so, I'm looking to upgrade the car stereo
 

I have an OK car stereo system... the speakers are the originals the car came with and the system was about $400 but that's cos they bought it from the dealer and they wanted the CD/cassette deck combo.

I'm wondering... should I look into an entirely new CD player ? Should I just get new speaker/subwoofers? How much should I expect to sink into this if i want a nice sound system?

also, what brands are good/dependable?

check out the tool @ crutchfield.com and see what's available for your car....to help you get an good idea of what you're looking for. i love it when someone wants to upgrade their deck and goes out and buys a $69 piece of junk that lights up in four different colors. have an actual reason to upgrade...and know what you're upgrading to & why.

well if you want quality then i'd buy a new stereo completely. you can get a decent cd player for around $150. but it can go up to $1000 if you want all that. as far as speakers and an amp go. it all depends on what you want. you can get some speakers for relatively cheap...around $150 or so. but of course that can go way higher depending on quality. same goes for the amp. all in all you could get a decent system for around $500. you could actually leave the cd player you have in now if you wanted. it all depends on how much you're willing to put into it.

ask a gangsta. they know about this stuff. try slugdownkoolaid or slugger or whatever.

I had a boyfriend who tried to "bling" out my car. it was bad. I ended up with a lot of shit i didn't need in a '90 honda civic.

go for pioneer, kenwood, alpine, any top names like that.

i guess i don't know exactly what I need... all i know is that i want the sound to be a lot fuller. It sounds tinny so i crank up the bass and it just sounds like there's too much bass.

hmm. well your best bet would be to go to a place like car tunes or mickey shores (don't know if you have them where you live) or something and tell them what you want and how much you can afford to spend. they'll hook u up.

what kind of car is it, and is it the stock stereo? if not, what kind of stereo? stock speakers?

yeah, she said it's all stock

i really don't know anything about car stereo, but keep it mind that it will only be as good as its weakest link. like don't buy an amazing deck and speakers if you aren't going to buy a good amp.

my bad.

if you want to go about it from a cost perspective, i'd recommend you start out w/ the speakers....not knowing the quality of your current stereo deck. you're going to have to find out though if your deck is sufficient enough to power any decent set of speakers. either look up your stereo model, or pull it out and read. you want it to be around at least 15-25 watts per channel. if it's not, then you're probably looking at either a new deck or an amplifier installation.

if you're not looking to blow an eardrum, and are just looking for a nice clean sound, with decent power, you can find a decent pair of speakers for your doors or rears in the $60-$100 range. again, nothing to crack your windshield...but you can find a nice good sound in that price range. look around for something by JBL, Polk Audio, Clarion that's maybe on sale. most importantly though, go in to a store that has them setup so you can have a listen. you can read about them all you want, but you want to get a feel for their sound. also, if you're running 4 speakers...replace them all. a nice pair won't sound right if you're blending them in with two very poor speakers. you'll still have that tinny/lifeless sound.

and it's a 2001 honda civic.