>>> RADIO / STEREO <<<

[GOOSE]

It sounds like you have a good plan. Each channel would be a speaker. a single channel amp would usually be for a sub woofer where stereo sound would not be too important. A 2 channel amp would allow you to power 2 speakers. Also, the 2 channel amp with speaker level inputs is a great idea if you are happy with your current head unit. best of luck upgrading your sound.

 

[whiteboyslo]

My $.02:

Wile I definitely concur that the stock speakers are terrible, the real issue with our trucks is that they're too darn loud. Nature of the beast, really, especially with the diesel. So, the easy way is to get some decent speakers and crank it up, and maybe a stronger head unit and/or an amp. But that's solving a noise problem with, well, more noise. The real solution is to yank the carpet and throw in some sound deadening material. There are tons of products out there that basically do the same thing, so take your pick. That being said, I have owned 3 bricknose trucks and have always taken the lazy way myself, lol. But I have a buddy who used to have a 89 std cab, and he put DynaMat everywhere underneath the carpet. I tell ya, it makes the difference in a big way.

You've definitely received good advice on the speakers. Screw brand names and all the hype; go with what YOUR ear likes. I'm a big Sony speaker fan for this reason. Hardcore car audio guys generally thumb their nose at Sony stuff, but screw 'em. I know what my ear likes to hear.

As for head units, the first thing is to determine what features you do and don't want. Personally, I'd skip Bluetooth in our trucks. Again, they're just too noisy, so using it for cellular phones probably won't have the desired effect. And as for using Bluetooth to listen to music, you can but the audio quality is never as good as a physical connection and it drains the battery on whatever is playing the music like mad. Sure, you can plug that device in to charge, but why not save the hassle and just plug it in to the head unit directly? For that reason, I recommend a head unit that has either a 3.5mm (aka headphone) jack in the front, or a USB port, or both. This will allow you to plug in any kind of music player (smartphone, ipod, mp3 player, etc) you want. Even cheaper is to buy a small thumb drive, load it with all your music, plug it into the stereo, and leave it. It used to be head units with all these features were pricey, but now even the cheapest WalMart units offer them.

Oh, and Pandora is an online music app that let's you listen to music for free. You sign up, tell it what kind of music you like, and it makes a 'channel' just for you that you can then tailor by letting it know if you like or dislike the song being played. Pretty cool. I use it at work all day. I also have the app on my phone, so in the truck I just hook up my phone to the stereo (using a headphone-to-headphone cable), start the app, and head on down the road. It's nicer than using an iPod because it plays both stuff it knows I like and stuff I may like based on what I told it, that way I find new music to check out as well.

Mike

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

I just looked at the JVC receiver on Amazon, but the information details were quite lacking.

I assume the big round thing is the volume knob, right ??

It is also a radio, right ??

If it is indeed a FM radio, how does one switch from one pre-selected station to another ??

What is "pandora" ??


Does it also have a clock display ??


Sorry for so many questions.



From what I gather, seeing as how us poverty-stricken Kentuckians must always cross the creek one rock at a time, my best plan of action is to first upgrade the speakers, including bigger wire and strategically located sound-deadener, then add the amp, and finally a good head-unit, right ??


Thanks.

the big knob is the volume yes.
yes.it has fm/am radio.
that's where this particular unit fails.they didn't put simple preselect fm/am buttons.you need to use the menu.
so if you listen to the radio mostly,you probably want a different unit.
nothings on that i want to hear today.i always use the USB with my own music.
i dunno what pandora is.
yes it has a clock display.though i notice you type large often,so im guessing eye site might not be what it used to be anymore?
if so,it's a bit small down in the corner.it may bug you more than you find it useful for checking the time.

one thing you'll find about modern head units,is that they can be very in depth menu systems.pioneer was much more hassle than this newer JVC,despite the lack of preselect buttons.
you may have a hard time learning and or adjusting to some of these newer systems,and might want to just stick with the basic factory unit and update the other things instead.

matched your inserted codes for ya cus i half remember you type in this style due to eye site.
if not.no offense intended lol.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

one thing you'll find about modern head units,is that they can be very in depth menu systems.pioneer was much more hassle than this newer JVC,despite the lack of preselect buttons.

matched your inserted codes for ya cus i half remember you type in this style due to eye site.
if not.no offense intended lol.

