subs and sounds

You don't need to spend anywhere near $400 for a really high end head unit...

I'd highly recommend the Eclipse 3403 ($225 street):


Or the Clarion DXZ635MP ($225 street):


Or the Nakamichi CD40Z ($275 street):


Or the Alpine CDA-7893 ($275 street):


All are great head units and will do a good job running 4 speakers right off of the internal power amplifier. You really can't go wrong with any of these units.

I have a personal bias for the Eclipse units because I like thier outstanding CD sound quality but if the radio tuner is more important to you then my first choice would be the Clarion.

BTW, the Eclipse and Nakamichi have the easiest (and best IMHO) user interfaces - they are very intuitive and easy to use.

Also, all of these units will play MP3's burned to a CD except the Nakamichi which is nice if you are into that. You can fit about 125 average length MP3 songs on a single CD instead of about 20 songs with a regular audio CD.

If you will ever want satellite radio - the Clarion will work with Sirius radio and the Alpine will work with XM radio. The Eclipse and Nakamichi are not satellite radio ready.

As far as reliability is concerned - I'd say that Clarion and Nakamichi are probably tied for first with Eclipse being second and Alpine coming in last.

On security - all models offer detachable face except the Eclipse. The eclipse has an electronic defense system that is registered with Eclipse and ensures the unit cannot ever be used if stolen however.

Installation on any of these units by a qualified dealer should'nt cost you more than $100 including extra parts and labor.

Hope this helps.
eMass

I went with EMass's reccomendation with Eclipse. I had a model CD8443 installed tonight and had it integrated to run off the stock EX sub while using the HU's built in 50 w x 4 amp to power my door speakers. Let me tell you this thing sounds great and I am still trying to figure out the audio controls and goodies. I paid $399.00 and had it installed for $100 and it sounds awesome compared to that other thing that was in the dash and it really looks nice as well. I have to go back on wed because they did not have the right dash kit so they gave me something temporary to hold me over. Once again this is an awesome head unit and it has this unique feature that allows you to choose one of your CD's as a key to enable the unit if it gets removed and also it comes with theft insurance and a 3 year warantee as well. My ex-girlfriend recently told me that when her eclipse deck got ripped off all she did was take the card to the store that she purchased it from and wala a new one was installed right away. I'm sure that she had to have a police report as well.

With speakers running off the internal power you'll want to cutoff the low frequencies to the door speakers at 1000 hertz and tweeters and just let the sub overlap a bit and handle the stuff below 2000 hertz. Those settings get vastly different if you get real amps/subs.

No - I didn't put the ESN stickers on the windows - instead I put in an alarm. I figure if a thief is smart enough to get past that then they're also smart enough to know that Eclipse units are worthless without a key CD.

I tune my systems with a bunch of CD's but a good CD to start with for system tuning purposes is Norah Jones. Listen to that piano and her louder vocals to get rid of all the annoying resonances that normally occur in a new system then tweak out the midbass with something like Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Blood Sugar Sex Magik - track 10 - the title track). I also use a Cake album (comfort eagle) to tweak bass and tweets and last I polish up with some latin jazz (Afro Cuban All Stars) to make sure everything is still musical and natural sounding.

Have Fun!

eMass...

I was thinking about installing the Eclipse AV8533.
http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/av/top.html#av8533

What do think of it?

I was also thinking of installing the same speaker system as yours.
Do you think I would need a different "setup" for "ultimate" DVD viewing/listening?


***EDIT - IGNORE FROM HERE DOWN***
***I SHOULD LEARN TO READ BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION LIKE THIS***
One more thing...
Is it me, or is there a "ramp/cut-out/divot/slot" under your rear seat (where the rear amp is located)? It doesn't seem that my E is built that way. If that is a mod you did, how did you do it?
***I NOW READ THAT THE AMP IS UNDER THE FRONT SEAT***
***EDIT - IGNORE FROM HERE UP***



Thanks!!!