speaker upgrade?

[umina]

Hey all, getting sick of the tinny sound produced by my stock stereo (non-mach) in my 01 Sable LSP. Its a great head unit, with 6 disc in the trunk, but the sound is just lousy at best. No base and too much highs, even when adjusted on the head unit. I'm approaching middle age and am no head banger or anything, I just like some lower sound in my music. I think its pretty sad that coming from my old Dodge stratus stock stereo that this loaded Sable has much worse sound.

I've been thinking of adding a sub woofer to the trunk, but don't want to mess with the wiring and extra expense of an amp if I don't have to (not to mention reduced trunk room). Has anyone had any luck with just replacing the factory rear deck speakers with something that has more thump, or is there just not enough power in the factory setup to provide this? Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

[sgmurder]

You can replace the speakers, but i dont think that youll hear much difference. The stock audio system just dont put out a lot of power.

i would buy one of those swell subwoofer tubes that have the amp built in. The installation is really not hard, and youll gain a lot as far as sound quality.

[umina]

OK, i've got a decent amp, and borrowed a subwoofer box with JL audio 12" sub in it. I'm getting a line level converter to wire the audio to the amp since it doesn't have one built in. My question is is there a "remote" power cable in the trunk already I can patch into to power the amp? I don't really wanna pull up the carpet to run a cable to the front battery just yet. I'm just evaluating this as an option for now, so If I can tap power from the control unit in the trunk that would be optimal. Let me know, thanks!

[sgmurder]

Ok, you will have to run a big diameter wire from the battery to the amp. That amp is going to use a good amount of voltage, and no wiring thats in the trunk already will do. Use a 4 gauge or larger

The JL is a fine speaker, and wired wisely with a decent amp should wake the sound system up. Take the time to wire it up properly, the effort is worth it!

[shorod]

Actually, the voltage will remain relatively constant, it's the current that the amp will need.

I do agree with sqmurder regarding taking the time to wire the amplifier correctly. If you don't, you will always be fighting issues, and when you finally decided to upgrade the entire system, you will end up re-doing the power cable if you don't do it properly from the beginning. Make sure you fuse it appropriately as near the battery as practical (approximately 10 amps of fuse protection per 100 Watts).

Keep in mind though that a "remote" lead is only hot with the key on or radio on. It does not need to be run to the battery. I'm not sure if you are referring to the power lead for the amplifier or the "remote turn on" for the amp. There may be a wire at the RCU that will work for remote turn on, but my recall is that the RCU uses TTL logic levels for "remote" --> around 5 Vdc. You may need to find a switched ignition lead to use as the remote turn on for the aftermarket amplifier.

-Rod

[drdisque]

the factory wiring has a blue remote lead for the controling the power antenna (its there even if your car doesn't have a power antenna)

[umina]

Originally Posted by drdisque

the factory wiring has a blue remote lead for the controling the power antenna (its there even if your car doesn't have a power antenna)

Sweet, thanks! I've ordered a line level converter and some monster cable. I'll give that a shot!!