Complete Newbie- In car Stereo help

[YoyotaTaris]

Ok guys, I just recently turned 18, got my License and a 2005 Toyota Yaris (1000 cc).

Love the car and everything, but I really want to get my stereo sorted out. I have never attempted this before, but I do have a basic understanding.

Ok, so to the questions.

If I want 50 watts out of my speakers, I should go for a 50W x 4 max power output CD tuner, and I wont need any amplifier. Right?

The 50W x 4 max power output Cd Tuner should be able to give 4 speakers 50 watts, is that correct?

Basically I just want a decent CD tuner and a bunch of speakers. But I can get an amplifier if this wont do the Job. I would really appreciate is someone could explain what I need to do, in more detail.

Thank you for reading.

[xed]

Ignore all "max power" information. Pay attention to the "rms" power rating or even better the "continuous" power rating. Peak and max power ratings are often used as a selling point but they are not a reliable way to gauge the quality of sound being output.

Also the quality of the amplified signal is very important. What I mean is that you can buy something crappy that puts out 50w but it won't put out 50 clean watts. There's also little regulation on the claims that manufacturers can make with regard to their products.

As with most things electronic you normally get what you pay for.

I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions about specific models from the folks here.

[YoyotaTaris]

So, since most of the CD tuners I looked at only give out "50W x 4 max power output", I should be considering buying an Amplifier and ignore the Output power shown on the CD Tuner?

For the time being I am not buying a subwoofer, so could someone suggest a good combination of Speakers, Amplifier and CD tuner? I am somewhat confused about how all those Power ratings go together.

Thank you.

[xed]

Originally Posted by YoyotaTaris

So, since most of the CD tuners I looked at only give out "50W x 4 max power output", I should be considering buying an Amplifier and ignore the Output power shown on the CD Tuner?
Thank you.

Not necessarily. It's just that a rating like "50W x 4 max power output" doesn't tell you what the average continuous power output is. So for example if you had something (cd tuner, tape tuner, power amp, etc) that puts out "25w x 4 continuous average power" then you know where you stand. But you could just as easily have a "50W x 4 max power output" unit that actually puts out "15w x 4 continuous average power". Both units may technically peak at 50w when producing a sine wave but that doesn't mean they're equivalent or the same quality. A good rule of thumb is that you should never buy any stereo amplifier equipment which does not list output in terms of either RMS or continuous output power. The rating of "max power" is so grey that it is not reliable to use as a tool for comparison. The definition of RMS and continuous output power has much less of a fudge factor so you can use those ratings to compare output power between models.

Learning all the in's and out's of exactly what makes a good amp a good amp and how to pair that amp with the correct speakers for what you want to listen too is a lot of work. More than most want to put in.

My best advice is to check out the stereos in some of your friends cars. Sit down and give them a listen. Forget completely about neon or flashing lights or name brands. Just sit in the car and listen. Figure out what you like and what you don't like about your friends stereos. Then go shopping. Remember that a stereo store is not a car and a car is not a stereo store. You can't expect speakers to sound the same in your car as the store. That's why sitting down in other peoples cars and giving their systems an honest listen will probably be the best education you can get. If it sounds good to you and you like it then buy it.

[07typeS]

xed did a good job explaining it all. most decent headunits are putting out between 20-25 watts rms or continuous, I wouldnt go below that. The next thing you are going to look at is the pre-amp out voltage the head unit puts out, if/ and or when you decide you want an external amplifier. A normal voltage is around 2-2.2 volts and I wouldnt dip anywhere below that. The next thing you will want to look at is the db rating on the speakers you want to purchase. the higher the db rating, the better the sound and the higher the volume without as much power. so a speaker with a db rating of 92 will play louder and cleaner with the same power into a speaker with a 89 db rating.

You definately get what you pay for, ive had good luck with pioneer head units, but some of the more popular ones are alpine, kenwood, and pioneer. those to me have the best features and produce the best quality. I like pioneer, its a really good bang for your buck, kenwoods have a lot of good features and produce good sound, and alpine is definately number 1 on my list but is going to cost you a decent amount for a decent head unit.

As far as speakers go I have tried tons of different brands and always come back to infinitys, for the price you cant beat them. mb quart also makes nice speakers, alpine, and some other brands.

but like xed said, the best way to make your choice is to sit in a crapload of cars and listen.

