BloodRoses53

Just got a new Protege ES fully loaded out (minus 6 disc due to the fact I hate stock systems ;p). Go me! So, yes... I'm looking to drop a brand new system into it already after only a few weeks. I noticed right off the bat it has a double DIN slot (hey, it could be worse, it could be the previous Taurus! Someone care to explain that round deal anyways?). So some advice on how to put a single DIN head unit in, or good DDIN's would be much appreciated. So anyways, to describe my tastes and brands I've had good experiences with in the past. I'm looking for something tolerable by me, not something enough to vibrate the dirt off the cars within a five mile radius. That will be for my future 3rd generation purple RX-7 *cough*canwesayinsaneinsurance?*cough*. As it is now, I'm a spoiled little brat with a 300 watt 8" on my computer (that I use as my main stereo for reasons I wont go into detail here, but it works out better for me to have it on my computer). Brands I tend to like for home theater have been Sony ES, Pioneer Elite, JBL, Polk Audio etc. and for some of the car brands I've had good experience with are MB Quartz, Polk Audio, Eclipse (Head Units), Sony ES (HU's again), Audiobahn (Amps) and Kicker. But mind you, so much has changed over the years I've fallen completely behind. I did want to keep fairly practical, but in a dual sub combination. Just judging by first impression, I think a pair of 8"s would work beautifully. Mind you I could get by in a Miata just fine, I don't carry a lot so trunk room doesn't mean a lot to me (In fact I use the back seat to haul things most often anyways). My sound for music tends to be fairly specific. I do listen to A LOT of extremely bass heavy music (Tori Amos, Björk, some of Sarah McLachlan's stuff etc.). I most often tend to hate mids and avoid them as much as possible when I can (which is a big complaint about the stock system, it's too mid heavy even with them all the way down!). So I'm looking for a "bright" very very crisp sound out of the loudspeakers, and an as-deep-as-possible (but still as clear as possible) sound out of my subs. Clarity is priority number one. I will not sacrifice clarity no matter what over volume or power. In fact, I typically don't even listen to music very loud at all (40db's is comfortable on a decent system)... just bass heavy. I don't really have a set price level, but I want to keep practical. I don't quite have 5,000$ to spend into it yet regrettably. So with that all said and done, any suggestions? How have each of these company's progressed over the years? I still have recent experience with them (I'm driving my sub with Sony ES amps as we speak, and have a pair of Polk's that sound great with the depth of the sub combined with them). I would also prefer a system that can produce a bit of warmth when needed, but in general my car music tastes tend to beg for a more edgy crisp sound.

P.S. I tend to like small subs due to an overall more controlled sound, and also if you have recommendations by other companies please include brand and model # for me to give them a fair chance as well as I said, I've fallen behind on car audio so I'm fairly open to things this time around...

2002VividYellow

I would buy the best fronts in separates you can afford & try to rise the sound stage up off the floor. After that start working on the bass side of it. I wouldn’t spent allot for the rear door speakers because you’ll be using them for fill. Buy quality equipment which means you’ll spend more @ first but its worth it down the road.

BloodRoses53

I was going to ask about that too, it is a 2002 Protege so it has the "6 speaker" bit... but I don't hear *a thing* from the speakers in the back door. Could they just be disconnected? I can connect them in all of 5 minutes I'm sure, but... what's up with that? I was also wondering... I've never heard a system with speakers in the rear door or any sort of 6 speaker configuration (and I do mean aftermarket 6 speaker, mind you). Would it be best to pull back on funding in the rear rear speakers and spend it on the ones in the rear door with them being closer and all, or just leave them out of the picture entirely and just focus on the 4?

onehawaiian

good news dude! since mids are not very important to you, a set budget won't be an issue! yay! money comes into play when you start finding and defining your midrange. but as a bassman, all you'd need is a hu, good amp, some aftermarket spkrs to run off the hu and a nice 34" sub...oh wait, you said you were more inclined to the smaller subs.

here's a little shopping list:
hu-
eclipse, kenwood, rockford, blaupunkt
midrange-
infinity reference, gs design, kicker (crispy!), massive, jl audio
sub amp-
kicker, rockford, kenwood
10in subs-
jl10w3, kicker 10l7, kicker comp vr, fusion powerplant

my recommendation:
eclipse hu, kicker mids(frontstage), kicker amp, and the 10l7. that'll give you the bass you want and the crispy highs up front.