I recently picked up my STi and now comes adding a stereo.
I have been pricing some setups and i wanted to get some feedback.
here is what i am looking at:

Head Unit Eclipse CD 5444
Speakers Front Focal Polyglass 165v2
Speakers Rear Focal 130cv
Amplifier JL 500/1
Amplifier JL 300/4
Sub JL CVS110RG - W6v2
Sound Dampening Dynamat Xtreme - All 4 doors

The sub will be placed in the trunk in a box from JL. i would like a custom box, but can't really pay that much.

I am interested in a good sounding system, well tuned, sharp crisp sound. i want some good leveld bass, i don't want it to overpower the rest of the system. I am not into the LOUND BOOM. i like true sound reproduction.

Any suggestions? things i should look at, or stay away from? also what would you exptect to pay for this kind if setup, ohh yeah as using good high qualoty wires and stuff.

thanks
--rodrigo

 

Dynamat is well-known to be overpriced, unless you have some sort of hookup. Check out RAAMmat. It's 1/3rd of the price with equal performance. And to be honest, a lot of people feel that the Alpine amps are a bit overpriced. It pretty much depends where you're buying all this stuff.

 

I'm a fan of Cascade dampening products......and while some products may be overpriced, some really are better than others (I'm not saying dynamat is better). There's more to it than just dampening ability....you need to consider other things like ease of use, durability, etc. If you'll be replacing the moisture barrier in your doors with dampening sheets you may want something that can be peeled back and then reapplied.

Looks like you have a pretty good idea about what kind of system you want and it should sound pretty good.......just remember that the quality of the install makes a huge difference when it comes to SQ. Dampening will make a very noticeable difference as will speaker location. One of the downfalls of a rex is the low soundstage. If this really matters to you, you might want to explore different tweeter locations or mounting it flush in the stock location. I'm currently trying to figure out how I want to deal with this.

 

forgive me in advance

you said,
"The sub will be placed in the trunk in a box from JL. i would like a custom box, but can't really pay that much"

aren't eclipse decks and focal speakers expensive!?
good luck getting the best sound quality from a sti- you'll have lots and lots of work- i just helped my brother dynamat his car(sweat/broken back)

i have a wrx wagon and a sti- i make "do" with road noise in my sti- i just blast it and deal with the decent sound quality(kenwood deck,concept amps/sub, nakamichi separates) IMO sti's shouldn't be "transformed" into SQ cars. i just think it would make the car out of character- - - but then again i might just be too lazy to actually do mine so don't mind me!
don't mean to be negative so...
i am jealous that you have FOCAL(awesome choice) and also have the drive to make your sytem rock

Precious TIP: oh yeah keep in mind of the "lightweight" rear glass- i know u said you don't want loud bass, but be careful anywho-(just a thought) if u make your tunes loud be sure have windows slightly "cracked" (speaking from experience)

 

i had the system installed last week.
The eclipse head is not released yet, so i have a Sony loaner in there for now.
the system sounds very good, and i am tunning it to my taste.
as far as expensive, yes the Eclipse and Focals are not cheap by any means. but the difference between a custom sub box, and a ready off the shelf box is quite a lot.
the sub cost me about 429.
if i had a custom box (fiber glass molding) it would have been about 3600

so that is what i mean.

thanks man