Speaker/sub/amp suggestions wanted

[J-Ri]

I just bought a 2004 Cavalier. I want to leave the front speakers alone for now, but I may eventually go with something better. They seem to be weak enough that I can't hear any distortion like I can from the rear. I don't want to spend a ton of money, but I do want to be able to turn the volume up and not have any distortion. I have a Sony MP3 CD deck in another car that I'll be installing soon. What rear speakers, subwoofer, and amp would sound good for a total of about $500? The deck I'll be installing is 50Wx4, so I don't need any amp for the rear speakers, just a single channel amp for the sub. The deck only has line-level outputs, so I will probably need a pass-through converter for the sub input to the amp? I'm not really all that familiar with car audio systems, so I'm certainly open to suggestions, mostly for the subwoofer hookup.

Thanks

[PaulD]

the deck only has line level (RCA) outputs, or only the outputs from it's internal amp ?

[pimprolla112]

Originally Posted by J-Ri

I just bought a 2004 Cavalier. I want to leave the front speakers alone for now, but I may eventually go with something better. They seem to be weak enough that I can't hear any distortion like I can from the rear. I don't want to spend a ton of money, but I do want to be able to turn the volume up and not have any distortion. I have a Sony MP3 CD deck in another car that I'll be installing soon. What rear speakers, subwoofer, and amp would sound good for a total of about $500? The deck I'll be installing is 50Wx4, so I don't need any amp for the rear speakers, just a single channel amp for the sub. The deck only has line-level outputs, so I will probably need a pass-through converter for the sub input to the amp? I'm not really all that familiar with car audio systems, so I'm certainly open to suggestions, mostly for the subwoofer hookup.

Thanks

Replace the fronts you will not regret it. The main reason i say this, is due to the fact that the basket for the rear speakers are connected to the trunk. So when your sub hits it will push your rear speakers making them sound very distorted. $500 is enough, for a good set of coax speakers, a 12" sub and a decent amp. Look at mb quart, alpine, kenwood and polk some decent priced speakers. Subs look into infinity, the Polk momo subs are good, RE-SE, alpine subs. Amps, autotek, hifonics, alpine.

You can expect to pay about $150 for a decent sub, $150-$200 for an amp, and about $100 for a good set of coax speakers. A line out converter will be about 20-40 depending on brand and you will need only need 4 gauge wire, a fuse block and some speaker wire since you wont be needing RCA cables any longer than a few feet long. IF you want to save money on the LOC get a 2 channel amp that is bridgeable, most have a wiring harness for connecting to the speakers, so if you have to cancel out the rears you have a good set of speakers up front. It doesnt seem right for an aftermarket deck to not have rca outs, even the cheap walmart deck i had back in the day had them.

[J-Ri]

Just the outputs from the internal amp, I get stuff switched around in my mind sometimes

Sorry, but I'm going to change my mind on the sub. After trying to fit some stuff in the trunk, I realized how tiny it really is. I don't want to give up any space just for a sub, unless there are any that would fit under the front seats (I've never seen them if they exist). So, any 2/3-way speakers with amazingly low bass without distortion? (still trying for a total of around $500) I can work with almost any size for the rear if one size sounds better than another, but havn't looked inside the door to see the space I might have in there.

Thanks

[pimprolla112]

Originally Posted by J-Ri

Just the outputs from the internal amp, I get stuff switched around in my mind sometimes

Sorry, but I'm going to change my mind on the sub. After trying to fit some stuff in the trunk, I realized how tiny it really is. I don't want to give up any space just for a sub, unless there are any that would fit under the front seats (I've never seen them if they exist). So, any 2/3-way speakers with amazingly low bass without distortion? (still trying for a total of around $500) I can work with almost any size for the rear if one size sounds better than another, but havn't looked inside the door to see the space I might have in there.

Thanks

They make alot of shallow mount subs, which with a truck box would be good. I have a 3 cuft enclosure with a single 12 in my girls 97 cavy coupe, there is still a good amount of room, but it really eats space. If you want good midbass up front you would need a set of component speakers as coax or triax speaker are not very good for bass. Amping the front speakers would make it easier to get better sound and midbass.

[PaulD]

you can IB a sub in the trunk but that is more SQ stuff