jong: i have the clarion 835mp the predesessor to your deck and it is a pile of garbage. i have had it for about 1 1/2 years. the face is motorized, but any vibration at all from the car and the face comes loose. the damn defaut setting with the annoying as hell screen saver is rediculous (defaults are common with me becasue i am working on my cars often so the batterys are unplugged, so te cd players reset). other complaints: one a sticking 3 band EQ from a 500 dollar deck!?! to much bling and not enough features from clarion. as for the music catcher, buy an ipod and an alpine deck. get the ipod link and then you can store 500 cds not just 6. rant off.


changbang: there are a few things in there i would consider. first off, my MTX amp pulls 900 watts RMS power at max volume, and i don't have a second battery. if i were you, i would not go with a second battery (expensive, and very heavy). i would put a 1 or 2 farad cap in the system by the amp though to keep your lights from dimming. it might be around the same price, but caps weigh next to nothing.

next, the amp looks very nice, but the 5th channel does not appear to be a class D amp. what this means is your running at the same effciency at both 2 ohms and 4 ohms. ideally this setup will sound clear (because A/B amps, like the 4 other channels are very clean, but lower power output). but that is very little power for a sub. 200watt RMS power is not a lot. a class D amp will have a little more distortion but will offer the ability to double the power output by going to a 2 ohm speaker load. for example: say you have a 200 watt amp for one channel at 4 ohm. it is a class D amp. now you hook up a 2 ohm speaker to it, and the amp will run at 400 watt, double the power. but like i said class D amps are not as clean as a A/B amp. if your just looking for a little bit of bass fill with the sub (which is perfectly fine), then i think the tweeter guy is pointing you in the right direction. if you like bass that hits hard but not vibrating your trunk lid off, then your going to need a different amp. if thats the case, look for a 4 channel amp and a mono amp seperate. so you will have two amps, but the mono amp will be class D, running much more power, and the 4 channel will be A/B for the clean highs you should be looking for.

personally, i have purchased many components and stuff from online retailers, but i have found the customer service is poor at best, and the shipping can be very very late sometimes. i now like to buy locally to support the local workers who depend on their sales for there lively hood. it is strickly a moral issue, and if you want better equipment for cheaper go online. but don't expect the local guy to help you install it without him ripping you a new a$$ hole. trust me, we did it all the time when people brought us equipment they got elsewere, to install.

as for the speakers, as long as they are built well, which all JL stuff is, those will work well. clarity of the speakers is solely in the ear of the beholder, and if you like them, go with them.

the deck, personally i would upgrade to the 9831. that cd player has so many kick *** features nothing stands close for the money. the 9851 is new so i can't say anything about it.

hope that helps a little. sorry it was so long, but i would like to see you go the right way on this stereo unlike so many others.

 

I have an Alpine 9830 and love it. Never saw the whole benefit of upgrading to the 9831 for an extra $50. Plus the colors match the interior.

 

Good points Kevin. I'll ask them about not installing the battery, to see how much it costs.
As for the amp, they didn't really have any 4-channels at the store. Most were really expensive, or cheap and underpowered.

If I use the Head Unit to power the rear speakers, and the amp to power the front + sub, would that work?

Or would it be a better idea to get a 4-channel and a mono amp instead?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

JL audio stuff, hands down best for the buck

 

here's what i run in the '03 with prices for comparison:

Alpine CDA-9825 cd deck $199
Niche Audio NS 6.5c components w/xovers $81*
Sony XM2200GTX 2 ch amp $199 (200 watts rms 4 ohm load)
Rockford Fosgate punch P3 12' sub $299
Majestic Audio MA1620A mono amp $119 (670 watts rms 2 ohm load)*
LA 200 amp circuit breaker $27
4 gauge battery back + rca's $free
sealed sub box $35

total amt spent on equipment: $959 b4 tax

both Niche & Majestic are the same company & distributed by Rabadi & sons in PHX, AZ

