I want your opinion on this setup

[white04alero]

like it says.. i want YOUR opinion on this setup.. and the answer to a couple questions -

is kenwood good?
is rockford good?
is boston acoustics good?

well heres the crap i am looking at getting

Kenwood Excelon KDC-X590 CD Player
Kenwood KTC-HR100TR HD radio tuner - is HD radio worth it?
Kenwood KCA - iP500 iPod control interface - i assume this works with the iPod nano..
Boston Acoustics S95 2-way 6x9 for rear speaks
Boston Acoustics S75 2-way 4x6 for front speaks
Rockford Fosgate Punch P325.1 Mono sub amp 175 rms x 1 @4 ohms, 325 rms @ 2 ohms
Rockford Fosgate PL2-112 Punch stage 2 12" with RF ported box
RCA filter - to get all the crap noise out from my RCA lines - would this go at the amp or at the stereo?
and finally
CrimeGuard 745i4 car security system
-glass break sensor
-dual stage shock sensor (chirp if lightly hit, full blast if hit hard
-the best crimeguard security system


plz answer my q's and tell me your thoughts
will post links later if needed
thanks
Larry - white04alero

[jabartram]

i run kenwood excelon headunit kdc-x889 (awesome headunit) and 2 excelon amps both excellent amps, rockford fosgate subs(3 hx2's) and polk db6500's front and rear.

i would spend the extra money on an excelon 890 or 990, the sound adjustments are incredible.

[cherrington17]

i have fosgate He2s.... the model before Punch(s). sound great, good range.

i have no idea about kenwood. a friend who did alot of car audio stuff always said to stay away from it, so i did. there are enough other good ones for me to use. i just took that advice rather blindly. lol

[mustang_killer]

I run a kenwood for the Deck, Amp, and Subs. I love them.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Im very strong against Kenwood.

In my own personal Car Audio journey Ive been through a few decks. One was a Kenwood Excellon. I didnt care for it at all- sound wise or layout. I bought it used, and Kenwoods notorious problems were present on this used deck. The remote turn on lead was burned out and the RCAs didnt work...

lol

I reccomend JVC Arsenal/Exad, Panasonic MXE, and Pioneer Premeire.

[SweetNLow]

jvc owns

[white04alero]

well when i go to crutchfield.com i only have a limited selection on what can fit in my car. is it wrong? what are the specs for the right size stereo? does kenwood really suck?
What about Boston Acoustics?
What about Rockford?
and would it be wise to run all one brand? like all pioneer or all kenwood for example? is it possible for our cars with the headunit possibilities?

-edit-

and is crime guard good at all on security systems? they sound good and its all crutchfield carries

[Ryan from Ohio]

RF seems to be doing a bit better. Getting away from the BLING and going classy.

Boston is good brand all around, but keep in mind you get what you pay for.

As far as what will fit in your car. The Alero's radio compartment sucks ballsack. So some radios wont fit due to where the plugs/RCAs are on the back of the unit.

To get any radio to fit you can just hack away the plastic. It means nothing really.

I have a friend who works in the Best Buy install bay and he says its very common to cut that part away on the Alero.

[King Asoka]

how much is all that costing?

what is your goal with your system? SQ, SPL, music in my ride?

once you determine this, then we can talk components.

[white04alero]

well.. what i want with my car is i want a new deck.. i have an old pioneer and i like it.. i just want a newer deck with a usb port and ipod ready. ill get the ipod box no matter what. hd radio - maybe after a while. i want badass speakers for front and back. i also want about 300-400 watts rms goin to one or two subs. in a nutshell, thats what i want... so lets talk components

edit-
btw its going to cost about 900-1000 bucks, but ill be makint 10.50 an hour this summer being manager at the local water park, right now im a life guard but im bein promoted. anyways.. the cost will be around 1000 bucks, and i also want to spend about 200 bucks max on a good quality alarm system. is crimeguard good? or not? i know that viper or whatever is better, but will crimeguard suffice?

edit again - what is sq and spl?

[HazMatt24]

go Alpine for the head unit

[sound_xtreme]

if you want USB, get a new jvc with the port right on the front.

[King Asoka]

Yea, i agree, get an alpine, you can get a pretty decent alpine for pretty cheap. so lets say you spend $200 for your deck. then you have $800 left for speakers and amps and wire. and what not.

