I picked up my 08' SMB Z about three weeks back, and its been an amazing three weeks to say the least...the only gripe I've come up with (and I'm no audiophile, but I enjoy a good clean/tight sound) is that the audio is horrible...at least to my ears.

I've never done an audio build before, in past vehicles I've just stuck to headunit / speaker replacements. But I've got a nice signing bonus coming from a new job so....I've decided to have at it.

My total budget for electronics was 2500, however 400 of that is reserved for a Valentine1...so lets call it a budget of 2000 (though its mildly flexible). Theres a vast amount of knowledge around the forums here and I've been poking around for a few weeks, and this is what I've come up with so far.

-Kenwood DDX712
-Infinity Perfect 6.1 w/ WickedCAS pods
-Infinity Perfect 10.1 w/ WickedCAS corner box

I know I could get slightly better speakers and no door pods but I've read thats not generally the way to go - plus I have the Infinitys already and I've heard them and they sound great to me, so thats set.

I really have no idea what to do for amps though - my main point is that the Infinitys are 3 ohm and the majority of the amps I see in the price range are 4 channels that I would bridge to 2 channel for the appropriate amount of power but when bridged they only say 4 ohm stable? I see a lot of JL amps but that seems to be a decent bit out of my price range. I was looking at Apline and RF models.

Amp criteria:

400$ preferable...500$ max to power both components/sub
Speakers are 100w / 3ohm, sub is 400w / 4ohm

Bonuses:

- fits behind driver seat in false glove box area? (I believe I read the stock bose sub goes here) If not, no big deal.
- If two amps, same brand would be great

Thanks for looking and I'd appreciate any advice!

 

I love my Alpine v-power amps, I have them tucked away in the stock bose location.

 

2000$ is a nice budget for a system. I would pick an Eclipse double-din over the Kenwood you posted.

You're set on infiniti? They're ok at best but there are much better.

Amps, I don't see how your amp budget is set on 400-500 max for both power/sub amps when the budget is $2000, where's the rest of the money going?

If you want small, Alpine PDX amps no doubt are very nice, very expensive though. Other brands that I like are Memphis, Sundown Audio, Arc Audio, DLS, JBL GTO/Crown, US Amps, Rockford Fosgate Power Series there are many more. But your budget really is not that great for the amplifiers. I'd recommend the eD 5channel amp that's in your price range, it's pretty BIG but it's an all in 1 amp and cheap.

Here it is.

http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_...roducts_id=550

Oh btw I would not bridge anything, get the correct amps.

 

Thanks for the advice. As per where the money is going, the NAZAR box and pods are pretty pricey (although I've read they're of good quality and worth the price).

Approx. breakdown
Infiniti Perfect 10.1 - 140
Infiniti Perfect 6.1 - 230
Kenwood DDX712 - 589
Pods - 289.99
Corner box - 329.99 (this seems really expensive - are there more budget minded alternatives? I would like a corner box as its my DD and I often use the space under the strut bar)

Thats around 1500...wiring/misc 100...leaves me around 400.

I'll check out the eclipse units too.

 

Corner box seems pretty expensive, but that's going to have to be expensive since it's going to have to be custom, so that means fiberglass is a must and that's some labor. The price of the pods and corner box is taking a lot of the price. Do you use the area behind the strut bar near the front? You could use that area to mount the big ed 5ch amp.

 

I could probably use that area if needed but I'd rather stay away from taking up any space back there if possible.

You've turned my interest to this...even though its a bit more than I was looking to spend...

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...e+AVN5510.html

Are the RF Punch series not up to snuff? I think I could get a RF P200-2 for the speakers and a P400-2 for the sub in behind the drivers seat. My old man's a lot handier than I am, I'm sure I could get some sort of rack made to go into that area. The P200-2 is 50W/4ohm and 100W/2ohm so at 3ohm it would be a bit under the RMS for the speakers but acceptable? And is bridging something like the P400-2 really that bad? It seems so much cheaper than buying a comparable mono sub amp.

Also the eD amp looks like a good choice in terms of power/price, although it might be a bit light on the sub thats rated for 400@4ohm. Hopefully I can find something I can tuck away somewhere though.

Thanks!

 

I had nothing but good luck with eD and would still recommend them to anyone. In the course of my buildup I went through eD, Memphis, JL, and DLS. All are good, with the latter being great, but pricier. I would go with either the Memphis Belle or eD amp.

 

The eD amps are really good. Also, +1 on the Alpine V-power amp's. Very affordable, strong, clean amp's as well.

 

Speakers on two channels and bridge the other two to power the sub? Or is it a bad idea to bridge?

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...tab=review#tab

I'd have to measure exactly but the dimensions make me think I could get it in the stock bose sub area, plus one unit would be much easier to work with in there.