Speaker/Amp Replacement - 05 LS THX/Nav

Jabbernyx

Jabbernyx

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Hello all. Been lurking here for a little while now and just recently got an 05 LS V8 with HIDs and THX/nav.
Bought it with a non-functional door speaker amp (apparently fried) but the sub and sub amp are still working fine.

Will be installing a Pioneer X910BT headunit and was wondering what would be some suggestions for the door speakers and 4-channel amp?
I plan on keeping the factory sub and sub-amp (pretty sure I can wire it up with the pin-outs that a LVC member gave me and a self-built
5V regulator circuit on the turn-on line to remove the subwoofer pop), but not doing anything crazy like QuikLS, 1LoudLS or 04SCTLS :p

Looking at some threads here on LVC, I've seen the Infinity References and Kappas mentioned. I think non-component speakers would be
preferable so that I don't have to go digging holes in the interior. How do these look?
http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_1086829CF/Infinity-Kappa-682-9cf.html?o=p&showAll=Y&tp=105

Also plan on using as much of the stock wiring as possible to keep things simple/neat. Would these work to hook up aftermarket speakers
to the stock wiring?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Metra+-...597222&skuId=3866409&st=1999 and up ford wire

Last but not least, the door speaker amp. How would the built in amp on the X910BT fare? Is it worth it to get a replacement stock THX/nav
amp (if cheap enough)? I heard that you would get inteference even when manually wiring an aftermarket HU according to the pin-outs because
the stock amp is simply incompatible with anything other than the stock THX/nav HU (but don't know whether this is true). Basically looking
for a solution that would be at least comparable to the factory THX setup.

Many, many thanks for your time and keep on rockin' LVC! :cool:

BTW : Does anyone have any old-style LVC decals to spare? My 05 LS V8 is silver and I would love having the "factory look" like this guy here :
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showpost.php?p=575227&postcount=724 No offense, but the new style decals are kinda fugly.
 
the kappas are real good, yes those are the right speaker harnesses.

there have been a few people that have hooked up an aftermarket radio to the THX systems with no problems (if you do get a factory amp)

the avics internal amp wouldnt sound too bad, all though no where near as good sounding as the THX, it might be a tad underpowered for the kappas, they tend to be a little more thirsty that the reference series. i would probably look at getting a good quality amp instead of trying to find another THX. the 5ch kappa is a good one to check out, very small, efficient, and has great sound quality. you could use the fifth channel (mono sub) to drive the factory subs or even replace them (at the same time or later) with a real sub or even deeper and better lows. and it would be easy to put it in the location of the factory amp and use the factory wires to run through the car.

we actually just finished up doing a co workers Lucerne with a AVIC Z110BT, a Kappa Five, two pair of Kappa Perfect 6.1 components, and a Kappa Perfect 10DVQ, and let me tell you, it sounds like angles singing
 
Thanks for the reply! :)

So basically everyone who has ever interfaced an aftermarket HU to the factory THX/nav amps has had to manually splice the correct pins on the factory harness into RCAs to connect to a HU's pre-amp outs?

I'm a little clueless as far as amps go. I should be able to do a drop in replacement of the factory 4-channel amp as long as I don't get too crazy on the power right? (IINM stock is 50W x4). Would you suggest any amps besides these that I was able to pull up as being compatible on Crutchfield?

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R475A/Infinity-Reference-475a.html?tp=115&tab=features_and_specs
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_136J23204/JL-Audio-J2-320-4.html?tp=115&tab=review
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500MRPF300/Alpine-MRP-F300.html?tp=115&tab=review

The Infinity Reference 475a looks to give the most ooomph within the price range, but I'm concerned by all the reviews (both on Crutchfield and some other forums) on how hot it runs. Also, would its 75x4 drown out the factory subs/amp setup and would the power levels of the JL and Alpine match up well with the factory sub? I guess I should also say that I'm looking more for SQ and SP.
 
all of those amp are pretty good, between them i would probably go with the JL as their stuff always seems to be bullet proof. i have had a few of those alpines that will not play when they are very cold(winter time)until after the amp warms up, alpine said that it was designed that way, the thermal overload circuit work both if it gets too hot or too cold. any 4our channel amp will work and they all will need the same amount of work to make them function(new power and grounds and rca signal cables)

i wouldnt be too worried about having too much power, because you will still have the loudness you would like to listen at, and if the more extra power the amp has that your not using, the cooler it will run and the better it will sound.
 
