Amp&Sub setup for a classic truck

[Xhackles]

Hello all, I made a post over at the introduction forum. Now I want to talk about my setup some and what I'd like to do when I get the money worked up.

-I have a Pioneer DEH-7300BT head unit.

-Rockford Fosgate Punch 3.5's in the dash. 20 watts RMS per speaker.

-Kenwood 4x10's in the rear. 80 watts RMS per speaker.

Alright, so my setup sounds pretty good right now. Eventually though, I'd like to get an amp and sub. I want to be able to power my 4x10's with the amp as well, because I know I could get much more out of them. My head unit is only pushing 14 watts RMS per channel according to the manual.

I don't need anything super loud for the type of music I normally listen to (mostly rock), but I do want some good clean bass that will compliment my music well. I'm thinking of getting a sealed sub box for an 8" sub that will fit behind my seat. I would bridge two of the channels on the amp for the sub, and power the two 4x10's with the other two channels.

Well, that's it for now. Any suggestions/insight you could give me would be much appreciated. If you guys know some good deals on a modest setup I could do, please let me know!

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[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

what car .what you are wanting to do can be achieved pretty easy if done right , you will still need a amp kit for a 4 channel amp also .do you have a budget in mind for the 4 channel and sub ?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

upgrade the 3.5"speakers to bigger door speakers or splits, and get a 5 channel amp imo

 

[Xhackles]

what car .what you are wanting to do can be achieved pretty easy if done right , you will still need a amp kit for a 4 channel amp also .do you have a budget in mind for the 4 channel and sub ?

I'm looking at a little under $100 for everything. I'd post the links if I could... I probably wouldn't want to go higher than $150 though.

My vehicle is a classic model chevy truck (an '86 to be exact), so I don't really have a whole lot of room/mounting space. I was thinking about either buying a sub box or making one myself if I get the chance. For the amp I was thinking about getting the Sound Storm Laboratories F4.400 which claims 50 watts per channel at 4 ohms and costs less than $40. So, somewhere in that price range. For the sub, I was going to just look for one that could handle what my amp puts out when I bridge two channels. I haven't forgot the wiring kit either.

I'm pretty sure I'll get a sub box that fits behind the seat, but for the amp I'm thinking about mounting it under the seat. Either that or rigging up something to the wall behind the seat.

 

[Xhackles]

upgrade the 3.5"speakers to bigger door speakers or splits, and get a 5 channel amp imo

I like the dash speakers I have now. They sound tons better than the originals did. I forgot to mention in my original post, but my truck is an 86 model chevy, so there are no speakers in the door. I found an aftermarket product that has 6.5" speakers built into kick panel molds, but it cost $130 which is way out of my price range for just those.

I do not know what splits are.

Why do you recommend a 5 channel amp instead of 4?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

splits are a speaker system that has the tweeter and mid bass driver separated, i'd mount the tweeters were your 3.5"speakers are in the dash, and get the kick panels and mount the mid bass driver in there. ampíng those speakers you have installed will give you a bit more volume, but not much. 5 channel you can run 4 speakers and a sub or 2 speakers and a sub, 4 channel amp you can only run either 2 subs,or speakers, 4 speakers or 2 speakers and 1 sub.

 

[Xhackles]

splits are a speaker system that has the tweeter and mid bass driver separated, i'd mount the tweeters were your 3.5"speakers are in the dash, and get the kick panels and mount the mid bass driver in there. ampíng those speakers you have installed will give you a bit more volume, but not much. 5 channel you can run 4 speakers and a sub or 2 speakers and a sub, 4 channel amp you can only run either 2 subs,or speakers, 4 speakers or 2 speakers and 1 sub.

Alright, cool. I will definitely have to consider that If I get the money. My other job starts up soon, so I might could afford them. I was actually considering just running the two back speakers (4x10's) and one 8" sub with a four channel amp and just leaving the 3.5's in the dash as they are. Do you think I would be missing a lot of good sound this way or something?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

yes, you'll be limited with volume and quality... bigger the speaker you can fit the better really. (also 3.5 and 4x10 speakers have very low pwer handling)

it's a good starting point though, prob go for your 8"sub and amp, then see what you think.