ATL28

Hey everyone, hoping someone can help me with my thought processes. I've spent countless hours reading about this topic so far, but I have seen no posts on the approaches I'm taking so far.

Goal is to improve sound quality a bit and possibly add some bass.

Surprisingly a handheld DAC/AMP adds a lot to the sound quality of the Acura TL. Previously I was using this DAC/Amp Fiio E17 , it improved the sound quality quite a bit, a much cleaner sound and the sub was far more productive and responsive. The 3.5mm jack wore out so I'm going to try replacing it with this, which doesn't have a DAC: . These devices seem to really clean up the signal. Should arrive Wednesday. If it doesn't get me the same sound as the Fiio, I'll just pick up another DAC/Amp, the improvement was that good with the Fiio

From what I've been reading, adding dynamat in the front doors is the next easy and cost effective step for better SQ and bass response. Is it worth replacing the stock speakers if I keep the stock amp?

Now what about the subwoofer? Is there any point in replacing the stock subwoofer with this Kicker 8"? It's DVC and from what I've read the stock is 2ohm, so I can match the impedance, but I don't know the sensitivity of the stock subwoofer. Is the Kicker more efficient at 85.6db? That's pretty low.

I'd really like to avoid running an aftermarket amp for the subwoofer. The Fiio DAC alone gave me the bass I wanted. So has anyone used a single 8" in a sealed or ported box and just used the factory wiring? Then I wouldn't need an additional amp and the sub should be more responsive in a sealed enclosure than the free air setup. I could just leave the stock sub in it's place, maybe add dynamat and the stock sub would act passively and be pushed by the Kicker in the sub box. I've seen this setup done on home theater tower speakers, so it should work just fine, just worried if the stock amp has enough power to pull this off. The sub and box, I could probably get under $100.

Thoughts?

ATL28

Ended up buying a https://www.fiio.com/btr3k instead. It's a bluetooth DAC. Hoping this is better than the stock setup, if that doesn't work, dynamat the doors, new front tweeters and then maybe a sub, if I don't get any feedback about a sealed 8" replacing the stock sub.

ATL28

BTR3K bluetooth DAC improved the sound quality quite a bit. Time to dynamat the doors and look into tweeter options.