OK, so will 5x7 fit in the front doors without hacking them up at all?

And how are Alpine speakers? They get pretty good reviews online, and I went into Best Buy the other day just to get a real life sample of their sound quality, and they sound pretty good. Then again, I'm not a professional audio installer so I don't have a whole lot of sounds to compare them to.

 

I would do what was recomended and not get 6x9's in the rear unless you can get it to fit factory. You will have a hell of a time cutting the rear deck and will probably mess it up seeing how you have no install exp. It looks like you have 6x8 all around so I would go for either the 5x7 or 6x8 if you can find some. You also could go with 5.25" speakers and just buy brackets for the 5x7/6x8 holes. Alpine isnt bad, but I wouldnt limit yourself to just that brand. Rockford Fosgate is good, and if you have the money you could go focal (best option) or mb quartz or similar. Honestly, I would just pay someone to do the install, it will save you a huge headache in the long run.

 

I plan on buying all speakers and units, then having someone else install them as I can get them a lot cheaper online then instore.

Alpine doesn't have any 6x8 units, so I'll take a look at those other companies.

 

Yeah online is usually good, just remember that you wont have a warrenty on the products from the store that installs them, which sucks if you blow a speaker you have to go through the online company. Also, like I said, if you are set on alpine, you can look for either 5x7 or 5.25" (I am almost sure any stereo store will either have pre-made brackets or can make you some brackets to fit your speaker hole size. Good luck man. Any other questions just let me know.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll tool around the local car audio places here although sadly most of them are ghetto dog joints. I'm not the most comfortable with these hood rats working on my car.

How about the head unit? Will it have enough power to make efficent use of the speakers?

Also, assuming I don't add an amp or anything other then the head unit and speakers, there will be no resistors or any soldering required? It's not that I'm afraid to solder (I took a soldering class a few semesters back) it's just another thing I'd have to account for if I do.

 

No you wont have to solder anything but I would highly recommend getting an amp to power the speakers, the head unit will at most only be putting out 20 watts RMS per channel and the speakers will probably handle 50 or more rms per each. Is there a bestbuy or cartoys or etc anywhere near the area? If so I would try there if you are unsure of some of the local places.

 

Yes there is a Best Buy, and honestly while they're probably not the most experienced installers, they're the guys who I'd trust the most around here.

After reading around, looking at reviews, and going to some places for sound test comparisons, I've settled on the Alpines. The Focal ones are nice, but just too expensive

People also say I won't be able to tell the difference between 5x7 and 6x8(9) so I plan on just getting 5x7 all around so no hacking of the car will be required. Turns out the front doors only natively support 5x7 or smaller.

So with that all said, I plan on getting 2x pairs of ALPINE Type-R SPR-57C.

They also have a 5 1/4 size speaker as well SPR-13C, I'm not sure if there would be any advantage of getting those over the 5x7 or not?

Amp wise, I see there are speaker amps and subwoofer amps. If I get a speaker amp, can I still run it off the primary battery? Any recommendations on what brands, or specific amp I should get to power these 4x speakers?

Edit: Also, can someone explain to me just how the amp rating works? If I have 2 pairs of "2-channel" speakers, and I want an amp to power all 4, do I need a "4 channel" amp? The speakers have 4 ohms, so whatever amp I get would have to be rated for < 400 watts @ 4 ohms right so I don't blow out any speaker by having more then 100w pushed through them? Not that I plan on running that much power into them in the first place, nor can afford an amp that expensive. My budget for an amp is $180 tops.

 

Thats why I asked about bestbuy, there install might not be top notch but they know their **** and arent shady. 5x7's will be fine, no difference in sound quality. When getting an external amplifier you will need to have an "amp kit" put in to power the amp, it should come with everything you need for install. Alpine is good, but basically you could go for the cheaper brand amp and buy the bestbuy warrenty and it wouldnt make a difference. Just make sure you get an amp that will sufficiently power your type R's. The differences between speaker/subwoofer amps are exactly how it sounds, one is made for speakers, and one for subs. I have an alpine pdx-5 which has 4 channels for my speakers and a seperate channel dedicated to just a sub. (5 channel amp)

For your final question basically you can buy a 2 channel amp that is bridgable to 2 ohms, that will allow more power to be sent to each "set" of speakers, or you can buy a 4 channel which will have each speaker running into its own channel at 4 ohms stereo. Honestly, with those type R's you are going to want a more powerful amp. (when shopping for speakers and amps you want to pay attention to RMS/continuous power, that is what really matters as far as sound goes).
Try this site for those speakers and browse their 4 channel amps. This is where I buy all my car audio. They are usually the cheapest.
http://www.woofersetc.com/p5245/SPR5...t-Speakers.htm
I think this amp would suit your needs very well and is within your budget.
http://www.woofersetc.com/p6250/MRPF...-Amplifier.htm

I think I covered everything, if you have any other questions feel free to hit me up.

 

Thanks for the info, it's greatly appreciated.

I've already found a place to buy the Type R's (around $80 shipped a pair) and I think after reading what you wrote, that I want a 4-channel amp so that way each speaker will be getting it's own channel. So I'm looking for 4-channel amps with higher ratings at 4 ohms.

Would this Pioneer amp be a little better then the one you linked? It has 60w @ 4 ohms vs. 50w @ 4 ohms that the Alpine does. It's a little cheaper as well.

 

Ya that amp would be alright however when you take it in I would tell them that you want to have the speakers bridged to 2 ohms so you can get 75 watts rms out of each speaker. (since the speakers are rated at 100 rms per it will give you alot better sound)