im the type of guy who learns as he goes along. So far ive put in 2 stereo systems in my 2 different trucks. Both times i had the same problem; generally low quality sound and almost no bass. I think i know what im doing wrong. Im running the regular speakers straight from the head unit. Am i supposed to run an amp to the speakers? If so where could i find a good amp for this application?

 

I've never had a problem running speakers straight off the head unit... If you're looking to rattle the neighbor's windows you'll need amps, but you should rattle your dash pad right off with just the head unit...

Of course, when it comes to anything, you get what you pay for...

 

Your "regular" speakers are too small to put out any substantial bass. Just adding an amp to them will allow them to play a little "cleaner" and louder but the bass and will not improve that much. Adding nice aftermarket speakers will improve things a bit but they still won't be able to put out much bass due to their limited size. You will need to run a subwoofer and a sub amp to drive it to get deep clean bass. Check out this thread for a related discussion...
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...highlight=subs
Here is a good site to read for basic car audio info...
http://www.caraudiohelp.com/
Good Luck.
P.S. It would also help if you stated what kind of truck you have.

 

Along with what Kontai posted, here is another informative website (perhaps too informative):
http://www.bcae1.com/installationprimer.htm

(EDIT): I just read that thread that Kontai linked to, my link is already in there. I guess I just saved you some reading time.

 

Of course, if you have a "truck" truck (as opposed to an suv which many people refer to as trucks), the tiny cabin makes it easy to get a pleasing amount of bass (the smaller cabin, the more the cabin gain) with little investment. There are plenty of 8 inch subs that have very good, low distortion output, and only need ~.25 cubic feet, sealed, and no more than a couple hundred watts. Trying to get satisfying bass from a few 6"x8" midbass' alone is an exercise in futility.

 

These guys nailed it. It's all about design and capabilities. Any 6x8 or 5x7 is very limited in terms of low frequency extension. This is one of the reasons dedicated subwoofers exist. It reminds me of the old saying, "You can't get blood from a turnip". Another thing, what some people consider "bass" is not bass, but midbass. It's all relative to what a person is used to hearing. Someone who has been listening to a pair of 4x6s might think 6x8s are great. Someone who has a pair of JLAudio 12W7s would not.

 

well the thing is that when i sit in (generally) any car, take my moms boneville for example, the stock sound system sounds much better than my system. Same with all my friends cars with stock sound systems like a 99mustang, 02 altima, etc, etc. The sound quality is a little better and when you turn up the bass you can actually hear the bass improve. On my trucks (not suvs) if you turn up the bass it just sounds horrible, its hard to discribe. I know i could add a subwoofer and i would get bass then but i shouldnt have to add one to get the bass im talking about.

 

Well, here are a few more things you can do to improve the performance of your speakers...

1) Check to make sure the middle 'skin' (the part of the door the door panels hang on) of the door has all the holes "patched up". In other words, when you look at this middle skin, you'll notice a lot of huge, gaping holes. If you removed the "stock" liner/wannabe sound deadener, or if it's just loose around some of the edges, the front wave and rear wave of the speaker are interfering with one another--causing cancelation. Performance will suffer (you ALWAYS want to isolate the rear wave and front wave from one another). *This assumes you installed aftermarket speakers.*

2) Make sure the 'baffle' the speakers is mounted to has an airtight seal between it and the speaker flange/"lip". Again, if there's a leak or it's not mounted tightly, performance will suffer. *This assumes you installed aftermarket speakers.*

3) Double check the wiring on the speakers. *as per above *

4) Finally, are you using a stock head unit to power 4 aftermarket speakers? If so, well, you'll never get anything resembling bass (or even strong midbass). The stock head unit pumps out, if it's lucky, 8-10 watts (who knows what the distortion level is at that 8-10 watts). Crank it, and you'll get a nasty clipped signal that wont sound good no matter how good the speakers might be. If you're using a stock head unit, look into either using a LOC and installing a amp, using an amp that has high level inputs, using a decent aftermarket head unit, or using a decent aftermarket head unit and an amp.

Give us some info on exactly what you have installed.

 

my system is the wal mart special. It is a JVC (KD -S11) head unit and two pioneer 4x6 in the dash. Its not in a ford truck. I was gonna install a sub woofer i got from wal mart also but im waiting till i get some better speaker quality.

 

You will never get anything resembling bass out of a 4x6 speaker...just not enough cone area (or excursion, for that matter). A typical 4x6 might drop to 125 hz, about 1/2 octave above the "bass region" of ~20-80 hz. If you stick with those speakers, a sub is pretty much a must.

 

If the speakers in question are 4x6s and there are no other speakers in the system, then it is no wonder that almost every other system you hear sounds better. Comparing 4x6s to anything is pretty much unfair, especially when it comes to discussing bass. The fullness of the sound is not there. It's a thin, light sound, "tinny", so to speak. No impact, no dynamics. They just do not have the capability of anything even closely resembling bass, as mentioned before. And, if the 4x6s are being given a full range signal with no high pass filters of any kind, this means the speakers are trying to reproduce frequencies that they simply are not capable of handling, which leads to terrible distortion. 4x6s should never be used as the "main" speakers to carry a system.

 

well im reading yalls responses right after i put in a subwoofer. now it sounds good. not amazing but it does sound significantly better and im gonna stick with this setup for awhile. However in the future imgoing to put in some door speakers and maybe some 6x9s in behind the seat. Eventually i want to have a really good system (when i get money). so when that time comes what should i consider. Im gonna want a good mix of sound. Am i gonna want like maybe some tweeters, mids, and a sub or maybe just some good regular speakers in the doors something like that? what do yall think

 

I know what your saying. the door speakers dont put out any bass, my 6.5"s dont have any bass what-so-ever. the reason most cars have good bass is because their rear 6X9's. In the average car, the rear 6X9's basically use the trunk as a box. My moms 97 toyota camery XLE is like this. If I fade it to the rear, I can bump the 6X9's pretty good. I had the same problem, i bought kenwood 6.5''s, and they have no bass. then i got subs and an amp, and now I can be heard from a while away. I cant look in any of my mirrors cause its a big blur...

But thats why most cars have good bass, the rear 6X9's use the trunk for a box basically.

 

that actually makes a lot of sense and after i bought my cheap *** walmart sub it sounds pretty good

 

"Cheap ***" subs are usually under rated by people who rave about expensive brands such as Fosgate/JL/whatever. My home made box with a $20 10" Pyramid sub sounds infinitely better than the $300 MTX 10" box that I copied the design from. The sub itself is usually not the weak point in the system. As long as you take into account that the cheaper sub manufacturers inflate their wattage ratings you are good to go. When you finally get into building your good system...just keep in mind that you should always have a sub that can handle more power than your amp can put out.