Time to Upgrade my Sound System!

[TommyXrunner]

Ok so I am heading into town tomorrow to pick up a set of components for the front and upgrading my alpine double din. So i'll have 4v preouts instead of 2v preouts and a better equalizer. I'm hoping to fix the problem i seem to be having which is my highs get really skreechy and annoyingly loud. Also hoping to get a little more volume out of my sub. I've noticed that my sub gets twice as loud when i roll the windows down which is nice but overall i'm not satisfied with the output of my current setup. Not too sure which components i wanna get but thinking about spending no more than $300 on them. Also should i sound proof my door panels and how much better can a $300 set of components sound if i amp them? Is it worth it? Any suggestions on components are welcome!

 

[dpartinvr4]

PM me your budget and what you have, and I"ll get you set up with a sweet system, we can work trade ins on your old stuff, and get you a nice well rounded system.

 

[justin13703]

If you are getting a set of 300 dollar components that will be mostly wasted money unless you amp them. Components especially are made to be amplified. Most higher end component systems handle well over 100 watts rms, and a radio will put out around 12 watts to them. Amplifying makes a HUGE difference.

Sound deadening works good but can get pricey.

 

[TommyXrunner]

If you are getting a set of 300 dollar components that will be mostly wasted money unless you amp them. Components especially are made to be amplified. Most higher end component systems handle well over 100 watts rms, and a radio will put out around 12 watts to them. Amplifying makes a HUGE difference.

Sound deadening works good but can get pricey.

ya i kinda figured they would sound a lot better amped. my double din puts out 18 watts rms and 50 watts peak but if the speakers want 100 watts rms i'm sue they would sound a million times better. i know my power hungry xtype sure came alive when i gave it twice the power! and how much would it cost to sound deaden just the 2 front doors?

also i need some knowledge as far as sub enclosures go. i have a really nice sounding ported enclosure now but i wanna try a down pointing sealed box. i had an up pointing sealed box before but it was terrible! no volume at all :hmmmm2: i built it .65 cubic ft. as recommended but do i have to add the volume of the magnet to the box? the magnet on this sub is MASSIVE! just wondering if thats why it was so quiet :dontknow:

 

[justin13703]

As far as the sound deadening cost, dramad1 will probably be able to tell you, he did a pretty serious setup a little while back and did the whole interior.

I have a down firing sealed enclosure and I love it. Not nearly as loud as a ported one but sound quality is much better. And when you build a box yes you do have to take into account the size of the magnet. There are a few people on here though that can build one for you though.

 

[TommyXrunner]

As far as the sound deadening cost, dramad1 will probably be able to tell you, he did a pretty serious setup a little while back and did the whole interior.

I have a down firing sealed enclosure and I love it. Not nearly as loud as a ported one but sound quality is much better. And when you build a box yes you do have to take into account the size of the magnet. There are a few people on here though that can build one for you though.

the xtype actually has amazing sound quality in both the sealed and ported boxes i built. the ported box is way heavier and takes up a bit more space though. i had an rtype before and it was much sloppier in ported boxes. i'm also a carpenter so building boxes isn't an issue. i just need the correct dimensions

 

[dpartinvr4]

for deadening, I use 8x8" squares of hushmatt behined the mids, and 2x2" squares behined the tweeters, this gives the mids a good solid base to bump off of, and it keeps the tweeters tamed down.

 

[TommyXrunner]

for deadening, I use 8x8" squares of hushmatt behined the mids, and 2x2" squares behined the tweeters, this gives the mids a good solid base to bump off of, and it keeps the tweeters tamed down.

and hopefully tame down some nasty rattling as well

 

[Iggy08]

I recently bought a subxclosure with a 10" JL W1v2 from X-Runnin, the subxclosure's the down firing sealed box that J_Strada use to sale. It sounds amazing! All the notes sound great, and damn it gets pretty loud.

The JL can handle 300 watts RMS at 4 ohms, and I have it hooked up to a Rockford Fosgate Punch 300-1 amp who's birth sheet states it does 244 watts RMS at 4 ohms. I have the stock speakers in the front, and some coaxial Kenwoods in the back with no amp going to them. For me the setup is perfect, I lowered the "low" level so that the door speakers don't get distorted when I raise the volume. I didn't want anything ridiculous, just wanted to improve the overall sound quality. My setup has allowed my system to get louder and sound better, but it's definitely not competition grade lol.

