Aren't the stock speakers some weird impedance which isn't very compatible with aftermarket equipment? I was under the impression upgrading the speakers would reduce volume. As one of my door speakers is blown, I ordered the Powerbass kit from Crutchfield. Comes with 6.5's already in a stock-like frame, even with the factory connector. They are 60w RMS, and I doubt the factory speakers were anything near that. It also came with silk dome tweeters to replace the ones in the sail panels. Everything plug-and-play.
You are correct there. It's about $530 for the dash kit with LCD climate controls and a decent mid level double-din head unit. If I didn't upgrade the stock head unit with an amp, I'd still be limited to the 20 or so watts (x4) the aftermarket head unit would supply, although I doubt the stock head unit even supplies that much. I really don't like that tiny 4" screen, but it is usable if I could get about 20-30% more volume out of it. I would actually prefer keeping manual climate controls, especially with the random issues I've heard about with these kits. Is adding an full range amp to the stock head unit a matter of mounting a small amp behind the dash, or would new speaker wires, power/ground need to be run to to a second amp in the trunk?
Unfortunately I have a v6 with 4" display base system. That's why the dash kit is needed to replace button-city around the screen. Would I need a short chassis radio, either way? A multimedia unit rather than one with a cd/dvd player would be required? The scosche setup eliminates the need for the sync module which I thought would free up a bit of space behind the dash.
It's the base 6-speaker system. 2-way components in the doors and sail panels, and 6.5 (dual cone?) rear deck speakers. 4ohms will sure make things easier, but I'd bet the RMS wattage on the head unit is possibly in the single digits.