If I wanted to upgrade my stereo would an amp and like a 12 inch JL sub be adequate or would it sound like shit?

 

A 12" JL what? W0, W3, W6, W7? They are all different, and sound different. I have a single ported 12w6 in my car, it more than shakes the car on it's own.

More important than if you get a single 12 or whatever, is that you have a box that is designed specificly for that speaker (not an off-the-shelf box) and for the music you listen to.

If you want to see what I am talking about, check out the link in my sig.

 

haha sorry for my audio illiteracy I have no idea what im talking about lol.. I really like your setup man, if you dont mind me asking hwo much did you pay for all your audio mods alone? and does your car rattle alot when your bumping it?

 

There is a guy here (Luthier) who did wire in a new amp and speakers - he thought that the amp made the most difference. I'm gonna do the same when I get some time off (probably in December). He put a set of instructions in here somewhere with some pics. Search for it...

The rear 6X9's are rated for 20 W rms (nom on the speaker) so I assume that the stock amp only has 20 w rms (maybe 30 on a good day) - any aftermarket amp would be an improvement. Plus, if you get a sub you may be able to turn down the base on the door speakers and avoid some rattles.

 

Well, the sub and amp are from old installs (subs are 5 years old, amp is 2 years old). I did the fiberglass work myself, the materials ran ~$100. The paint was done with Acura factory paint, a friend of mine sprayed it for $60.

If you have the urge to do it on your own, you can save a ton of cash. A shop would have ran $300-500 or more for the box, and another $200 or more for paint and polish.

 

My brother has given me an alpine m500 amp and two alpine 10" E-type subs.

Any sugjestions on how to or where to get signal from.

 

I would say to take the deck speaker inputs, they are the easiest to get to. You would just need a LOC (Line output converter) to get RCA inputs.

I have talked about bypassing the amp before, I just can't remember what thread, do a search and you will get all of the details