Hi gang.
I am in the process of upgrading my system and would like advice and general opinions. I drive an 03 Matrix and put in 400lbs of RAAMmat (which is now coming off...), carpet foam, jute, and fiberglass stuffing. This made the vehicle very quiet (would still eventually like to do something about doubling up on weather stripping and door seals, if anyone has any advice on that). I outgrew my basshead phase years ago and am looking for a clean, stealthy, simple SQ setup.
Presently an old Alpine head unit feeds an ESX Q1204. Front channels power CDT HD 6.5"/tweets in the doors, and the rears bridge into a single ID IDQ8. The system sounds great and its simplicity is what I like most, however its showing its age. Speaker wire on the driver's side has now completely snapped in half after years of opening and closing the doors, and I want to move to a physically smaller setup to get *all* of my hatch area back. New amp and sub will be installed under the front seats.
I have a set of CDT 5.25" components that I had originally planned on installing in the kick panels. That never happened, although I am considering doing it now. The CDTs are wonderful speakers that sound great, but they do lack midbass.
So... I am planning on getting a new Alpine head unit, something with a built-in EQ, and running the signal into a PDX.4-150. The front channels would drive two sets of CDT components; the 6.5's in the doors and the 5.25's in the kick panels. I would experiement with tweeter placement, and whether or not to use all four or just two.
I like the PDX.4-150 because I can install it under my driver's seat; my ESX is very large and is presently in the hatch. I also like the idea of a Class D amplifier, given the stock electrical and charging system in the car. The ESX is a monster, and my headlights blink like a disco strobe.
I would replace the IDQ8 with a CDT EF-8 under the passenger's front seat in a small, polyfill-filled sealed enclosure.
I have read that this Alpine amp has heat issues. I am curious if you guys think running the front two channels at 2 ohms and the rears bridged into 4 ohms would result in thermal protection being kicked in routinely. This is a black car in Arizona, so summertime heat is no joke (and is the reason why my RAAMmat is coming off; I have liquid asphalt adhesive leaking out of the drainage holes in the doors in the summer).
I have no problem with opening up the amp and running it without its skin and putting several small fans on the components if heat becomes a major issue.
Also, is there an easy way to remove RAAMmat? Should the need arise... I haven't been able to slide back the interior trim panel on my sunroof for years, and I'm certain its because the RAAMmat has fallen off the roof and now impedes the travel of that trim piece.
Any replacement sound deadener products out there whose adhesive is better able to deal with extreme heat?
What do you guys think of the overall picture of this intended system, and my choice of components? Is the overall design sound? Any opinions or advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
