Hi, im have basically noidea in regards to car audio, so hopefully someone can help me out!
Im trying to install new amp and sub for my mazda3 neo. Im just wondering how powerful are the stock speakers? If i put in an amp, will it be too powerful for the speakers to handle and damage it? Also what does it mean by maximum continuous power peak and maximum peaking power the unit can handle? What is the measure for how powerful an amp is? is it watts? what type of 4 channel amp would you people suggest?
Also what is impedence? How can u match a amp with a sub? Also is there control on the factory deck that i can control the base? i want to leave the car as much in stock as possible...i mainly listen to rnb and rap music.

 

Well if you want to stay stock then don't do an amp. You'll trash the factory speakers in no time. They are paper speakers and can't hold much. When geting an amp you need to know a few things. One is Peek power means nothing. You'll almost never listen to it full blast. You need to look for the RMS watts. Thats the continuous watts. You should get an amp that has just a little more RMS watt then your sub. That way you don't under power it, you hardly ever blow a sub because of to much power. Most of the time it's not enough power and it distorts the sub, THAT kills them.
I suggest you save some money up and get a set of componet speakers for the front, then just buy some cheap rear speakers 2 or 3 way for the back. then get a 5ch amp with a nice 12in sub. I had this set up untill I bought this car and it rocked. Make sure if your gona leave the factory deck in to get an amp with a remote bass noob!

Oh and to answer your question about impedence, thats something you REALLY don't want!!! GET IT!!

 

In your situation, you just might want to add a sub and amp. I agree with hughes412. A 4 channel will tear up your stock speakers.

Now to help you out a little down the road to an amp and sub... Since you listen to a lot of R&B and Rap, a vented box will suite you just fine.

I'll do a basic foundation that will sound really nice. I'm a Memphis fan, so I'll use a good setup with their products. It's up to you what you want to choose.

Memphis M-Class 500 D amp
Memphis M-Class 10" Sub

Now the 10" says it only handles 400 watts max... I can tell you from experience it'll handle 500 watts just fine. Plus I don't think you'll have the amp at full power with that 10" in a vented box.

That right there will give you a beautiful sounding setup. The D class amp will keep the bass notes sounding clear. And when you match up the M-Class, it'll surprise you.

Now there is a way to control your bass output from subs with your stock H/U. In fact, this is a place where many people mess up when setting up a system.

A lot of people will just throw in a amp and sub. And off they go

When you put in the amp, you'll have to use a LOC... Line out converter. You basicly splice into the speaker wires for left and right side. And hook your RCA's up to that.

Most converters today will boost your signal. So you can turn down your bass level on the H/U. I do this with my truck all the time. I have a range from -5 to +5. I keep my setting normally at -3. And put the gain on the amp around 1/2 way. This might be a little too loud, so adjust your amp till it sounds nice. But keep your bass setting low on the h/u.

Now you can loose some mids out of it... so if you want to keep them... turn your bass setting up on the H/U, and turn the gain down. Do a little bit at a time until it sounds where you want it.

I spend a lot more time tuning the system, then I do on the actual install. I have done 3 other installs using the stock H/U. And all 3 people loved my work.

 

It's always a question of what you want out of a system. If you want it to be as loud as possible, you're going to need better speakers all around 1, maybe 2 amps and a sub or 2.

If all you want to do is fill out the bottom end a bit, you might be able to get away with one sub, and a fairly small amp with a crossover on it so that the sub doesn't have to work beyond what it was made for.

Listen to other peoples cars to see what you like since you never get a true sense of what it will sound like in the store.