I know what you mean about the newer stuff being overly complicated; if one loses the owner's manual, it is nigh impossible to operate it.

Thanks for answering my questions about the JVC.

I just noticed that the radio/CD-player in the wife's truck is a JVC, but it lacks the USB ports and such.

One minor inconvenience about it is that, in the six-plus years we have owned that truck, I have not yet found a way to actually turn the radio OFF; we can turn the volume all the way down, but the radio is never really OFF.

I have the speakers you named saved in my list at AMAZON, plus the amp.

Is your amp capable of three, or maybe four pair of speakers ??

Currently, I have ?many factory speakers in the center dash-top, door speakers (the factory ones were replaced several years ago), and a pair in the sleeper-bunk that are on a DPST switch plus their own volume controls.

I plan to also mount a pair in the upper-rear cab-corners, closer to my head, like my external CB-speaker.



I can see plenty good enough, in fact really good out past five feet; it's fine-print and up close when things start to get foggy.

I figure if the fine print and washed-out blue font is difficult for me, then it is probably difficult for others as well.

 

[whiteboyslo]

It gets a bit more complicated when you start talking about amps and using more speakers than what a typical vehicle has. Most car audio stuff is meant to work with a basic 5 speaker setup (front left, front right, rear left, rear right, subwoofer). As such, most head units that are middle of the road or better will have RCA outputs for each of those speakers. If you are going to use an amp (or amps), this is the easiest/best way to go because it will make for the easiest installation and the best sound quality. So, ideally, you'd have your five speakers, a head unit that can send the signal for each of those via RCA cables, and an amp (or amps) to take that signal from the RCA cables and power the speakers, one channel on the amp per speaker.

Now, I'm guessing you're not interested in a lot of bass, so let's take the subwoofer out of the equation. If you are going to have more than four speakers, you need to figure out which speakers are going to be duplicates. In other words, you're going to have some speakers playing the exact same signal (two front lefts, two front rights, etc). No big deal, but then you have to figure out how to power them, too. Typically, it's not recommended to power more than one speaker off an amp channel (unless they are subwoofers and the amp is made to handle it, but let's leave that scenario alone). So, if you want, say, 6 speakers, you now need an amp (or amps) capable of 6 channels. Now it's getting kinda complicated and pricey. Although, what you could do in that situation is have 4 speakers powered by an amp and the other two running directly off the head unit using the good old wired connections. Those speakers might not sound as good as the other four that are powered by the amp, but if they are only for filler, who cares?

As to your JVC dilemma, is there a button labeled 'source'? Try pressing and holding it to turn the stereo off.

Mike

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

Is your amp capable of three, or maybe four pair of speakers ??

yes.it's a 4 channel (4 speaker output) amp.
40 Watts x 4 @ 4-Ohms (that's RMS.it's far more power than a sensible person will ever need.)
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/prod...x?itemid=233188&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

fyi;
ebay has good deals on them.around a hundred bucks or so shipped.

if you also go with those 4-way speakers,you wouldn't use the built in crossover it has.just leave them off so you get the full music spectrum through all 4 of these particular speakers.
it's a good average "all round" easy setup to get a nice full clear sound.
i hear things in my music i never knew were even there before.
i often need to kill the music to make sure my truck isn't making some unexpected sound,i hear in the music.it's this realistic.this happens almost daily.

however like whiteboyslo stated above,the inputs on most modern amps are RCA.so if you do upgrade the head unit,you can just buy some some shielded RCA interconnects and be done.if you keep your factory unit,you would need some adapters (and likely of course loose some quality.)

 

[Optikalillushun]

Here is my opinion/suggestion, as a former audiophile (to poor to play with this stuff now) i set up a lot of systems.

