Want to upgrade stock audio....

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Old Feb 6, 2005 | 01:54 PM
  #41  
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Be advised that it's a 50x 4 amp- the 400W is "peak", WLS ("when lightning strikes").

Clarion amps do not have a great reputation...they've tried and tried, and personally I think they're probably about like Sony (which I don't like much), but Alpine has always seemed to be a better amp when it comes to noise rejection, protection, reliability, etc. Hard to beat $79... but if it seems to good to be true, it often is.

One of the only reasons I care is that the interface with the OE head unit has been considered risky, noise-wise, for years. I know it can be done with amps that have good front-end noise-rejection, but I don't feel very warm-and-fuzzy about trying it with an amp that might have noise when used with a regular RCA-output deck.

On the other hand, once you do all the wiring (and leave a little slack at the amp end), if it turns out that your amp is a problem, it's easy to swap it for something else - and you only risked $79 plus shipping. Of course, you have to add in the $25 shipping and handling, so it's $104...
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Old Feb 6, 2005 | 02:06 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by elduderino
Be advised that it's a 50x 4 amp- the 400W is "peak", WLS ("when lightning strikes").

Clarion amps do not have a great reputation...they've tried and tried, and personally I think they're probably about like Sony (which I don't like much), but Alpine has always seemed to be a better amp when it comes to noise rejection, protection, reliability, etc. Hard to beat $79... but if it seems to good to be true, it often is.

One of the only reasons I care is that the interface with the OE head unit has been considered risky, noise-wise, for years. I know it can be done with amps that have good front-end noise-rejection, but I don't feel very warm-and-fuzzy about trying it with an amp that might have noise when used with a regular RCA-output deck.

On the other hand, once you do all the wiring (and leave a little slack at the amp end), if it turns out that your amp is a problem, it's easy to swap it for something else - and you only risked $79 plus shipping. Of course, you have to add in the $25 shipping and handling, so it's $104...

good, call I could give her a wirl, and see where it brings me, and if i get a rejection, i could just resell the amp on ebay..

Looks like the mb quarts are the only ones that have the true sub 6X9 components. so i will have to go for those.

Next i need to go to a stereo shop and listen to the different type of tweets. You said you dont like the metallic sound of mb quart tweets, but i wanna see if i can give em a try.

I wanna stay fairly inexpensive if i can.
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Old Feb 6, 2005 | 02:13 PM
  #43  
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btw i was looking at the 50WX4 rather than the 400W total power.
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Old Feb 11, 2005 | 03:14 PM
  #44  
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Hey, jfonz, what's the update?
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 11:09 AM
  #45  
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jfonz, do you read, over... how'd it go?
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 10:03 PM
  #46  
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just outta curiosity,

what other options do you recommend on the F components? I was able to get the alpine amp off ebay for 135. I am trying to go a little bit cheaper than those alpines. If you could recommend a few brands, i would appreciate it.
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 12:01 AM
  #47  
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What price level you want to hit, you think?
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 12:39 AM
  #48  
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150 would be nice..
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 12:42 AM
  #49  
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What about A/D/S 235is
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 01:09 AM
  #50  
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guess what? I found the alpine spx-f13M's for 125


***ooops*** looks like that is for one speaker and one tweeter.
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 10:51 AM
  #51  
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$250 is still pretty damn low. They were MSRP $600/pr.
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 10:54 AM
  #52  
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For $150 I would say hard to buy anything turnkey off of the shelf that I think is worth it... I'd steer you to buy some raw drivers nd xover parts from a speaker distrbutor.
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 12:08 PM
  #53  
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Well i suppose i will have to work the alpines into my budget then. I guess since they are high end, they will sound awesome.

**what about CDT's?"
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 12:52 PM
  #54  
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Aren't too easy to find out here, but I hear good things about some of their stuff.

You can find good CDT's for $150?
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 01:43 PM
  #55  
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I saw some mention of onlinecarstereo dot come a while back. Wanted to mention my experience. I was calling about the Alpine F1's talked about in this thread. It takes days to get someone on the phone, and two different reps told me two different things (about whether the F1's are sold as a stereo pair, or per channel). Finally I got a rep who said they didn't have them anyway. My impression is that their website lists a whole bunch of stuff that they don't have. Scary part is that they let you buy it anyway on the website.


I don't know anything about the TSX, but most of the CDT's are 2 3/4" deep--so check your mounting depth before buying. (CDT answers their phones and returns emails--I like them).
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 02:32 PM
  #56  
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Looks like thezeb.com is selling"off-color" $300 CDT kits for $149...
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 08:10 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by elduderino
Looks like thezeb.com is selling"off-color" $300 CDT kits for $149...

those are 6.5 will they work?
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 08:13 PM
  #58  
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what a dummy i am, thought doors were 5.25... dang.. good thing didnt buy..
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Old Feb 21, 2005 | 03:44 PM
  #59  
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either works...once you're making a spacer...
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