Just a quick question: is the 10" OEM sub in the SC300's powered by a dedicated mono sub amp or is it hooked up to the regular amp which drives the 2 front and rear speakers (which would make this a 5-channel amp?)?

Looking to replace my stock sub with an Infiinity kappa perfect 10" 4 ohm sub...these are the same specs as the stock sub right? (another thread a while ago mentioned 1 ohm for the stock sub, but there was a lot of confusion as to whether that was right).

Thanks all

 

The amp that powers the stock sub is only powering the sub and nothing else. However.....if you ad the infinity sub and power it with your stock amp, I promise you that you will not like the output. It just will not sound good because you are not providing the sub enough power. Solution=add aftermarket amp withg sub and you can still use factory radio.

 

Thanks man. That was the plan. Any recommendations on a good dedicated sub amp? I think the kappas are rated at 250W RMS...trying not to spend over $200, 300 at the max.

 

what you need is a good 600.1 amp which would be perfect for your 2 subs(you have 2 right) they would both be seeing around 300 watts each. One that comes to mind right outta the box is the JBL 600.1 which can be had for 150 or less used or even new. check ebay. Go to forum.sounddomain.com and check out the "amplifier issues" section. There you will probably be able to find a guy that has the kappas and find out what amp he is using.

 

Or actually, I was thinking of getting a 6-channel amp. It's an infinity rated at 56W x 4 + 107W x 2
I think this should be ample for my needs, the only question is do you think this setup will sound good, i.e.) 1 amp to power them all?
lol that sounds like a lord of the rings promo line

 

No just 1 10" sub which will replace the stock sub in the stock location (unless I run into size/gas tank issues). The amp I mentioned previously to power them all (except tweeters which I will not be replacing now) is here: http://www.cardomain.com/item/INFREF5760A

 

I see no reason why the amp wouldn't work(except for price tag) I will go ahead and say that the kappa probably will not fit in the stock location. You will see once you pull out the stocker sub. I went ahead and built a box for mine. Another reason why you do not want the kappa in the rear deck is due to the free-air purpose. I do not know much about the sub but I don't think it was designed to be used without a box( I could be wrong) It will sound much better in its own box with the stock sub removed so sound can fill the cabin. When you decide to install the stuff let me know and I will be happy to guide you through the process.

 

Well actually the free air requirement was one of my parameters during the search for a sub. The pioneer free air isn't being made anymore which is why I decided to go for the more expensive infinity and then do a complete infinity upgrade.
I do see what you're saying about the box though, have thought about it myself and am almost sure there will be fitment problems in the stock location. However I'd really like to keep what little trunk space we do have in these cars if I can so a box will only be built if the sub hits the gas tanks.
On the other hand I also don't want to spend a whole lot of money in labor costs for cutting the panel to fit the sub. This was also the reason why I have chosen to go with 4" speakers in the back since these will only be rear fill. In the fronts I am planning to go with 5.25". I've seen some people on here fit 6.5" up front with extensive cutting, but from what I've gathered 5.25" should not be too much of stretch and require too much cutting. In fact I believe they can be fit into the stock baffles after some shaping but I will find out for sure once I have all the parts on hand and take them to the shop. Planning to install the rears myself...basically will be trying to install most of these items by myself to save on labor costs.
Sorry about the long post, just giving you as much background as possible since you seem to know what you are talking about and I may well have to take you up on your offer to walk me through the install process.

Edit: this is the sub I was talking about: http://www.cardomain.com/item/INFREF1030W
Notice the free air recommendation

 

ahhh ok... you did have a free air sub picked out.. There was one guy on here that fit an aftermarket sub in the stock location by building a baffle of some sort in order to raise the sub up so it would't hit the tank. It turned out nicely.a little searching might find the thread. But yea let me know when you need help. Im gonna see if I can find my old thread about installing aftermarket equip.

 

Yep I read that...he made like 3/4" offset using MDF I think...some material of that sort. It actually even fits perfectly under the stock sub grill with the high mount stop light...this is what I was planning to do if I ran into fitment issues

 

just checking but you have the pioneer system right??

 

Yes the Pioneer premium with the 12 disc changer

On a side note...did you replace your fronts with 4" or larger speakers? I'm reading conflicting info about how much of a hassle fitting larger speakers into the stock plastic baffle might be...some people with lots of experience on here don't recommend higher than 5.25" for an easy, good-sounding fit, while others have managed to mod it to fit 6.5" speakers.
Obviously bigger is better for me so I'm just wondering what kind of work this will take...definitely some dremeling/cutting required right? Might just have a shop do this...I have no cutting tools or experience with them

 

As of right now, I have not replaced my front speakers. I had bought a set of really nice Vifa 5.25 speakers and thought I could get them in the hole but no luck. THe process was going to take more time and effort than I wanted to deal with. Those vifas were rather beefy. If you build a baffle to mount the speaker on, that wont really work either because then the door panel wont fit over the new speaker. They can be fit, just get out the hand tools and fill up the cooler with drinks.