Car Stereo Help

[Pipeless416]

Hey guys, i know a few of you are really good with car stereos and i'm looking to upgrade a little bit, so i'm looking for some advice.

car is a 99 trans am with 5 1/4 inch alpine type s speakers in front with the stock tweeters, 4 ohm 6.5 inch kicker cvt subwoofers in the sail panel, and 4 inch polk db series speakers in the rear hatch areas with stock tweeters there too. it has a kenwood head unit and i believe it is still using the stock monsoon amp.

everything sounds great at lower volumes, and the problem comes from when i either have the exhaust cutout open, or when i have the t tops off in the warmer months. it is so underpowered that it just distorts pretty badly. i've also read that the little kicker subs are pretty power hungry in themselves.

what are my options here? i know amp/amps are the answer, but i'm pretty new to all this. mono amp for the two subs and then what about the rest of the speakers? i'm trying to do this as inexpensively as possible, because i'd rather save money for a place to live in may and stupid stuff like that :p . thanks in advance

[traitor08]

In my Dakota I have a kicker 4 channel amp for my kids and highs, and 2 one channel amps for my subs. It gives a pretty intense back massage since its a regular cab. I have Memphis 6 1/2 and kicker 4x10's for my highs with 2 1/4 in tweeters. I am a big fan of kicker for some reason and always have something of there's in my vehicle. But you will have to bypass factory amp for aftermarket. Were the factory speakers 4ohm or 6ohm. I can't remember. But with aftermarket the puma are usually 4 or 2. But with all things, how loud do you wanna be. And do you have any sound deadener. It helps cancel unwanted noise so you can hear your radio better.
Pm me all your stuff in detail, can give you some recommendations. I am not a professional, but have doing sometype of radio install for the last 15 years

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by traitor08
In my Dakota I have a kicker 4 channel amp for my kids and highs, and 2 one channel amps for my subs. It gives a pretty intense back massage since its a regular cab. I have Memphis 6 1/2 and kicker 4x10's for my highs with 2 1/4 in tweeters. I am a big fan of kicker for some reason and always have something of there's in my vehicle. But you will have to bypass factory amp for aftermarket. Were the factory speakers 4ohm or 6ohm. I can't remember. But with aftermarket the puma are usually 4 or 2. But with all things, how loud do you wanna be. And do you have any sound deadener. It helps cancel unwanted noise so you can hear your radio better.

i edited the original post. the kicker subs are 4 ohm. my entire care has sound deadener layed down, but if i have the tops off its all wind noise. i'm going for clarity at above average sound levels, and i'm not sure how to word it haha. basically, i don't want a stereo that other cars can feel, but i still want it to hit how it should and remain clear.

[extremeblastr]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
i edited the original post. the kicker subs are 4 ohm. my entire care has sound deadener layed down, but if i have the tops off its all wind noise. i'm going for clarity at above average sound levels, and i'm not sure how to word it haha. basically, i don't want a stereo that other cars can feel, but i still want it to hit how it should and remain clear.


cheap loud and clear, my personal opinion is to send you to hifonics. they are an offshoot of a couple name brands and sound great at very high volumes. a set of their speakers and tweeters with a matching 4 channel amp and then if your looking for a little bump i would suggest a kicker l5 10 in a low pro box it should leave enough room for your ttops.

[XCRacer236]

head over to soundsolutionsaudio.com and join their forum. You'll get more than enough info to help you out.

[audioworks04]

There are a million different ways to accomplish what you are wanting. Personally I would use your headunit to power the rear speakers and get a smaller 4 channel amp to power your fronts and the kickers. If you still arent happy and are looking for more clarity then upgrade to a good brand of components to replace your current fronts. If you need more bass at this point, then youll need to upgrade to a larger sub, a single 10 or 12 should be fine, just make sure you buy a big enough amp the first time around so you dont have to keep upgrading it, remember you can always turn the gain down, but it only goes so high. Personally I love smaller "underground" brands such as ed audio. Check them out, great products and great people in the USA. http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=1

[Pipeless416]

thanks for the responses. im going to stick with the kicker subs only because i'm not really interested in having that much "bump" with it. i'm thinking the suggestion from audioworks04 is what i'll be looking into. as far as ED, i've actually checked out that site before when i was looking at their edead sound deadening. my dad is the wiring and stereo guru in the family so that won't be a problem. thanks again everybody.

[mineralgrey01gt]

Id get a big 4 channel amp, that way you only have to worry about that one amp. Just run the subs to a couple of the channels or just even one channel if you wanted then run the other speakers off the other, tune the amp to where you want and your done. More than likely you will have to run new wire to it all though. Not sure how the monsoon system is but I know id have to do that in my 06 sierra with bose.

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by mineralgrey01gt
Id get a big 4 channel amp, that way you only have to worry about that one amp. Just run the subs to a couple of the channels or just even one channel if you wanted then run the other speakers off the other, tune the amp to where you want and your done. More than likely you will have to run new wire to it all though. Not sure how the monsoon system is but I know id have to do that in my 06 sierra with bose.

the wiring going to the monsoon is a joke. i think its like 16 gauge. i'm thinking about possibly just eliminating the rear speakers. that seems to be pretty common on these cars.