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Re: Best way to upgrade stereo inexpensively?? (archive)
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Posted by gordon on December 24, 2000 at 13:58:58:

In Reply to: Best way to upgrade stereo inexpensively?? posted by John Stevenson on December 24, 2000 at 13:21:29:


Question for the audiophiles out there:

If one wants to upgrade the stock stereo, in what order should the upgrades be taken? Don't want to spend more than $1500, ideally less.

Also, what is the purpose of upgrading the head unit on the stereo? The aftermarket units have nice colors and stuff, but do they do much to the sound quality, or is it better to just focus on upgrading the speakers?

Thanks!
-John


The first thing you need to do is rip out the crappy amplifier in the trunk. Have it replaced with a good aftermarket amp for the front speakers and use the stock amp for rear fill if you want to. I used a Precision Power amp (PPI 2150)for the fronts and a PPI 600 watt mono amp driving an Eclips 12" subwoofer in the trunk. Any good installer should be able to tap into the stock wiring system to hook your amps up.

The front speakers I replaced with JL Audio seperates, which is a must! I could not fit any speaker manufacturer that makes a spekaer for the door 2" speaker, so I just used a 2 way system which uses a 6" "bass" and a 1 or 1 1/2" tweeter. It sounds very good and you should be within your budget!
Good luck!

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