Hey guys,

I'm finally able to spend some dough to upgrade my system. I already have a HU I'm really happy with, Sony CD/Mp3 52Watt x 4 and I have JBL components up front and 5 1/4 2 ways in the rear.

Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated. First let me say I know you guys are going to push high quality (and top dollar). That would rock, but I have a ton of hobbies so I can't justify all the cash on just the sound system. That said, here's what I was thinking, I have had my rear interior panels off for a very long time and I really need to get them back on (girl friends can be so bossy ) I made some brackets to hold the 5 1/4. The only problem is that the new speakers don't fit behind the panels right now and I would rather move up to JBL 6 x 9's and place them in the storage pockets next to the seat belts in the rear seats. My plan is to reduce a lot of the road noise, especially water and mud noise when it hits the rear wheel well, by stuffing this attic blanket in the space. http://www.owenscorning.com/around/i...s/miraflex.asp I think it will work really well.

I got a used sub from a buddy, its a 10" Pioneer 350 watt in a sealed box, so I figure its about 125 watts RMS. Here's the major question: What configuration for the sub should I get? Should I go with a 5 channel and power all of my speakers and sub? Should I get a mono and power the sub, then get a second 2 channel and power the speakers? If you haven't noticed, I'm confused with how many speakers you can power per channel. If you guys have a sweet site that explains all this I'm more than willing to do some homework. The last question is what should I look for in watts? I’m not looking to rattle my teeth, its just that I have NO bass and I’m tired of it.

Thanks for your help everybody,

Erich

 

More power is better. Clean power is better than more power. Clean, more power is best. That said, I'd run a 5-channel amp only if your funding dictates it. Otherwise, I'd run a 200 watt or so mono amp to your sub, and a 2-channel to your fronts. Forget the back seat unless people regularly ride back there. Concentrate on your fronts and your imaging and you'll be fine. If you do want front and back speakers, then coax's all around would be pretty cost effective and sound good, albeit a little brassy and/or pitchy. But still should sound clean. I'd figure about a 65-80watt per channel, 4 channel amp for that. You'll want to attenuate the rear speakers, and make sure you use a good crossover (if the amp doesn't have one) for your mids and highs.

 

I get what your saying about clean power is the way to go. Is there any sort of spec. for cleaness? Does anyone know of a diamond in the rough amp thats affordable and clean?

I have to dissagree with you on the idea of just using my front speakers, I have a 1st gen and the front speakers are placed VERY badly for sound quality, and they are only 4". I have the JBL GT4.0c components and I mounted the tweeters on the pillars. I like them, but they're pretty tinny. I really need mids and bass so I'm still thinking 6x9's in the back seat will help a lot. Let me just make sure I understand this as well... when it comes to amps and speakers, you should have one channel per individual speaker, i.e. a 4 channel amp for 4 individual speakers (say 2 front and 2 back)? I think I got it now.

Any other suggestions?