I listen to a lot of rock music, varieties of metal, punk (oldschool
and hardcore), radiohead, jethro tull, other stuff. The other thing
is, my sister tends to blast my system pretty damn loud... so do I
sometimes. In the morning, I drive to work before dawn, my hearing is
sensitive, no outside noise, and so playing it low is pretty loud. In
the afternoon to evening, louder is just ideal, because you hear less
in all this LA traffic. If you were to start fresh, what kind of
setup(s) would you recommend for me? Give me different selections
based on certain price ranges and such. I realize that in most cases,
you get what you pay for. I'm looking for something that sounds good
at pretty low volumes, but also doesn't distort badly from overdrive
at high volumes. Help me!

SterileThePunk wrote
I listen to a lot of rock music, varieties of metal, punk (oldschool
and hardcore), radiohead, jethro tull, other stuff. The other thing
is, my sister tends to blast my system pretty damn loud... so do I
sometimes. In the morning, I drive to work before dawn, my hearing is
sensitive, no outside noise, and so playing it low is pretty loud. In
the afternoon to evening, louder is just ideal, because you hear less
in all this LA traffic. If you were to start fresh, what kind of
setup(s) would you recommend for me? Give me different selections
based on certain price ranges and such. I realize that in most cases,
you get what you pay for. I'm looking for something that sounds good
at pretty low volumes, but also doesn't distort badly from overdrive
at high volumes. Help me!

Way to vague a question ... but here are some vague answer to get you
started

all items are purchased from Ebay unless otherwise noted

$150 ... 4 330uF capacitors (for high passing the speakers running off the
deck) (from local electronics store), 10" sub, enclosure for the sub, small
1 or 2 channel amp, amp wiring kit (from walmart)

$500 ... head unit, 10" sub, enclosure for sub, 1 or 2 channel amp, 4
channel amp, coax speakers (for front and rear), amp wiring kit (from
Walmart)

From this point on, you can spend as much money as you want to obtain the
following ...

1) new equipment that will have warranty
2) better quality equipment
3) equipment that will sound louder
4) equipment that will sound better
5) equipment that will look better
6) equipment that will give you more options (MP3, CD-changer, Equalizer,
variable crossover settings, etc ...)

--
Regards,
Dan Snooks

Yeah, I know I need that stuff, but I'm looking for brands... but you
did help, I have a current setup that I listed in another post with
the same title. Here it is anyway.

Kenwood KDC-322 HU 2ch CD player
2 Stock front speakers (kinda small, 4 inches? not sure really)
2 6x9 Pioneer 300w (mounts are intended for 6.5s, but I mickey moused
it)
2 Fosgate Punch 10" subs (probably HX2)
Jensen 100wX4ch amp (used)
Hifonics Zeus ZX7500 2ch amp (drives subs)

The Zeus drives the subs at 500w x 2ch. It can carry one sub at 4ohms
for 950w.
I was thinking of going this route when I have the time to rewire it.
I was thinking of replacing the inside speakers with Cerwin Vegas, all
the proper sizes. Possibly thinking of chucking the Jensen (well, not
chucking, but...) and getting a Zeus ZX6400 (4 channel amp) that can
be instantly crossed-over to the ZX7500. I was also considering
replacing the headunit with one that carries a 4 to 5V output, is MP3
capable (I can carry less cds), and has 5 or 6 channels. I was
thinking that all the speakers would be hooked up to the 4 ch, the
sub(s) to the 2 ch, and any tweeters directly to the HU.

If anyone has any other suggestions, lemme know. Will switching from
two 10" subs pumping 500w ea make a considerable distance when
switching to one 10" sub at 950 to 1000w? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!

SterileThePunk wrote
The Zeus drives the subs at 500w x 2ch. It can carry one sub at 4ohms
for 950w.
I was thinking of going this route when I have the time to rewire it.

If you really are using RF HE2 subs, they will have dual voice coils, which
means you should be able to run them together in mono @ 4ohm. You are better
off with the 2 subs.

I was thinking of replacing the inside speakers with Cerwin Vegas, all
the proper sizes.

If possible, use components up front (not going to happen with new Cerwin
Vegas) Perhaps look at Infinity Reference series, Rockford Fosgate FNQ
series, and Alpine Type-R series.

Possibly thinking of chucking the Jensen (well, not
chucking, but...) and getting a Zeus ZX6400 (4 channel amp) that can
be instantly crossed-over to the ZX7500.

You may want to consider spending that money on an active crossover instead,
which would then handle the signal processing for the Jensen and the ZX7500.

I was also considering
replacing the headunit with one that carries a 4 to 5V output, is MP3
capable (I can carry less cds), and has 5 or 6 channels. I was
thinking that all the speakers would be hooked up to the 4 ch, the
sub(s) to the 2 ch, and any tweeters directly to the HU.

Don't bother running any speakers from the head unit. If you want more
control, having 3 sets of outputs on the head unit will give you a
non-fading sub output to help tweaking. Still best to use an active
crossover for signal processing though (even with the new head unit)

If anyone has any other suggestions, lemme know.

If you go with Cerwin Vega, try to shoehorn the 6 1/2" up front, and use the
5 1/4" for rear fill. Feed the ZX7500 with a mono signal.

Will switching from
two 10" subs pumping 500w ea make a considerable distance when
switching to one 10" sub at 950 to 1000w?

If the type of sub being used is identical, the pair will be louder. For
example ... one Kicker Solobaric S10L7 ported with 950W should be louder
then 2 RF 10" HE2 with 500W each ... but a single HE2 would not be as loud.

--
Regards,
Dan Snooks