Need help putting together an audio setup without a sub woofer.

[HFrosty]

Hey guys, I'm new to the whole car audio system thing, so bear with me.

I drive an 08 Chevrolet Cobalt LT (Coupe, no OnStar) and I'm looking to upgrade from the car's stock audio. I'm looking to do a setup that has decent bass, but I don't want to dump hundreds of dollars on a sub, enclosure, etc.

After all my research, I came to the conclusion that I should replace the head unit and add a component speaker setup. I'm on somewhat of a budget so I'm skipping out on a sub for the time being, as mentioned. I heard that in a setup without a sub, adding an amp for the speakers would give them much more oomp, although I don't know if there's any truth to this.

The HU I'm looking at is this one - Kenwood DPX501BT CD Receiver

The speakers I'm looking to buy are - http://www.crutchfield.ca/Polk_Audio_db6501_6_1_2_Component_System_p/107db6501.htm

or http://www.amazon.com/CXS64-V-2-Dynamics-Component-Speaker/dp/B004XWBEEC

That leads me to my questions. Which speakers would you recommend? Would they be compatible together and decent sounding, or would an amp be needed to get the most out of the speakers? If so, which amp would be a good choice for me?

If anyone has any suggestions regarding other products, please provide links to Canadian sites. Many American sites have products not available to us up north sadly.

Thanks in advance for any help whatsoever.

Edit- Would a Coaxial set up be an option?

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[JoshC 10+ year member]

We need your over all budget, honestly without adding an amp your not going to hear a big change. Especially on the speakers you have listed, there going to need at least 80wrms. That hu you listed does 14wrms

 

[HFrosty]

My budget is about $200 for a HU and around $200-250 for speakers, but I'd be willing to go a bit higher.

For an amp, how much money should a decent one for these speakers be?

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

My budget is about $200 for a HU and around $200-250 for speakers, but I'd be willing to go a bit higher. For an amp, how much money should a decent one for these speakers be?

Ppi 900.4

Pioneer 80 prs

Vifa or Dayton mids

Any choice of tweeter depending on your sound preference

Focus some effort on treating your doors too.

Those are just some ideas, other stuff can be had as well that sounds good.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Hey guys, I'm new to the whole car audio system thing, so bear with me.I drive an 08 Chevrolet Cobalt LT (Coupe, no OnStar) and I'm looking to upgrade from the car's stock audio. I'm looking to do a setup that has decent bass, but I don't want to dump hundreds of dollars on a sub, enclosure, etc.

After all my research, I came to the conclusion that I should replace the head unit and add a component speaker setup. I'm on somewhat of a budget so I'm skipping out on a sub for the time being, as mentioned. I heard that in a setup without a sub, adding an amp for the speakers would give them much more oomp, although I don't know if there's any truth to this.

The HU I'm looking at is this one - Kenwood DPX501BT CD Receiver

The speakers I'm looking to buy are - Polk Audio db6501 6-1/2" Component System at Crutchfield.ca

or http://www.amazon.com/CXS64-V-2-Dynamics-Component-Speaker/dp/B004XWBEEC

That leads me to my questions. Which speakers would you recommend? Would they be compatible together and decent sounding, or would an amp be needed to get the most out of the speakers? If so, which amp would be a good choice for me?

If anyone has any suggestions regarding other products, please provide links to Canadian sites. Many American sites have products not available to us up north sadly.

Thanks in advance for any help whatsoever.

Edit- Would a Coaxial set up be an option?

Well, if a bit more oomph with the bass is what your goal is, You'll be sadly dissapointed. More than likely your stock speakers will play sub- bass a lot better than aftermarkets because they are designed to be fullrange. Aftermarkets were designed to work at 60hz and above but most cant even achieve below 80hz with any authority even with an amp. To even get any thump out of aftermarkets, you'll need an amp, along with turning your door into a proper speaker enclosure aka sound deadening.

What you'll get is Midbass which is the drum kicks but not the oomph you are thinking.

With what you have in mind, the low end of the sound spectrum will always be missing.

that head unit choice is not that good either.

 

[los33]

My budget is about $200 for a HU and around $200-250 for speakers, but I'd be willing to go a bit higher. For an amp, how much money should a decent one for these speakers be?

If keeping a low budget is what your looking for then id recommend the following.

Headunit: Clarion CZ702

Speakers: jbl p660c

Speaker amp: any 4 channel that does 70 watts or better per channel

Wiring: knukoncepts 14 gauge wire

This will keep your budget under 450$ total. Research on doing an active setup which will really give you oomph to your system.

Edit: if you need more bass out of your door speaker then look into door deadening.

Sent from my draconis using Tapatalk

 

[HFrosty]

If keeping a low budget is what your looking for then id recommend the following.
Headunit: Clarion CZ702

Speakers: jbl p660c

Speaker amp: any 4 channel that does 70 watts or better per channel

Wiring: knukoncepts 14 gauge wire

This will keep your budget under 450$ total. Research on doing an active setup which will really give you oomph to your system.

Edit: if you need more bass out of your door speaker then look into door deadening.

Sent from my draconis using Tapatalk

Thanks a ton, these are actually all pretty much perfect for what I'm looking for. Although that specific HU is not available from crutchfield anymore. I'll have to buy the accessories separately I suppose.

You don't happen to have any other HU suggestions, do you?

 

[Jakerrr 10+ year member]

I would seriously consider how important music while driving is to you personally and maybe wait until you can afford an absolutely basic bare-minimum, but complete system. What you're proposing is an incomplete system. I would add upgrades in stages if I were you. Head unit, sub, and mono amp should be the first things to add this time. The head unit will in most cases give your speakers cleaner power, and the sub will make your mids and highs sound much better because you can take the bass off your stock speakers and allow them to play musical frequencies with less distortion. Later on when you have done some research you can upgrade the speakers and get an amp. You need to get an amp for it to be an upgrade at all. And if you can wrap your head around an active setup, or at least buying separate speakers and crossovers, you'll save a ton of money. I spent $400 on a high quality component set that is still in every way far inferior to many setups I could've pieced together and bought on the madisound speaker store for $200 total. The tweeters I have in my signature are $35 each. They blew my Hertz HT-25 tweeters (MSRP ~ $200-300) out of the frickn water. Right now it seems like I basically bought the component set just for the crossover, as I will soon be replacing the mid as well with another sb acoustics driver from madisound.

Head unit, sub, and mono amp first. Other stuff when you have the cash and more knowledge.