Help me pick a new car stereo.

[Rysam]

I'll start out by saying that I am not an audiophile, perfect sound is not my objective.

My wife just did the taxes and we appear to be getting a fairly healthy chunk back so I am going to get my wife a new stereo system for her truck.
I have a MAXIMUM 500$ budget and would like to do as much as I can.

2004 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab.


Im looking for a somewhat simple but good sounding/quality deck that has a USB for her iPod & iPad, maybe bluetooth capable for her phone (not necessary). the more user friendly the better.
the factory door speakers are stock and sound fine with the current deck but I wouldnt mind upgrading, and I would really like to add some bass.


I dont know squat about car audio and the new fangled stuff thats available so Im looking to yall to help me pick the best for my budget. I am going to do the install myself, I'm confident in my abilities with basic 12v.

 

[whodair]

pioneer head unit, 4channel amp w interior speakers by infiniti or polk...and if you like bass, a sealed sub 10 or 12 in and a class d mono amp...prolly need a capacitor too

to keep it under 500 youre gonna have to use craigslist and let someone alse take a hit on retail !!

 

[Captain Ginyu]

I've also seen some fairly decent Walmart shit for real cheap. Nothing fancy by any means, but OK for the budget minded.

 

[headiez247]

pioneer head unit, 4channel amp w interior speakers by infiniti or polk...and if you like bass, a sealed sub 10 or 12 in and a class d mono amp...prolly need a capacitor too

to keep it under 500 youre gonna have to use craigslist and let someone alse take a hit on retail !!

too extreme for $500, and no need for a capcitor

drop $170 on a head unit. If your truck doesnt have the upgraded sound system, replace the 4 speakers with something simple, doesn't have to be infiniti or polk, and a sub prob isnt necessary. In a truck ur gonna have issues placing it unless ur cool with losing space, and a stealth sub is way too expensive.

 

[zen_trikester]

I'll start out by saying that I am not an audiophile, perfect sound is not my objective.

My wife just did the taxes and we appear to be getting a fairly healthy chunk back so I am going to get my wife a new stereo system for her truck.
I have a MAXIMUM 500$ budget and would like to do as much as I can.

2004 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab.


Im looking for a somewhat simple but good sounding/quality deck that has a USB for her iPod & iPad, maybe bluetooth capable for her phone (not necessary). the more user friendly the better.
the factory door speakers are stock and sound fine with the current deck but I wouldnt mind upgrading, and I would really like to add some bass.


I dont know squat about car audio and the new fangled stuff thats available so Im looking to yall to help me pick the best for my budget. I am going to do the install myself, I'm confident in my abilities with basic 12v.

If the front speakers are OK I wouldn't mess with them unless you fry them out. My past couple decks were Kenwood and they have both been great. In general, there tends to be a large difference in overall sound quality and dependability in the upper end of any line. If you buy the leader pieces, even though they seem to be the same with just a couple missing features or a couple watts less power, you end up with a piece of electronics that was created as a compromise in all aspects. For a $500 budget I would grab a nice mid to upper line deck in the $200 range, and a powered sub for behind the seat. When running a sub you want to be sure that you are using both a high-pass and low pass crossover. Many decks have "sub out" circuitry but don't have any crossover or if they do it is just a low-pass. What that means is that you are telling the sub to only produce low bass but you aren't telling your front speakers to produce only upper bass and above. If your front speakers are trying to produce the low bass it will both take away from what they should be doing to compliment the sub and also adding distortion and a muddy representation of the bass that the sub would otherwise produce repectably. The crossovers can be done with caps and coils like in a typical non-powered home 2-way or 3-way speaker system, or electronically which is more typical for mid level car audio systems. This can be done with a separate component crossover that is designed to be used with seperate amps for your front speakers and sub, or some decks have this built in. Normally only on better decks, but with that level of deck you will (typically) get a little better amp, a little better tuner, and more features.

Soooo... mid level deck with electronic highpass and lowpass sub filters, decent wattage (25 continuous is plenty unless you want to rattle your license plate off), and then the features you want. This unit I found on Crutchfield
Alpine CDE-125BT


Has all that and more for $200. I'm sure there are many others, but Alpine FME tends to be user friendly with a focus on quality while Kenwood and Clarion seem to be more for people who like to tweak things to death (like me). Pioneer is bulletproof and has good sound quality, JVC, Jensen, and Dual are crap on all fronts. Most in this $200 price range will also have bluetooth and many will have HD radio. Note that bluetooth or HD radio is not the same as "bluetooth ready" or "HD radio ready". I bought my current deck partially because it was Bluetooth ready and I am a huge Pandora fan. I had this vission of sitting in my car, pushing a button on the Blackberry, and rolling down the road to my fave Pandora station. Well, most Bluetooth ready decks are for phone use only and don't transfer audio data. Found that out the hard way. also, using the car stereo for handsfree is a joke unless it has a mountable mic that you can put somewhere near your face. Needless to say, I don't use the bluetooth on my deck at all and since it has both USB (good for thumbdrives as well as just powering any electronics that you can charge from usb) and a stereo jack on the front, I do infact rock down the Road to the Leftover Salmon Pandora station on a regular basis even if I have to physically plug the phone into the deck. Through the audio out on the phone, the music playing through the phone shuts down when the phone rings or a txt comes in.

