Newbie here need to find out about good stereo

I think that the 16GB MP3 player that Alpine has is a really good unit

can't wait to get one

its $330 on Crutchfield - same price as on ebay

for speakers, go to SoundDomain.Com, go to Shop, and look for Image Dynamics.

I don't think you have enough money to go with sub/amp

unless you ditch speakers, and want lower line equipment.

If you really want the best sounding sub, I got one for sale - Phase Linear Aliante 12 SVC4, $300 with shipping in the USA; doesn't get better then this

and you do know that ML already has a factory soundsystem?

_edit_

Alpine:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-g960ce2KAG2/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=500HDA5460&g=50800&search=alpine+mp3

Image Dynamics speakers:
http://www.cardomain.com/shoplist~b~Image+Dynamics~t~2-Way+Speakers

or Infinity:
http://www.cardomain.com/shoplist~b~Infinity~t~2-Way+Speakers

but, I found ML system to be plenty for me; only thing I would like to do is ditch CD changer in favor of the Alpine MP3

picture of my sub is under: www.sounddomain.com/id/projectg

I'm just beating a dead horse here ...

power could be fine, but God knows what else M-B did, so?

and if you really want a new system, you upgrade everything

alot of stock speakers go out with aftermarket HU's; stock speakers sound alot better with stock HU's - true in every car; aftermarket HU's allow alot more options for tuning your speakers, aftermarket speakers have alot higher power handling, and always sound better

and then, go into any car audio forum and ask them what you should start with when starting a new system, and you'll be surprised at the answer (I already gave it away though, it starts with a good HU)

then there is another saying - if you don't bother going all the way, why bother going at all - if you are willing to upgrade your speakers, it is obvious you want better sound, and to get better sound you will have to upgrade everything

so now, if you just want better sound over stock, you get a new head unit, you get all new speakers (possibly component set up front, speakers in the rear), and amp for the speakers - and that will be easy to do with $800

if you want to add a sub and amp on it, you can do that easy with $800 as well

but if you want to do both at the same time, you won't be able to, it will be all lowend stuff

you can also go here, this company has been around for about 3 years now, they do a good job at making subs, amps and speakers, they have alot of package deals on their systems which are fairly cheap

http://www.edesignaudio.com/9kv2_special.htm

first 5 options are right under $800 and upgrade everything except the HU

PLEASE don't get the lowend stuff like pioneer speakers and the like ... its just a waste of a good chunk of money

and big, you are right, its not cheap, but $800 is alot of money if you know how to use it