'03 3500 SLT Stereo Speakers

[gmattice]

What are the quality of the standard speakers in the 3500 SLT w/CD player? Can they be easily upgraded and if yes, what are the best ones to use. Can you also easily add speakers to the dash area?

 

[CATCRACKER]

all i can say is that my dads new durango sounds good with the basic radio. i dont know about the new ram? i assume it is of equal quality which is good enough for me for a while.

 

[Prairie Dog]

The sound is VERY muffled as the speakers are of the single voice coil variety. The low end isnt' bad though - not anything like a sub, but not bad. I plan on adding tweeters and eventually building a sub.

 

[dnitzel]

I agree with Prairie Dog, they do sound muffled. I was not impressed with the stock speakers or the Infinity speakers. BUT, it all depends upon what sounds good to YOU, and how much you want to spend!



I ordered the standard audio set up but it's not going to last long! There are a LOT of really good automotive speakers out there. In my case, I like the JL Audio XR speakers http://www.jlaudio.com/evolution/index.html .



If you install some good after market speakers, make sure they are rated for the unit you have powering them and consider a crossover, use good speaker wire and place the speakers inside enclosures inside the doors. Check out this thread on subwoofers for more info..... https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=64838

 

[Blakers]

Anyone know the size of speakers in the new trucks with the base radio/CD? I just put 4 new Polks in my 95 and I'm hoping they will fit in the 03.



Thanks,



Blake

 

[dnitzel]

6x9" will fit in the front, 5. 25 round in the rear doors. Also, on the rear doors, they cannot be too deep as the window will hit them. So that you can see the overall sizes, I used the following in the fronts http://www.jlaudio.com/evolution/XR650CX.html

and in the rear I used http://www.jlaudio.com/evolution/TR525CX.html

 

[Prairie Dog]

How much are the 5. 25"?

 

[dnitzel]

I can't find the receipt for them, but I think I paid about $65 for the pair?

 

[sdbelt]

The stock system sounds ok, for a stock system. I've certainly heard worse.



More significant with the stock system is what you don't hear. Nothing below about 100 hz... or maybe 200 hz. Just no bass whatsoever. Similiarly high pitched sounds seem to be lost as well. The mid-range is fine, and for sports talk radio, it's dang near perfect. But for most music, you really are missing out on a lot of the sound that's should be heard.



I don't know if the speakers or the head unit is to blame. Probably a combination of both.



I'm currently undergoing a significant upgrade project to replace the entire system. Details can be found on my website noted below. Total cost for my system will probably be cost-prohibitive for most, but it will solve a number of "problems", not to mention increase the sound quality.

 

[Blakers]

Well I just looked it up in Crutchfield and they say 6. 5" will fit in the back. Hope they will as I have 2 6x9s and 2 6. 5s from the other truck.

 

[Steve M]

DODGE RAM 2500 2003



4DR EXTENDED CAB PICKUP





Location. FRONT DOORS

Size. 6 X 9"

Depth. 5 1/4"

Note.





Location. REAR DOORS .

Size. 5 1/4" .

Depth. 5 1/4" .

Note.



This is from the Infinity website. They have some speakers that I haven't seen in Circuit City. Has anyone pulled the cover off of a stock speaker? Does it even have a tweeter of any kind?

I really like the sound of the Alpine 2-way 6X9s for $200 a pair. Anyone run some of these high end speakers off of the stock 50 watt head unit? The goon at Circuit City said I should go with the $120 a pair 3-way 6X9s with a stock head unit. I don't care for the sound of the 3-ways. Too much midrange noise.

The stock speakers with the stock head don't sound "all that bad" when they're crank up alittle. I'd just like them to sound "a whole lot better" with the volume that the stock head unit is able to produce. Then maybe later I'll add a small sub and amplifier for even better sound quality. Not necessarily paint wrinkling volume...

 

[lawdog]

My 2000, I had Kenwood Excelon 6x9 3 ways in the front doors and Kenwood Excelon 6" round Dual-mags in the rear, a MTX sub box that was form fitted to go under the rear seat with 2- 10" subs, all powered off of a Kenwood 848 4 channel amp and the stock head unit. I liked the "Stock" look for some dirt-bag to look in at, so it was not a tempting theft target. Besides I had the steering wheel controls and did not want to lose them.....

The sound was WAAAAAAAYYYYY better than stock could of thought to be. The truck had the Infinity system to start with. The stock Tweeters were left in, but the stereo place had to put in some type of diode to prevent the amp power from going to the stock tweeters and frying them.



Local stereo store told me this week that MTX has just releasd a new sub box to go beneath the rear seat of the 3rd gen quad cabs. They are waiting for delivery

 

[Steve M]

After a ride up to Circuit City in the trusty ol' American made '93 Mustang to check out the speakers and the sales feller telling me 6. 5s won't fit in the rear because they're 5. 25s and they don't carry 5. 25" Alpines, we came home empty handed and I decided to yank the rear door panel off of my truck to measure for myself. They're 5. 25". Saw it with my own beady little bloodshot orbs. I also saw why my speakers sound like miedra. They're the cheapest looking paper cone speakers I've ever seen. No wonder they cover them with cheese cloth. They should be covered with yesterday's garbage. So the feller at CC says the S-type Alpines will fit up front but Crutchfield doesn't list them as fitting. And they list the wrong size speaker for the rear. Wife says that little vane in my forehead is buldging like it does right before I go balistic. I suppose I'll have another Sam Adams Cherry Wheat brew and cool off some. It's hot outside in central Florida.

 

[Steve M]

Here's a site with more accurate information and competitive prices.



http://www.cartoys.com/cartoys/index.cfm?&DID=7

 

[jzaremski]

The sound is VERY muffled as the speakers are of the single voice coil variety.

what does # of voice coils have to do with sound quality?

 

[Steve M]

The number of voice coils refers to the combination of Woofer, midrange and tweeter in one speaker. A single voice coil with a secondary cone mounted to the middle of the woofer, like comes with the stock Dodge radio, sounds "ok" but there's no high frequencies coming out of them and the lows aren't low enough to be clear. The whole experience sounds like someone is holding a pillow over the speaker.

So to solve that problem, I just went back to Circuit City and bought a set of Infinity Reference Series 9603i for the front and 5002i for the rear. Just to be aggrevating the rear stock speakers are three screw mounts so I had to drill and use some self tapping 8/32" screws. The fronts almost don't fit. Had to tweek the hole just a tad with some pliers and steel the spacers from the stock speakers so the magnet would clear the window. All four had plugs instead of spade terminals so I just soldered the wires on.

After all was done, they sound great!!! I liked the Alpines better in the store with the amp driving them but the specs indicated the Infinity's were more responsive to lower wattage such as normal listening volume from a factory stereo head unit. The lows are waayy down low. I had to re-arrange some things in the door pockets to stop the rattles. And the highs are crystal clear and well defined!! They don't really have a midrange. They have a tweeter and a super-tweeter. Nothin' like having two tweeters!!!

 

[jzaremski]

The number of voice coils refers to the combination of Woofer, midrange and tweeter in one speaker.

I've never heard it used that way. IME, speakers with multiple drivers (co-axial, etc. ) are referred to as "n-way," so a co-ax speaker with a midrange and a tweeter would be a 2-way speaker.



single- or dual-voice-coil refers to a speaker, usually a woofer, that has that number of discrete voice coils wound around a common former.

 

[Steve M]

I stand corrected! By the time common knowledge gets passed around until I stumble upon it, I automatically accept it as accurate...