[2 The X]

In everyone's opinion, what would be the single most benefical upgrade for a non RF stereo?

-- stock stereo w/ aftermarket speakers
-- stock speakers w/ an aftermarket headunit

I was considering just changing the headunit but have noticed on various threads that the OEM speakers are 20 Watts and wasn't sure if they would be able to handle an aftermarket headunit unless the RMS was below 20 Watts.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Devandra

 

[s4iscool]

usually its the headunit thats the weakpoint in oem setups without seperate amps. Id go with the headunit, itll have more clean power that the stock speakers should be able to handle.

 

[dragonplayboy]

tell you what, tell me what you can spend and I'll help you out as much as possible. I used to work for a couple of different stereo shops.

 

[dragonplayboy]

oh and s4iscool is correct about the head unit, but nissan speakers are equally crappy.

 

[max6spd]

If you upgrade the speakers first, you may have to crank up the factory headunit considerably to get enough music to pump out because aftermarket speakers generally can take on more wattage than the factory headunit can dish out.

Get the headunit first.

 

[2 The X]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm attempting to stay below $200 on the Headunit. At this point I'm considering a unit from Alpine (CDE-9843) and a Pioneer (P4800MP) from Crutchfield.

I'm probably going to run the factory speakers for a while before upgrading them.

Thanks again.

Devandra

 

[cornick]

In my 99 accord when I put in a new head unit my sound actually got worse. The OEM stereo was better than the one I was putting in. :blackeye:

 

[ZwithanX]

Honestly, you'd do better if you upgrade the speakers. It's like upgrading your tires instead of the suspension.

...but if you plan on doing both anyway it will be a nice experiment. The speakers will cost more than the head unit if you get decent ones, especially seperates. Don't forget to get good speaker wire when you put the speak's in. It's surprising how much they help.

Z.

 

[s4iscool]

Honestly, you'd do better if you upgrade the speakers. It's like upgrading your tires instead of the suspension.

...but if you plan on doing both anyway it will be a nice experiment. The speakers will cost more than the head unit if you get decent ones, especially seperates. Don't forget to get good speaker wire when you put the speak's in. It's surprising how much they help.

Z.

and its surprising how little good wire can help as well. For off the shelf sub $200 coaxials, the included wire is fine.

I still stick with the headunit first, + wouldnt you want to see what you change and have a new toy to poke?

 

[dragonplayboy]

Ebay man, ebay. don't buy a new one for 200 bucks when you can get a used or last year's model 600 dollar unit for 200 bucks online! and installing it is so easy a monkey could do it. I'll gladly walk you through installing a cd player if you'd like. alpine is better quality wise, but if you can find a good used or slightly older eclipse deck you'll be the happiest. I'd start with the cd player and then later on do the speakers. a new cd player will provide more power to the factory stuff, and have more versatile options, whereas new speakers will just get less power than necessary from the factory cd player, and possibly mess things up because we have 6 speakers and they could run at some funky impedance. My 350z speakers were like 32 ohms or something, that would have been a headache.

 

[dienliv]

I'd start with the head unit as mentioned. The mentioned reason, is for the better output. Any decent brand will work, and the higher end brands like Alpine and Eclipse generally work better. It might be worth it for you to buy high-end, or even mediocre like Kenwood or something.

Even if the power of the head unit is more than what the speakers are rated, just don't turn it up too high.

But it really does start with the source. The best speakers in the world won't sound good if the source sucks. In an 03 Sentra, I swapped out the deck with a cheap Aiwa and the sound difference was night and day.

Anyway, have fun, go shopping!