'24 Sport Audio upgrade - bitten off more than I can chew?

[Senex]

While I'm impressed with the beautiful screen in the factory radio, its output is weak. Being Black Friday season, I spoke to Crutchfield and got a package that should fix that. I'm not interested in adding a sub, I don't care for the thumping. I just want to hear music a little more loudly. So coming tomorrow is:

Memphis Audio SRX300 4x50W RMS amp
PAC LPA-E.4 LocPro Advanced Line Output Converter
Kicker KSC350 speaker pair for dash top
Alpine S2-S40C speaker set for the roof bar
Big 'ol pile of wiring, fuses etc.

Crutchfield sent me a 30 page pdf showing how to change all the components, and initially I misunderstood, thinking I would need to get to the back of the factory unit. Which means having the dashboard out. I think that's a bridge too far for my skills.

However, I now *think* it'll be a bit easier. Am I right in thinking that I need to disconnect the existing speaker wiring *at the speakers*, extend those wires to the LOC on its input side, RCA from LOC output to amp input, and then speaker wire from the amp's output back to the speakers? Also need power from the battery to both LOC and amp, and possibly a remote line.

Is that correct? seems like much less work than having the dash out in its entirety. Still going to be a pain to run all that wiring to wherever the LOC and amp go (under front seats, maybe behind rear seats?).

The other thought is that I could just replace the speakers and return the LOC and amp, but I am not sure if that would give me any more loudness, just better clarity. But might be wrong.

Thoughts and advice welcomed - thanks in advance!

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[Radio Guy]

I was a car stereo/2-way radio installer a long time ago and its not fun work. Its also very risky until you get a lot of info on different vehicles so you don't break stuff when taking radios out of the dash or pulling cables. I dread working on my own vehicles these days knowing what can go wrong.

Another thing to consider is most current vehicle audio systems are engineered for that particular vehicle with experts choosing equipment and testing the results before turning it loose on the public. At a consumer level its hard to know how something will sound until its installed and sometimes it doesn't work out. Simple things like swapping out a low budget dash speaker for a more expensive one usually results in better sound but for a major upgrade I would hope the chosen system has been installed and tested by someone and proven to sound good before you buy it. Otherwise it can be a lot of $$ for not so much improvement.

 

[King Nothing]

So here’s my 2 cents. If you want to make the installation as easy as possible, return that Memphis amp and whatever LOC that you got and buy an amp like this with speaker level inputs That allows you to eliminate the LOC altogether and simplify the installation. You can pull your signal from the factory speaker wires, run 16g back to the amp for signal, and run 14g from the amp to power your speakers

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_161A6004/AudioControl-A600-4.html

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