Feedback needed

[blackdog]

I am a total noob when it comes to car audio so I was hoping I could get some feedback on this system.

I am bringing my car down to get and alarm and audio system installed on Thur and would like some feedback on what the guy packaged for me.

I am getting the flip up GPS/DVD/CD/MP3/ w/Sat Radio/ w/Voice command made by Pioneer ANIC-N3 head unit.
Focal America 165 KF Speakers / tweeters for the front
Speaker Specs: http://www.focal-america.com/Products/Specsheets/K2Power/165KFx.pdf
Tweeter Specs: http://www.focal-america.com/Products/Specsheets/Polyglass/V2/TN47x.pdf
Focal America 165 CA1 Speakers for the back
http://www.focal-america.com/Products/Specsheets/Access1/165CA1_techx.pdf
The JL Audio 12W3v3 Sub for the trunk
The JL Audio 500/1 amp for the sub
The JL Audio 450/4 amp for the speakers

I am gettng the Viper 2 way alarm with every option to protect everything. This is going in my new car I just bought not my Alero just in case anyone says anything about the speaker size.

[Vtolds]

Looks alright. I liked the pioneer unit I had in my Elantra.

[melkor]

sounds sweet black dog, you went to EHR last week didn't ya? Me too, I spent like $3000, how much did they charge you to install everything, and who was your salesman? I went in there for an alarm, the same viper you bought, and walked out with a system as well.

[blackdog]

No I went to Tweeter in VA, USA. The cost for the system is 5,700.00. The GPS head unit alone with the Sat and voice options ran 2000.00, the amps were around 600.00 each, subs/speakers/wires and so on ran around 1000.00 - 1200.00, and the alarm was around 750.00 with all the options. The rest of they money is install cost and its not that bad if you think of all the work they are doing for me. Best guess is this system sold in canada installed would be around 8,500 - 9,000 range, to all you low tax paying Americans we pay 14% sales tax up here so a huge chunk of that is taxes.

[melkor]

Jesus Christ! I thought I spent alot! haha, yeah well, it'll sound sweet anyways!

[SweetNLow]

r u a fucking drug dealer? or are you makin shit up?

ill build and install a system for you that sounds just as good but for 25% of what your paying those yahoo's

[FartCannonAlero]

yeah man, ive got 2 subs, amp, box, 6x9's, custom 6'' fronts, and pioneer headunit all for like 1000 if not less..

[blackdog]

I live in my car because of work and wanted a really good system, Im not a drug dealer and I know no one can build this system for 25% of the cost because the head unit alone is 35% of the cost and the alarm will cost the same no matter where you get it done.

The head unit is the AVIC-N3 made a typo on the first post.
SPECS: http://www.abtelectronics.com/product/22578.html

And I forgot I have a backup Cam as well and thats 250.00 so I guess they get even less then what I thought for install.

[mikegett]

Let me know how the focal's sound after it is all installed. They are one of the most respected manufacturers in audio. The K2 line is suppose to be very close to the utopia. My only worry would be on the fit of the speaker. It is listed as being 71mm (74 with the grille). That is 2.9 inches. It won't fit in the door without major modifications. Meaning that there literaly is no room between the window and the door panel for a speaker of that depth. If you recieve the car and no alteration was done to the door, you may want to varify they placed the 6.5 in the door. The 51/4 is one half inch shallower and may fit. Otherwise, the slim profile 4 inch would be the best bet. If the shop is doing the modification then you got a very nice price for the install. I had to mount my JL and eclipse on the outside of the door. It required remaking the map area entirely. The JLW3 is a good sounding woofer. It produces a decent amount of bass and keeps a good clean sound. The only thing I would add is a focal seven inch mid bass. Concidering the money you have in the car, it would be worth it. Focal even has upgradable crossovers for the three way systems. You could get much louder systems for your price, but no way in hell are you going to touch your sound quality. Enjoy your tunes and keep us posted. I nearly forgot. If you aren't having them sound deaden the car, then save up the money and do it. You will get a much cleaner sound out of your doors, increased bass response, and more efficient usage of your wattage.

[billytheman1188]

U guys spent WAYYYYY TOOOO MUCH on that system. i bought my 2 infinity subs with a kenwood amp and a box for about $350 off ebay and to get it installed it was like $50......u guys might wanna start shopping somewhere else......why would u spend that much money on a system!!!???

[blackdog]

The system is going in my new Matrix I just bought so I am unsure of the speaker room. The shop said they are doing a lot of custom work to the car to get everything working right. They have my car booked for 12 hours+ of work and they are not stopping till everything is installed.

I am going to have that silver matting put all over the car when I get some extra cash and doing a few more things with the audio 2. I am huge on clear sounding music and am totaly not the type to blast my music. I like base from time to time 2 when I listen to tech or rock but I mosly listen to classical and will be watching movies. I know the audio I have is a bit over kill when watching a movie on my 6.5 inch screen but I want to get a large flat screen between 32 - 42 inch for my trunk area. These cars have so much head room its not funny so I am sure with a bit of custom work I will have a kick ass setup by xmas.

