Sound before car??

[A Dawg Jr]

Simple question that's all personal beliefs. But I'm curious to see what you guys think. Would you rather but in a sound system, or get body/engine work done. Of course you have to get an engine that works before you can put a system in, but what about mods? Do you spend money on sound before mods and body work, or money on mods and body work before sound??

Personally I put money into body work before sound. I think a car that looks good should sound good. But look before sound. And sense I really can't afford too many mods, body work before mods, then sound, then engine mods.

Dumb question I know, but I'm kinda curious about other peoples prefferences...

[87DXHatch]

Heh, I think you could probably guess my stance on this point :D

I've spent ~$1700+ on my system, and my car cost me $1000... the back left CALIPER is half gone (need to replace), the front bumper is half torn off (from an accident that gave me $1200 for a major system upgrade), which I'm going to replace with a DX bumper soon.

I just love music... and the closer I can get to perfection with my sound system, the better. I'm also going into EE most likely for my career (hoping to land a job at Elemental Designs, Adire Audio, or some other audio company, designing speakers/amps/other electronics) ending up with some career in audio. My car is secondary, but I really don't neglect it that bad, because it's my roving concert hall, it needs to be taken care of too.

[pimp86LX]

IM all for car first.....but paint+reapair work would cost a lot(around $1500-2000CAD) so...i threw in a decent entry level system for about $800CAD.

[Hash_man_Se_i]

My car is in near mint shape, being in my family for around 10 years now, so I think that next on my list after my exaust is a system, after my friend put his in his 300zx, I really want my own,.

[danronian]

I spend money on the sound system in my car (even though it is mainly Jensen it still costs the little money I can spend on it) mainly because the body on the accord is pretty shot (rusted out around the wheelwell on both sides and the holes are filled in with weatherstrip adhesive, but you can't really notice since its all black, and the clearcoat is peeling off of the roof and hood, and the doors have tons of dings). But in the same way I would spend money on mechanical parts to keep it running great far before I would spend money on the sound system.

[88 Accord DX]

im with Dave on this one. i love music and i cant stand to listen to it on a crappy ass system. plus, if you ever do get a new car everything can be moved.

[87DXHatch]

plus, if you ever do get a new car everything can be moved.

That is key

[mykwikcoupe]

from a personal standpoint, as long as the car is functional Id spend the $$$ on system. just to let you know magnolia hi-fi loves me. The first time i walked in the door I dropped 1000 on a deck that retails for 1200. The second trip I dropped 15000 on home theater. My only regret is that ive now got a hi-def rear projection rather than a front projection. Its nice having friends in the car audio world. I recently put a order in with the infinity rep in my area and saved 150 on 3 sets of speakers retail so more like 100 my cost. Just my $.02

[88 Accord DX]

hey dude hate to burst your bubble, but no matter how good of a deal you get in a store, you can get it for cheaper on the internet.

[pimp86LX]

yah the internet is great for deals. I like to buy retail though. Im not really sure why, mabe is just the feeling of watching the salsemen as you drop mega $$$ on the counter and smile :D. And its not like you can't get deals from retail, its just a little harder.

ie) my entire entry level system, bought retail, cost just shy of $800.(bought everything over a year or so)
I spent the time building my enclosure and installing it all myself and it can hit up around 123-125db with great SQ. (btw thats only 1 12" sub and 2 (300w) amps

The internet is the best way to go if your on a budget and have enough time. If time is a problem and money isn't, go drop a couple G's at a local audio store and have it all pro-installed.

The philosiphy that i live buy is this: "You have 3 elements; Fast, Cheap, and Good...you can only pick two."

[88 Accord DX]

well i have unlimited patience plus i do all my own install. so i can order somthing and do it myself. the alpine 9813 was $429 at my local store. he said he could give it to me for $399. i ended up buying for $315 on Ikesound.

