they really are gunna be harder to fit in and they wont sound as good as a component set. 6x9s are fine for the back if u already have spots for them but im not impressed with the sound, be it bass (more mid-bass) or mid-range. they newer 3/4/5 way versions might not be as bad but so far none have impressed me and sound IMO bad.

i used to run pioneer 3 way 6x9s behind me seat and they sounded bad even when faced up. i used them mainly for the summer so i can use them when im out the mountain sittin or outside the truck and i put them on my toolbox. and yes, they were hooked up to an amp.

 

So, you're looking at a set of Alpine Type-R coaxials in the doors, assuming Type-Rs, if Type-S, I'd suggest Type-R's, and an Infinity sub somehow behind the seat. First off, you'll need to do some cutting to fit the speakers in the doors, just be aware there's no actually premade place for them. Second, I'm not sure how you plan on putting a sub behind the seat. It should go in a box, and in order to do so, you're looking at something very shallow but wide and tall. You're looking at a sealed box with a 0.6ft^3 volume for an Infinity Kappa Perfect 10.1 sub. You need a hair under 6" mounting depth for the sub and then room in from for throw, half an inch out for the cone to move, will be covered with a grill. It's not bad for size, but you'll need to see how much room you really got back there. You may either have to slide the seat up or make sure you get/make a box that will be thin enough.

To the 6x9's are a waste...eh, that depends. I'm not sure what he means by waste. For the Alpine Type-R's, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in the ability to output bass between their 6.5" component and their 6x9 coaxial. Normally you would get more bass from the 6x9 because of size, but since the 6.5" woofer is not inhibitted by a tweeter through the center like the 6"x9", it seems to make up for the size difference. I personally like the sound of the 6.5" component set over the 6"x9" coaxial set anyways. Just mount the tweeter right beside the woofer when installing. The tweeter could be put higher in the door as well for more direct highs. It's really up to you however.

$320 for an amp. Pick anything you want. You'll have lots of choices. You can go with a 2x75watt rms amp for the door speakers and a mono 1x300watt rms amp for the sub. Going with a 4 channel amp will limit how much you put to the sub, i.e. 4x75watts rms = only 150watts rms to the sub when bridged. Keeping them seperate allows you to maximize on both without underpowering or overpowering the other.

You can get things very cheap online, check out ikesound.com:

Pioneer DEH-P3500 head unit(I had this one) - $135

Alpine SPR-694A 6x9" coaxials - $106
or
Alpine SPR-176A 6.5" components - $130

Rockford Fosgate Punch 300S 2x75watt rms amp - $89

Rockford Fosgate POWER 351M 1x300watt mono amp - $139

Infinity KAPPA PERFECT 10.1 subwoofer - $100

Wiring kit - $20

Total price - $689-$703 (speaker dependent)

Also, I just put down the Rockford amps. There are other/better brands as well as lesser/cheaper brands. I run a Pioneer amp, decent but only got it cause I was buying from Best Buy and that's what they had. It's up to you. The cheapies are cheap for a reason, but expensive ones aren't necessarily great either. Look at the specs: THD(lower is better), Signal-to-Noise Ratio(higher is better), check rms wattage(ex. 2x50watts rms @ 4ohms), check features(high pass/low pass frequency ranges(HPF/LPF), bass boost @ 40Hz or 60Hz or etc), check safety/protection features) Basically find the one with the features you want. Specs can be misleading. Each company has their own biased way of rating them, so take them with a grain of salt. To you, the accuracy of the output won't be noticed. Just a warning, some very cheap high power amps are usually improperly rated. For example Boss amps are very cheap but are rated double what there actually output, and yes, they say rms after it. Cheap is fine, but too cheap may get you something that isn't as powerful as you think it may be. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

I am going to contradict some of the above. I personally would go with a good set of components in the door. I prefer Infinity Kappa Perfects 5.1. Easy to fit behind the door panels of a Ranger. (Been there done that) You on the other hand are on a budget and I would back down to the Kappa 50.5cs. (savings of at least 50 bucks) The 10" sub (Single) is harder you said all you listen to is Rock. So with you not needing THUMPING Bass. Infinity sub will be fine. (I prefer JL W3V2 but I listen to both types of music....Country and Western... LOL) The Kappa crossovers will compensate for a little of the lost mid Bass when coupled with a Higher grade Amp on the Sub. ( I prefer JL but can not afford them so I use Audiobahn.) There intake series are the pretty much the same componets as there A/B and Competition amps. It is just basicly a packaging issue for them. (if you want to see the voltage input in pretty blue LED and chrome plating on the amp itself, which is hard to see under or behind the seat then get the upper end stuff.) There are just to many decent ones to choose from. If you keep it between .65 cents to 1.00 per watt you will be good to go.

