clubsport

I need opinions on just how bad a system with Alpine; CDA9856 headunit with four SPS-17C2 coaxial speakers will sound, if only driven off of the hu's power. Mind you, the music I listen to is mostly mids and highs "acoustic" type stuff, NO pimpy-G rap, NO hardcore death metal and NO techno. So I do not mind a lack of "hear me coming from 3 miles away" ghetto style bass. But I still want sufficient volume on those mids & highs. Is 18 watts RMS @ 1% THD enough for those speakers??
I want to avoid an amp if possible, since even the smallest, affordable 4 channel out there (Alpine MRP-F250) will not fit in a 4th gen f body anywhere forward of the rear well area. I DO NOT want to deal with all of that wiring/length. Besides, I'm trying to reduce the weight of this car, NOT increase it with 400 lbs. of sound equipment! I will rip out all of the Monsoon crap I possible can and use 12 or 16 ga. wire to the speakers. I plan on putting 2 in the front door, 2 in the sail panels and nothing in the hatch area (again, I don't want/need the booming/glass cracking bass "fill"). The car is a no-option (I mean BASE/STRIPPER; not even a rear window defroster) 2000 Z28 6 speed. What do you think??

Šenial™

I dont think it would sound that bad.. If i might make one suggestion though, if i were you id go with the cda-9835 witch was last years high end, they can be found for pretty damn cheap now on ebay and such seeing as how it was a $600 head unit new, you get a whole "4 extra" watts per channel then normal head units, i believe its 28, witch doesnt mean jack **** but if your powering everything off of it, it could make a difference

clubsport

Thanks!!

Šenial™

no problem man, let us know how it all turns out

clubsport

The only other speaker(s) I was considering are the Focal 165cv. Opinions; would these be a total waste driving them off of an Alpine hu's internal amp?? They are actually 1db better sensitivity than the Alpine 17C2, if that means anything. I realize the Focal component systems should ONLY be driven with an external amp, right?
Thanks in advance.

Šenial™

They probably would be a waste getting them and just driveing them with the alpine, its not they can ONLY be driven by an external amp, im sure hooking them up to your head unit wont do any damage, just you wont get the full potential out of them as opposed to powering them with an external amp that can constintaly handle as much power as they need

clubsport

OK. I wanted to avoid an amp at all costs, and still do, but I WILL NOT use an amp if it MUST go into the rear well area. HAS ANYONE SUCCESSFULLY PUT A 4 CHANNEL AMP (of ANY brand) ANYWHERE FORWARD OF THE REAR SEATS IN A 4TH GEN. F BODY??!!! If so, where??

PentaVolvo

should be able to slip somethin under passenger seat

blkbrd

somthing i did for a customer once was pulled his passenger air bag out and installed the amp behind the airbag cover.
that is a option if you dont care about passenger airbag.

clubsport

Thanks, that might be an option as I already deleted my driver's side airbag to install my Sparco steering wheel. Did the amp heat up a lot in that location??

clubsport

I have the system installed now. Alpine CDA 9856, Focal 165 cv coax fronts, Alpine SPS 17C2 coaxes in the sails (with ALL of the tweeters aimed at the headrests). All wired with Stinger 16 guage, and Stinger Roadkill sound deadening just behind the speaker areas. I think it sounds GREAT!! (at least compared to an aged, blown front speaker Crapsoon system) Granted, it would sound 150% better with a fine 4x60-75 watt amp, but by playing with the myriad of adjustments on the hu, I can get it to where I'm very happy! Besides, I'm already losing my hearing, a clean powerful amp that tempts me to crank it up would probably kill off what cilia I still have left in my ears. I do believe this is the best sound one can get without completely tearing up the car and running hundreds of feet of wiring, as well as 150 lbs. + of equipment!! I did pull out the Crapsoon amp (that thing is soooo light, I'm suprised it's putting out 1 watt!!) and the hatch speakers, but left all the other wiring just in case a purist ever buys this thing from me and feels the need to reinstall the stock crap.

BTW; does anyone know the THD rating AT PEAK, for the 9856, or do I have to call Alpine?? (If they would even know or tell me. No, it's not in the manual specs.)