Best Stereo

[TeenZombie]

I have got a 95 XE and I need to buy a new deck unit. The amplifier in it is jacked, it makes all the speakers rattle with any realistic bass.

 

I was wondering what have been the most successful stereos put in the 95 Pathfinders.

[DSM_guy]

if your speakers are rattling and buzzing its not a case of a crappy amp..its a case of the speakers being pushed too hard and are probably blown or their so old the foam around the cone is rotting away. id look at the speakers before i looked at anything else.

 

as far as a deck..pick your fav unit and stick it in. youll need an install kit more than likley, and QD plugs are good so you dont hack up your stock harness..so id suggest ordering from crutchfield. just dont get a unit thats long. we have a ton of relays and electricals behind our stock unit. its hell trying to get all the wires positioned around and getting the face to sit halfway flush like it should.

[sw]

i would have to agree if your speakers are rattling and just producing c rap noise its likely they are blown. get some replacements.

 

as for decks, i like alpine but thats just me - others will tell you what they like.

however i have had a bad experience with sony sound gear. i will never ever touch a piece of sony sound gear again.

[GrimGreg]

You've got the dual din setup in those (94&95) right?

[Guest 89SErawr]

they should be single din like the other WD21, if not you should definitly order from crutchfield then, they provide you with the install brackets and wiring harness to match up to the stock one in the car. I like kenwood headunits, they offer the most features for the price; alpine is nice, but they are way overpriced for what they give you. You can get a kenwood kdc-mp4028 for about 180 from there, and it comes with sub preout and front back preouts, all in 4 volt, as well as having sat radio hookups and mp3/wma playback. The closest thing from alpine that has 3 preouts @ 4 volts is close to 400 bucks, so i take the kenwood over that for simple fact its more bang for your buck.

[dnodog]

get speakers.... as for a deck, I like blaupunkt{ did i spell it right} Nice big knob easy to turn up volume... drown out rattles and anoying female voices{slow down, don't go through that mud blah blah blah.}

[Mr. Pickles]

Ditto the speakers, I bet they're blown. I'm partial to Eclipse (what I have now, and had one in my 720 truck), Clarion, and am moderate on Sony (had problems with one, but have had a couple). JVC is ok too for a budget deck. I've had nothing but bad luck with 3 different Alpine decks. Oh, and your 95 should have a single DIN deck- "normal size"- if they're the same as my 94.

[sammyb33]

ok, if you are willing to spend some money, go Kicker, they put out great sound...i have their component set in mine, (made some mods to get the 6.5in speaker in the front, 5x7 in the back) but they sound great....if you dont want to spend that much money, i had sony xpolod's in my old accord and it sounded amazing, a little dyno mat behind them, and wow, i mean they push, and you can pick up a few at wall-mart, for all 4, maybe 100-110 bucks...not bad, and once you get them in you will thank me...ah, yes i enjoy my alpine head unit, i would recomend alpine to anyone...also, if you want good bass...get a sub, i have a kicker comp vr 10in, its amazing...perfect amount of bass, easily tuned by my head unit...so yes...if you want good bass go kicker, all kicker, cheapest best speakers i have heard - sony xplod....

Edited November 16, 2005 by sammyb33

[jj big shoe]

I'm no stereo guru, but based on what real gurus have said and my own experiences:

Your speakers might be ok but if they're stock, they won't hold up for long if you install an amp with any real kick. What you need is "clean" power, which you will get from an amp. Impedence, ohms, whatever the reason...if you push a stock head unit too much you'll usually get the slappy bass.

Get a head unit that has whatever cool looking gizmos and such on it you want and a separate amp and see how you like it. If it still sounds slappy, then spend the $$ on some speakers.

If you're looking for the most bang for your buck, get the least expensive head unit that has three sets of RCA jacks (steer clear of the motorized flip-down face ones. I've had nothing but trouble with those). One for front, one back, and one for a sub woofer (believe me, you'll want it later). Don't chintz on the amp, though. Get a good one that won't overheat when you push it. Finally, go with Pioneer speakers. My buddy installs high end equipment at his shop and swears by them. They're definately not as good as the Infinitys or CVs and stuff, but with the windows down at 60mph, ain't nobody gonna hear a difference and they'll hold up to a lot of abuse.

 

...just my $.02

 

 

EDIT- Sorry Sammy, I just read your post. Kickers are a good choice too.

