First, I apologize if this has been covered in other threads. I did a few forum searchs and am not finding what I need. Obviously, I'm looking at some stereo upgrades. My basic requirement is a new HU with MP3 CD playback and Sirius Satellite capability.

At this time, I will likely buy a Head Unit, Satellite Stereo, and speakers. Later, I may add amps and sub, but it's not on the plate now.

Most receivers are single DIN and I realize I will need a dash mount kit for them (Metra #99-7402). also required for any unit is Metra wiring harness #70-7550 and antenna adapter. For Satellite Stereo, I need the receiver and satellite antenna

Okay... here come my questions. I am considering a phat double DIN Kenwood unit, the DDX7015... pics and specs can be found at Kenwood's website. Two questions about this unit...

1 - Specs say it has ISO mount capability for Japanese Vehicles. Does this mean I do not need the Metra mounting kit? (Minor concern since the dash kit is relatively cheap)

2 - To keep the factory NAV, I have read that I need a HU with a line mute and a special relay to allow NAV to work as it does now. The DDX7015 specs say it has a "2-Way Mute". Can someone tell me what this is exactly? I know a line mute is what I'm looking for. What's throwing me is the "2-Way" part.

3 - Will the DVD playback be disabled while the car is moving? And if so, how is this feature disabled so the DVDs can play while the car is moving?

Okay, that's all my HU questions. On to speakers...

4 - Am I correct in assuming my speaker upgrades consist of 4 - 6.5" (doors and behind seats) and 2 - 1" (doors near A-pillar) speakers? BTW, I have a non-Bose system

5 - Recommendations on speakers to replace these stock units? I've been looking at a Rockford Fosgate setup, but know little about the speakers in these sizes. My speaker budget is approximately $250-$300. No amp at this time, but may add small amp for 6.5s later and/or a big amp and sub sometime down the road.

6 - Will most 6.5s mount without modification to the doors/behind the seat locations?


7 - Any other comments / advice on selecting my components and installing them?

Thanks in advance for the help! I will be purchasing upgrades in the next week with the intent of having them in before Veterans Day weekend. So any quick advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

$300 is a good starting point for the speakers. However, without and amp, you should look at more efficient speakers than RF. The punch series is a good lineup, but usually is power hungry in order to make great sounds. Infinity tends to make fairly efficient speakers in recent years, so that may be an alterantive for you.

Being a sound quality guy, I would really suggest that you think about adding a 4-channel amp to run the setup. A standalone 50x4 amplifier will be able to give you much better power than the internal 50x4 or most any aftermarket head unit. Adding the amp will require a lot more work (where to mount the amp, where to run the wires, pay for the amp and the wires, and running the speaker wires from the amp to the speakers) but I think it is worth it.

I dont know much about the Kenwood HU so I will leave that to the others, but I can say that 6.5's will fit in the doors with spacers that you can make or have made for you...it took me 5 minutes on my router.

Good luck on the stereo and sorry if my rambing here has left you with even more questions
-jim

 

Thanks, Jim....

mcduck now considers cheaper single DIN w/4-channel amp as option over the phat double DIN HU... hmmm

 

Ducky,

Below is a description of how I revamped my (non-bose) stero system. It is not spot on to your requirements but may contain a few clues. I would suggest an amp as well.

http://www.350zfrenzy.com/forum/show...ighlight=stero

 

Hey mcduck,

First of all, if you buy that Kenwood HU, you will still need a dash kit. It will iso-mount, but b/c the z's dash is curved, it leaves a gap. That Metra kit comes with a piece that will work nicely.

Secondly, if you do decide on a single-DIN, don't buy the Metra kit. American International makes a MUCH more cosmetically appealing kit. Buy.com has it for ten bucks.

Thirdly, I would advise spending your $300 speaker budget on a good set of seperates up front as opposed to coax's. Infiniti makes good ones for your budget, but there are better ones out there if you have more cash to spend. You can see my sig. for what I put in. Try ebay for your speaker needs, tends to be much more economical, IMHO.

