all new sound system

**Camaro998** · 06-15-2009, 12:26 PM

okay so im getting all new speakers and radio. i am thinking about getting an alpine HU and 4 alpine type R's to replace the door pannel speakers and the rear seat speakers. i was wondering do i need a amp or can they jus power off the HU. and if i do could i tap into the old monsoon amp or would i have to get another amp.
Any help would be great!
-thanks!

**lilpb1** · 06-15-2009, 05:24 PM

I have Alpine all around and they sound good.

**Camaro998** · 06-15-2009, 07:35 PM

yeaa thats what im getting to! did you have to gut the monsoon? or did u just replace the monsoon speakers with them?

**The Project** · 06-18-2009, 08:51 PM

Alpine is a good choice for the money.....

**02WS6dream** · 06-18-2009, 10:04 PM

could go either way. if you do alpine all around but keep monsoon amp then sound quality will be similar to stock... biggest improvement you can make is upgrade amp. you would be better off spending money to replace monsoon amp and keep stock speakers then to replace speakers and keep stock amp. Replace both and you will be very happy

. most distortion originates in amp--speakers simply reproduce it and get burnt up by it. Most speakers get "blown" by being underpowered--not over as most people logically assume. Its just like upgrading motor/powertrain. it all works together. you don't realize the potential of one component until you compliment it with matching components. upgrade just the amp or all at the same time. my .02

**Camaro998** · 06-19-2009, 07:33 AM

alright then thats what im gonna buy next then!...any good suggestions on what kind of amp i should get?

**The Project** · 06-19-2009, 08:59 AM

How many and what size speakers are you going to buy? Also, are you going to run active or passive? Oh yea, Budget?

**tremiles** · 06-19-2009, 10:46 AM

The Alpine PDX-5 is a tiny 5 channel 50x4 + 300x1 if you're going to be adding a sub. The only caveat is that it has to be mounted parallel to the floor for the cooling system or else Alpine voids the warranty. Alot of folks who have them mount them under seats but I don't know if the floor contour of the F-Body's will allow that.

You can also check out the MTX JackHammer JH805. It's bigger and it's printed wattage rating is lower than the Alpine, but most MTX amps put out quite a bit more power than advertised. It's internally fan cooled so you can mount it wherever there is room. It's crossover is a little more flexible than the Alpine as well. You can run front + rear + sub or high + mid + low as the rear channel has a HP and LP control.

**The Project** · 06-19-2009, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by tremiles

The Alpine PDX-5 is a tiny 5 channel 50x4 + 300x1 if you're going to be adding a sub. The only caveat is that it has to be mounted parallel to the floor for the cooling system or else Alpine voids the warranty. Alot of folks who have them mount them under seats but I don't know if the floor contour of the F-Body's will allow that.

You can also check out the MTX JackHammer JH805. It's bigger and it's printed wattage rating is lower than the Alpine, but most MTX amps put out quite a bit more power than advertised. It's internally fan cooled so you can mount it wherever there is room. It's crossover is a little more flexible than the Alpine as well. You can run front + rear + sub or high + mid + low as the rear channel has a HP and LP control.

FYI......The PDX-5 puts out 75W x 4 plus the sub channel

**tremiles** · 06-19-2009, 09:03 PM

You're right, I don't know where I got 50. Their real-world 14.4v wattage is even higher too.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 06-19-2009, 09:38 PM

I would never run one amp to power mids, highs, and a sub..just my opinion.

I have always had one amp for the mids and highs and another amp to power subs. MTX is a good quality amplifier. Each individual amp is tested and the rated output is noted on the amp. Well it used to be at least.

**Camaro998** · 06-20-2009, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by The Project

How many and what size speakers are you going to buy? Also, are you going to run active or passive? Oh yea, Budget?

i am planning on buy to 6.5 inch alpine r's and redo the system....and what do u mean my active and passive? im still kinda new to this stuff...and i really dont mind spending a good amount of money on my car as long as it sounds good!

**The Project** · 06-20-2009, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by Camaro998

i am planning on buy to 6.5 inch alpine r's and redo the system....and what do u mean my active and passive? im still kinda new to this stuff...and i really dont mind spending a good amount of money on my car as long as it sounds good!

In an active system the wire path is as follows...
Head Unit - xover - Amp - Speakers

Passive is as follows...
Head Unit - Amp - Xover - Speakers

Basically passive is just plug in play where active allows you to tune the system more. Most people simply go for the passive set up. However you will gain better sound quality out of your speakers by going active. If you are a car audio novice I would suggest passive and see how the system sounds. Also with an active set-up, you need one power source for each speaker. If you bought a 6.5" comp set you would need a 4 channel amp (since you have 4 speakers). If you go passive you could get away with a 2 channel amp (and wire the tweeter and mid together).

Heere is a link that explains it in more detail
http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146726

**Camaro998** · 06-21-2009, 10:55 AM

aight yea i think i might go with active then...how much more exspensive is it to go with active?

**The Project** · 06-21-2009, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Camaro998

aight yea i think i might go with active then...how much more exspensive is it to go with active?

All it would cost is a little bit more wiring and maybe some "tuning time" at the stereo shop. What you could do is have the xovers near the amps (if the amps are in the back), this would reduce the amount of wiring used. If you run active and have the amps in the back and xovers near the front comp sets you would need a lot more wiring to run the active setup.

Best to draw the system out on paper and get a feel for where everything will go and how much wiring is involved.

The xovers are designed to be used in an active or passive setup so there is no extra cost there.

**tremiles** · 06-21-2009, 06:21 PM

Most decent amplifiers today come with a high pass filter/xover, low pass or both. So free. You don't necessarily need a stand-alone xover unless the xover in the amp doesn't meet your needs.

**CamaroSS354** · 06-22-2009, 05:54 PM

i have alpine type r components in my car and i highly suggest the alpine pdx 4.100 or 4.150 depending on what you wanna spend

**35th-ANV-SS** · 06-23-2009, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by tremiles

Most decent amplifiers today come with a high pass filter/xover, low pass or both. So free. You don't necessarily need a stand-alone xover unless the xover in the amp doesn't meet your needs.

Agree

**Blue28** · 06-24-2009, 12:55 PM

For now get a 50-100 watt rms 4 channel amp!

What's you budget for a Amp?

A JL Audio 300/4 is a good Amp for the money, that's if you buy it online!

**adrenalinejunkie** · 06-24-2009, 03:38 PM

im running 2 10" MTX jackhammers in my camaro powered by the MTX jackhammer amp for that size and it is unbelievable! i won second in the audio division of my hometowns biggest car show and then i realized my bass boost on the amp was set to zero. novice move right?? lmfao so i tuned it to max (12) and couldn't turn the stereo up all the way. so i cut it back down to mid (6) and im pleased beyond belief.

bottom line. i would go with the jackhammer amp from experience. and if you really don't mind spending money and want an ungodly loud system i would spring for a set of the 10" or 12" subs. just my opinion