That is the impression I got after reading the reviews.

I agree. I am going to get a four channel amp. The Alpine you showed will be good, I have previously read reviews on it before I cheaped out. It is worth the 40 more, in the long run.

I have read that the SN is really important.

I always try and do things middle of the road. To clean this up, I think I will go with the Alpine amp, buy some good 2 ways in the back.

Since I am stuck with the ****ty Pioneer amp, what do you think about building a box for a 10" Kicker? Worth it or no? (I have amazon store credit, so it is like the money never existed.)

I really do appreciate the insight.

Non-authorized dealer, same speakers, no instant swap warranty

6.5" Component Kappas on EBAY $140
INFINITY KAPPA 60.9CS 6.5" 270W Car Component Speakers | eBay


Crutchfield has them for $240 | w/ 2 year instant replacement warranty
Infinity Kappa 60.9cs 6-3/4" component speaker system For 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" openings at Crutchfield.com

You might want to use the Pioneer for a single 10" sub. I am sure it would power that pretty well and most people have a harder time hearing the difference in subwoofer amps (low end vs. middle grade ect).

With regards to the rear doors, you probably don't need to add those speakers right away. Why not wait until down the road but at least have a 4-channel amp so when you add them you can adjust the 'levels' on front and rear.

I have been throwing my earned cash away on car stereos since I was a kid. Every few years I want to upgrade just to change things up.

Good luck man!

I had the MRP-F300 in my 1st Gen. I highly recommend the amp. I sold it to user "The Kid" ask him what he thinks about it.

Agree with the 1 10 vs 2 12s I went from two punch 12s to one kicker 10. The ten is punchier, doesn't move as much air, but I am a bit of an audiophile.
My .02

From the systems I hear, you get what you pay for.

Ok, ill put my input on this. I usually stay away from car audio threads as it usually turns into a this is better than this is better than this flame fight. I am only going to begin to skim the surface even though it seems like alot of information.

My experience in car audio, 13 1st place and 3 2nd place competition trophys in both sql and spl competitions as well as designing winning competition systems for others.

First things first, head unit. This is the absolute KEY to a great sounding system. You can have a great head unit that will make low quality speakers sound great and at the same time, a low quality head unit that will make amazing speakers sound like crap.

To be 100% honest, your deck is on the low end of the spectrum. If you are truely wanting pure sql (sound quality) the first thing I would reccomend is to replace the headunit, preferably one that does NOT have an internal amplifier (I will discuss this later)

The next thing I will tell you before going any further is DO NOT BELIEVE the power ratings you read on ANYTHING. Example: I had an spl system in my 95 VW jetta. The amp was a kicker SX-400.2 and the subs were 2004 model kicker comp vr dvc (dual voice coil) 12"s. The subs were "rated" at 500rms and 1000max each. The amp was rated at 150watts rms per channel at 2ohms and 400 watts rms bridged at 1ohm. The build sheet from kicker showed it at 432 watts rms at 1 ohm.

So, according to the "rated" power of the amp and subs, I would be short 68 watts per sub just to hit rms "ratings" however, the amp had more than enough power to run BOTH subs until they started distorting while never getting anywhere near thermal shutdown. With the custom tuned box, I was able to hit 152.6db with a smooth spread in the 18-75hz range. This was just one of my many systems.

Newayz, back to your system now that ive warned you about trusting what they say on the box.

If you are not wanting to change decks, here is what I would suggest to stay in your budget and provide the best quality with what you are working with.

First off, at this point, do not worry about your rear speakers. The will always be drowned out by the fronts and are just a futher expense that can be changed later on.

I would personally go with a set of Boston Acoustics or MB Quart component sets for your fronts. I have also heard (never owned or listened) that the Focals and Alpine Type R components are good but the focals are CRAZY priced. The other current problem I see is after looking up your deck, you only have a rear and sub preamp outputs. This causes a problem because whatever you decide to get for the fronts are going to have to be powered by the deck insted of an external amplifier. This is the reason I am suggesting Boston Or MB Quarts as they have some of the highest S/N ratios and therefore will make the best use of the underpowered signal from the deck.

Your signal to noise ratio is simply the amount of sound that a speaker creates with 1 watt at a 1 foot distance. To be honest, I am not entirely sure how they test and come to the ratings but I do know that the higher the S/N ratio is, the more efficently the speaker will make use of the power and signal being fed from whatever the source.

If you do decide to replace the rears as well, you need to find a set of speakers thats frequency response and rolloff are similar to your fronts. This proves tricky in the 4 runner because the fronts and rears are different sizes and the smaller you go, the harder it is to produce lower frequencys and prevent peaks in higher frequencys. You need to match the fronts and rears as close as possible to create as much harmonic balance as possible. If your fronts are going to lower frequencys the rears cant match and the rears are "shreaking" at higher frequencys, you will be able to hear a noticable difference and the reproduction will sound unnatural.

Ok on to your amps. Ditch the pioneer. Do it now, dont think about it, just put it on cl and be done with it. Pioneers car audio has gone off the deep end over the past 5-6 years. They used to have some very nice competition decks and speakers however those days are long gone.

