Guys, I need some ideas on what to do next to the sound system in my L. I have now:

Alpine CDA-9813 head unit (60x4)
Sirius satellite radio
Boston Acoustics door speakers
Infinity rear speakers

The problem I'm having with this setup is that it can't keep up with the type of music I listen to (heavy alternative metal, Deftones, Mudvayne, etc.).

What do I need to do to make it so I can turn the system up to the levels I like without a lot of distortion?

Also, I'd like a little more bass. Which way should I go here?

 

My suggestion (pretty much what I always suggest, esp. in a reg cab) is to get a nice set of components and a two channel amp to run them-and forget about the rear speakers-IMO they are just a waste of money in a reg. cab.

If you just want a little more bass, an 8 or two, or a 10, maybe even a 12 (all depends what you think). If your lookin to save some money, you can get another 2 channel amp and run the sub off that-Or even get a 3 or 4 channel amp that will just run your comps and sub. Probably the cheapest and easiest way to go.

Thats really all you need. Get good equipment and install/set it up properly and you'll have no problem.

If your not wanting to spend even that much money, if your current speakers can take the power, adding an amp will help. Thats pretty much assuming they can take way more power than the HU is giving them. If you have higher power speakers on low power, when you crank the volume, its probably going to distort. I suppose thats what your experiencing now-as have I will my ol' temporary system .

 

Bartak1,
Thanks for replying...

Here are the specs on my speakers:

Boston Acoustics SX 85s (fronts)
5" x 7"
Peak Power Handling 160 watts

Infinity's (rears)
5" x 7" loudspeaker
•180 watts peak power •2-way design
•49Hz - 21kHz

Based on this information about my speakers, what wattage amp should I go for?

Thanks for your help!!

 

Peak power means nothing really, you need the continuous wattage.

 

GA foo 88 means look at the RMS wattage listed on speakers I believe... I'd go Audiobahn, I have speakers and amps by them in my car and they kick butt!!! I would say for what you have, a 400-600w amp would do well. You have (I assume) about 400w to drive your speakers, so I would go higher than the max on your speakers so your amp doesn't have to work too hard (the harder it works the hotter it gets the sooner it overheats). If you want a sub, then probably at least another 200w for that in a seperate amp. I would go with a 10"--lots of punch but still plenty of bass for the once in a while rap listener... or music that has bass such as rap...

 

Yes, you want to look at the RMS rating.

Give us the RMS rating of the speakers you have and we can help you look some. Im just going to guestimate the RMS of those is like 60-80 watts RMS from the peak power you gave, but its hard to tell. But even a 50x4 amp would make a big difference.

As far as the Audiobahn, I wont even say anything

 

What I would do is get a nice set of component speakers as previously mentioned, 6.5s ofcourse, and sound deaden your doors. It just depends on how much money you want to drop to fix the problem, and how much effort you want to put in.

 

In my 01 lightning I had a alpine 60x4 hu, memfis? f&r and 2 10" subs with a 600wx1 amp. The f&r were running off hu power and the subs off the amp and it sounded great with any thing I lisend to. I let the subs and box go with the truck when I sold it , or I would of made you a hell of a deal on them. There right on not needing the rear corner speakers. The box all but covered them up in my truck.

 

The other guys have touched on the things you need to give your system some "pop". First, good amplification. Forget that your Alpine is marketed as "60x4" or whatever. It will probably produce 15-20 watts RMS. But the biggest problem with using a head unit as the sole amplification for an entire system comes when the user wants to listen to LOUD, CLEAN tunes over an extended period of time. The power supply capabilites of a HU amp just don't get it done. The amp is easily overdriven into clipping the signal to the speakers and clipping is the MOST audible form of distortion. Clipping in severe cases can and will damage both speakers and amps. That's the precise reason there are dedicated amplifiers. Even a dedicated amp rated@25 watts RMS will kick the begeezus out of a HU rated the same. Unless the listener is happy with low to mid volume use. In which case the HU would keep up easily. But how many of us want to listen at low to mid volume? Not me. Secondly, you have to have subs. They add that dynamic quality to your music that just isn't there with 5x7 or 5 1/4s or 6 1/2s alone. While working on your system, have you ever heard tweeters playing by themselves? Tinny, incomplete reproduction of the source material. Add your mids and it becomes more dynamic and less thin and tinny. But you are still not at the point where you can reproduce the full frequency spectrum. Add subs to complete what is the humanly audible frequencies and you're set. Physics comes into play. Speakers of a certain size and design are physically capable of reproducing only certain frequencies. No way around it. Very good main speakers can only reproduce faithfully down to 70 hz or so at a decently audible level without distorting. There's a lot of dynamic stuff going on below that 70hz, a whole lot. It's also mandatory to use correct crossover points for all drivers involved in the speaker system, so that they are only trying to reproduce those frequencies of which they are capable. In other words, you don't want to send very low bass to your main speakers as terrible distortion can result. Likewise, you don't want to send high frequencies to your subs, unless you want them to sound like absolute crap. When planning or designing a system, think in terms of the whole system and how each component will work with and affect the others in the system.