(Part 2) Best products from r/BuildaCarAVForMe

Alright here we go:

1. DSP's: I've only had experence with a rockford 3sixty.2, but even with that i say that processed audio is exponentially better. That being said, here is what i've gathered are the best DSP's from r/carav. The jbl ms8 which is discontinued but you can find good deals on ebay. The Rockford 3sixty.3 which i personally recommend; and finally the miniDSP with everything added in. You will definitely need some tutorials on EQ'ng and RTA software if you plan on installing these yourself.
   
   
2. Regarding components, you have to go to a audio shop to really get a feel for what you like. Are you fine with mid level components or the audiophile grade? for great mid level i recommend Hertz DSK. For audiophile grade i would go for Morel Tempo's. the coaxials in the rear doors are less important. You can go for some cheaper pioneers which will do the job and still sound good, or find some matching coaxials to your components if you wish.
   
   
3. Go for a 4 channel + a monoblock. I would choose this Cadence D100.4 and a Zapco 1000W rms monoblock. I hope your electrical is decent. If you wish to spend a little extra you can look into a HO alternator or possibly just a bigger audio battery such as XSpower, Kinetik, or Shuriken.
   
   
4. Two tens would be good, but a single twelve would take up less space and not require as much power which is always good. I would get a single Fi SSD which is great for either sealed or ported enclosures. If you want tight bass get a sealed enclosure, if you want to bump hard get a ported box built to specs. Either way, don't buy a prefab, get it custom made.
   
   
5. SOUND DAMPEN EVERYTHING. Dynamat is great and i use it, but many r/carav enthusiasts go for Noico which is also butyl rubber dampener which is much more cost effective. Do your doors, rear deck, and trunk.
   
   overall it should be: $1,880 with everything added in, the most expensive component set, and wire harness. You could spend the extra little bit on a replacement starter battery geared towards audio (the brands i recommended). You will need to double check, but from what i found your alternator outputs 130A, and it should be able to handle up to 1200W comfortably. Set your gains accordingly with a multimeter.
   
   
   Regarding the install, you can do it yourself but it will take much longer than you think it will. With determination and plenty of video tutorials or outside help you can finish it very well. If taking off your cars panels, electrical work, and woodwork/drilling sound daunting, get a professional to install. It can be anywhere from $400-1000 extra depending on what you have them do (component install, DSP programming, sound deadending, amp wiring and install). You can get discounts on labor if you buy stuff from them, so again, please do listen to setups from your local audio shops.

I have a 2012 accord, and the 08-12 have the same body style, so I know what you need and some potential problems you might run into.

You should replace the radio because it'll make a dramatic difference in the sound quality, same with adding an amp. Also, if you want to put quality speakers in, you'll need an amp or you'll risk blowing your speakers.

Problems you'll run into:

• With a new head unit, you'll lose the function of the screen on top, but I think it's a good trade off for the sound quality
  
  
• You can't have speakers in the front doors that are too deep because it'll hit the window, but there are good shallow mount speakers to put there.
  
  
• The back deck WILL rattle, even you you put a good amount of deadener on it, deadener will still help a good amount though. To solve this problem, deaden it, put weather stripping along the back of the deck where it meets the window (I doubled it up where the brake light is back there), and I drilled two small holes from inside the trunk and zip-tied it down around the metal frame under the deck. This worked great for me and I have two 13" subs in a ported box. If you're looking for one 10", it'll definitely work. It might look a little janky, but that's the only way for it to not rattle.
  
  
• To have someone install everything, run the wires, and deaden what you need deadened (which is, at minimum, the front doors and front door panels, rear deck, trunk, trunk lid, and probably the the pillars in the back), you're probably looking at around $300-$600 for about 4-6 hours of work, depending on where you take it to. And some charge more for installing if you didn't buy the parts from them.
  
  In your other post on /r/CarAV, you said you have a couple grand to spend, so I'm going to put a complete SQ system together that you'll be able to keep for a long time and move from car to car.
  
