Honda Car Forum

First let me apologize for the size of this note. My last car stereo
upgrade was in my then new 87 CRX SI so I'm feeling really overwhelmed
here. My wife surprised me a couple of years ago with a set of Boston
Acoustic Rally 6 3/4 door speakers, crossovers, and tweeters for my 99
Accord EX and that's all that's been done.

I figure a head-unit price range is between $200.00 and $350.00. That and a
set of 6x9 speakers out the door installed for no more than $600.00 is my
goal. The head-unit needs an internal amp. I was recently laid off so
while money is tight this is a gift to myself for the 17 years I put in
before I was shoved out the door. I want XM ready, MP3/WMA/CDR/CDR-W. It
needs to be easily upgradeable to an external amp and an external CD
changer. Functionality for a sub-woofer would be nice too. That appears to
be something that is maintained via the external amp. Now this drop down
door to insert a CD has me stumped. I cannot tell if I like it or not. Any
input on this particular feature would be greatly appreciated. It appears
that Alpine's CDA 9807 and CDA 9811 has most if not all the features I'm
looking for. I like the way the buttons are setup and I really appreciated
having a rotary knob to adjust the volume. I was amazed at how some brands
of receivers have what appeared to me .... well for lack of a better
description "moving pictures." I guess I'm to old to understand what that's
all about. As for the 6x9's it seems Alpine has what I'm looking for. If
someone could tell me whether 2 or 3 way is the way to go that would be
helpful. According to Crutchfield the Alpine 3 way will need a bit of
modification to get them to fit. While it appears I'm looking at Alpine
systems I'm open to other receivers and speakers just tell me what to look
at. I've been looking at Car Toys, Circuit City and Crutchfield web sites
for information. I dropped in at a Car Toys store they were really pushing
Eclipse receivers and Focal speakers. The price was out of my reach but
they did sound incredible and look very cool.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this note and for any replies.

Rick