I'm looking to replace factory system in it's entirety in 1999 tl 3.2....I would invite any ideas recommendations on the types of equipment i should install, What speaker sizes to use, locations , head units, sub size to replace factory sub, best amps, 1 amp or two....any ideas are greatly appreciated!!! Nothing truly "custom" just replace factory equipment with like equip for better sound, more rumble in bass, more clarity in highs!!

 

check my sig...really everything is relative to each person in what they want. there are 1000's of options. first thing I would say would be to set a budget - and stick pretty close to it - this will help you narrow your choices down. My setup does all that I wanted, it sounds very clear and crisp at any volumes, and can really blast when I want it too.

for door speakers, you can fit 6.5 inch speakers quite easily. Some will only replace the front door speakers and leave the stock ones in the rear doors. I put quality speakers all around because I got a good deal on the speakers, and I wanted the rear passengers to have some quality sound and not hear only the bass. For a HU, most will swear by Alpine (including myself). Though there are other quality brands like Kenwood Excelon and Eclipse. the number of amplifiers all depends on what you end up putting in your car.

 

Welcome to the Board. You are going to find that people here have a wide variety of tastes, so expect suggestions all over the place as far as products go. Here is what I would suggest doing and mean to be very specific. First replace just the headunit. More than likely you are going to lose your steering wheel controls since most installers don't like going to the trouble to use the pieces to to integrate them and furthermore most don't know how to do it. I personally often suggest to people not to bother, but then again that is becuase the piece i carry is just that . . . a piece of . . .well you get it. Anyway Change the radio first. Go to a local stereo shop (not best buy or CC as their installers tend to look at a bose system and then freak out and tell you that you have to gut everything) and look at serveral different radios and see what you like the best. Personally I wouldn't use anything but Pioneer in my TL, but that is b/c of personal tastes. Right now there are a host of companies that are using some great D/A chips and therefore putting out some great sounding radios. I would suggest Checking out Pioneer Premier, Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood Excelon, Eclipse, and even the Sony XPlod Drive S (the drive s series are not sold at mass merchant stores, so no BB or CC there).

Once you have found a radio and had it installed, leaving every thing else stock, take a listen for a few days. You ought to be fairly amazed at what the car will sound like with ought the BOSE eq manipulating your sound. From there you can start deciding what other elements you would like to change. More than likely you are going to want to add a simple subwoofer option. perhaps something like a single 10" or maybe even a 12".

I guess over all what I am suggesting is to be slow an deliberate in the process. It will allow you to get exactly what you want with out going to over board.