blanning

Hi everyone. I just picked up my 2008 350z last week. It has the base stereo which should be coming out shortly. I'm in the research phase for figuring out what's needed to put a system in this car and what's available these days.

I've done maybe half a dozen car stereos myself in the past 15 years so I sort of know what I'm doing. But it looks like this car will be a bit of a challenge. And I'd like to do things a little differently than I have in the past. I'd also like to hear opinions from others about what works well and what doesn't with this car.

My current system in my old car was cobbled together from leftover pieces and parts from other installs. I'll probably replace most of it. I have two rockford 12s in a box that most likely won't fit in the new car. I don't want to lose the hatch space anyway. I'm thinking i'll craig's list that and replace it with some sort of higher quality 10" sub that I'll place in the factory location. I'm not sure if I should be looking for a free-air sub or making an attempt to better seal the area behind the sub. Also not sure about brand these days. Back in the day, it was JL Audio and MB Quart up front.

I have an alpine HU that's not great but ok. I'll probably start with that and replace it with something double din with a touch screen later. I have a hifonics zeus amp driving the subs now and two four channel throw-away amps. So I'll need amps also. What does everyone like?

I'll have to buy a new component set for the doors. I'm a bit worried about mounting depth here. I'm also worried about the acoustic transparency of the perforations in the doors.

Can anyone suggest a good shop in the north half of chicagoland? one with a good sound board?

I'm sort of leaning toward not having rear fill. This seems a bit alien to me. But the car is so tiny that I think I can do without it. I was also toying around with the idea of putting 6.5" midbass drivers in there, maybe sealing the enclosures a bit better. Has anyone done this with good results? Should I even bother?

sorry about the rambling, tia.

brian

dtak59

For amps, I would get the Arc Audio KS series amps...specifically the ks 300.4 and the ks 500.1. I haven't personally heard the amps, but I have the older XXK amplifier and like it. The KS series are the (lower series) but it is smaller, more efficient, and have similar specs to the Foose series (replaced the xxk series). I'm thinking about getting the mono amp for myself. However, I cant seem to find anything reviews on those amps. Those two amps should be enough power and should accommodate any type of setup you choose.

For the Subs, I would get the new IDQ 10" V.3 subwoofer. I had/have the two older models of the IDQ and like it. The v.3 model is supposed to be a superior sub.

Cant help with the component speakers, as I am trying to find something good myself.

Hope it helped...Oh, and I currently have MB Quart Premium components and dont like it.

peaches05

for the sub box alot of people have used this

http://www.wickedcas.com/gallery/v/m...S+Sub.jpg.html

it allows you to put a 10' in without losing any space. word is that he is working on a new design for a deeper sub mount depth which is what im waiting on before i buy one for my car. as for the amp and the components im still working on that myself. there are alot of how-to threads on this website to help you out and if you've done some installs before you shouldnt have any problem

blanning

Thanks for the input. I've recently discovered eD subs from one of the other threads here. I haven't paid a lot of attention to car audio for 8 years or so. I think I need to listen to a lot of new brands.

brian

blanning

Thanks for the info. I'm also into woodworking so I have a complete woodshop at my disposal. I like the idea of something like the wickedcas box, but I can't bring myself to spend that much on a box, especially when it should be a cake walk to make my own box.

I'll probably pull the cover off and survey the area. Maybe I can build a box that I can fit in there. I'm also entertaining the idea of losing the spare tire. At least that way I can keep using my two rockford 12s which I'm fairly happy with. Maybe I could hide the amps in that area behind the seat then.

brian

StreetOC192

iTrader: (7)

Budget?
Goal, SPL or SQ?
What power level are you wishing to achieve?
What kind of music do you listen to?
Does the appearance need to remain stock or is it OK to alter the interior a little?

TheBlackPearlZ

iTrader: (15)

more info please..see above post

blanning

As car stereo people go, i'm probably not really picky. I mean, I'm listening to mp3s on an ipod in a car. So things can only be so good. But the stock stereo is really quite awful. I probably want a good balance between sound quality and volume. For the front components, I'll probably aim for around 50 watts a channel, maybe more, but not more than 100. For the subs, maybe 300 watts or so, maybe more eventually. More than 500watts for the subs is probably too much.

I listen to everything but rap and country (ok, I confess, a little of those things too, but not more than a few specific songs) with an emphasis on 80s pop, new wave, and metal. (god i'm old)

I don't need to maintain a stock appearance. I'll probably lose the spare tire. But I don't want to go really crazy. I've made speaker boxes before so I'll probably roll my own. I may even experiment with fiberglass.

I'm thinking I'll start using as many of my existing pieces as I can, then upgrade the system a piece at a time.

I have a 2x100 (4 ohms) channel hifonics amp that currently drives two rockford 12s. When I first got the rockfords, I liked them a lot. I had a hifonics 5 channel amp (that later died) driving the system. Since then, I've not been impressed with the performance with them hooked up to the 2x100. Although i believe the amp is 1 ohm stable, so I could wire the subs in parallel and bridge the amp. I'd rather get a proper sub amp though.

I think I'll switch the hifonics amp back to driving a (new) component set in the doors, then pick up probably a hifonics brutus for the subs. The amps will look different though which will drive me insane if I don't hide the amps where I can't see them. So I'll probably swap out the current hifonics amp for another one later.

I'm not set on hifonics though. And I'll probably replace the 12s later. I had been thinking JL audio, but seeing how many people hate them now, I think I need to listen to a lot of subs before buying.

I can spend what I want on the system. But I don't want to go crazy up front. I'd prefer to put maybe $500 into it to get it working, then add more money to swap out individual parts later. So that $500 would need to buy some components for the front (i'll disconnect the rears), a new amp for the subs. I'd like for the sub amp to have a remote bass level ****.

I want to replace the HU at some point with something like the AVIC. I'm also thinking about putting some 6.5" midbass drivers in the rear speaker locations at some point. That would need another amp. Then upgrade the subs maybe.

brian