I replaced the stock headunit with a 9857 a year ago and was pretty pleased. I debated on upgrading the speakers and finally did so this weekend. I went with the Alpine PDX 4.150 amp and Infinity Reference 6.1 speakers.

I am completely blown away by the upgrade!!! The difference is AMAZING!

I did the 4 channel amp in case I wanted to add a sub later, but these speakers actually do a great job on the lows... so I'm still debating this.

I ended up installing the amp in the Styrofoam tool well (I liked the install by KCtheflish).

Advice for anyone else attempting this... It's not that bad, but it takes the good part of a day. I ordered an amp install kit online and kind of regretted it. It just didn't have enough wire and I had to go out and buy more. I should have looked and the lengths of the wire prior to ordering and figured out what else I needed. Running the wires into the door was a bit of a pain, and I've got the little cuts on my hands to prove it. A fish wire was a big help.

This is a great forum. There was so much information here that I could reference that it really gave me the confidence to do it myself.

I bought everything online ($385 for the amp and $200 for the speakers) and couldn't be happier.

One question... I used the old speaker basket to install the new speakers. These obviously provided water protection for the old speakers, but now the Infinity speakers are somewhat exposed. Should I be concerned? Should I buy the baffles and cut the bottoms out? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I just wanted to give my feedback on this upgrade... well worth it and I'm pretty proud that I did it all myself!

Michael

 

I have my Kappas naked for almost 4 years, and no water damage problems at all. Dont stress.

 

I just got the perfects and love em.

 

Where did you buy this?

 

nice.. i love my kappa'a perfect too =)

 

I bought the amp from:

http://stores.ebay.com/Audio-Club

I searched and he currently didn't have any auctions going for one, but he did have the 2.150.



I have a sub question for the experts just so I understand...

Since I have 2 channels left and can bridge them, does that give me an equivalent of 300watts into 4 ohms? Is this enough to drive an Alpine type R sub?

Thanks
Michael

 

Yes, simply installing new speakers and a quality HU will do wonders for the S. Adding amp power and a sub will fill out the system if you want to go all the way.

300w should be plenty, but you need to think about enclosures for the sub and what you want to do with your trunk. I like http://darksidesubs.com/ V1 - I have a 10" eD sub that I love.

 

Yes bridge the two rear channels to drive a 10" sub. You will like the sound.