In search of aftermarket radio advice

[JYaekel]

I have a 98 2500 auto 4x4. After buying my truck from a one owner dealor trade in, I could not get the front door speakers to work at all. So, when curiosity finally got the best of me, I did a little digging into the door panels and found out that the speakers don't exist any more!

I take it that I have a infinity system with the amp= powered speakers up front, and so, I would like to go ahead and put in a great sounding aftermarket system complete with amp and sub.



Have any of you put a nice system in your truck with a sub??? If so, I am wondering what the limit of the alternator is and if you have had any problems so far???



Any advice on equipment that sounds the best for my truck would greatly be appreciated.



I have been looking at alpine and eclipse for the head unit, and Boston acoustics for the speakers. Have not looked into an amp or a sub as of yet... .





I don't need to rattle the neighborhood with the base, just want a great sounding system that sounds clean and tight... ...



... john

 

[jzaremski]

I take it that I have a infinity system with the amp= powered speakers up front,

if you have tweeters in the A-pillars, then yes it had the infinity system.

Have any of you put a nice system in your truck with a sub??? If so, I am wondering what the limit of the alternator is and if you have had any problems so far???

I had a 4x75 watt amp for my main speakers and a 1x400 watt amp for my single 12" sub, and never ran into issues w/ the electrical supply. I did add a 0. 5 farad stiffening capacitor, but that was mainly to keep the lights from dimming on bass hits.

 

[JYaekel]

Where did you mount your sub at????

 

[Mactruck]

I used the JL audio center cushion sub.



Hey, I would go back to that dealer and b*t*h first. at least they may float you a little cash to buy new ones.





Oh and my sub doesn't bother the neighbors either. I have it mated to a alpine v-12 amp. Check my profile for further details.

 

[JYaekel]

Mactruck,

You have just about the exact setup that I have been looking into this week. I am looking at alpine for the head unit and the speakers and the JL for the sub, however, I was looking at the sub enclosure that mounts under the rear seat with two 10's.



I was told that the two 10's would give a harder hitting, tighter base than the 12. Do you find this to be the case?????

 

[jzaremski]

I was told that the two 10's would give a harder hitting, tighter base than the 12. Do you find this to be the case?????

It depends. Every speaker is different; One 12 is as likely to sound different from another 12 as are a pair of 10s. Plus, it depends on how they're installed.

 

[Mactruck]

Originally posted by JYaekel

Mactruck,

I was told that the two 10's would give a harder hitting, tighter base than the 12. Do you find this to be the case?????

Although I do not have the 2-10" in the rear. I have heard them in a friend's CTD. I find it to be a little more kick than my setup.

But jzaremski is right, It does depend on a number of factors. One of the most important is the AMPLIFIER. Don't skimp. and don't let high numbers on the Amp box fool you. Do this and you will get more kick out of any sub.



Just FYI - I wanted to go with the JLaudio 2 - 10's sub setup like you are refering to but I utilize the floor of my truck for work and such. So I compromised. But I still love my center cushion sub. I do like my bass tight and I find this to fit the bill well.



Any questions? I'm here to help



Kevin "Mac"

 

[JYaekel]

Kevin,

Did you do the work yourself in regards to the sub installation, or did you have it done??? If you had it done, do you remember the cost to install the sub enclosure into the seat????



I am also wondering if you have an amp reccomendation(s) for the speakers and sub ?????? I don't want to skimp on the amp, however, I don't need the BEST either.....



Thanks for your help,



john

 

[Mactruck]

Usually I would have done the work myself. However - I pulled about 3/4 of this system out of my Phord SD crew-cab. So I had Tweeter etc. install it. ( I have a friend that worked there) I cant remember the cost but it wasn't that much. Part of the reason I can't remember is that I was paying to install ALOT more than just a sub - sorry



Installation of the center cushion sub should be pretty easy. I have all three of my amps mounted under the seats. so Wiring to the sub was WAY to easy. To physically install it all you have to do is remove the old center seat. Take the cover off of it. put it on the new one and remount in existing holes. Thats it.



For recommendations on Amps their are a bunch on the market. I have always been an Alpine fan but I know their amps aren't the best of the best. But a nice solid running amp that I won't have to replace after only a couple years. I had an old alpine amp in college. I think I used that in three different vehicles and it still kept on ticking.



But MFG's I know of are Alpine(of course) and Eclipse make a couple of nice ones as well. What I really wanted was an

xtant but I decided to go mostly Alpine due to price and configuration.

I know of JLaudio and Kicker make a few good ones as well. I would avoid Pioneer, kenwood and some of the other BIG brands. IMHO



For Speakers I have always been a Boston Acoustics fan. I ran the pro series in the doors and the rallys in the rear. (oh FYI, The rears WILL take a 6 1/2 round speaker from BA with no Mods. I know - thats what I have ) The Rally's are good for fillers in the rears but I wouldn't choose to run them amped in the front. My Amped Pro series are Great for the front. Thats my recommendation. I don't know that much more about speakers.



