Question about installing audio equipment

Hello,
I am a new Prius owner so I know absolutely nothing about hybrid cars, my parents just moved into an assisted living community and gave me their 2008 Prius. I want to install a different audio system, I have no clue what is in the car, how can you determine what is in it now? I want to install a 6 channel amp by JL Audio model # XD600/6v2 it is a 6 Ch. Class D Full-Range Amplifier, 600 W. If I were to get this amp or something similar what concerns if any are there to installing these kind of amps in the Prius. Where do you get the power for them on a Prius? and how many amps are available for auxiliary equipment? This particular amp of course uses 12v and has a 50 amp fuse. Is there this much current available? Would you connect your cable directly to the 12 + battery terminal or is there a different place to obtain 12 v? Does the Prius have a 12v buss available for this kind of install?
Also, I am a retired aircraft technician so I do know a think or two about electrical systems as well as mechanical systems, I just have no knowledge concerning these new hybrid systems but I plan on rectifying this deficiency now that I have one of them.
Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide,
ZophiasDad

 

Hello all,
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. The reason I was asking the questions I did was due to some information I was told by a support agent at Crutchfield (one of the official on line retailers for JL Audio). I contacted them to ask some specific questions about the components I mentioned in my post and he asked what kind of car I had and when I told him a Prius he told me that they had received a bulletin from Toyota informing them that no more than a 30 amp load be used for after market audio equipment. I have no idea why they would only recommend such a low power draw, I wonder if it has more to do with it causing a drop in fuel economy than exceeding the capability of the electrical system on the Prius. Have you ever heard of this kind of limitation when installing audio equipment in a Prius? I think your recommendation of connecting directly to the battery is true for any kind of car, not just the Prius. I was kind of hoping to hear some one saying the same thing as this support person from Crutchfield but that has not been my experience so far from the existing Prius owners here on this forum. Since I have not had anyone else express this concern I feel more inclined to just buy what I want and put it in. The reason I will probably purchase from Crutchfield is if I do not use one of JL Audios approved retailers or installers then the warranties are void and would not be honored by JL Audio.

 

I am not sure if my Prius has the JBL sound system or not, I just recently was given the 08 Prius by my parents who have entered an assisted living community and are getting rid of all of their cars except for one. My guess is that it does not have the JBL system, I think the JBL has a cd changer something that my Prius does not have. I am a retired aircraft technician so I have a lot of skills as well as tools that exceed the average DYI'er. I am in the process of designing my new audio system and have decided not to spend money on the typical head unit and pay for a lot of features that I would never use so I have decided to fabricate a docking station for my Nvidia Shield Tablet and to spend my money on a good amp, new speakers and a decent subwoofer. I plan on using the mulit channel audio from the HDMI port on my tablet, I found a new electronic box that splits out the multi channel audio from an HDMI input and then provides a SPDIF 5.1 digital audio out, a VGA out and a HDMI video (minus the audio) out along with also providing 5.1 analogue RCA outputs that have a high enough voltage to be directly plugged into a car amplifier. I am also debating about installing a 10 or 12 inch 1080p monitor in the glove box so that a passenger could watch a HD movie stored on the tablet or play a game when on a long trip, the Shield Tablet is the best mobile gaming tablet around and is capable of outputting 4k video and 7.1 HD audio out via the HDMI port. It is running Android v5 and I am able to control all of the audio players once they are launched via voice commands.