A few q's for my upgrade .

Bubba -NJ

I wish I had found this site a few weeks ago . I recently replaced the factory HU in my 2001 Chevy Suburban . When I installed a Alpine CDA-9883 with appropriate wire harness there was no sound , called tech service and problem solved . Tech stated that there is a factory amp in my vehicle . Does anyone have any info on this factory amp ? Location ? Power rating ? I can't seem to find any . From the factory it has a 9 speaker system , 1-woofer and 1-tweeter in each front door , 1-woofer in each rear door , 2-what I think are tweeters in the rear pillars beside the tailgate and 1- sub-woofer mounted in the side panel(in an enclosure with some loose felt padding)at floor level back by the tailgate also(driver side). The sub-woofer is an 8 inch and when I crank up the sound it "pops" . Could I just swap out the factory sub with a new sub ? I have since replaced all woofers and tweeters with 2 sets of Polk DB-6500 component speakers . Sound is great except for the popping sub-woofer . I can only hear the sub pop when I'm at the back of the truck . What are my options for sub-woofer replacement ? Sorry for the long post .

eloplayspolo

because its a factory amp, most likely its not going to be very powerfull. The encloser that it is currently also will most likely not be a correct fit or sturdy enough for a true sub, unless u get really really lucky.

audiobliss

Dad has a 2001 Suburban with the stock audio system, but I don't know much about it. Do you have the regular radio or an 'upgraded' Bose radio?

I would *assume* that with the regular audio system the only amp would be for the sub in the back, but I very well may be wrong.


Good choice on replacing the stock components; I'm sure you're happy with their sound! I would recommend you getting an amp to run them off of, though. That will really wake them up, improving their sound quality and also how loud they can go.

Good idea on upgrading the sub, too. However, I'm sure the stock enclosure is very wimpy and way too small for a real sub. You very well might be able to get a custom fiberglass enclosure to work there, whether you want to do it yourself or hire a local shop to do it. That'd be awesome, because you'd then have a great sub, AND you wouldn't be using up any floor space in the back.

Bubba -NJ

Thank you for your responses . From what I've been told , there were 3 different stereo packages in the 2001 Suburban line , bottom-line , mid-grade and the Bose system , I have the mid-grade . I didn't buy the truck new which is why I don't know much about it other then the basics . The amp powers all of the speakers including the sub-woofer . The enclosure is made of what feels like plastic , feels pretty thick and sturdy , it is mounted with 4 bolts to the steel body . I know nothing about car audio amplifiers and I'm leary of any sales people I talk with , it seems that they always point to the most expensive option . What kind of amp would I need to run my new Polks and a new sub-woofer ? I'm looking for clean sound and alot of bang for my buck . I don't want to let people know I'm coming from blocks away . I have the skills to modify or replace the factory sub-woofer location if I need to .

Installer4life

What are you trying to do exactly? Keep everything the same except upgrade the 8" subwoofer. Do away with the factory subwoofer and amplifier and add your own larger subwoofer and more powerful amplifier. Did you replace the The rear pillar speakers or just the door speakers? The factory amplifier is a small 5 channel amp located behind the glovebox. Very small indeed. At the least I would bypass this amp and use the power located in the headunit to run the 4 new polks. Your radio has a highpass filter built in so you can take all the low frequencys out of you 6.5" speakers. Crossover at 80hz. Now for the subwoofer. If you choose to add a better 8" driver and kee itin the factory location be sure to add mass to the enclosure. That is make it stronger so you will not have any flex. Purchase a seperate amp to run the subwoofer. Since you are dealing with a small amount of space in the factory subwoofer location you may want to have a enclosure built for a larger subwoofer and just put it in the rear of your SUV. The performance will definately improve. You can also go with a larger 5 channel amplifer to increase power to everything and make the whole system sound better. If you choose not to use the existing factory subwoofer then you can remove it and install your amplifiers in this location. That way they take up no room and a thief cannot see them. Its really up to you on what you want and what your Budget is.

Bubba -NJ

Thanks for the info on the factory amp Installer4life . I will do as you say and bypass it . What I'm looking to do is improve the overall sound quality without impeding on cargo space . I have area's were I can place amps under seats and out of the way . Occasionally I need the cargo space for plywood and other large sheet goods . Also I spend alot of time at the beach with my wife and 2 little girls , so there is plenty of beach gear being hauled in the back as well . I don't want anything getting an umbrella(or whatever) through it . Would it be better to run the sub on a separate amp or could I run everything off 1 amp ? All thats left of the factory system is the sub and the amp .

audiobliss

Wow. All of that is just way too hard to read in one big paragraph.

