Hey all, first post here. I picked up my base model 12' GT earlier this week and while I'm loving the car the base stereo is just killing me. I've already purchased a 5-channel amp (Eclipse XA5000, 4x50w @4ohms and 1x450w @2ohms) and I'm looking for some advice one which speakers to get and how to set them up. Warning: wall of questions incoming.

I understand the stock speakers are all 6x8's but I'd much rather put in some decent 6.5"s. Would a simple adapter along the lines of this work or will it take more modification to get it to fit? I don't mind a little trimming or new holes but I'd rather not take a big chunk out of my week old car. I know I can use the PAC AOEM-FRD24 for my door speakers, but where is everyone getting their sub channel from?

I've looked at several middle of the road components but I'm having trouble picking one out. Anybody using Focal 165 A1, Hertz HSK 165, or Hybrid Audio i62-2s? I'm also thinking about doing a single Sundown Audio SA-12 D2 for the trunk but it's rated at 600w rms, will I be disappointed if I only give it 450? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to get everything sorted out so that I can order everything at once and not forget something important or buy something I don't need. Thanks in advance!

 

Those adapter plates were for 6x9's not 6x8's. They do have the 6x8 adapter plates though. Here http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...sche-SA68.html

For the sub channel you will either need to put some Y adapters on the rear RCA's or get a crossover or sound processor. I use a Kicker KX3 with mine. It has a front and rear input but has front, rear, and sub outputs. I dont know much about the other crossovers out there but the KX3 works well and can be purchased for about $100 on Ebay.

I dont have any exerience with any speakers other than the Focal's. They were awesome back in the day. Right now I'm running all Alpines as far as door speakers and I modified my rear deck with some 6x9's.

Kicker CVR sub in the trunk. The kicker CVR 10 and 12 are both rated at 400 watts RMS. The Solobaric L5 10 is rated at 450 watts RMS as well. Aso the sub you get will need to be 4 ohm dual voice coil, if you go with dual voice coils. The 2 ohm will be 1 ohm if wired parallel which will be too much for the amp and 4 ohm if wired in a series but then you will only be pushing 300 watts per the specs for the amp you are looking at. A 4 ohm DVC Sub will be 2 ohms wired parallel and draw the full wattage from the amp without causing damage. Parallel wiring versus Series wiring can probably be found in the manual for the sub you eventually get. But basically its just positive to positive and negative to negative.

 

Yeah, I noticed that they were 6x9 adapters. I was hoping I could squeeze them in (drill new holes?) because they included a mounting spot for the tweeter which would make mounting the components a lot easier. I might just attempt to custom fab some.

I didn't think that you could just put a Y adapter onto the rear channel for the subs, I was under the impression that without a processor like the RE-Q or KX3 the car would throttle the low end signal being sent out as you turn up the volume.

I might wind up doing something like a JL W3 and just wire the sub channel to 4 ohms (300w rms). I'm not looking to rattle my trunk, just have a nice thump on those drum hits. I had a couple of kicker cvr 12's in my last car and wasn't really thrilled with them. They got loud, but I didn't like the sound very much.

 

I was running my original setup with y adapters on a high/low level adapter off the rear speakers when I first hooked mine up and it didnt throttle at all. Now that I have the KX3 in the mix it does what is called summing. When I turn up the volume the low end goes to a certain point and then doesnt increase hardly at all. Before I was using the crossovers in the amps to control the audio and I think I was getting better results actually. But at the current moment my Sub amp has a problem with its built in crossover and the KX3 is a necessity until I can get mine repaired or purchase another one. I think I'm going to a 5 channel amp in the future anyway so more than likely I'll do that and then get the kicker amp repaired for a spare.

For the adapters you can drill new holes. I did that but I also cut 6x9 holes in the back dash cover and dropped actual 6x9 inch speakers and just ran some long boltsdown through the holes to hold it all together. I would also reccomend some baffles for the rear speakers to isolate the rear deck speakers from the trunk and then your sub won't distort the rear deck speakers and they also help with sound deadening.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/searc...eyword=baffles

I have been running CVR's for a few years now and I loved the way they sounded in my truck under the back seat but this is a different situation in the trunk. I still need to do a little more tuning with my box and try a different wiring scenario when I get back home and can play around with it some more. Its a work in progress but for sure I will more than likely be parting ways with the CVR's if for nothing else, I may go with a L7 10.