No worries about that. I just like using Crutchfield to window shop since it is fairly audio n00b friendly :) Will most likely end up getting all the stuff from SonixElectronics, since that's where I'll be getting the silver Metra 2-DIN dash kit, PAC-SWI-PS (they're about the only place with the 1.6.8 in stock for proper VR support on the Pioneers) and Metra 72-5600 speaker connectors.


Also, didn't mean to limit the amp selection to just those 3 models. They were just what Crutchfield spit out that weren't too cheap or insanely expensive ($500+). Is there any other brand/model that you'd recommend for around the $200 price range? I'm certainly open to going higher as long as it is inline with the quality of the speakers (ie no $4000 amp and $40 speakers :p )


1LoudLS said:
any 4our channel amp will work and they all will need the same amount of work to make them function(new power and grounds and rca signal cables
Click to expand...

Any chance of just completely reusing the factory amp wiring if I don't go too crazy on the power levels?

Thanks so much again for your help! :)
 
Jabbernyx said:
(they're about the only place with the 1.6.8 in stock for proper VR support on the Pioneers)
Click to expand...

be aware that the 1.6.8 only does VR for the Z-series, the F/X series do not support this feature, however they will do the BT for either answer a call or end a call

Jabbernyx said:
Any chance of just completely reusing the factory amp wiring if I don't go too crazy on the power levels?
Click to expand...

the only factory wire you will be able to use will be the speaker wires, you will have to run your own signal wires (RCA's) because the connectors are going to be different, and highly doubt the the factory power wires will be sufficient to power the new amp(new power wires are the easiest of all the jobs because of the battery being in the trunk).

i was going through and i seen a couple of Boston Acoustic amps for a really good price, they always have good soung quality, but i really do dig the JL's there amps are always beasts, even there cheap line, is much better than most companies good stuff.
 
first i would suggest to keep the THX head unit its better than most aftermarket HU out there. but you can get a aftermarket amp and speakers. i have infinity kappas for my subs but i still have the factory door speakers and factory amps..
 
its really tough to say which is better, they are both good companies, and the products are both from there secondary lines, i personally like the JL a little bit better, there products have always been real top notch and super heavy duty.
 
Thanks for all the help! Settled on an Infinity Kappa Four and 682.9cf speakers to go along with the factory sub/sub-amp.

Originally wanted the JL J2 320.4 but the lowest price I could find at a place that had them in stock was $199.99 (@ Crutchfield). Found someone locally selling the Kappa Four brand new-in-box for $250 - for the small price difference, it was hard to pass up :)
 
I have the Avic F90BT with Kappas in the doors all powered by the JL Audio 900/5 amp. The Kappas are very detailed and you will need power on them. The head unit along will not be enough for these speakers. Don't how much you are willing to spend on an amp but for the power and size of the amp that I got, you can't beat it.
 
LeaSr77 said:
I have the Avic F90BT with Kappas in the doors all powered by the JL Audio 900/5 amp. The Kappas are very detailed and you will need power on them. The head unit along will not be enough for these speakers. Don't how much you are willing to spend on an amp but for the power and size of the amp that I got, you can't beat it.
Click to expand...
That's good to know. Is that the HD900/5? If so, it looks like the Kappa Four can deliver about the same amount of power (minus the 500W for sub) so I should be set :)
 
chocolat1701 said:
first i would suggest to keep the THX head unit its better than most aftermarket HU out there. but you can get a aftermarket amp and speakers. i have infinity kappas for my subs but i still have the factory door speakers and factory amps..
Click to expand...

hi choc1701 thanks for all the usefull posts!do you got better sound with the kappa that you put replacing the thx sub speaker ?also you look like having good idea about the subs amps and speakers!is it complecated to change the rear amp and the speakers ?change weiring and things like that??? in other words if i put a new amp and the kappas that you have is it a plug and play operation ? i think yes for the rear speakers but i don t know for the amp?
 
@m999wc - the infinity kappas as rear subs sound good but the oem sounds better since they are a true free air sub. there is a 6x9 free air subs available but I had a set of kappas in the basement so I used those. the main thing is that the oem subs are 2ohms and most free air subs are 4 to 8 ohms so you will be cutting the power. OEM are better. the only hard thing was that the oem 6x9 hole is a little bit smaller so I had to grind and shave some off so I can make the hole a little bigger so it could have a better fit you can also use spacers if you don't want to make the hole bigger. the connections are simple get a volt meter or just go to crutchfield and get the OEM to aftermarket speaker adapters just in case you want to go back to OEM setup.
 
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