Hey all. I just got some new speakers put into my car. I have a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville. I got Infinity ref. 5002i 5.25" speakers for the front doors and Infinity ref. 9603i 6"x9" for the rear. So far the speakers sound very decent, but I find that when I try to crank the system especially with some bass, the rear gives out crackling sounds and the sound is really distorted.
I'm not sure what the problem with the speaker is, but my first instinct is that I need more power delivered to the rear speaker. That got me thinking of an amp for the car stereo. So, a couple of questions:
1) Will an amp help eliminate this problem? What other benefits are there to getting an amp? What are some drawbacks? 2) If so, what kind of amp should I get? I don't want to be spending a lot of money on an amp, but I just don't know what kind to use or get. The peak power for each speaker are 135 watts for the front speakers and 300 watts for the rear deck.
here's what you want to do: replace the factory head unit with a new one that gives you 3 sets of pre-amp outputs (RCAs)
add bass-blockers to the 5.25" and 6x9" both at about 150Hz high-pass. This will stop the speakers from distorting by blocking the bass that they can't produce.
next, add a decent 4 channel amplifier (Kicker, MTX, Alpine, JBL.. all good amps there) from the head unit's front/rear RCAs for these speakers. This will clean up the sound even more, and should eliminate the need for the bass-blockers if the amp includes a variable high-pass filter built into the amp. This will also give better transeint response, and more accuracy as well as more volume.
lastly, consider adding a second mono amp and a sub to fill in the low end you're lacking from the smaller speakers.
I have the factory deck in the car still with the new Infinities. I am trying to upgrade my system slowly. So I guess the next step would be a new head unit.
I'll do some research on some head units. I was looking at some at CarToys today and saw some nice 50X4 decks by Eclipse and Panasonic. Any brands that anyone could suggest? Or where could I find reviews and comments about decks from other consumers? That is where I will start first.
blackraisin
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Hi,
Want to upgrade system in a 1991 Mercedes 300E using the factory radio. Considering replacing all speakers with MB Quarts front,side and rear with an 8" subwoofer. Please tell me if I'm wasting money? Thanks.
