ozziefudd

So the f-150 is your daily driver, you listen to Rap and Rock and you like it loud which leads you away from SQ or sound quality and you have a budget of $500. Is your truck and extended cab? do you have any room for a sub box if so what is the size of the space it would fit in. Understand that $500 is not alot to work with if your buying new equipment. What kind of carpentry skills do you have? Could you make the sub enclosure if you can fit one into the truck? Right now with what you have said you want your shopping list looks kinda like this: Head Unit 2 pair of 6x9 speakers Sub Enclosure amp/amps Misc installation kits, wire, etc. You still need to provide alot of information. How large of a sub enclosure can you fit being the place to start. Could you do the Head unit and 6 x 9 speakers at say $500 and then revisit the build to add your sub stage if so your going to be happier with the system and will open up alot more options.

Before the people that know what they are talking about can figure out what might suit your personal needs best they need to know some basic things about what music you listen to, is this your daily driver, are you looking to roll up to the stoplight and cause people to roll up their windows. You need to ask yourself "what do I want out of this system I am putting in". As an example, You listen to lots of classical piano music and its really important to you to hear very crisp clean highs but since you dont listen to alot of hip hop your needs on the bass end are not so demanding. This will let them know if your going for more of an SQ sound or SPL sound. If its your daily driver you dont want/need 10,000 watts of amps and subs making your eyes bleed on your 20 minute commute. So even if you have no idea what all the catch words and initials are just describe what you want out of the system in your own words and the pro's will be able to break it down and come up with some suggestions. The better you break it down the better they can come up with something to fit your budget and your listening habbits.

I just went through the list your looking at back in July, I drove everything you've listed plus used Boxsters, AMG's in a couple flavors, used z360. The scion is a nice in that you can get so many different options but to me its all about selling to the first time male car buyer who wants his little slice of the fast and the furious. It does get good mpg and since its a toyota you dont expect alot of issues. The VW's offer fantastic MPG and are alot of fun to drive but be prepared to get bitch slapped every time you have to take it in for even minor service. The Crossfire was an interesting choice and again fun to drive but to me I had worries on service and the mpg for a daily driver while ok did not blow me away. The Mini was right at the top of my list as it was fun to drive, not everyone had one, but again the service history on them is not so hot and the aforementioned electrical issues scared me away. My Uncle though like it so much he ordered one with everything except the rag top. Its not in from the factory yet he still has about 6 more weeks of wait time. So that leaves the Mazda, and I can not say enough about how well I liked the 6 it had the Zoom Zoom, it was fun to drive, stops on dime, is friendly on the wallet when it comes to mpg, you dont see your car 40 times on the way to work. I had one little problem when I test drove the Mazda 6 though. I saw the MX-5 on the lot and thought what the hell I might as well test drive it while I am here. The MX-5, mazda is dropping the Miata from the name of the car, blew me away, Its small but at 6'2" I can get in and out and obviously with the top down its even easier. MPG is right at 30 as an average, City 26 Hwy 33 though this does depend on things like top down or up, and which transmission. What drew me to the mx-5 was the PRHT or power retractible hard top. It is slower that the manual top to put up and take down, 13 second is all it takes to drop or raise the top and it does offer alot more protection from knife wielding thieves then a rag top does. If you want fun to drive your going to be hard pressed to find better. Paddle shifter, bembo brakes, bilstein shocks 50/50 weight distribution, it corners better then anything else I drove, stops on a dime and give you 9 cents change. Its a head turner too, with the new body style people just dont know its a mazda. Oh yea I did buy the Mx-5 and its my daily driver and starting next week after two months of research its going to be getting a new stereo which is one drawback with the Miata/MX-5. We liked the Mazda 6 so well we got a coup version of that too. You also might be able to save a bit of money on the Mazda products, Mazda is owned by Ford and they have a friends and family program as well as a program with other people they do business with home depot for example. This lets you get a set price based off Fords price list, You will need a Pin number but if you know someone that works for ford or one of their partners its a great way to save some bucks. Belive its called the S plan or X plan one of the two is for ford the other for mazda. If you cant find anyone thats a part of the program PM me and I will see if my connection can give anyone else the plan this year.

Mike from Soundsplinter responded last week about the Rl-i8's. Basicly the new factory has all of his inventory of parts as well as payment to do the assembly. He is now waiting on them to be assembled and shipped and I guess test to make sure they are the same or very close to the same specs. Time table for all of that is when ever it happens. I feel your pain since I want a pair of these for my sub stage too. Amps I am interested in are not instock either so I guess it really doesnt matter.

I pretty much grew up in a mom and pop electronics shop, I can remember the day we finally threw out our tube tester. The tech's all thought tubes were s*** and now tubes are the s***. Funny how life works.

Why those brands? No one seems to be carrying the Eclipse these days and they say they have dropped them because of being overpriced and that the quality over the last few years has slipped. Obviously dealers do tend to bash the brands they don't carry but I have heard that from more then a few people. Whats the downside on the Blaupunkt?

