[guinsdan]

I'm new with car audio and want to try a small DIY upgrade. Can anyone recommend the best route to go? I've done extensive searching and really don't know which is best.

My objectives/notes:
* I have the base system.
* Relatively low cost.
* Keep the factory head unit.
* I'm not looking for a comp system; just a modest improvement.


Option #1:
Replace stock speakers with Kappa coaxial speakers. 2 ohm in the front and 4 ohm in the rear. Possible replacement of the tweeters in pillars. Add a single channel amp and replace the sub with a free-air Perfect 10"

Option #2:
Replace stock speakers with Kappa coaxial speakers. 2 ohm in the front and rear. Possible replacement of the tweeters in pillars. Add a five channel amp for all of the speakers. Replace the sub with a free-air Perfect 10"

Two additional questions:

1. Will I need a cleansweep?
2. The Kappa's I purchased have built-in crossovers. Will this work with standard wiring? Has anyone installed the 52.9i's?

 

[Kingoftypos]

I do not know how the clean sweep works. But I do know this, if you are going to keep the factory radio. Then you would need to grab the speaker level wiring from the factory amp. Then of course attach a speaker level to line level converter. Reason being is because the volume, fade, balance and EQ are done in the factory amp.

As for the other stuff, I have no opinion on it. Sorry

KOT

 

[guinsdan]

I put the 52.9i's in and it's a big difference. Less bass but the mids and highs sound great.

 

[guinsdan]

Is it worth the extra work/money to put the 5 1/4 on a seperate amp? Has anybody replaced the sub and left the door speakers on the factory amp?

I am still replacing all 4 door speakers though.

 

[gpet6669]

I have replaced the sub, I put a custom box that suspends where the old one was, but mine mounts from the bottom where the box is. It's a tiny sealed box, shollow mount pioneer with an 800 watt amp. I just tapped off the old subs out puts and put an speaker level to line level converter and went straight to the amp. I am into a factory look with better sound and functionality.

I like the Kappa series speakers, but haven't looked into replacing all of my speakers yet. Da*n wifey won't let me spend any more money on the car till the kids are a little older. I will probably wait until I get a newer car, and that won't be until I get a newer truck. Prioritys! She has gotten three newer vehicles sence we got married in 2003, and I am driving the same old truck!

 

[guinsdan]

Do I need an amp with the following below?

* Speaker Level Inputs
* Preamp Outputs

I am thinking doing this in phases is best. First, I will replace the free-air sub and add an amp off of the stock amp.

Later I will add a 4 channel for the doors and replace the rear door speakers.

Can anyone recommend a good amp/sub for the first part? And will I need any additional components?

 

[gpet6669]

Yes you will want to do it in phases. It would be a lot of money and time to do it all at one time. If you are just doing an amo with a free air sub replacement, then I would say just a cheap mono amp or even a class-d amp will be fine. I am not to preferable to any brand. As long as you get an amp that will "Match" the sub in the effect of wattage and will support the ohm rating of what ever sub you get, I would run a lower wattage setup with a free air sub. But I am no sterio expert, I am good at building boxes to fit a certain area and putting together systems. But I have not dealt with free air subs too much. I would recommend going to a sub box sealed or ported it really doesn't matter, as long as you get a matching box to the sub. Then you could go as big as you want.

But all things aside, I would recommend a Rockford amp with a Kicker Free Air sub.

 

[guinsdan]

Are there any good 10" 2-ohm freeair subs? I may need to go 4-ohm...

 

[guinsdan]

Or for a 12" in the factory sub location?

 

[gpet6669]

The factory location will only accept a 10" sub. If you want a 12" you will have to mount it else where. I know that the factory location has a bunch of crap around where you would be mounting it. I even had to cut the lip off of it to get mine to fit correctly, but remember I mounted mine in a box and suspended it from the bottom. The top of the rim on my sub sits on the bottom mounting flange of the factory location. I still had to cut it out a bit.

 

[guinsdan]

Which 4 wires should I use on the factory amp for the speaker level inputs on the new amp?

 

[guinsdan]

Note:

I looked at the wiring schematics from cadillacfaq (BOSE) and only see two wires that are listed for the sub (D-BU/WH + and L-GN/BK -).

I have non-BOSE but from my understanding the wiring is identical.

 

[xMike87x]

First off Ill answer your questions:
1. You do not need a cleansweep
2. I dont see why the crossovers wouldnt work but im not certain.

I too wanted to keep the factory look.
Here is my setup on my 04 cts (non bose):
-5 1/4" kappa components in the front
-5 1/4" kappas in the rear
-2 12" subs (custom built from friend who repairs speakers for a living)
-2 4" pioneers in the rear deck (crucial to make this work)
-rockford fosgate p500-2 powering subs
-rockford fosgate p400-4 powering kappas
-street wires 1.0 farad capacitor

How I made it all work:
1. Line-out-converter on the factory sub channel for signal to subs.
2. Custom built boxes for 4" pioneers that i tucked behind the rear headrests on the rear deck. I made this my new rear channel.
3. Line-out-converter on rear channel for signal to kappas
4. I learned that there has to be a speaker hooked up to the factory amp for it to send the signal. You cant just go from the output to the line-out-converter. This is why i added the pioneers.

Pros: Lower cost, keeps factory look, great overall sound improvement
Cons: Lose F/R fade (stereo=L/R seperation), all the wiring may/will cause headache :banghead:

If you want more details on how exactly i hooked it all up lemme know. Oh ya definitely amp the kappas. TRUST ME. I had mine runnin on the factory amp while i was waitn on the p400-4 in the mail and didnt think they sounded that much better than the factory speakers. After amp i was greatly satisfied.

Hope this helps and wasnt too late,
Mike