[86accordhatchback]

as long as my car is in good running condition and can get me where i need to go the money goes into the system. my car has dings and dents and all kinds of uglyness all over it. but u can hear it commin a mile away. and it doesn't rattle. i just love good quality soundin music

[NXRacer]

I was lucky when i got my accord because i had already invested in a decent system before. I actually had a thumpin system in my fiesta. Which was pretty funny because my system was work like 5x more then the car. But NE ways, when i got my honda, it already looked ok cause i bought it with wheels on it and it was lowered. If i got a new one all over again, i'd probably make it go fast/look good before i dumped money in a system. As long as it had a decent CD player and 4 good speakers, thats all i need. I like going fast more then i like heavy bass.

[BDaccordguy]

I went sound with my nearly $1000 worth of audio, then appearance, and now im on to modding the engine.

[mykwikcoupe]

As far as iinternet shopping goes, yes the price is cheaper but what about the warrenties say anything might happen. The Yamaha reciever I got I could have saved a few hundred but I also got a sevice plan and good luck shipping something 5 times each year for the service and still saving. As far as car audio, I ve got friend that runs a shop si I pay wholesale.

[88 Accord DX]

ikesound has a 1 year warranty
elemental designs has a 3 year warranty on all subs and amps.
and i dare you to find better subs and amps at such a low price. i know dave will agree with me when i say that elemental designs is one of the best internet companies out there.


Originally posted by 86accordhatchback
...... but u can hear it commin a mile away. and it doesn't rattle......

if your car doesnt rattle you either dont have enough bass or your a lying sack of shit. you could put 3 layers of sound damping material on every inch of your car and with at least 500W pumping through there, your gonna have a little rattle. hell my muffler rattles right now and i dont even have any subs or amps. all i have is my HU and 6.5's

[A Dawg Jr]

Same here man, my car shakes and rattles all over and rigt now I just have front and backs that are amped though I guess...

[Bloodlust]

Hehe.. well lets just say I have spent over $3,000 dollars on my system and like $2,000 on other parts of my car. But now I am saving up for a house with my girlfriend so I dont have time for toys anymore.... NAH IM GONNA BUY THAT SHIT IF I WANT TO. But anyways, if I could do it all over again, I wouldnt have even gotten any audio stuff. I would have put more money into the engine and stuff.

[88' Accord Ltd]

When I had my old accord I spent $1300 cdn on my system, the thing POUNDED. I sold it all to help pay for my EX-i though. Now I'm more into making the thing go fast first, and making the perfect system later. I have a nice HU and speakers just no amp or subs.

[BITESIZE]

I would rather have a nice looking car and fast car than a loud, unecessary system. I would rather ride in style with an affordable stereo, than go deaf at early age.

[87DXHatch]

Originally posted by 88 Accord DX
ikesound has a 1 year warranty
elemental designs has a 3 year warranty on all subs and amps.
and i dare you to find better subs and amps at such a low price. i know dave will agree with me when i say that elemental designs is one of the best internet companies out there.



if your car doesnt rattle you either dont have enough bass or your a lying sack of shit. you could put 3 layers of sound damping material on every inch of your car and with at least 500W pumping through there, your gonna have a little rattle. hell my muffler rattles right now and i dont even have any subs or amps. all i have is my HU and 6.5's

I do agree that Elemental is one of the best car audio internet companies, but I do not agree on the rattling. In my 87 Hatch, I had rattling pretty much no matter what I did... but in my 89 coupe, I have next to 0 rattling... and I'm running 600 watts to a e15k (15" sub) in a huge ported box. It all depends on the individuals car, with rattling, and damping is for keeping sound in, and killing resonances, not for stopping rattles.

You stop rattles with camper tape and Great Stuff ;)

[Versanick]

You guys are farkin crazy. I'd always make my car faster before body before sound... but sound is just too cheap nowadays unless you're going for spectacular quality. Let me tell you about the system in my Intrepid (going into my Accord soon, new-like)

$50 deck. Anywhere. Wal-Mart. Online. Get a decent brand that you've heard doesn't distort too bad, maybe is older, is either 40x4 or 45x4... 50 if your lucky. Make sure it's got your basic left/right channel RCA outs on the back (two sets for two amps if you run them both straight from the deck)...

