Let's talk about car audio

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I want to make my car have good audio.

Two front door roundy speakers, two back 6x9 speakers, and a subwoofer.

What are good brands? Where should I get this sort of work done? Anything to know/keep in mind when having this sort of work done on my car?

I'm looking to drop $500-1000, depending. $500 if I can get GREAT audio (inc. sub) for that price. More if I have to.

[Mupepe]

what kind of car do you have?

500 will not get you great sound either and all the places are overpriced as fuck, but if you have to, try Best Buy. 

Audiobahn subs and amps have never done me wrong

Kenwood makes some incredible highs

Do you have a stock head unit?  If you do, dump that as well.

For 6x9's, I'd recommend Sony Xplod's.  But stay far far far away from the Xplod amps and subs.

For your "roundy speakers" I'd say go with Kenwood, and you can't go wrong with Kenwood 6x9's either

Also, if you've got a day some weekend to spare, I'd recommend installing it yourself.  It's not that hard and will save you a significant amount of cash

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I replaced my head unit a while back with a decent Sony jobby with Aux In. I also replaced my front speakers at that time, but I'm not super thrilled with them.

I would be happy to pay somebody to do this just so I don't have to deal with it. I'd be three trips to Home Depot just to get the right offset screwdriver.

Unfortunately, my ride is so noisy (2002 Corolla) that I don't think it's worth getting it THX certified. I just want it loud and awesome--not reference quality.

[Smooth Groove]

Audio stuff is expensive.  Like Mupepe said, you probably won't get much for 500 or maybe even 1000.

I notice the local Circuit City doing installations for many ricers so maybe you want to give them a try. 

[Mupepe]

Well, if that's the case, I'd suggest raising your budget a bit if you still want to do your door speakers and 6x9's.  I'd get Kenwood for the doors, xplods for the 6x9's (they're pretty cheap, got mine on sale for 80 bucks for both).

A 1000 watt amp and a nice 12" sub shouldn't be more than a grand.  I'd suggest Audiobahn or JBL.  Both have never done me wrong and sound fucking great. 

One thing, GET A CUSTOM BOX.  I cannot stress this enough.  This can make or break your system.  A manufactured/cheapo box will make it sound like crap.  Custom boxes can make a 1000 watt system sound like a 2000 watt system.  It's that important.  Take a sub to somewhere like Tweeter (do not buy your sub from tweeter) or a local shop that makes their own (tweeter is just the only chain I know that makes their own boxes) and have them build a box for it.  The difference is incredible.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

yeah, a friend at work who recently pimped out his system stressed the sub enclosure as well

[Mupepe]

  update us when you decide

[Smooth Groove]

The Lexus SC430 has amazing audio.  I almost want to buy the car just for its audio.