Well, I upgraded my HU to the Alpine 9830 and the speakers to Infinity Reference 6000CS to increase the volume for driving on the highway with the top down. While this did improve the situation, if I turn it up to the volume I want, the sound gets distorted.

Would a small amp help this? Would an amp work with this equipment? What would be a small inexpensive amp that I could fit under the passenger's seat? How hard is it to install (while I did the speakers on my own, the HU with modifrys was just beyond my ability)?

 

Most any 2 channel amp would work with what you have, but it won't fit under the passenger seat. There a huge bump under the passenger seat, but a small amp will fit under the driver's seat. It's pretty easy to install, the hardest part was running the power wire through the firewall. But there's a complete write up in the FAQ...look for it. Helped me greatly.

Question, did you replace the speaker wires when you did you install? Also, you got the infinity 6000cs speakers, make sure your amp matches the speakers in watts and ohms. Search bestbuy, circuit city, outpost.com, local car audio store. But if you think you'll upgrade to rear speakers, you might wanna get a 4 channel amp.

Oh and after you get a amp, you'll have to turn the "gains" too. There's instructions on that in the FAQ as well.

 

Does anyone have a similar set-up with an amp? suggestions?

 

Depends on your experience. Once I heard 100W/ch to seperate components in door and 2 X 100W bridged mono to 10" sub in trunk, it's hard to do with less. I could sure use the trunk space taken up by the sub, but the sound is SO much better with the amp and sub.

 

I have something like that.

I am running a half size sony amp, which is sitting behing my passenger's seat back.

It's used to power the polk speakers and tweeters in front, i am planning to add two more rear speakers in the future.

the only reason i want to keep this set up is because i am not that concept about sounds quality that much, since it's a convertible, engine whine, wind noise, etc.
(i have a coupe that i am running aftermarket hu and speakers, but again i am not big in ICE) plus, i want to use the oem radio control and my car comes with a new six disc changer.


to break it down to you:

PRO: working oem radion control panel, works with oem changer, much more noise/power to the aftermarket speaker when top is down, i can run my ipod in my amp directly.

con: HU quality sounds, not much "boom" or bass compare to a small sub setup.

 

I actually have more room in my trunk using an aftermarket HU and changer....



Flush mounted to the back of the trunk, and it works great using the DCI. I can change disks, skip tracks, fast forward, rewind, and change sources using the the factory dash controls. The only time I need to even open the radio door, is if I want to access a menu to change settings....or see what time it is

If you want to keep your spare, you could just do a half rack on just the drivers side.

Of course this is getting off topic a bit.....To the original poster, a small amp will definately help! You should check out the new Alpine amps, their new digital ones put out a lot of power in a REALLY small design.

The PDX 2.150 is only 10"x7.5" and puts out 150 watts x 2 That would get you some volume.