i used to be a Crutchfield fanatic. i still am somewhat, as their customer service is amazing, and i love the free stuff that comes with their head units (which is all i buy from them now). but pretty much anything else...amps, speakers, subs, etc....you can get better for a lot less money elsewhere. you can get the head units for cheaper too, but once you buy one thing from Crutchfield, you get lifetime tech support as long as you own that item, and they give you the wiring harness, dash kit, stereo removal tools and master instructions for the whole car...free. do you still use CDs? if not i would check out the new Alpine radio that is AM/FM/XM or Sirius/iPod...no CD player. it has an AUX input as well for Dunes or other off-brand MP3 players, but it was made for the iPod. very interesting. if you still use CDs, go with an Eclipse head unit. you can get a complete system...head unit (from Crutchfield), front component speakers, a single 10" or 12" sub, 4 channel amp to power everything, and wiring/box materials for WELL under $1000, so keep that in mind. PM seight311 for more info on elemental designs product. they are an awesome value.

 

Alright. I'll give him a shout! Thanks for the help.

So all in all if you change one thing like speakers/sub/amp you have to change it all? Or can you keep it all 'stock' but have a different head unit?
I read those stickies on the main audio page and that helped somewhat but I'm a newb at this so sorry for the ignorance

 

you don't HAVE to change other stuff. you CAN add a sub and sub-amp to the rest of the factory stereo. you CAN add just a new head unit and keep the rest. but the thing is, if you spend $1000 on the best sub and sub-amp, then it will completely overpower the facotry speakers and drown out your high notes...also if you add a nice head unit, you will lose a lot of bass from the stock speakers. it all amounts to what you can deal with and how good your install/settings are. you will eventually want to replace everything, so you might as well do it all at once and get a nice set-up that will sound awesome and be more balanced than just adding a sub to the rest of the system. i have heard other factory "premium stereos" with subs added, and no matter what you do (unless you have very expensive sound tuning software, or a media manager like the one Alpine makes) you will never get the sound completely where you want it by just addind a sub. but yea, those are just my recommendations. i also recommend you not go to circuit city or bestbuy for audio advice. they really do not know much about audio there, other than how to make a sale. and both of those places have screwed up our cars in the past. good guys was the only decent chain-store, and they went out of business.