Expert Opinons Welcome
 

Hello all, I am in a uniquely fortunate situation and I would love to get as much input as possible by those who are knowledgeable (see: bigaudiofanat) and who have some experience with the 370z's audio possibilities.

I purchased a new 40th anniversary 370z a few months ago, and since then I have been in the process of modifying various things about it to make it "my" 370z. I am lucky enough to have both the time and the financial freedom to try to make everything as high-quality and perfect as I can.

Anyway, on to the point. I am trying to think about the "dream" audio system for my 370z, by "dream" I basically mean the absolute best, clearest, loudest sound possible for this car. The only factors I can tell you are that I don't need TONS of bass, just enough to faithfully and powerfully reproduce dance, r&b, and the occasional rap music. I listen to all kinds of music, right now the CD in the car has dance, vocal, rap, and italian opera side by side, so I can't tailor the system to a specific style of music. The car won't be shown or anything, so looks are mostly unimportant to me, the only priority I have is the quality and volume of the music. MOST of the music will be coming from my ipod/ipad but CDs will have a place as well. I won't be NEEDING video, but it seems that many of the high end head units have that so its fine also.

I know dynamat is a personal choice, but I am having a hard time deciding HOW much coverage I want. Weight/handling isn't really an issue either since the car will have ~550 HP at the wheels, and is tuned for performance, so I am thinking I should just get as much sound deadening as possible?

Basically what I would love to hear is this: What would you folks out there do with your 370z if you had a budget of $10,000.00 for audio alone?

Thanks :tiphat: I look forward to hearing everyones opinion.

Aubrey

I wish I had your problems :roflpuke2: I'm sure someone on here would be more than happy to piece you together a crazy-expensive setup. I don't know enough to chime in on that.

I know I am a lucky guy what can I say! :) I love hearing about what 'experts' would do with a (nearly) unlimited budget but it could ONLY be used for a 370z and ONLY used for audio.

Well the sky is the limit so I would look at.

Audison amps or at least the LRX 5.1k

Hybrid audio components or Focal the polyglass are quite nice

Head unit you might want to go with a single din because you are going to have more control over your audio. I like the alpine 9887 but BUT if you can find the total package the alpine f1 series is so sick IMO.

You are going to get more clarity and control if you go active which means to control crossovers and all from the head unit and wire your speakers directly to the amp channels. The only thing is you will want a 9887 or similar because double dins can not do this. Also it can be a pita setting all that up so unless you are going to get real serious stick with passive crossovers.

Subs the Image dynamics Q is the best IMO I would go with a 12 in a z enclosure box.


If you want even more detailed recommendations pm me.


One other thing. All this will be completely useless unless your music is uncompressed which means not downloaded.

As always Matt I appreciate your expertise in this, I will certainly consider all of your recommendations seriously when I start making final decisions. So your dream setup is:

Audison LRX 5.1k
Hybrid Components or Focal Polyglass Components
Alpine CDA-9887 Single din Head Unit
12-inch Image dynamics Q Sub
'active' crossovers (instead of passive)

OR

skip all of that for the complete Alpine F#1 Status Mobile Audio Setup

Awesome :)

Anyone wanna chime in? argue a few points? substitutions? (with reasons of course).

Thanks!

By far the best single din head unit ever made is Pioneers DEX-P99rs. There has never been another unit that even specs close to it in terms of sound quality and processing.
Pioneer USA - DEX-P99RS - Reference Series CD Tuner with Digital DSP and USB Port with Digital Direct Signal Transmission

For speakers I'd run Dynaudios Esotar line ( E650, Mw142, and E110 tweet) they are sexy

Subwoofer would be a Dynaudio E1200 subwoofer in a carbon fiber enclosure since Ive been itching to build one.

Amplification would be a trio of JL HD amps, mainly because of their small size and the amazing technology built in ( HD600/4 on tweets and midrange, HD600/4 bridged on midwoofers,HD750/1 on subwoofer)

So about 5 grand for equipment and doing it myself Id spend another 1500 on wiring and install material. It could all be stealth and nobody would expect the monster of a setup hidden in the panels.

Also Alpine's F1 status hasnt been made for about 5 years, there are a ton of better options.

