Hello,

I am looking to upgrade my whole speaker system from stock. I have done some research but think that my choices might be biased.

I am looking for a head unit that will support a large USB portable hard drive. I am looking at the Alpine iDA-X200. I have heard that is supports a maximum of 250GB. I plan to use a 320GB hard drive because 250GB ones are harder to source and are only $10 cheaper. Is there a cheaper way to get a large amount of music into a car? A cheaper Alpine head unit like the CDE-101E plus a 160GB Ipod classic works out to be more expensive.

My 96 Olympic Classic EL Falcon has 6" speakers in the rear and front. I have read that some one else on these forums had installed Type S 6.5" splits with no modifications. I plan to use SPS-600C for the front using stock placement of the tweeters and SPS-600 for the rear.

I read in the Alpine Summer 2010 catalogue that the iDA-200 is $349 and comes with a 6 Disc CD changer (CHA-S634) which retails for $349 and sells on ebay for $180.

It also lists a V-Power/Type S Sub package for $499. This includes a 300W 12" Sub and a 500W Amp.

For wiring I was going to use a Rampage 4 gauge wiring kit that can be had for $49 at SuperCheapAuto.

Is there anything that I am missing or overlooked and have I chosen good valued speakers?

Thanks in advance.

Hey mate,
The only thing that stood out to me was this



If you want to save some money, the 4 Gauge is overkill (that kit doesnt come with RCA's btw I dont think) you will be fine with 8 Guage. The 4 guage kits come with an 80 Amp Fuse. If at 12V you want to power 300W MAX you will get 25 Amps. (300W/12V = 25A) Its nice to have it for the future though.

Also I wouldnt worry about rear speakers if i were you. Who listens to music in the back seat? Not me . Music is generally only in Stereo, so having sound coming from the front speakers only eliminates the out of phase sounds coming from the back and makes it sound much better IMO. If i were you I would get a cheap 2 channel amp and hook that up to the front speakers instead of buying rear speakers. And with the money you will save get the Type R splits, better mid bass

Ah yeah sorry it was actually the 8 Gauge 2 Channel 400W that was $50. It comes with the following;
* 2 channel 8 gauge wiring kit
* 1m silver ground cable
* 6m blue trigger cable
* 6m 14 GA silver speaker cable with green trace on one side
* 5.5m green RCA lead
* AGU fuse holder with 50 Amp AGU fuse
* Split loom tubing
* Includes all terminals, screws & ties
* 6m red power cable
* RMP40

OK. So I revised my plan. I am about to buying the following;
Alpine iDA-X200
Alpine MRP-M500
Alpine SWS-1223
Alpine SPR-17S

All for $1050 from Alberts.

Not gonna bother with an amp for the front speakers as I do not have the money. Will when I can afford some 6x9's and a 4 channel amp.

So hows the price looking?

instead of mono amp ever thought about getting decent 4 channel and bridging rear channels to run sub? can run fronts with remaining channels

http://www.bossaudio.com/main/820

Thinking about it, I think you will need to confirm with someone that Type R's will fit in the doors.... But if they do, DAMN are they going to sound good.



Ill save you some money, Dont worry about 6x9's. Seriously. They are just there for people who want bass, but dont have money for a sub. If you want more Bass buy another Sub. So you can get a 2 channel amp instead lol.

A Technique I like to do is have speaker covers in the back but have no speaker there. It acts as a vent for the air pressue the sub is going to produce. Ask a make who has a full set up to fold their back seat down while listening to the sub. see the difference it makes.
Others may disagree with me but I think 99% of the time it sounds better.

DAMN, was beaten to it. I was going to suggest the 4 channel amp way. The MRP-F600 will do it, to keep it all within the alpine family. 150W RMS for the front speakers (the components are only 110W RMS) and 300W RMS for the sub.