Soo $200 for the deck and depending on the space for the sub you should be able to find something in the $200 range there as well. I'm not really up on the current subs so I won't recommend anything for you there. It is hard to know what will sound right in your truck untill it is in your truck since it is a unique space and far different than any showroom. the other $100 is a face kit and maybe some help with the install, but if you can figure out how to get the dash apart you have already done the hardest part.



My .02

 

[Rysam]

Subtotal: $494.96


Pioneer DEH-7300BT
$169.99


Boston Acoustics GTA-504
4-channel car amplifier — 50 watts RMS x 4
was $249.99
Price Break $125.00 off
$124.99

Polk Audio db571
2-way car speakers
For 5"x7" and 6"x8" openings

$99.99 ea set (need 2 sets F/R)


hows this sound? everything is from crutchfield and I used the fitment guide. I passed on bass for now and went with better speakers, I think its just too tight in there a sub and her "stuff".

 

[Captain Ginyu]

Sounds about right. Pushin it to the $500 mark, aren't ya?

 

[Rysam]

i gots permission for 500, im gonna use every dime.

 

[Calimed]

Pioneer deck, for a truck you only really need a good front set of speakers...so get some good Focal, Boston Acoustics, Dynaudio, or JL and a 2 channel amp.

 

[Captain Ginyu]

i gots permission for 500, im gonna use every dime.

I hear ya. BTW; I'm gonna root for your Packs, them Jets need to be put out of commision!

 

[whodair]

Subtotal: $494.96


Pioneer DEH-7300BT
$169.99


Boston Acoustics GTA-504
4-channel car amplifier — 50 watts RMS x 4
was $249.99
Price Break $125.00 off
$124.99

Polk Audio db571
2-way car speakers
For 5"x7" and 6"x8" openings

$99.99 ea set (need 2 sets F/R)


hows this sound? everything is from crutchfield and I used the fitment guide. I passed on bass for now and went with better speakers, I think its just too tight in there a sub and her "stuff".

i think youll love it !!!

 

[whodair]

oh really ??

oh really ??

I hear ya. BTW; I'm gonna root for your Packs, them Jets need to be put out of commision!

we gonna muck up the car stereo thread ginyu !! allrighty !!!!

 

[cody2white]

Sonicelectronix.com is the shit.

 

[Captain Ginyu]

we gonna muck up the car stereo thread ginyu !! allrighty !!!!

Yeah biooootch?! Don't make me come over & fart on ya!

 

[Rysam]

Muck away with pics like that....I'd say I was a Jets fan (for a minute) for a shot at that...

 

[HUGE]

Alpine shits on pioneer all day in every way. Kenwood excelon is good feature for the money. I was an MECP first class installer for 4 years and have built some of the sickest car theatres In real cars. The Boston amp is a good piece. Polk speakers are soso. Adding a sub to that truck can be done but is tricky. Also have it installed by a professional and use good wiring. Do you have the 6 disk in dash stock? If you do there is an amp that must be bypassed. Even if it's the single there may be an amp. Under the passenger side rear seat lift out the carpet in the hole and look for a silver amp. Some have factory sub behind rear seat but since you want more bass I guess you don'. Be carefull I have seen people replace just the deck and speakers in that truck and it sounded worse than stock amplified system. Cuz they bought cheap used pioneer shit off eBay.

 

[zen_trikester]

Alpine shits on pioneer all day in every way. Kenwood excelon is good feature for the money. I was an MECP first class installer for 4 years and have built some of the sickest car theatres In real cars. The Boston amp is a good piece. Polk speakers are soso. Adding a sub to that truck can be done but is tricky. Also have it installed by a professional and use good wiring. Do you have the 6 disk in dash stock? If you do there is an amp that must be bypassed. Even if it's the single there may be an amp. Under the passenger side rear seat lift out the carpet in the hole and look for a silver amp. Some have factory sub behind rear seat but since you want more bass I guess you don'. Be carefull I have seen people replace just the deck and speakers in that truck and it sounded worse than stock amplified system. Cuz they bought cheap used pioneer shit off eBay.

And there you have it! I agree drop the rear speakers and go with the Alpine. For 30 bucks I don't think you can go wrong upping it to the Alpine. I also agree to not worry about the sub, but I question the need for the amp with just the front speakers and a nice head unit. Install guys hate this, but whenever I have a system installed I always make them replace the stock speaker wiring. Not that the stock wiring is so inferior, but sometimes it goes through electronics you don't want in the line. Amps as was mentioned by Huge, or crossovers from stock speakers, or who knows what. I know how it is having the money ready to go, but you may be best served to just start off by replacing the deck and then use your ears to determine any remaining deficiencies.

 

[Rysam]

Its actually has an aftermarket head unit but its older and works like crap. I highly doubt it has any sort of factory amp or sub. if it does, they arent working..


I'll look into the alpines a bit further, seems to me they've always been near the top of recommendations. I have a couple weeks to get it figured out.

 

[Rysam]

Been looking at Alpines and yeah i think Im down with the CDE-103BT at 189.99. The wifey gave it a courtesy "looks nice" and it offers everything I might ever need and everything that has been suggested.

On the speakers, if the polk speakers are so so what would be a better alternative for a similar price?

 

[whodair]

some of the polk speakers sound nice running off the head unit, but infinitis i always amp up, the pre amps in the head unit dont flow enough power to move the infins !!