My friend had a Dual XNBP12D subs and a sony xplod 600w amp that he was trying to get rid of so i got them for only $50.
I have a 2004 cavalier with an AVH-P4000dvd head unit. I was wondering about getting a pair of speakers to upgrade, I'm will to spend up to $125 for them. Is it worth it just to run the speakers straight from the head unit, or should i look at getting a a secound amp.
I realize that the sony 600w is under powering the subs, it only gives them about 130w rms while the subs can handle 600w rms (1100 peak). I was thinking that i could also get speakers that will match with the Sony amp and pick up a more powerful one for the subs.
Also, i really don't like the enclose the subs came in, and was wondering if i'd be able to build my own box for them.

Besides all that, if anyone can help me with adjusting the sound levels through my head unit to make the subs and my speakers sound better together, thatd be awesome.

I know its alot of stuff, but i'm new to this so any info at all is a big help, thanks

Oh ya deffinetly get a pair of door speakers. The stock 4x6 that come in the cavi are pretty poor. So pretty much anything you pick up will sound better. You can try finding a pair of components, if you can for that price, sometimes on ebay, they just sound better than co-axials. That way if you get an amp later its an easy upgrade. Next best bet is a pair of co-axials. Go with 6.5" for either. Only thing is when mounting them you might need a type of riser to bring the magnet further forward so you can still roll the windows own. You can find a half descent 6.5" co-axial like infinity refference series or alpine type-s or even type r's for under a hundread for the pair on ebay. But add an amp to these even just a little one and they will sound much better. But deffinetly won't hurt to add then without an amp.

yes u can build your own box. if u want/have the stuff to do it. here is a great link to use on how to build your own box.
http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/car/subwoofers/box_building.html it may not be the pefect box because it is not tuned to that sub but it will sound real good still. i built my first box this way. but my second one, i followed sub manufacturers specs on building a tuned box for my new subs. no BIG sound diff. ...unless u r a true audio person, then u could prolly say there is 4754375914579 different sounds between the two! like they said. if u amp the speakers it will sound far more clearer, louder, and over all better. but i would change one thing they say. since u said u r kinda new to audio, i would stick with 4x6's in the front. BUT NOT THE STOCKS, LOL. <--- i know someone would say something if i didnt put that in. and dont do component speaker. just more work and a lil harder to put in. caz then u have to mount a seperate tweeter, and find a spot for crossovers and such. a good aftermarket 4x6 co-axial speaker will do wonders compared to stcok! i have em in my car and love em. as for an amp. ...if u didnt know. i would deff get a monoblock amp for yur subs, and a 2 channel for your speakers. if u r going to replace and amp the ack ones too, get a four channel. for the four channel i wouldnt go much over a 400w and the monoblock for the subs prolly no more than 1,800-2,000w. and dont go with cheap @ss brands either. keep it all nice. i HIGHLY suggest. SoundStream brand!!! NO, NOT SOUND STORM, LMAO! [cheap brand] my door speakers, rear deck speakers, and amp r all SoundStream. and i absolutely love that brand. and i wouldnt buy anything else but them after my experiences. you can go to http://www.soundstream.com/ and look around at their stuff. trust me on this, u may spend some money buying their stuff, but u will not be dissapointed! this is not a sales pitch or anything. but after buying that brand, i wouldnt go with anyone else. SoundStream is a good quality brand name that has just recently made it to the big times, if u havent heard of em, u will in fact soon. their quality is of that of all the big companys or better that charge u out the @ss for their product, for less. ...still KINDA expensive, but not bad at all. not like JL's prices or nothin, but quality is damn near close! please consider them, and good luck with the system!

^^^^ why would you tell him to put a low quality goofy speaker in?
put in either 5.25 or 6.5 inch coaxial, the sound will be far better than that of 4x6s. i agree that components will be a little much since your new to car audio but 4x6s are just chevy trying to prevent aftermarket speaker use.
they make adapters for the 6.5s and 5.25s s it makes way more sens to go that route


"I did it because I wanted to see what it would look like. You should be greatful that I even told you that it would look good. If your to dumb to use photoshop and change the color of your own car then you don't need to see it changed. I'm not going to give my work away. I'll sell the pic to you though for $15."-Adam Kalin

^^JBO is about not being that guy

Alright so i decided that i'm just gonna scrap this whole system and redo the entire thing. I didn't want to make a new thread either so i;ll just post in here.
I am thinking that i want to upgrade all of my speakers, and i really like the Alpine Type R series. Here's what i came up with

Alpine SPR-13S - components in the front that will most likely go into a kick panel
Alpine SPR-69C - 6x9s in the rear deck
alpine MRP-F550 - amp 100wx4 RMS.

I am going to amp both the components in the front and the 6x9s in the rear at 100w RMS each.

I also plan on putting 2 12" alpine type R's in the trunk with a alpine MRP-M1000 amp.

