It’s the time of year for saving money!
Five years ago, when I bought the first (and probably last) new
car in my life, the first thing I did was replace the factory-installed stereo.
Out with the bad OEM speakers, in with a nice pair of Focal drivers, and
buh-bye no-name receiver and hello Alpine…
My question to you is what did you do when you got your latest
car? In order to quantify the answers I’ve arranged a series of questions that
shouldn’t take more than a minute max – the lower your answers’ total point
count, the more enthusiastic your car audio habit…
So, here we go:
Did you:
1. Replaced the entire stereo in my latest car when I purchased
it.
2. Replaced the front end
3. Replaced the speakers only
4. Left it alone – it was listed as “premium”
Did you:
1. Replace the stereo without even listening to the stock unit
2. Listened for an hour and replaced the stock unit
3. Listened for a week or so before replacing the stereo
4. Listened and kept the stock original stereo
Did You:
1. Buy the cheapest interior package so you could upgrade it
yourself.
2. Bought the best interior package specifically so you could
have the best factory sound, then replaced it
3. Bought the best interior package and kept it.
4. Bought whatever interior package that was the best deal.
After a year:
1. I’m still changing out components and have more plans for
upgrades
2. I made one change, but I’m basically happy
3. No changes
4. My stereo no longer works and I don’t care
My score was 7 – sort of mid-level into car audio. How’d you do?
1+3+(bought new off the lot-came with a low grade factory setup)+3
I didn’t buy my first car, but i upgraded the sound system completely within a month or so… My score was
1+1+1+1 =P just had two sets of Polk components put in last week and Crutchfield is doing a new head unit for me next week )P I wanted to try out the double dins as I have never had one as well as the new Pandora and Bluetooth features etc. My car was a new 2005 Honda Civic 4dr LX and I could not wait to put some nice loud clear sound into it. After I purchased the car I put in all Alpine type R components and sub, Alpine head unit, a cap and Alpine amps 🙂 Still have the same car and even though I am not as young as I used to be, I still like my music clean and loud =)
My next project will be building a custom enclosure with a nice display area for my sub and amplifiers while still having easy access to the spare tire. I always wanted a nice looking trunk even if I am the only one to see it!
8 – Took four months, as I had to figure out what I wanted for speakers, subs, two amps, head unit and CD changer, and then find them at good prices. I also went further and had most of the inside sound dampened, a bit with Dynamat, which was expensive, then I found a cheaper but good alternative and had good shop in a Latino neighborhood do it. Great investment. And a big disincentive to getting rid of the car (15 years later).