I'm told that the stock radio is OK as long as it has a cd player. The shop is recommending that I just add an amp and new speakers.

Are they full of it?

 

i did that. and i like it.

- no visible aftermarket means no temptation for thieves
- clean dash with consistent lighting etc.
- sounds just fine for what i need

 

Holy **** I think you actualy found an honest salesmen. Yes that is a good upgrade choice. Unless you plan on using multiple amp setup pushing high power.

 

I am currently in the middle of doing EXACTLY that....and at the recommendation of a highly skilled installer too. the speakers have been replaced in the doors....the sub is sitting in the back...NOW all I have to do is start on the amp install.

 

I also kept the stock deck and added an amp and a powered sub (see thread below). I am very happy with it so far.

Space Saving Bass

 

I think depending on what you're looking for, yes the shop monkies are correct. It is not necessasry to replace the head unit and/or factory speakers for halfway decent decent sound. Adding power to the front and rear and a separate sub works well.

I kept the stock deck and put 50w/ch front and rear, and a 10" sub, and it sounds 100xs better than before. The front and rear speakers do well if you limit the low frequencies sent to them.

 

I am thinking of doing something similar. I have a 50X4 and and a 200X2 amp and I am either going to use the 200X2 and bridge it to an Infinity Kappa perfect 10, or use the 50X4 and send 50 to the each front and bridge the other two channels to the sub. I am leaning towards just installing the sub and two channel amp. Either way, Im keeping the stock speakers and h/u. I just want to beef up the bass and take a little strain off the factory speakers.

 

The only problem with simply adding a sub is that the sub will out play the fronts and rears -it won't be a ballanced system, no matter how much you drop the gain on the sub's amp. The factory deck simply can't put out enough power to match a amplified speaker system.

I was thinking along the same lines of adding a sub only, but changed my mind and added amps for the front and rear too, and I'm glad I did.

 

Really? I know a lot of people who have done this. There is no reason why you cant cut the sub enough to blend that I can think of.

 

it must depend on the sub and amp. I have a 10" infinity kappa sub and a 2x100 kenwood amp bridged to 300 continuous. Even with the gain on the amp set to minimum, w/o the fronts and rears amplified, all I heard was the sub. I tested it out before adding the amps for the front and rear. but like I said, it probably depends on the sub and amp (and musical taste).

 

set your crossover top 60 or lower. also what kenwood is it.

 

Its a kenwood KAC-729S. The x-over is fixed at 80Hz. I don't have any problems with the set up now.

Just wanted people to keep in mind that the stock deck doesn't play very loud and simply adding a sub, especially over 10", might overpower the fronts and rears. Just a consideration. I know I wasn't pleased until lI added more power front and back.

 

The reason I asked is alot of time the high to lo convert has a gain on it and it can cuase the sub to be too loud at minimum gain. Also some amps have input selection switches that compensate for a higher input voltage.

 

For those out there who are amping the stock head unit, Are you having to cut wires in the dash harness to do this? I've been looking for someone who makes both sides (male & female) for the P5 but have only seen the female part. This would be great if I were replacing the HU, but I want the male side so I can plug that into the stock HU, do the connections and then plug the female into the car's harness without any cutting/splicing of the factory harness in the dash. Is this part available? How have you guys done it? TIA.

 

I am so glad to see this approach catching on. While not my current set up, I would not hesitate for one minute to "go back" to the stock headunit, LOCs, amps and speakers.