Need advice, How does this sound...

[Frank]

Hey guys.. I'm looking to put a good system together on a budget. What do you guys this of this?

Polk DX12 sub in sealed enclosure
Sony amp for sub, 230Wx1 bridged (the amp was free)
Polk Audio 6.5" component set in front with stock rear speakers, OR a set of 4 good 6x8's (maybe Infinity 572.1)
A 4-channel amp to drive the main speakers. Was looking at an MTX rated for 55Wx4 at Circuit City.

Since I'm not going to run anything off deck power, I was thinking of keeping the factory CD headunit. Is that a really bad idea, or should it sound OK?

Also, what do you guys think about the main speakers... I was oringinally planning to get 4 6x8 coaxial speakers, but I'm thinking it would be smarter to get components up front and just leave the stock speakers in for a little rear fill and better front sound stage? I really don't know, what do you guys think?

[Frank]

anyone?

[CatMan]

I would go with the components up front and stock speakers in the back. You can always just go and replace the back speakers later on if you want without wasting any money. As far as keeping the factory deck, that's not a good idea. The problem with factory decks is that a)they don't have much power. Usually about half of what aftermarket decks put out. b)they don't have RCA jacks which is what you need to hook an amp up to. So if you want to run an amp of the stock deck, you'll need to get adapters which are pretty expensive, and also cause you to loose a lot of the signal strength which means you lose some quality. So I would definitely replace the headunit first. Keep in mind that it's like the brain of your system, and if the brain doesn't work well, neither will anything else. What I would probably recommend is that you get a really good headunit instead of the four channel amp. The only problem is that even though most aftermarket decks are twice as powerful as the stock deck, they usually don't make component speakers sound as good as they possibly can. What I would do is go ahead with everything you planned on (all that stuff is pretty good quality), but get a nice cd player instead of the four channel amp. Then, later on, you can add a 4 channel amp to your midrange and/or replace the back speakers if you feel the need. Hope this helps!

[Iceotron]

Catman pretty much nailed it......BUT as far as your subs go, how much are they each?? B\C you can get (2) 12" Shiva's (competition SQ subs) for $230 SHIPPED....thats right shipping is free and until 12/31 get a free $20 giftcertificate to http://www.ampmanaudio.com/.
Trust me the Shiva's would blow you away. With the box they reccommend the 2 12" should hit 146+ db with an ok sub.

[Frank]

The dx12 sub I bought cost me $90. It's good sub for what I need. It's designed for a small sealed enclosure and can take 400wrms. I race my car quite a bit, so I decided that 25 pounds was the heaviest I would go on my sub box.

What I think I may to do is just get the headunit AND the amp for the mains. However, instead of getting a 4-channel amp, what if I were to get a small 2-channel amp for the components up front and just run the rears off deck power? Does that sound good?

[Iceotron]

That sounds good to me seeing as I have the same setup.......basically I have a Blau component system in front running off a Blau 70wrms x 2 amp. (2) eclipse 5x7 in rear running from deck. (2) 12" Shiva subs running off a 4 channel bridged to 2 channels 500WRMS x 2. For the subs I have a 1 farad cap and 2 red neons to accent the trunk.

[Frank]

Thanks guys, I decided to get the headunit now and worry about an amp for the front speakers later. I got a Pioneer Premier DEH-P930 pretty cheap on ebay, so I can't wait to have it installed...

[Red2KCougar]

That is a really nice deck, how much did u get it for, i am seeing like 450 bucks on ebay.. all are over 400.

[Frank]

I got it for $425 new...