07 Civic - Black Friday Special

[tmitche]

I'm long-winded so I apologize in advance.

Today I purchased a full car audio install from Sonicelectronix.com for a budget build in my Civic. I've been shopping around for a while for a new system for my car. This will be the fourth install in this car. None of my previous installs were worth even mentioning but I will give a brief description of the stages:

Install 1

Head Unit: alpine CDA-9833
Front Stage: CDT Audio HD set (active)
Front Stage Amp(s): Monitor 1 2.70 x 2
Subwoofer: eD 13Ov.3 D2 (Black Model) Sealed enclosure
Sub Amp: eD Nine.2x
Acoustic Treatments: Dynamat & eDead
Wire: RF, JL, Knu

This was a great sounding setup until the CDT speakers that had sat in my garage for 2+ years succumbed to the elements and the woofers dry rotted and blew. Also, I felt the sub setup was too much for my taste.

Install 2

Head Unit: Alpine CDA-9833
Front Stage TW: CDT Audio HD (active)
Front Stage MW: Cadence CWM-6 Woofer
Front Stage Amp(s): Monitor 1 2.70 x 2
Subwoofer: DIYMA 12
Sub Amp: eD Nine.2x
Acoustic Treatments: Dynamat & eDead
Wire: RF, JL, Knu

This never sounded balanced, I was too cheap to spend enough money on sufficient processing to bring the drastically different components together. After this I threw in the towel and decide to go simple.

Install 3 (current)

Head Unit: Alpine CDA-9833
Front Stage: Polk MOMO Coax
Front Stage Amp(s): Monitor 1 2.70
Subwoofer: IDQ 12v.2 D2 (had this forever, love it)
Sub Amp: Monitor 1 2.70
Acoustic Treatments: Dynamat & eDead
Wire: RF, JL, Knu

Front stage is awful, too low and the tweeters on this set are harsh and tinny. I owned a set of the original MOMO comp sets and remember being fairly happy with them, these just blow. Also, last week my left channel on my Monitor 2.70 front amp is going bad.

After all this, I decided to just start over. Since the holidays are here I knew I could find some pretty good deals. I got on last night and came across what I think should be a pretty good system.

New Items:

AMP: kicker ZX700.5 $250
Front stage: PPI-356CS (heard so much about it from here) $135
SUB: Alpine Type-R 12 D4 $120 (We'll see, I have other subs JIC)
Wire: Kicker PDK4 $75 (Old stuff is pretty well mangled after several years)
Dash Kit: Scosche $50 (Been hating Metra POS, heard this was better)

I think this should be a simple resolution to my front stage and amp problems, the car is already pretty well deadened and I didnt spend over $700. Items should arrive next week. I will post pics of equiptment and install as it progresses.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated, especially from fellow Civic owners for hints or tricks.