On all my previous (German) cars I went with this setup and it was fine for my needs, I now need to know if the STi will be able to provide the same.

• Pioneer AVIC-D3
• Sony Xplod amp.
• Polk/Momo 12" sub in that sealed acrylic box they sell.
• Stock STi speakers

I'm not looking for audiophile sound here, nor do I want to be heard vibrating a block away. I'd upgrade the door speakers, but I don't want to bother with another amp. I also want to go with the Odyssey 15lb battery eventually and don't want to deal with the headaches of over powering it.

Any words of wisdom on this setup?

 

i'd say stay away from sony amps. i hear mixed opinions but among all the installers i know including myself had bad experience with sony and kicker.
sony just overheats easy and cant handle being pushed. kicker just likes to take a shiet here and there. but sounds like you wont be pushing it so you'll be alright

stock speakers dont cut it, they tend to cut out at higher volumn like trying to mask noise from driving on the freeway...BUT you'll still be alright as long as you have your high pass filter on the deck.

 

I agree with jinorazi. SONY amps are pretty whack. Ive always went with Rockford amps. They are really good and not too expensive. The D3 surprising made my stock speakers sound better but I still want to upgrade to some component speakers in the front and 4 1/2's in the back. Do you know if its true that rear speakers are hard to find/fit because our doors are so narrow?

 

I would agree with the above. At the very least you want to upgrade your speakers to decent aftermarket ones.
And, a lightweight battery is a bad idea with any sound system upgrade, especially if you will ever want to listen to it with the engine not running. They have much less reserve capacity than the OEM battery and it's very easy to run it down to the point where the car will not start. If you're after better weight distribution along with your sound system, the best option is a full-size Optima battery relocated to the trunk.

 

All points taken, thank you.

My only concern with upgrading the speakers is the D3's inability to drive them, the headunit is only rated at 22rms. Are there quality speakers out there with that low a RMS rating?

 

you'll want to look into mb quart q series, their speakers are on the narrow side and very good. 22rms is still good enough to power up decent speakers, see how it does with your sub installed and hpf on. you might be suprised how much more your speakers can handle without any base playing on them.

 

OK, I'll just go for it... what do you guys think of the Alpine PDX amps? I want something small since I may mount it under a seat until I get the amp rack I want.

 

cant go bad with alpines, they're good...i just personally dont like amps with digital tuning crap, i want ***** goddammit! i have no experience with the pdx series, good luck though

its like bmw's idrive, confusing as hell during winter, gotta press this button then go here then press then go there then press...i'd rather have all my buttons laid out across the dash.

 

Ok, so I think I have it figured out, opinions please:

• This amp

• This enclosure

• AVIC-D3

Any good?

 

is that sub dual voice coil?
it says 4ohm, if thats 4ohm single coil then no, if dual coil, looks good.
your amp will push 220watts at 4ohm and speaker needs close to 500 at 4ohm.

the amp pushes 400watts at 2ohm so you're going to wanna match that.
getting dual 4ohm can be wired down to 2ohm. single 4ohm, you'll be stuck with 4ohm unless you get another 4ohm sub.

 

I checked out the manual section of your link and it is a single 4, so with that amp you will be underpowering that speaker if your sticking with alpine for your power then go PDX-1.600, MRP-M850, MRP-M1000, or the MRP-M650

 

i got Alpine AMP under the passenger seat and Alpine DVD player IN Dash. Never had any problem with it also its hooked to JL Audio 12 inch sub in the trunk loving it so much ... i can check model number and post it here.

 

bleh i cant wait to get my system through my accomodation at 75% off

planning on getting 1000 watts pushing mtx 9500 10inch subs.