If wife wins, I win new mods for my runner

[UARandy3]

In terms of what to get and when, here’s what I’d suggest if you plan to do this in serial order:
- First start with deadening your doors. Easy DIY project that will
eliminate vibrations and possible clean up the sound.
- Next upgrade your speakers. You can run it off your head unit at first
to see how it sounds. If the ID speakers are efficient, which I believe
they are, you might be good.
- If the speakers don’t get loud enough (without distorting) or don’t
sound dynamic, then consider an amp. Look up “clipping” or “amp
headroom” for more context on the symptoms of an under powered
speaker.
- Your next step would be an amp and then sub

One down side of doing it in piecemeal is that it could cost more on the install. But if you’re inclined to do it yourself, then it’s a moot point. I’ll check out some amps.

I am going to try to do everything myself. I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to car audio (clearly haha), but I did help with my last system like 6 years ago. I feel fairly confident that I can handle it, especially with as many resources there are online. I'm planning to order some sound deadener tonight to get the ball rolling before I change my mind haha. I may also go ahead and order all 4 speakers for the doors this weekend too. As well as the amp listed below. I am going to hold out on the sub for a month or 2....otherwise, I'll be prob be in the dog house.

For $350 you could get this 750 watt, 5 channel Kicker amp.

With it you could power all 4 speakers plus the sub.

specs:
Channel 1-4 RMS Power Rating:
4 ohms: 70 watts x 4 chan.
2 ohms: 85 watts x 4 chan.
Subwoofer Channel RMS Power Rating:
4 ohms: 210 watts x 1 chan.
2 ohms: 420 watts x 1 chan.

I'm glad you found that, I must have missed it in my searches (prob bc it is discontinued and is last year's model). But it seems perfect for this application. I had considered just getting a 2 channel amp to power the fronts w/ and leave the rears to the HU, and then getting a mono amp for the sub when the time came....would have been cheaper short term, but would have ended up being more expensive to go that route. I'm probably going to order it tonight actually bc I found a place that has it a little cheaper, brand new, but with only 1 left.

My tentative plan is to deaden doors, install door speakers and the amp. Then in a few months from now, I'll likely buy and install the sub. Who knows, I may end up deciding I don't need one, but I highly doubt it haha.

Thoughts?

 

[jd31]

Sounds like a solid plan. My buddy ran a similar set up in his tacoma (different speakers though) and it souded great. I should note that I didn't research the amp so be sure to do so before pulling the trigger...I recommended it purely based on stated specs and fit. The beauty of running everything off one amp is that you only need one wiring kit, which can run $50+, and if at some point you ditch the rear speakers and/or decide you want more watts for your components, you could bridge the 4 channels into 2.

Let us know how it turns out or if you have any more questions.

 

[UARandy3]

Sounds like a solid plan. My buddy ran a similar set up in his tacoma (different speakers though) and it souded great. I should note that I didn't research the amp so be sure to do so before pulling the trigger...I recommended it purely based on stated specs and fit. The beauty of running everything off one amp is that you only need one wiring kit, which can run $50+, and if at some point you ditch the rear speakers and/or decide you want more watts for your components, you could bridge the 4 channels into 2.

Let us know how it turns out or if you have any more questions.

I looked into the amp some more. Not really a whole lot out there. A few reviews here and there w/ nothing really negative to say. Also, it is rated on the box as 760W, but the birth sheet for the one I found shows it at 989W. Everything I've read states that kicker tends to under rate their stuff.

The only thing that has me hesitant is the fact that the ID's are rated at 100W RMS, w/ a recommended range of 25-200 RMS. I've read a lot of people saying they love power and really come alive over 100W and especially around 150W. Bc of this, I'm worried that Kicker amp may not be enough to really open up these speakers.

During all this research, obviously people were recommending various amps. One brand that I kept seeing come up as an excellent deal and clean power that I had been dismissing bc of price (assumed low price = low quality), was the MB Quart amps. The Discus series got TONS of love on caraudio.com and DIYMA....but they are now replaced w/ the Onyx series. As I've been talking to the wife about how much this and that is going to cost, I'm going to hold out on the sub for several months. So, check out This amp and let me know what you think. Reviews like this: "The ONX series essentially replaces the DSC amps and let me tell you although this amp is bigger, it sounds cleaner, less distortion, and more powerful than the DSC. Although the DSC put out a TON of power, this amp puts out even more, cleaner power. I am very impressed by this amp and would recommend it to anyone especially at the prices I've seen them at sometimes. Amp is large, but that's a manageable trade off when considering the amount of power and good clean output you get from this amp." were very common for the DSC line. Also read that the RMS ratings are pretty spot on.

I think I'm going to 4-channel the doors and then later, go with a sub and a mono amp.....rather than run a 5 channel w/ less power (and running 2 amps seems to be recommended much more bc of more options for similar pricing).

Let me know what you think.

 

[jd31]

Running out the door to happy hour but will take a look at that amp later. I did find this one though:
WoofersEtc.com - J2 360.2 - JL Audio 2 Channel 360 Watt J2 Series Amplifier

It's a 360 watt JL amp, but with only two channels. You could run these to your seperates and the back ones off your HU.

 

[UARandy3]

After lots of researching the past few days, I think I've actually settled on what I'm going to do. Last night I ordered 50 sq ft of sound deadener to do the inside and outside panels of the doors. I've decided that, for now at least, I'm going to just replace all 4 door speakers and power them with a 4 channel amp. For the amp, I've decided to pick up an Alpine PDX-F4 4 channel rated at 100Wx4 RMS (birth sheets showing 120+). I chose this because, though pricier than I wanted, it will fit under my driver's seat and remain hidden. Also, if I decide to add a sub and amp, I can run another alpine from the same series and stack it and still fit under the seat. My goal was to save as much space as possible, so this fit the bill. Also, this series of PDX is said to be much better than the previous which had a lot of noise issues.

Speakers: For the speakers, I'm going to run the Image Dynamics CTX-6.5CS 6.5" components for the front and CTX-5 5.25" 2-way coax in the rear. My question is whether these will fit the doors due to mounting depth. The 6.5" have a 2.75" mounting depth while the 5.25" have a 2-3/8" mounting depth. Also, I've read that I will need an adapter for the rear to fit (which I'll be ordering).

SO, do yall think I should get some spacers to clear the mounting depth? How much if so (1", 1/2", etc)? Also, will adding the spacers create a problem with clearing the speaker to grill? Any help is greatly appreciated!