Should I

[FordGuy100]

Well I have been able to drive around my truck these last couple of weeks, and its about time for me to put a better stereo in it. I'm on a really tight budget and I might be able to put $500 into it right know. So I'm thinking I should just stay away from subs for away, until I can affoard them.

These are the parts I'm going to buy to put in it for now.

Head Unit Pioneer DEH-P3900MP $130
Front speakers Kenwood KFC-1661S $ 50
Rear speakers Kenwood KFC-6960ie $ 80


So as you can see its fairly cheap, but I do have to count in wiring and all of that good stuff, plus one of those head unit wiring kits, so I'll say it'll be another $50. The total would be $310.

So here's my question, should I buy a little amplifier to run the speakers, or will the head unit supply enough power? If I should get an amp for the speakers I was thinking something along the lines of a Blaupunkt GTA 4, which puts out 55 watts RMS X 4 X 4 ohms.

 

[swampdigger]

I just hacked a pair of 6x9s into my doors last week. Powered by my deck which puts out 40W a channel. They're 220W speakers each, but at 2/3rds volume it's painfully loud and I don't think the speakers could take much more.

I've got a 400W amp that I didn't bother with because the deck is more than enough. If I got a sub, however, I would use the amp.

 

[riotwarrior]

Well IMO the best thing to do is invest in quality speakers!!!!

Run decent set of 6.5" speakers in your doors, Use at the least 1/2 MDF 3/4 preferred or (Medium Density Particle Board) as it is called behind the door and mount the speakers to that so its Door steele, wood speaker on inside.

This gives the speaker a decent backing and enhances sound quality and volume.

Find a good matching pair of 6x9's or for behind the seat if you are inclined to but that tends to wash out the highs from the speakers because the back of the seat interferes with High notes more than Lows.

If you can try a Decent 10" sub behind the seat, 1 Pair of speakers in the door mounted correctly and 1 Sub will sound real good and balanced.

An Amp would be good if you utilize a Sub but without knowing Deck output I cannot comment on a 4 speaker install.

Deck Power with good speakers is a great way to start. It is easy enough to throw a set of RCA Patch cables in while installing deck to be hooked to an amp later if needed, rather than having to pull out deck to do so. Do not forget to run a trigger wire (usually Blue) for the remote amp turn on lead.

In my CC Truck years ago, I ran 6.5" 3 way Pioneers in the stock location with wood baffle board, and in the lower portion of the doors I ran 6" mid bass speakers.

In the Rear doors I utilized 8"subs. Both sets of subs where Amp powered and the 3ways used Deck power. It was a sleeper system which sounded great and was not noticeable to the naked eye.

Hopefully this helps you somewhat. Try to talk to a local installer for ideas if you can. There is tons of options for trucks if handled correctly.

One more thing. if you have not already pulled the stock deck, and cut into the harness, for a small investment there is a cross over patch cable that will allow you to keep the Factory harness intact. It plugs into the factory harness. and has pigtail wires already marked for which deck wires need to be connected to it. Thus saving testing and potential problems.

Another tip for speaker wiring. By using a AAA or AA Battery, and touching the - of battery to - of speaker and + of batter to + of speaker you should see the speaker move OUTWARD. if you run your wires but are confused which is + this will show you and you can keep your speaker phased correctly for true stereo sound.

If you have any further ?'s I can assist with PM me.

 

[big jake]

you kids

the sweetest sound you will ever enjoy is the sound of that 6.9 purring under the hood.

Why drown it out with all that other stuff????????



big jake

 

[Jeff Dodson]

Just DON'T play any of that RAP ( HIP HOP ) J U N K


Seriously, I bought one of those PIONEER sets from WALMART for $90.00, it came with two 6.5 round front door speakers, BTW fit in the original holes great. It also came with two 6X9 that I did hack into the rear panels next to the seats. If donr correctly, I t will still look good. I get all the sound I need, But I listen to OLDIES and COUNTRY LEGENDS

 

[argve]

Riot you ever try one speaker reversed before (to account for timing issues)? I used to do this on my systems to give a better image but that was years ago before we had time correction devices built into the head units and signal processors = old school.


