I like the JVC decks because they give you HD built-in (as it should be). However, unless you live in a metro area, you may not find many HD stations...but here for example (in east TN) there are about 15-20 as I am right between Knoxville and the Tri-Cities.
Anyway, I also like decks with built in 7 band eq's which is actually one of the reasons I tend to stick with older Sony ES / Kenwood Excelon. But if a newer deck has this, that is a good thing. The only other feature I tend to require is a high pass filter for the main channels, but this would not be necessary for a sub-less system, or one fully amplified (a 5 channel amp with all controls onboard for example).
If you wanted to stick with a speaker brand primarily, maybe look at Infinity or Polk. For that matter, there is nothing wrong with Sony, Pioneer, or Blaupunkt either. You can mix and match between the subwoofer and the regular speakers as long as you keep the main speakers the same too.
As far as subs go, I highly recommend simply getting a single pre-installed 10" sub/box combo rather than the typical "just gotta do something myself" route, as it is very difficult to get a sub face perfectly installed in a universal (empty box), and even more difficult to port one correctly. Of course the nice looking boxes you see on the forum (like the ones made by Chris for example) look really nice, but will not sound like a traditional rear firing unit, so those are a trade off (sound for cosmetics), but may be enough for you.
Anyway, feel free to email me direct for a quicker response in the future:
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