You could go with either one monstrous 5-channel amp or a 4-channel amp along with a mono amp for the sub. If you have enough room for one huge amp, go for the five channel. However, I'm betting that you don't have enough space available under any one seat for that big of an amp. That's basically why I'm running a 4-channel amp under the driver's seat and am planning on installing a mono amp under the passenger seat. (Not in a Suburban, just to make that clear.)

I would really suggest a 4-channel amp for the speakers in all the doors, and then a mono amp to power a sub that you purchase to replace the stock sub. I would also replace the stock enclosure. I don't know just how sturdy it is or how good you are with fabrication, but I bet it'd work out very nicely to make a fiberglass enclosure to go in there.

Since you're running components in all four corners, I would personally recommend a 4-channel amp with some power. Seventy-five wpc would DEFINITELY be a minimum for me. I would like to see something more along the lines of 100 - 150wpc. However, now you're playing a game of balancing better and cost. Only you know the right balance is for you.

Bubba -NJ

So as I understand so far , I should power my component speakers with a 4-channel amp with a minimum of 75 watts per channel , but no more than 150 watts per channel . I should power a sub-woofer with seperate amp . If i go with this sub -Polk/MOMO MM2084 I would need a mono amp in the 30-200 watt range ?

Bubba -NJ

I'm in no hurry to get this done but I'm going to look around locally and on the web to see if I can come up with any bargains on quality stuff . What brands should I stay away from when looking for amplifiers ?

audiobliss

You've pretty much got it. As far as power ratings on the amp, more is never bad. The only negative thing about bad is more expensive. So if you like spending tons of money, go ahead and get yourself a 200wph four channel amp!

As far as a sub amp for that sub, you should look for a 200 or 250 watt amp.

Good brands would include Polk Audio, Alpine, Diamond Audio, MTX, JL Audio, Memphis Audio, Kicker, Eclipse, Phoenix Gold, and Profile. Profile and Phoenix Gold are more budget oriented amps, but are still solid choices if you end up going with them.

You should definitely stay away from Sony, Pyle, and a few others, but focus on the good ones I listed. It shouldn't be hard to find one that suits your needs.

Also, if you run across an Orion or Hifonics amp, they're really good, too.

Installer4life

You have plenty of room under your rear seats for the largest amp ever made. Since you are only going to replace the factory subwoofer with a better one try and strengthen the enclosure. A little fiber glass goes along way. If you do not want to do that it will still sound ok. If you were trying to get every ounce of sound quality you could I would recommend seperate amps for the doors and the subwoofer. You do this so that the power supply of each amp is not affected by the other and degrating the sound of each. For what you want to do a five channel amp is just fine. It will save you money on installation charges and installations supplies. I like the JL AUDIO 5 channel because it gives you rated power regardless of voltage and impedence to a degree. At least for what you have and what you want. It also gives the reas speakers less power which is the way a good audio system should be setup.

audiobliss

Installer4life wrote: »

You have plenty of room under your rear seats for the largest amp ever made. Since you are only going to replace the factory subwoofer with a better one try and strengthen the enclosure. A little fiber glass goes along way. If you do not want to do that it will still sound ok. If you were trying to get every ounce of sound quality you could I would recommend seperate amps for the doors and the subwoofer. You do this so that the power supply of each amp is not affected by the other and degrating the sound of each. For what you want to do a five channel amp is just fine. It will save you money on installation charges and installations supplies. I like the JL AUDIO 5 channel because it gives you rated power regardless of voltage and impedence to a degree. At least for what you have and what you want. It also gives the reas speakers less power which is the way a good audio system should be setup.

I agree to an extent. I'm not up on current prices on amps as I'm not in the market, so I may be entirely wrong, but I would *THINK* that a 5-channel amp putting out ~100wpc for the four channels would be more expensive than a good four-channel and a good mono amp. I don't recall seeing many 5-channel amps putting out all that much unless you're dropping a lot of money on it.

Also, I really wouldn't worry about JL's gimicky stuff. If you like it and can afford it, go for it. But it's really no better and more expensive.

And finally, the rear speakers should definitely be turned down lower than the fronts. But you can easily do that by setting the gains lower for the rear channels.

Bubba -NJ

How about amplifier brands such as Clarion , Pioneer , Volfenhag and Infinity ? Good or bad ?

eloplayspolo

pioneer is okay, infinity is a bit better.

eloplayspolo

MTX > Rockford

audiobliss

Pioneer and Infinity are on the lower end of the spectrum. If that's what fits your budget, go for it without hesitation. However, if you can afford more, you'd be happier with more, imo.

I'd stay away from Clarion and Volfenhag amps.

