Newbie - oldbie. Need help at the start with stereo plans

[JD Z]

Thanks for adding me to the group! I have bought a 1980 z28. It’s the same car I owned 30 years ago and that’s the last time I ever played with aftermarket stereo stuff. Thanks for your insight and education.

I installed a new Retrosound stereo recently. There are only two 6x9 deck speakers, nothing else yet. I plan to add door speakers, upgrade the stock deck speakers and put an AMP in. The car sounds great on the outside (thanks to headers), but the audio sound is week at best inside.

If I start with an AMP and upgraded 6x9’s what things do I want to consider. RMS for the AMP and the 6x9’s? I don’t know what I don’t know. It feels complicated and I’m hoping the group can boil it down to simple terms. Thanks for your help.

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[JD Z]

Anyone, Anyone’s? Simple recommendations on an AMP and 6x9’s will help. Not rocket science, just trying to make a more educated decision. Thanks guys.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

start with hu and front speakers., we don't even care about rears.. then get amp/s and sub (can get pretty nice 4 channels under $200) amp the door speakers bridge other 2 channels to sub no need for rears but if u must keep them u can get a 4 chan for those and mono amp for sub like we use or a 5 channel amp.. how much $ total u think u can put in it over next few months?

 

[JD Z]

Booming, $600 wouldn’t scare me. I have a solid stereo and nothing else yet. My rears are junk. The 80 camaro has a spot for a center dash speaker (no speaker remaining). No door speakers. I’m planning to modify the kick panels to hold speakers.

So rears first and an AMP to support speakers in the kick panels also and a sub in the trunk. I don’t want to shortchange myself on the AMP.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='JD Z']Booming, $600 wouldn’t scare me. I have a solid stereo and nothing else yet. My rears are junk. The 80 camaro has a spot for a center dash speaker (no speaker remaining). No door speakers. I’m planning to modify the kick panels to hold speakers.

So rears first and an AMP to support speakers in the kick panels also and a sub in the trunk. I don’t want to shortchange myself on the AMP.[/QUOTE]
your hu has rca outputs? ok well u need a hu like mine or better (mine is $119 or so 50 audio setting bt usb all that) still say u don't need rears, use that $ for rest of system (i'm trying to take mine out now).. for now get set 6.5" or 8" if u can fit it in kickpanels (if u have to buy those they well eat up bunch of your budget) if u must buy rears just get something cheap as u can ($20-$40 or so) run them off hu (if u get hu similar to mine it will have adjustable hp over for all the speakers).. man it's hard at your budget i would say get ppi 900.4 (lots of peeps here use them for mids) it's 190x4 little much for average coax but set gain real low on front speakers run rears off hu and bridge 2 channels to a sub (it was tested at 480rms bridged) so u won't need heavy sub can't get it in budget anyway.. or buy infinity 4 channel @bigblank here is testing and them selling soon $90 (u just missed rf 4 channel $78 new ebay) infinity is 70x4 then get a mono amp for say $125 maybe (have to look around and maybe could get decent used 1 for that) to run maybe 6-1k rms to a sub so really depends on how much u spend on speakers if u say $2-$300 for amp/s $200 sub and box (which is low unless u can make your sub box then we can find u nice sub) maybe with hu and speakers get out with nice set up for say $700.. i have less than that in mine but i don't have amp on my speakers just run off hu..see what speakers will fit in kicks.. i'll see what 6x9's are around cheap..

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

if u really want cheaper ok matching set these are on sale i have the 6.5 they ok (won't play much mid bass let sub do that us hp over and it's fine) Coaxials heres a 5channel 440 rms to sub at 2 ohm i'd want more but it's a 1 amp solution if u can get efficient sub.. ported box is better with that power..

 

[youdoofus]

Thanks for adding me to the group! I have bought a 1980 z28. It’s the same car I owned 30 years ago and that’s the last time I ever played with aftermarket stereo stuff. Thanks for your insight and education.
I installed a new Retrosound stereo recently. There are only two 6x9 deck speakers, nothing else yet. I plan to add door speakers, upgrade the stock deck speakers and put an AMP in. The car sounds great on the outside (thanks to headers), but the audio sound is week at best inside.

If I start with an AMP and upgraded 6x9’s what things do I want to consider. RMS for the AMP and the 6x9’s? I don’t know what I don’t know. It feels complicated and I’m hoping the group can boil it down to simple terms. Thanks for your help.

your camaro has the 3.5 dash speakers and rear b pillar 6x9s, so in order for you to get a good sound, youre likely going to need to have door speakers put in, which can be a costly endeavor. So, heres my $0.02, get a deck with active crossover capability, a 5 channel amp, a decent 12" sub in a custom box, 3.5" raw drivers for the front and a raw 6x9 for the rear, run the fronts and rears active on the 4 channels of the amp and the one channel to the sub. Those camaros dont need much to slam pretty hard. Alternatively, ditch the 6x9's and have some 6.5"s installed in the front doors. Im not sure how much you are able to do install wise (for the sub box and fabbing something for the doors) but you will get killer sound if you go the door speakers route and run active from the deck/5 channel. If you do the door speaker route, get a pair of raw tweeters instead of full range 3.5's for the dash

 

[JD Z]

Thanks Booming and Youdoofus. A bit over my head. What is “hu” for instance. I do expect kick panel speakers are a must. I would rather not modify the doors for value of the car. Interesting you say the rears are not needed. Hard for me to understand that. Say I have two kick panel really good 6.5 speakers, I still need sound to balance from the rear.

To start I was thinking to install this AMP that would support two rears, two kick panels and a sub.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014XQ6BLI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A18CQ5FFITKTLU&psc=1

The replacement rears:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZVXCRK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A36FHUSDHDORFF&psc=1

Then I would be on to what speakers I could get in the kick panels. And what sub to put in the trunk.

Better choices to start? The stereo is a new retrosound stereo and it has RCA outputs. Thanks guys!

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

3-Way 6"x9" Triaxial Speaker (Sold As Pair) my 6.5" sound really good off hu (with hp xover) after i removed my rear speakers today (just 2 speakers in whole car $40) if u don't like these u can get lanzars on ebay and they actually sound pretty good and u can get them for like $39, had 6.5 in doors 8 yrs no problem sold them when i got the sq., lanzars may have been better..

 

[JD Z]

Ok guys, I picked up this AMP. I’m thinking I’ll need to install it in the trunk as it doesn’t look to fit under the seat. What tips do you have for the wiring? What about the power, do I need to hook it up direct to the battery? For a newbie, what can you tell me on the how? Need some help to get started.

Thanks so much! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014XQ6BLI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1