Mainly done with the exterior or my car, so looking at upgrading the sound a bit. I don't wanna go too crazy, I'll say my budget is right around $1,000. Not really looking for a head unit, just speakers/amp/sub. If anything, I'll get a head unit later on, the Bose is sufficient for now (as far as I know). Been looking through a lot of threads and seems that JL is a popular choice around here, but personally, I've always been a fan of Pioneer/Infinity. Been looking through Crutchfield to get some ideas, but would still like some advice from people who have some of these products. I don't want too much bass, and I want to still be able to use my trunk, so I don't need a huge sub.

So what kind of recommendations do you guys have?

 

Pretty much any speakers/amp/sub combo will be better than stock. To keep your trunk available, get a higher quality 8" sub for the stock location, just make sure it'll fit and it's able to run in an infinite baffle setup. I know Elemental Designs has some, but there are others. That'll leave you with $800+ for door speakers, amp(s), and other parts. You also need to decide if you're going to replace all 4 door speakers or just the fronts and disable the rears. I'm going this route because it allows me to put much better speakers up front than if I was buying all 4.

Ideally, you'd run 2 amps, a Class A/B for the door speakers and a Class D for the sub, but with your budget, a single amp is probably the way to go. Don't forget you're going to need to run wiring (4 AWG) from the engine bay to either the single amp or a power block if you go with 2 amps. You can't power the amp(s) the same way the OEM one is powered. You may also need to provide better grounding in the engine bay if you don't already have a grounding kit installed, so factor these parts into your budget.

I'm about 1 step above total novice, so I'm not going to get into specific make/model suggestions. But one thing I have learned is that the parts can add up fairly quickly, especially if you go with 2 amps. They can eat up more than half your budget easily. I'd first figure out the prices for the sub, wiring/hardware, and door speakers, then you can decide if 2 amps are doable.

 

im selling my 2 kicker cvt 12s. they put out a great amount of bass and they are shallow mount subs so they dont take up much room at all

 

I do think that disabling the 2 rear seat speakers might be the best idea. With that said, I've read some reviews on crutchfield and came up with a quick rough idea about some products. If someone can let me know what I should remove / add, that'd be perfect. So far:

front speakers:
Infinity Kappa 62.9i
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_1...ppa-62-9i.html

rear deck speakers:
Infinity Kappa 692.9i
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_1...pa-692-9i.html

sub:
Pioneer TS-SW841D (8" shallow mount)
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_1...TS-SW841D.html

amp:
Rockford Fosgate Punch P300-1
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_5...ch-P300-1.html


I'm sure there is a mistake in my set-up so far. I'm completely clueless as far as the amp goes. Not sure what I should be looking for. Just going to keep reading up on it and through some of the stickies here and hopefully figure it out. Or what do you guys think about just upgrading the speakers, but leaving everything else stock. Would that be any good?

 

I just bought and installed a JL Audio XD600/6. You could run just this amp, as it is a 6 channel amp. It sounds great, and it is very, very, small. I am running two amps, but you would be OK to run just the 6 channel to 4 interior speakers and bridge channels 5 and 6 for a sub.

How many inside speakers are you going to run?

 

- Rear deck speakers = useless AND don't allow for bass venting via rear deck;
- Infinity Kappas were the **** in the late 90's... nowadays, they suck big time;
- Where's the amp to power them anyway?!? It's not on your list;
- JL is good quality but overpriced;
- That sub will give you very, very little output because of its ridiculously low xmax (shallow mount design = compromise)... are you even sure it can be used in an IB setup?

https://g35driver.com/forums/audio-v...questions.html

...have you read through that thread at all, for ideas?

$1000, really? And not crazy on bass? Provided you get the hardware from http://www.knukonceptz.com/ and do the install yourself, well, I would definitely change that POS HU for something that has a better DSP and, on the long run, a cleaner signal.

HU (single DIN but kick@ss for the price): http://www.woofersetc.com/p5432/CD31...D-Receiver.htm
Comp set: http://www.woofersetc.com/p6201/CTX6...ker-System.htm
Sub (high xmax + IB capability): http://www.woofersetc.com/p2644/ID8V...-Subwoofer.htm
Amp (2 X 100w rms @ 4 ohm to comp set, 1 X 200w rms @ 2 ohm to sub): http://www.woofersetc.com/p6989/PA41...-Amplifier.htm

$970. 1-yr warranty on everything, they'll replace (whatever piece of kit) with a new one if it's faulty. Never had a single problem in ~6 years of dealing with them.

You can go all out mainstream and pay high prices for decent gear, or go the Woofers way with older, higher quality gear at decent prices.

 

I like the Nakamichi amp.

I agree with the woofers etc... being a good place to shop.

I also like sonicelectronix.com

Good choice with the image dynamics as well.

