Amp and sub advice needed

Hi all,

My daughter has decided that more base is needed in my van, so after plenty of ear bending I have decided to take the plunge during some interior mods and install a sub. I spoke to an audio shop and they have sugested that a 10" sub would suit best (12" being to boomy in the large interior) and a 4 channel amp to drive the rear speakers and the sub. The current setup works fine and I'm not after huge base, just an improvement on the current system. I thought I would consult the experts here for some feedback. I have in the van at present the following:

DEH-P3550MP Pioneer deck, 2 x TS-A6957 6x9 Pioneer's (180 watt) front plus 2 tweeters, 2 x TS-A6960E 6x9 Pioneers (240 watt) rear. Have been recommended a Sony XS-L102P5 10" sub and an Infinity 7540A amp. The sub would be fitted at the rear between the two rear seats in a custom box.

My questions are:

Should I go with the 4 channel amp and drive the rear speakers and the sub or go for a smaller amp to drive the sub alone.

Would the sub box be better as a closed housing or should I make it ported.

Is the speaker combination a good setup (6x9's front and rear) or would another setup work better. I bought the 240 watts and then was given the 180 watts the following week so used them.

Many thanks and look forward to you input.

eww, sony stay away from that! And audiobahn for that matter, two of the most despised brands on this forum, generally speaking.

Extra set of tweeters up front will cause cancellation from the 6x9's. That is a low blow from that shop. That is a waste of money without a doubt. 6x9's up front are ok, but the putting a nice component system up front would be much more satisfying.

Most importantly you need to demo the gear first and make your choices based on what you like and how it sounds not based on peak power ratings!  

Hi Guy's,

Thanks for the advice. I've also heard that Sony Xplod are more like Sony EXPLODE but just thought I'd confirm that. I think I'll steer clear of Sony and look at other brands you've recommended.

Can you explain exactly what you mean by components for use up front. I guess this is something like seperate base, mid and high end speakers as opposed to the 6x9 3 way. Is this correct. I'm pushed for room up front with the current layout which is why I put the 6x9 pair up front. However with the rebuild I'm looking at I could definately look at changing the layout to give me room for seperate speakers.

Many thanks,

Garry. 

Many thanks Trucksystem. I'll look at going the component way. I can always use the spare 6x9 pair in the rear of the misses car as her rear speakers are getting a bit stuffed.

Cheers.

Thanks dwarren. Not too worried about adapters at this stage as I'll resite the components with the new layout so the existing holes will end up being filled. The 6x9's are mounted into an overhead console but I'll probably install the components down lower into the dash area. All the van interior and front area is custom made not no problem in chopping anything up.

Another question. With going down the component track I guess the front set will still be driven off the deck unit, and the original idea of adding a seperate sub driven off an amp still holds good?

Cheers.