[Razr]

Just to throw a spanner in the works.. Unfortunately even RMS/Continous power ratings can be fiddled with to create an apples and oranges scenario, especially when it comes to car audio equipment.

When comparing power outputs, you need to understand what source voltage the amp/head unit is being supplied with, what THD level it was tested at, what load impedance it was running, what frequency range it was running, what duration the power was averaged over, and whether or not all channels were running during the test or just one - variations in any of these parameters can make huge differences to the final paper spec.

The Consumer Electronics Association nutted out a test prodedure for all manufacterers to follow when rating power output, called CEA 2006-A, which allows an apples-to-apples comparison between brands/models as it defines a common testing procedure.

At this stage, CEA 2006-A is the only established power rating standard out there, and if a manufacturer wants to be honest about its products, you'll be able to find power ratings based on this spec. Likewaise, if a manufacturer perfers to diddle their ratings (by running gear @ 10% THD, or only one channel driven, or 16VDC supply, or by using 3.5ohm loads, or by measuring output over 1 nano second etc) they probably won't publish a CEA 2006-A rating

I seriously doubt there's too many head units that can output 25w RMS per channel when rated using the CEA 2006-A guidelines. Maybe 15-20w, tops. The again, I'm not running a testing lab so could be wrong, so take my educated guess with two grains of salt :)

[Razr]

Actually, Alpine rates their head units using CEA 2006-A - their $650 "50w x 4" DVA-9861 model is rated at 18w x 4 CEA 2006-A. I'd say this is probably representative of the best actual head unit power on the market.

[YoyotaTaris]

ok, I see.

But if I Amp the speakers, the power rating on the HU wont matter right?

And could someone recommend a good HU, Amplifier and Speakers that would work well together, or at least tell me the specs for such a setup?

Thank you

[Razr]

Originally Posted by YoyotaTaris

ok, I see.

But if I Amp the speakers, the power rating on the HU wont matter right?

And could someone recommend a good HU, Amplifier and Speakers that would work well together, or at least tell me the specs for such a setup?

Thank you

That's right - as soon as you add an amplifier into the system the HU power is negated.

Your second question has 2,000,000 different answers though :) You'll need to shop around and audition kit yourself - it's just too personal a thing to base off someone else's advice. Kinda like asking someone here to find you a hot GF

[earljail]

Originally Posted by YoyotaTaris

And could someone recommend a good HU, Amplifier and Speakers that would work well together, or at least tell me the specs for such a setup?

For those three things, you can mix and match brands as much as you like.

Generally, for HUs, you want to shop for features. Like, if you plan to have several amps, you'll want a pre-out for each one. You might like the look of the Kenwoods that show a black panel when turned off. You might like the flashy lights on some JVCs. As long as you aren't buying an off-brand HU, sound quality isn't a huge factor.

For Amps, you generally want power. Having a overly-powefull amp won't hurt your speakers.

Speakers, you want sound quality and power handling. Sound quality is personal.

As a rule of thumb, you can't go wrong if you buy in the middle (not the cheapest, not the most expensive) of a reputable brand.

[YoyotaTaris]

I looked around and chose this combination.

Ok here goes.

Head Unit:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...key=ClickInfo#

4 Channel Amp
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...tegoryrn_82399

5.25" Component speakers (for front)
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...tegoryrn_82389

6"x9" Coaxial Speakers (for back)
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...tegoryrn_82387


Please let me know what you think.

[Razr]

I've never heard of the "Vibe" brand at all, and I thought Ripspeed were an accessories shop, not an electronics manufacturer

Can't provide any opinions I'm afraid - any British members seen or heard of this stuff before?

[SiliconRane]

Welcome to the wonderfully complex world of mobile audio electronics . . . read LOTS before you install ANYTHING and listen to what other people have installed before you spend your money, each person has his or her own tastes!!

[Indianspringsaz]

Alpine

[Sway84]

alpine cda9885 i have and it pushes 50X4.... my stock speakers kick ass with it and a 12" sub in the back really gives it mad bass... my advice is to look up alpines head units and what u can afford u get... the speakers come into play later...and if u want really gooood speakers suchas the alpine r types with tweeter components, ull have to get an amp for it... but head units provide a substancial set of extra power/clarity to ure stock speakers....keep in mind, alpine is one of the most well known companies for sound clarity/quality