First and foremost, i would suggest a mid-range headunit. Why? Well one of the few reasons is better features, better sound and ability to expand the system. Going right off the bat for speakers, more so for our trucks, isnt the best route because the factory head unit is under powered (like our trucks, lol) and inefficent. Just replacing the speakers with a fatory headunit will yield a bit more bass and clarity but its still going to sound muddy and distorted at higher volume levels. IIRC the factory headunit is something like 5-8w RMS, which is not enough to properly drive a aftermarket speaker. Stepping up to an aftermarket headunit (i perfer Alpine, decent price, great features, easy to use and sound great). are generally 20-25w rms. That right there with aftemarket speakers will yield a nice gain in clarity, sound and volume.

Next step above that is adding an amplifier. Most decent aftermarket speakers are rated between 40-60w rms. So choosing an amp that is i that range will really wake up a system. Also i seen mentioned the Apline power pak, this seems like an excellent route to go. Less intrusive than an amp install and boost the headunits 20-25w rms to i believe 45w rms. Only issue is this is a propitary amp made for Alpine headunits as an add on (im sure it can be used withothers just some re-wiring).

As for speakers, the general rule of thumb is less is more. Adding more than 4 speakers to a system throws off the sound staging. I wont give suggestions to speakers because its all up to u. Riotwarrior has the right idea, take ur own music and demo several speakers at ur desired voume and pick what sounds best to u. Some suggestions may have highs that are to brassy or mids that sound muddy. My personal speaker preference however is Infinity Reference line, with Polk being a close second and Pioneer 3-ways in third. There are several speaker levels out there, 2 way, 3 way, 4 way, 5 way and component. I generally stay away from any more that three way as they get really brassy and ******* my ears. Component speakers are without the best (seperate mid and tweeter) but not as user friendly for setting up and installing.

 

[GOOSE]

My "appropriate" set up would be 4 speakers running off of a decent head unit and either one or two 8" subs run off of an amp of their own. This would provide good sound across the board without having a system that would make your ears bleed.

 

[redneckaggie]

100% agree that less is more with speakers, pioneer has always been my go to for a good quality system if you dont want huge bass or to get to pricey. Alpines are also really good.

I dont have part numbers but as of right now I have 2 6.5 3 way speakers(have 6.5 speaker with tweets all wired together) and 2 2 way 6.5s all of these are pioneer and are mounted in the doors with one set in the factory location and one set down low towards the rear of the cab, personally I dont prefer putting any speakers but subs behind the seat because they muddy the sound unless you mount them towards the top pointing directly up and then they are bursting your ears

Also if it were me I would plan to ugrade speakers, then head unit, then amp, reason being is that many people that are not looking for an insane amount of sound are overjoyed with good speakers and an upgraded head unit

The only problem with this plan of attack is that you must match the amp to the radio so compatibility there must also be a consideration when choosing a head unit

If you do put an amp into the truck be very carefull about where it is mounted. put it in a place that will be able to get good airflow and do not mount it under the seat. I have seen to many amps ruint or seats catch fire from overheating and that foamy insulation dropping down onto them

Just opinions and you know what they say about opinions

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

In my quest for a radio that has the attributes I desire, I keep seeing "capable of playing WMA, etc., etc."; what is "WMA" ??

Also, Many units have TWO amp cables, some have FOUR; with a 4-channel amp, is it necessary to have the 4-cable radio ??

I can wire anything up, fly a helicopter, castrate a bull, knock a gnat's eye out at 250 yards, and do algebra; but, I guess it is obvious to you guys that I am not well versed in car audio.

Thanks for all of your patience in answering my questions.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

If you do put an amp into the truck be very carefull about where it is mounted. put it in a place that will be able to get good airflow and do not mount it under the seat. I have seen to many amps ruint or seats catch fire from overheating and that foamy insulation dropping down onto them

Actually, I had a bit of un-used real-estate under one of my seats that I had sort of figured on being a good place for an amp.

My seats are captain's chairs; and, immediately underneath the seat tracks are 1/4" steel plates that are as big as the seat-bottoms plus a couple inches all around.

