Ok looking at a car, and a new system. Want something that goes hand in hand with each other. If anyone has any ideas/information would be much appreciated.

Music i listen to - The Cure, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Incubus, Deftones, Karnivool, The Butterfly Effect, Cog, Peach, Shivaree, Smashing Pumpkins, Third Eye Blind

Cars I'am maybe looking at - TJ AWD/VRX MAGNA/VERADA, Subaru Liberty 2004, Honda Accord Euro 2004, Ford BA Falcon XT

want some good sound quality, and a car that doesnt rattle too much or has bad road noise. i dont mind doing a bit of deadening, but nothing major.

Questions...

Which car is best suited for me?

What gear is gonna sound great on a budget of about $2000?

What size sub for the above music? (12" is a pretty safe size, but will 10" sound better?)

Is any of the Jaycar range pretty reasonable for this?

2 way or 3 way splits?

In the kicks or in the doors?


any help/info would be much appreciated

cheers

Trav

the honda euro is a very nice, quiet, well built car.
adhika competes with one in caasq-vic with a fair bit of success.

3-way splits only add alot of $$, mainly in the installation of them, and require more effort to tune properly, again mainly in the installation (positioning, angling, etc)

jaycar has very good gear if u are on a tight budget, which honestly, $2000 is a pretty tight budget when it has to include installation.

fron splits i would look at perhaps boston or hertz range for some nice midbass.
sub, something snappy like an oz audio or diamond audio, 12" will be fine - i would try and get a sub that suits sealed enclosures more than ported.
jaycar amps will suit ur purpose fine - lots of power at a good price.
headunit, something with 2 pairs of pre-outs (rca outs)...eclipse would be my pick; maybe the cd3000

Remember, BA Falcon has the standard head unit as an integral part of the vehicle's electrical management system; removing that and the car won't work.

Another question for you - will I replace the factory headunit or retain it? For any of those cars (Accord in particular) you may need to factor in the cost of aftermarket dash fascias with an aftermarket head unit.

Accord, subaru and falcons it is possible to use a LLC like the Navone unit. Apparently these have been used with a fair bit of sucess. They may be an acceptable option and are definately cost effective.

thanks for your comments guys.

has anyone else got any great advice? the more the better

cheers

Trav

My mate has an '04 Accord Euro and it suffers from SHOCKING ROAD NOISE. It really is bad and very noticeable. Probably the worst road noise I have ever heard in a car to be honest.... all this with 4,500km/s on the odometer.

-EDIT-

Just to add if it were my decision I would be taking the Subaru.

Mitsubishi- who knows how much longer till they're bankrupt and shutting up shop- (no dealer service, if that is a concern)

Honda- No for reasons already said in this thread (come to think of it there was a thread a while back I believe on someone who went to considerable lengths (read expense) to get rid of road noise in his Honda. Some more experienced members may remember who.)

Ford- Well reason A. It's a ford....B. As mentioned, the integration of the headunit is not good for aftermarket options.

Subaru are quite OK