Salvi

If you are truly interested in SQ, then the most important part of your setup is an amp to power your front speakers. Since you're running 1 250WRMS sub with two 4ohm coils, your choice of amps is somewhat limited if going with one multichannel amp for the whole system. You'll have to find a 3 or 4 channel amp which is stable into 2ohm bridged. Tough task indeed since most amps like that are high power and expensive, not needed for your application.

If you can, just exchange your sub for a 2ohm DVC, or a SVC 4ohm, or just buy another identical 4ohm DVC. This will make things MUCH easier. You'll have tons of options, not to mention MUCH cheaper.

north49

I'm not able to add a separate amp for the door speakers at this time, but thank you for your advice. Perhaps I can make it clearer as to what I am asking. I would like to know the settings for adjusting the amp controls and head unit, as I have read that I should avoid "bass boost", and that it's important for durability and performance to adjust the various controls properly. Is there a "sticky post" with this info?
Thanks for any help sent my way.

Salvi

I found you the perfect amp for your sub, budget, from a great company. An amp that will absolutely murder that Pioneer and cost less! Never look at Peak power, only RMS matters.

That being said, the Pioneer does fit your sub perfectly, and if you already have it, thats fine.

The sub I found for your is the Fosgate P300-1. Its a mono amp that pumps just over 400WRMS into 2ohm in real world applications. Some buyers report much higher power still. This is absolutely ideal for your sub. You'll also have more future options if you go with this over the Pioneer.

Here is the link if you wanna take a look. Its also under $200:
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=2&series_id=6&family_id =19&item_id=108231&locale=en_US&p_status=

Now to your questions:

GAIN: Get a pro to set this up. Its not about volume, its about voltage. You can read up on how to set the gain without equipment (well, you'll need your ears), and if you feel comfortable, go ahead.

CROSSOVER: You'll want low frequencies only, you should play around with numbers below 100 and see what you like best. Once you get an amp for your fronts and limit their frequencies, you can set the Xover lower.

BASS BOOST: Don't touch it. Only low quality amps benefit from this. However, if you just want to impress some friends for a few mins, boost it for a song or two.

In conclusion, your setup looks great, but its missing one huge part, and thats a frontstage amp. Until you get that, you'll have a booming system that is unlistenable by any music-lover. Even a low power amp by a good company will make all the difference in the world. Consider getting a good 2-channel amp and run all 4 from that until you have more cash and can buy the second one. Two 2-channel amps is the same as one 4-channel, besides space requirements, but the advantage is you can start with just 2-channels and spend less cash!

north49

Thanks for the information and recommendations. Looks like I'm not quite finished upgrading my audio system until I can buy and install an amp for the front-end. My "significant other" will be ever so pleased to hear that....