I'm hoping that someone here can help me. Last year, I installed a Custom Autosound Concours series USA-630 radio in my '84 Monte. Right now, I'm still running it through the original front & rear speakers. I'd like to upgrade to better speakers, but still the original sizes, and I'm going to install a pair of 5.25" speakers in the lower part of the front doors with a Buick Concert II type install. Some people are telling me that I'll need an amplifier to run all 6 speakers. Is this true? According to the specs on the radio, it says there is 240 watts 4 X 60. I'd rather go without the amp, I'm not a diehard audiophile. Is there a type of replacement speaker (or speakers) that will allow me to do this? Thanks in advance.
Radio speaker upgrade
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You run into a problem running 3 pairs of speakers off the head unit as they will only have 2 sets of wires coming out ( front and rear ). So if you are driving 4 speakers off the 60w of power for the front speakers for example then logic states that they will each receive only 15w of power.
It can be done but will likely sound crap due to underpowering the speakers. If you do end up splitting the power and feeding both the door speakers and front speakers off the same line ( amplified or not ) then install some bass-blockers so you don't fry the in-dash speakers with too much power ( or spend the extra $$ and buy the Infinity Kappa series as they come with a built in crossover )
Way back in the late 80's and early 90's Pioneer and Kenwood used to sell 4x10's for the rear and matching 3.5's for the front which sounded pretty good ( according to my memory ). Really though anything would sound better than the stock paper speakers.
Maybe you should sell me your Concert II door panels LOL
It can be done but will likely sound crap due to underpowering the speakers. If you do end up splitting the power and feeding both the door speakers and front speakers off the same line ( amplified or not ) then install some bass-blockers so you don't fry the in-dash speakers with too much power ( or spend the extra $$ and buy the Infinity Kappa series as they come with a built in crossover )
Way back in the late 80's and early 90's Pioneer and Kenwood used to sell 4x10's for the rear and matching 3.5's for the front which sounded pretty good ( according to my memory ). Really though anything would sound better than the stock paper speakers.
Maybe you should sell me your Concert II door panels LOL
In addition to what axisg said, I'll add this: you will need to look at the ohm load of the head unit. I can't imagine it will handle anything lower than a 4 ohm load. If you hook up 2 standard 4 ohm speakers to one channel (parrallel), you will be putting a 2 ohm load on that channel. Generally speaking, this could raise the distortion level and/or blow out that channel if it's not made to handle it. You could run a set of speakers in series, but this will typically reduce the power level from the source unit (2 4ohm speakers series wired = 8 ohms)
You say you're not an audiophile, but I assume you are looking to improve the quality of the sound system? Otherwise, why start adding speakers?
I would just get yourself a nice 4-channel amp to handle the stereo. You can get pretty good deals these days on sites like Online car stereo and Sonic Electronix. IMO, the "right way" to do what you are asking is to get the amp.
You say you're not an audiophile, but I assume you are looking to improve the quality of the sound system? Otherwise, why start adding speakers?
I would just get yourself a nice 4-channel amp to handle the stereo. You can get pretty good deals these days on sites like Online car stereo and Sonic Electronix. IMO, the "right way" to do what you are asking is to get the amp.
I wouldn't bother with the dash speakers if your putting the ones in the doors. Look around, you can find 5 1/4s mids and tweets with the tweeters mounted in the center of the mid.
Another thing to consider. Without an separate amp, your head unit will always be running quite hot because of the internal amp. (I run a 50 watt x 4 deck in mine) and sometime after pulling a CD out it's so hot it almost burns my hand.
And a set of low powered 4x10s will be good enough for the rear. You can probably get away with just running the rears off your deck and get an amp for the fronts.
Another thing to consider. Without an separate amp, your head unit will always be running quite hot because of the internal amp. (I run a 50 watt x 4 deck in mine) and sometime after pulling a CD out it's so hot it almost burns my hand.
And a set of low powered 4x10s will be good enough for the rear. You can probably get away with just running the rears off your deck and get an amp for the fronts.
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