Edited November 16, 2005 by jj big shoe

[gabod7]

If you're looking for the most bang for your buck, get the least expensive head unit that has three sets of RCA jacks (steer clear of the motorized flip-down face ones. I've had nothing but trouble with those). ...just my $.02

i had problems with my flip down face cd players. 2 pioneers to be exact.

this time in the pathy, i went cheap and bought a 100 dollar jenson cd player. its got the rcas and an aux input for my ipod. works just fine. almost better than the pioneers i had.

[SC88Pathy]

I'v liked both my Kenwood decks. And I REALLY love my Kenwood 6x9s (SOOO loud and SOOO much bass! :cool2: )

[93xe]

as a stereo installer i would have to recommend alpine pioneer or panasonic for radios...if it is a double din (2x regular) sized radio you just need to buy a pocket and mount the new radio and pocket to the factory brackets...speakers i would say infinity reference (swivel tweeter) are awesome for the price...circuit city sometimes has them buy one get one half off...or alpine speakers

[Bob]

For you that are running 6x9's in your pathy where do you have them mounted? I replaced all my speakers with some cheaper MTX 6.5's up front and 5x7's in the rear, and they sounds like crap. I have no bass what so ever, and some mad feed/distortion back in the left rear speaker at lower volumes.

[sammyb33]

well....if you are running the new speakers on the stock system this could be causing the distortion, if you want better sound, possibly better bass from your speakers then get an aftermarket amp, (i have heard the alpine 4 channel, or kicker 4 channels put up great wattage). What i did was get this alpine head unit ( http://www.alpine-usa.com/ ) at a local discount audio shop for around $175....best purchase i made in the stereo "department." It puts out clean wattage just off the unit, no amp at all, i just ran new speaker wire from each new kicker speaker i installed in the back, and since i bought component speakers for the front, just wired the new crossovers, and ran the wires to the head unit... then with adding the sub, i got the perfect sound i was looking for, because of the head unit, you can control the subwoofer, the bass, treble, everything you can possibly imagine, and i have it exactly tuned to how i enjoy it. So, if you have distortion, just run new wires to the head unit and that will iliminate that, but remember if you are running any wires back for your subwoofer, to run the speaker wires as far from that as possible because the closer speaker wire is to a power wire, you will get a distinct buzzins low level distiortion noise in the speaker....(also run your RCAs separate from the power, same deal, distiortion).....sorry if this seems like i rushed, its because i did, i have installed many systems, wired many systems, so i feel confident i could answer many questions you have, so just PM me....

[jonathanjdfraser]

well, the day i bought my pathy, i definatly ripped out both stock clarion amps, one in the front behind the head unit and the one inside the right side panel in the back, added new wired from my new head unit to all four new 5x7s and all 4 tweeters out of my crossovers, its just easier if you rewire every speaker.. neede anymore info, just ask, my system is pretty sweet so ive been told.

[wheelmanLS1]

I've compared Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood, Infinity, and MA Audio speakers and I like the Sonys the least, then Kenwoods, then Pioneers, then MA Audios, and I like Infinity the best. True, Infinitys are sort of pricey sometimes, but my speakers that are worth 200/pair... I got 4 for 60 off Ebay. Sure they're refurbed but they sound like new.

 

As for decks, I've had trouble with Alpine and Blaupunkt. JVC was awesome for how much I paid and my Sony just plain kicks ass.

[nige]

I've never put anything in my car besides alpine. I got my head unit (model #7894) on ebay for $200 usd. It was 6 months old when I bought it and I havent had a problem with it for a year now. It 60w x 4 so i don't even really need a amp unless you have a sub woofer. You can put some sore of capacitor thingy between your tweeters and front speakers so they don't get a low to mid range frequency -only highs.

[Slick]

I have a Kenwood deck with 6 cd changer that I bought from a buddy which has been reliable.. but i als had a blaupunkt in my s-10 which was wicked cool too.. as for speakers.. i have alpines...

[Mr. Pickles]

Infinity speakers rock (ditto). I've got Reference series all the way around, and they're just drop in replacements. Eazy to fit, and they sound incredible. I'd highly recommend Infinity speakers and an Eclipse deck. You might spend a bit more up front, but I'll bet you'll be happier in the long run vs. settling for an Alpine or Sony or something.