It is a pain. I did find a rogue installer who was able to tap the 1V output right in the circuit board of the head unit, so I was able to keep my head unit. My car is a 2005 Acrua TL.
I have 3-way DLS Iridium speakers up front.
Left the rear speakers as is.
ADS old-school 12" sub (much nicer than new stuff)
5 Zapco studio series old-school amps
Tru Trechnology 4-way active crossover (no longer made)
Zapco SX-Sl line driver/crossover/equalizer
I went all-in because I did not have good situation for a home system when I did this four years ago. I would not go as extravagant now.
The mids are 6.5's on the DLS's and I could almost get away without a sub. If we worked on the getting the set with 8's in the door - then for sure. They do come with a very nice passive crossover - so one could do a pretty simple one-amp/passive 3-way set up and be very happy.
Focals were out for me. I would never put metal tweets so close to my ears.
The class D amps are definitely worth a look for auto systems these days due their efficiency. A second (sealed) battery in series is also nice as it adds some oomph and acts like big capacitor.
Elitecaraudio used to be a hot forum, but seems to have died down. YOu may need to search for the best current fourm.
I have 3-way DLS Iridium speakers up front.
Left the rear speakers as is.
ADS old-school 12" sub (much nicer than new stuff)
5 Zapco studio series old-school amps
Tru Trechnology 4-way active crossover (no longer made)
Zapco SX-Sl line driver/crossover/equalizer
I went all-in because I did not have good situation for a home system when I did this four years ago. I would not go as extravagant now.
The mids are 6.5's on the DLS's and I could almost get away without a sub. If we worked on the getting the set with 8's in the door - then for sure. They do come with a very nice passive crossover - so one could do a pretty simple one-amp/passive 3-way set up and be very happy.
Focals were out for me. I would never put metal tweets so close to my ears.
The class D amps are definitely worth a look for auto systems these days due their efficiency. A second (sealed) battery in series is also nice as it adds some oomph and acts like big capacitor.
Elitecaraudio used to be a hot forum, but seems to have died down. YOu may need to search for the best current fourm.