I have to make some decisions about an audio upgrade, and I am looking for advice (suprise!). And yes, I have spent a few hours reading this and other forums on the topic. Thanks in advance to anyone who bothers to read through all of this, and thanks even more to anyone who might offer an opinion.

I am considering two design ideas at this point:

1.Simple(er) - Disconnect rear deck 6x9's
- Sealed enclosure sub (JL Audio 10w0)
- Kicker KX150.2 Amp - speaker level in from 6x9 wires.
- Relace front door speakers with 6.5 components (alpine type S or polk db6500 or ?)
- leave the rear door speakers as they are


2.More complicated - Same sub,
- same door speakers
- 4 channel amp -> two channels to front doors - bridged to sub
- tap into front door speaker signal, before or after the stock amp
- again leave the rear door speakers alone, and the 6x9's disconnected

So, I am more interested in sound quality rather than quantitiy.
Will there be a significant advantage to setup two? (Assume I don't want to spend a fortune on the amp - maybe an Alpine MRV F340)

For setup two, is it better to take the front door signal after the stock amp and use line output converters, or take it pre-amp an boost the signal if necessary?

Also, could one use the stock wires to the front door speakers, or would replacements be required (and the hassle of getting them into the doors)?

Thanks again.

 

Use the pre-amp signal. Stock wires for front speakers are fine, IMO.

I have option #2 and it sounds nice. Very clean sound. But it cost $800 installed (recommend do it yourself).

 

slo007 - thanks for the reply.
I went back and read over the posts from your install and noise problem. Do you actually know what fixed the problem?? Unless I read it wrong, the signal was from the head unit originally and then was changed to speaker level + LOC later.
??

 

99% of the noise went away with the LOC. The problem I still have is an intermittent hic-up, which comes up as one of 3 items: trash noise in either tweeter, capacitor-like sound in amp loading up, or actual bump noise. These are all very random and only happen once or twice every trip.

Most intereresting thing the other day: I turned the stereo OFF to take a call (cell phone), yet I left the MP3 player ON (AUX connection). Out of nowhere during the call, music comes on through the front speakers (those hooked up to the amp) for 2-3 secs. I was like, huh? The stereo is off... :P

I'm not sure what the problem is, but recommend a high quality LOC or line driver. I didn't get a better one yet because of lack of $$$.

 

Head Unit -> LOC -> JL amp -> front component speakers & subwoofer