amp i don't really have an opinion on. lots of ways to do the amp right. a used jl audio 300/4v2 is what i did, gave a guy 200 for one off craigslist. i tend to stray toward the JL slash amps or the phoenix gold xenon amps, both used simply because they have regulated power supplies, great crossovers and are very clean and do rated power. some amps...just are kind of harsh and i never really warm up to.

morel is one of the best names in hi-fi, they are often compared with dynaudio and focal. they also have one of the best cone midranges ever in their higher end auto suprimo components which are $5 grand a set. some of their home speakers, like the fat lady are works of art. google morel fat lady if you want to see something cool. they are all carbon fiber enclosures that are tuned to play along with the drivers



the kicker 08KS6502 can be had for 157 online and is one of the direct competitors to the c2 but i have no idea if they are better, louder, or much of anything, have never heard the two side by side. i would assume the kickers are louder just based on the KS line in general. the focal 165as is a competitor to the morel tempo but you also jump up to that 250 mark in most places online.

all comes down to what you can spend. just to juggle money i think you would be happier ditching the 10w3v3 which you're probably paying 200 for in place for a $65 RE audio rex10v2 the re audio rex specs pretty decent, it just won't take as much power as a w3 and that's okay if you're just using the bridged 2 channels off a 4ch amp. put that extra money into a good component set like the morel tempos, or the focals, or even JL c3's. it's very very easy to get bass response in a corvette. a good front stage is what will really bring your music to life.

think about it this way. the human ear can hear 20hz to 19-20khz

the average sub plays 30-35hz to 80hz in the average car. that's barely over 1 octave. really good subs like the w6, w7, peerless xxls or others can go to 20 no problem but that's more money

your components play 80 to 20khz which is virtually the entire audio spectrum our ears can hear short of the lower 2 octaves which are 80 to 40 and 40 to 20

 

How much $$$ is OP willing to spend TOTAL for sub/components/amp

If $600 is your limit, the items Dennis mentioned would sound pretty good at that price level:

Give us a list of any parts you may have already purchased, along with a MAXIMUM additional cost for all remaining parts, then we can talk specifics

 

I've only got the sub so far used for $125
I still need a box. Like vettenutz in the cubby, this will be another $225 if they run the holiday deal again on Labor day like they did on the 4th. I don't see any CVT c6 boxes on Dennis's site.
I'll spend more on components up to $300 if it's really worth it for more volume over the C2's if they're worth double the price. C2's I can get for $150. If i'm already spending the money, $100-$150 more just for a little bit more volume over stock isn't worth it, it'd have to be noticeably more.
Then, there's the mids. Do I want them or ditch them? If I get an amp to go in stock location, then i'd need an amp to power another set of components for the rear. Would it be louder with better rears or ditch them and spend more for better fronts?
Still need amp which I stated earlier in the $200 ballpark like the PN5 or Power Acoustic.

Not trying to win any comps of course. Previous c5 had 1 jl 10w3v2 powered by Rockford Punch 500. Stock fronts and rears off Bose. Bass was good, but highs were terrible.


This setup is already looking like it'll be over my original budget of $700.

 

buy the amp used. lot of jl 300/4s come up for sale. the v2 sells for 200-250 and the v1 sells around 150-170. there's even a phoenix gold xenon 100.4 on ebay for 180 used with free shipping. the xenon will outperform a 300/4 but they are also a little larger. really kick *** SQ amps though


the c2's could work for you, IF you also use the c2 coaxes in the rear. beings you can't fade with a single 4ch amp when you have a sub running off the rear two you can create your own fader with resistors. earlier i mentioned using morels for my rear 5.25s, they are louder than the c2's but i addressed this by using 6ohms of resistance on the + side of each one. you can get 8 20watt 20ohm resistors on ebay for $4.80 shipped. use 4 on each side to create a 80watt resistor that's 5-6ohms. this will bring those speakers down somewhere around 6db and properly set your front stage.

if possible go listen to the morel tempo 6, jl audio c3 6.5's and focal 165a1 or p165v15. in fact woofersetc actually has the focal 165a1 components on clearance for 229 shipped and these were a 350 set of components before the p165v15 replaced them

 

Ok. Let's say to keep costs down, I do the C2 650 components in the front, C2 525x coax for the rear fill and want fade capabilities. How many channels do I need and how much power? I want to do this with one amp if possible and one that can either fit in the stock Bose location or driver's side cubby.

