factory chrysler stereo questions

[George R]

i was wondering if anyone has any experience with more modern chrysler stereos. i have a 1990 dodge pick up that has a 2000 dodge caravan am/fm/cassette stereo in it. the speakers in the truck are getting kinda worn out and i want to change them.

i bought a set of boston acoustic speakers from ebay that came out of a 2006 chrysler 300c, non infinity. there are four 6x9 speakers and two 5-1/4 round. i picked up all 6 speakers for about $50 shipped. they're all rated at 4ohms so they will play on my current stereo.
they arent here yet so i can't install them, but my question is -- can an amp be added to the stock mopar stereo that i have now, and if so, do you think i'll need it? most amps i see for sale have RCA jack input, and my stereo doesn't have the RCA output.

second question -- do you think i'll need to add a small tweeter to the trucks interior with these boston speakers? will adding a tweeter on each side of the truck improve the sound quality whether its needed or not? i could mount the tweeter right next to the sunvisor mount -- one on each side of the truck.

i plan to use one set of 6x9's in the doors (original location) and either the other set of 6x9's or the 5-1/4 round in the corner of the cab (which is also the stock location) depending on whether the 6x9's will fit back there.

i never really understood car audio all that well, and i really don't know what works with what, or what will make the truck sound better. right now it sounds pretty "flat".

is there another stock chrysler stereo that would work better than the one i have now? i cant cut any of the trucks original wires, so any unit that i install will have to be from about model year 2001 or earlier -- the "square front" unit with the 2 plugs in back.

thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

George

 

[RedFish]

Most amps can be attached to rca or with speaker wires on terminals. Most stereos with rca outputs have only low level output on those cables ( like for a subwoofer ).
Easiest way to read up on all this is download the manuals for some aftermarket stereo and/or amplifiers.
Please understand that most stereos are 4 ohm per channel or 8 ohm per channel.
2 speakers at 4 ohms on the same channel equals 8 ohm load. 8 ohm load on a 4 ohm channel wont last very long.

 

[George R]

Most amps can be attached to rca or with speaker wires on terminals. Most stereos with rca outputs have only low level output on those cables ( like for a subwoofer ).
Easiest way to read up on all this is download the manuals for some aftermarket stereo and/or amplifiers.
Please understand that most stereos are 4 ohm per channel or 8 ohm per channel.
2 speakers at 4 ohms on the same channel equals 8 ohm load. 8 ohm load on a 4 ohm channel wont last very long.

Redfish, thanks for the help, man.
I guess nobody else on FABO knows anything at all about Chrysler stereos......or perhaps it depends on who is asking.
I greatly appreciate that you took the time to respond. Have a great day bud!

George

 

[67Dart273]

2 speakers at 4 ohms on the same channel equals 8 ohm load. 8 ohm load on a 4 ohm channel wont last very long.

Only if you wire the speakers in series which is not what most people intuitively would do. Two 4 ohm speakers in parallel is only 2 ohms.

 

[cudajim]

I have a 94 Dodge Ram van with an Infinity stereo and each of the 4 speakers have their own built in power amplifier. You cannot just change the speakers because the amp is not at the main unit. Your setup may be different though so check one of your speakers first to see how it's set up.

 

[George R]

I have a 94 Dodge Ram van with an Infinity stereo and each of the 4 speakers have their own built in power amplifier. You cannot just change the speakers because the amp is not at the main unit. Your setup may be different though so check one of your speakers first to see how it's set up.

Thanks Jim. My speakers don't have the amps on them. That, as far as I know, is Infinity only. My truck didn't originally come with the Infinity system.

Geo

 

[theothergarth]

As Red fish said, most (all?) aftermarket amps can be run off of speaker inputs directly, or by using a speaker level to RCA adapter that will plug right into the amp. Any time you can add (well placed) speakers that are specific to certain frequencies, you will improve your sound stage/ over all sound. This is more true with the higher frequencies than lower/sub freqs. A good set of tweets wired in parallel, as 67Dart stated, will cost little and help expand the soundstage. In comparision, one good/ well powered sub is usually enough to fill a space with bass....although some will argue you need two. Make sure you add high pass filters to the tweets. It will protect them from the damageing lower freqs and give you a cleaner sound