Need stereo advice

[rneedham1979]

Gents,

I am looking at ordering some stereo equipment in the next few weeks and would like some opinions.

I am planning on buying the Alpine CDA-9887 head unit. I have always had good luck with Alpine in the past and I really like the looks and capability. I will be running sirrius satelite, ipod interface and bluetooth. I will be buying all the Alpine stuff so it works seemlessly. The questions I have for you guys is what speakers and amps? I would like to run compenents up front with mids in the rear + sub. I really want a nice clean audio system since i will be using my car as a daily driver/commuter.

I was considering buying infinity kappas for the front and rear and a sub. I am not sure what amp or sub. Would it make sense to run the 6.5 compenents up front and 6.5s mids in the rear on the same amp? Then runa seperate amp for the sub?

Do they make a sub box for the E30? What sub/amp do you guys recommend?

I really apprecaiate any insight or advice you can give me!

Ryan

[Bey]

StereoInstaller1(Luke) is our resident audio guru. He makes killer sub boxes for E30's and also sells or knows where to get all your audio needs.

I think he has a group buy going on right now for his 10 inch sub boxes. Link Here

[rneedham1979]

Thanks man! Any pics of the box?

[rneedham1979]

anyone else?

[StereoInstaller1]

Hi Ryan.

One of the biggest hurdles of decent sound in an E30 is how the front speakers seriously overpower the rear.

Because of this I recommend a MINIMUM of double the rear power for the front.

So, given that Alpine (like everyone else) decks makes a bit over 12 watts per channel, you would need an amp that makes about 35 watts per channel to run the front.

This is NOT counting bass power, of course. You don't sound like one of those retards who wants a fuckton of boom and don't care about clarity, or any sort of balance.

If you read much of what I have to say, you will see I generally don't even respond to those guys.

So, here is my recommended course of action:

This is the cheap setup, of course.

A small 4 channel amp.

A single 10" woofer, MUST be single voice coil.

One of my boxes (incredible efficiency, not much power needed)

Stock premium sound speaker, front and rear, in nice condition.

Yes, I am serious. Most components are far worse than the stock speakers. You gotta spend some decent coin to do as good!

You will want to change those out later...do some learning first, see why you spend your money on this stuff, OK?

How this would work is half of that 4 channel will run the front speakers, the other half will run the bass. The deck will power the rears. This is the best bang for the buck you will ever hear, plus when it is time to upgrade, all you gotta do is add a sub amp adn reallocate the 4 channel to run all 4 speakers in the car.

My general goal is to help people spend as little as possible to get an EXCELLENT result. In my case, that means $350 worth of fucking CABLES...for just the audio...NOT including speaker wire (Kimber 8TC is gonna be one of the next serious upgrades)

If you follow my plan, even using stupid Alpine crap, you will be shocked, stunned, amazed and impressed at how good the thing sounds for so little money.

If you just HAVE to have more now, do 5.25s front and rear. Components up front, co-axials in the rear, a 4 channel to run those 4 and a smaller (2 ohm stable) mono amp for bass, plus a "Type R" woofer...which requires a special box.

Currently, the only member here that has that would be "Rennsport". He has a MRP-M350 on a Type R 10. His shit booms like hell, 85% of what my car does, with great bass clarity. He did not expect what the thing does, he though it was just gonna be a little "bump".

I do not do "little bump", I will not waste my time. What I produce is nice big CLEAN bass, with excellent sound quality.

Oh yeah, one other thing: that way I build boxes, you car will not rattle, nor will you be booming your "hood". If you want that kind of crap, buy a pre-fab bullshit box from crutchfield or whatever...my stuff is far more serious.

TTYL.

Luke

[rneedham1979]

Luke,

Thank you for your post, very informative. I definitely do not want a "fuckton of boom" LOL.

Do you recommend I go with the 5.25 kappas or another brand? Are the 5.25s a factory replacement, IE will they bolt right in or will they need pods? I am not concerned with saving money, I would rather do it all and do it right the first time.

So you recommend two amplifiers, one for the sub and one for the rest. Is it possible to run a 5 channel like the infinity amp or no? What 10" would you recommend for your box, since I sent you a deposit for it. LOL

Can you get all this stuff or no?

I take it your not a fan of Alpine. LOL Either way, can you comment on this head unit? CDA-9887, I am planning on running the bluetooth module and sirrius as well so that is one main reason why I am getting this headunit.

I am looking to buy everything in July or August, I will be home in September so that will give my buddy time to have everything installed in my E30.

Thanks Luke!

[StereoInstaller1]

I will hit you back this afternoon.

I have been up nearly 24 hours....sleepytime!

[rneedham1979]

LOL... thanks Luke!

[rneedham1979]

Are you still sleeping? LOL

I will hit you back this afternoon.

I have been up nearly 24 hours....sleepytime!

[StereoInstaller1]

I think I might be stretched just a little thin.

I will do my best to get prices and updates to you tomorrow.

I GOTTA get James' goddamn E28 done, plus 3 or 4 other installs that are eating my ass.

Luke

[rneedham1979]

Luke,

No rush bro, no rush!

[rneedham1979]

Update...

I picked up:

2 sets of 5.25 infinity kappa perfect components
1 infinity kappa five amp (off the forum)
Alpine 9887 stereo
Alpine BT interface
Deposit sent to Luke for one of his boxes.

Three questions.... what is the best subwoofer to use in Lukes box? What RCA cables and speaker wire should I use? Finally, will the stock battery power this or will I need a better battery?

Thanks!
Ryan

[twistednut]

Luke's Post #5 should be a sticky in the car audio and electronics section.

[rneedham1979]

I agree.

[quickervicar]

No doubt that #5 is the single-most helpful post on E30 audio that I've read (including all of Luke's other great posts). Trouble is, now he's got me all juiced up to build my audio system but I need a good alarm system first. Bugger...