Car Audio installations in DFW area

[chrisdfw]

In case it helps anyone, I let my smart be the first audio upgrade for the Earmark Car Audio in Plano at Parker and Independence.

The first thing I did was have them replace the crappy door speakers with 6.5 inch Boston Acoustics. That alone made a HUGE improvement in sound quality. They can do just that for around $250 or so but I didn't stop there.

I also had them mount a conservative amp (40w X4) under the passenger seat and little 6 inch woofer in a custom (and removable) enclosure they built into that space above the passenger's feet. This brought out some additional low frequency instruments that were lacking and added some real bass punch without shacking your ribs too much or bothering your neighbors.

The total price for everything was just under $1000 with most of that cost being the labor for the subwoofer and price of the amp. You can get 80% of the impact with just replacing the door speakers at $250 but I really drive a lot and didn't want to feel anything wasn't as good as it could be.

I may be able to post pictures in a day or two. I'll also try to get the name of the actual installer if you want to have this done and they won't tell you. The installer had really short blonde hair so should be easy to recognize.

[SmartJJ]

so you didn't replace the head unit? I really want to get Sirius installed. And a finished look for iPod/iPhone integration would be nice ** charging as well as playing through the head unit. I have used dension icelink and dice in my other cars.

[chrisdfw]

I didn't replace the head unit. I really want it to look stock. In the past I lost many car radios to theives that stole them so quickly they didn't care about an alarm going off. They just destroyed my dash and took them.

I intend to keep an ipod in the glove box or somewhere else hidden but still connected to the AUX. I have the Griffin Autopilot that plugs into the lighter socket and not only charges the IPOD and has a cable to go to the AUX jack but also has a play/ff/rew control on the front of it that is lit. It looks great and is easy to reach when plugged into the lighter. I just need to run the cables behind and into the glove box so they aren't seen.

I was thinking about going with satelite but instead will just fill up the ipod with up to 80 gig of music and not have to listen to anything I don't like.

Link to Best Buy and the Griffin Autopilot for IPOD:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1203815033701

[JPaul]

Originally Posted by chrisdfw

[...] Link to Best Buy and the Griffin Autopilot for IPOD:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1203815033701

Works also with iPhone, etc...
$3 cheaper from Griffin directly:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/autopilot