Upgrade advise for a novice?

[DeadKenny56]

Well I bought my system when I was 16 (approx 2 1/2 years ago) and I didn't/don't know much about them so I had my brother-in-law help me pick some out that I could afford at the time and he helped me install them. I just got a new(er) car for my high school graduation so my system is still sitting on the floor in my basement waiting to be installed. I just haven't had time but I've been thinking about upgrading lately because I know have a job 4 days a week when I'm not in college, so I got a decent cash flow coming in. Here is my system right now. The head unit was given to me by my other sister's boyfriend, he works at a car dealership and someone had installed this brand new into there car (the dealership installed it for him) then he brought the whole car in 3 days later and traded it in on a new eclipse so my sister's boyfriend took it out and gave me it, it's a pretty nice player.

- (2) Audiobahn AW1251T 12" dual voice coil subs - 400 watt rms - 800 peak
- Phoenix Digital PD-395 1200 watt 2 channel bridgeable 2-Ohm stable amp
- Stock front and rear speakers
- Kenwood Excelon KDC-X769 50wx4 head unit
- Sealed carpeted dual 12" enclosure I purchased at Circuit City (I was kinda looking into getting a plexiglass bandpass box but I don't know if they are any good or not, I might just end up keeping the box I have now)

I'm not looking to spend a ton of money (couple $100 bucks), and I'm hoping that if I do go ahead and buy new stuff (I'm most likely going to keep the head unit and maybe the box) I can sell this stuff off and at least get something out of it. So any suggestions in the couple hundred dollar range would be nice.

In case it matters, this will be going into a 1996 Nissan Maxima.

Also, I read the newb forum listing and saw all the bad, average, good, high listings but still doesn't help a novice like me much, lol. Thanks in advance!

[PaulD]

first off, what kind of music do you listen to ... be honest with yourself here. This will greatly determine where the bulk of the money will be spent.

[DeadKenny56]

Majority of the music I listen to is rap/hip hop stuff where there is a lot of deep and frequent bass

[PlayStation3]

do you want loud or quality?

[DeadKenny56]

I want it to be pretty loud but I also don't want it be poor quality so I'm basically looking for a good mix of loudness and quality between the subs and mid-range speakers in the front...but if I had to put an emphasis on one it would be loud, especially when it comes to the subs, but like I said, decent quality sound too, don't want it to sound shitty! Ideally I'd like in the range of superior loudness and decent quality if that's possible, but any suggestions are welcomed. You guys are the experts...lol

[alphalanos]

You want it to be loud, but not specifically high quality. Tell me how that works. To be loud it better be quality or I dont know what the point is.

[DeadKenny56]

Originally Posted by alphalanos

You want it to be loud, but not specifically high quality. Tell me how that works. To be loud it better be quality or I dont know what the point is.

There are some subs that are really loud, but the sound quality is crap. When he asked which I prefered, I was assuming he meant do I want just really loud subs, or do I want ones with good sound quality too.

[alphalanos]

oh like audiobahn.

[DeadKenny56]

Yes like Audiobahn, which coincidentally are the current speakers I have (check first post). I didn't have any knowledge of speakers when I bought them 2+ years ago (still don't have much lol) otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought them.

[alphalanos]

Yeah I used to have one too.

[DeadKenny56]

Yeah it's not a bad sound sub but I'm looking to upgrade them to something better. Also not sure what is the best setup. Ie. Dual 12's, single 12, triple 10's, single 15", etc. So if anyone can help me with that it would be cool too.

[alphalanos]

One well chosen 12 or 15 would be good. I had a Kicker L7 15 and it was very loud. Didnt sound great, but it was loud.

[DeadKenny56]

Well if I'm buying new ones I want ones that have good sound quality too, otherwise I would just stick with the Audiobahn's I have now if I just wanted loudness

I actually was looking at the Kicker L7's, if I only get one sub I probably want it to be a 15", and I was hearing good things about the L7's but I dunno now, is the quality really bad or just not that great? I mean it doesn't have to have perfect sound quality, like I said if I had to pick I'd put an emphasis on loudness, I just don't want the quality to be total shit though, decent quality would be fine for me, as long as it's loud and sounds good with my type of music (rap ). And if I went with 1 15" I would really like a JL, but they tend to be overpriced, unless I can find a good deal on eBay for one. Not sure what other high end brands are good in 15". Also if I did go with one 15" or one 12" would I need a new amp or would the one I have still work?

[stone_mound_camaro]

Originally Posted by DeadKenny56

I'm not looking to spend a ton of money (couple $100 bucks), So any suggestions in the couple hundred dollar range would be nice.

well since you're range is a couple hundred bucks, the only thing i can suggest to you is the alpine type r....very clean...and get pretty loud in the proper box...

I actually was looking at the Kicker L7's, if I only get one sub I probably want it to be a 15", and I was hearing good things about the L7's but I dunno now, is the quality really bad or just not that great? I mean it doesn't have to have perfect sound quality, like I said if I had to pick I'd put an emphasis on loudness, I just don't want the quality to be total shit though, decent quality would be fine for me, as long as it's loud and sounds good with my type of music

L7s are very loud woofers...from the install ive heard i would rate it from average to below average on SQ

[ssjwizard]

well since your looking to keep the price down id start by upgrading your speakers and keeping the subs you allready have. pioneer are good low price speakers and polk composites are from what i hear wonderfull speekers however for the same price you oculd get a set of components.. however if you want realy clean sound you should look into geting a set of component speakers there definatly alot cleaner sounding then composites. theres lots of good brands. i hear great things about CDT composites. eclypse are good but ive goten a few negative feedback on them from surfing here. anyways for about 200 bux you could get some damed pimp speakers front and rear then upgrade your sub later. i just recently purchased an ED K13v.2 sub Elemental Design is one of the better brands around. i also have heard good things about CDT here. and also Adire makes killer subs but your looking to spend double on an adire then a CDT or ED sub. try doing a search for each topic and scan through the info and youll be able to make an intelegent choice for yourself.