Originally Posted by adamsfbay

I’ve had the system installed and have been enjoying it for a few weeks, so I thought I’d share pictures of the amps behind the rear seat, and give a short review.

Sound:
The sound is fantastic. Major areas of improvement (1) imaging: it’s impossible to get this perfect in a vehicle sitting in the driver’s seat, but the ability to DSP each driver/speaker produces a very good soundstage with focused vocals in the center of the dash and tons of special separation to the far right (and somewhat to the left ear). It’s as good as you are going to get in a vehicle (2) sound: the Audiofrogs are great. Beautiful highs, rich mids, and the 2X JL’s are fast and provide amazing low true bass (3) volume. This is a big one. I can go really, really loud with no audible distortion. The system is set to max at 80% of capability, and I don’t get close to that. It’s nice to be able to turn it up loud and keep it perfectly clean (4) noise floor. The sound treatment is amazing. Driving with the sound system off, it’s remarkably quiet like a quality sedan. You can still hear some outside sounds, but it’s all muted - this is especially useful listening to music with large dynamic range. I can still hear my Toyo AT2s above 60 MPH but they sound a lot more like the factory Michelins now. Overall, given the time and money spent, I’m glad to say that the sound is really, really beautiful.

Observations:
1. Like most good systems, this system reveals bad recordings for what they are, and shines with really good recordings. I moved up to Tidal HiFi and you can really hear the difference now.
2. The range of usable volume changes with the factory volume. While I used to max out at 15, the system now starts with a default of 18, which is lowish, with usable volume between 20 and 30. I typically max at 25 which is loud on the highway. The system does not remember your last used volume, and reverts to 18 when you start the truck. I was annoyed by this at first, but given how loud I listen sometimes, it’s probably for the best.
3. CarPlay works fine through the speakers like you’d expect.
4. OEM sounds like the backup beeps and collision warning do NOT play through the speakers .. .sounds like they come from an in-dash OEM speaker, which is fine with me.
5. They installed a JL Audio control **** for me. I can adjust the mids and sub ... I find that once you get it where you want it, you pretty much leave it alone and it’s perfect. When you push the switch it switches among as many preset modes as you like. Right now I have #2 as party mode, but I’m going to change that to a mirror of #1 with more high frequency roll off to smooth out poor recordings that can sound harsh with the current high frequency setting.
6. I was worried about tearing down the truck and how well it would be reassembled. Happy to report that after reassembly and treatment all the little rattles and sounds that I used to notice are now completely gone. Looks like hand installing and tightening made a difference here.
7. Had a bunch of rain here for the last two weeks - no leaks or damp carpet. You might recall I had a leak when I first got this truck due to a lack of drain tube connection for the moonroof on the driver’s side. Looks like they did a good job with the vapor seals etc. in the doors.
8. Speaking of the doors, they are quite heavy now. You can feel them when you open and close ... solid and inert when you rap on them from the outside.
9. I miss the storage space under my rear seat. There is still space for small items to the rear of the sub. That said, the bass is so awesome I wouldn’t change a thing. That DiamondBack cover is getting more daily use as a result.
10. When they tuned the system they had the batteries on a charger. This led to some wonky Ford System behavior for a day or two after the install - some strange behavior with the battery management system. It normalized after the first day or two.
11. Speaking of batteries, I have 2X Odyssey Extreme AGMs. If you’re going to do this kind of system, it’s probably a good idea to upgrade the OEM batteries.

Overall, extremely pleased. Took about two work weeks to get it done. Feel free to ping me with any questions.

Originally Posted by adamsfbay

I’ve had the system installed and have been enjoying it for a few weeks, so I thought I’d share pictures of the amps behind the rear seat, and give a short review.

Sound:
The sound is fantastic. Major areas of improvement (1) imaging: it’s impossible to get this perfect in a vehicle sitting in the driver’s seat, but the ability to DSP each driver/speaker produces a very good soundstage with focused vocals in the center of the dash and tons of special separation to the far right (and somewhat to the left ear). It’s as good as you are going to get in a vehicle (2) sound: the Audiofrogs are great. Beautiful highs, rich mids, and the 2X JL’s are fast and provide amazing low true bass (3) volume. This is a big one. I can go really, really loud with no audible distortion. The system is set to max at 80% of capability, and I don’t get close to that. It’s nice to be able to turn it up loud and keep it perfectly clean (4) noise floor. The sound treatment is amazing. Driving with the sound system off, it’s remarkably quiet like a quality sedan. You can still hear some outside sounds, but it’s all muted - this is especially useful listening to music with large dynamic range. I can still hear my Toyo AT2s above 60 MPH but they sound a lot more like the factory Michelins now. Overall, given the time and money spent, I’m glad to say that the sound is really, really beautiful.

