looking to upgrade system, dunno where to start.

I am wanting to upgrade my sound system but I am lost in a sea of information. So far here is what I want to do.

Head unit: Pioneer DEH-80PRS

Front speakers: Alpine SPR-60C

Amp: kind of lost here, do I get a 3 channel amp to run with a sub? Or get an amp for just my speakers and 1 for my sub?

Sub: Leaning towards an Alpine type r 10", nothing crazy but something better than my R2D2 sub I have now.

As you can tell I don't want an insane sound system, just something I can enjoy much more than stock one at the moment. Audio is the one area of vehicles I have yet to delve Into so any advice is appreciated.

 

Sounds good and as for an amp I would run a jbl or pretty much any decent amp would work for you.

 

80PRS FTW. Good Choice.

 

You're lost in a sea of information, because there are so many options out there and everything is adamant their recommendation is better than everyone else's.

My two cents:
You're off to a good start with HU, speakers, and sub. I wouldn't change any one of those. 3 channel amps are pretty rare these days. You're going to find more options doing either a 4 channel amp with rear channels bridged to sub, or doing a 5 channel amp and bridging the four channels to your front speakers.

The dilemma you'll encounter is that most 4 channel amps won't provide enough power to your sub without overpowering your front speakers. Personally, I would feed that sub at least 400W (more if you can swing it). Which means you're buying a 4 channel that will provide more power to your separates than they really need. You will need to be very careful with the gains to your front speakers to make sure you don't accidentally overpower them. If you go with something that provides less power to your front speakers, then it most likely won't provide enough power to your sub.

The JL HD900/5 and Alpine PDX-V9 are popular 5 channel amps that provide 4x100W + 1x500W. You can bridge the front channels to provide 2x200W to your front speakers. Again, just be careful with gains. These amps will be versatile in the future if you ever decide to add rear speakers or possibly run your front speakers active.

If you can afford it, I suggest you go for the HD900/5. It's compact, very clean, and produces reliable power. If you can't swing that, then try for the PDX-V9. Don't let their small size fool you, they both will pack a punch.

 

That deck is overkill if youre not trying to go crazy. A huge plus is that youll never have to upgrade to another one. Check the vids on youtube. If it all makes sense to you then go for it. Where u putting that sub?

 

I've always been told to never skip on the head unit, plus never having to upgrade it is nice.

I plan on removing my sub that came with the truck and making a custom box. I want to hang it where the old one currently is to hide the holes; or what's more likely to happen is remove the rear console and have it on the the ground and have it facing up at a 45 degree angle up. I hate that they screwed the previous sub to the back trim panel which means to hide the holes I will have to vinyl wrap that section.

The thing with amps are they kill my budget, I don't mind spending a couple hundred. But the ones I always find that are 5 channel cost as much as the rest of my system it seems like. That's why I was wondering if running seperate amps, one for the speakers and one for the sub would work.

 

Separate amps will definitely work fine. I only recommended 5 channels, because they're convenient all-in-one solutions. I was planning to go the dual amp route until I found a nice 5 channel at a killer price. Now my JL 500/1 and Alpine PDX 4.150 are looking for a new home.

How much are you looking to spend?

 

I can find the sub for 60, speakers for about 120, HU is like 220-280. I would like the amp to be 300ish.

 

The Alpine MRX-V70 5ch is $338 on Amazon; Kenwood KAC-7005PS is $214; Kenwood excelon x700 is $218. Youre not going to wake the neighbors but theyre both solid and fit the budget.

 

You can definitely run two amps. I wanted to buy a 5 ch amp when i installed my system but later decided to get two. i have a mono amp for my subs and a 4ch for my speakers. together they cost me the same as the 5ch amp and had a lot more power. I have a rockford fosgate P1000X1bd and

$258 PBR300X4 Punch 300 Watt 4 Channel Boosted Rail Amplifier

PBR300X4 (which is real small and easy to hide if you only planned on room for one amp). You would just need a 2ch amp instead of the 4 unless the access cab has rear speakers too.