Then the amp... oooh goodness the amp. This matters so much for the quality of sound. But for pounding loudness... just get something cheap. Go on eBay and look for cuspid 1600W (max) amps. $90. Let's say you pay $105 with shipping.

Now you can find 15" (cheap) subs by some company you've never heard of that are supposably rated 800W max (one which I got, which is branded Q-Power) with a small magnet, but 15" nonetheless... (they sell pairs of 12"'s for comparable prices, pick your take). The 15" I bought was $35, or a total of 50 after shipping ($USD by the way).

Now, I'd never buy a box unless I was some rich kid. Get 3/4 ply from your hardware store. RTV gunk (to seal the box), and some power-connecters to go into the box (the things you can clip the +/- wires right into the outside of the box that wire from that part to the sub within the box). You might spend $10... $20 if you're not into bargain-hunting or scrapping. Mine costed $0.

Get a wiring kit from Wal-Mart ($30 at the most for the super-deluxe one with the 4 gague wire, which I chose) or the $25 one with 8-gague wire... not that it makes much difference, the rest of the kids both have pretty much all you'll need.

Now get some highs... I found the same brand (cuspid, not labeled on the auction, but on the boxes in the pictures) of tweeters, to get 10 pairs (not 10 tweeters, but ten PAIRS) for $23 plus shipping. I think I paid $32 total. I installed 4 pairs in the Intrepid, spliced RIGHT OFF the old speakers.

So let's see what we have here, $50 + 105 + 50 + 20 + 30 + 32... let's throw in another $50 for maybe a face plate, a 12V tester if you don't have one, and a couple of big-azz fuses to wire your system with... maybe for a pizza party when you're done too.

So you've got $337 at the most.... I probably put together everything for $200 after not paying the kid for my amp, trading 4 pairs of tweeters to someone for the deck, having the materials for the box, and wire cutters and tools already laying around. Now let me tell you... I have the loudest high-hats hitting in town (the tweeters are crappy if you just have a pair, but real loud/high quality if you have two spliced from each speaker, and the treble loud... they don't make much noise) and, dead honestly, the cleanest sounding bass of any one of my friends with $2000-$3000 retail systems...

Dead serious. It's not the loudest... it's not THE highest quality sounding (although very good, just play with your settings in your deck and tune your amp), and it's not the cleanest looking... but it's the best way to hit 110dB with a bunch of tweeters (the kids with subs dont' like that my tweets are so loud lol) and 10-15 more if you include the sub.

If you guys are into wiring stuff yourself, and want a system that sounds good (multitudes better than factory), go ahead and do what I did, or morph it however you want. I did it all online, and no, the warranties aren't great, but if I just spent half as much money as someone else did, I could buy EVERYTHING again, and still make out with the same boom-boom-chik coming from the half-rolled-down windows of my car.



And my Accord's license plate rattles like crazy!

that's my 37 cents... lol!

later
-paul

[87DXHatch]

I'm not even touching this one :)

[A Dawg Jr]

:lol

[Versanick]

What?

I hope you guys don't think I'm joking

Because I'm dead serious...

Where I come from, we have a motto... don't pay full price for ANYTHING. Not because we're cheap... because we're poor kids

lol

[87DXHatch]

Oh I totally believe you, it's just that what you described sounds ghetto-er than the ghetto itself.

But I know what you're talking about, and I totally agree with never paying full price. If I had paid retail for my car... hmm... it would have cost me about...
Front Speakers: $600 +
Sub amp: $500 +
Fronts amp: $400 +
Sub (arriving soon): $700 +
0-guage wiring: $100 +
Dampening: $200 +
EQ: $150 =
$2650

However, I only spent about $1500 on everything, I got awesome deals on everything I bought.

