Radio Upgrade

[98chevy2500SS]

The Kicker KSC650 series is a good bang for the buck:

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Kenwood and Pioneer are good choices too. Kenwood's speakers, in my experience, lacks bass and they need to be paired with a sub to get the full effect. I also suggest getting a sub. I have a single 12" Skar VD-12 sub in both of my trucks:

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Of course, you probably wouldn't need to go that big, a 10" sub would probably be fine.

Edit: I'm not sure why the links are turning into the media format, still don't like this new site refresh.

 

[Spareparts]

How about this amp with a powered sub?
Thanks for the suggestion. Ill give them a look.

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Alpine makes pretty good amps. I personally have the Alpine MRV-M500 amp in my 96, it's only powering my sub though, not the door speakers.

 

[618 Syndicate]

How about this amp with a powered sub?
Thanks for the suggestion. Ill give them a look.

50x4 RMS, Alpine makes a good product. A powered sub would work well for your purposes.

 

[Spareparts]

Ok well ordered that amp. Looks like it will fit my purpose good enough.
I'll have to wait to get the speakers, but that's not a big deal really as that will give me time to install the radio and amp.
Think ill take a seat out and lift the carpet up to run wires and mount the amp under the seat. Good idea?

 

[Spareparts]

So i wonder if i made a mistake buying that amp?
The Pioneer radio i bought says the output is 50w X4
The Alpine amp says its output is 50w X4 @ 4ohm. 70w X4 @ 2ohm
Does this mean i pretty much wasted money on a amp that will not really provide any benefit?
Sorry im trying to read and learn all this stereo stuff as i go along but it's kinda confusing.
So as i understand it 2ohm sounds louder than 4ohm. I can use either 2 or 4 ohm speakers, but the ohms need to match all 4 speakers, correct?

 

[Zseventy-one]

The power output on your radio is probably peak power not rms. The amp will produce much cleaner sound. On my single cab obs I'm probably just going to get a powered sub for under the seat and go from there.

 

[df2x4]

The Pioneer radio i bought says the output is 50w X4

That's a peak rating, you want to look at RMS wattage which is a continuous rating. The RMS wattage of that Pioneer (and pretty much every decent in-dash radio ever) is much closer to 20W per channel, not 50W. The Alpine amp you got is 50Wx4 RMS (at 4 ohms), so over double the power of your Pioneer radio.

So as i understand it 2ohm sounds louder than 4ohm. I can use either 2 or 4 ohm speakers, but the ohms need to match all 4 speakers, correct?

Basically, yes. Lower ohm speakers will be louder because the amplifier will deliver more power to them. Be aware that not all amplifiers are stable with 2 ohm loads or less though, and even ones that are may run hot in those circumstances.

 

[Spareparts]

Thanks guys.
I'll look for 4 ohm speakers as that sounds like the best option.

 

[HeavyAsAChevy]

Kicker 47KSC4604

KS Series 4"x6" 2-way car speakers

www.crutchfield.com

Put these in my 96 and are pretty happy with them.