purchased a mp3 player for the 323

[bruce95fmla]

Well I decided it was time I got some music in the 323. There is a BMW radio in the sucer but I don't have the code, plus who plays tapes anymore.
Well I was browsing ebay since about 1:30 and I decided I wanted to try a kenwood deck. I have a jvc mp3 player in the protege and love it. But I figured hey might as well broaden my horizons.

I found this deck wich was within my cash range and did a buy it know on ebay ...
anyhow check out the write up on crutchfield here

and this is the ebay auction

I guess some front and rear speakers should be next and then a amp to power my 12 inch kicker I have in my closet....
hmm the 323 is on it's way.

[Kelly]

thats a nice deck man, i was looking at that before i bought my jvc, has alot of features including VOLUME DIFFERENTIAL whatever the hell that is. Nice lookin headunit.

[bruce95fmla]

thanks ...
I didn't want anything crazy. I just wanted a deck that could play mp3's and was from a recognizable company. I tend to mix my mp3's on my computer with atomix virtual dj or BPM or some other programs that I use and I want a deck that can play mp3's.

I mean who the heck would buy a deck that can't play mp3's?

[Kelly]

kinda a waste of money heh, nothing like going on a 5 hour trip and not having to change the cd.

[bruce95fmla]

hell yeah ... lol..
funny thing is. You really don't even need a cd changer.
Next I will change the regular speakers in the car. I think I will try and upgrade the rears to a higher quality speaker.

[Kelly]

nah, do what blue told me, fuq all rear speakers, get you a good component set for the front and pound the **** out of rear with subs. Just put some pos speakers in the back for when you gots ladies back there wit ya.

[THEGOLDPRO]

where do you live again bruce?? lol i can use one of those, it looks good man.

[blue LEDz]

good deal on the HU and yeah, don't worry much about rear speakers. i have components in my rear doors that are always faded out

[Kevin]

meh, you could be a cop out and just get some cheap power acoustik speakers for the rear.. no more than 50 shipped if ya got the dough http://www.cdzone.net/index.cfm?type=1&cat=5&manf=1 .. no mid bass response whatsoever, but clear highs to say the least. i don't know what it is with you guys and rear speakers, i am a quadraphonic listener... i like my highs to surround me and my bass to encircle me, no matter where i am in the car. i THRIVE on rear speakers. i don't know, no matter how good of a system i've tried putting together, i always feel the need for rear-fill.
peace

[Intruder]

It's a nice looking deck, Bruce. Congrats!
I am an advocate of Alpine, so I'm going to recommend you a set of Type-S speakers for the front. They should not cost you more than ~$50 and they sound just as good as an expensive set of components (I've had them and I am comparing them to a set of CDT Audio comp. speakers). At least to you it won't make a difference because in both cases you would be powering the speakers through your HU (which does not have enough power to begin with). Listen for a while and if you really feel like something's missing in the rear, then go ahead and buy a set of rear speakers too.

[bruce95fmla]

you mean to tell me you guys actually drive around with no rear speakers.
how the hell do ya do that.

I have some kenwood 6x9's in the protege. Had them in there since 98 or so.. they are a 4-way speaker and they kick ass. lol ...

hmm. the 323 uses a 5.25 rear speaker I think .. that can't cost much. I am just going to put my 12" kicker comp vr in the 323 and an amp and that's about it.

Ofcourse that goes in once I get another pager alarm, I have one for the protege already...

[MisterT]

Sweet. I used to work at a local shop that sold Kenwood, and they had a lot of features for the money. The higher up models have problems with their displays according to some, but that unit is probably a good one. I know 1st MP3 of NH on the other board mentioned too about Kenwood's problems with their displays, namely the ones with all of the graphics on them. My HU is old, but it works and has the 4volt outs, so I'll keep on using it until it finally dies.

[MisterT]

I don't use rear speakers in my set up neither. You'll be okay as long as they don't take away from your front soundstage. You should fade them so you just hear them so all of your sound sounds like it is coming from the front rather than the rear. Think about it, when you go to a concert, do you have your back away from the stage? All the sound comes from up front and if done right, you can have a nice setup with or without rear speakers.

[blue LEDz]

you mean to tell me you guys actually drive around with no rear speakers.
how the hell do ya do that.

I have some kenwood 6x9's in the protege. Had them in there since 98 or so.. they are a 4-way speaker and they kick ass. lol ...

hmm. the 323 uses a 5.25 rear speaker I think .. that can't cost much. I am just going to put my 12" kicker comp vr in the 323 and an amp and that's about it.

Ofcourse that goes in once I get another pager alarm, I have one for the protege already...

once you listen to a sweet sounding front soundstage, you won't want to run rear speaker either

[hihoslva]

Bruce:

You heard my setup at the Kent meet a million years ago, right? I think you liked it....

Well, I have rear speakers (in the doors - Protege5), but they are turned waaaay down.

I used to think like you, too - that I liked that **** blasting behind me.

But after taking a lot of advice on what to do in this car, I gotta admit, a slamming front stage is THE way to go. Decent speakers and decent power, sound all in-your-face; it kicks ass.

Plus, you save money by not having to worry about fancy rears.

~HH