i have searched high and low and can't find what I need. I have a 99 F-250 SD super cab. I want a good SQ system, but it is not gonna be for competition, I just want a well designed system for my daily driver. Here is what I was looking at so far:


Kenwood DPX-502 H/U

Q-logics rear sub enclosure(down-firing, doubles as center floor console) for either 1-10" or 1-12" sub


I was looking at the Alpine stuff because they had them on clearance at Crutchfield. I was thinking about the Alpine MRP-M450 (200w rmsx1 @ 4 ohm or 400w rmsx1 @ 2 ohm) to run the sub and maybe a 2 or 4 channel amp for some components in the front doors and regular 6x8's in the rear. Any suggestions would be great because I know just enough about this stuff to buy the wrong thing and have a crap system.


Would Alpine be good for everything? What about the Q-logic rear sub box? Good? Also, should I get the kick panel enclosures for the components or is it worth it? I don't want to spend thousands on this stuff, but I do want it to sound good. Thanks a lot guys


Bill

 

Bill.

The deck and Alpine amp are both a good choice. I have 2 of those amps in my 250. I haven't personally heard the Q-logic boxes so maybe someone else can chime in on that. If not there is a few other choices for boxes for your truck.

I would suggest a good processor for the deck, Rockford fosgate has a nice one and so does Alpine. They are really the heart of getting a good sound system, even stock speakers sound like a million bucks.

Speakers are going to be a preference thing, I would suggest taking a cd you like to a few stores and giving them all a listen. You can find nice 5x7's for the doors or go with componets in the doors. I have 1" tweeters in the A pillar of the doors and it gives me a nice wide sound stage.

The other option for door speakers is to go Pro Audio, but with that you will really want a good processor.

 

I think Alpine amp is a good choice.

 

bgalaxy67: Wow, thats funny that you were te first to reply! I was reading through the entire buildup of your wife's truck. AWESOME build, man. As you can tell, I am no car audio expert, so I was actually reading through that to find out what all you were doing to get some ideas. Its also funny that you mention a processor because I saw you were hooking one up in that thread and I hve no idea what that is, never heard of one before. I'll check it out and thanks for the reply.

As far as listening to the speakers first, all I have is a best buy and a circuit city in the area, but they just have the speakers mounted in a wall and I can't really hear how they will be in the truck. I guess Im not super picky, I just want a good SQ system with a little thump(just to feel the music, not to set off car alarms). These Alpines have silk tweeters which I hear aren't as harsh as the aluminum ones, which is probably better for an audio retard like myself, right or no?

As far as the sub, do you just match the rms rating of the sub with the rms rating of the amp as close as possible to get the best sound or would you want to give it a little more or less power?

Thanks for all the help.

 

Thanks! I'll be glad at this point to have the truck finished. Too many night on the old concrete floor is taking it's toll.

Bb and CC are good places to at least hear a few brands. yeah it's on the wall and you'll have some pimple face kid trying to sell you something, but I would at least take a CD or two that you know frontwards and backwards and give them a listen. I like to hit a store early in the day before it's crazy and get some listening time. Do a little walking back and forth in front of the speaker and get a feel for it's sweet spot. then try to picture where it will be placed in the truck. i would go with separate components, but you might find a good set of 2 ways. It really depends on preference, and is most important to get what you like to hear.

Now for the sub, We can pick a hundred different ones and maybe find one that fits your needs. 1st lets talk about space and music style. What do you have to work with space wise and what are your types of music?

 

That sounds good, I'll try it out. By seperate components, you mean the sets that come with seperate woofers, tweeters, and crossovers? From what I have read so far, I was thinking of doing a component set either in the front doors or in the kick panels(which I have heard is the best place), and 2-ways in the rear. Now, if I do the components in the kick panels, should I put some two ways or woofers in the door or would I need anything there?

And as far as the sub, I dont have much room for it because I use the truck every day for work, so all the tools go in the back seat(super cab, not crew). Thats why I was wondering about the Q-logic box because it would fit right behind the front floor console and would come with cup holders and interior matched color. I can get it either for 1-10" or 1-12" down-firing sub. Here is the link:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...6&tp=129&avf=N

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help out man.