Fourth, when installing your 6.5's, the rears (if you decide to replace them) should slap right in. You could actually get away with a 6.75, which some manufacturers make, but 6.5 is fine. The front's, your factory Clarion's have a basket cast out of plastic that doubles as a mounting bracket. I just cut the speaker part out with some trimmers (or you could Dremmel also) and mounted my 6.5's straight on top with a dab of caulk to complete the seal. Fit like a glove and sounds FANTASTIC.

With regards to powering your new set-up, if you're not going to get a new amp, there are some stereo manufacturers now making head units with built-in MOSFET amps. I don't know the spec's on the 7015, so I can't comment specifically. These are much better quality than the standard built-in noise makers most stereo's include. They require the running of a whole new power cable to the battery and tend to provide far superior power to others. If you're not getting an amp, I'd look for one of these.

OK, phew! That's enough typing for now. Sorry for the long post, I hope it's helpful!

 

I will second the recommendation of adding an amp to power your stock speakers over replacing them and running off of the HU. The HU will push out around 22watts rms. That's not quite enough for the components unless you get a more efficient brand like recommended in the above post.

Instead of getting a set for the rear, put that money into quality components up front.

To make the 7015 able to play vidoe while the car is running, you need to ground a wire. Most people will ground it to the parking brake. I've seen one person here ground it to the chassis.

Check out the Clarion line if you're looking for a single DIN. I'd recommend the DXZ-945MP.
http://www.clarion.com/usa/product/i...ategory=source

Here's a 4-channel amp by MTX.
http://www.mtxaudio.com/caraudio/archive/rt4240.cfm

 

stu, bring back your avatar! That chick is HOT!!!

 

At the request of motown, she's back!

 

mmmmmmmmmm.....

stu, that girl rocks...

 

We are now returning this thread to its origional owner & purpose!!

 

I say screw the rear speakers which will just kill your front imaging and dump the extra money into buying better front component speakers or an amp.

I also highly recommend running an amp for your front speakers.

Again - screw rear speakers, get better fronts or get an amp. Regardless of rear speakers or not - get an amp!

If you do want rear speakers - go buy some $50 coaxs and put them at very low volumes. Seriously, except for surround sound stuff - rear speakers are useless.

 

Did a little research for ya. From what I've gathered from your post, you're looking to spend around $1300 for the HU and components, 1k for 7015 and 300 for components.

There's a couple options you can go with.

I've seen the Clarion DXZ945MP on ebay for $325 and an Xtant 2.2 for $250. Still leaves you with a lot left over for components.

You can get the 7015 and get the Xtant 4.4 for around $360 and you're still in your budget. You can then look for components up front and for the rear.

Lastly, you can get a HU for around $325, an Xtant 4.4 for around $360 and add a sub. Still keeping your stock components.

I assume if you get the 7015, you'll be watching movies at one point in time. Well, your passenger at least. I would suggest to atleast keep the stock rears and run it off the HU.

I looked for the MTX amp on ebay that i recommended earlier, not there. Also did a quick search on google, didn't find too much. It looks good from what i've gathered from the MTX site.

 

stu (and all), thanks for the input. As you will find at the bottom, I have a couple lingering questions.

You are dead on with the budget. Basically, I figured $750 for everything (or $1300 if I go with the DDX7015).

Was originally looking at...
Kenwood KDC-MP925 HU.... approx $300
Sirius Satellite Reciever & Antenna... approx $80
Install, Antenna and Wiring kits............ est $50
Remaining Budget for Speakers............ $320

I can obtain the Kenwood DDX7015 for around $850 (give or take 2-3%) on eBay. So with that, we get the $1300. Also, the DDX7015 does have MOSFET 4x50 built in amp. Found out in this wonderful review

What I'm hearing based on the input above...
Highly recommended that I get an amp. If necessary sacrifice on new rear speakers. Keep factory rears (not run off an amp), especially if I go with the DVD head unit.

One thing I did not mention is that this is not going to be the end-all-be-all of my sound system. I will do a phase II where I will add the amp you all are recommending I get now and an LCD display in the hatch area. And possibly a phase III where I would add amps and subs. So what I am thinking about now...

