I'm a member of the SVT/SHO Society of West Michigan and I drive a 94 Taurus SHO. The SHO community is a slightly older group I think, so there is no stereo area in any SHO place I've found, so I'm looking here for my stereo discussions. On with my questions...
I bought my car and it had an Alpine 7886 CD Jammer, er, Changer. I don't have many problems with it, except the CD in slot 1 jams frequently, no matter what CD. The rest of the system consisted of a Nakamichi 4 channel amp driving some Boston Acoustic 6.5's in front and Canton separates in back. The wiring seems decent except for the use of the factory wires up to the fronts. I have some new Fosgate wire but haven't gotten around to running it. After buying the car, I added my Fosgate 160a2 amp running my 10" Fosgate in a QLogic box. On that note, there was some discussion here about the QLogic boxes; I like it. The only problem other than the CD jammer is some popping from the front speakers when I really turn it up. I don't know if it's from subpar speaker wire or the way it's wired. From what I can see of the Alpine, it's only got 1 pair of 2V pre outs, so he must have put in line converters which could be causing the noise?
Now on to what I want to do. I would like to get a head unit, something with 3 sets of 4V pre outs is the main thing I'm looking for, but I do like having the remote control now. Then I'll start changing out amps and speakers as I see weakness's. For the head, I was looking at the Sony Active black panels, but then realized I had a friend working at Clarion. I can get the DXZ715 for under $275, quite a bit less than list.
So, that's my situation. Anyone have any advice on what is currently happening with the system? Advice on the Alpine/Sony/Clarion/other debate? Anyone want my Alpine 7886 when/if I get the Clarion? On the good side for the Alpine I've played many CDR's in it and I've never had a single problem with any of those. I like the Clarion for filling my wants, having CD Text and price. I'd likely end up getting a CD Changer in the trunk also (I liked the 6 disc in my 97 SHO, but I really need an in dash slot...)
Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions!
Randy - SVT/SHO Society Member
94 Moonlight Blue MTX SHO
