Help me build a system!

deepinya

OK Im new to the car audio scene but have used Polks in my home audio for quite some time. I currently own rti8,rti10,rti70 but I prefer the sound of the rti70's the most for music. The rti8 sounds a little too bright for me and turning down the treble doesnt do the job.

Heres what I have currently

car- 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse gs-t
current audio- stock infinity 200w/6 channel system. 6.5 in the doors/tweeters on the dash/I think 6x9 in the rear.
amp- stock amp under the passenger seat

I obviously want to replace it all but I dont know where to begin.

I was looking at the mmc6500 components but what would i use for the rears?
h/u- no clue
amp- no clue
sub- do I NEED one right away?

Im not a basshead and do not crank the music for other people to notice me. I just want it to sound nice with the windows up yet I dont want it to clip if I turn it up on the highway with the windows down.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

audiobliss

It's going to be a joy helping you put together your system because 1) you have a nice car, 2) you already know about audio and good sound, 3) you want good sound vs loud bass, 4) you're buying.

The MMC6500 set would be perfect for the front speakers. Crutchfield says the MMC6500 will fit, and if you're wanting more bass up front, they even say the db6750 set will fit (it's a 6.75" component set). However, I'd probably stick with the MMC6500.

As for rear speakers, I would highly suggest you don't get any. I have a Cherokee and am not worrying about rear speakers, MacLeod on the forums has a quadcab Dodge Ram and has no rears, too. Rear speakers just tend to bring the soundstage to the back of the vehicle and make the imaging all smeared and muddy. I would say just go with the MMC6500 up front and forget rear speakers.

As for a head unit, I would suggest looking at Eclipse, Pioneer Premier, and Kenwood. An overall budget for your system would greatly help, but I'd start looking at those manufacturers. You probably want something that will play MP3/WMA, you'll want a flip down screen, and you should look for something with 3 sets of at least 4.0volt preouts. That'll put you right around $400.

If you're going to forego rear speakers, you can get a 4-channel amp, use the front channels for the front speakers, and bridge the rear channels for the sub. If you're really into sound quality and tweaking, though, I'd suggest biamping the components with a 4-channel amp and then getting a separate sub amp for the sub. Of course Polk amps are good, JLAudio is also pretty good, as well as Alpine V12, Memphis, and Orion.

Do you need a sub? I'd say so. You'll be missing out on some of the lower frequencies of your music without one. Something like the PolkMOMO 10" MM2104 sub would be nice.

Well, I guess that's a start for recommendations. Tell us your taste in music and what your budget is, and we can be a lil' more specific.

deepinya

Thanks for the quick response.

I guess if I dont get rears then I can put more money into a h/u, sub/amp?

Musical tastes- I listen to a bit of everything minus country.

budget- Id tell you I have a budget but I crash through those barriers and keep on going once I get interested. Ive never had a problem spending the money if its money well spent.

Eventually I want to get an LCD screen to play DVDs/navigation system so if I need to get a particular h/u then I may as well go all out now and build slowly from there? I dont want to buy something and later on down the road wish I spent a tiny bit more.

deepinya

I see the Polk site has MM2104 and an MM2104DVC

differences? and which should I get?

MacLeod

The DVC stands for dual voice coil. Instead of having a single 4 ohm coil it has 2 4 ohm coils. The only thing this is good for is wiring options. With this configuration you can wire them to a 2 ohm mono load which will work better with a Class D amp. For a stereo 2 channel amp, the SVC would be best.

The MMC6500 is the best speaker on the market under $400. If youre considering it, buy it.

For the rears, you dont have to have them but if you want them its ok too. It can pull your stage back some and maybe cause some cancellation issues but if you haul people around regularly while listening to music then rears would be needed. For them, get some MMC coaxials. 6.5's, 5.25's or 6x9's whichever fit.

For amps, it depends on how much you want to spend. The best amp would of course be the Polk 400.4. over 90 watts per channel and exceptional build quality.

For a sub, grab a MM2124SVC and power it with a Polk 300.2. This wont be a ton of bass but will be very musical and blend well with the midrange.

1996blackmax

deepinya wrote:

Eventually I want to get an LCD screen to play DVDs/navigation system so if I need to get a particular h/u then I may as well go all out now and build slowly from there? I dont want to buy something and later on down the road wish I spent a tiny bit more.

I would highly recommend the Eclipse AVN units if you want DVD playback as well as navigation.

