Hi all,

I have finally decided to make some more audio upgrades to my 2005 Sedan and I need some help!

I installed an aftermarket deck by Pioneer but kept the stock speakers and noticed that the volume of the speakers had become really low. Since the stock speakers are garbage anyway I've decided to upgrade. Here's what I am purchasing:


Pioneer AVH-P8400BH
Infinity Kappa 10.9t
Infinity Kappa 63.9i

I already have a kicker CRV 12" in my ride. So here is my main question: Do I need to purchase a new AMP to replace the stock BOSE amp which my car speakers are currently connected to as well? Or will it suffice for the Infinity speakers I am installing? Thanks!

 

Congrats on your first post. Replace the factory Bose amp.

Read nearly any post regarding audio upgrades in this forum and you'll see that most folks feel the Bose amp is the worst component in the oem audio setup, and that the greatest improvement heard will be found by replacing it.

Wrathernaut's Resource List - First sticky on this forum
Pioneer AVH-P8400BH - Contains helpful information on installing your new HU

 

The quietness is cause by balanced audio signal incompatibility. If they'd used a PAC ROEM-NIS2 adapter instead of a basic wiring harness, you probably would be happy with the audio ouput.

Replace the amp and it'll fix the problem and upgrade everything else. Replacing just the speakers will NOT correct the low volume output.

 

What amp would you recommend?

 

Also do I need the PAC ROEM-NIS2 if I replace the amp?

 

No, you won't need the ROEM-NIS2 with an aftermarket amp.

As for recommendations, since you already have a subwoofer amp, just go with a 4-channel, 300w range. I like the sound quality on soundstream reference series, but they are a bit big.

 

Thanks I did some more research in some other threads and because of my budget decided to go with the JL Audio JX360/4. That should suffice right?

 

That amp will do well, a lot of users on Driver are happy with their JL amps - myself included.

 

I didn't have the Bose equipment in my car, but I upgraded in this order:

Stock 6-disc CD / Tape -> Pioneer Deck
Amplified the stock fronts / rears w/ 4-ch amp, Added 2 x 12" subwoofers
Replaced the stock fronts / rears

I completely agree with Top_Teke, amplifying your speakers will give you better sound, even if you're using the paper coned speakers. Just be careful with them or you'll blow them and you'll wind up having to replace them sooner than you'd like.

Also, welcome to the forums

 

Well my upgrade is complete, I will post some pics later.

It's amazing the difference in volume output. With the stock bose speakers and my other HU, I was cranking the volume up to 45 to my liking. Now with the new speakers, new amp, new HU, the volume is really loud at 10!

Question: My buddy did the install for me and he wired the speakers to one channel as he put it..meaning when I do fade/balance, when I go rear left and rear right I don't really hear anything out of the back speakers. Does that make sense? How would I go about changing that so when I do fade/balance it comes out each individual speaker like it's supposed too?

 

No idea what your friend did - could have only run one pair of RCAs, in which case you'd have to remove the radio to send a second pair, or he might have bridged the 4 channel amp into 2 channels and then ran the speakers in serial or parallel...

Way too many questions to give a good answer on what you need to do.

 

My amps are overheating pretty bad. Today while I was driving they both lost power for a few minutes. How do I go about fixing this? My friend suggested installing fans in them..

 

Cn you provide more specifics so we can help you? From what you're describing it could be a lot of different things.

 

If you're running the amps too hard (Ohms too low) they'll overheat much faster.

How are they mounted?

 

They are screwed into a piece of wood (an old keyboard piece of a computer desk)