The head unit is another issue to get the best sound quality out of any head unit you have to tune it to.... A. your preformance level and B. your speakers sound quality. That can be done many ways from simple bass/treble settings on the tuner (I hope not) to many crossover settings. (speakers, Amp and even some head units.) The head unit should be the focus first. because no matter if you buy the High end speaker (some can exceed $2500 a set)they are only as good as the sound quality going to them. (I remember the RCA High Fidelity... still displaying the dog with his head turnd at a 45 degree angle looking in the end of a megaphone on a turn table.... sorry I was talking to Greek to a 15 year old that probably does not even remember cassette's much less record players or 8 track tapes.)

The best advice I can give is take your prefered music (CD or whatever) to a local audio shop and play it on many head units and different speaker combo's.

P.S. This being in a 84 Ranger I would think sound deading (minimum speaker kit about 20 to 40 bucks) before any audio upgrade at all

 

the difference between an entry level head's sound and a high end one will not be as drastic as the different as entry level speakers vs better ones
the way technology goes the speakers are still the weakest link in the equation

 

ok ok. you guys got me talked into the components.alright so here it is............................

alpine spr-176a 6.5" components $130.50
infiniti kappa perect 10.1 10" sub $100.00
pioneer deh-p3500 head unit $135.00

also im likin the 2 amps thang

rockford fosgate 351s bridged for the sub $144.00
rockford fosgate 300s for the componets $89.00


if i go with two seperate amps whats a wiring kit that would cover everything? and also would this start drawing too much power from the battery?

back to the sub. i was plannin on buyin a truck box thats in a wedge shape that should fit behind the seat. i may have to move the seat up a little but no big deal.

so anyways tell me if some of this stuff clashes with each other or not. dont want a disaster for my first stereo installation. thanks alot guys. youve helped a hole lot.

 

Where are you gettin stuff at that price? I want a rockford fosgate 300s for $89? Do you mind sharing your secrets?

please . . .

 

www.ikesound.com. they have a bunch of cheap stuff.

 

anybody?

 

I personally like the setup, what I'd run in mine if I would dare squeeze a sup behind the seat, I like my leg room. Now it's all a matter of opinion of course as far as which speakers, which head unit, which amps, etc... Everyone has their favorites and what they personally like. That's why it's hard to provide a perfect setup for you, cause it's all opinion. I think you will be very pleased with the setup.

For wiring, you can go to your local Best Buy or something and get a wiring kit if you want. I'm not sure exactly what it comes with and what else you need. I had Best Buy do everything when I had my amp put in a while back. Basically, you'll need two sets of RCA cables to go from the head unit to each amp. You'll need a positive wire running from each amp directly to the battery, 4 guage wire or something. They need to be fused. Then you need a simple ground wire, nothing special. Then you'll just need wires running to the speakers from the amps. That's about it. A kit should come with everything you need for one amp. You may just need to pick up two to take care of the job fully. You don't need any super high end version. You're not doing competitions or running thousands of watts, the cheapy basic one should work fine. That's about it short of the physical installation of the hardware.

 

yeah, what he said, and I think your battery should be able to handle it, but try it and see if you have a problem, and if so think about upgrading the alternator

 

hi, first of all, do not order from thezeb.com. i know of 2 people who have bought cd players from them and they didn't work. now on to business. if you can find a soundstorm dealer, they have some awesome 6x9's. they can literally pass for subs with any type of amp behind them. and they are cheap also. i would go with a component set like a power acoustik one. they sound really good. as for amps, i'd run all your speakers off of them if you can get a cd player with 2 or 3 sets of pre-outs.

 

hi, first of all, do not order from thezeb.com. i know of 2 people who have bought cd players from them and they didn't work. now on to business. if you can find a soundstorm dealer, they have some awesome 6x9's. they can literally pass for subs with any type of amp behind them. and they are cheap also. i would go with a component set like a power acoustik one. they sound really good. as for amps, i'd run all your speakers off of them if you can get a cd player with 2 or 3 sets of pre-outs. and about installing it. i would run with a 4ga kit with a power distribution block at the battery. they sell kits like this, just check out www.crutchfield.com. also, make sure you have 2 remote wires (to turn your amps on with). they hook up to your power antena output on your radio.

 

That sounds like it is a nice little starter set up. It should be more than adequate for the Ranger. Always remember, a good rule of thumb is 1/2 of the budget on speakers, as they will make the biggest impact on sound quality.