car audio equipment

[Aardor]

I am most likely getting an '03 BMW 330xi soon, and had a few questions about audio systems. Unfortunately my knowledge of audio components is rather lacking.

The car has a 12 (or possibly 8, I had a lot of trouble figuring this out) speaker harmon kardon system, which did pretty well in the reviews I read. The only downside was that the system wasn't really able to do bass, an turning it up caused distortion. So my plan was to add a sub to the system.

This is where my lack of audio component knowledge became a problem. I have a friend who works for sony, and gets around 50% off of any sony product, so my plan was to order from there. These are the components I selected, with the only basis for selection being price:

Head Unit:
http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/headunits/MEX-BT5000 - I actually found reviews on this, and it actually has features I want (bluetooth mostly) so I am pretty happy with this choice.

Sub Amp:
http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/amplifiers/XM-D9001GTR

Sub:
http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/subwoofers/XS-LD127P5

I tried to find reviews for the sub/sub amp and could not find anything useful. So I have the following questions:

What should I look for in these audio components?
What do you think of my selections?
Is there a good place to go for review of audio components?
Where is a good place to get them installed? I was thinking tweeter or best buy

[Neziroth]

That'll probably be a pretty decent bass boost right there. Definitely a good choice on going with a 12'', most 15'' subs have no tone at all to them. You might even want to consider a 10'' sub, sometimes a 12'' can really overpower the music and you'll end up running it on way lower settings than it can handle, effectively wasting your money -- expecially if your cabin speakers aren't as high quality as your sub is.

If you listen to a lot of rock / classic rock / country or whatever where the high notes dominate the music, again, consider going with 1 or 2 10'' subs. If rap / hip - hop is your thing, then 12'' is a good choice.

If you want to be one of those guys who can rattle the windows in the car ahead of him at a stoplight, go with some 15''s.

Edit: Stop into some car stereo shops, they have little rooms where you can mix match sub / amp combos and listen to them.

Be careful getting systems installed at best buy. Their installers are often underpaid kids, and around here they were being investigated because 8 out of 10 systems installed at the local best buy got stolen, and they suspected the installers since they know what you have and what your car looks like, etc.

I highly recommend going to a shop that specializes only in car audio.

[Boogahz]

Nix Best Buy as an option for installs. They used to actually have professionals in the install bays, but they cost the company too much. Now many of the people know very little about proper installations. I also recommend going to an actual car audio install tech in your area. It's been several years since I did installs myself, but I am sure you can find some good sites that rate what is available in your area.

[Truant]

or do it yourself...it's real easy.

[Chidoro]

I guess that my wallet should feel fortunate that I only really listen to talk radio in the car. That's a ton of gear especially for a car that already has a custom system

[Aardor]

Thanks for the info/opinions. After a bunch of research, I decided not to go through the hassle of installing an after market head unit, since getting the steering wheel controls to work with it is a pain, and the only thing it really offers is bluetooth. I also found out that it's amazingly simple to install a sub/amp in the trunk, since all the wires you need are already connected to the amp that powers the rest of the speakers.

So now i need suggestions on sub boxes. I decided to go with a 12" single sub. What type of material should I go for?, how much should I spend?

[Fash]

If I were you, I would just go shopping at Best Buy or Circuit City and pick something that grabs you... They're all going to give you good bass, no matter what you pick. I like to install things myself, but I have let Circuit do it on the past 2 cars and was happy with their work. I'm not the type to drop my vehicle off and go away, I stay with it and make conversation.

When I was 16, I put a fucking drum amp in my trunk, wired with a power inverter and spliced audio from the rear 6x9's... Looking back, yeah that was a bit retarded, but hey, I had bass...