Need advice on new speakers

[JTDay]

Hey audiophiles, let me preface this by stating that audio/electronic stuff is confusing to me and it seems that there is no one answer for any given scenario. So I'm asking the e30 community.

What I need is a recommendation for a pair of 5 1/4" components and some 6x9's coaxes for the rear shelf, reason being that I dont have $400 to drop on the lukebox setup but I still want some bass. (The "Install a stereo for $500" option is not viable either because a PO hacked up all of the premium sound eqpt.) It's ok to have comps in the front and coaxes in the rear right?

I also need a recommendation for an amp that will handle suggested speakers. From what I can tell, I need an amp that matches the RMS output of all the speakers combined? I know there are alot of options but I want something that works in harmony together.

I currently have an Alpine CDE-9874 ( http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-CDE-9874.html ) that a previous owner installed. Is this ok or should i look for another HU?

I am probably looking at spending a maximum of about $400 (excluding a new HU).

Thanks folks,
Josh

[tghooper]

The sound stage is the front of the car...not the rear...forget doing the rear speakers and use the money for a quality set of front compenonents and decent 3 or 4 channel amp...and save money for Lukebox later down the road. You be much happier.

[AndrewBird]

Unless the previous owner cut large amounts of wire out of the car, you will still be able to do the $500 lukebox setup. There is very little he could have done that can't be undone.

I agree with not bothering with the rear speakers. The only thing they would be good for is people sitting in the back seat, but screw them. lol

You could easily go with a set of 5-1/4" components and a sub, then run it off of a single 4 channel amp, bridging two of the channels to run to the sub. Or get a five channel amp and run 4 channels to the front speakers and the 5th to the sub.

[JTDay]

I didn't think anyone was going to reply to this... I ended up getting a lukebox, the shark tooth 10", and some pioneer components for the front. I may be using the existing rear speakers (some 5.25 alpines) if I can determine they aren't garbage. They are distorting at very low volumes but idk if this is an issue with the speakers themselves or a HU problem, if such a problem exists.

And when I say PO hacked up the wiring, I mean HACKED THE FUCK UP. The stock wiring no longer exists in the car. Not even the wiring to the tweeters. I haven't removed the HU yet but based on the electrical smoke emanating from the vents after pressing the defrost switch one time I dont even wanna know what it looks like in there. The fader doesn't work either...

At this point, I just need wiring and an amp. Probably going with the Jensen that Luke recommends or maybe that Hi Fli or whatever he said was decent.

Thanks for your advice gents.

[Kevinl]

So run new speaker wire to the amp and your done