Sound before car??

[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.

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.

[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.

Peace.

[3rdCoast]

what hu is that?????

[halxi]

yea my HU was $450

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.