That Blau amp is decent for a low to mid grade amp - best advice I can give on amps is you get what you pay for - period. I found that to be a hard and fast rule in all my dealings with systems. Look at things like what input voltage are they using when rating the amp - is it 14.4v, 12v, or 16v... The signal to noise ratio the higher the better, the THD the lower the percentage the better. These specs are the ones that separete the good amps from the great amps. The Blau you have listed is sort of dirty on the signal to noise ratio 90DB isn't all that clean because you have to remember an amp does not discriminate it will amplify noise just the same as it will music.

The Kenwoods that you have listed are pretty decent I am actually runnign some Kentucy Fried Chickens in my dodge as we speak, and have run them in other vehicles when I wasn't building a competition system. For the money they do pretty well but that is my listening tastes - your's may not be the same. What I recommend to people when they ask me about picking equipment (speakers) is to go to the local stereo shop and listen - your ears won't lie to you - bring a CD of something you like to listen to and have them play that for ya because then you will choose the correct speaker for you, no me or him...

I have never been a real fan of Pioneer head units unless I was wanting to listen to the radio (FM or AM) because they put a lot engineering into their recievers but only marginal in the optical pickups and Digital to analog converts. So if you are looking to mainly listen to the radio then the pioneer is the way to go because it will pick up stations that other brands won't or will hold on to a station longer (depends on how you look at it).

Now if you are going for CD reproduction I have always liked both Kenwood Excleon or Alpine in my opinion they do a fanstatic job on their optical pickups and D/A converters.

Now I have always run an amp of some kind, reason is it gives you more "head room" -meaning take two systems side by side running the same head unit and speakers - amp one of them and it will actually sound better at the same volume level because the head unit is not doing all the work (laymens terms).

Right now I have a Rockford mono amp for the subs (if I ever get around to actually installing them) and an Alpine that the previous owner installed - the alpine is really clean but has no balls to it - meaning it can't drive subs worth a poop but for the highs it does a really good job.

 

[argve]

Jeff,

What's wrong with rap? I have been known to play some then follow up with Randy Travis followed by some Iron Maiden (talk about some werid CD mixes I come up with)... But I have to agree 99% of all rap is crap... I like to throw it in just hear the subs work a bit...

 

[rip van sparky]

Umm, my advice is save that money to fix your truck when it breaks.

 

[FordGuy100]

Thanks for all of the help you guys .

So I'm leaning toward not powering the speakers by an amp, just with a head unit. I changed my mind on the head unit to a Kenwood KDC-MP2035 (22 watts RMS X 4, 50 peak X 4). I'm thinking about putting one of these in http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PqnZ9izC8bK/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=51000&I=204BTA6200.

Thanks for the mounting tip riotwarrior .

Dont worry I hate rap, I only listen to classic rock and country.

rip van sparky, seems you dont have much faith in our trucks.

 

[towcat]

Do yourself a favor...get some dynamat for the inside of the outer door skin.
helps with the harmonic issues when hitting the lows hard.
One thing nice about getting older and deaf, nice stereo systems don't matter much anymore as long as you can play it loud
I have a factory stereo with a cassette adapter for my CD/MP3 and some "fancy" plastic coned speakers in the door. Just wished I dynamatted the insides when I had the panel off. You don't want to be tearing off the panel on the 92-97's often due to the brittleness of the danged plastic panels.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Stick to top quality components and installation while leaving some room to expand for crossovers, amps, caps etc....and you won't be sorry about what you installed. Nothing wrong with a good deck and just 2 top quality speakers in the doors to get you started on a budget.

IMHO dynamat is a must have in these old trucks. Make sure you have good weather striping and window seals too as well as every screw in the dash etc nice and tight. Sealing the cab well will help with db levels and sound quality and nothing bites worse than cranking a tune with some bass only to hear everything buzz and rattle in the truck.

My brother had an amplified bazzoka tube about 20 years ago when we were young and dumb. The sound pressures that thing put out made my ears hurt , put my 2 10" drivers and single 15" free air sub to shame

One thing nice about getting older and deaf, nice stereo systems don't matter much anymore as long as you can play it loud

If it's too loud you're too old

 

[swampdigger]

You can find these "bass booster" plates at the local Canadian Tire. It's a plastic piece that mounts to the backside of your speaker, sealing it in. I haven't tried them, but I do know that speakers get way better low-end if they're enclosed, or PROPERLY ported.

