Dropping a New System into an '08 Sport

[Boley Buster]

Howdy guys. I recently purchased an '08 sport edition and had really enjoyed the deluxe sound system on my old ride and would like to try my hand at installing a custom system over the shoddy current speakers. So I'm a novice at this, but my father used to install sound systems in homes and cars back when he was in college, so the installation isn't really worrying me as much as component selection is. So I hope its okay to post outside links here, I've been doing a little shopping and heres what I had sort of come up with. I'm not in love with anything really other than the subs, and could certainly use input on selection. I'd like to keep the entire setup between 800-1200 dollars to be somewhat reasonable. Here my list of components

1 6.5" component set for the front doors

I had found these, they looked pretty good and at a good bargin.

Rockford Fosgate T1652-S Component Systems at Onlinecarstereo.com

1 6.5" crossover set for the back doors

I liked these, and it was in keeping with the type I put in the front. Really not super attached here, just liked the look of them.

Rockford Fosgate T1652 Full Range Car Speakers at Onlinecarstereo.com

1- 4 way amp.

Again, I'm just keeping with the same style to avoid problems, I wasn't really super sure what to go with here. I just figured rockford had done me well this far.

Rockford Fosgate Punch P400-4 4 Channel Amplifiers at Onlinecarstereo.com

1- class D amp for subs

Alpine MRP-M500 Class D Amplifiers at Onlinecarstereo.com

Seemed to go well with my sub choice. I'm also shaky on this choice.

1- Set of Subs

These I really like the value, and the look of.

Boston Acoustics G210SD Enclosed Car Subwoofers at Onlinecarstereo.com

New Head unit?

I'm not really sure if this is necessary since I'm dropping an amp in, and I don't know what I want out of one anyways. I like the ipod hookup in the dash already, bluetooth would be nice though.

Clarion CZ200 Car MP3 CD Players at Onlinecarstereo.com


Any and all input is welcome, even if your just correcting my awful spelling.

Willis

 

[Boley Buster]

I did some more research and searching, and found some nice boston acoustics options. I think just for unity I may go with them instead. I'm also not trying to completely blow out the world with these speakers, so I think 50 watts RMS in the doors is plenty of power, do y'all think my 500 watts in the subs will completely drown this out at high volumes? I'm not really terribly worried, if I'm bumping that loud I could turn the bass down, or enjoy it all the way up. Here was what I was now thinking.

Doors-
Boston Acoustics SC60 Component Systems at Onlinecarstereo.com
Boston Acoustics SC65 Full Range Car Speakers at Onlinecarstereo.com

Amps
Alpine MRP-F300 4 Channel Amplifiers at Onlinecarstereo.com
Alpine MRP-M500 Class D Amplifiers at Onlinecarstereo.com

Subs
Boston Acoustics G210SD Enclosed Car Subwoofers at Onlinecarstereo.com

I like the quality of the bostons, and the alpines seem to have great reviews too. The only worry is if 500watts in the trunk is WAY too much for 50w in the doors.

 

[olsen_karl]

Find yourself another retailer:

OnlineCarStereo.com / OSC Deals - onlinecarstereo.com - Reviews, Ratings and Prices at ResellerRatings

 

[Lineman]

Want to change the sound of a stock 08 system?

Get a new deck, add a sub box with 2 good 10'' woofers and an amp. Done..

The stock speakers sound great when you get a new deck to adjust the frequencies they receive.

 

[Boley Buster]

I'll look into another retailer after seeing those reviews. Is the factory head unit trash? I was thinking I may keep it, but not if its a piece. Another question for you audiophiles that might not be necessary now that I'm having to look at prices elsewhere. I would like an amp with available knob control up front. Since that isn't an option on the alpines would this be a viable option?

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_25789_Axxess_AALC.aspx

 

[olsen_karl]

I'll look into another retailer after seeing those reviews. Is the factory head unit trash? I was thinking I may keep it, but not if its a load.

I found that simply replacing the factory head unit made a large improvement in sound quality. I have the stock 6-speaker stereo in my '08 4R, but now with a Pioneer nav/DVD head unit.

I have purchased, but not yet installed, new speakers and a 4-way amp. I think there's room for improvement still -- the stock speakers are very well sealed with foam surrounds to the door (so you get reasonable bass out of minimal power), but the magnets are tiny. I'm putting in Infinity components in the front (6 1/2" Reference), and some older Boston Acoustic coax in the rear (6 1/2" RX767), all to be connected to a 4x75 watt Pioneer GM-D9500F amplifier (small size; should fit nicely under the front passenger seat). I tried installing the Infinity components powered just by the head unit, but the sound was worse than stock -- just nowhere near enough power in the Pioneer head unit to drive the component speakers -- so I put the stock speakers back in.

I haven't gotten around to installing the speakers or amp mostly because it's going to eat up a large part of a weekend... need to run new wiring, etc.

I'm not planning on adding a sub at this stage. I need all the space I can get in the cargo area, and a sub + amp will take up some of that room. I'll see if the new speakers + 4-way amp are sufficient to my ears first.

 

[Boley Buster]

I did alot of research and talked with some friends with experience and decided to go with a combination of ordering locations (techtronics and sonicelectronix). I'm still see no reason that the stock head unit would really be a problem with a different amp since its no longer powering the speakers, the amp is. If I go through the instalation and don't like the sound from that head unit I'll go ahead and replace it, but I'm going to stick with it for now.

Also, my friend was not a fan of some brands I had heard well about but was a big proponent of kicker so I decided to go that route along with the bostons. We also thought that one larger sub is a better route to go, to avoid destructive interference, and I found some designed for SUVs.

Components
Boston Acoustic SC 60
Boston Acoustics SC60 6-1/2" SC Series High performance, Low-

2 Ways
Boston Acoustic SR65
Boston Acoustics SR65 6-1/2" SR Series 2-way Performance Coaxial

4 Channel Amp
Kicker 350.4
Kicker ZX350.4 (10ZX350.4) 4-Channel Amplifier Car Amp

Sub Amp
Kicker 400.1
Kicker ZX400.1 (10ZX400.1) Class D Mono Amplifier + 4 AWG Amp Kit

Sub
Kicker VS12L32
Kicker VS12L32 (11VS12L32) 12" 2 ohm Solo-Baric L3 Sub + Box

One of the amps came with a kit, I also got this kit for the 4 channel amp.

Kicker 09ZCK44 Complete 4 Gauge Z-Series 4-Channel Amplifier

Another cool feature of the kicker amps is the bass control switch that I picked up.

Kicker ZXRC (10ZXRC) Amplifier Remote Bass Control

I'm ordering later tonight, hopefully everything will arrive for installation next weekend.

 

[Boley Buster]

Made two small changes/additions in regards to the component speakers.

I changed to the SR60s from the SE60s because the tweeter size, and they're a little higher quality

Boston Acoustics SR60 6-1/2" SR Series 2-way Performance

I also picked up these speaker size converters for the front door. I didn't realize they were 6x9s for some reason.

Scosche SAT69 Speaker Adaptors - Sonic Electronix

Hopefully everything will be here by this weekend, I'll keep y'all updated and try and snap pictures along the way. This will be my first major instalation project, hopefully it works out and I won't have to end up paying someone to do it for me. Last thing is that alot of my friends have split opinions on replacing the head unit and I do have a friend with a decent unit hes willing to give me I just like how the stock looks, well, stock. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I did order this piece as well so I could hook up the speakers on a fresh cord. Figured it would be easier.

American International TWH-950 (twh950) Wire Harness to Connect

If I do want to replace the head unit, this is all I would need right?

American International TOY-K962 (toyk962) Single DIN Installation