OleStraightStick

I’d love to sink a ton of money into a full upgrade at once, but with house projects in the works and a baby on the way, I simply can’t do that..

So I recently bought a set of JL C2-650 for the door speakers (my passenger woofer is blown, sounds like *** & distorts), a metra speaker harness, as well as a set of cheap plastic adapter plates.. they aren’t too thin, so I think they’ll suffice once I trim the mounting holes enough to fit the speakers..

Here’s the adapters I have:

Has anybody used these?

Next question.. I will eventually order a double din bezel, probably the metra one, and a double din receiver.. but for now, will the factory unit be able to drive those speakers at all?

& I don’t really plan on running any of the speakers on an amp.. I’m fairly certain a new receiver will provide plenty of power for my listening.. will the metra speaker harness that goes to the door speakers still require a PAC ROEM harness if I’m not using the factory amps? I’m still learning how the audio system in the c5 functions.. never messed with it and I’m tired of the crappy bose, shitty speakers, and stone-age CD player..

I’d also like to add a small amp and maybe a 10” sub someday down the road.. how easy would it be to install without ripping the whole interior apart? Seems like most of the audiophiles run an intricate wiring install underneath the carpet, to each speaker and subs.. is there not a way to simply run power to the sub?

Thanks y’all!

OleStraightStick

no suggestions or ideas?

racebum

the easiest way to upgrade sound in a c5 on a budget is with a pac converter on the stock deck, however, if you do this you will also likely want a cheap line driver / eq like a clarion eqs755 which is often on amazon around 60ish dollars

you can use factory wiring for the mids and tweets. if you have the c2 front components and also decide to do the same as a coax for the rear you'll only need a small amp. the c2 gets in trouble even crossed over correctly above 50w or thereabouts the voice coils overheat and they can pop. often times if it's clean power and you aren't physically beating them to death you will smell them before they pop giving you ample warning

if you wanted to really do a budget system you could use the c2's front and rear, get a rockford fosgate punch p400x4 for $200 via amazon. use the front 2 channels on the c2s and the rear 2 for a sub. the rear coax c2s you can balance with resistors since you won't have a fader. a pair of 4ohm 25w resistors ran in parallel makes a 50w 2ohm resistor which you place on the + side of the speaker wire. this cuts the rear sound down about 1.5db keeping your front stage sounding like a front stage. those resistors are under $1 each. now pick out a 4ohm subwoofer and you're set.

choose if you want to stay OE with the deck or go double din now. kind of a waste of money to setup the OE deck if you plan on changing it soon

1. rockford p400x4 $200
2. jl c2 coax $99
3. stinger wiring kit for amp $30-40
4. resistors $4

there's an inexpensive bargain start

OleStraightStick

Oh I will definitely go with an aftermarket double din.. hate the oem deck!

racebum

do this 1st. the only reason to stay oem is cosmetics. keeping everything factory correct. if you don't care about that go aftermarket. my 3 favs are

1. alpine 960hdmi $550
2. kenwood 9904s $550
3. sony xav ax100 as low as $349

sony is a winner for a budget system. sounds good and very functional.

SQ wise pioneer is my least favorite

TheProsecutor

Alpine iLX-207.
If you are ever in Daytona, stop by. You can listen to my barely decent system. ~$3k in equipment alone.

Rob 02

I like the android head units. They are cheep and do everything. You have to trim the Metra bezel a little on the sides to get them to fit but no big deal.

02BlownZ06

If you pick one of the 3 Racebum suggested you will be very happy.

Gadget01

Powering speakers directly from a head unit technically works, but if you want anything that you can listen to at some volume AND sound similar to what the artist intended, get an amplifier(s). Go to a professional installation shop and price some options. If you know what you are doing, DIY can save you a great deal of money. If you don't know what you are doing, DIY will cost you more money vs having a pro do the work for you.

For the DIY route, being patient and waiting for good deals on used equipment can save about half the cost vs new. Wait until you have all the hardware you need. I have pieced together systems in almost every car I've owned. The above is what I wish someone would have recommended to me. I'm sure I would have probably ignored it and made the same silly decisions though.