Well, I have a 2001 Monte Carlo SS with the premium sound package. It sounds pretty decent, but my problem was clipping if I either a) turned up the bass on the EQ too high, b) turned up the volume too high, or c) did both. I figured the easiest way to resolve my issue, the one where I bring my stock speaker to within an inch of their life attempting to rip the bass from them, was to go ahead and get subs and an amp. I looked for a while and ended up getting a Sony XM-2002GTR and a pair of Sony XS-L123P5's ( 12" ).
I know, I know... "Why, oh why!? Friends don't let friends buy Sony." I never knew of any issues with Sony until I started reading this site (about four hours ago) and the reviews I read for the amp/speakers were pretty decent. Now, rather than pay for someone to install this... I figure it shouldn't be much of an issue to do it myself. So I've tried to answer the questions I had by myself via reading these forums, but I haven't quite found the answers I was hunting for. So here it goes.
1) When I actually mount my sub box in my trunk, which way should I face the subs? All systems I have seen first hand, the speakers face towards the rear of the car, but I read a couple things, and had a friend tell me that it sounds better if you have the subs face the passenger compartment. What are the sound quality differences between the two ways? Obviously it looks nicer facing the rear, but I'm more after the sound while driving.
2) Keeping the box in one spot. What's the best way to do this? It's going to be mounted in my trunk, most definately. Should I use velcro straps? Or try to bolt it in some way? I'm trying to avoid hacking at my car as much as possible, but safety is important.
3) When I mount the speakers inside the box, should I glue/caulk them to make sure it's air-tight? Or will they be fine just screwed down well?
4) I am using the factory head unit, and won't be upgrading right now. As such, I was going to tap into one of the speakers in the rear deck and run that to my amp, does it matter which speaker I use for this?
5) I am trying to avoid having to disassemble my dash to get to my stereo, since I don't have preamp outputs anyway, which leaves me wondering how to do my remote turn on for the amp. I *believe* that my cars current amp is mounted to the top of the inside of my trunk, there is an item that appears to be an amp anyway. Could I tap into the remote turn on there? Or will I *have* to run a new one from my head unit?
6) Assuming I can tap into the rear speakers for my amp input, and also assuming I can tap into the amp in my trunk for the remote turn on, can I forgo an actual wiring kit? It seems that a short piece of 20ish gauge wire would suffice for the remote turn on, and a couple pieces of 12-14g wire would be fine for tapping into my speakers. This means I would just need to get a piece 4g (?) wire to run to my battery, with a fuse? Or is there something else in the kits I would need?
7) Would I be able to mount my amplifier to my speaker box in some way? Or will I need to mount it elsewhere? As I said, I'd rather not drill/cut/molest my car if at all possible, but I want the job done right, I don't like to take shortcuts that degrade the final product, so I will do whatever I need to so it gets done correctly.
I'm sorry about all these questions, and I'm sure some of them are beyond obvious for all of you, but I really don't want to hurt my car, or my new equipment, so I'm trying to make sure I won't break anything from being an r-tard. I am mechanically/electrically inclined, and I know the basics, but the intricacies of a well-done amplifier installation are somewhat beyond me.
Any and all replies/help/tips are appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
2001 Monte Carlo SS
Sony XM-2002GTR
Sony XS-L123P5 x 2