Single amp to do it all?

[Governor]

So I'd like to keep my head unit, and pretty much replace everything else. I've seen the line level conversion gizmo, but what sort of speakers, amp. And subwoofer + enclosure can I get to really improve over stock while still retaining the stock look? I have the non-Bose 6 speaker system. I would replace them with aftermarket, buy one amp and hopefully mount that in the cabin somewhere under the passenger seat, then also drive the subwoofer off of that same amp for a clean almost invisible install. I'd need a conformal enclosure and a small sub for some extra base. I also notice that there is a possible mounting point in the center of the rear deck lid.

Thoughts and ideas please. Thank you.

[Homer3D]

Are you saying you want 6 speakers + 1 sub or 6 speakers total? There are 6 channel amps out there, but they are not in too high demand. You would probably have to order online as I wouldn't think car audio shops would carry them in stock. Off the top of my head, I do not know of a 6 + 1 channel amp.

You might want to rethink your plans. You don't really need 6 speakers. Car makers like to call it a 6 speaker system because each component is counted individually. So in the front that has separate speaker for highs and lows is counted as 2 speakers. 2 pairs in the front, that makes 4 and then usually 2 2-way speakers in the back. That's a total of 6.

Just get yourself a nice set of component speakers in the front (like this Alpine SPS-600C Component Systems at Onlinecarstereo.com)
Then get yourself a nice set of 2-ways in the back (like this Alpine SPS-600 Full Range Car Speakers at Onlinecarstereo.com)
Then a 5 channel amp and the sub you want.

[E.Tinker]

When we upgraded the audio system in my wife's 3 we took an approach very similar to what you described...retain the stock head unit, swap out the speakers and add a single chassis 5 channel amplifier to drive everything. All of the speakers retain the stock location and the sub enclosure was integrated so as to take up as little space as possible without too many compromises in sound quality.

See the first couple of posts in THIS THREAD for a few pics and a description of the equipment/install.

[Cravio]

Originally Posted by E.Tinker

When we upgraded the audio system in my wife's 3 we took an approach very similar to what you described...retain the stock head unit, swap out the speakers and add a single chassis 5 channel amplifier to drive everything. All of the speakers retain the stock location and the sub enclosure was integrated so as to take up as little space as possible without too many compromises in sound quality.

See the first couple of posts in THIS THREAD for a few pics and a description of the equipment/install.

With that setup /\ is there a general rule as far as keeping or removing the rears from the chain? e.g. with a 5 chnl is it "better" to keep the rears hooked up to the stock HU and apply those would be rear channels to the fronts so the fronts are getting two additional chnls of power?

[Dnick454]

Yes. It is possible to have one amp do it all. That is of course if your goals are somewhat reasonable. The car audio market has brought forth several amps that are made to be a "one-and-done" install. Usually these are sometimes called 5-channel amps. Typically they have 4 lower powered channels (or outputs if u wanna call it that) and 1 channel with a little more power. The 4 channels are used to run the 4 full-range speakers in the doors. Even though it's referred to as a 6 speaker speaker system in your car, the extra two are just the tweeters in the sail panels in the front doors. The tweeters run off of the same channel and power as the front door speakers so you don't really need to worry about that. The extra left over channel with more power is used then to power your subwoofer setup.

On the other hand, there are ways to get creative with 4-channel amps if they have enough power to run everything...

You simply run all front AND back speakers off of the front two channels on the amp wired in parallel and then bridge the back two channels (obviously need to have a bridgeable amp ) for a single powerful channel that you can then run the sub off of.

4 channel amps typically have TONS of knobs as far as adjustment goes so you can have the front 2 channels crossed over around 80Hz for crystal clear, distortion free mids and highs, and then bridge the back two channels and cross them over but with a low pass also at 80Hz or a little lower (depends on preference and how well your subwoofer blends with the rest of your sound stage) for some nice deep low end.

Let me know if you need any ideas or recommendations on amps, I've dealt with quite a few. (Soundstream, Pioneer, Kicker, Alpine, HiFonics, off brand bullshit, you name it )

[E.Tinker]

Originally Posted by Cravio

With that setup /\ is there a general rule as far as keeping or removing the rears from the chain? e.g. with a 5 chnl is it "better" to keep the rears hooked up to the stock HU and apply those would be rear channels to the fronts so the fronts are getting two additional chnls of power?

No general rule to speak of...it just depends on your goals for the vehicle.

Since this was my wife's car and she generally carries around our daughter in the back seat, we opted to have the speakers in the rear doors.

In my Speed I decided to run a 3 channel amp with a set of components in the front doors and a single sub in the hatch since I'm usually the only person in the car.

Different goals, different approaches.

You can run either configuration with a 5 channel amp...although if you're putting speakers in the rear doors and powering them off of the stock HU they may have a problem "keeping up" with the front speakers that are seeing a much greater power level. You might find that the lack of clean power to the rear speakers will result in more audible distortion. This can be mitigated a bit by playing around with the gain controls on the amplifier to better match the output of the front speakers to the rear but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

My advice would be to either power the rear speakers with the amp or leave them out altogether...powering them off of the head unit seems like a compromise that you don't really need to take so why take it?

Good luck .

[Dnick454]

^^^ What he said. The way the factory head unit works is that it actually attenuates (lowers the volume) of the rear speakers as the headunit volume is turned up. It'd be useless to leave them on the head unit and have the rest be powered by the amp. Either power them with the same source or leave them out all together.

If you mess around with hooking up different speakers to different sources with different power levels and different crossover points, you probably won't end up with the sound you were looking for.

[Cravio]

Originally Posted by E.Tinker

No general rule to speak of...it just depends on your goals for the vehicle.

Since this was my wife's car and she generally carries around our daughter in the back seat, we opted to have the speakers in the rear doors.

In my Speed I decided to run a 3 channel amp with a set of components in the front doors and a single sub in the hatch since I'm usually the only person in the car.

Different goals, different approaches.

You can run either configuration with a 5 channel amp...although if you're putting speakers in the rear doors and powering them off of the stock HU they may have a problem "keeping up" with the front speakers that are seeing a much greater power level. You might find that the lack of clean power to the rear speakers will result in more audible distortion. This can be mitigated a bit by playing around with the gain controls on the amplifier to better match the output of the front speakers to the rear but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

My advice would be to either power the rear speakers with the amp or leave them out altogether...powering them off of the head unit seems like a compromise that you don't really need to take so why take it?

Good luck .

Thanks for the response and I don't want to hijack the OP thread but I think were going down a similar avenue. But I will ask my question here \/

My thread FWIW:
http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2...ist-check.html

[Governor]

It's a good discussion. So who is the shopping expert who could actually recommend some products and brands. Let's say you have a $500 budget for this.

[geddyhanzo]

OnlineCarStereo: Wholesale Car Audio Stereo video Deals At Bargain Prices
Try these guys. You might get by with quite a bit, I know I did.