A good sound system can make a closet sound like a concert hall. Speaker placement will also make a mediocre system sound much better. High frequencies are very directional...the placement of the tweeters will add to the spacial feel of the system so they are usually placed around eye level and forward of the listener just like it would be if you were at a concert. Lower frequencies are pretty much omnidirectional...it doesn't matter where a bass speaker is located, under/behind the seat is good, placement is not so important. I am looking at placing the tweeters up in the A-pillars, the mids in the doors or kickpanels, and the woofers under the seats.
An interesting tidbit about sound systems...a good friend of mine has been a movie theater projectionist for many years. He told me that when they design a theater they use seats that have the same sound absorption characteristics as a human body. Why you ask...whenever you watch a movie in a theater the sound you hear will always be the same quality whether the theater is full, half-full, or empty because each seat "looks" to the sound system as if there was in fact a person sitting there. I always thought that this was a cool bit of trivia, but it really does reinforce the idea that sound system design can make a world of difference in how you "hear" the music.
I guess that this is what really prompted my post to begin with...maybe someone who is really into good sound in their truck had a system engineered for them and then the rest of us could benefit from this design.

 

how about a radio that fits in the existing hole.???
any one find a link on this. iv searched....nada
i have a 59 truck with the round hole.

previous owner put some nice speakers in the doors and ok stereo but its hanging from the dash. than he mounted some gauges to that...... "ugly"
im replacing the guages w/newer ones

im about ready to place a discreet hole and mount my own.
most of the mp3 players have radios in them.

you know the jack im talking about fits the headphones type.. probably at radio shack.

 

this link, CUSTOMAUTOSOUND.COM , was posted before for the secret audio but they also have a lot of radios made to fit the original holes. I don't know if they have what you want but it is worth a check.
jim

 

I did a 4in dvd/gps/mp3/sd memory system in mine, tilt screen (not motorized).. (7inch would be a killer!)

I put a manual power switch under the dash so that I can power it with the truck off to play music or DVDs at shows..

Sam

 

Thanks hellfire for the link..

clean job sdetweil. i like the dash add on.
-auerdoan

 

That's a sweet setup Sam...I have the same Vintage Air control panel and my present plan is to mount it much the same as you have yours. Since my truck is a 56 the shape of the dash is a little different, the leading edge is a bit more pointed and the ashtray is located on this edge. My plan is to remove the ashtray and recess the lower portion of the rounded edge to accomodate my NAV/Audio head unit. The screen will be mounted flush with the flat portion of the dash but extend up into the rounded portion about 2 inches. This will give me a 2 inch overhang that will help to shade the screen. The VA control panel will mount directly under the screen. I guess that it's time to fire up Photoshop...words just don't have the same impact as a picture.

 

this was as low as I could mount the switches because of the size of the switch body behind the dash..

and altho the radio looks like it could come up some, it is really tight under the dash as it is. we had to install the power air vent motor and arm cause the radio position forced us to remove the manual arm.

Sam

 

Since I replaced the stock firewall with a flat panel I have room to mount the A/C unit in the center instead of behind the glovebox...I eliminated the vent so that's not a problem either. Thanks for the heads-up on control panel/switch size...that looks like it could be one of those gotchas down the road. Always like to fit first and paint later. I have bucket seats and currently in the process of designing a console. The console will be the bailout location for anything that doesn't fit or look right in the dash.
I talked with Ron Mangus at the GNRS a couple of weeks ago, he was telling me about a recent F100 that he did for a customer. Gave me some good ideas on how to go with my truck.

 

I plan on mounting my cd player/ipod hookup in the glove box. I plan on putting some 4inch 3 way speakers in the kick panels, and some 6x9s in two speaker boxes under or behind the seat. I havent gotten that far yet.

Does the A/C unit get in the way of the glove box? I dont have the AC yet, plan on getting that eventually after I finish the truck, too much money this year to spend.

 

Question for you Gurus of sound. It was suggested to me that I should put the thumper behind the seat [no gas tank], the mids in the kick panel and the tweeters behind the driver in the upper corners of the cab.

What are your thoughts on that ???

jim

 

Jim,

Tweeters are a directional sound they should be infront of you like your mids. The cab is to small to try to add rear fell staging into it (Sound from behind) because you and/or your passanger will block the sound for the other... I'm rebuilding a set of Qlogic kickpanel mods to fit our truck that will hold my mid and tweet and angle it up facing the people in the truck...

 

See post #31 this thread. There are some luxury cars that have speakers built into the headrests in the bucket seats that give the listener the feel of a rear channel. With the proper delay the effects can be dramatic.

 

That is correct. most of those have both a right and left rear speaker in each head rest so you don't loose sound for the other seat or distance... But you could also bring the point of the center staging too... with enough money and the right guidence mind blowing sounds can be achieved. The big point was that the tweeter is directional and you should have you main tweeters infront of you....

 

Point made in post #31..."High frequencies are very directional...the placement of the tweeters will add to the spacial feel of the system so they are usually placed around eye level and forward of the listener just like it would be if you were at a concert."

 

That would mean they would have to be in the windshield posts or at least above the windshield corners. Not very practical location. So if you can't place them there, is there a major loss of sound quality if I move them lower and aim them back at the passenger area?

I realize where optimum location is but where is a practical location without spending a zillion dollars on trick stuff?

jim