Help finding a head unit?

I just purchased 4 kicker speakers with an 35rms rating. My head unit outputs 20rms. Will this be enough to sufficiently power my speakers? Is there a better head unit that can power these speakers? I have a 1999 ford Mustang v6 by the way.

35-watt speakers will work fine with a 20-watt RMS head unit, and you won't really find any head units that can legitimately produce much more power than that. However, in a 1999 Mustang you have a factory amplifier driving the speakers, so you'll be using the amp power, not the head unit power, no matter what head unit you get (unless you bypass the amp).

You should be okay id invest in a new deck, stay away from Sony explode decks and any other deck that only has 2 rca's on the back because if you want to put those speakers on an amp and put a sub it'd save you from buying another deck if your get one with 4 rca's already

That should be plenty of power for those speakers. If you need more volume, you can add a small 4 channel amplifier. If you want a little more bass, I would add a small subwoofer, instead of turning it up on the radio, because smaller speakers can't reproduce lower frequencies.

Yes. Matching the RMS isn't always a requirement. Being in the upper half is also sufficient.

It's a good idea to have stronger speakers than the stereo. That can prevent speakers being overpowered and reduce possibility of distortion. Your 35 watt speakers will not be underpowered by the 20 watt per channel stereo. That comes to 80 rms watts in the car. That's enough to give you a headache and cancel all conversations, but you don't have to have it turned up maximum all the time.

Okay, so here's the deal. Most aftermarket head units put out about 18 - 22 watts RMS per channel. What people don't realize is it's a LACK of power that causes distortion and damages speakers. Your 35 watt RMS speakers will probably play pretty efficiently off of the head unit's internal amplifier.

If you get everything hooked up and find you can't play it as loud as you like - as in you start to hear distortion before you've reach your preferred volume level - then you need an external amplifier to power the speakers. More power, less likely to run into distortion. When you hear distortion, you are actually hearing the amplifier clipping. This is what blows speakers. Avoid this by compensating with a more power amplifier.

You probably wouldn't need anything too crazy, something like an Alpine KTP-445U would be great IF you find you can't play it as loud as you'd like without hearing distortion.

Have been in this industry since 2000 and have had my own shop since 2007. I have several articles on my blog discuss this kind of thing. Hope that helps!