can i hook up a pioneer tube-sub and a brand-x amp to my stock deck? sorry i know this is horribly noobish, but i am way out of my element on this kinda stuff.

 

yes you can, as in it is possible. But you don't want to. Your stereo will actually sound worse.

The best cheap stereo mod is a new headunit with the stock speakers. A new headunit has a better stronger signal and will improve the overall sound quality. If the improvement is not dramatic enough, go ahead and get an amp, front speakers and a sub. Starting with the speakers first is not your best move.

 

how will it sound worse? i kinda was just thinking of taking the base out of the deck and letting the sub do the low end, and i was told that an amp on the factory system did wonders.

i am not looking to rattle my trunk, but just want a little umph from my system.

 

This is an acceptable setup - IF you are starting with a good stock deck. I've seen this done in other cars and it can be done, however, the S2K deck is one of the worse stock decks I've ever used, so it will just amplify a shitty signal.

Replace the HU, or it'll just be loud shit instead of quiet shit.

 

The signal that comes from the Stock HU of the S2K is incredibly weak. You will amplify a bad signal to better speakers that are designed to replicate every subtle nuance of music, but in this case every bit of that bad original signal will be heard. Not ideal.


The old adage Garbage In---> Garbage Out remains true; especially in this instance. This has been tried before many times without success.

 

amplifying sub from stock deck is alright, relative to midrange and up, because you cant discern the details.... however, the problem is getting the sound to "mesh" because your stock unit will still send full range sound to the door speakers. you can get a decent deck with rca outs for 150$

 

i have now installed a pioneer 6850mp HU to my boston acoustics speakers and jl audio e2150 amp, and ican say that it is pretty good.

the bass is very deep, and it gets pretty loud.

my original upgrades were speakers (louder and better than stock), then amp (louder again, but not much clearer), and now HU, and now that i have adjusted the settings, i have gotten better lows and clearer highs, definitely worth going for all 3.

dont worry about a tube sub, just get ur fronts sorted out first with decent splits and then look for a nice HU

 

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_cleansw....php?page_id=94

 

^ Its cheaper just to get a good deck.