I'm going to be upgrading the speakers in my '01 GXE very soon here, and having been out of the A/V loop for quite some years, I'd like to get some input/suggestions from you who are in the loop as to what's good out there these days. Here's my current situation:

Last year, I replaced the stock speakers with:
Front: Blaupunkt 5 1/4 components / tweeters in stock location
Rear: Kenwood 3-ways in back doors.
Sub: None

Last week, I replaced my HU with Kenwood DNX9990HD. However, when I turn it up, my front left speaker starts to crakle. Installer thinks it's blown (how it blew in 6 months with no umph driving it is beyond me).

Also, I got my hands on a rear deck with the cutout/mounting bracket & grill to add a 8" sub.

Installer is recommending I ditch the new rear deck, put a box in the trunk with two 10's, replace the door speakers with 6 1/2's using components up front & 3-ways in rear. He's suggesting going with either Infiniti Kappas and Rockford Fosgate subs, or all RF - either T1's or Primes.

He's waiting for me to decide before placing this week's order. What's the best bang for the buck?

Aside from that, I'm wondering whether I would be good with one amp for everything, or either having one amp for the fronts and a separate amp for the rears & sub, or whether I can do with just amping the sub/subs.

My goal is clear, crisp sound that's decent even when rolling on the highway with the windows down. I really don't care to be "bumping" to where people hear me rattling a block down the street.

That said, I'd like input as to:
1) which speakers to go with;
2) would 8" sub on rear deck suffice, or go with box in the trunk?
3) 1 amp or 2? Which kind?
4) given the HU I have, do I even need an amp for the door speakers?

All helpful input appreciated...

 

Well EuroDriver, right now, I'm rocking JL Audio 6.5 components up front, coaxials in the rear, with a 10 inch alpine type R sub. Total wattage, 300 (75x4) for the vocals, 500 for the sub. It sounds crisp and great, never regretted a dollar spent. But this might be a little too much "bump" for you.

However, I'll say to get the most of your speakers, you'll want to put an amp on them. Maybe you can look into a 5 channel amp, like this JBL 5 channel amp. You'll get a decent power sent to your vocal speakers along with another channel for a sub. You can go with some Polk db speakers. To me, they provided a nice bang for the buck. I picked up a set of 4 coaxials on crutch field before for about 105 dollars for all 4. Then on your sub, don't do something in the 8 inch deck. To mount a sub there, you'd need a free-air sub and those tend to be a bit more expensive. You can pick your self up a small 10 that will provide a little low end to relieve your door speakers from playing those bass notes. This setup won't be too ridiculous and will definitely be a upgrade from stock. If you want, you can even keep your current speakers if you determine that they are not blown.

 

Thanks for the pointers. If I went with the box in the trunk, would it be a good idea to ad an 8" full-range speaker on the rear deck, or just leave it back back there?

 

You could leave it empty. My thoughts are that it's just a port for the air to come into the cabin

 

My thoughts exactly.

This is what I ended up ordering:
RF Punch P2 10" sub
RF T1 1652S 6 1/2" components for the front
RF T1 1653 6 1/2" 3-ways for the rear
RF T400 Power Series amp

I think I went overkill, but hopefully it will be clear, crisp sounding.

 

Now that I have selected my equipment, here's my next question:

I was figuring I would go with a 5 channel amp (makes sense to me - 4 speakers & sub), but installer convinced me to go with a 4 channel. His suggestion is to run the front speakers on 2 channels, run the rear speakers off the HU and bridge the rear channels for the sub. He's firmly convinced it will give me the sound I'm looking for, and a 5 chennel is not going to have enough power to produce the ideal sound quality.

Any thoughts on this?

I'd hate for the car to spend 1/2 a day in the shop getting rewired and not have the rears done. Or, is he right in the suggested setup?

 

if you really want to go to a five channel you have to find one that has a sub rms output of like 300wats rms to get really good sound most dont have that

 

That being the case, should I use the 4 channel for the speakers and get a separate amp for the subs, or am I just as well going with the setup the installer suggested?

 

It's really your call. I prefer the wiring simplicity 5 channel amps provide. They take up less real estate as well. As far as cost is concerned, usually the cost of 5 channel amps is slightly less or equal to the cost of combined speaker+sub amps.

And for wattage for the sub, you'll have to know what sub you're getting to make sure the amp is mated properly, OR, get the amp and find a sub that fits within the amp's capabilities.

 

The one i posted in my first post on this thread is about 275 rms. it's a pretty solid amp

 

I already bought an amp I got the Fosgate T400-4

The sub I got is the Fosgate P2 - 10"

Installer's rationale is that that the rear speakers - FosgateT1652 (6.5" 3-ways) don't need to be amped because their function is only to fill the sound. I'm just wondering if the fronts (Fosgate T1652S - 6.5" components) are going to end up drowning them out.

 

I agree with this. Bridge the 4 channels to 2 and power the rears off the HU. They won't get drowned out. Many people do this.

I had a 6 channel that I bridged to 3 (fronts and sub), and had NO rear speakers, and didn't miss them at all.

 

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. glad to know I don;t have to spend more $$!

 

Lol that's always a good thing.