Alpine makes some very nice 4 channel amps (again, you would need to get a different deck). Stay away from any of the "off brands" such as boss, lanzar, legacy, coustic etc. Also stay away from fosgate, kicker and kenwood for anything other than sub amps. They make great sub amps but are not well known for their clarity on speakers.

Ok, subs. I hate talking subs. There is so much out there and when it comes to subs, its really down to how loud you want to go. Quality isnt as much of an issue since all a subwoofer has to do is move large amouts of air. Again however, stay away from off brands.

For the type of sound you are looking for along with they type of music you will be playing, I would reccomend a single 10" in a sealed .8-1.2 cubic foot box. This will give you very tight, punchy bass without the massive "boom" you hear from most systems.

Here is a list of what I would get if I were you for your $500 range.

Front Speakers:
MB Quart PVL216 6.5" 2-Way Premium Component/Coaxial | eBay

NEW BOSTON ACOUSTICS SC60 6.5" COMPONENT CAR SPEAKERS (0690283478193) | eBay

Rear Speakers:

(NOTE these will require Slight fabrication to mount tweeter)
MB Quart FSB 213 (FSB213) 5.25" 2-Way Formula Component Stereo Speaker (806576217671) | eBay

PAIR NEW BOSTON ACOUSTICS SC55 5.25" 2 WAY CAR SPEAKERS | eBay

Speaker Amp:
MB Quart ONX4.80 640 Watt RMS 4 Channel Amplifier Car Audio Amp ONX480 | eBay

NEW ALPINE MRX-F30 75WATTS RMS X 4-CHANNEL CAR STEREO AMPLIFIER MRXF30 | eBay

Sub Amp:

KICKER 2010 DX500.1 CLASS D AMPLIFIER MONO CAR AMP 500W | eBay

MRP-M500 ALPINE AMP MONOBLOCK 1000 W MAX SUB SUBWOOFER SPEAKER BASS AMPLIFIER | eBay

Subwoofer:

Kicker S10L5-4 10" L5 Solo-Baric Car Subwoofer 08S10L5 | eBay

NEW ALPINE SWR-1043D 10" TYPE-R CAR SUB WOOFER SWR1043D (793276601551) | eBay

All of this together keeps you slightly above your $500 mark (and this was without searching for better prices) and will give you a great sounding system and an even better sounding if you get a good deck.

Hope this helps a little

Your insight is very informative.

I am going to go with an Alpine amp for sure.

I am already stuck with the Polk components up front.

And the Pioneer amp. I think I will use that for a subwoofer, and then upgrade to a mono alpine in the future.

So you're saying my hu cannot let the amp power the front speakers? Just want to make sure I am right.

Also, you feel that MB quart is good stuff?

Yeah, I am going to go with a 10" DVC and build the box.

MDF is expensive as hell here! $32 a sheet.

I cannot decide if I should go with the MRP or the MRX. $15 dollar difference. One digital, one not.

I think for my very limited setup, the efficiency savings from using digital is not worth it?

The foot print difference is 107.7 in^2 for the MRP and 88.9 in^2 for the MRX. If it is going under the seat, I think it is minimal at best.

What do you guys think? Gonna pull the trigger once I get affirmation either way.

Also, there are a few used on ebay for $100. Worth it over new?

I have the MRX-F30 paired with a set of Kappas and 2004 Apline CDA-9835 and it sounds really great.

My only weak point is the subs. They do not sound that clean. I am thinking of switching to a single 10/12.

Does anyone have any suggestions for performance test tracks? What exact music do you listen to in order to go wow?

For rock music testing I sometimes pump in these artists because their recordings are SO clean: Queen, Tool anything Trent Renzor.

Vicarious by Tool
I want it All by Queen
The Day The World Went Away by NIN
99 Problems by Jay-Z

I bring this up because a lot of artist's recordings actually sound sh$ttier the louder you play them while some artists made the investment of a top notch recording studio.

For the sub box, check out pre-made ones. I bought one from Sonicelectronix for less than $25 and it has been great. They have a pretty good selection there. IT has gotten beat up in the back of my cars from rolling around, and it has held up great.

I think when first jumping into the audio thing it is really easy to get caught up in power. Specifically RMS ratings.

But if you are listening to music at a normal level most of the time, it is generally irrelevant (to a point), no?

Sonic Sub Boxes 1SL10-1.0-GRAY (1sl1010-gray) Single 10" Sealed

I have been building stuff since I was real youn. In the 12 years since then it seems more and more it is cheaper to buy Chinese made stuff than do anything yourself anymore.

Raw goods have gone up in price, premade have flooded the market, hence downward trend.

But yeah, I will buy a box from there. Less headache.

Well the Alpine amp I have almost too loud for my needs. When doing a test at 21/30 volume with the gain set to normal and x-over at 80 the (4) Kappas have no distortion and are perfectly clean but it is SO f#ucking loud it makes my ears hurt so I turn it down.

I don't mean "hear you do the block loud" I mean sitting inside the car. I layered the entire enterior a few years ago with poor mans dynamat so very little sound escapes unless I roll down all the windows.