I use rear fill when my family is in the car (my HU has time alignment). If you are careful (dropping the level on the rear to the point that you can't tell the speakers are on) you can get very good sound for both the front passengers. When I do this I put the time delay of the front speakers the same (an example would be 4.0 milliseconds of delay), and the rear left and right the same (ie. 2.7 milliseconds of delay, the gains on the amp lower than the front, and then dropped off by a few more DB's from my HU). This helps to bring the stage for both front occupants away from the sides and more towards the middle, at the same time it gives the people in the back some music as well. If you will not be lugging people around I would just say put the money you were going to use for the rear speaker and add it to the front stage budget .

Polk makes nice gear, there are also several other companies that put out nice products as well. An example would be Soundplinter (www.soundsplinter.com), they sell very good subwoofers for very reasonable prices. Have fun .

deepinya

Its an Eclipse and Im 6'1" so nobody fits behind me, with the exception of perhaps a baby? lol

So rear passengers are not a concern for me.....more money to spend!

Ok so I decided on the mmc6500 set for SURE!
Im debating the amp right now..c400.4 seems like it will fit and will give me some headroom if I ever upgrade just the fronts....that I like.
Will the 12" sub give me tight bass? Im not into blaring bass but I love the tight quick hitting bass you mostly hear in dance music.

Blackmax- Got any links to that eclipse unit? I will google but maybe you know of more places with nice pics.

so far so good, keep it up!

1996blackmax

Here you go:

http://www.eclipse-web.com./avn-index.html

1996blackmax

By the way their site has been updated with their new gear .

www.eclipse-web.com

MacLeod

The 12 will work fine.

First off, itll be a better match for the 300.2. Second, 12's offer a good mix of SPL and SQ. I know you say you dont want blaring bass but you still want good output and this sub powered off a 300.2 will do just that.

deepinya

thanks guys

Will I need a bigger battery/alternator or anything like that to run all this?

1996blackmax

I am still pretty impressed with the output my 10" sub has, but I want just a tad more. This little thing has 20mm of linear excursion so it is no wimpy sub. I think with your car a 10" woofer like the one I have might be good because you have a hatchback. My sub is in my trunk. When my friend and I listened to my sub in his Jeep Cherokee it sounded very nice. If I had his car I would just keep the 10" sub in there. I thought about going with a Sounsplinter 12" sub, but I do not want to go with too big of a box . My car is a family car so it has to have a good amount of trunk space. I am looking at an ARC 12" sub right now, nice sound, nice output, and can go in a .90 cubic foot box (which can be made to fit where my current sub is).

1996blackmax

You will not need a higher output alternator. A battery upgrade may be needed if you plan on listening to the system with the car off for long periods of time, if not then no.

Doing the big three can be helpful:
http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=007801;p=

deepinya

Im thinking I should listen to the sub before I buy it. I wonder if I have a tweeters near me or maybe Best Buy/CC will have these?

Does the sub have to be positioned in a certain way? I guess Ill have to build a box for it too huh? Ive got all the tools in the world!

blackmax- Thanks for that link. I only have a few weeks from start to finish for this task.

1996blackmax

No problem .

You will have to play with the positioning to get the best sound. If you have the tools making your own box would be nice.

jroberts_101

best buy wont have the 2124, you will probably just have to trust us and buy it. i have two of them and it sounds great, i have never had any problems and the bass is tight and is both great sounding/loud, and accurate. i have the mmc6500's as well, and i can guarantee you won't be disappointed. they can just scream and i have never heard them distort. to do this, i would have to be out of the car and it would hurt the ears a lot. you can open up the doors and listen to your music like a rock concert without any problems !

deepinya

Im getting all tingly inside!

What would you guys recommend for wiring/connectors?
Should I keep the new amp (for fronts) under the passenger seat where my old amp is currently?

jroberts- I see you have the 300.2 powering the mmc6500's. I guess the 400.4 will push them past what my ears can handle huh? I hope I dont blow the speakers.

I want to buy everything but I gotta take a breath first!

jroberts_101

i was told that stinger makes some of the best wiring. check them out, and these guys can back you up probably and tell you for sure. The mmc6500's can handle 125 watts rms. the 300.2 actually made 333 watts total, RMS, which means split, i could put like 165 to each, but i just keep the gain down. so this amp is plenty dude. the 400.4 is going to give you more options, if you want to have rear speakers, but you could buy a 300.2 for the fronts, matching perfectly, and a 500.1 for the sub, and it would work great.

deepinya

jroberts- Im going to pass on the rear speakers as Ill never have any rear passengers. This system is for me and one passenger. On the rare occasion someone HAS to squeeze in the back I dont think they will care about the sound.

