I now days only have a decent computer sound system with a medium subwoofer. It does a fair job being I don't crank it up unless I am the only person in the house. I compute in the main room of the house and it isn't fair to bother everyone with my music above a certain threshold... I do miss my old car stereos systems, that was my release for many year (drive and listen to a good subwoofer bring out parts of music you didn't normall hear on just a radio). Respect to the audiophiles that love the full range of music (didn't have to be bass heavy as I enjoyed).
I'll tell you what- Don't miss on that old school amp thing.
You can pick up a great home stereo system in a boneyard or yard sale for about nothing...
push audio out to that and through it to old school house speakers. All super cheep, and nice big deep sound.
In the car- If your phone is a Droid, you can buy a crappy head unit for about any car, even old ones... In a kit. My 78 Chevy PU has great sound, backup vid, nav, the whole 9 yards... and talks to my phone... I think I am in my head unit amp and speakers for around $150 used... It ain't perfect, the amp is a piece of crap, but in a pickup, it's sure good enough.