So my goals are:

I want great sound quality for a reasonable price.
I'm relatively handy- but I haven't done alot with stereo systems before- so ease of installation counts high.
I am not interested in maxing the decibels.
I listen almost exclusively to music on my ipod.
I really don't want a DVD player or nav, etc. I want a low key easy to use system that makes me smile on my commute. If there are better sounding simple head-units designed for ipods though, I'm all ears.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500IDAX...ml?o=m&tp=5684

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1086020...s.html?tp=9573
- it's on sale

For the rear deck, some Pioneer 6x9's I already have that will be turned way down unless I have someone in the back seat.

Then I already have an Alpine 300 watt mono amp and 10inch type r subwoofer. I'm on a budget so I can't go buy JL's or whatever at this point-This part is fixed. I could probably change boxes or something though, it's in a bassworx box and I like it because the carpet matches almost perfectly.

 

Looks like it should sound nice for what you want.
I used to have those 6.5's you should be impressed with the difference between them and the stock. There built to run @ 2ohms like the stock speakers are so there a good choice

 

Thanks for the fast reply. I'm also assuming I need to use the baffles from Crutchfield too. Would just the dynamat door-kit make much difference?

 

before you buy anything from them check out www.techronics.com

they have cheaper prices on everything lol

 

dont buy that radio. looks good in the picture but thats the last good thing i can say about it. go with anything but that

 

The thing I liked on that one was that it had a very easy to read Ipod usb interface. Can you think of a couple good alternatives that have that? My HU budget is $500 but that includes the harness, so I know that's kind of limiting.

 

you listen to ipod music and are worried about sound quality, this does not compute hahahaha

 

My total music collection runs somewhere around 17000 songs. Which isn't meant as a boast or anything, I know people have more- I'm just old and have acquired a lot of crap.

I use a hard drive at home, and I use Apple Lossless to record the CD's I care about. With lossless, the quality is actually quite good. When I buy a CD, it gets ripped straight to my media drive at home then the CD's go hide. Then I put it on my IPOD.

 

like i said it looks like a million bucks in the picture but other then that id stay away. The inteface is pretty bad and sound is just horrible. There's very few decks i wouldn't give to people for free and that's one.

At the shop we sell kenwood/pioneer and those 2 are my favorite with eclipse and alpine being close behind. If your looking for a nice screen i really liked the look of the 08 pioneer 500ub/5000ub (there doesn't seem to be a similar 2 line non graphical display in the 09s) and the kenwood exelon's are nice too but their displays look a lil corny. (along with the pioneer graphical display)

ultimately its really all opinion thou so id check em out locally if you can just trust me on that alpine. Sadly all alpine had to do was make a deck like the rest with high v preouts, no cd player amd add that face and it would have been a hit but they seriously dropped the ball. Im not sure if the new 09 stuff are better but for 300 i wouldn't take my chances

 

Pioneer DEH-P5000UB is a good enough stereo and instead of getting the infinity speakers, you could go with the the Polk which have the same quality but will be a lil cheaper, also there tweeters scream.

 

ummmm, i disagree with you detroit.

the infinity's sound....lets just say even with stock deck my **** outperforms most of my friends' completely aftermarket systems.

the polks are great as well, but it's like comparing a hyundai genesis to an acura rl. yes it performs all the same functions, but not as well.

my next deck will most likely be an eclipse, i think emp just mentioned eclipse as well. my buddies 8yr old eclipse deck has been in and out of cars and still yanks the cd in as furiously as it did brand new. it's crazy

 

ya i love the build of them but the menu isn't the easiest to navigate and looks wise there iight nothing special thou. they are also a bit pricy