 

to make this simple you really want a 5ch amp, that means you won't have to rig up resistor networks or anything else to fade. you want a small 5ch amp, that means one of the new micro digital amps

jl audio has one but it's not cheap, the xd700/5 which is around 500 dollars. i know that double d guy sells a lot of the kenwood 5ch amps and at your price point it may be a best buy. may also ask about a combo with the amp and the c2 setup you're thinking of, see if he will price match to sell it all. fosgate also has a few micro digital amps in their lineup

power comes down to how much you want to spend

yet another option if you're a jl audio fan is to use the c3 components up front only which cost similar to the c2 front and rear combo. you then could use a less expensive amp like the xd500/3 which can be had new online around 279 dollars. this is a neat little amp that's very small and pumps out 2x75w and 200x1 which would work well with c3 components and you're existing sub

system would also be 100% JL which could be a perk for resale

 

I'm assuming you're keeping the stock radio, right. So if you only have 4 channels of output... split the fronts to supply the sub then get an amp that has a remote sub control ****. Problem solved. You can fade to get as much or as little rear fill as you want, but it won't mess with the front/sub blend (which is the hardest to get right, so don't mess with it once you find the sweet spot). If you can't find an amp you like with a remote bass **** you can always just use the gain **** to set it, or get a Pac LC-1 (which you can run wire to any point in the car with). All this is assuming you amp the rears, which you don't really need to do.

Re the volume.... Compared to stock, even without amped rears, ANY component set with 50wRMS or more will absolutely blow stock away. Find an amp/speaker combo that can cleanly put out 100w and your ears may start to bleed if you crank it with the windows up. "Compared to stock" isn't an issue. What he's saying is the C2 aren't quite as loud as other brands at a comparable power level.

The 10w3v3-4 is recommended 100-500wRMS. If you're already leaning towards the BAMF1600/4, it will put out 360wRMS to the sub (just about perfect for that sub IMO) and 150w to each component set. I would be looking for a component set that is rated for more than 60wRMS. The Polk MM6501 cost about the same, sound pretty darn good, and are rated at 125w.

Just a few things to think about

 

correct, the c2's are still a nice sounding speaker and will be night and day better than stock. like not even on the same planet. they just won't produce the volume of the morel tempo or the c3. using 4 c2s though as he's talking about could be a way to address this. using multiples is absolutely the best way ever to increase spl. if you ever look at exotic home theaters, they don't have one huge subwoofer. they have half a dozen 12s and multiple mids and tweets. this allows you to produce a lot of spl without really needing as much power as you might think

but

amplifiers are still a concern if he wants to run 2 sets of highs with 5.25s in the rear and 6.5s up front. to have the capability to fade he'll either need a 5ch amp, OR, the knowledge on how to design L pads for the rears.

using a 3/4 ch amp would be great if he just used front components but tying the fronts and rears together on 2 channels means no fading unless you use L pads. you can fade highs to sub well enough on the electronic controls but that's it

 

Ok. The JL amps are out of my budget. Even used.

If I have a 4ohm w3, did I get the wrong impedance to get 2ohm power? I still don't understand the impedance thing.
Will the c2 combo work at 2ohm, with the sub being 4 is basically what i'm asking or do all speakers have to run one or the other?

 

impedance is resistance and are labeled in ohms. if you wire 2 4 ohm drivers together in parallel you get 2 ohms. parallel is both + and both - hooked together. if you run 2 4ohm speakers in series you get 8 ohms. series is the - from one speaker and + from the other to the amp and the remaining + and - linked together

if you run just the c2 components in the doors you will be at 4ohms on the highs. if you run the components AND the coaxes on 2 channels of a 4 channel amp you will be at 2ohms and if they are ran on separate channels of a 5ch amp you will be at 4ohms. see how that works? seperately they are 4ohms but tied together you can make it 2ohms

as for the sub, if you have an older DVC w3 that's 4ohms you can wire the coils in parallel to get 2ohm. if it's a single voice coil w3 like the w3v3 they are simply 4ohm

your amplifier can run any mix of 4 and 2 ohms. the front 2 channels for the highs could be at 2ohms and the sub at 4, the amp does not car, power output on unregulated power supply amps goes up the lower the ohms go, but so does heat and current. regulated amps play virtually the same at 1-2-3-4-5 ohms.

remember you can always use your digital multimeter to check ohms at the wires before you secure them to the amp

 

So, I couldn't get the w3v3 4 to to run at 2ohms to get that amp's power at 2 ohms, i'd have to get a 2ohm w3?

 

or you would need 2 -4ohm w3v3s

or you could get an amp like the jl audio 250/1 or phoenix gold xenon 400.1 for a sub amp. they often sell for 100 used. they put out the same power at 4 or 2 ohms