Observations:
1. Like most good systems, this system reveals bad recordings for what they are, and shines with really good recordings. I moved up to Tidal HiFi and you can really hear the difference now.
2. The range of usable volume changes with the factory volume. While I used to max out at 15, the system now starts with a default of 18, which is lowish, with usable volume between 20 and 30. I typically max at 25 which is loud on the highway. The system does not remember your last used volume, and reverts to 18 when you start the truck. I was annoyed by this at first, but given how loud I listen sometimes, it’s probably for the best.
3. CarPlay works fine through the speakers like you’d expect.
4. OEM sounds like the backup beeps and collision warning do NOT play through the speakers .. .sounds like they come from an in-dash OEM speaker, which is fine with me.
5. They installed a JL Audio control **** for me. I can adjust the mids and sub ... I find that once you get it where you want it, you pretty much leave it alone and it’s perfect. When you push the switch it switches among as many preset modes as you like. Right now I have #2 as party mode, but I’m going to change that to a mirror of #1 with more high frequency roll off to smooth out poor recordings that can sound harsh with the current high frequency setting.
6. I was worried about tearing down the truck and how well it would be reassembled. Happy to report that after reassembly and treatment all the little rattles and sounds that I used to notice are now completely gone. Looks like hand installing and tightening made a difference here.
7. Had a bunch of rain here for the last two weeks - no leaks or damp carpet. You might recall I had a leak when I first got this truck due to a lack of drain tube connection for the moonroof on the driver’s side. Looks like they did a good job with the vapor seals etc. in the doors.
8. Speaking of the doors, they are quite heavy now. You can feel them when you open and close ... solid and inert when you rap on them from the outside.
9. I miss the storage space under my rear seat. There is still space for small items to the rear of the sub. That said, the bass is so awesome I wouldn’t change a thing. That DiamondBack cover is getting more daily use as a result.
10. When they tuned the system they had the batteries on a charger. This led to some wonky Ford System behavior for a day or two after the install - some strange behavior with the battery management system. It normalized after the first day or two.
11. Speaking of batteries, I have 2X Odyssey Extreme AGMs. If you’re going to do this kind of system, it’s probably a good idea to upgrade the OEM batteries.

Overall, extremely pleased. Took about two work weeks to get it done. Feel free to ping me with any questions.

Originally Posted by TheLex

Love it. Who did the install in the Bay Area?

Originally Posted by bryanpwatson

Very nice build man, ill post some pictures of mine. I have a fairly similar system im running:
(2) JL Audio VXi 800/8i (200W per channel as everything is bridged)
(1) JL Audio VXi 1000/1i
Using the JL Hub & ****
Morel Elate Titanium 903 (9" woofer, 3.5" mid 1.5" tweeter)
Morel Elate Components in rear
JL Audio 13TW5 x2 under seats
Pac Audio

Only main diff I removed my headliner wrapped it in suede and then soundproofed the doors, roof, and under carpet. Ended up using about 300 sq ft or SoundSkins

Originally Posted by adamsfbay

Would love to see it. Sound treated everything except the roof .. not as much noise there (tires, transmission, etc.). Wish I could treat the glass hahaha (although the ceramic film probably does reduce some high frequency reflections). Also a requirement of mine was no modification to the interior panels - so 1:1 replacement of the stock using existing grills, meaning tweeters and midrange in front (vs your three-way), went coaxial in back for fill only. I bi-amp the front midrange but for these tweeters 100/tweeter was enough, same for rear fill Audiofrog coaxials. I find the 6" GB driver gets really low and transitions nicely to the sub. It's designed to work hard in automotive applications. I wish I could put about 5 feet of space to my left .. maybe autopilot on the cyber truck will let you take a middle seat

Originally Posted by bryanpwatson

Yeah I figured I would do it while the floor was up anyway. My Morels are pretty power hungry so the additional power was well worth it. LMAO I reserved the truck too for ****s n giggles. Here are some pics, I also didnt mess with door panels.

Originally Posted by ghulands

Looks great. Where did you get the A-Pillar and Door sails from?

Originally Posted by bryanpwatson

Mobile Toys

Originally Posted by ghulands

I thought they might have been. They look really do look great - i'm still having a hard time swallowing the price of them. Are they fiberglass or injection molded?

Originally Posted by bryanpwatson

I will tell you it was hard to swallow but I will say the end result is great and fiberglass