Making The Most Of Little Bit

[tan man]

the lure a a great sounding system keeps bringing me back to reality: it cost big bucks. In an effort to improve over stock yet stay within my budget, I invested $400 on my 107 to install a Kendwood in dash CD reciever, 3.5" coax in the dash and 6x9 coax in the rear shelf. the results are underwhelming. first of all, the 19 or 20 watts put out by the head unit just don't DRIVE the speakers, especially with the top down. second, the speakers I installed are off brand I never heard of (the audio shop salesman was GOOD) but they do seem to have good fundamentals (materials look like quality, magnets are huge, sound with the car stopped playing off cd sounds pretty good)..
piece meal improvement would be to add amplifier. but I wonder with the top down if another 40-60 watts x 4 would do the trick. or would I then wish I had better real name speakers, which would then need more power, and then a subwoofer, an on and on.....
so while I ponder, I thought to make the most of what I have: so as not to waste power on the dash 3.5" coax's, I thought of installing a low pass filter that cuts out anything under say...140db? perhaps that would clean up the sound a bit on those little guys.
as for the rear 6x9's, I though of building wood with stuffing enclosure around them to get more bass. I haven't measured how much room there is under the rear shelf, so I don't know if the enclosures will be wide and shallow or have decent depth.
but I would like any input from people who have more knowledge and experience than I do. please feel free to chip in
Jack

[Ramblin]

Jack..Your money would be best spent if you were able to buy and get installed as large an amplifier you can afford. Convertibles are volume challenged so to speak with the top down and otherwise because of the amount of absorption of the sound by the convertible top. The only area of concern would be the rear (Off brand) speakers. Make sure they can handle the power and if you need help choosing an amplifier come back here and let us know what is available.