What Do I Need for This????

[zwbuntster 10+ year member]

OK, here is the situation. I have a 1996 Volvo 850 and I recently put in an Alpine CTA-1505 that I received free. (That's why I am not using a new one.) I know that it has 4v preouts for front, rear, and sub all separate. Right now I have all stock speakers in the dash, front doors, and rear deck. I would like to replace these with better speakers, but I am not sure if I need an amp for these or not? Is the amp in the Alpine HU enough power or will I need an external amp?? Thanks for the help.

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[addisdar 10+ year member]

External amp

 

[VereChronicus 10+ year member]

The answer depends on what kind of replacement speakers you are going with. If they are simple coaxials, your head unit will likely push the new coaxials to a louder level than the stock unit pushed the stock speakers. Audible distortion should set in at a higher volume level than before as well. If you plan on upgrading to components or higher-line coaxial/compaxial/coincidental speakers, the above recommendation would ring true. Nothing would **** worse than to put a good deal of money into a high-line speaker setup for replacing the factory pieces and it not get as loud as the original setup.