So now my questions:
1. Is it worth it to amp the rear speakers? Could i get away with leaving the stock rears?
2. My head unit is an AVH-P4000dvd. The problem is that there are only two amp preouts. I'm not sure how the preout that will go to the 4 channel amp in the front work. Will the amp need to use both preouts if I am going to hook it up to both the components in the front and the 6x9s on the rear deck? I plan on adding the sub amp later, so i don't know whether i can do this or not with only 2 preouts.
3. Are there any amps you can recommend that would work with these speakers that are a little cheaper?
4. How hard is it to fiberglass a kick panel?

your prolly gonna have to use kick pods cuase the type r's have big magnets. The preout can be split using a splitter. You can split it at the amp or at the HU, Just remember that you will only have left and right and not left front, right rear ect....mrp-m1000 should be fine as long as you get the dual 2 ohm type r's. You could buy prefab kick pods and then reinforce them with some fiberglass, it will cost more but save you time and effort if you never done fiberglass before

So I think ill just go with amping the front speakers and using the rear ones for fills. Would i be able to use a 4 channel amp such as the MRP-F250, which can be bridged to 2x100w at 4 ohms?

1) ditch the rears altogether, they pull your soundstage to the rear which is bad...
2)y splitter
3)id get a 2 channel and not use the rears...
4) its a pain, buy prefab and glass over them.
and to your last question, yes the MRP-F250




"I did it because I wanted to see what it would look like. You should be greatful that I even told you that it would look good. If your to dumb to use photoshop and change the color of your own car then you don't need to see it changed. I'm not going to give my work away. I'll sell the pic to you though for $15."-Adam Kalin

^^JBO is about not being that guy

This is gonna be long.....Ok, as to your product selection I like it so far.

Sub Amp: If you can afford it I'd grab the Alpine PDX-1.1000 instead of the MRP, but it's definitely pricey...cleaner sound and less heat and a lot less room, plus it's badass looking.

Components: I love Alpine's stuff and am a hardcore alpine freak, but I have to say that their Type-S line is a little weak for the price...grab the type-r components if you want to stick with alpine, otherwise I'd highly suggest the Diamond D3 components or the D6 if you can afford it, or possibly the infinity Kappa components or Perfect components. Don't get me wrong, I love alpine, but for component speakers you probably can't afford their nice ones (type-x or f1-status). Possibly look into some Boston Acoustics, too. When it comes to the speakers it really depends on what your ear likes, and not what is technically superior...your ear will become much more sensitive the more you pay attention and shop around, read and tune systems.

Speaker arrangement: ok, there's two (well, three) very different schools of thought when it comes to rear speakers (or rear fill). First one is ditch the rears altogether and just amp the fronts, as it will move your soundstage forward and is a soncially superior way to go for SQ setups. Second is to amp all four speakers...best usually when your car is large and your fronts can't fill the car the way you want, or when you're doing a surround system. And the third is to run the rears off the head unit and amp the fronts...this is usually the route taken for those who have passengers in their car a fair amount of time and want a little rear fill for them. Personally I just leave the rears in because I have passengers often and amp the fronts for me. Beacuse of your HU's preouts, I'd probably suggest the same for you, or just to rip out the rears altogether. Again, this is a personal choice and don't let anyone tell you what is "best"...it really comes down to your listening style.

Speaker Amp: Well, this is mainly determined by the arrangement you choose to go. As a general rule, though, almost all components setups will handle 90-120rms for each channel (180-240 per pair). The MRP-F250 is definitely a good choice, as it puts out 100Wx2 @ 4 ohms. For a four channel, the F450 isn't really enough as it only puts out 70Wx4 @ 4 ohms so you should probably look into the MRP-F550 as it does 90Wx4 @ 4 ohms. The other possiblity if you can afford it is to step to the PDX amps...the PDX-4.100 or 2.150. One quick note about the pdx amps is that they are a digital hybrid amp, and they put out the same amount of power at 2 or 4 ohms.

Kick Pods: either glass your own or buy prefabbed and reinforce them with glass and carpet/vinyl them. DO NOT use prefabbed ones as they come...they aren't stiff enough to properly reduce vibrations and will possibly rattle, and most definitely cause some noise cancellation at certain frequencies.

Sub Box: check this out http://www.carstereo.com/help/Articles.cfm just read, read, read and you will learn a TON. It also has a box calculator in the page somewhere. You'll need the owner's manual to use it, but it'll give you whatever you ask it for (just for info, for an sq setup Qtc =.707, for a normal box or if you like bass at all, Qtc=.900-1.100.....you'll see what I'm talking about when you use the calc).

Oh, I almost forgot: here's some brands to look at (and to not look at):

IMHO, stay VERY far away from any Sony car stereo products. Also Kenwood isn't a good way to go either. Soundstream, Image Dynamics, Diamond Audio, Rockford's amps are solid, old-school MTX Thunder amps are solid but I haven't had any experience with their newer stuff, Pioneer premier HU's are sweet, JBL subs are badass but very pricey, Kicker compVT or VX series subs are nice for spl along with their L7's, and there's many more that I can't think of right now. I actually have to go finish building box for a 10" type-R

Remember the most important rule in car audio...everything is subjective...never take anything as gospel.

I forgot Alpine in that list, lol. Just stay away from type-e line.