I'm buying a mostly stock 79 Bronco shortly and wanted some input on upgrading the audio system. As I understand it, it has 6x9s in the rear and 6.5s in the front doors. I'm guessing it also has the little center dash mono-speaker thingy like most of the fords do but I'm not certain about that. How would you guys tackle a project like this? I'm looking for some 'oomph' to be sure but sound quality is much more important to me at this point...that and I don't want the whole back half of the vehicle filled with amps and subs and whatever else, just wanna be able to rock out on the highway

 

Not having any experience with the 79 Bronco myself, what I'd suggest is at least up grading the speakers to some good aftermarket ones, and if you still have the stock radio installed, I'd up grade that to a good aftermarket one also, the new ones have all sorts of features (i.e. bluetooth, USB, Satellite Radio etc.) and are usually higher powered and more adjustable than the stock radios ever were.

 

There are a lot of ways you can go and as with anything, it's all in how much you want to throw at it.

There are a couple of ground rules for car audio.

1. First ignore max wattage ratings. They mean nothing and are very often inflated and the equipment could never do it on a good day. You always want to go with the RMS wattage rating. RMS is what is considered a working wattage rating that the equipment can withstand continuously. If you cannot find an RMS rating, steer clear of that equipment. If in doubt, google can be your friend on this.
2. Second, generally you get what you pay for. There are budget pieces in the car audio world that will perform amazingly and there are just straight up pieces of crap. When in doubt, google/YouTube is great here too. There are several guys who do torture tests on audio equipment to see if they will handle what the manufacturers say they will.

I'd figure out the head unit first. I usually check what will fit on Crutchfield. The only radio they show that will go without cutting anything is from Retrosound. Thier quality is not terrible, but since they are a specialty manufacturer they are a little pricey. Trimming the dash is entirely up to you and it may have already been done. If you trim it then you should be able to fit a single Din unit in there. Since you like sound quality and if you go with an amp, find a head unit with high voltage pre-outs (RCA's) for the amp. 4 volt or higher will yield a cleaner signal.

As far as the speakers go, from what I can find the front doors are likely a 6 1/2. The rears show as modified fit for all sizes, but you can fit a 6x9 back there with some modification. This guy has some decent pics and it is how I would tackle it. https://www.fullsizebronco.com/threa...r-size.399394/

If sound quality is what you are after, then I would find a 5 channel amp to run it. Head unit wattage isn't going to cut it. Pioneer has a really nice 5 channel (GMd-9705) that will be all the power you should ever need and it won't break the bank. I have a 4 channel and a mono amp from this series in my car and they are solid performers. The 9705 will put 100w per channel for the highs and mids and that may sound like a lot for what you see door speakers rated, but if you leave the gain turned down on the amp then you shouldn't have a problem.

• A note about amplifier gain. On some amps you will see numbers starting at 0.2 going up to 6. These are meant to match the pre-out voltage I mentioned earlier. It is for level matching. Some people use it as a volume control and it sends a clipped (dirty) signal to the speakers and will blow them. If it's not labeled on the amp, you should be able to find out what the range is via the manual or web.

Let's talk subs. There are a ton of options that do not require a ton of space. You can get a single 10 or 12 in roughly 1 cubic foot sealed or less than 2 cubic feet ported. The size of the box will depend on the sub you end up going with. The bronco being open like it is will be decently easy to get nice volume from a sealed sub, but you will get more volume from a ported enclosure. I have a single Sundown Audio E 12 in 1.75 cubic feet ported on a Pioneer GMd-8601, getting around 800W. It gets decently loud if I want it to, but I can tune it back for quality also.

The last thing I would recommend is to go with sound deadening. It's an older truck and it will rattle. You can find Noico 80 mil on Amazon for a decent price and can probably do the whole truck with 80-100 sq ft.

This may be more info than you were looking for, but hopefully that helps you out some. If you have specific questions, shoot me a PM and I'll assist where I can.

 

thanks, great advice...what do you like in terms of speakers? I see a lot of love for the Infinity Kappa line, seems to be quite popular choice

 

The Infinity's sound great. I put a set of the components in front and 4x6 coaxials in the rear of a customers f250 on the very amp that I recommended to you and they were a great pairing. The key with door speakers is to ensure you a deaden the door as mush as possible. Mark's videos are great for installing and he has a ton of content. If you are wanting to fabricate anything, he probably has a video on it. Here is one about door treatments that should help you out.


The sub in the f250 is a Sundown SD3 10" shallow mount and the box is .6 of a cubic foot sealed enclosure. The seat folds down and hides it all.