Hello all!

So it seems that the PO of this truck was a real genius. Im trying to get the stereo wired up correctly and a new head unit put in. I pulled the seat to run all the wires neatly. Here is what I found..

A behind the seat sub box. Looks like 2-12" woofers branded "XS Force". They have a blue cone and I cannot find anything on them.

1, Sony Xplode 1,100 watt amp

1, XPE2700 dual channel amp. 400 watts.

50 feet of random wires

Both doors have new speakers.

The PO hacked up the head unit mounting plate to get his old one to fit. I will be fabbing new one.


I would like the truck to have a nice sound and be able to push enough volume to hear it over the truck. However, I am not the type to enjoy a back massage or "bumping" around town. Is 1,500 watts and 2 big subwoofers really needed in a standard cab? This is unfamiliar territory for me.

Thanks for the help,
Steven

 

Depends. 1500 watts of 2 Live Crew, AC//DC, or Charlie Daniels?

 

Those 3 I already have on my phone, along with some Jerry Jeff Walker, Hank Jr., oh and don't forget the newly added,,, 2cellos, look THEM up!!
Since I have NOTHING to offer on the stereo or how much side, I added this for my contribution!

 

I highly doubt those amps are putting out any where near 1,500 watts so you don't have to worry about that, probably closer to maybe 300. I think Jensen had some subwoofers a few years ago that had blue cones and XS on them. I have two Pioneer Championship series 12's in my truck on an older Sony Xplode amp and I'm happy with the way it sounds. I wish the bass was deeper, but the box is simply too small for real deep bass. If you don't need the space behind the seat and they sound ok I say leave them, you can always turn the bass down when you don't want it and up when you do.

 

What size fuse is in the amp? They can claim whatever they want about watts, but Ohm's Law won't be fooled. Simple arithmetic will tell you the max possible wattage for a given amplifier. 1100 watts output would require at least a 100 amp fuse, for example, and doubt they are talking RMS measurement, probably just a split second at 5k hz. Don't misunderstand, I'm sure it will make yer ears bleed, but the claims they make about power output is not usually grounded in reality.

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Advertised as 150p and pushes 300! Thats kind of crappy for sony to do that.

Anyway, should I wire both amps together to all 4 speakers? Or should I run the subs off of the big amp and the doors off of the little one.

 

That's pretty typical of high-power audio equipment. Just as Tedster9 explains, the advertised wattage is typically a peak output under controlled conditions; normal listening is nowhere near that.

You can't tie the outputs of two amps together because there will be amplitude/phase variation between the two and one will drive into the other, damaging one or both. Use one amp to drive the subs and the other amp to drive a pair of speakers. I think amps and subs in pickup truck cabs are overkill and will get annoying, but to each their own.

 

Okay great thank you! It was wired up that way. Some reassurance that its correct is nice.

I have had thoughts about it being overkill. I couldn't figure out how to turn the old head unit on so im not quite sure how it sounds. I enjoyed the exhaust note too much to fool with it.

If its too annoying I will just put the box and amp in the back of my girlfriends bmw.

thanks for the help guys!

 

It might be "to each his own" if we didn't have to hear it three blocks away...

Not that, when I was young, I used to blare Ted Nugent or anything like that. Hm. "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!"

Run your sub with the "1100 watt" amp, and the other amp for the rest. Keep in mind that speakers are usually blown by not enough (clean) power versus too much power.

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All good advice. 2cellos is awesome! You will also want to consider your amp draw at the high end if you have the stock alternator. Headlights, heater/ac and wipers don't much room for high powered stereos. Make sure your ground is the same size as the hot. Box size determines a lot concerning the bass sound, also. Since you have the seats out, you may want to lay down at least extra carpet padding, if you can't afford dynamat. A lower noise floor means less volume needed to hear your tunes. You can also pre-determine your db output by checking your speaker sensitivity vs amp wattage to have an idea of max output.

 

For me, I already have the 12" sub woofers mounted in the pie-shaped enclosures
behind the seat of our std. cab. Oh yes the music. Ever heard of Virgil Fox?
Heavy pipe organ? My license plates are bolted tight.
The radio is an AM FM / 8-track. I have many tapes, classical and the big band era.
Add to that an 8-track recorder. Rock on.