i have recently made several purchases and changes to my system:

i bought the 6.5" alpine type s speakers

bought a mrp-f300 alpine amp

sound deadened the entire interior

i plan on wiring channels 1 and 2 to the front 2 speakers and bridging channels 3 and 4 for 150w to power a sub. my quesions are:

will the 150w be enought to power a 10" sub?

i plan on buying a new hu to go with the scosche console i purchased. would i be better off going with a 180$ or so alpine hu with no extras or the dual xhd7714 Dual XHD7714 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com this hu comes with hd radio and bluetooth and has gotten pretty good reviews. unfourtunately as a whole dual does not seem to have a very good reputation and i am not sure which way id be happier going.

i assume it would be best for me to wire my amp by using the rca inputs and not the speaker level. would i be correct in assuming that i should be connecting the bridbged channels to the sub outs in my hu?

since i will be wiring the first 2 channels to the front speakers... i assume i will have to run new wires to the speakers. would it be best to run the new wires through the car asnd then through the doors or just do it the easy way and connect them to the wires right near the hu?


i know there were a lot of questions asked but any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated

 

it depend on the 10 inch sub and which one u get
www.diamondaudio.com
get a d1 10 inch
put in a ported box..and you be good to go

 

do not buy anything dual!!!!

150 watts is alittle low for a sub. but even so, using 1 amp to power the 2 front speakers and a sub would be the best setup by far for the cost. that boom from the back is nice, but theres really nothing like the clarity from amped speakers. i say give it a shot, and you can always upgrade.

 

i am temporarily using the speaker level inputs until i choose a headunit. to connect the subwoofer do i tap both rear speakers and send them back to the amp and bridge the outputs as one signal or do i only tap one speaker and split it and send it to both inputs? id reallt appreciate anfd answer asap as im already working on it.

 

honestly, im really not sure. ive never wired one amp for both speakers and subs. i know if you were to wire just subs, youd have to tap both rear speakers. you might have better luck at a forum like caraudioforums.com those guys are really good, and a lot of people access the site.

as for a headunit, i went with the eclipse cd5030 for 300 bucks and it sounds great even with stock speakers.

if your ordering from crutchfield, i have a 20 dollar off refer a friend code. all youd have to do is type it in when you check out and you get 20 bucks off insantly. so let me know if ya need that haha.

hope this helps

 

yeah thnaks i did it that way and it ended up sounding great.

for the sub i ended up going with a rockford fosgate 10" punch 1.

now all i have to do is wait for my my console plate to come in on july 10th and pick out a headunit. any help there guys? ive been looking at pioneer alpine and a few others with a budget left of about 180.

 

check out this guyKenwood Excelon KDC-X693 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

i got that 20 dollar off code from crutchfield for ya as well so it would come out to 189.99 shipped. this was number 2 in my choice of headunits, but i ended up spending about 100 bucks more. its got a lot of features and ive heard a lot of good stuff about it. im sure u wont be disappointed. not to mention, it looks tight as hell. let me know if ya need that code. your order just has to be over 200.

i highly recommend buying a headunit from crutchfield because they are pretty much the same price anywhere. but you get both wire harnesses for free, shipping is free, and theres no tax.

let me know if ya want that code!

 

Insightful reviews on Amazon for this model...the USB issues mentioned would definitely make me think twice though. Exceptional USB performance, categorization, and search options are imporant to me personally. Check it out:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Kenwood Excelon KDC-X693 CD receiver

Crutchfield has a few published as well: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDCX...684&tab=review

 

i know u want something that u can easily navigate through your ipod with. but heres what it comes down to....the ipod itself, no matter what, is easier to search through then any headunit. stick it on random, or use the AUX cord. it got one bad review, and that guy definatly didnt know what he was talking about. i really didnt see anything that would turn me down. everyone said it sounds great, that would be my main concern. id buy it for sure.

 

it depends on the amp, most amps that accepts hi level inputs will sum the signal to all channels. If the amp doesn't do it automatically there should be a switch. Take a look at amp manual, it say something about that.

if not, I would just run a stereo pair down to the amp and split it there (what you said). It should be fine for a temp set-up

 

i ended up tapping both rear speakers and sending it back to the amp. last step is now choosing a headunit. ive got it down to four last choices. they are:

the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X693
Kenwood Excelon KDC-X693 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

the Pioneer Premier DEH-P510UB
Pioneer Premier DEH-P510UB CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

the Alpine CDA-9886
Alpine CDA-9886 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

the Dual XHD7714
Dual XHD7714 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

initially i was steering towards either the pioneer or the alpine as both companies have solid reputations for great sound. i always was very interested in the dual as it has a lot of features like hd radio and bluetooth that would make the others cost hundreds more. ive been recently steering towards the kendwood due to some great reccomendations from people on this site as well as a few others.

Any sugestions? i want to be able to install my headunit in when my scosche faceplate arrives july 10th.

 

id definatly go with the alpine or the kenwood. they both look like very solid units. i was also considering that pioneer when i was going to order. im not sure why, but for some reason, i just got a bad vibe from something about it.

the dual looks legit...but i dont think id ever buy anything dual. ive seen that sub package with the badass looking amp and subs in the badpass box, and let me tell u...its pretty pathetic.. theres a reason that the unit has everything a unit that is at least 300 bucks has for 180...its all really low quality stuff.