[i.c.]

i saw this 3g with faded chipped paint, steelies, and broken windows...broken bumpers (BOOM BOOM BOOM) whole fucking ground was shaking, everyone was laughing at it...GHETTO

[luCid89LXi]

haha i had about 250 to blow on my car and instead of buying a new header that i needed i bought my cd player...i plan on gettin a couple subs soon too...JL, or Audiobahn

[toastyghost]

It just depends on which you like more among driving hard, looking good, or having tunes. Personally I want the 3g I'm going to buy someday (har har) to have a balance of each.. nice kit but nothing too extravagant or too custom, B20A and some bolt-ons but no major engine work, and a mid-level Infinity/JBL system that is really clear and loud enough but not FUCKING LOUD.

[charlesb2003]

as long as my car is in good running condition and can get me where i need to go the money goes into the system. my car has dings and dents and all kinds of uglyness all over it. but u can hear it commin a mile away. <b>and it doesn't rattle.</b> i just love good quality soundin music

youy have a hatch right? how did you get all the rattles out? my mom has a hatch, and i just bought one, and both of them rattle like crazy just driving down the road. not to mention the road noise and suspension squeaks and stuff. what's your secret?

[TheWatcher]

$50 deck. Anywhere. Wal-Mart. Online.
Everyone has a different tolerence for crap. :)

Personally, no way would I tolerate a sound system from Walmart. :lol:

And as far as going fast ... you have a 3g accord. If you want fast, get a teg.

I'm going to agree w/ the majority, you have to have a good sound system. My suggestion is to sell off some CDs on ebay, your PS 2 or whatever to get the money for your sound system. Get a good head unit and speakers for now. You can upgrade to amps, subs, cross-overs, etc., when you have the money to spend.

And as far as buying over the internet, whatevers, but make sure you listen to whatever you plan to buy in a store first. You have to listen to make an informed choice (esp. when it comes to speakers). Buying car audio w/o listening in person, is like buying jewelry on the internet ... it's just not a good idea. Personally, I bought everything locally, except my rear speaker, because the car audio shop did not have any in stock (they only had the display speakers in the sound board). So I was forced to get my rear speakers (Kenwood Excelon) from Crutchfield (the horror ...)

Good luck.

[halxi]

i went with a system first.

For this simple reason:
build it right, and do it right the FIRST time, 9 times out of 10 speakers/subs/amps/decks CAN be transferred to a new vehicle (if bought), plus it gives you something to bump to and bring attention to your car when you want it.

[suvsareretarded]

Simple question that's all personal beliefs. But I'm curious to see what you guys think. Would you rather but in a sound system, or get body/engine work done. Of course you have to get an engine that works before you can put a system in, but what about mods? Do you spend money on sound before mods and body work, or money on mods and body work before sound??
Personally I put money into body work before sound. I think a car that looks good should sound good. But look before sound. And sense I really can't afford too many mods, body work before mods, then sound, then engine mods.
Dumb question I know, but I'm kinda curious about other peoples prefferences...

I think dented cars with rusty panels and huge systems are ghetto. Blech. Same goes for almost any honda with a bodykit and a fart tip. There's a reason that people with REAL ACTUAL money don't buy hondas and throw bodykits on them.... there's a reason spoiled asian kids and ghetto thug white kid wannabes put bodykits on them. It's lack of knowledge, and a problem percieving social cliques that make them think dumping money on fiberglass nasty ass pieces will somehow make htem more extreme and 'cool' and hopefully accepted.

Yuck.

[3rdCoast]

So wtf are you getting at? System 1st or car mod/body work 1st?

[Cheeseburger]

lol i dont even think most of the guys who posted in 03 are here anymore but who cars lol... i would go with engine mods

[POS carb]

systems have always been my #1 priority

[Sabz5150]

My system cost less than a thousand bucks and I got one hell of a system for that price. Just like my engine mods, I pieced it together over time, looking for the right parts and style. Eventually I wound up with the rather badass stereo I now have. No rattling because the subs only have 120 watts going to them each and there's only 35 watts to the fronts/rears and 25 to the center... so that's what, a hair over 400 watts total? Don't need anything more than that. But what I lack in sheer power I gain tenfold in clarity.

