Ferendon

The Kenwood KVT719 is my favorite, at the moment. The Pioneer units are very nice as well, but if you want nav, Garmin > TeleAtlas. Not to mention Garmin offers free updates, Pioneer charges a couple hundred bucks a year for map updates. Unfortunately, the 719 doesn't come with nav, but the 510 unit will add nav to it. It'll cost you about $1400 total from a true authorized retailer, but it's a very nice units, with tons of features, and the best add-ons of any brand. Alpines accessory modules are horrible. The bluetooth doesn't work with anything, the nav piece is $700, until the NVEP1 comes out later this month, and it's still $300. If your main concern is iPod interface, which it is for most people, then just about anything will work wonderfully. jLink for the Jensen/Phase Linear units works quite well, unfortunately the HU itself is poop, especially if you want to build any kind of system around it. Kenwood or Pioneer is gonna give you 5v pre-outs on their flip-outs, some Alpines will give you 4v, some 2v. Jensen and PL, 2v. Line driver(s) would help, but a Jensen + a GOOD line driver = almost the price of a nice Pioneer or Kenwood.

Typically, a 3/4" MDF ring is enough to space it out, so that the basket tapers into the factory hole. Make sure and use a couple layers of deadening, though.

JL Audio sets their pricing for all authorized dealers, as do many other retail brands. The JL W1 series are probably the best best subs under $150, chased closely by RF P2s. The 10" is $129, the 12" is $149. The only problem with the W1s, is that they are VERY enclosure temperamental. In a proper box, I'd take the JLs hands down, but if you're going with a space-constrained location, or a pre-fab box, then the P2 is far better. Not to mentions RF designed all of their same-size woofers, regardless of series, to use the same air space. A 10" P1 and a 10" P3 have the exact same air space recommendations. 10w1, 10w6, not so much. The RFs are quite a bit deeper, physically, though. I also like the fact that the P2 comes in DVC, and you have to get up to a W6 to get DVC with JL.

As long as there plenty of air in the 'chamber', you keep the air moving, and you're not beating on it for hours on end, you should be fine.

If the RF piece you're talking about is the 3Sixty, then it's not even a fair comparison. The 3Sixty is for OE headunit integration. It's more like an LC6/6i/7.

Is the amp 1-ohm stable?

That's the unit I'm putting in my car soon. There's not much out there that doesn't qualify as an upgrade from a Jensen.

I've installed several complete systems based around each of the 2 units. The Pioneer PICO fuse issue CAN be avoided with proper grounding, and making sure all of you RCAs are connected prior to plugging in the power harness. I've had ONE hiss on me, and that was in a mid-80s Corvette. The rest have had no issues. The Alpine is very clunky with any type of add-on, such as Sat radio, or Bluetooth. If you want satellite radio, or anything that's not built into the unit for that matter, stick to the Pioneer. Both radios have 3 sets of pre-outs, but the Alpine's are 4v, Pioneer's are 5v. The EQ in the Pioneer is better as well.

The 600 is a nice head unit. I deal with them quite often at work. There's no pause button on the face, and Pioneer has always buried the pause option deep inside the menus. But, there's a pause button on the remote. The 600 has ASR, and Hi-Volt pre-outs, so it's proven itself, to me at least, as a capable unit when pushing a system, even when playing compressed audio. Recommended retail for the unit is $279, $209 is what you'd normally pay for a 500UB.

Trolled for a while, but I'm active on a few other boards. I've been doing 12v work for a while now, but I'm just now starting to pique an interest in car audio. Looking to put in a street system in my SHO. Plans thus far, are a Hypnotic 75x4 powering some Pioneer REV-series decks and doors. HU is a Pioneer DEH-P4700MP, for now. Looking into double DINs. For a sub, probably a Mach5 10", on an undecided amp. Not looking to get too loud, but loud enough for me. I may not build a competition system, but I'm a learner. I'll take whatever knowledge I can get, need it or not.

Code Alarm CA650. 2-way pager, and all of the other typical stuff. Pretty equivalent to the 5900. Lacks DEI's quality, but it's decent. And I got it for a 'steal'. (Slipped inventory at my last job, and ended up left behind when we moved.)

Just a little physics for you. As a piston moves down in a cylinder it is creating a vacuum. The amount of volume the piston displaces on its down stroke determines how much air is drawn into the cylinder. Air density, which is derived from pressure/temperature, is what changes. What the factory intake is guilty of is not being designed for keeping the air as cool as possible, rather it's designed for acoustic properties, ease of tube routing etc. The air filter when replaced with a K&N drop in will almost completely make up the difference from the paper filter, which restricts airflow, lowering the intakes ability to flow air. Air turbulence is also a common flaw in factory intake systems. Cars are a dynamic equilibrium, add more air until the computer senses knock from a lean ratio, than said car ups fuel consumption. A rich car will produce less power than a properly tuned and/or lean car. A lean car is just at risk of detonation. It's just like saying that free'er flowing exhaust will increase gas mileage. Which is also not true once you get to a certain level of flow. A car with just an exhaust manifold will preform worse because of the lack of back pressure, which is bad for the valvetrain. On another note, if your car is tuned conservitavely for 93 octane and you were to use 89 octane, you won't get worse gas mileage until the computer pulls timing from knocking (which you could realistically never hit that point. In theory if your car is factory tuned (ie, tuned rich) adding a cold air intake and increasing the air density will increase gas mileage. If it adds enough density for the knock sensor/computer to cause a timing retard you will not see gas mileage increases, and could see a decrease in fuel efficiency. For example, a buddy of mines 2005 Ford Mustang roush stage 1 got worse fuel economy, knock, rough idle etc... from a steeda cold air intake until he had the computer tuned. I must say, as a whole, the car performance and repair advice on the board is far and above most the car audio forums I've seen. A lot of what was said was right, but just as much was wrong. A majority of what is being discussed is completely circumstantial. As a whole, the Tornado is trash. On carb'd engines, some gains can be seen, but only 3 kinds of people still have carb'd engines. Those who do nothing but maintain their car because they love it, those who drive them into the ground because they can't afford better, and those who modify them to the gills, all cases, don't make room for crap like a Tornado. I've personally used CAIs, Tornados, K&Ns, and a whole array of other intake modifications. There's is only so much you can do to increase fuel economy, but if you go too far, you're going to decrease fuel economy much more than improve it. Current car is a 92 Taurus SHO (Yamaha 3.0 V6, Mazda 5-speed trans), with a K&N drop in, removed silencer cone, 73mm MAF (stock is 55mm), and lots and lots of maintenance. The car is ugly as sin, and pretty rough to the eyes (purchased for $1300, 2 years ago, and has given me over 60k problem-free miles), but it is mechanically, tip-top. I pull about 30mpg, when I can keep my foot out of it. I put a CAI on it, and dropped to ~25mpg, and noticed some serious bogging when I romped on it, mid-powerband. I also dyno'd about 8 less whp with the intake. That's the reason it's on a shelf in my garage, boxed up. My stock heads flow 254cfm, which is far and above most cars, so I'm amazed that a few slight modifications, on the stock air box, yields 30 mpg, on a car rated for 24. Also, K&N filters have been dyno-proven, to add no power to most cars. For some, it's a convenience, since they don't have to buy a new filter every couple of months. On the same token, it has to be 'recharged'. Meaning, cleaned, dried, oiled, dried, check for 'bald' spots, and re-oiled if needed. Not enough oil, and it self-destructs. Too much oil, and it gunks up the MAF, throttle body, IAC valve, intake manifold, and even some in the heads. All for the low, low price of $40, compared to a paper filter, at $3. Review of the Tornado : about.com