hi guys i'm new here and been to a couple of places to ask for recommendation to make a Budget SQ system on my Dad's Mercedes W126 1990 560SEL.
The car can fit 4" or 4x6 in front and 6.5" at the rear.

Plus trying to make the car look stock as well and not thinking of sub atm, but maybe in future i'll just put in the Infinity BasslinkII.

here is the deal and list offered by different sound shop:

Tower Audio (Oakleigh) = $1900 fitted
Eclipse HU CD5425
4" Mb-quartz 'Discuss' series
6.5" MB-quartz 'Discuss' series
Rockford Fosgate P4004 4ch-amp

GL-prosound = ~$1900 fitted
Eclipse HU CD5425
4" Focal Polyglass 100CV or 4" Focal Polyglass 100V2
6.5" Focal Polyglass 165CV
Rockford Fosgate P4004 4ch-amp or Audison Srx4 (bought somewhere else)

Autobarn = $1900 Fitted
Pioneer HU DEH8650mp
4" Hertz HCX100
6.5" Hertz HCX165
Audison Srx4


An advice and Comment is greatly appriciated.

Cheers
Yun

Which speakers do you like the sound of better?
Which headunit do you prefer to use?

Really it comes down to these things which should help you choose what you get.
Also make sure you get the front doors sound deadened.
This will improve bass response up front, and make the fronts sound better.

To be honest I would spend a bit more and get a good 2 channel amp some spilts up front. I havent been using rear fill at all for ages and you wont miss it. You can use your stocks if you really want. Think about it, do you ever see someone's home stereo with the better speakers behind your ears if there are speakers there at all. It'll cost money to keep it looking stock and fit the 6"'s up front but its do-able and with the money you save not getting rear fill and a 4 channel amp it could end up cheaper AND sounding better

So far i'm leaning toward the GL Pro Audio deal because i like the Focal. But the Autobarn deal with a Far better headunit and the Hertz speaker is not bad, afterall it's from Audison division speakers.

Sorry also forgot to mention. the Front speaker is not fitted on the door but more in the front dashboard. Plus don't think i really need a Sound deadning on the car, because i barely can hear a noise from Outside already.

So far i like all the system. One thing i'm not sure is Which one is more important for the SQ. Headunit with larger Tunibality? Or better speakers?

more advice appriciated.

Thanks
Yun

ups

The first thing that you need to have is a good tuner... no matter how good your gears are, if your tuner doesn't have any idea what's going on, the result is a dissappointment... however from the gears point of view, speaker is the most important thing for SQ... you won't need the rear fill... invest the money for a better pair of split...

I'll vote for the second one... decent installer, nice headunit, good speaker (if you can get rid the rear fill and go for a better front split is even better)... RF for SQ??? I don't know... not so promising tho...

hi henry'

So is Audison Srx4 is a Good entry amp for SQ? i'm leaning more into the 4" Focal polyglass split system, Can't really afford the K2 power yet.

So you don't recommend Hertz speakers?

more advice thanks

either tower or GL's are good, i would listen to both the MB's and focals to see what one's you want as there both different sounding..

GL sell MB as well so you can knock both on the head there

hmmm ic ic.

I have heard the MB reference, Have heart the Hertz but not Focals yet.

Btw which amp is better compare the Audison Srx4 and Soundstream Picasso 4.640 interm of SQ? Also does anyone know where is soundstream is made from now? I heard is made in Taiwan already?

also have a look @ stylyn 883 Nepean Hwy Moorabbin

travis there will give you some options like boston and he also has all the other brands mentioned

hes a big boston fan and you might find you like that over focal and mbq

i dont think you can go wrong with any of the brands mentioned

focal, mbq and boston make amazing speakers, but i think that mbq and focal make 4inch splits (i might be wrong though).

amps i would look at eclipse, alpine, boston, rf

db350z: GL probably gonna recommend you either Focal or MB Quart... both have a very good reputation in car audio... however depending your taste... my suggestion is to audition those speakers... but you can consider to see Jon from Wolf Auto Design (WAD) and ask for variety of Boston speakers, Phass and Eton... see if they suit your budget... or maybe you can consider DLS products as well...

why don't you try rainbow and CDT. they are sound good to me. also, if you don't play with subwoofer in the future, you may pay more attention in better quality 2ch amp. i suggest you only need to use 1 pair speakers as your front stage in your car would be the best at the moment. head unit is the most important thing you need to have, without this, no point to talk further.

Cheers
PHD

hi,
if u know a bit bout tuning n willing to go active, there r many raw drivers out there which r very value for many. stuff like vifa, dayton, peerless, hiququon,northcreek etc2 might be worth an audition.

good luck.

btw henry; have u done up your ribbons yet...hows the sound like...any pictures to show...i'm trying to fit some to my ride too.

for a Budget SQ System,

My suggestion would be the following.

Alpine 9853 Headunit.

Set it in 3 way mode.

Purchase a reasonable set of splits, $300-400 area

Hook them up to the head units amp using the 3 way mode (IE: Active without the speakers crossovers)
setup the Internal Active X/over close to the stock X/over setting, you can play later but start with 12db slope,(You'll prolly end up using 18 or 24 with tuning tho) then you also have separated Time alignment for your tweeter and midbass, so you can run your tweeter up high on the dash without any funny time alignment issues. You also have a 5 Band Para EQ to play with after the other things are set.

Then I'd find a nice 12" sub, your choice, but on a budget the Alpine Type R's work well,
find a nice 500W x 1 area amplifier to run it.

When you have more money, invest in a Quality 4 channel amp, at least 50 x 4, if not 100 x 4 for your splits.

Spend alot of money on sound deadning and quality installation of the midrange drivers in the doors.
($300+)

This will make a nice Adjustable Cheap SQ stereo on a real budget. if setup correctly will blow away
many of your mates $4000+ systems.
The nicest part about this, is because it's all active x/overs, and Active time alignment, you can make miniscule adjustments on the go for weeks on end till you get it just so.

Juls

i have a w123 mercedes and got alpine 4inch in dash and splits in the back and while i had good midrange and high range sound i had no subbass and no midbass...i recently got an installer to put my splits in my front doors and it sounds amazing midbass wise and sound quality wise

Went with GL

Prefer the Focals over the MB's