[blackdog]

U guys spent WAYYYYY TOOOO MUCH on that system. i bought my 2 infinity subs with a kenwood amp and a box for about $350 off ebay and to get it installed it was like $50......u guys might wanna start shopping somewhere else......why would u spend that much money on a system!!!???


It all boils down to how good of a system you want. Sure I can go on ebay and buy a system for about 300.00 and install it myself but it will sound like crap compaird to what I am used 2. If cheap is your style then more power to yah.

[billytheman1188]

Damn right cheap is my style, im not gonna spend $3,000+ on a system for a matrix, lol. and for $300 my system sound sweet, fuck spending all that money on a system, u can go buy a used car for that money. in my opinion its a rip off. but heyy if u wanna pay out the ass for a system more power to ya.

[mikegett]

Sorry, I compleately spaced on what car it is going into. I put 6.5's in my wifes corolla with no problem. You will want the matting though. The corolla and matrix have zero insulation on the door panels. What classical do you listen to? Like most, I enjoy Mozart. Otherwise I listen to Handel, Brahms, Bach (if I'm deepresed), and Bernsein. Man, you realy should concider a dedicated midrange. Go to the shop and audition a three way setup. Don't use anything larger than a 8 inch woofer. Seven is perfect. You won't believe how much cleaner the mid bass and midrange becomes when they aren't forced through the same woofer. Beethoven's sonata 14 (monlight sonata) will rock your nuts off with a dedicated midrange and midbass. I had a set of JL XR's running active in my alero with a set of 6.5 woofers installed in the rear seat. The arm rest was removed and replaced with a sealerd enclosure and one ten inch sub. I raised the front crossover to 180 htz with a 24 db slope and gains set off a 200 htz test tone at one half volume. The rear 6.5 was bandpassed from 180 htz down to 80 htz with a 18 db slope and a 60 htz test tone. The ten was crossed over at 120 with a 12 db slope and gains set to a 50 htz test tone. My wife and I spent quite a few nights laid back with the moonroof open and listening to Moonlight sonata. Of course, it took me two years to finish this install and then I sold the car shortly after. Most of the audio equipment went into other hobbies.
Billytheman18, the important thing is that you enjoy your music. Sound is all subjective and your music may seem fine. Someone else may wish that you had more front stage, better detail, or cleaner bass. some of this will come with better audio gear while others can be aquired from knowledge in installing. As blackjack stated most of his cost is in the navigation and alarm. You won't pick up a decent navi under a grand. His speakers, he will be the judge of there value. As for the amps, your kenwood pales in comparison. Amping a sub is one thing. Amping front stage is something compleately different. As for ebay, I commend blackjack for buying from a dealer. This helps to support the local economy and keep your audio prices down with higher quality.

[blackdog]

Your still young and prob only have a part time job so 5,700.00 seems like a lot so I can understand where you are coming from and I used to think the same way.

[blackdog]

Sorry, I compleately spaced on what car it is going into. I put 6.5's in my wifes corolla with no problem. You will want the matting though. The corolla and matrix have zero insulation on the door panels. What classical do you listen to? Like most, I enjoy Mozart. Otherwise I listen to Handel, Brahms, Bach (if I'm deepresed), and Bernsein. Man, you realy should concider a dedicated midrange. Go to the shop and audition a three way setup. Don't use anything larger than a 8 inch woofer. Seven is perfect. You won't believe how much cleaner the mid bass and midrange becomes when they aren't forced through the same woofer. Beethoven's sonata 14 (monlight sonata) will rock your nuts off with a dedicated midrange and midbass. I had a set of JL XR's running active in my alero with a set of 6.5 woofers installed in the rear seat. The arm rest was removed and replaced with a sealerd enclosure and one ten inch sub. I raised the front crossover to 180 htz with a 24 db slope and gains set off a 200 htz test tone at one half volume. The rear 6.5 was bandpassed from 180 htz down to 80 htz with a 18 db slope and a 60 htz test tone. The ten was crossed over at 120 with a 12 db slope and gains set to a 50 htz test tone. My wife and I spent quite a few nights laid back with the moonroof open and listening to Moonlight sonata. Of course, it took me two years to finish this install and then I sold the car shortly after. Most of the audio equipment went into other hobbies.
Billytheman18, the important thing is that you enjoy your music. Sound is all subjective and your music may seem fine. Someone else may wish that you had more front stage, better detail, or cleaner bass. some of this will come with better audio gear while others can be aquired from knowledge in installing. As blackjack stated most of his cost is in the navigation and alarm. You won't pick up a decent navi under a grand. His speakers, he will be the judge of there value. As for the amps, your kenwood pales in comparison. Amping a sub is one thing. Amping front stage is something compleately different. As for ebay, I commend blackjack for buying from a dealer. This helps to support the local economy and keep your audio prices down with higher quality.
All I can say is WOW. You seem to really know your shit when it comes to audio. I will def talk to the installer about this and see if I can work something out with him. They gave me a huge deal on install already so I dont have much play room anymore. I will be selling my JBL stock speakers and head unit so maybe with that money I can get the extras but right now I hit my limit for spending. I talked the dealer down 6 grand for the car I bought so I was able to put the money into audio and GPS.

