Putting together a sound system

[68coupe]

It's been a long time since I was involved in putting together a sound system. I started with a discreet 4 channel Pioneer CD-4 system, 4 Sansui speakers 4 channel turntable and Akai 4 channel reel-to-reel. Not too many people these days even know what a reel-to-reel was. Then on my 40th birthday I bought an Onkyo surround sound system. Front speakers, rear speakers and center channel. You could get VHS media for it for about 2 years. LOL

Now I have purchased an Alpine CDA-9856 head unit, two Alpine SPE-6090 6x9'S, and a JBL GT122D 12" subwoofer (from a previous life). I'm looking at buying two Alpine 6.5" SXE-1725S speakers for the doors.
The head unit is 18w RMSx4, the 6x9's 75w RMS ea, and the 6.5's 40w RMS each. I think the subwoofer is rated at 140w RMS.

I have gathered these components on the cheap, a little over $100 when I buy the 6.5's. I don't have any idea where to mount a 12" subwoofer in a 68 Barracuda! LOL Probably above the metal v-brace of the rear firewall. I may just leave the upper part of the rear seat out. The head unit is mp3 capable, so I plan to use a 4 gb Phillips mp3 player as my input rather than the CD player. I don't listen to the radio very much.

What I need to know from the audiophile experts is what I need to tie all of these components together. I don't plan on normally using the subwoofer except at maybe a car show or gathering. Do I need to get a power amplifier to go downstream of the head unit? Do I need an amplifier for the Alpine speakers or will the Alpine HU handle those ok? Or, should I just get a power amplifier for the subwoofer? Is what I have collected so far reasonably compatible? Do I need a 2.1 jibber jabber plutonium based suboptimized power pusher thingamajig?

Any information will be appreciated, seeing that I am clueless from this point! It is fun to put this stuff together - if it works! Thanks guys!

 

[mopar79sean]

At the least an amplifier will be required to power the sub. The head unit will power the 6.5 inch and the 6x9 inch fine. If you could find a four channel amp that was around 50 watts RMS your 6.5 and 6x9 speakers sound quality would improve. They would have more control and play louder before distorting.

All that said the four channel amp is not a requirement. The subwoofer will need an amp no matter what. You can pick up a 2 channel amp that you can bridge or you can pick up a mono/1 channel amp. An amp wiring kit with RCA cables will be needed if you run an amp. An 8 gauge kit should do fine if you run a single amp. If you decide to run two amps I would get a 4 gauge kit.

One more amp option is a 5 channel amp. I recently did two installs using Massive Audio 5 channel amps and I have been very pleased with them. They have a very good noise canceling circuit and output plenty of clean sound. They play loud for no bigger than they are. With the 5 channel amp option a 4 gauge amp kit would be recommended.

For the sub I would probably pick up a 1.25 cubic foot non ported enclosure and point the cone of the sub toward the rear of your car. I think you have a fastback so I would put the sub box up against the back seat. The rear facing sub is a very common way of install and the sound output is often times better that way.

 

[Pentastarnut]

i'd go the 5 channel amp as well

 

[TrailBeast]

Just to answer your question about the sub, most just have the box loose in the back of the car and some mount the box.
In either case it will need it's own vented inclosure and not mounted on a surface like we used to do it in the old days.