i use to be a solid kenwood kind of guy.. but i bought my new ram with an alpine system in it already.. now im torn. i love kenwood stuff.. quality is good. sound is good.. tuning ability is good.. same with alpine. its ur call.. but i highly reccomend kenwood or alpine. sony, pioneer, jvc, they r all kind of lower grade.. get something where you can adjust the sub level and stuff.. and avoid flip downs.. springs where out and they cost a boat load and dont have all that nice features unless u pay out the **** for it.

 

If you're getting subs there's a good chance you'll need new doors as well. I know in my friends car when he got his subs, the stock speakers just weren't good enough to keep up lol

 

Having just installed a cd player in my truck i must tell you; my gf gave me an older Pioneer probly an 02' or so, and it works awsome, it sounds great. but, i also have some tweeters that help that sound clarity.

I would check craigslist/ebay for a used one in your price range. Pioneer is a good brand, but the Pioneer Premier is where its at. I used to own one in my camaro and it rocked. Alpine is very good too. Ive also heard good things about Eclipse, but theyre pricey and look plain.

If I wouldnt have gotten a free one, I would be shootin for an Alpine, theyre awsome. you cant go wrong with either. and install yourself, SOOO EASY! for 27.99 on ebay you can get a dodge ram install kit with EVERYTHING you need to put it in and play. best deal around.

the best cd player JVC had was the "ghost" one of the 1st touchscreen plain DINs.

 

Been in the Audio business for 10 years, Alpine is the best way to go for a head unit by far. If you do add speakers, look into JL Audio, or Boston Acoustics. Both companies have budget to performance lines, and are reliable. As far as amps go, I prefer JL audio, YES they are not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Hope that helps.

 

I have to differ with you.

I have a JVC KD-R800 in my car. It has Bluetooth, USB for Mem-stick and IPOD control. And it sounds extremely good. It only costed me $110 at my local car-fi.

I have a Kenwood DNX7140 in my truck. It has, well..., alot! It sounds completely awesome. paid $640 off an ebay offer.

Both good solid units that work extremely good. The only reason I decided on the kenwood for the truck was for the backup/load cam feature. However I am finding the wife really likes the video file feature and the BT function with her iphone.

 

Look at either the alpine or pioneer links in my post.
I would look at the $169 Pioneer since it has 3 preouts and one of those being a dedicated sub out.

I dunno what kenwood we have in the Ford, but I wasn't impressed. My little DEH-6800 will kill what ever that Kenwood trys to do. I tend to take functionality over styling. The Kenwood decks look interesting, but IMO they are a bitch to get around on.

 

Check out the Clarion CZ509, it has good power (CEA compliant), preamp outputs for both speakers and a sub, sub controls, an AUX and a USB connection, as well as Sat radio and Bluetooth ready. A new head unit will make the factory speakers sound better (due to more power). I have been using a variety of Clarions for about 8 years now and highly recommend them. I would also strongly consider Crutchfield.com for ordering, you get tons of installation gear to make it easy, great customer and tech support, AND are as cheap or cheaper than Best Buy, and no pushy salespeople.

 

So I decided to go with the Pioneer DEHP4100UB SCD. I got it for $134 at amazon with $3.99 one day shipping. I decided to go with this one because my buddy is running it in his mustang, and he said he would definitely recommend it. Best Buy wanted ~$170 for it, so I saved about 40 bucks.

I'm going to bestbuy tomorrow to pick up a wiring harness and mounting bracket.

So now that I have this ordered, what good door speakers do you recommend? Should I replace all the speakers, or just the 6x9 door ones? ( how many speakers are there by the way? ha)

Thanks for all the help guys!

ps, HID's come in tomorrow

 

What's your budget? What kind of subs are you putting in? Are your wall/door speaker upgrades going to be powered by an external amp?

Personally, if your putting in subs, your not going to have to worry about covering your lows. Mids and highs are going to be your next concern.

What I have in my sig is my current setup, minus an amp that I just saw Cow chick left out.... I'm gonna have a word with her.... Back on topic...

Infinity Kappas, are known for having outrageous highs and pretty good mids. Their lows are lacking in the oblong style. For you, running subs, they would be an option to really consider, but I do warn that the kappas have a thirst for more power than your new head unit is going to be able to offer.
You can run them on the headunit, but you have to be careful and not to really thump on them since your not having full RMS to them. The end result is you will seize the speaker up. Not trying to talk you out of them. They are a good choice if you plan on amping them later.
Infinity also offers their reference series. Those I would push hard if you DO NOT plan on amping. They still have a higher RMS rating than what that headunit will put out, but it's still within a reasonable range.

 

i bought almost the cheapest pioneer i could find, and it has all the options you meantioned in the OP