[mikegett]

Man, six grand on a toyota. I have never seen a dealer that went down below a grand. We were only able to get the corolla down 450. That was even after her mom had purchased three corollas for the daughters, one tundra, and a rav4 in five years. You are THE MAN. Don't forget that the JBL audio system has a OEM amplifier. Do the entire package on ebay and you may get a decent amount.

[blackdog]

Well my mom just bought a Prius off the sales man loaded to the nines and then I went to him and got a deal on my car. Car is loaded with leather, wing, tint, sport package the whole nines. Part of it also was the fact I got the 2006 not the 2007 but still I got a hell of a deal and a great car.

[BlackJack]

As blackjack stated most of his cost is in the navigation and alarm. You won't pick up a decent navi under a grand. His speakers, he will be the judge of there value. As for the amps, your kenwood pales in comparison. Amping a sub is one thing. Amping front stage is something compleately different. As for ebay, I commend blackjack for buying from a dealer. This helps to support the local economy and keep your audio prices down with higher quality.

Why does everyone around here insist on using my name in vain.....

This isn't the first time I've been confused with blackdog. Nothing similar but the name.

[mikegett]

Your right blackjack. I shouldn't have disrespeceted blackdog by confusing the two of you. :coolio:

[blackdog]

This system sounds amazing. I can hear every little sound and the sub sounds great 2. They did add in the sound coating on everything.

Kinda off topic but this toyota matrix gets the best millage IMO next to a hybrid. My RX 8 cost 150.00 in gas going 650 miles and the Matrix cost me 50.00 that that is pushing it.

[mikegett]

It is good to hear that you like your system. It should sound even better after a few hours to break in. You will notice a big difference in your mid and tweets after about a month of use. I think it was around a good 20 hours of listening for my JL's to hit there most natural point. The good news is that your matrix should improve in millage as well. How many miles were on it? My alero took the longest of our cars. Mainly due to it having electrical issues prior to 2,000 miles. I also changed the air filter to a K and N and saw a small improvement. Possibly around 5,000 miles. Our corolla hit its peak at around the sixth fill up and the camry seems to have leveled off after 2200 miles. I am going to put in a K &N filter in the camry and switch to mobile one synthetic at my first interval. I highly recommend both. Good luck and keep posting feedback about your system. I had sworn off car audio but I am seriously thinking about getting the same K2's. It is a deebate over them or the dynaudio. I like my music fairly loud and clean. The camry sounds good for a factory, but it just isn't the same.

[blackdog]

I had 308 miles on the car when I picked it up but thats because they needed to bring the car in from a dealer 100 miles away and send the car out 70 miles + to get the leather installed and tint put on the car. I am also looking at buying the better filter after a month or so. The car runs great and we played the XM radio all the way home, so about 12 hours of use yesterday and 8 more today because I was watching movies at work :). The system is so clear its just amazing. My mom has the JBL 7 speaker system in her car from toyota and that does not sound all that bad for stock but I love what I have now. Only problem I found was leaving the car off for an hour will drain the battery where before my RX-8 would be fine even after running a 300 watt power inverter. Is there a way I can add a 2nd battery to allow for longer times between starting my car to charge the battery? I do not run the sub at work I turn it totaly off but I dont know if that means I am saving power or not.

[mikegett]

Shuttind down the sub will save alot of drain. Even with your system fully crancked, your front stage will only pull about 100 watts continuously. Your main problem will be the toyota alternator and battery. Even my camry only has a 90 amp alternator. I haven't checked the corolla, but some small import cars are as small as 45 amps. I do know that the corolla battery will only hold a 500 amp charge. I would go with a deep cell battery first thing. That should at least give you more time to run the system with the ignition off. Do your lights dim when the car is running and the bass hits? If so, then keep your sub lowered down untill you can replace the alternator with a high current one. I will take a look at my corolla and see what it is rated at. If it is anything around the 45 amp range, it will be a must to replace it. A 90 amp alternator will be plenty for most users. At that range, it all deepends on the style of music and listening level achieved. Just be aware that if your current alternator and battery fail, the warranty will not cover it. Aftermarket installs void the electrical warranty.

[blackdog]

Good to know thanks. I think I may upgrade the battery soon, I do not have any dimming or anything yet but as the battery goes on the can and it will I should start seeing that. 90% of the time I only run the speakers on the car at about 1/4 of the power they put out so I don't think I am that bad off right now.