Car audio, engine mods, bodywork... doesn't matter... do your research and you will come out on top with a wallet that is still fat with cash.

[suvsareretarded]

If you want fast, get a teg.

It's all relative. I'd say if he wants fast to get something with displacement and RWD. :sad2:

[crazykamper]

i personally, dont exactly care what the car Looks like, as long as it drives, and i can listen to music, (music that doesnt sound like crap on stock speakers) (my old ones didnt have anything left of them when i took them out, it was just a middle thing and thats it!) lol :)

[A20A1]

Simple question that's all personal beliefs. But I'm curious to see what you guys think. Would you rather put in a sound system, or get body/engine work done. Of course you have to get an engine that works before you can put a system in, but what about mods? Do you spend money on sound before mods and body work, or money on mods and body work before sound??
Personally I put money into body work before sound. I think a car that looks good should sound good. But look before sound. And sense I really can't afford too many mods, body work before mods, then sound, then engine mods.
Dumb question I know, but I'm kinda curious about other peoples prefferences...


Personally I don't have sounds in my car, I didn't get a car to listen to music, I could get a CD or MP3 player and be happy with heaphones. Anything louder would to me seem like you want to to show off to others, and honestly not many people appreciate lound sound systems blaring down the road... nor do they like loud raspy 4 cylinder exhausts.

I got some 15" rims and tires, and that was my best mod.

Everything else from my carburetor modifications and swaps to building my 4-1 header were motivated more to gain understanding then full on performance gains.

If I had to plan it out again I would have just painted my car in a two tone and got the rims and tires. After that I'd leave the car alone aside form regular maintenance.

EDIT:
Oh my goodness, Why did you guys bring back this old thread. Hehehe, I thought it was recent.

[Busted_Blue]

Simple question that's all personal beliefs. But I'm curious to see what you guys think. Would you rather but in a sound system, or get body/engine work done. Of course you have to get an engine that works before you can put a system in, but what about mods? Do you spend money on sound before mods and body work, or money on mods and body work before sound??
Personally I put money into body work before sound. I think a car that looks good should sound good. But look before sound. And sense I really can't afford too many mods, body work before mods, then sound, then engine mods.
Dumb question I know, but I'm kinda curious about other peoples prefferences...

I would say no car should have a sound system work more than the car itself =)

I had a nice deck and some nice replacement speakers thats all i needed. I'm a sound freak at home but when it comes to driving on the road, A mp3 headunit + some good speakers is all I need. The rest of the money can go into something more useful to make the car look better and go faster.

[russiankid]

i would say work on the body and the engine at the same time, or engine first, you want a car that you can count on, that wont die on you on the hwy. after that fix the body probs that need to be fixed, then later on do sound, personally i cant go without a cd player in the car, so thats the first thing to go in

[jigga89SEi]

I don't go all crazy with sound... I got some 12s an amp and HU, clarion 6x9s in the back n mb quartz up front... total... 500... Now i'm all about engine, performance and looks

[TheWatcher]

I don't go all crazy with sound... I got some 12s an amp and HU, clarion 6x9s in the back n mb quartz up front... total... 500... Now i'm all about engine, performance and looks
My HU cost more than 500 all by itself. :lol:

Peace.

[3rdCoast]

what hu is that?????

[halxi]

yea my HU was $450 :sad2:

Kenwood HDC-7028

Its gone down in price a fair amount now, since it was last years model, but thats ok... i still like it :)

My subs were on clearence, half price, $200 for both
Amp was $500
Box was $120
Diamond D3 6.1i door speakers were $130
Pioneer 3 way 6x9's were $150
Monster cable stuff for subs $150

plus wiring, and some other little misc things...

$1750ish with all of the misc items.

