PRGeno

Listening to quite a few setups, these two sounded the best to me, for within my budget number. I also believe the installer is a major consideration.

The less expensive systems I demoed didn't sound as good to me. The more expensive system listened to were, well, more expensive, and I'm already stretching my budget a bit. Take a look at the sub thread gone wild above. Those guys are suggesting a $2800 Denon head unit. I bet it sounds just wonderful, but give me a break! Now that is burning money.

Even though demo rooms don't tell the real story about how something will sound in my car, these two systems seem to be giving me what I want, within my budget.

What others do you suggest perform as well or better, for "a lot less"? I certainly don't like to burn money for the sake of any number of letters.

sack lunch

don't force us to make you go one way or another. Although this board is good for some decent info (usually), in the end it's your money and your ear. Sure it'd be nice to have that $2500 head unit, but more likely than not the person who buys that HU is buying it for a specific purpose, and that $2500 price tag will be just the tip of the iceberg for their system. Just choose something you can live with, and try not to believe that the grass is greener on the other side! Best of luck, and let us know how things turn out...

TROLL

the bottom line is whatever makes you happy is a good buy. whether its cheap or expensive (assuming within your budget), be sure this is something you can live with for the next few years. like i've told someone before, the best equipment isn't everything. sometimes having average quality components with superior installation can easily blow away a badly installed high end system.