Will I want to use the crossovers on the mmc6500 or on the amp? I think the 400.4 has better crossovers? Correct me if Im wrong. The price of the 300.2 is tempting me but if you guys feel the 400.4 is worth the extra cash I will buy it.

I just called tweeter and they have some of this stuff on display so I will be taking a drive down tomorrow. He is trying to talk me out of the Polk speakers I mentioned!

If all goes well maybe I will come back with some things in hand!

audiobliss

The point of having the C400.4 is for more tuning/tweaking options. You can biamp the components, meaning right front channel goes to right tweeter, left front channel goes to left tweeter, right rear channel goes to right mid, left rear channel goes to left mid. Setting it up this way bypasses the passive crossover that comes with the MMC6500 and allows you to set the crossover point on the amp. It also allows you to change the gain on the tweeters and the mids independently, thus giving you a much more variable 'tweeter attenuation' control than what is available on the passive crossovers.

As for wiring, Stinger makes good stuff. I would also look at knukonceptz, though. They make great stuff at good prices.

audiobliss

deepinya wrote:

He is trying to talk me out of the Polk speakers I mentioned!

Not surprising. No one seems to appreciate what the Polks can do. He'll probably try to sell you on JL stuff, at least for the amps and sub. :rolleyes:

deepinya wrote:

If all goes well maybe I will come back with some things in hand!

Just make sure it has the Polk name on it!

deepinya

Yeah he was trying to push the JL amps/subs on me! How did you know?
He did recommend Eclipse h/u to me even though Tweeter doesnt carry them.

Nothing makes my ears sing like Polks so I dont think anything is gonna change my mind while Im down there. In the system Im building a sub is a sub is a sub. I will stick with Polk from the advice I received from you guys! The only thing Im listening for is the difference between 10" and 12" subs.

neomagus00

for polk? 12 is a bit deeper, and louder, but takes up more space... that's about the only difference... if you can fit the 12, that's what you want...

MacLeod

Ill put Polk gear up against any JL gear any day of the week! Hell Ill put Polk up against any brand on the market!

As for cables, just get some from a major manufacturer like Streetwires, Stinger, Monster, Knuconceptz and the rest and youll be fine. Im pretty much believe cable is cable. As long as its well made and has a solid connection it wont matter which brand you go with.

1996blackmax

deepinya wrote:

Yeah he was trying to push the JL amps/subs on me! How did you know?

He and a lot of us know that this is what they usually do. I am not fond at all of the Tweeters here in town. For the most part most of the people in there remind me of some used car salesman with white shoes and butterfly collar shirt from the 70's.

He did recommend Eclipse h/u to me even though Tweeter doesnt carry them.

This I agree with 100% . Him telling you this and Tweeter not carrying them should tell you something.

Nothing makes my ears sing like Polks so I dont think anything is gonna change my mind while Im down there. In the system Im building a sub is a sub is a sub. I will stick with Polk from the advice I received from you guys! The only thing Im listening for is the difference between 10" and 12" subs.

If you can't really decide, just go with the 12" sub.

98thumpin

i love the polk stuff they sound so good they are as great balance between sg and spl.

deepinya

Ok so I decided between two head units. Someone needs to tell me which to get and whats a good price for them since Im buying them locally I can haggle on the price.

Eclipse CD8445
Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP

Or if you have something better that will fit my setup please speak up.

neomagus00

i have and love my deh-p860mp, but have not had the best success as far as quality control goes... it's in the middle of its third repair in as many years...

the eclipses are known for being somewhat less easy to use, however, and that's why i got the pioneer - i like to be able to tune my eq without ever looking at the panel...

deepinya

neomagus- Some pricing help?


thanks

neomagus00

i believe - so no guarantees - that they should both go for ~$500... if you're buying other stuff from the shop at the same time, you should be able to get a discount (MSRP for both is, i think, ~$570...)

audiobliss

I have the DEH-P860MP and love. No complaints with anything - operation, user interface, reliability, nothing. So, it's a good unit and I bet you'd be happy with it, but I don't think I'd ever take anything over an Eclipse. I'd personally go with the Eclipse.

But you should be happy with either.