Kenwood DDX7015
Satellite Radio setup
Nice set of door speakers and tweets
Keep factory rears

I will then evaluate to see if I can live with that for the time being. If I find a speaker deficiency, I'll run out and get some new 6.5s for behind the seats. If I find a gross power deficiency (I know I'll want more, but the question will be "is it enough for now?")... so... if I find a gross power deficiency, I'll run out and get a mid-tier 4x40 or 4x50 watt amp.

So, I still have this outstanding question... what to get with my $320 speaker budget? Keeping in mind that I might turn around immediately and go buy another pair of 6.5s or an amp. So figure more like $250 for the front 6.5s and tweets.

One final question... a suggestion has been made to go with whatever headunit and an amp (such as the Xtant 4.4) and retain the original speakers. Will the stock speakers handle that much load? I find this suggestion appealing as it allows me to avoid speaker expenses entirely for the moment. I was just worried that much power on the stock speakers would be detrimental to the speakers. Anyone know how much power can be safely put on the stock speakers?

Thanks again for the help!

 

I'm kind of in the same boat as mcduck...Base model Z with intent on stereo upgrades. My main question to everyone, if I get amps that total to around 600w do I need to worry about my battery failing over time? Or will my alternator burn up over time trying to keep my battery juiced? I've had both happen to me on my old 86 Z.

 

mcduck,

these are the speakers I was considering...

front
http://store.yahoo.com/csexpo/pe61inka6car.html

rear
http://store.yahoo.com/csexpo/60inre6carsp.html

Not sure if those are the best prices...

 

disregard the last question. I did a little digging and found my answer. From what I have read, the stock speakers start out as crap (knew that) and more power only make them worse (did not know that).

So, I'm back to...

DDX7015
Satelllite stereo components
speaker upgrades all around

After install, I will evaluate to see if I can live with the sound quality for a couple of months until I am ready to buy an amp and add my second video display. If not, I'll find a way to add a good 4x50 amp

So, my only outstanding question is what speakers I should be considering. My budget is $320-$350. I know I can get some really nice ones if I spend a lot, but I really need to stay on budget. Considering Polk CF separates up front and Polk CF Co-axials in the rear. This entire set up would be under $300 via eBay. Any other suggestions?

[edit]zquicksilver... thanks for the links. Will add the Infinity Kappas to my list since they appear to clock in about the same total price as the Polks I mention above for all 6 speakers.

 

Zquicksilver: Yes, you'll have to worry about both if you draw enough current without upgrading your electrical system to compensate.

mcduck: Sweet about the Kenwood having a mosfet amp. The big advantage there IMO is that when you do buy an amp, you can use the built-in mosfet amp to power your rear speakers (traditionally, don't need a lot of power) and buy yourself a good 2-channel for just the fronts. As far as not upgrading the speakers, I might recommend that you change the head-unit first, powering the stockers with the nicer mosfet unit and see how you like it. If that keeps you satisfied for a while, better still. As far as over-powering, there is a sensitivity adjustment (ie gain ****) on every amp that, if turned down to the appropriate level, will stop you from 'overpowering' and cooking your stock speakers. The only thing I don't know about is the ohm load of the stockers. I'm sure there's a forum member or two out there that could chime in on that...

Good luck to you both!

 

mcduck,

I've pushed over 100 watts rms to the front speakers only, a side. A lot of people were surprised on how well it sounds with power. Not to mention it's a $300 amp x 2. So they will easily take 50 rms. As long as your HU can controll the tone, it will sound decent.

I don't think the 7015 puts out 50x4 rms. I'll need to check, my friend has one.

I would suggest you go with the 7015. Well worth the money. Modding the car, whatever it be, patience is a must. Do you wait a little longer and get the "better" piece or spend what you have now and get a little less? Oh, and pics is a must....lol

 

Zquicksilver,

your stock alt and battery will be fine. I'm running 1200 watts rms with everything stock. My lights don't even flicker.

 

While I would agree that in the near-term, battery and alternator should not be an issue, it has been my personal experience that drawing anything more than 125% of what an alternator's rated capacity is will result in a halving of it's lifespan as well as an accelerated deterioration of battery life. Again, just my personal experience, you'll never even know about it for prob. two years. Normally, your alternator would last you 3-5. My current system is drawing circa 120 amps over what the alternator's rated to do, so I'm just building into my budgeting having to replace 'er in two years time.