If you take the woofer from a nice home stereo, play some music with a lot of bass, and then pull your woofer out of the enclosure, you'll see what I mean--the low end almost completely disappears, and the speaker starts "fapping".

And with the "+" and "-" reversing... if you get one backwards, it means that speaker will be pushing air, while the others are pulling air--instead of producing sound, it will be trying to cancel it. It's out of phase with the others. If you play music and then intentionally reverse the leads to a speaker, the low end disappears.

 

[riotwarrior]

Thanks for all of the help you guys .

So I'm leaning toward not powering the speakers by an amp, just with a head unit. I changed my mind on the head unit to a Kenwood KDC-MP2035 (22 watts RMS X 4, 50 peak X 4). I'm thinking about putting one of these in http://www.crutchfield.com/S-PqnZ9izC8bK/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=51000&I=204BTA6200.

Thanks for the mounting tip riotwarrior .

Dont worry I hate rap, I only listen to classic rock and country.

rip van sparky, seems you dont have much faith in our trucks.

Ok I still FEEL GOOD Speakers are the place to start, Once they are mounted real well with a decent baffle board, and perhaps a set of these http://www.amazon.com/XTC-FOAM-BAFFLE-5-1-PAIR/dp/B0002ZPO2W which is what I believe Rangewreck was referring to (They work well at keeping outside moisture from bothering the speakers) you will find you will be very pleased. 6.5" fit the stock location just fine. BTW put a coat or two of decent paint (spray paint is fine) all over the baffle board to help with moisture resistance...doesn't matter what colour of course unless you see the board.

You can keep initial cost down with Good speakers Good mounting and a mid range head unit. Wire the system for future upgrades with an Amp in mind or what have you.

The Bazooka will do just great in a truck. There are two types one is self powered (meaning it has it's own amp, you will need to run a (FUSED) + lead to it of course, along with remote lead and either RCA or speaker leads for the sound.
The other kind uses either deck power (not GOOD) or a remote Amp, which adds cost and more wiring. The choice is yours....a decent Amp, and bazooka will cost more likely but also probably sound a little better.

Great speakers can make a cheap head unit sound good
Cheap speakers make an Ultra HIGH end head unit sound like two tin cans connected on a string playing telephone.

Remember....you have the power to make choices....speakers will always sound different in the store than a vehicle.

Dyna mat is a great idea....but one that I have found that also works which is Cheap.....is some membrane roofing material....you can usually get a few free chunks laying at a place where there is roofing going on (Talk to a roofer buddy). The only thing is it MUST be heated quite hot to get it to stick so heat it then stick it in the door....Or use a High end adhesive.

Its as good if not better than Dyna mat....remember that (FREE) part!

If you are running speaker wire, don't skimp out on 18Gua. get at least some inexpensive 12 or better yet 10Ga wire and always use Grommets through metal openings. You do not need to get super high end wire...it wont be any better than the inexpensive 12 or 10 ga wire.

Good RCA Cables do help as they are more resistant to picking up stray RF and other electrically induced noise.

Time invested in a quality install, good wiring, heat shrink, correctly mounted parts, pays of with less problems down the road, better sound, and satisfaction in your own handywork.

Good luck on the install.
BTW, where are you located?

 

[argve]

And with the "+" and "-" reversing... if you get one backwards, it means that speaker will be pushing air, while the others are pulling air--instead of producing sound, it will be trying to cancel it. It's out of phase with the others. If you play music and then intentionally reverse the leads to a speaker, the low end disappears.

That is correct in a perfect world but there is a timing difference from one speaker to your ear and another speaker to your ear. If both speakers are mounted exactly the same distance from your ears then yes it will cancel out but with reflections and differences in distance it can make a system sound better or worse it's a trial and error thing, because you have to realize that a wave form actually has a lenght as well. Now with todays time correction signal processing that is being built into some of the higher end head units and signal processors you can actually move the image around to center it to your liking. My current head unit has this built into it and you can tell a difference between sitting in the drivers seat and the passengers seats.

It's basically like the rear and center channels delay that you can program into home theater systems.

I have been doing that to my competition systems for years. They actually did that on some of the factory systems that Delphi put out under the Monsoon brand a few years ago. But they only did it for the front to rear image not all four channels.