If you're gonna get some speakers with high RMS capability, you definitely want to power them with an amp while you're at it. I'd suggest try getting it as close to it's limit as possible because you can always lower the power on the amps if it's too loud for you, but you can't turn it up passed the amp's limits.

 

[RRX]

For the sound deadening I Raammat and it is awesome and much cheapper than most. I used 2.5 boxs to do my whole truck. I know dramad1 used the same stuff as we did are system upgrades about the same time.

www.raamaudio.com

 

[TommyXrunner]

For the sound deadening I Raammat and it is awesome and much cheapper than most. I used 2.5 boxs to do my whole truck. I know dramad1 used the same stuff as we did are system upgrades about the same time.

www.raamaudio.com

wow at that price i'm definitely doing my doors when i do the components!

I recently bought a subxclosure with a 10" JL W1v2 from X-Runnin, the subxclosure's the down firing sealed box that J_Strada use to sale. It sounds amazing! All the notes sound great, and damn it gets pretty loud.

The JL can handle 300 watts RMS at 4 ohms, and I have it hooked up to a Rockford Fosgate Punch 300-1 amp who's birth sheet states it does 244 watts RMS at 4 ohms. I have the stock speakers in the front, and some coaxial Kenwoods in the back with no amp going to them. For me the setup is perfect, I lowered the "low" level so that the door speakers don't get distorted when I raise the volume. I didn't want anything ridiculous, just wanted to improve the overall sound quality. My setup has allowed my system to get louder and sound better, but it's definitely not competition grade lol.

If you're gonna get some speakers with high RMS capability, you definitely want to power them with an amp while you're at it. I'd suggest try getting it as close to it's limit as possible because you can always lower the power on the amps if it's too loud for you, but you can't turn it up passed the amp's limits.

how come you replaced the rear speakers and not the fronts? i find the rear speakers plenty good. i push mine really hard and they're decent but distort a bit at higher volumes. i'm just going to run stock rears but do something like 60 or 70 % to the front speakers and set the rear crossover around 120 hz to hopefully prolong their life

 

[rexrunner]

I used ensolite on my door skins also. Closed cell foam

 

[Iggy08]

wow at that price i'm definitely doing my doors when i do the components!

how come you replaced the rear speakers and not the fronts? i find the rear speakers plenty good. i push mine really hard and they're decent but distort a bit at higher volumes. i'm just going to run stock rears but do something like 60 or 70 % to the front speakers and set the rear crossover around 120 hz to hopefully prolong their life

I replaced the rears only cuz I wanted to keep the component setup in the front and I wanted to add some tweeters to the rear as well for higher pitches. Those coaxial would do the trick, plus they were some spares that were lying around that only fit the rear mounts haha. Lowering/eliminating the lower levels that go to your door speakers removes a hell of a lot of distortion, thus better sound quality and higher possible volume that still sounds good.

Like I said though, I love my setup. But in the end it's what you like that matters, so if you know you don't like something then don't listen to those suggestions lol

 

[dramad1]

Sup tommy, definitely think about dampening and deadening the cab, it makes a huge difference as far as sound quality and prevents the cab from rattling and reduces outside noise like your exhaust, rain, etc.
I choose rammatt because the price and quality. You can't go wrong. I used 2 1/2 boxes and was able to do the entire cab including doors and roof.
I also picked up some ensolite to put behind the door components and rear coax's. I also lined parts of the roof and under the down firing sub.

With the help of Xru I was able to piece together a pretty sweet system. My stereo build is under " piecing together a system" in the audio section.
It has plenty of info in regards to doors speakers, to amps, subs, wire choices, hu's, dampening and deadening, etc etc. plus pics! it is full of info and shows what I have done and what others have done.
Seems like you have a pretty good idea of what you want, IMO just take your time and piece it together the way you want it, if you got questions- ask. Lots of very knowledgable guys here and many have unique ideas and plenty of experience with many different set ups.

 

[TommyXrunner]

Sup tommy, definitely think about dampening and deadening the cab, it makes a huge difference as far as sound quality and prevents the cab from rattling and reduces outside noise like your exhaust, rain, etc.
I choose rammatt because the price and quality. You can't go wrong. I used 2 1/2 boxes and was able to do the entire cab including doors and roof.
I also picked up some ensolite to put behind the door components and rear coax's. I also lined parts of the roof and under the down firing sub.