Unless those steel plates turn into stove-tops, I don't figure the seats will be melting.

Between these steel plates and the actual cab floor is between four and six inches clearance.

I had sort of figured on a couple of those school-bus-driver fans blowing across the amp.

BUT, if this is not an ideal situation, I will seek a spot elsewhere.

 

[whiteboyslo]

WMA is a format type for digital music files, kinda like mp3. So, units that list these capabilities have the ability to play digital music files direct from some sort of memory space, either from thumb drive in a USB port (most common) and/or a built-in hard drive. Personally, I have yet to find a head unit where finding and controlling music loaded this way is easy and intuitive, so I don't bother. Instead, I hook up my phone or iPod to the stereo and control the songs through the device rather than the stereo. Much easier IMO. And if you don't plan on doing any of that (in other words, all you plan to do is listen to AM/FM and maybe the occasional CD), don't worry about ANY of this, including USB ports and headphone jacks.

When you say 'amp cable', do you mean the RCA jacks? I'm guessing so. What you need to know is which signal those jacks are for, and how you want to hook it all up. Usually, if it only has two, they are for the subwoofer, but not always. If you are planning on having four speakers (LF, RF, LR, RR), you'd be best off to get a head unit that has RCA outputs for each of these channels (one RCA jack per channel/speaker, so 4). Again, you don't HAVE to use RCA jacks. You can buy the cheapest head unit out there and hook it up to an amp, but it'll be a bit more work, may require additional hardware, and won't sound as good.

Mike

 

[whiteboyslo]

To clarify the RCA thing, check out this pic as a sample (random Pioneer head unit from Best Buy)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...52441745&defurl=false&viewtype=backView&h=504

See the red and white RCA jacks? The ones with the 'F' over them are for the fronts, one left (white) and one right (red). The ones with the 'R/SW' over them are for the rears, or for a subwoofer. More premium head units would have a third set so one would be dedicated for rear and one would be dedicated to the subwoofer, but this one gives you the basic idea. To get the audio signal to the amp, you need to run a set of RCA cables from the head unit to your amp. Actually, for this example, you would have two sets, one for front and one for rear. If you had a 4 channel amp, you'd be set since you'd have one channel per signal. Then all you have to do is wire the speakers to the amp, power/ground the amp, and run a remote wire from the head unit to the amp. Pretty easy, and makes for a nice, clean set up with great sound.

Mike

 

[Coyote_Red]

Thanks, for asking this question. I am starting to get around to replacing the components in my one truck and this thread is providing some great answers. Google gets too muddy with dumb replies and misinformation when you search things like this. What I have done when looking at head units in the past is used www.crutchfield.com You enter your vehicle and and it will show you what current model units fit your dash. They offer very nice large size picture from several angles so you can see the buttons and the plugs/wires on the back. If you want simple and old school for a head unit I have this one in my wheeler right now. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_070XC4100/Dual-XC4100.html?search=dual+xc4100&osp=dual+xc-4100&tp=5684 it is no longer in production.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

How does one measure a speaker ??; do you measure the outer diameter of the biggest circle, or diagonally from screw-to-screw ??

I did a bit of investigating this evening and I have determined that one of my door speakers is barely making a sound, and what sound it is making is terrible.

I did not remove the door panel, but I found in my notes where I had written that the door speakers are 5-1/4" and not the 6-1/2" that several have noted that they have in their doors.

As best I remember, I had to do a bit of sheet-metal trimming when I replaced the factory units with these, some many many years ago.

I am fixing to put in an order for a new pair of door speakers, but would like to know for certain which size will fit the hole.

What is correct for my 1985 model ??


How are you guys fitting the 6-1/2" speakers ??

Located as they are immediately behind the window cranks, the speakers I currently have cause a bulge that makes the crank handle slightly brush the door-panel.

Most of the Pioneers I am looking at appear to have even more outward bulging.

Is the 6-1/2" speaker size due to differing year-models having a bigger opening, or are you guys making the factory hole larger ??


Thanks.