[andrzejpw]

I'm going to be replacing the stock factory head unit and speakers in my VW Jetta 96 GL, and I was wondering: how does this look?

Head Unit: Alpine CDE-7870
4 x Speakers: Infinity Reference 652i

Can anyone recommend a different head unit? Different speakers?

 

[BeeEss]

andrzejpw:

I installed an Alpine head unit in my car about four years ago, and I absolutely love it. It sees daily use (hehe, heavy daily use) and performs flawlessly day in and day out. I recommended Alpine to my brother too and he has had the same positive experience with his. I am not familiar with the particular model you mentioned, but I am definately a satisfied Alpine customer and will buy them again (if mine ever dies, which I think is unlikely).

As for speakers, I have not had any experience with Infinity car audio gear. I installed Boston in my car and in a friend's car - I am satisfied with them. Hope this helps. --BeeEss

 

[Mr.PD]

It looks good to me.

The only change I would recomend is to move up to Kappa series 635i three way speakers if you can afford twice the money. I use Infinity in my cars. I have reference series in my pickup and I am quite happy with them. I have Kappa series in one car and I am amazed with them.

 

[The Quality Guru]

Andrze,

Looks to be a kickin' sound system in the making! And I'm glad to see that your definition of a kickin' sound system doesn't incorporate a 120 Watt subwoofer into the mix that makes your car vibrate.

 

[Audio-Me]

That's kind of what I have in mind for a truck system. What about amp/x-over? Kenwood?

 

[andrzejpw]

No amps for now.

Will that hurt me?

 

[x1lexure]

I've never really understood Car Audio needs. But then again I don't spend to much time in my car. The one thing I hate though is the wanna be gangsters that have HUGE subwoofers in the trunk that shake the car beyond infinity. I had a friend who broke the latch on his trunk becasue of his sub. Sorry for Highjacking your thread.

 

[andrzejpw]

Quote:

Originally posted by x1lexure I've never really understood Car Audio needs. But then again I don't spend to much time in my car. The one thing I hate though is the wanna be gangsters that have HUGE subwoofers in the trunk that shake the car beyond infinity. I had a friend who broke the latch on his trunk becasue of his sub. Sorry for Highjacking your thread.

no subs in what I'm thinking of. The reason I'm replacing stuff?

1) I'm on head-fi.

2) The old, stock speakers are old and blown.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

I had a set of MB Quart speakers that were absolutely killer. I also recommend getting different brands as you avoid having the same holes and emphasis that come from every speaker. I had four different brands of speakers in my car, and everyone who heard it said they never heard anything so good in all their lives. OBTW, I also had it EQ'd on a 31 band EQ so that it had an almost perfect frequency responce from 20Hz - 20 KHz. Out of all 31 bands, a grand total of 3 were 1db from a perfectly flat response.



Lord Bless

 

[finleyville]

andrzejpw,

I have an Alpine CDA 7845 player that I'm seriously thinking of selling. When I bought it a couple of years ago for $500 new, only Alpine's top-of-the-line model for $1000 was better. The only reason I want to sell it is I might be getting a new car soon. I have a 1996 Golf, so you would get the wire adapter for free. PM me if you are interested.

 

[gerG]

That is a good combination. The Alpine decks are amazing, and will deliver the best sound quality.

I would personally skip the rear speakers and go for a subwoofer instead. You don't have to use it as a "notice me" gimmick. It makes a huge difference in mobile sound quality to have a sub. Rear full range speakers, on the other hand, only detract from the stereo image up front.

I believe that deck has an internal x-over, which allows the front amp to run with a high pass and the rears to run low pass. That means that you can run the whole system right out of the deck. An external amp for the sub would be better. The crossover in the deck is pretty good, so you shouldn't need an external one. If you decide to go external amp, get the 7995. Better quality components, no amp, and wonderful blue illumination.

Word of warning on the main speakers: listen to them before installing! I just made that mistake with a brand that I trusted, and had to re-do an awful lot of work. I ended up voiceing each component separately and then tri-amping to avoid problems with (junk) passive crossovers. It was worth the effort, though. My car system is sounding more like my K-1000s all the time.

Let me know if you want to know all of the mistakes that I made with acoustic and vibration control.


gerG

 

[Flasken]

Finleyville,

Your sig is so funny, man!!

 

[zowie]

Here's my rig.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by zowie Here's my rig.

WOW, is that thing an 8 track?? Don't post too many photos of it as someone from the Smithsonian might want it for their collection!!!



Lord Bless

 

[finleyville]

andrzejpw,

The email you gave me doesn't work anymore. PM me with your new one or clean out your PM folders so I can send you one. Thanks.