[Whistler225]

sorry to post in an old thread like this

I agree with A20A to a degree. I think mechanicals are the number 1 priority. Then the appearance of the car, then the stereo. People (on here, and in the real world) all seem to agree that a crappy looking car with a 2000 dollar system is "ghetto." In my opinion, it's also like putting a great big target on your rear window that says "I didn't bother to fix up this car, so go ahead and smash out my windows and take my high dollar system."

I love that term "fart cans!"

The first thing I did when I got my Accord home was make sure it wasn't going to strand me somewhere. Yeah, it still has a few minor idling issues etc I need to iron out, but the car gets me to work and I don't worry that it might not. The rest of the carb stuff is being done over the weekends, and I'm doing the mechanical research first, appearance second, audio third.

Having said that, I did get a new HU for my birthday, but it's just a little Sony CDX-GT200 with MP3 and an Aux input for my ipod. I bought two 6.5" Pioneers for the front doors for about 50 bucks, and put the Pioneer 6x9's I've had in 4 cars in the back deck. It sounds fine to me for now. Now I can concentrate on what matters....making the car run/drive nice, and look good.

*plink plink*

[Gemini2003]

I say music over mods. Unless you have a great system from your last car :-D

LOL I bought my car for $600

My 2 15's and two amps was worth $3000 paid $1100
My mids where worth $450 paid $300
My deck was $350 paid $275
My wiring cost about $150 paid about $150

[sinisterfuzzy]

as for me i did a 'lil body work stuff first, just got rid of all the rust, and repainted it, then i put a cd player cuz, all i had was an aftermarket tape deck which wasn't doing me any good, then i replaced my front speakers with some rockford powers i got a deal on at best buy. my next buy is going to be a Pioneer Premiere 1000W Sub and Pioneer 1000W Amp. After that, my exhaust sounds like crap so i'm gunna put a header in w/ cat&muffler after that i'm going to either replace my wheels with some Rota Slipstreams (black) or replace all my speakers and put in 2 2-way amps (1 for 6x9s and 1 for my front component kit) then i'm going back to some performance parts. so i really go back and forth as far as that all goes...

[88eyeguy]

I'm no audiophile, but I do like clean, crisp sound in my cars. I usually keep the audio components I replace from the car, and when I sell it, I reinstall the original stuff and put the good components in my new car. I occaisonally upgrade, though. I just installed some 6.5" Alpine components up front in the 240sx, and I'm using the 6.5" Alpine 2-ways in the rear (previously used as the fronts in the Accord). I installed two older 2 channel Alpine amps-one for the fronts, one for the rears-and an Alpine 9853 HU. For bass I'm happy with the Kicker 2 channel amp powering the crappy 10" subs that a previous owner had installed. I say crappy because their RMS wattage is about 35 or so; but the subs actually produce a fairly clean sound. No distortion until I turn the HU up past 20 on a song with really heavy bass. All of this, however, is done in conjunction with performance mods. I installed an intake as well as a cat-back exhaust several months ago. The exhaust is necessary for when I turbo the car, and the intake will be modified to work as part of a cold pipe for the intercooler.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't build all out show cars, nor do I build track sluts. I take a car, and try to make it into what I believe it should have come from the factory as. And then I make it a little bit better. The nice thing is, so many people are going with such radical things to make their car "unique," that a subtly upgraded car becomes just as unique.

[FederalSecurity]

I would personally prefer to invest in basic sound before investing in bling-bling or go-fast parts, and that's exactly what I've recently done. Don't get me wrong...I plan on upgrading all I can on this car in the future, but the silence had to be the first to go.

[POS carb]

It all depends on the car and the owner.
If it's a beater then hell yea, sound comes first!!!!
If it's a decent daily driver then appearance and mechanical soundness comes first, but the factory system is never enough, some upgrade is required :)
If it's a racer/sports car with loud exhaust then you are wasting your time with hi-fi, loud and cheap is the way to go

I've gone through countless decks, amps, and speakers. I'm not going to put flowmasters on the Crown Vic so that I can enjoy the music better, even though I'd love to hear the V8 uncorked. The 3gee sounds A W E S O M E parked but the exhaust noise kills the fidelity