That sounds pretty amazing speedfreak, thank you for the info and the options. I did go and look at that head unit looks really impressive. I know next to nothing about the dynaudios but I hope to learn. The good news is that I have some time to plan since the performance mods are going to take at LEAST another few weeks but probably more like a month before I will even get the car back from California. I look forward to hearing more discussion between the pros here that know their stuff. I am also willing to donate to a charity or website of choice for those that are willing to help significantly :) Who knows I might even grab a person or two from the forum and pay handsomely to come do the install for me!

Thanks,
Aubrey

Here is what I would do and why:

Front: Focal KR3 - 3-way poly kevlar components (Incredibly loud and clear)
Amp: JL Audio 900/5 (Best HD Digital class amp money can buy)
Pre-Amp: Audio Control EQX (10Volt pre-out/13band parametric EQ)
Head: Alpine INA-900 (Burr Brown DA/Converters built in Nav)
Sub: JL Audio 12W6V2 or a 13TW5 (IMHO Hands down best subs made)
Rammat Sound Deadning the car completely plus Ensolite (Best Sound Deaning I have used yet)
Stinger DryCell battery (Best battery technology available, last 10 to 12 years)
JL Audio interconnects and amp wire (Best quality I have ever seen)

I would have custom door panels and pods to accomodate the 3-ways and build a custom subwoofer in the floor for the sub for Stealth. (The 13TW5 is perfect for stealth enclosure) A 12W6 will sound louder and better but at the expense of a large enclosure behind your seat. I personally chose the stealth option and I have plenty of bass.

For the money JL is lower end than what me or Speed recommended sorry to say. Also Focals are clear but harsh as well.

just a quick question. if you do download music like with itunes what is the best settings or best way to do this for decent play back. burn it to a cd or play it from the ipod

Your best bet is to do waht I do.

I buy my cd's and rip them into itunes using apple lossless from the options for importing. Just a warning any burned cd's will probably be from the internet and be compressed anyway. Lossless format takes up a LOT more space on your hard drive and ipod but with the systems I am using I can hear the difference with the bass quality and mid bass as well.

Look at the sticky at the top of the audio forum called car audio 101 for more info about formats and compression.

*2fast* Thank you for the input and suggestions, I really appreciate the reasoning as well :) I know you have some experience with these subjects and everything is based on what you have done and seen. I am of course going to be referring to yours and others' suggestions while making the decisions for the build.

I do appreciate that everyone will have different opinions about sound quality based on what we each perceive to be "the best sound", but I really enjoy hearing the opinions here as nearly everyone has more experience than I do lol. I also enjoy hearing the experienced folks discuss back and forth why they disagree with one another (if and when they do), this is one of the best ways for me to learn.

*bigaudio* When you say lower end I assume you are referring to the engineering or build quality of the units (fairly easy to ascertain I would imagine)? or were you referring to the actual perceived quality of sound from them (more subjective of course)?

Thanks :)
Aubrey

You can buy JL amps and all but for the money you spend on them there are much better products out there such as the ones we have mentioned "speed and me". JL is sort of like bose all hype although they are a lot better than bose more like hyped up GOOD products than great.

Understood Matt, thanks again :)

Aubrey

BIG Please, dont go there with your JL waste of money tirade yet again! Also the comment you made about Focals being harsh was very ignorant as well as your VAST experience with focal consists of installing (1) mediocre set from them.

My Focal components are still the best sounding speakers I've ever owned, to include Infinity, Boston, Polk and JL.

However, there was definitely a "break in" period that was quite noticeable compared to previous speakers. I did not like the sound coming from the Focals for a while and had some early buyer's remorse. Couldn't be happier now, though. Maybe it's all in my head, /shrug.

I am not saying jl is bad I am simply saying there are much better options out there for the type of money he wants to spend.

Focals are nice but the tweeters are a tad harsh even after break in to some people including myself. Again better options out there. Also to say that I have only installed just ONE set is an understatement plus the vast majority of different types of speakers and amps that I have installed, allows me to draw my conclusion about products.

Thanks to both of you for the insight, didn't mean to cause any arguments but I understand there will naturally be some disagreement on these things. Pretty hard to be objective when it comes to music, its like people'e favorite foods! Everyone has their own pick.

