Ok...I'm very new to car audio but have read a lot lately...and read and read some more. I'm starting to put a rough picture together of what I WANT and what I NEED in a good sounding system.
What I have right now is a 1993 Toyota Lucida Estima which is very similar to a Toyota Previa in size.
There's tons of air volume to fill up with sound in this vehicle and the stock Toyota HU of course sucks and badly needs replacing. Speakers need upgrading as well.
At this stage I plan on putting in a good HU that has the capability to tune to the stations here in New Zealand so it will need European tuning for FM reception.
I plan on getting a HU from either EBay or an online shop in the USA as the prices are WAY cheaper there.
So...long story short I need suggestions on the best (reasonably priced) HU's that I can buy from the USA that still have the ability to tune FM stations in .05 or .1 increments.
As far as I know(not much) most USA Kenwood Head units tune to .05/.1 as well as some USA Alpine units.
As far as I can tell Eclipse, Pioneer and Clarion don't tune to .05/.1 increments so they are out.
So what USA version from Alpine/Kenwood gives the best bang for the buck?
I also plan on adding some component speakers in the front and a 12" subwoofer in the boot and will probably just leave the rear fill speakers hooked to the head unit for rear passengers.
I also would like advice on whether just having stock speakers for rear fill in a minivan is a good idea or would you suggest something better (a set of mid bass speakers?)...it's a long way back there...not like rear fill in a typical car.
I very much agree in theory that just having a great front sound stage + subwoofer is the optimal way to go but in a large vehicle like a minivan...does the "rear fill not needed" philosophy still apply?
One last question...since there is about 9.5 feet from the front speakers to where the sub will be (sealed box that I'll make myself) what would be the best approximate RMS rating to get for the front component speakers and the subwoofers so they match each other well?
Example: 200RMS Components and 600RMS Subs...1:3 ratio or 200RMS/1000RMS 1:5 ratio...any help in this area would be appreciated???
For components I was looking at maybe JL or Diamond or Infinity.
For the amp I'd like to buy just one to power the whole show but that may not be reasonable and I may have to go with a dedicated sub amp as well.
For the 12" Sub I was looking at a good SQL brand...Eclipse, SI, IDmax, SoundSplinter, Diamond, JL, Digital Designs, Alpine, RE, Adire, Ascendant, Oz Audio, Mmats, Crystal...lol I haven't narrowed it down much because there seems to be a lot of great sub makers.
My budget is somewhat flexible but of course a great bang for the buck system is what I'm after...and a system built that best suits the air volume of a minivan in terms of SQ and SQL more that raw SPL.
Clarion actually does have European tuning on their units. I would suggest getting their higher end series (such as the ones with the color touchscreens), they're excellent for the price especially through ebay. I haven't been overly impressed with Kenwood's quality lately...
Those are all great component speakers, and there really isn't a great way to determine what you'll need from them to accurately match the subwoofer. I would recommend buying the best you can buy and going from there. You can always adjust the fader and subwoofer level...
As far as external amps go, it would be best to get one for the components and one for the sub. Running all speakers from one amp really has never worked out well.
After you get everything set up, it would be the best time to determine if you need rear fill.
Most of those are great sub brands and my preferences would be the RE's and the JL's.
Thanks a lot Jexx...I didn't thank you for the response earlier but I actually took a lot of your advice and I've now pretty much decided on a set of Diamond S600S comps and a RE SX12" sub.
I also looked at the Clarions and while I haven't yet chosen a definite HU...I like the looks of their headers and they are definitely high on my list of options now. I still am looking at the Kenwood Excelon series as well although I have read a lot of build quality issues with their HU's...does the Excelon line have fewer problems?
I'm a bit puzzled by amp choices now as that's where I'm having some trouble deciding what best to match to the comps and sub I've decided on. I posted a fresh question in the amp forum so if anyone reads this could they please offer some advice about my amp questions as well.
Hi Darren, I'm in the market for a new HU from the US at the moment as well (I'm from Australia, so I need the 0.1Hz tuning intervals too). From what I'm told on this forum, Pioneer Premier decks DO do this, but the AM radio won't work in Aus (as we tune in 9kHz intervals and US is 10, I don't know about you guys in NZ). Correct me if I'm wrong, which, mind you, is very very likely .
I have been looking for a while as well at all the HU options (as well as amps, subs and comps) and what would work best in NZ for the best price. I had it narrowed down to Kenwood Excelons and some Alpines but apparently the Clarions have FM tuning that's suitable as well. Now if as you say...Pioneer Premier has FM tuning at 0.1Hz as well... I guess I can live without AM as we don't listen to that much of that at all anyway.
NZ AM is 9kHz here also by the way.
So as far as I know then...it sounds like Kenwood Excelon, Pioneer Premier, some Alpines and Clarion all have FM tuning of .1
It looks like Eclipse is the only one of the "Big 5" not to have .1Hz tuning so I guess they're out of the running.
Have you narrowed it down to a few HU's that you are interested in yet? I keep coming back to some of the higher end Kenwood Excelons...although their reliability sounds as if its suspect. The Kenwoods seem to have a reputation of being some of the "richer" musically sounding units out there and not quite as dry and analytical as some other high end units can sound.
I've done a bit more research, and posted the same question on an Australian forum, and the American stuff DOES tune in 0.2Mhz intervals, but in odd increments (97.1, 97.3...) which won't be an issue for me (I think) since no radio stations in Aus are on even frequencies, not sure about where you're from.
Originally I was looking at some Pioneer Premier and Alpine models, but the Premier's are much cheaper and of comparable quality, so I've narrowed it down to them.
I'm looking at the p860mp and the p680mp at the moment, weighing up the pros and cons of each. the p680mp plays AAC files, which is good for me coz that's how most of my stuff is encoded, but the 860 has a 24 Bit Burr-Brown DAC, so I haven't decided yet (I also think the 680's prettier, but that's just me ). I hear some good things about Alpine's 9835, but they're expensive and hard to find.
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