Car Audio Recommendations

"Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy" (camshaft-chris) 08/11/2017 at 10:57 • Filed to: junk in the trunk, 808, all about that bass, car stereo, Crown Vic, Crown Victoria, Ford

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Looking for recommendations for a good head unit and good speakers for the Crown Vic. The factory speakers and head unit all work just fine. But being a ‘97, I have to use a tape deck aux input to play anything from my phone, and I want a little more bass out of the speakers.

For the head unit, I want something that has usb and bluetooth. I remember reading a while back where someone posted a cheap, Android-based bluetooth head unit from Amazon. Does anyone happen to remember what unit that was or have a link to it?

And as far as speakers go, the fronts are 6x8, and the rears are 6x9. I liked the Alpines I put in my Eclipse back in high school. But that was ages ago. Are Alpines still the best bang for your buck? Or is there something new I should be looking into?

Boschert B300 for your time.

CobraJoe > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 11:23

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Before you buy speakers for a Ford, make sure you know what size they are. I know Ford used some 6x8 speakers in the 90s at least, and 6x9s don’t really fit without cutting.

Back a few years ago, I got a pair of 6x8 Pioneer speakers from Walmart for $60, they sounded great to my untrained ears. Better than the usual cheapo speakers that get installed in my vehicles.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > CobraJoe 08/11/2017 at 11:44

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Yeah, I guess I should’ve listed the sizes, lol. The front doors are 6x8 and rear deck is 6x9.

Textured Soy Protein > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 11:48

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Do you want/need a CD player. A lot of the cheaper head units are going without CD players, just bluetooth, aux, etc.

I plugged your car into Crutchfield’s site and this JVC head unit for 80 bucks has all the bluetooth & USB stuff you’d want including FLAC support, plus it still plays CDs, and has a real volume knob. The only thing is the buttons have red lighting that you can’t change.

The next model higher up in the JVC lineup switches to blue button lighting. It’s another 10 bucks. Not sure what else is different.

Looking at the speakers, according to Crutchfield your front doors have 6x8 and your rear deck is 6x9. They have some cheap JBL speakers in 6x8 for $40 and 6x9 for $48 .

So basically you could get everything you need for well under $200 with this stuff.

TorqueToYield > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 11:57

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I like Pioneer head units for the money. But plenty of off name Chinese companies are making surprisingly decent car audio stuff these days for cheap. A lot of the stuff is very very similar if you’re not going super high end.

Also, wiring harness adaptor.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Textured Soy Protein 08/11/2017 at 12:02

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I do have a ton of CDs from back in the day, so a CD player would be nice. But I’m not opposed to a bluetooth/aux only one since I could just upload the CD to my phone.

And I’m not really a fan of how those head units look. I’d like to find something that still looks kind-of factory, which I know if basically impossible. But I would at least like to avoid as many neon lights as possible, lol.

And the JBLs have pretty good reviews. I’ll definitely have to look into those more. Thanks!

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 12:42

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I have a pretty basic Pioneer head unit with BT/CD/Aux/USB and Alpine speakers in my Miata. Under $200 and sound better than the factory with the added benefit of Bluetooth.

Textured Soy Protein > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 13:19

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Ok, I looked at a ’97 Crown Vic interior.

Here are some little-bit-less goofy looking options. These all have variable color lighting so you should be able to get them to match the factory green, even though the Kenwood is blue in the pics.

Sony CDX-GT660UP - $90

Kenwood KDC-BT368U - $100

Pioneer DEX-X4900BT - $100

Just based on looks I think the Pioneer is my favorite. But the Sony might be a bit more factory looking.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Textured Soy Protein 08/11/2017 at 15:04

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That’s actually an older interior. ‘92-’95. My interior looks similar to this:

So it’s got a double DIN, which I’ll just take the extra space and use as storage or something.

And I like how the Kenwood looks with all the buttons blacked out. Does Kenwood make quality stuff?

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 08/11/2017 at 15:28

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Did you get the Type S or Type R speakers?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/11/2017 at 15:59

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Sorry, I lied. I just looked at my invoice. I bought the JBL GT7-86. I know I bought alpines for something... Maybe my previous Miata? No idea. But the JBL’s aren’t half bad. Sound decent and have reasonable volume. I’m not going to win any SPL competitions though.