Ok I am currently about to build a very loud car.

However, I have spent alot of money on subs and amp... and will have to spend money on a killer battery to suit. The battery is in the rear of the car from factory (bmw) so that is a Major plus to eliminate volt drop... and I have dual cable runs to the amp which is a DD Z1 so voltage will be decent... subs are Atomic Apocalypse 10's "BlackIce Edition!"

My last head unit was an Alpine CDA 9857 and was pretty nice... however, my Eclipse deck I had before that really was alot better than it. I bought it 3 years ago I think and it was retail $399, forgot the model number.

Just after recommendations of new decks that are on the market now that are going to give me good SPL. I think I am stung on the Eclipse decks, however I went through FOUR in one year of owning it. They heat up and crap themselves I have found, but are worth it...

The other option is my mate's Eonon 8" double din touch screen dvd player which I can pick up for $150 (Still new). I know this is going to look funky but SPL will SUFFER! So some suggestions on decks would be great. I'll continue my research until then...

Does the deck really make a huge difference? 2-4v preouts would be good, subout obviously, and pause I thought was all you need? I guess having a higher volume number (ie Alpine are usually 33-35, others go to 80) would be a bit better, so you can get a bit more exacting in the volume.

I'd probably think another 2 runs of 0 gauge to the Z1 would be the way to go, sure 2 runs is good, but if you are drawing 500a on a full tilt burp, then you'd get less drop (I would imagine) if you share that over 4 runs of wiring rather then 2? I understand that it doesn't exactly halve between the 2 wires, but more is always better from what I've seen.

Make sure it has pause and a good CD mechanism (You don't want it to skip) eg. not a Pioneer deck. For a dedicated car the money you save from not buying a wanky deck you can spend on something you actually need (multiple boxes and lots of cable).

yer aslong as it has pre-outs, pause and a remote that is all u really need

Battery is in the boot... and I have alot of 00 gauge cable that I can crimp into 85mm lugs for the battery. With the cable runs it will be two dual pole runs, so four lengths of cable (2x + and 2x -) so cabling will be ample. I have the wood already, 15/16mm mdf so that I ample and it will be a split box, so that side of things is already taken care of. The bimmers have a big sheet of metal across the back seat, so I will be cutting the subs into that (all reinforced with the box made around it) and I have that side of things sorted...

I have a crappy Pioneer deck in there already... so that will 'do' for now I guess then, temporarily for my daily, however the latest eclipses are nice. The turbo conversion on my car is looking to be a bit expensive for what it is worth (weekend driver) since Im going to have to redo the suspension and driveline etc, and thats why Im thinking now its time to get back into car audio.

Also fuel will be cheaper, and doing 0-60 around where I drive there probably isnt much need to be a hoon and have a fast(er) car. The car already chops my mates 2000 VX commodore 0-100, and I am focusing more on the summer coming up, and women... and women cost money, so a turbo build really should be put out of the agenda.

Car does look phat with that front mount though =(

Pretty much anything from the Alpine range will do the trick

you have a pm

Cool, deck sorted =)

Alpine it is...

i use clarion's bottom of the line deck i dont get no clipping at all.

It's not the clipping, its the skipping that is the problem with most units in loud street cars, any unit can be used and not clip, but skipping is a different matter.

A fellow on here (Ripped) tested a few units in his 152ish Astra (a while back) and had the most success with the Alpine, it's probably also a sign when you look on Termpro and see that alot of the street class competitors run Alpine units as they are known for having good anti skip mechanisms.

Mine is use outside the car so i dont have to worry about skiping

Outside omg

But you're in StA according to you signature, so that's not allowed

Plus your car isn't loud enough for skipping




It's common, we had an external unit in the Civic, but at 155+ we figured it'd be a better idea.

we have found that one of the best headunits for SPL are the pioneer headunits.

any model from a 6950 and above is great for SPL use. they can be aquired for around $300 and above depending where you purchase them from.

i personally have used sony for the past 3 years my headunit never started skipping until i went past the 154 mark. but sony dont make that good a headunits really anymore.

so my choice is the pioneer units for SPL.



cheers billy

I am really trying to make an effort on 150's... these subs have done it before, and with a concentrated install I can do it. I have the cable, amp and subs... a bit of dynamat (door kits) and decent wood. The car is a bmw so its pretty sound deadened as it is from factory, and everything is held together pretty decently. The back seats are going to be modified so that I can just unclip them and the subs will be mounted on a full solid 'wall' behind them enclosing the boot completely.

I didn't know whether to line the outside/rear of the sub box also so the pressure all stays in the cab and not so much in the boot. Port will face forwards as will the subs.

Yeh i have the pioneer 9650 my subs are that much louder compared to the Rockford Fosgate unit i had.

in my experience, Alpine make very good SPL decks.

the 2 most important things for me when i was looking at buying a street class deck was 1. no skipping and 2. quick volume scrolling via remote.

Clarion make very good quality decks that don't skip, however their volume scrolling is too slow for street class burping.

Alpine have very well built decks and the volume scrolling via remote is extremely fast - if you plan to run low impedances (i.e 0.5ohm and lower) you may have to roll the volume up when you burp it. A solid burp shouldn't be more than 3-4 seconds - if the deck cannot roll from 0 to maximum in less than 3 seconds than rolling the volume could get dangerous or cause un-necessary stress on the equipment.

Remote reception is good so you also have the advantage that depending on the length of the car you can burp from many angles without worrying about your remote not making signal to the head unit.

I know it might sound like petty stuff, but it's important stuff for street cars.

nothing against alpine.

but 2 years ago at finals i remember.

Wazza and Shieldsy having to rip out their alpine headunits and angelo going to get 2 different ones down stratties for them as the alpine headunits they were using not being able to read the dbjams disk.

not sure it that was just a fault with that model of headunit as they were both the same. but thats why i wouldnt go alpine for SPL.

Actually Billy your wrong, there was NOTHING wrong with the Alpine units, the dB drag disc your thinking of, had a data file at the start of it, and the Alpine units tried to read it as a track.

I love, love Alpine units. Highly recommended from me, I have always used Alpine H/U. THe newer dB drag disc work fine with Alpine units.

ah ok it was a disk problem then no probs.

Never had a problem with Alpine in my mate's car either.

Ive had a pioneer deck, and ive tried to use clarions (ew) but you know the best deck ive had is alpine, easy to use, good for spl. I had a 9851 and now i have iva-d105 screen and pxa701. best ever!!

My Eclipse 5425(?) that I had ages ago was killer... it cost me like $300 or so, and 5v outputs and went hard. I never seen a better deck in my life for sound volume and quality. I just sold my Alpine 9857 and the eclipse deck was way better than that.