5 1/4 or 6 1/2" Fronts: $150
single 10 or 12" Sub: 200-250
4 channel Amp: 350-400
wire and such: 50

now im just est.

I suggest you look at companies like Alpine, JL, Rockford, Concept, and look at their lower end models. typically you will get good bang for your buck.
I like the entry level Alpine Type-S series or the entry level JL Evolution TR or VR series.

What I suggest is if you are on a budget but want quality components thikn about buying a higher end deck, a higher wattage 4 channel amp and one set of 51/4 or 6 1/2 componets for the front and a single 10 or 12" sub and box. use 2ch to power the fronts and the other 2 to power the sub, then when you can afford it, get rear speakers and another amp to dedicate to the sub.

another thing, are you installing this yourself? If not be sure to budget an extra 200-300 depending on the shop.

[white04alero]

yeah im doin it myself.. ive done everything so far..
i installed the pioneer deck when i got the car, and i installed the sub, amp, box, and wiring about 6-9 months later.. i did pretty good.. but the amp and sub were sony xplod.. thats where i messed up.. they mega suck and ill never do that again. anyways.. do alpines have the usb ports? and if they do.. are there any that fit the alero? at crutchfield.com, there are no alpines that fit the alero.. and what about JVC or Kenwood? does kenwood totally suck or something? no one has mentioned them
by the way, thanks for all the help guys
edit -
and if i get one amp its goin to be dedicated to the sub.. if i get two, which i have thought alot about, where would i put the amp? in the trunk? it would get awfully hot back there.. where else would it go?
haha another edit -
ive always been under the impression that sticking with the same brand of components is best - ie - alpine head, alpine speaks, alpine amps, alpine subs

[alerocar01]

jvc owns
i have had 3 JVC units in my car and loved them all. go with a jvc if you want a good head unit.

[whiteliquid]

JVC > Kenwood

Other than that looks like a pretty good setup

IMO JVC = Alpine really depends on the actual HU cant generalize for all of them which is better.

If it was me i'd say get a JVC, with some fosgate 12's and a good fosgate amp....that will be plenty loud for ya....make sure you get a good amp wire kit, or put your own together like I did.

Good Amp wire kits---Hooker audio and MTX

[whiteliquid]

and if i get one amp its goin to be dedicated to the sub.. if i get two, which i have thought alot about, where would i put the amp? in the trunk? it would get awfully hot back there.. where else would it go?
haha another edit -
ive always been under the impression that sticking with the same brand of components is best - ie - alpine head, alpine speaks, alpine amps, alpine subs


Keeping things the same does work in some cases...like with fosgate or Fuzion....but others can be mixed to sound really good too.

I mounted my amp(s) on the backside of my backseats, thats how most people do

[white04alero]

i mounted my amp on the back side of my back seats too... but i didnt do 2 amps... i was jw thanks tho lookin at some jvc heads.. and does anyone know about the whole ALPINEs not fitting in my car thing?

edit -
i was lookin at crutchfield.. and here is the only jvc that "fits" the alero's
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-vc1ff0ozPVv/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&I=105KDAR470
and no alpines

[HazMatt24]

It has to do with where the wires come out in the back. I have an Alpine in my car and the only problem I have is the bezel around the deck. It needs to be fabbed a little to fit, I just haven't taken the time to do it yet. I have a pic on my car domain site of my HU.

[Ryan from Ohio]

http://caraudiocentral.net/ryan/images/darnedbar.jpg

Heres the inside where your radio is. If you notice theres a section of plastic I already vut out. Its right where the wiring harness plug is.

Heres a pic of what I finally had to remove to get it in there.

The green lines represent the areas I had to cut away. I dont actually have a pic showing it all cut up, but you will get the picture.
http://caraudiocentral.net/ryan/images/alero/darnedbar2.jpg

[white04alero]

so what CD player do you have?

[white04alero]

and what did you cut it with? dremel?

[Ryan from Ohio]

I have a McIntosh and yes a dremel.

I used a metal burr with teeth to cut through the plastic. You can use the sanding drums, but you will go thru many.

[King Asoka]

yeah, you can fit just about any deck you want, all it takes is some patience and a cutting tool.

JVC is a good brand too, I had a JVC deck for quite a while and I was very ahppy with it. they have some very useful features like the usb and such.

go with what works for you and remember it all comes down to how it sounds to you.