 

Lets say I got all the items you just mentioned, except for the head unit. Think that'll be sufficient? Or is an aftermarket head unit really necessary over the stock bose unit. And as for that sub, would I need to buy an enclosure for it, or can the 8" sub fit in the stock location? As for the amp, is there anything a tad cheaper that is still a good choice? The more I think about it, the $1000 seems a bit too high. I'd preferably keep it in the $500-$700 range

 

Yes, you can keep the Bose HU. Don't listen to drozzy on that part, because the Bose HU puts out a very clean, if low voltage signal. You just have to get an amp that will accept differential-balanced inputs or install an LOC if it doesn't. And yes, you can put an 8" sub in the stock location, provided it can be run in an infinite baffle setup, which means no enclosure (that's what he meant by IB). Technically, it's using the entire trunk as it's enclosure. Soundproofing the trunk will improve it's performance. Elemental Designs has some nice IB-capable subs too.

The speakers and sub he selected are good, and are real steals at those prices (I'm considering buying those speakers while they're that cheap for my future setup). But the amp is going to be the single most expensive piece in almost any new setup. It also happens to be the weakest link in the Bose setup. However, you don't need to buy a $500 amp to greatly improve the sound. Speakers + sub = $300, so that leaves you with another $400 or so for the amp and the additional wiring you'll need (gotta power the amp off the battery, so you need to run some 4 AWG wire to the trunk). Figure $50 or so for the extra parts, which leaves $350 for the amp.

Some good candidates, but you'll need to verify if they'll except differential-balanced inputs (the JL Audio's will for sure).
JL Audio G4500 http://www.woofersetc.com/p7215/G450...-Amplifier.htm
Focal Solid4 http://www.woofersetc.com/p6762/Soli...er-(Black).htm
Zapco I-4100 http://www.woofersetc.com/p5741/I410...-Bass-****.htm
JL Audio 300/4v2 http://www.woofersetc.com/p5761/300-...-Amplifier.htm

 

thanks for the info Buckeye. So should I not buy any speakers except for the fronts that Drozzy suggested? Is there a point in getting rear seat / rear deck speakers?

So for now, looks like I'm going with the components & the sub that Drozzy posted. Now as for the amp, is there a big enough difference between the JL Audio 300 and the JL Audio G4500 to warrant the $120 difference? I do know that the amp is essentially the most important part of the sound system, so I should probably not cheap out on that. If it were you're set-up, which of the 2 would you go with? And lastly, since I wanna order everything together from the woofersetc website, should I order cables from them too? If so, which would be the correct ones?

 

I'm no expert by any means, just done a lot of studying lately on amps. If I were choosing between those 2, I'd get the Slash (300/4v2) over the G series. Whether you order the wires from there or not is your choice, but there's no reason to do it unless they've got what you want at a good price. Just make sure it's 4 AWG.

 

The G4500 isn't a "Slash" amp, that's all. It's a traditional design, i.e. more possible power @ 1 ohm vs 2, 4, 8 ohm.

The 300/4s, v2 or not, will put out the same power from 1.5 to 4 ohm in a 4-chan config (4 X ___w rms @ 2 or 4 ohm), and from 3 to 8 ohm in bridged mode (2 X ___w rms @ 4 or 8 ohm). That design comes handy when you're switching gear/setup/car.

Not a huge, audible difference between the two amps (given the same comp set). You probably wouldn't hear the nuances unless you had a very high end set hooked to the Slash amp, and just a decent set hooked up to the G amp, both playing a song you've heard hundreds of times in a car.

For the money, I'd get a ZRS amp from Cadence. Very clean, it's the 2nd best line of amps within their current line-up. Rated @ 13.8V, which puts you in the right power ballpark for this application. $249.

http://www.woofersetc.com/p6033/ZRS7...-Amplifier.htm

 

How does this look to you guys? Think I need anything else for the setup?

ID8V.3-D4 - Image Dynamics ID 8" Subwoofer
$119.99

CTX65CS - Image Dynamics 6.5" Component Speaker System
$179.99

ZRS-7504 - Cadence 600 Watt 4 Ch Competition Amplifier
$249.99

CADAMP4 - Cadence 4 Gauge Professional Amplifier Installation Kit http://www.woofersetc.com/p8647/CADA...lation-Kit.htm
$59.99

Subtotal: $609.96

 

$1.49/ft, if you need more wiring...
http://www.woofersetc.com/p607/4Gaug...ower-Cable.htm

Any amp kit would have worked, in case you were wondering whether or not a Cadence kit was the 'best' fit.

I'm pretty sure it won't be a happy, plug & play sub swap. Make sure the deck actually acts/feels like a speaker baffle, use sound dampening material where you can fit some (in/on/under the deck).

Should sound amazing. For max access/tuning with respect to your front stage, you could mount the crossovers next to the amp. There's probably a tweeter attenuation pin or button in each module.

Let us know how it turns out, and more specifically where you chose to set the gains on the amp... should I be forced to use the Clarion-based Bose HU, I'd get a line driver.

 

Thanks for all the help Drozzy. I'll update this thread once I receive everything, I'll pick up some dynamat material within the next week or so and will start packing up the doors and trunk. I'll most likely have a few more questions once the system is installed.