I have used most of the popular brands of equipment out there and seem to go back to a select few time and again.
These brands represent the best values I have found in mobile audio and give anywhere from reasonable to outstanding performance for their price.
I do not want you to buy these because I say so and I am not getting paid for recommending them.
I would suggest you go to several audio stores and listen to the different equipment they have and then
sit down and weigh out the specs, cost and difficulty of installation BEFORE going any further.
Head Units
Before mentioning any brands let me give you a few guidelines as minimum requirements in a head unit.
Make sure they have at least a pair of RCA line outs that have at least 2v of output. Next, make sure they play the
formats of audio you are interested in. IOW, if you listen to cassettes mainly (perish the thought!) then don't get an in-dash CD player.
Also, consider ones that play MP3 format as well as being CD-R compatible.
Check the power output of the internal amplifier (if any) to make sure it is not quoted at a 2 ohm load. While it is good to have a two ohm stable amplifier section,
if the power is stated at this rating it will bloat the numbers to make them seem more powerful than they are.
Finally, in head units, as with just about everything else, if it sounds too good to be true...it is.
An $80 dollar in-dash CD player that has a 4 by 100 watt amp, remote and detachable face with 2 pairs of RCA outs and a Subwoofer control built in is either stolen or will sound
like a huge piece of crap and not last at all.
My favorite brands of head units are Pioneer, Sony, Blaupunkt and Kenwood.
These brands represent a good cross section of inexpensive with a few features but decent quality to fairly expensive loaded with features.
Even in these lines, you can get a piece of crap so audition them if at all possible or find someone who has owned one.
You should be able to get a decent head unit for somewhere between $150 and $250 new.
Interconnects
As you may have read in another part of my site, I choose to build my own interconnects. I find that for less money and very little effort, i can make a pair the exact length I need
and usually of a better quality that you would purchase in the store. One concern is shielding. I don't usually put a shield persay in my interconnects so you have to run them away from power wires and any
electrical sources.
If you don't build your own Phoenix Gold and Scosche sell pretty good ones as well as other manufacturers. Just buy ones with good strain reliefs and look to be fairly well built.
Amplifiers
There is not enough room here to go into everything you should look and listen for in an amplifier.
Just make sure you find one that is 2 ohm stable and has a low distortion output. Also, you need to make sure that ANY of the xover or bass boost controls are defeatable so they can be turned off if need be.
Large heatsinks or adequate cooling fans are a must and lots of lights and power meters are to be avoided as they really don't serve any purpose anyway. When was the last time you were riding down the road looking at the little light
bar graphs jumping up and down? How many people did you hit while doing this? Seriously a power light and an overload light are all that are necessary.
Avoid anything that does not allow for adequately sized wires to be used when connecting to it. I once saw a famous maker amplifier that was rated at 2 x 250 watts that only had room to put a 10 gauge wire on the power side! No way this would work.
Some notable brands in the budget range are Sony, Kenwood, Ultimate and Pioneer. In the upper ended stuff, I would stick with Phoenix Gold, JL Audio, XTANT, or A/D/S/.
Car amplifiers can range anywhere from $100 dollars on the low end for a decent 2 x 50 watt bridgeable to over $2000 for a 500 watt monoblock amp.
