is this your daily driver?

 

Im about to get:
500 watt Rockford Fosgate Amp
12" Kicker L5
Custom made box
2 Rockford Component speakers
200 watt Rockford Fosgate 2 channel for door speakers
Pioneer 7" in-dash touch screen
Back up camera
7" navigation to put in the cubby
Wires for door speakers and amps
All that installed for 1800 bucks by a shop where i live that does top of the line work. This is my 3rd audio setup threw them maybe why i get such a good price. But $2600 is a lot to spend on a audio setup seems like your getting jipped.

 

If you're saving for college, is a 2k+ Audio setup needed?

Buy it online, then take it some place to install.

 

Quick question for all you guys. Do those speakers in the back even work? I never here **** coming from them? Maybe my radio settings r not right?? ( i know stupid question, told u i was didn't know crap! lol )

 

yes she is, the only car ill have for the next 7+ years probably...

 

Here is just an example of what you could do for a lot less money and get very good sound.

CDT CL-61A comps in the front $170.00

(2) Boston Acoustic GT-22, 2 channel amplifiers (1 will be bridged for subwoofer) $190.00 x 2

RE Audio SR10 subwoofer $180.00

Zenclosures stealth box for a 10. $130.00


Hell, you could even go with an aftermarket head unit with Navi and still be in a good price range. Pioneer is not my favorite, but these are just examples.

AVIC-F900BT $680.00 but if you wanted to keep your stock head unit you could go with a LOC like the Peripheral PCH8 for $155.00 (freakin awesome unit, by the way. I run it in my Titan off the Stock HU). If you need Navi, there are a ton of solutions and an ipod solution would be about $100.00

The amplifiers could be mounted in the glove box, and if you felt inclined you could even order the wicked CAS door pods for the speakers for another $270 I believe.

There is no need at all for those rear speakers in this car. You will get great sound from a nice front stage.

 

Ok so i guess no rear speakers guys! BTW. thanks for all the feedback

 

OP why are you so convinced that you would be unable to do the install on your own? If this is your first time modding I can understand it being somewhat intimidating, but if you can read and comprehend instructions, I'm confident you can pull off most of the labor on your own. Upgrading the interior speakers (laborwise) is tedious at most, but not difficult. When selecting your interior apeakers (I'm sure most will agree) skimp out on the rears (Infinity or Alpine both offer a decent quality yet cheap 6.5) and invest in a set of quality components for the front. I quickly threw together a package on Crutchfiled.com to illistrate how much you could save. Consider you claim to not be much of an audiophile, the items selected aren't going to win you any trophies, however they should be sufficient in making you happy on the occasions where you turn it up.

http://www.crutchfield.com/app/cart/default.aspx

That's $815 without a head unit, some misc. wiring, and an enclosure for the subwoofer. The route you take on those are basically personal preference i.e. navi, ipod, xm, single/double din, etc..for the radio. As well as if you are willing to give up the little bit of storage offered below and behing the rear strut brace. You can buy an enclosure from the forums or zenclosures. Or you can pay an installer to build u a custom box in the stock bose woofer location. I would personally read over all the DIY's in here, on google, and crutchfield.com first, then decide what you feel you are ABSOLUTELY incapable of doing, then pay labor for only those.

Feel free to PM with any questions you have during your installation if you try it, good luck.

 

man, seriously. If you want to drive down one weekend in Nov/Dec (Jan would be best as I will be off all month LOL) , I would help you with the install on stuff.

If you have a list of things you decide on, I can get most if not all of the stuff down here for a discount and tax free.

The reason I asked if it was a daily driver is that I would do the install for you if you could leave the car for a few days when I am off and do a write up and pictures.

 

The biggest reason I don't want to even attempt it is that i don't trust myself. Plus, if i feeck it up...well i feecked it up. If a installer does it he needs to take the responsibility. One other big thing. Patience is not one of my virtues =/

 

Ill need to think about that. Without my car im basically handicapped =/.

 

ok, here are some things to think about:

If you want the stock head unit you can use a Pac Audio converter that has it's own wiring harness for our head units. I think i paid in the 60$ range plus shipping. 200$ for something that does that is ridiculous.

Why use avi fronts if every other piece of equipment is focal? focal makes very high end speakers so why not just stay with that and run those up front?

