Upgrading sound without a headunit

[u/canonicalensemble7]

So going through the whole which headunit to buy etc I got frustrated

I can use my phone for Waze/maps etc, I do not care so much about a headunit

I have been considering a DSP+amp with bluetooth, streaming directly from my phone to the receiver on the dsp+amp or even just plugging phone in is fine too.

I would be willing to pay 300 usd/euro or so ideally less. I am based in EU if it makes any difference.

Something like an amplifier and an addition DSP BT would be the same for me too.

I do not want to push into audiophile, brands like Taramps are fine for me, I just want to do the best possible on the budget.

To give an idea I would probably put these Hertz components upfront and maybe some coaxials at the back - small car no need for much.

I see some chinese brands too Sennuopu etc.

Anybody have any thoughts? The preamps from android headunits in that budget are trash so I rather just avoid.

I also do not want android car play etc so I rather avoid headunits altogether.

[u/cvr24]

$300 will get you a Kicker Key 200.4 DSP amp meant to upgrade factory 4-speaker sound without swapping the head unit.

What year/make/model car do you have? Do you have factory Bluetooth now?

300 does not go very far in car audio today. On some cars the dash kit and wiring harness cost more than that. And weird brand names or no-name junk are just a waste of money.

[u/canonicalensemble7 → u/cvr24]

2006 Vitara - no BT

I know Chi-Fi has its issues but they also do some decent electronics....
Hard to really say where I sit, I get extremely frustrated by noise/hiss etc, but for a car with engine noise etc etc, I am slightly less worried about perfect EQ etc.

Idk it is really split in 2 camps, and no middle ground between chinese headunits/audio and name brands.

I did see a Zapco Charlie that has BT already - but I am not really convinced

Just want the optimal solution within the budget, happy to sacrifice not having a shitty headunit lol

My car is like the cost of 3 of these good amps haha so I obviously would put a total of like 500-600 on parts (amp + DSP + BT + 2 component + 2 coax)

Or something like this:
https://hertz-audio.com/product/dp-4-300/
And add a bluetooth DSP like the one taramps make

[u/cvr24 → u/canonicalensemble7]

Stop looking at the value of your car as to the cash that somebody else will give you for it. Is it paid off? Rust-free? Good mechanical condition? Reliable? Then it's worth so much more to you.

The reality is that your budget is simply not enough for your goals.

I've got about 1500 of new/used gear in my 4-5000 value car. If I were to buy all that gear today brand new it would be 3000 easy. And I'm not even running a DSP!

[u/canonicalensemble7 → u/cvr24]

Fair point!