With the help of Xru I was able to piece together a pretty sweet system. My stereo build is under " piecing together a system" in the audio section.
It has plenty of info in regards to doors speakers, to amps, subs, wire choices, hu's, dampening and deadening, etc etc. plus pics! it is full of info and shows what I have done and what others have done.
Seems like you have a pretty good idea of what you want, IMO just take your time and piece it together the way you want it, if you got questions- ask. Lots of very knowledgable guys here and many have unique ideas and plenty of experience with many different set ups.

nice! wished i had the patience and nerve to sound deaden the whole truck :laugh: i picked up a set of entry level JL components. 50 watts rms at 4 ohms that hit 59 hz to 22000 hz. listened to them at the store and they sounded night and day better than the stock jbls in our trucks. much better clarity and nicer sounding bass. i wanted to put the best set of components in that i didn't need too amp and this is what i came up with. i also got some dynomat to cover the door panels so i'm hoping for a much improved sound out of this system. if i'm not satisfied i can always amp them. i just wanted to try them without the amp first cause it will save me a ton of time and frustration during the install

 

[TommyXrunner]

question! i am going to build some speaker adapters for the new 6.5's and tweeters. is it ok to use mdf? if i do use mdf should i maybe paint them for added protection or is moisture not going to be an issue?

also i got 12 sq ft of dynomat for the door panels. might be overkill but i want to cover every inch of the door panel i can. is this important or can i get away with just doing patches behind each speaker? i have a bit of rattling noise coming from my doors so i figured this would really help

 

[dramad1]

question! i am going to build some speaker adapters for the new 6.5's and tweeters. is it ok to use mdf? if i do use mdf should i maybe paint them for added protection or is moisture not going to be an issue?

also i got 12 sq ft of dynomat for the door panels. might be overkill but i want to cover every inch of the door panel i can. is this important or can i get away with just doing patches behind each speaker? i have a bit of rattling noise coming from my doors so i figured this would really help

You can use mdf for spacers and it would be up to you to treat them how you choose. Another option is the composite spacers. Taco tunes carries them, as that where I got mine. Lil pricey and you may be able to fab some up yourself outta plastic style cutting boards. Just trace a template and find a good tool to cut them out. Are you going to run all new wires for your doors? Or keep the stock wiring, I have a set of the adapters for the stock wiring to door speakers laying around some where.
Also when I deadend and dampend the doors I way over killed it and did inside the door and behind the panel cover. There was also a Lil plate I unscrewed and deadend, it's around the middle bottom part of the door. At first I did just Lil squares behind the components but when I shut the door it sounded hollow. Now it sounds solid and quite, no rattling at all. Then I put Lil squares of the ensolite behind the speakers and behind the panel.
Hope this helps

 

[TommyXrunner]

You can use mdf for spacers and it would be up to you to treat them how you choose. Another option is the composite spacers. Taco tunes carries them, as that where I got mine. Lil pricey and you may be able to fab some up yourself outta plastic style cutting boards. Just trace a template and find a good tool to cut them out. Are you going to run all new wires for your doors? Or keep the stock wiring, I have a set of the adapters for the stock wiring to door speakers laying around some where.
Also when I deadend and dampend the doors I way over killed it and did inside the door and behind the panel cover. There was also a Lil plate I unscrewed and deadend, it's around the middle bottom part of the door. At first I did just Lil squares behind the components but when I shut the door it sounded hollow. Now it sounds solid and quite, no rattling at all. Then I put Lil squares of the ensolite behind the speakers and behind the panel.
Hope this helps

ya i saw the tacotunes adapters so my plan is to make my own the same way. i have mdf and all the necessary tools to make them. i was just curious if there could be a moisture problem inside the door panels cause mdf isn't a waterproof material. i think i should be fine though. i'm really excited to see how everything sounds with the deadening and i guess if i have some extra dynomat left over i can always do the rear doors or maybe the floor if i do a down firing box one of these days

 

[dpartinvr4]

if your comfortable with an air saw, you can reuse the stock spacer.

 

[dramad1]

if your comfortable with an air saw, you can reuse the stock spacer.

Nice focal's.