Now, here's the weird part. About the stock head unit. You want a screen in the car and you're investing in all these high end speakers and amps, yet you are going to use just a converter for the stock head unit? that stock head unit doesn't come close to providing the quality of sound that those speakers can deliver so it will be limiting you greatly. For the 200$ on the cable you are going to spend and the 400$ on a screen you might as well just get a nice dvd head unit that has ipod and bluetooth already in it. Many units out there around 400-600$ (plus you'll need the double din mount).

Image dynamics make great sounding subs. good choice there. I would also agree to use a 5 channel amp for ease of installation verses 2 separate amps. It saves space too.

 

Hey man, you stationed down in SD? I'm at Pendleton, gonna be looking to do an install. You have an audio shop on base or something to get tax free? We got nothing here, and as far as I know, Miramar has a limited selection of electronics.

 

yep I am at the Naval Medical Center (for 2 more months, then off to Africa), Miramar has a stereo shop next to the gas station and they can get anything you want. Don't look in the exchange, that is just crap.

 

OP, you're getting some great advice here. Please take what is said by the above posters as gospel.

Install the system yourself, or get a friend/ forum member to do this. There are plenty of install instructions here on this site and many others covering any install you can think of. As Boosted intoned, nearly anyone can install a double din these days, it's really that easy. Hell, my 14 year old nephew installed my brothers system in his 96 vette. I've done it myself several times. Really not that hard.

Binder is 100% true and correct here when he says the stock deck will severley limit the awesome sound you will get some this high end speaker and amp combo (after some minor tuning). Don't shell out the cash and cheat yourself. Get yourself a decent unit with the features you want. I like Alpine. JMHO.

You said you're dropping the rears, at least at the initial install. Nearly everything I've read here says to do so. Better to put this money into a head unit or college fund! If you find "something" lacking, you can always install a moderate $ set for rear fill.

I've not met USN HM 350Z, but I've read alot of his posts and he seems like a good guy and knows his stuff (you can pay me later USN HM 350Z). Take him up or one of several others on here to do the install. Call Bing up north (SF area) and get his input. If I wasn't doing this myself, Bing would be my first choice. He's never done a bad install from what I can tell. Worth the drive if you go the Pro install route IMHO.

Do it smart, do it right. You'll thank yourself for a long time afterwards.

 

Here is the thing, i want the car to look stock. I dont want anyone to be able to tell i have aftermarket. That is why im keeping the stock radio ( if the side affect is not letting the system reach its full potential ). Your right though i should stick with focals all around. I guess i will go with the 5 channel amp ( will it fit in the glove box? )

 

Having personal experience with them over the years, the AVI Direct XL (the model I am assuming is in your quote) will make you happier than the comparable Focals in the same price range (165KF). This of course is a very personal opinion. You will probably get more votes for Focal but only because they are more prominent in the US than AVI.

I'm telling you, save money by going with a cheaper amp(s). You can get the same clean power as those Focal amps, but at half the price. And if you lose the rears (at least initially), you only need 3 channels of power (fronts and sub). What other lines does this guy sell?

If later on you want to add rear speakers back into the mix, just run the off the OE headunit power (as long as you have the OE Clarion unit).

Keep the ID sub, I'm guessing by the price it is the IDQ. You can find a sub that is comparable for cheaper, but probably not what the installer sells.

I don't think this guys prices are too bad for the screen in the cubby with the interface cable to the OE headunit. If that is the setup that suits your needs, then keep it as the installer suggests.

By taking these suggestions, and still using the pro installer that you got your quote from, you could get that quote down to probably $1800-1900 installed.

 

5 channel probably will not fit in the glove box. Nor will 2 amps. You'll have to find a really tiny amp for that.

I was unaware you wanted a stock look. If that's the case then no problem. I wanted the same thing on mine and i use the Pac audio converter. The thing is with that system, i know buying top of the line speakers aren't going to shine so you might as well save some money there. I went with Infinity Kappa Perfect components up front and Kappa coaxials in the rear for rear-fill. I also use a kicker 5 channel amp. By any means they aren't top of the line, but until i put a high end head unit i'm still limited on my sound quality. They sound night and day better than the factory and it still looks factory.

You might want to think about that. Then you'll have more money left over to pay someone to install it.

I forgot to note that i have a g35 coupe so i kept the rear fill. With a 2 seater and small cabin like the 350z i probably wouldn't mess with it.

 

Several of us here have 2 amps in the cubby behind the drivers seat.

 

oOoo....is that what you guys are calling the "glove box"? i didn't realize that. my bad! I was thinking about my g35's glove box. It barely fits my owners manual. haha