My gf's loser ex-husband had bought a Pioneer amp a couple years ago (GM-3200T). She has it now and gave it to me to put in my truck. It says it puts out 120w x2 or 300w x1. I have a 1st gen and it's topless in the summer, so I really don't want to take up a bunch of space with a sub box. I'm thinking I can stick a couple of 6x9's in the stock locations in the back (with an adapter, obviously) and power those off the amp, and then use the head unit (Kenwood, 54w x4) to power the stock fronts. Is this a feasible idea? I don't know much about car audio at this point but need to learn.

Right now the head unit powers all four speakers, which are stock size Walmart Pioneers. If I'm playing a song with a heavy bass line, I can't turn the head unit volume up past a certain level or the deck shuts itself off and reboots until I turn it back down. Makes cruising on the highway with tunes difficult, as it's loud with the top off. My guess is that the speakers start sucking down more power than the head unit can provide at those volume levels (lows take more power? I can have high volume on a song without much bass) and that the amp would help with that. Am I thinking right here?

I'm also thinking about sticking the amp behind the side panels in the bed so it's out of sight, but I'll have to explore that and see if there's space. What other locations work in a 1st gen? Under the seat?

 

I put my amp under the seat.
Jensen 300W marine amp ran to Pioneer 6x9s in the back
Infinity Kappa 3.5'' up front, ran off the head unit, a Kenwood Exceleon x590
Sounds great

 

Cool, that's basically what I was looking for - actual experience. Now I just need to figure out how to hook an amp up and I'll be okay.