Audiophile quality for pennies on the dollar: Priceless

 

900 bucks is fine for a pretty decent system. just shop around online for the best prices.

ex.

pioneer premier DEH-P8MP - about $260
pioneer rev components up front - about $160
pioneer rev coaxial rear - about $70 (or 2 sets to save money)
run those off the head unit which is 60x4
2 channel pioneer amp (bridged 380W RMS) - about $120
pioneer premier 10" sub - $90
wiring kit and harness (buy everything from ebay, CHEAP and brand name stuff) - about $50
sub box - about $75
install it yourself - priceless

grand total = $825
take your girl out with your savings

this system isn't going to win any SPL contests, but it will sound damn good, look good and be simple enough for most people to install (not lots of wiring to do)

note - all prices were taken from www.pricegrabber.com if you look around you can find even cheaper prices for the same things.

edit: pic of said head unit

 

another cool pic of one of the motion eq's

 

haven't spent the dough for my evo yet, but pricing on ebay has led me to want the following components....
alpine 9831; infinity kappa perfect 6.1 separates up front; kappa 61/2 rears, kappa perfect 10 sub and 2 soundstream d300 amps. looking at around $950 for the setup including shipping and add another $100-150 for cables and wood for the box.. a great setup imo...
I have a clarion 535, soundstream 4ch. old school amp, infinity kappa 6.5 2ways and a single kicker 8 in my truck now and purchased the whole setup for under $400 off ebay including quality cables and power kit.

If you have the aptitidue, then ebay is a great forum for purchasing quality products at greatly reduced prices, but if you haven't tackled this or are electronically challenged, the stereo stores are a great place to go for a quality installation and someone to explain it and fix it if needed.....

just my .02

 

the 9831 is the heat, get it, stick to JL stuff for sure, also get the W3 instead of the w0 for a little better bass, if thats not enough grab the 13w7 and it will ROCK you, but the w3 will work wonders for you I am sure. As for the amps, I run 2 JL audio amps on my set up, 1 300/4 for the MB Quart Q series($$$$) and 1 500/1 for the 12w3. It rocks and sounds incredible.

Personally, I stick to JL and MB quart stuff as they powered me and my friend to 2nd in the world in SQ+ 601+ up. good luck with your setup.holla if more help is needed.

 

had a set of jl w6's in my old elipse running off an infinity beta digital amp. sounded great, however in pricing the system for my ford, I found jl to be a bit pricey compared to what they were a couple years ago.. that seemed to have happened in the last couple years....a great sub, no less.

 

Selling JL 500/1 and TWO JL 15 w3s in box. Mint condition. 750.00 O.B.O
Locatiion is Cincinnati Ohio. Buyer Pays shipping prefer local pickup

 

I hope for my sake that Clarion changed a few things then! Hopefully it will hold up okay. The Alpines and I-pods are the way to go if you have the cash; I was looking at going this route but I didn't really have the cash and it was kind of complicated. This deck matched my color scheme and has some nice features, all for around $200, so if it does crap out in a year it's no big deal. I'll just use it as an excuse to get a touchscreen nav/dvd unit

Jon

 

i agree, get some more power behind your ride

 

I would spend the most in HU and front comp separates, as such:

- Eclipse HU w/ 8v preout, basic and NO bling $300
- JL xr series front comps $300
- Alpine 12" type R sub $150
- JBL 40x4 and p6001 amps $450
- wiring and labor $300

I emphasize HU, get Eclipse. They're by far the cleanest sounding HU money can buy! I wasted a lot of money on Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer - mostly blings!

Oops, over your budget at $1500. But, good audio is priceless...

 

keep the amp, use the wire harnesses kit $35.00+ form http://www.autotoys.com/
infinity speakers: kappa63.I rear $129.00
infinity speakers: 6002i front $69.00 any pioneer head unit from http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/ "THE TECH HAS SPOKEN"