stereo upgrade question - bang for the buck!
 

My 2000 has the stock CDR-220. one of the knobs is broken so it's a PITA to change songs on the CD change...I have to use the bu ttons to select a track..not hte knob.. as it randomly skips around if i use the knob..otherwise it works okay.. although I'm not ipressed at all with the sound system.

here is what my car HAS:

stock head unit
stock amp in front trunk
door pods OEM with speakers
speaker in dash
rear speakers - prior owner instaleld the porwsche kit that put speakers in teh rear cubbies... i don't knwo what kind of speakers they are..they are small.. two speakers in each cubbie.

I'd like to change the head unit first. something inexpensive. nothign liek the fancy units I've seen guys here put in. i want something that is stock in size and will be in amber so it matches the stock colors of the other dash stuff / gauges.

i'd like to spend under $500 on everything. if this means doing just a head unit, maybe some speakers, or a cheapy amp or soemthing... i'd be fine with it. i don't want a blaring stereo, i don't want some big subwoofer in my trunk..

i wash onestly wonderign how it woudl sound if I just grabbed a "so so" $250 dollar head unit ... i'd get it installed professionaly by a shop that was worked on boxsters so it goes in right and nothign gets ruined..

do i keep the stock amp? get rid of it?

would an aftermaekt stereo..like the "so so" ones make more power and better sound than the stock unit + amp I have now?

if I were to change ANY of my speakers - which ones would be the berst ones to change?

from my untrained hear - to me, it sounds like my dash/door speakers sound pretty good and my rear speakers are very quiet/underpowered..i have NO idea how it is wired up.. my gut tells me the front speakers are amplified and the rears are not...

but i could be wrong...

thanks.

My idea would be to get a Blaupunkt aftermarket radio first, I think the connections in the back are just like the factory unit so you could reuse the amplifier and speakers.

Has anyone tried this?

I have an Alpine CDA105 ($200), looks nice, not too "showy" paired with an alpine ($200) 4x amp. Infinity Reference in the dash and doors. This is about $620+tax out the door. You will need some expensive wires for your USB/Ipod/aux inputs (optional, I have all three).

I'm very happy with the sound, unintrusive install.

When my Becker crapped out I decided to do a step-wise system upgrade starting with the head unit. My budget was similar to yours and my objective was "good enough to enjoy" without blowing the neighbors away, with the whole system being as stealth as possible. The installation I'd do myself.

For the head unit I wanted an ipod input, built-in HD Radio receiver, an amber display to blend in with the dash, and ability to connect to the stock amp. I got a slightly older version (this is 6 months ago) of this $170 JVC head unit from Crutchfield: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDHDR60/JVC-KD-HDR60.html?tp=5684 It came with the installation kit and when I had a few questions during the install their customer service was great. I'm very pleased with it. It's better in every way than the Becker.

Next I upgraded the dash speakers to Focal 100CAI 4" coaxials for $150 delivered from Woofersetc.com. I'm very happy with them as well. Lots of good choices out there. Whatever you choose be careful about depth, the absolute max you want to go is 55mm. There was someone on eBay selling a $20 adapter kit you'll need for any speaker upgrade, but I don't see it there now. There are tech tips with other options - do a search.

I got a pair of Focal mids for the doors but never bothered to install them because the factory mids aren't than bad and I have a factory sub box that provides more than enough bass, actually too much at times. If you don't have one, I recommend it because it's plug & play, sits out of the way on the rear deck, and not pricey if you have to buy one, $250-$300 is what I've seen them for.

In order to stay within your budget I highly recommend the step-wise approach I took. What you're happy with may be far less - or far more - than what other people will be happy with.

I just changed out the original becker head with a Pioneer DEH-P5200 . I also added alipine 9XX dash speakers . The system sounds much better than the original system without spending a fortune.