It seems like Alpine is the brand of choice for head units. I has some major issues with an Alpine head unit in the past. The unit would work a few weeks then would start acting up where the display would be blank but the unit would power on or if the display was visible it look to be a cross between russian and korean text. Alpine replaced the unit under warranty 4 times. When the unit failed the 5th time it was finally out of warranty and got replaced. So my views on Alpine are tainted and I swore I would never own another of their products. So I bought a new 08 Mazda Mx-5 Miata a little less than a month ago and the stock system has got to go. Since space is a major issue I've gotten some feedback on other product like Amps, Front stage and Subs first but now its time to get started with the build and I think the head unit is the place to start. In avoiding Alpine a good high quality head unit is tough to find. I like the features on the MP68 Hamburg from Blaupunkt. What is the word on the blaupunt in terms of quality as well as its ability/ease of tuning to the cars cabin. Oh my Miata is a powered hard top convertible so I dont have all the issues that most rag tops have. http://www.blaupunkt.com/US/7648012310_main.asp

Not going anywhere and my build is far from complete.

Well Chris from Fisher Customs is designing what I am sure will be a fantastic enclosure for the trunk of my 2008 Mazda MX-5 miata, problem is the design is based on using a pair of the RL-8i. Is there any update on when they will be back in stock. The 10's just will not fit.

What city are you in? I am in the Northern Suburbs of Dallas Texas. You should look into EVERY high end shop for a "good" installer. I have been to every shop within 25 miles of my home, DFW is a huge town though so I guess I might have to do a bit more driving. Maybe even find out who does the work on the Cowboys and Mav's cars.

I am not very handy so this will be something an install shop will have to do for me. I've looked around at quite a few shops and run into the problem that no one has done any work on the late model Miata. I got alot of this might fit or we might be able to..... I am beginning to wonder if the only thing people put custom systems in around here are trucks.

Spec's on the JBL are great but at 19 X 13 has to large a footprint to go under the seats.

I do not want to give up the tiny bit of trunk space I have, its just large enough to get a golf bag inside if I remove the drivers before putting it in the trunk. This leaves me almost no options for the placement of a sub since I can't do passenger footwell since the wife has to sit someplace. The one option I hope I have is behind he passenger seat infront of the storage area for the hardtop when the roof is in the down or stowed position. When I ask installers about using this space this is pretty much where I get the 1000 yard stare and lots of suggestions that I put a sub in the trunk or footwell despite my having told them thats not an option. In this space on the drivers side are the workings for the powered hard top, but on the passenger side the area is empty. The problem with this spot is depth since the hard top is stored just behind it. I can not find anyone that has done anything with the new generation miata's that can offer up any kind of solution. Trucks are KING in Texas and it seems thats all anyone installs aftermarket systems. I guess aside from myself, 08 Miata owners are all happy with their Bose system. Any comments on the Alpine PDX amps? Footprint is a huge issue and with all of the PDX series having the same footprint its what is being suggested to me most often.

Knowing I would at the very least replace the factory speakers in my 2008 Mazda MX-5 Miata I did not go with the Bose System when I purchased the car. It does have the PRHT or power retractable hard top as well as system controls on the steering wheel which is why for now I am going to try to keep the factory head unit. A couple of local installers have suggested I replace the current four speaker system with a better component system and amp. The factory four speaker system is all in the doors and consists of a a 3 1/2 tweeter and a 5 x 8. I need the little bit of trunk space I have so a sub box and amp board in the trunk are out. I have a passenger enough that a sub mounted in the passenger foot well is not practical either. This leaves me installing amps under the seats and buying high quality woofer/midbase/tweeters. The build the local installer is suggesting is: JL Audio ZR650 http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_components.php?comp_id=65 powered by Alpine PDX-4.150 http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/products/p...ng=en&tab=F The JL Audio sound good but I think I can do better and I think the alpine amp is way overpriced. Also driving with the top down I know I already lose alot and am thinking instead a 3 piece component system might be a better choice if I can mount the tweeter in the pillar and the mid and woofer in the current factory door locations. What I had in mind was the following. Dynaudio system 360 If I can fit the 8inch in the factory door location or if not dropping down to the system 340 http://www.dynaudiousa.com/products/car/3way.htm I have never liked Alpine equipment and loved the US Amps I had in my old Celica. Since I need something quite small if I am putting it under the seat I was thinking a pair of US Amps MD-21 which I think I could buy for less then the cost of the single Alpine unit. Does anyone have any experience with the 2008 Miata's, in talking to half a dozen different installers in the Dallas area no one had had any experience with the latest Miata. I've had alot of misinformaiton infact from people just looking to get a sale. What do you think about the two different builds and could you offer any suggestions of other similiar quality products to those mentioned that I could look into. Whats the general thinking Alpine PDX vs US Amps Merlins? I've heard the Dyn's and they sound fantastic, they produce enough base I think if powered and installed correctly I will not need a sub, which other manufacturer might offer me the similar bang for my buck.