  
• KnuKonceptz 4 gauge amp kit - $50 (they have a cheaper 4 gauge amp kit, but it doesn't have a big enough fuse on it)
  
  
• 100' KnuKonceptz speaker wire - $20
  
  
• RCA cables (need 2 more pairs) - $10 x 2
  
  
• Dash kit - $50
  
  
• Wiring harness - $12
  
• Antenna adapter - $10
  
  
• Steering wheel control interface - $80
  
  
• Kenwood excelon headunit - $260
  
  
• 6.5" Focal component speakers for the front - $250
  
  
• 6.5" JL coax speakers for the back deck - $140
  
  
• Baffles for the speakers on back deck - $8 (you need these if you want to hear these speakers because of noise cancelation from the sub)
  
  
• 10" pioneer sub - $300
  
  
• Crappy pre-fab sub box - $60
  
  
• Custom box for your car - $120 + $15 if you want a grill (They will build it to the specs of the sub, which is 1 cu.ft. sealed if you go with the pioneer)
  
  
• Kenwood excelon 5 channel amp - $500
  
  
• 25ft^2 of sound deadener - $55
  
  
• $1815-1890 + $300-$600 installation + your tax rate
  
  You probably can find some of this stuff cheaper on amazon, but they're not a registered dealer so you're SOL if something goes bad.
  
  I'd go in to the store, get two quotes, 1) just to install all of this stuff you bought online and 2) what it would cost to buy everything from them with installation and see which is cheaper. The cost for dealers on door speakers and subwoofers is literally half of what they sell for, not head units though, they have very little mark up. Chances are the store might end up being cheaper if you tell them exactly what you're looking at online and how much you're planning to spend on it. Win-Win for you and the dealer, he get's business and you get a better price and similar quality products if they can compete with the online prices. Plus you'd be supporting a local business, unless you were planning on going to best buy, car toys, or something like that (don't do that, go to a local place). And if you buy all this stuff from a dealer and have it installed there, if anything goes wrong you can take it back and have them deal with it.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Not sure what you decided to go with but IMO if you get a sub in your trunk then your speakers will sound like they're better. Many people on this subreddit will bash this recommendation but I'll give it anyway.

$150 prebuilt subwoofer box

$55 amplifier

$15 wiring kit

$9 optional converter

The converter is needed if your radio is stock. I also think it makes the install easier regardless as it is one set less wire to run & you won't have to take apart your headunit.

I think this is the best intro level set up for a subwoofer if you're looking to spend about $220.
It will definitely impress you if you haven't heard/had bass in a car before. Also very easy to set up and you can do it in about 3 hours with no experience.

Edit: forgot this amp comes with a built in high/low converter to feed straight off the speakers. Converter may be easier but is optional.

You're asking this question in a Car A/V enthusiast sub. So keep in mind, like all enthusiast or hobby subs, there is going to be a certain amount of snobbery and brand favoritism. Budget-friendly definitions will also vary, as Car A/V enthusiasts will prioritize Car A/V.
I'll try give you my thoughts, as I am inferring from your post that we have similar definitions of budget-friendly.

First, you'll get a lot of mixed comments on Cerwin-Vega - typically from people that don't have them or have never had them. Naturally, people will recommend brands that they've had good luck with. I have 4 Cerwin Vega HED series 6x9s in my car running off stock-deck power, I can't upgrade my head unit without some serious modifications, and likely will never upgrade it.

I knew I would be running my upgraded speakers on deck power and visited many local shops and listened to quite a few brands - on deck power the Cerwin Vega 6x9s sounded really good. They were a huge upgrade to stock speakers, and were budget friendly. If you get the ones you have listed though you'd want to amplify them. The HED series from Cerwin Vega run pretty well off of stock deck power though and have a really nice sensitivity level. Here's the 6x8s Also Hertz brand, I liked them as well.

Even if you spent $100-150 on a budget-friendly deck you'll get enough power to push the HED Cerwin Vegas much better than a stock year 2000 deck. Not to mention you'll be able to shape the sound much better, it will play much nicer with the subs you plan on adding later, and a thumb drive will hold much more than 6 CDs worth of music. This is what I would do in your place.

Now there are a lot of differing opinions, and you'll encounter the group that will tell you to get really nice components and amp them up front, disconnect the rear speakers, and save up for your next step, and that is an awesome way to go - but it didn't match up to what my budget and priorities lined up with.

