Sinalire

I have a 2000 Pontiac Firebird 2 door coupe that a picked up a few years ago. gloss black paint, black aftermarket wheels, red brake calipers, and a ram air hood. I've come to the conclusion it's finally time to upgrade my sound system so it's as nice on the inside as it is on the out and i'm trying to do it all in 1 fell swoop.

New sound deck will be a Clarion CZ302

The new stereo speakers for the front and back will be a pair of Alpine 6 1/2"

Now the major question here is what to do about the big part of the sound system. I'm also looking into buying an Amp and subwoofers. I'm 90% on my Amp but i'm shaky on the rest. This i intend to place in the back behind my back seats, since i have no where else to put them. The amp is a
After that my indecision has really sent me Downhill. I want either 2 or 4 Kicker CompR 8" or just 2 Kicker Solo-Baric L7 8"


As a music person i like music with clarity and range and i despise Bass Bumpers that cant even hear anything over the sound of their skull rattling. I'm worried buying 4 CompR subs would be overkill but buying an amp like that for just two would be a waste of energy. Thus i've also entertained the thought of taking two subs and bridging them to consume 2 of my 4 channels, and then using my last 2 channels to bridge in something else, such as two tweeters, two mid range, or two tweeters AND two mid range depending on the Watt and Ohm demand. though i've never even heard of someone running 4 speakers in a 2 channel bridge, so a 2 channel bridge and the remaining channels dedicated to 2 each?

I'm sure you can see my confusion here. None the less the ultimate goal here is Bass without too much and maybe something to add to range and quality. I can already see here that the overall task is gonna put me up to if not over $1k in this overhaul so money isn't a huge issue atm, but lets consider this roughly my budget area in order to avoid overly expensive recommendations.

PistonHead

If you really do "like music with clarity and range and, despise Bass Bumpers that cant even hear anything over the sound of their skull rattling", I'll give you a heads up. .......This builds sound like exactly that.

I'd pick a head unit that has three sets of pre-outs first off.

Get yourself a 4 channel amp to power your speakers.

Maybe use those Alpine 6.5's for the rear speakers (although I wouldn't).

Get yourself a set of 6.5" components for the front.

Get yourself a modest mono block amp for the sub (or subs if you want).

And unless your set on 8" subs, pick up a 10" or 12" and build the appropriate box.

You can do this on a budget. Such a nice car you're starting with. Take your time, get a few pieces at a time and end up with a nice system that compliments the car.

Later,
Brad

Sinalire

The Head Unit is the Clarion i linked above. It doesn't have 3 sets of pre outs but it has 2 set with 2 channels making it a 4 channel / 2Volt deck.

I didn't know anything about component speakers until you mentioned them above so i didn't even consider those. Here's where i get a little lost though. Are you saying to get a 4 channel amp and using those to power my door and sail speakers instead of just letting them be powered through my deck like usual?

The Lanzar Vibe i linked above is a 4k watt, 4 channel, bridegable, 4 x 500@ 4 Ohms and 2 x 2k @ 4 Ohms bridged amp. I'm sure that could run damn near anything i put into those panels but i'm just trying to clarify. I've only been researching Ohms, Watts, Rms, bridging, and nearly everything else for about 2 days now. So to say i've never heard of someone doing that wouldn't be saying much.

So the general is to fill the standard slots with above standard speakers with an amp to power them with a single Class D mono channel amp to power 1-2 subs on the side?

I like it better than mine already if that's what you're getting at. Plus i'm only looking into 8" subs because I have very limited space in the back. The back seats are only 2.5" taller than where my "trunk" begins and its only about 2.5' to the roof. I'm looking at canting them at about a 45 degree angle in the corners to maximize space. Otherwise my space is extremely limited unless i choose to cut out some of the plastic interior and sit the subs over my wheel well. and then i'm looking into a very custom box and possibly dynamat if my limited research has anything to say.

PistonHead

The advantage to having three sets of pre outs is being able to control everything that is amplified from your head unit. If you only plan on amping the sub and hopefully the fronts as well, then two pre outs would work and youd still have all the control, just run the rear speakers off of the decks rear speaker outputs.

Yes, I'm saying to run your door and sails off of the 4 channel amp. You don't have to, but at least run the fronts off an amp.

Take cheap amplifier ratings with a grain of salt. They seem to just pull some number out of the sky and say, yep! That's what we are gonna rate it at. Some common sense and keeping with better brand names will ensure you get what you are expecting.

Do you not have a well sunk in the back of your car? If so, there is plenty of options to fit a sub in the back of your car.

Passenger side:


Drivers side:


Ones that take up all the room in back:



There are plenty of pre made ones available for your car, but with a little work, you could make your own.

Hope that helps.

Later,
Brad