GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

New owner here, so I lurked around the threads and researched a bit.Looking to replace the headunit and factory sub to start. Would love to take on the amp right away.What's the best way to approach this? I would love for everything to be able to come back out and set it back to factory down the road when I pass the car on. My thoughts are right now with the Alpine CDE-102 headunit (love the separate subwoofer control), the GMOS wiring harness, Metra mounting kit, and the JBL GTO 804 sub (taken from the papacueball thread/reply). I have an amp from my previous cars that I'd love to put to use. Should I just bypass the factory amp altogether? Will the buttons on the steering wheel/onstar on the mirror still work with the GMOS harness?I'd just like to have all my ducks in a row before I undertake this.

You'll definitely need a different amp to run that sub. The factory sub is a 2 ohm driver (dual 4 ohm coils wired in parallel), and is rated for only 40 watts max. If you connect a 4 ohm sub, like the GTO 804, to the m&t amp, it's only going to get about 20 watts max. What amp did you plan on using?Replacing the headunit and keeping the factory door speakers might not be the best thing, either. I kind of doubt that the Alpine (or any other aftermarket headunit) could handle a 2 ohm load. Even if it could, the speakers may not handle the extra power it would make into a 2 ohm load(amp power will roughly double when you cut the impedence in half).The GMOS will retain the onstar functions, but not the steering wheel controls.

Quote, originally posted by papacueball »You'll definitely need a different amp to run that sub. The factory sub is a 2 ohm driver (dual 4 ohm coils wired in parallel), and is rated for only 40 watts max. If you connect a 4 ohm sub, like the GTO 804, to the m&t amp, it's only going to get about 20 watts max. What amp did you plan on using?The Kenwood KAC-8103D ampSpecs here - http://www.onlinecarstereo.com....aspxI now have to learn how to mate sound equipment better because of I want to make use of what I have available, instead of filling the trunk up. Any help? Will this amp help?

That amp should be fine, as long as you're careful with the gain on the amp(you may have to run it bottomed out all the way) and the volume knob. It is capable of putting out more than the sub will need (300 vs. 200 rms).

Is there a better suited sub for the stock setup that will give me more punch? and where do you mount another amp in this car if you are tryign to keep everything looking 'factory'?

40 watts @ 2 ohms or 20 watts @ 4 ohms isn't much for a subwoofer, so I never entertained the idea of replacing just the sub. I have an amp under each seat. The factory amp is under the passenger seat. If you remove it, there is probably room for most any 4 channel amp. On the driver side, once i flipped the bracket for the yaw sensor, there was room to squeeze a 2 channel in there.

Whats the chances you have some pics of you amp install under the drivers seat?Can I see?

I'll probably have the seats out this weekend. I'll take a few pics .

I appreciate it.Thanks much!

Awesome pics - thanks much for this. I appreciate it!

papacueball,I have an 09GT. Did you replace all your speakers, head unit, amp and sub-amp? My ears prefer "BRITE" and some bottom end punch to fill in. I'm considering replacing the fronts with Eclipse SC6500's to start and put my little RF I 185W amp on a replacement sub. Will I lose the rear speakers or render them insignificant if I do this? Or should I replace front and rear and the passenger side amp along with the sub? Is your complete setup described here on genvibe?thanks -

I've replaced everything, with the exception of the rear speakers, which I'm not using. When I get some time, I'll start a thread of my own, instead of having pics scattered all over the place. Changing the front speakers and adding another amp for the sub won't affect the rear speakers.If it's in your budget, I'd do it all at once. Monsoon is a good name for the factory system, because it really blows!

Are the door speakers of the 2 ohm ilk as well? I would like to at least change these out.

Front and rear door speakers are 2 ohm.

So has anybody simply swapped out the speakers with much better 2 ohm after markets? How did that turn out. I realize you have to drill out the rivets to remove the OEM speakers and either make or buy an adapter plate.