I would go with

$300 w/install kit Pioneer 80prs

$90 8" silver flute for doors

$60 XT25 tweeters

$70 subwoofer box

$80 Skar VD subwoofer

$170 MB Quart 5 channel amp

$60 knukonceptz wire kit

$40 Noico sound deadener


Over budget, $870, but that is some good kit for the money. I am not sure which wire harness you need since you aren't keeping the stock bose amp.... that would be a great thing to ask in crutchfield chat window.

Run the 80prs in network mode, cross your sub/mids at somewhere between 80 and 200, mids and tweeters anywhere from 2500 to 5000hz. Tweak around until it sounds best to you. Should sound great.

Ok, I'll help with this one. Things you will need: dash install kit, wiring harness, head unit, sub wiring kit, subwoofer, sub box, speakers (optional), subwoofer amplifier, and an afternoon. For the dash kit, start here: http://www.carid.com/2008-pontiac-g5-stereo-installation-dash-kits/ the kit let's you fit an aftermarket radio into the dash. Then the wiring harness, http://www.carid.com/american-international/wiring-harness-plugs-into-factory-harness-mpn-gwh406.html connects the new radio to the car speakers. Then the head unit, i really recommend this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01463W1IU/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1464928970&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Head+unit&dpPl=1&dpID=41AY36GKw9L&ref=plSrch it's simple, but has everything you need with Bluetooth and excellent control over your sound profile. Front speakers in my experience are not the most important part of the build, usually for later model cars, the stock speakers are already decent, and just adding a new head unit will seriously upgrade the sound quality. If you really want to replace them, just look up your speaker size for your car and google some good speakers in that size. The subwoofer is going to make the biggest difference in your sound, but i really have to know what you want. Do you want an earthquake in your car, or good balance for sound quality? I can make some recommendations for a sub or amp based on what you want.

$500 will not get you everything. So you might have to do it in stages. Upgrading the headunit is not to bad you can get a decent single din headunit with those features for just over $100 plus $20 or so for a wiring harness. This will also give you a big boost in sound quality. When upgrading the speakers I would recommend at the very least doing Fastrings and some CLD and a decent set of components will cost about $150. These Morel are a great buy. they would really shine with a 2 channel amp to drive them to full potential. SOmething like this would be perfect. Next would be a small sub in a sealed enclosure. I would expect to pay $200 for sub and box. Something like Dayton and for the enclosure would depend on if you have an extended cab or regular cab. You will also need amp kits which will run another $100 or so.

I've done research on SQ vs SPL for the past few hours, decided that I feel SQ is the route I'd go and supplement that 1 10" with more watts to fit my needs.
I found on Imagine Dynamics site, 0.6-1.6 cu is recommended for a sealed enclosure, think this is fine?
The Imagine Dynamic 10" has great reviews, I can live with that much space to give away.
For the amp I was thinking either the Pioneer Prime 500w or the one you linked, which I feel is the better decision especially over Hifonics I was looking at. So with all this, feel this is fine enough to pull the trigger?

EDIT: Ordered, and decided on IDQ with a 2ohm so i can wire down to 1ohm.

Thanks for the response. Looking at the Subwoofers with good ratings I found 3 models that I think would be good for me.

I could go with 2 of these

Kicker 10C124 Comp 12-Inch Subwoofer 4 SVC (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036MOQCM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_I25mybM8C1RZ8

Or 1 of these

Rockford Fosgate P3D4-12 Punch P3 DVC 4-Ohm 12-Inch 600-Watt RMS 1200-Watt Peak Subwoofer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UFHXNI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_u55mybA45BVQA

Or 1 of these

12W0V3-4 - JL Audio 12" Single 4-Ohm W0V3 Series Subwoofer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D5ZCDDY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_v65myb8P643ME.

All of the configurations above come to around the same price. I'm thinking one higher quality subwoofer would sound better than 2 of lower quality, correct? I'm planning on using a sealed box. Which one of these would be the best choice?

just found all the same stuff on amazon for $100 cheaper, so the total is around $630 including all the wiring kits and stuff. should I get nicer speakers? If I do get nicer speakers should I go for the Infinity Reference 8602cfx, the Rockford Fosgate Punch P1683 or the Alpine Sps-517's? or is there something better? Looks like the Alpines would give me the most RMS wattage for that Amp at 75w each. What do you think?!