Aubrey

Exactly! :tiphat:

Exactly!

So let me see I get this right 2fast and wicked. Your telling the young man, the one who has helped this forum more than either one of you than just bashing another member or talking up JL or Pioneer, that your right about JL being the best you can buy?

Wrong, as big has mentioned and clearly stated they are good but they are not the best. I have seen audison systems simply get better just by swapping JL amps with Memphis or with audison. Focal getting to that, it like a love hate thing. Some people like them some people do not. Focal can be a bit harsh and for the money there are plenty of better options out there.

If you want to pay for over priced good stuff by all means buy into the hype like a bose owner would and continue using them. But if you want a real system fallow what speed or big is offering and pull your head out of your a$$ and learn something from the pros, or at least the ones that by what I can tell like to offer more advice than smack talk.

cookZmonster started this thread by stating he has “financial freedom” and inquired about the “dream” audio system for his 40th anniversary 370Z. The Pioneer DEX-P99RS is the best single din (or any din) on the market (as of 6/2010). Selecting speakers is really a personal choice for obvious reasons! It gets really old when the same person constantly bashes Pioneer. Sure he has some good advice but he is also making money off forum members. A five year old Alpine is going to sound great in an eight year old Civic!

My car has nothing to do with it. So your saying it all depends on the car a head unit is installed in for how well your audio sounds? So a 9887 head unit will not sound good in a z? Oh you mena speakers yes that will be effected by the car. And when I do an install yes I make money but not by helping people out on here. I do this just to help people out. The other thread is talking about pioneer I have not said anything here about them.

Also my head unit is not 5 years old bought brand new lasst year well the first one was used than bought a new one after deciding to go back to active setups.

:iagree:

Matt is awesome when it comes to helping!!!!! and if he was making money helping people on here... I would have been broke yesterday with the number of responses I have gotten from him on here with pm's and aim's...

Yes he does make money by doing installs but I he has never said sorry I wont answer your ? if you dont pay me.... hes super helpful!!!

No need to get testy folks :) I enjoy a spirited disagreement but we are all working towards the same thing here I would imagine, that is the best audio for ALL of us (yes THIS thread is about me but still). The truth is that I like to hear EVERYONE'S opinions, not just one or two people. It doesn't mean I will be able to follow exactly what everyone says, but all information is good information for me personally because naturally I will filter out what I need/choose to, and the rest will be stored in my brain for later :) So thanks again to wicked, 2fast, the two speeds and everyone else so far. Again its hopefully a fun-ish exercise, cost in no object system building ;)

Much appreciated :tiphat:
Aubrey

*cost IS no object system building*

^^ If he would only stop bashing Pioneer…………..People in this forum have no issues with Pioneer! Can all the experts be wrong?

Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT Car GPS (Navigation) reviews - CNET Reviews

I suppose its possible lol, but honestly I have owned several pioneer head units and I have always been happy with them, doesn't mean everyone else will like them though ;)

Thanks,
Aubrey

I have owned a pioneer before this unit and liked it a lot!!.

Not a problem:tiphat:

Why has CNET only reviewed 5 HU's? Seems like there would be a larger market than that.

So much hostility, I actually am a big fan of JL, especially their HD series. My favorite sub is the 12w6v2 but this was a no budget install scenario. Big it was only a year ago when you hadnt even heard of audison. Please be humble. Also who is this speedaudio64? He seems to just agree with everything Big says right or wrong. IP check?

Actually it was two years ago probably more actually for audison but I love them. Anyway I understand about the humble part speed. You still have those ID amps? Might need them.

Thanks again everyone, I am keeping a list of everyone's equipment choices and setups so I can nail things down when I get to that point.

In the meantime though, there seems to be a lot of good sound deadening info from a place called Sound Deadener Showdown - Your Source for Sound Deadening Products and Information I am not advocating or anything, just wondering if anyone has been there, read that, and/or finds it useful.

*IMPORTANT* - I will be out of the country from the dates of June 26 - July 10th. I will have no access to phone, internet, etc until then. SOOOOOO, just needed to get that out there lol.

Aubrey

Exactly!

Actually it was the beginning of last March, you want a link?

Does not matter to me.

Exactly!

Exactly! I can say it to :bowrofl: