Surprisingly, the stock audio in this car sounds pretty good, and if I didn't have a sub, amp, and head unit already laying around, I'd probably leave it alone. I've read all the posts in the car audio section, and now have some questions:

1) I was going to get new speakers for the front doors and rear deck. I was going to get some higher end ones, and thouht they would need an amp to power them to get the best sound, but now I'm wondering if an amp is that necessay? And if it is, would there be that much difference between an underpowered nicer speaker a properly powered not as nice speaker? I'm thinking if I don't have to get an amp then that money could be better spent on a nice ipod that I can hook into the car.
2) I want to retain the steering wheel controls, and have seen a device that allows you to do that, but my sony head unit has to have a specific type of remote in order to make sure it works. Anyone know where to look to find the model of remote? Is it just on the underside of the remote?
3) I have installed a complete stereo system before, but I mostly worked on the subwoofer and amp part of it. I don't really remember doing much as far as wiring the interior speakers. How difficult is this? Also, I may end up just getting a shop to install it if I think it's going to not be worth my effort. How much should I expect in labor costs?
4) Any ideas for good locations to mount the sub and amp (or amps if I need another for the speakers)? In my old car, it had a fold-down armrest that opened into the trunk so I mounted the sub so it faced into the cabin, which sounded awesome but 1) took a lot of trunk space, and 2) the accord has a complete fold-down rear seat which I don't want to block with the big tie down holding the sub. I mounted the amp on top of the box, I guess I could do that again, but where to mount the sub so it's out of the way in the trunk and also with what? And I need to know where I could mount another amp if I need to.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for your help!

1) getting a 4ch amp is not necessary, in every situation. You don't HAVE to get one. Keep in mind you can always add one later.

2) no comment on the steering wheel controls.... personally i detest them

3) i work at best buy, here is what we charge
head unit: 49.99
speakers (pair): 32.99
amp (2 channel for sub): 54.99
amp (4 channel for interior speakers): 61.99
there is no tax on labor charges

now for the parts:
you'll need an amp kit for the amp... depending on how large the amp is, they start at 90.99 and up
if you plan on adding an amp, go ahead and spring for the dual amp kit....
two sets of speaker harnesses for the speakers in the door and rear, which are 6.49, so 12.98
for the radio you'll need a dash kit and harness, both of these are 18.49 each

so i could get nice interior speakers now and just not use them to their full capacity? they'd still sound ok without the amp? like if say they handle 50rms but their only source of power (the HU) only gave them like 25rms, they'd sound ok?

destest steering wheel controls? lol..seems a little harsh. in the end i may just not worry about it. the adaptor is fairly expensive just to keep 3 buttons working.

ah, best buy. here's the problem with best buy. i actually bought my speakers and sub amp for my old car at best buy. a friend and i were doing the install ourselves, and he was taking too long with the sub part so i went to best buy to see how much it'd be for them to just finish installing the amp and sub. they wouldn't do it because not all my wires were from there. the fuse, fuse housing, and rca cables were fromt here, but the hot, grounding, and the wire that tells the amp when to turn on and off with the car wires were not. the guy said they couldn't install it because they couldn't issue a warranty on an install that didn't use all best buy wires. i even asked if i could just not get the warranty and he said no. i think that's pretty ridiculous. i assume circuit city is the same way but i haven't asked. see, i already have the amp with all the wires running out of it and the sub is wire up into the box and everything, i just dont' want to pull with running the wire from the battery through the wirewall, through that car blah blah blah, and then mounting it all the in trunk. i don't need a kit, just need the wires run and the sub and amp mounted. if the dude at best buy was mistaken, by all means let me know, but that's what he said.

thanks for your help.

he's not mistaken.... sadly

it is a dumb rule but it does make sense. we warranty EVERYTHING we do.... so the only way we can ensure properly performing power/ ground/ and signal is to sell you what we KNOW works.

Utilizing an amp for the speakers in your car is more of a luxury. They will sound better simply because the more power you have behind a pseaker the better it will sound. And the louder it will get not to mention. Youre right on that topic. I would do it, why not?

mostly just didn't want to spend the money and time if it wasn't going to make that much of a difference. i still don't want to wire them to an amp...i'll just ask for my for my bday or something ha ha. just put in the head unit last night, will be putting in the speakers w/o amp for now this weekend. we'll see how they sound.

How does it sound?

Sorry, been away for awhile. From what I remember, the stock speakers didn't sound a whole lot different with just a new head unit, little cleaner though. I installed 6.5" Polk Coaxials in front and 6"x9" Polk Coaxials in rear. It sounded great at first, but they've lost their appeal now. I also install my JL Audio 12" sub and Pioneer 760w amp from my old setup. Everyone that rides with me admires the system, but it's lost its magic to me.

Get an amp to go to the mids and highs. You will hear a big difference. How much clean and clear it sounds. It also depends on the type of amp you want. On a amp for mids and highs you dont need to go the expensive route. You will get a lot out of an amp than you will out of your deck. Do u know how 2 hook the interior speakers to an amp besides running it from every individual speaker?

I planned on wiring the speakers to an amp and then using the rca cables from head unit to amp if I went the amp route. Did you have something else in mind?

You can wire the speakers right from the deck. It makes things 10x easier. Instead of wiring the stock wires to the deck, wire aa set of wires to the correct channel in the back of the deck to the amp channels.(Rear Left-deck to Rear left on the amp) You can go to a sound performance store or circuit city, best buy..... to get one tube with 9 different wires in it. The remote wire will run from the factory remote wire to the second amp. You dont have to change the other remote that your subwoofer amp is wired to. Ground both of your amps in the same location. Its a better ground. How many RCA outputs does your deck have, also if you have subwoofers pre-outs.

so i would just take out the the existing wires and plug in the new wires where they came from? why do i need a remote wire if it's hooked into the deck with all the other wires?

my deck has 6 rca cables and then sub pre-outs, so technically 8 rca slots. i have the sub in two, and ipod in two, and the other 4 are free.

Yes the wires from the deck, hook them up with the wires that are going directly to the amp. The stock harness will not be wired except for remote and battery. You just need a longer one to connect the amp to a power source. The amp needs to power on somehow. With the RCAs buy another pair if you use a 2 channel amp and 2 pairs if you get a 4 channel amp and run them straight back to the amp from the deck. Get some good RCAs for the mids and highs amp. The better the RCAs the better the signal.

Ok, so you leave the factory wire hooked to the speakers, but then run more wires off of those wires to the amp? If not, then I'm confused as to how the speakers are connected to anything. And if so, how could the stock factory wiring handle amped power? I thought they'd burn up.

The wires that will be going straight to the amp connects to the wires behind the deck. The factory harness, the only wires that will be still connected are the power(red), ground(black), and the antenna wire(remote, not the one your amp for the subs are connected to.) The same thing I thought when I did mine but it kind of confused to explain but the speaker wire goes to the deck than amp. Dont hook the factory harness SPEAKER wire to the amp.

ok, so wire (A) from speaker to head unit, then run a second wire (B) from the same hole that wire (A) went into, to the amp? If that's the case, then I can understand that. Couple more questions I might as well ask why I'm here:
1)Have you ever seen the gauge reducers that let you put say a 4 gauge wire into this adapter so the other end will fit in an 8 gauge hole in an amp? I have one, and there's no hole to screw it into the amp slot, so I'm not exactly sure what that's all about.
2)When my sub is really hitting hard, the trunk rattles. However, it only rattles when the trunk lid is DOWN. I have no idea how to stop that. I don't think they make dynomat for the trunk lid, and if they did, I don't see how that'd work.

Heres a much simplier way:
1. Buy some Speaker Wire.
2. Skip wire (A)
3. Take Brand new wire and connect to speaker wire that is on the head unit.
4. After connecting to the head unit, run to amp.

The gauge reducer is called a distribution block. It it suppose to have one big end for the 4 gauge wire and than at the other end it should have 2 seperate outputs so u can run 2 amps.

For the trunk lid dynamat makes a wedge pack for custom installations. Also the bulk pack but it is kind of pricey. Use the trunk pack on the trunk lid. 2 Sheets is recommended. They are 35 a pack but you can catch a lot of deals on the internet and espcially ebay for cheaper. You can also try a cheaper sound deadener called edead, fatmat, brown bread, and there are many others. They also make a spray(liquid spray) that u can use out of a can to dead the sound even more. I went to NAPA and got the spray and it was cheaper and they said it works really well. Its an undercoating. Use both in combination to get the most results. There is also the a liquid so you can paint it out with a roller. Im using the spray can cause it is easier.

ok, so the wire from the head unit just stays connected to the speaker, and then the new wire goes from that wire to the amp?

this is what i was talking about with the gauge reducer http://cgi.ebay.com/Stinger-Gold-0-Gauge-to-4-Gauge-Reducer_W0QQitemZ5851599547QQcategoryZ50549QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

thanks for the tips on the deadening.

Wire from the head unit goes to the wire that will be connected to the amp. The factory harness speaker wires will not be attached to anything. Except the 3 I told u, black red and blue-Remote, power, and ground

OK, I'm sorry I know this must be frustrating you. What are the actual speakers directly connected to, the head unit or the amp? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Naw its not frustrating but you dont have to touch anything with the speakers. I forgot how my sound shop told me but if the amp is powered up the speakers will play. I know it doesnt sound right but I got mine to work.

I'm just not seeing that working. You said the only wires plugged into the head unit will be power, ground, antenna, and the wires going to the amp. If this is true, then the speakers would be receiving zero signal/power because they're not hooked into anything. Maybe you misunderstood or they explained it wrong. Bottom line is if the speakers are not hooked directly into either the amp or the head unit, they will not function. Something's not right in that situation.

I thought the same thing until I tried it.