Hi guys. I don't like the stock sound system at all... I plan to purchase a new deck, new speakers and new amp. I am not interested in a sub. Any ideas? Please be specific of what you have or recommend. I am thinking to go with alphine + polk speakers... what you think?
Thanks!

 

The Evo is the first car in 15 years I haven't put a new stereo in. I had a 540i last time and the factory unit died; because of the way BMW rigs their sound, I had to replace the head unit and wiring, so I did the head unit (top of the line Sony Xplod), Infinity component speakers, and a 600W Rockford Fosgate amp and 12" sub. It sounded pretty good.

I still have the sub, but I haven't put it in the Evo. Given the nature of the car, I don't think you could hear most of the highs and lows at speed over the sound of the tires, gearbox, transfer case, and engine. I just haven't been motivated to change it.

The stock system is fine at low to moderate volume levels. IMHO, a high end system would be wasted except when the engine was off or at idle. I would spend the money on a good home system that you could really hear, or save your money to replace the tires, oil, plugs, clutch, and whatever else you wear out or break.

Besides, sound is so objective you're going to get a thousand "dude, Pioneer rocks" or "(insert your favorite model number head unit here) all the way, everything else sucks". You really have to listen to units back to back at the same store to tell the differences.

I have heard a number of people say that a higher wattage head unit with the stock speakers sounds much better without too much distortion. Make sure when you look at the wattage you note the THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) and frequency range to make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

I advise you to start with people's suggestions, but don't take anyone's word for it; listen to YOUR ears.

 

I just got my Evo about two weeks ago. And here's what I did.

First I drove it around for a couple of days and listened to it. I liked what I heard. The stock speakers sound pretty good. Not worth spending a ton of money on to swap out if you ask me. The stock deck was nice too. But I love being able to listen to mp3s so I replaced the deck with a simple middle of the road Pioneer DEH-P4600 MP that can be had for $179 from crutchfield.

I also thought that the low end needed a little help so I bought a Bazooka EL6A-HP tube. (also from crutchfield $150.) I liked that because it's pretty light weight and has built in power and it provides enough thump than the speakers alone. I really like the bazooka tubes because they don't take up all my trunk space and they are really easy to take out. I know I'm not going to win any contests with my system but it sounds great to me. If you want to spend a little more money bazooka has some higher end models that are a little bigger and more powerful. I can roll my windows down and still hear my music clear. It should be noted that I listen to rock, rap, and pop music and everything sounds good.

That's just my 2 cents.

 

correct answer: go listen to speakers and see what you like.

my opinion having done just that quite a lot, especially recently:

alpine speakers suck. they always have, and the possibly always will. I have heard their retail lines that best buy / circuit city carry and they are awful-- totally lacking definition and clarity. the nicer ones carried by carfi shops and crutchfield are not much better.

for $150 or less, I highly recommend the Memphis M-class 6.5 coaxial. its one weakness is that other oversize 6.5" drivers can hit a little lower, but that is unimportant when you run a subwoofer. vocals are clear and sharp, but not overly bright.

 

I just replaced my stock system last week with Alpine components, as recommended by Crutchfield's "easy fit" listings on their web site: CDA-9825 head unit with four SPS-170A 6-1/2" speakers. The whole effort took about three hours to complete and cost $379, including shippping. The instructions were excellent, although there is a bit of improvisation required, mainly in getting the speaker adaptors to fit to the factory locations and to get the bezel surrounding the head unit to stay in place. Nothing terribly hard, just a little more work than advertised.

As for the sound, there is a significant improvement. The weakest part of the factory system (Matsu****a [Panasonic] head unit with Mitsubishi speakers) are the speakers themselves. Small magnets, paper cones, with a paper whizzer cone for the tweeters. Just replacing the speakers alone is a big step up. You get much better bass response, although you still need a powered sub if you want slamming bass.

I think it was money well spent and highly recommend it to anyone who values higher quality sound in their Evo.