rayeve Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I own a 2001 Outback that I dearly love. It has the best radio and speakers in it that the factory could provide at the time. But it's a bit weak on sound at 70 mph, and some distortion due to the (80, I think) watts (cf, e.g., the 650 watts in my recent Hyundai Azera). I stopped by an audio shop and asked how much to install just an amp to deal with these issues described above. The salesman claimed he couldn't install "just an amp" but would need to do all new speakers and Monster-style cables too. (Total cost estimate of $400 to $500). His explanation was "the speaker's might catch fire from too much wattage." I've blown the cones in more than one set of speakers in my life, but I never heard of this apparent "safety issue." Anyone know if I was getting useful information from this guy?? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbl_D718 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 You don't need Monster cables or any other super-expensive brand-name cables to install an amp. You just need an amp kit that you can get for ~$50 or less sometimes. But, amping your factory speakers probably won't do you much good. I highly doubt they'd catch on fire though. You would gain way more by upgrading your speakers too. MODS: PW TMIC, Cobb catted DP, HKS cat-back, AVO filter, Bren e-tune; Konis/Epics, Advan RCII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbo41610 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 LMFAO!!! Catch fire from too much wattage!!! Yes, you might blow a voice coil or something but it takes a lot for a speaker to catch fire. Hook it up to 240vAC and you MAY get there. Don't believe the hype re; special cables. I've done literally hundred's of installs and won SQ competitions and in the real world for the average Joe Blow, you won't get any benefit from these "high end" cables. In SQ comps though, yes they do make a difference, but I am talking in $15k to $25k installs. All you will need is, if you don't want to replace the head unit, is an amp with high level inputs, an earth cable, and a remote turn on cable, usually taken by tapping into the cigarette lighter etc. However, if you don't want to replace your speakers and work with what you've got, your best bet might be look into installing some sound deadening and remounting your speaker to give them a better mount and minimising air leaks. That way the very modest speakers can use the most out of the little power they are being fedby reducing distortion etc. The salesman you spoke to is straight up talking sh1t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc0220k Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 contrariously, first thing i would considerate is crossover! do you have tweeters? if so, you may need couple capacitors to protect your tweeters. otherwise, $100+ 50wx4ch amp, and simple amp kit are all you need! i'm not sure how many power those factory speakers can handle, but just try not to gain too much. because factory says 100w meaning peak 100w, aftermarket amp or spk says 100w that meaning rms!! capacitor calculator http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/crosscalc.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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