I'm upgrading my OEM nav unit to the Pioneer double din unit. I'm planning to use the OEM speakers. What amplifier should I purchase? or should I use the factory amplifier? I'm not in the market to upgrade the whole audio system at the moment. Please chime in! Thank you for your inputs!

I have an 01 turbo.

 

I chose the JL Audio XD600/6. paid around $350 from techronics. You'll have plenty of power and room to grow. I'm running 4 speakers and 2 10'' JL subs and it's powerful enough, trust me!

 

I'm just putting the same thing together as well.

Curious why youre going pioneer instead of the new kenwood dnx 6990.

I saw the obd2 based data displays and got hooked. Also, isnt garmin the tops for nav?

Just curious why you chose what you did, so that I can consider as well.

thx

 

Im not sure why I chose Pioneer over Kenwood...I guess I went with the popularity! :-)

 

I wasn't sure how much juice I should get for the amp. I was also debating between JL and Alpine. Thanks for your input.

 

I paired my Pioneer Avic Z120BT with an Alpiine PDX-5 amp. The sound is great with room to add a sub later when you feel like it. The amp is pretty small as well - it could easily fit where the stock amp was.

 

Thanks Slider...
So now is a debate between Alpine PDX-5 and JL XD600/6. Which one is better?

 

I haven't heard the JL, so I can't comment on a comparison but I am very happy with the form-factor and sound quality of the Alpine. I made a custom sub enclosure and have taken advantage of the 300 Watt sub channel. It's very nice!

 

Great discussion guys. I'm leaning back towards the avic. Are there any major changes to the new ones, or is the 2010/11 BT120/130 sufficient?

The non-nav functions of the pioneers seem really robust!

 

For me, Avic got the win based soley on the UI.

They are both very similar in price and form factor. My JL was also installed where the factory amp was located. If I recall, the JL has more RMS power available. It's probably a coin flip for the non extremest looking for consistent, quality sound.

Can't comment on the BT120/130 because I chose the 930 series solely for the volume **** and placement of buttons. The UI's are similar. The nav on my avic sucks, but I honestly rely more on my phone for navigation needs. The menu seemed to flow better when I was researching and testing both pioneer and kenwood. I utilize the shortcut menu on my avic (which is identical to that of an Ipod / Ipad app screen) very regularly. The Bluetooth is pretty descent although if I deleted my loud exhaust, the call quality would spike higher. If you use your navi ALL the time, go w/ Kenwood. I you don't rely on the nav features that much, go Pioneer. Just my .02.

 

I just tested pioneer versus kenwood at a local dealer. Kenwood boot time is terrible. 20 secs for avic and 45 for kenwood. Also big lag switching menus on kenwood. I was really set on kenwood as on paper it rocks but real life it really disappointed me.

I am happy with power of the stock amp. Why are you guys upgrading? Quality?

 

Yah the Kenwoods look awesome on paper. Bear in mind that the NEW 2012 kenwood DNX series has a 3x faster processor that makes The slow UI a thing of the past.

Agreed on the **** issue, I really think its a neccessity.

B

 

If you're using an after market amp make sure its rated for 4ohms output to match the stock Bose speakers.

 

nice!

thanks

 

+1
I have this amp and have been very happy with it. I kept the stock speakers and it does improve the sound considerably. Next step is to add subs.