Installed the PDX 4.150 amp today, and hooked it up to the S series Boston Acoustic speakers that replaced the factory Bose speakers (mounted the amp in the rear passenger side cubby - still room for cargo, or another PDX amp!). Rear is wired stereo, BUT...the guy hooking it up thought the Bose amp needed to stay in line, so he reduced the signal AFTER the bose amp and is running the doors and rears stereo, but on the same channel, so I really have no rear/front control, other than tuning the gain at the PDX amp itself. I told him after the fact that he could have gone directly from the head unit....obviously, the current install isn't optimal, but good enough for now. I'll go back to wire directly into the head unit next time I have a chance...

Performance wise, Wow. WAY better than stock, and I think way better than just changing out the stock speakers. LOTS more power, and it sounds great...even with the top down. There's a tiny bit of noise, but I think that will go away when I go straight to the head unit.

BTW....the factory subs, I think, dont get the credit they deserve. They are keeping up with the new amp just fine. They're not for rap fanatics who want to be heard a block away, but they'll do NICELY for my purposes.

I'll give more thoughts, and pics, later.

 

Glad you came up with something you're happy with. I still haven't started my project yet....but hope to soon.

 

...Can't wait to see some snap shots.

 

OK. Here are some pics. Not much to see - just how the amp fits in the cubby.





After more listening, I"m still fine tuning things. I'm VERY happy with the sound, and the volume. I can turn it up on the road and hear everything while I have the top down cruising at 70....I dont think that's very good for my ears, though.

Next step is to rewire a bit to get the signal straight from the head unit, and hopefully clean up the slight hiss I hear. I think if I were to want to try upgrading speakers, I'd try going for the best 3.5" I could find, or even trying to fit in a 4", before losing the door subs. I'm pretty impressed with them and how they keep up with the higher volumes.

 

Looks like you can stack 2 PDX's in one cubby hole. Are you worried about ventilation? Do the PDX amps use active or passive cooling?

 

Passive cooling, I believe. They are supposed to run cool, though, after a 1.5 hour trip, it was pretty darn hot. Unless I need the space, I'm keeping the door to the cubby open. And yes, you could easily stack two in there - they're built to stack onto each other.

 

I think I'll endup getting 2 PDX's for my system and stack them in the cubby hole like yours. I will probably add 2 x 80mm or 2 x 120mm fans on the cubby hole lid. This way you can keep it closed but get ventilation to it. If i could run an air duct to it that would be cool as well.

 

What speakers did you replace?
Doors and rears?
What model #s?

Did they seal the rear speaker boxes/mounts or leave them stock?

About to put a system together for a C6 Vert that wants more volume with the top down.
Thanks for putting me on the right track
Rain

 

Replaced doors and rears, kept factory subs.

Speakers are the "S" series Boston Acoustics - the 3.5" and 5.25" models.

I did NOT have them seal the rear boxes....an here's why I think it is a waste of time. I didn't understand about what the "stage" was, until I had the rear speakers rewired for stereo and turned up the gain from the amp. I was figuring, "hey, they're 5.25" speakers, they have to be better than the 3.25"s, so I'll crank them up and get better sound." Well, while they might outperform their smaller brothers, it sounded bad. Not bad in a sense of clarity or anything, but to have sound coming from behind you that's louder than the front is....well, it messes up the way it sounds. Imagine being at a rock concert, where the guitar sounds were coming from behind you, the singer was to your left, the bass was to your right, and the drums were ahead of you. I wouldn't sound like a combined band, but rather a bunch of individuals. Bottom line, I turned down the gain to keep the rears at a decent "fill" level, where they add some dimension, but don't overpower. IMHO, you dont need to make enclosures for that. If you're replacing the rears with subs in custom enclosures, that's different.

As for the "top down volume" comment, that is EXACTLY what I got. All I do is turn it up a bit when the top is down, and it sounds almost as clear as when the top is up....although, to compete with the wind noise you turn it up quite a bit sometimes, and then you find yourself turning it down at every stoplight just so you dont look like an **** (at least, I do).

This setup satisfies me at 80mph+, top down, on the freeway. If I were to change/upgrade anything, it would be trying higher end 3.5" speakers. Since the rear is fill, I'd stick with a lower-end, like the BA "S" series I got. But, definitely dont hold back on the front 3.25" - go for quality - and its such a low price item, you might as well.

What I do miss is an equalizer, where I could more finely tune things based on what I was listening to (treble, midrange, and bass dont seem to cover it).

I will almost definitely be applying some deadening material to the doors - not for road noise (it is a vert, you know) - but to hopefully get rid of some little vibrations I'm hearing when I crank it up.

Side note - I'm not really running a center channel, and I dont miss it. I might try to set it up later, though, if I can figure out how to wire it without buying a new amp.

Good luck. I hope this helps some of you.