Rockford Fosgate is good, too.

Greg Peters

Bubba -NJ wrote: »

How about amplifier brands such as Clarion , Pioneer , Volfenhag and Infinity ? Good or bad ?

Clarion would probably be the best of that bunch (some of the older ones had remarkably similar internals to Arc Audio :eek:). Pioneer Premier and Infinity amps would be just OK. Volfenhag makes OK doorstops but very poor car audio products .

Judicious use of Ikesound.com would probably get you a stout amp for not alot of expense.

MacLeod

Pioneer, Clarion and Infinity are about the same. Youll get the rated power and decent build quality but not much else. Volfenhag is a flea market brand.

If you venture up in price to the MTX, Rockford Fosgate and Kicker range, youll get much better build quality and way more power than rated. MTX especially is well known for nearly DOUBLING its ratings cleanly!

Bubba -NJ

I'm looking at an MTX MXA6001 mono block Class D amplifier for about $150 delivered and a Alpine MRP-M450 mono subwoofer amplifier for $139 - $150 delivered . Profile is another brand that has gotten some attention from my on-line search . I don't quite understand the full meaning of this statement "MTX especially is well known for nearly DOUBLING its ratings cleanly" . DOes it mean that if an MTX is stated as 150 wattts RMS that its more like 300 watts RMS ?

MacLeod

Yup.

In all the magazine reviews Ive seen on MTX amps, they cleanly exceed their ratings by a ton. The last generation Thunder amps did almost double their ratings.

Profile is a very good entry level amp, but if youre looking at MTX and Alpine, Profile isnt in the same league.

eloplayspolo

my 4 chan says 125x4 but i think it was birthed at 176x4

Installer4life

Bubba -NJ wrote: »

I'm looking at an MTX MXA6001 mono block Class D amplifier for about $150 delivered and a Alpine MRP-M450 mono subwoofer amplifier for $139 - $150 delivered . Profile is another brand that has gotten some attention from my on-line search . I don't quite understand the full meaning of this statement "MTX especially is well known for nearly DOUBLING its ratings cleanly" . DOes it mean that if an MTX is stated as 150 wattts RMS that its more like 300 watts RMS ?

Just a little history on the MXA series of amplifiers. They were developed so that Circuit City could have a different amp than evey other MTX dealer had. This only lasted one year because it was a bad idea. These amps are not MTX's best effort and I don't recommend them. Sure you are getting a great price but stick with the thunder series of amplifiers. Either the Thunder TA or the Thunder Elite. I don't think they even make this model anymore and if they do its for sale outside the US.

Bubba -NJ

Anybody have any experience with Audiobahn , Soundstream , Crunch or Boss branded amp's ?

MacLeod

Soundstream is nice.

Cant say much for the rest. Im sure theyd be good for something. Book ends, boat anchor, door stop.....

Greg Peters

Bubba -NJ wrote: »

Anybody have any experience with Audiobahn , Soundstream , Crunch or Boss branded amp's ?

Old school Soundstream amps were really high quality- they experienced a quality slump but are slowly getting back to building nice product. Crunch has some stout amps that put out high power, but build quality of some models might be a little suspect. Audiobahn made some crap and some decent performing product- the better stuff really wasn't a bargain and you can do better than Audiobahn in the price range their higher-end lines went for. For the surprising news...Boss for the most part is absolute crap, BUT a few of their models were actually assembled by a respected build-house, ZED Audio.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1720

I wouldn't expect total Zed Audio standard of quality from the Zed-built Boss models, but they'd be far better than the usual Boss Audio "goodness."

Bubba -NJ

audiobliss wrote: »

Since you're running components in all four corners, I would personally recommend a 4-channel amp with some power. Seventy-five wpc would DEFINITELY be a minimum for me. I would like to see something more along the lines of 100 - 150wpc. However, now you're playing a game of balancing better and cost. Only you know the right balance is for you.

Would an MTX rated at 65 watts RMS @4 ohm be sufficient . I would like to stay in the $200 range and have a quality brand with great durability for a 4 channel amp .

audiobliss

If budget is the restraining factor, then sure. I'm sure your speakers will still sing with that. You can always talk about how more is nice (and I'll never disagree with that perspective! ), but budget always comes into play at SOME point. If that's your point, then go for it.

Bubba -NJ

Well , maybe someone here could give a suggestion based on brand experience with a 4 channel amp to fit my needs . I'm running 2 sets of Polk db-6500 component speakers . Recommended RMS from earlier post in this thread is between 100-150 watts RMS @ 4 ohm . Please try to keep it around $200 or even temp me with something close to $200 .