New Owner Looking for Audio components!

[shiftyy]

Hey all, I have recently acquired my first car, a 2005 Mazda3 Hatchback, and am starting to plan the audio system for it. As one can assume, I'm pretty new at this so any recommendations will be appreciated.

I tend to listen to my music balanced, not necessarily low end heavy, but sometimes it's fun to shake the windows a little bit. Should I just replace the stock speakers with a set from BestBuy? Or should I look elsewhere? Any recommendations for a head unit?

Thanks in advance!

[loki]

@jaimie08mazda3

[loki]

What's your budget?

[shiftyy]

There really isn't a budget in place, I was hoping to find a balance in terms of price to performance. In terms of where to allocate the budget, I'd imagine a better set of speakers is more beneficial than an $800 head unit. I found these at BestBuy which have gotten decent reviews, but should I be looking up a pricepoint or two?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-...&skuId=4330825

[shiftyy]

Correction to my last reply, I think I attached the American link.... This is the Canadian one.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...3d68586069en02

[jaimie08mazda3]

@shiftyy I would say look elsewhere vs going to Best Buy for speakers. I actually had a set of those pioneers (or well what they were 7 years ago) and they were ok for what they were but they liked to crackle when you turned them up loud.

Now in terms of price to performance there are a few options you can go. You can spend say 200-250 after taxes on 4 coaxial 6x8/ 5x7. I liked my clarions and for the price they sounded great. Alpine, kenwood, even MTX has some decent ones. Now if your willing to spend a bit more my advice is to go with a set of components up front and coaxials in the rear if your looking for that really nice sound, clarity and a little bit of bass. The JL C5 650s are a really nice set of components and well worth the money for them. I have a set of C2 650s in the rear and they sound great. Thing is with car audio if you want that sound that you'll really appreciate your going to spend some money. But it's worth it. I learned many years ago how pointless it was buying these basic speakers and had to keep replacing them. Now I've spent well over 700 on Focal Ps 165s, RE XXX 6.5cs and the JLs but I've had them all for well over a year or so and no issues and they are amped with a 300/2 slash amp. That's another thing to consider. Do you plan on amping them one day? If so get something strong and able to handle amplified power. I killed 4 sets of Clarion SRC 2638s because I didn't think about it. As for head units I'm an alpine man and always will be. Solid decks, user friendly and they last forever. Are you planning on doing a sub and amp combo as well?

Realistically it's all about what you want to spend vs what kind of sound your looking for. If you have any questions just let me know. I've gone through more setups in my Mazda then I know lol. And have helped quite a few TM3 members along the way.
@loki I dunno how I just saw this lol.

[shiftyy]

@jaimie08mazda3 Really appreciate the response. I looked into component speakers, but there isn't exactly any nice place to put the tweeters, as the side mirrors are manual and the adjuster knobs take the place of those. Is it worth going component with the tweeters basically in the same position as a coaxial? Or could I potentially mod the dash/door to sink the tweeters somewhere in there?

I guess moving forward I will eventually have the speakers amp'd, if I were to add a sub it'd be a rather low profile one just to round out the low end. I'm looking to build the system, essentially replacing one part at a time until it's a complete set that I'm really happy with. It all comes down the the money on hand, so as to pick up pieces as the $$$ becomes available.

I haven't looked into components setups all that much, if you've got any recommendations that'd be great.