Newbie here :oops:
I own 2001 Astro, has factory Delco 8 speaker CD player, and it is "supposed" to have a seperate supwoofer amp under the plastic covers on the side somewhere. Now my ears are shot from many years of hunting, motorcycle riding and loud stereos in my youth. So the sound quality of the Delco is sufficient for me, except the subwoofers are very muddy. Now I was wondering, it would be pretty easy to install a 8" or 10" subwoofer in the rear doors, and connect to that factory subwoofer, the increase in efficiency should improve the sound somewhat. But I wonder, is that amp just too low powered for any volume level, and will the doors be too weak for that speaker.
Does anyone know, is this amp a bridged style capable of about 25 watts RMS into 4 ohms (which would probablly be enough), or is it a non bridged that might get up to 12 watts on a real good day. I would be real suprised if it has a switcher, and is capable of more wattage. I would like to keep it ,because of the work required to get to it and replace it, run bigger gage wire and make it neat and reliable (I am an electrical engineer, and I will not tolerate a hack job) but if I have no chance, I will replace it.
I just want better sound for my damaged ears, not interested in annoying the other drivers or SPL contests, those days are behind me. I just want a little advice, if any have experience with these.
-------------
Rod
im not familiar with the speaker setup in that vehicle but if you wanted to "add" subs for a sound quality reason you should dissconnect the stock sub amp and sub becuase you really cant mix subs. they purchase an LOC and a new and amp sub or subs. a set of 8" subs or a 10" or two would probally be sufficient for what you want to do...
-------------
Quad L Handyman services
I have a 1999 GMC Safari. I too was told that there is an amp that powers the 6.5 subs in the rear doors. It is suppose to be on the driver side, inside the side wall. I could never find it to by-pass it, so I just ran speaker wire from HU to the speakers and replaced them with 6.5 co-axe. Then of course I I installed a Clarion 1000 watt amp to an MTX dual bandpass 10". They will soon be replaced by two 4 ohm DVC 10" PG Titaniums. The amp will finally see a 1 ohm load which it is capable of. I just need to build the box.
-------------
LivnLouder by the paycheck
What Ketel said sounds like its what you want. Unhook the factory sub. The regular speakers will probably sound better without that added load on the head unit. Add a nice sub and sub amp to round out the sound, and you'll get a lot more enjoyment from your ride. Keep in mind, when you're looking at these power ratings, that subwoofer frequencies take at least 5 times more power than the regular speakers.
Look at possibly a nice sub kit like this:https://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=260-580
...with a dedicated amp like this for example...https://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?Productid=13200
The sub amp would be wired to the battery, but it would be worth your while, and be an enjoyable little project.
-------------
Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Trying to hook up after market subs to a factory amp is usless. Its like buying a Lamborgini and dropping in a 4 cylinder ectotec motor out of a cavalier in it. Nice car but totally usless. A seperate amp and sub is about the only way to do it and have it be effective. As far as putting subs in the doors. If you buy anything decent you will have to reinforce the doors, probally with fiberglass.
-------------
double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer