction: $300
polk audio coaxs $100
jl audio e4300 $300
IDQ12 $200
cables ~$100
total: $1000
....it can get clean AND loud and had all the right frequencies in the right place. Yes, I liked my $5k setup more. Realistically, me REAL problem is that I switch cars every year or year and a half, so this is why I stopped spending so much per car.

 

oops

 

No CC debt here.

 

if you want to see my set up, you can see EVERY install process here:

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index...howtopic=45993


its nothing fancy at all, but it does sound good enough that 95 percent of those who have listened to my car has decided to let me do an isntall in their car

and for your 2k budget...thats in equipent or equipment and labor? i dont wanna start quoting stuff all ovedr the place here haha, just send me a PM if you want

 

We'd only call you a moron if you didn't buy Onix Ref 3's for that money.... or less for Mini Strata's....