Thats the scoop good luck and like I said any other ?'s - just ask

 

[JYaekel]

Kevin,

So, if I understand correctly, you are running 6. 5's in the front doors - instead of 6x9's ????? Are you running components in the back as well with the rally's ??? And finally, did you mount the tweeters in the stock locations where the infinity ones are???



Thanks,



John

 

[Mactruck]

I am running: Boston Pro series 6 1/2 components in the doors. The tweeters are mounted in the panel that was constructed over the 6x9 hole. I have the woofer mounted there and the tweeter is mounted next to the woofer. I could have mounted it on top of the woofer but I didn't want to block any sound out of the woofer with the tweeter. . I did not have the infinity system in my truck so I didn't want to mount the tweeters there. From my research by talking to car audio shops and their experiences - If you mount the tweeters on the post your sound WILL become a little tinny. (AKA - a lot of high sounds) The BA tweeter is a really good tweeter mounted to a nice crossover system. If you mounted it on the post it will give to many highs right to your face. Ask some shops and they will know what I mean. Some component systems are designed to mount their tweeters their but they turn the tweeters output down so it won't be as tinny. It's vehicle dependent. Certain cars It would work perfect. but our trucks with the A post so close to the driver I found it to be too Tinny. IMHO Talk to some shops and get some others. This is the info I found.



In the rear I'm running a regular 6 1/2 rally speaker (not component) The stock speaker is 5 1/4 size and when we mounted it we found that the hole would except a 6 1/2 if you surface mounted it. . I used them to fill the sound in through the truck. I used a smaller amp to push them. My fronts are pushed by a 200 X2 watt cont. (500 max) v12 amp. But my rears are pushed by a v12 amp about half the size. The best sound and clarity should be from the front. The rear sound is not as important but should be there to fill the music space. again from my research this is IMHO.



Kevin

 

[JYaekel]

Thanks Kevin, it makes sense... ...

So I take it you are running three amps in all.

What is the power of the amp you are using on your sub????

 

[Mactruck]

Yes I run 3 amps in all with a non amplified cd/reciever.



The amp in question is aMRV-T757. It's about 4 years old.



I run this amp for both my Front speakers and my Sub (one amp for each of course )

Each amp is under each seat.



The specs in a nutshell are



• Max Power 225Wx2 (4 ohm stereo)- 750Wx1 (Bridged 4ohm)

• 12V RMS Continuous Power 150x2(4ohm Stereo), 300x1- Bridged 4ohm.



My front speakers are 4 ohm stereo and the sub 4 ohm's bridged .



My rear amp is smaller at 200W x 2 MAX power, RMS Power at 75W x 2.



The system is Impressive for my needs. It's not record breaking in size but it fills the truck well.

 

[jzaremski]

If you mount the tweeters on the post your sound WILL become a little tinny.

that's not a definite thing. It all depends on how hot the tweeters are relative to the midranges in the door. If they are too hot, a little equalization can help quite a bit.

Where did you mount your sub at????

Initially I used a JL center cushion stealthbox like Mactruck, but then I built my own box and put it behind the seat on the passenger side (I had a regular cab). My sub was the 12" Alpine Type-R (SWR-1240).

 

[Mactruck]

Originally posted by jzaremski

that's not a definite thing. It all depends on how hot the tweeters are relative to the midranges in the door. If they are too hot, a little equalization can help quite a bit.

Your absolutely right. My problem was that with the Boston acoustic pro's. See they use their own System-specific crossovers. I thought about running an equalizer but was talked out of it by my stereo guy. Stated that these crossovers make these speakers really sing. However he thought they would sound too tinney if they were mounted on the post. especially with no adjustibility.



These are the speaker specs: ProSeries 6. 5 System

 

[jzaremski]

However he thought they would sound too tinney if they were mounted on the post. especially with no adjustibility.

one thing I like about higher-end components is that the crossover networks usually allow you to attenuate the tweeter outputs to some degree. too bad that never propogates down to the mid-level stuff...

 

[JYaekel]

Originally posted by jzaremski



Initially I used a JL center cushion stealthbox like Mactruck, but then I built my own box and put it behind the seat on the passenger side (I had a regular cab). My sub was the 12" Alpine Type-R (SWR-1240).

I am curious why you changed the location of your sub ???????



John

 

[JYaekel]

Kevin,

Do you think the 6. 5 proseries set could work for the rear doors as well as the front???



. . john

 

[C. Harlan]

I have invested alot into my system... here's what I have:



HEAD UNIT: Alpine CDA 7998 AM/FM/XM/CD/MD/MP3 Player

EQUALIZER: Kenwood KGC7042 11 Band, detachable face

FRONT SPEAKERS: Boston Acoustic 6x9 3 way

REAR SPEAKERS Pioneer 4 way

SUBS: 2 Kicker Competition 12", 8 Ohm Bridged to 4 ohm

AMPS: for doors, Eclipse 3640 4 channel for doors

For Subs, Precision Power 1400 mono

XM Tuner: Pioneer FM modulated, till I sell it and get my Alpine!



I just swapped out my Kenwood Z919 for the alpine, and though I miss it, the Alpine is much sweeter!



-Chris-