Bill

 

Yup, seperats are tweeters and woofers. And you could start with them in the doors then add the kickpods later if you need more. Then you can move them into the kicks and add a midbass in the door.

2 ways in the rear are fine, you don't sit back there anyway

Your Q-logic sub box has an Internal volume is 0.85 cubic feet, so you will want to start with looking for a 12 that fits that spec, then we can work from there.

 

under normal circumstances i would never recomend this but i think you would be happy with this sub.

http://sm.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=520&i=158XSL12S&tp=331

i hate sony to no end but with less then a cubic foot of box your choices get limited in a 12. ive hooked the ones you can get at wally world up for people and they didnt sound too bad, just dont hold power too well. this one seems to be one of there mid ranger brands as i have heard good things about them.

now keep in mind its no competion sub but for a dd and work truck i think it would suit you well.

 

I was looking at the Alpine SWC-1242 and it says it is for a .8 - 1.7' box. I figured it would be OK, but would you normally shoot for the 1.7? I don't need to shake my teeth out, but I do want to feel it pretty good. The biggest thing is I want it to be as clean as possible without spending a fortune.


Bgalaxy, I like that idea of sticking the components in the door for now and maybe adding the kicks later, didnt even think of that. With the box as small as it is, is that amp big enough in 4ohm? Should I put more power to it or get a 2 ohm sub? Is that amp able to do 2 ohm reliably? Thanks for all your help, man, its really hard to find anything online to answer questions and its really nice to have a knowledgable person to get a non-biased opinion.

littleme, thanks for the opinion, I'll check that one out. Will it sound clean or is this just so it will hit harder?


Here is what I was looking at for the system. I was looking at Alpine because I have heard a lot of good things about their amps and speakers(not sure about the subs). Any opinions on what I have down would be greatly appreciated.


Head Unit: Kenwood DPX-502 D-DIN

Sub Amp : Alpine MRP-M450 (250w rms x 1 @ 4Ohms)

Speak Amp: Alpine MRP-F300 (50w rms x 4 @ 4 ohms)

Components: Alpine SPR-13S (5.25" woofers w/1" textile ring dome tweeters(8-100w rms))

2-Ways : Alpine SPR-57C (5x7" w/1" silk dome tweeters (2-100w rms))

Sub : Alpine SWE-1242 (12" 4 ohm .8 - 1.7 Cft bo50-250w rms)

Box : Q-Logic (.85 cft type 1 box)

I was also gonna do some sound deadener and closed cell foam in the doors, floor and back wall. THanks again for everyone's replies and keep them coming if you can.

 

You can use a sub made for a bigger box but, the range of sound for the sub will be limited. It will have a shorter bandwidth. You can trick the sub into thinking the box is bigger by adding some poli-fill.

What you have listed looks like a good all round system.

 

So the Alpine sub will work good with the box and amp or is there a better one out there for the money? THanks man

 

It will work out fine.

If your looking for othe subs to mate up with that amp look for

Dual 2 Ohm or single 4ohm voice coils

High sensitivity the higher the better

Small box requirments.

Other then that, for what you are looking for, pretty much most name brands will fit the bill for ya.

 

Well, thanks again man, you helped a lot. I'll post on here when I get it installed and let you guys know how it sounds.

 

Hell Yeah! Do it.

 

Well, I ordered all the stuff yesterday, so it should all be here next week. I made a few changes.

I found the perfect sub for what I have to work with. Its the Polk DB1240 12". It needs a .88cft box, and I read about Qts somewhere that efficiant subs have low qts(.30-.50), and that the sub in the box package qts should be around .800-1.000 qts and this sub has a qts of .44 and in the Q-Customs enclosure, it will be .878, so couldnt be better, especially when every other sub needs a 1.5-1.8' box. This sub also has an rms rating of 360w, so I stepped up to the ALpine MRP-M500 amp(300w rms @ 4 ohms). And lastly, I went ahead and got 120sq ft of Edead V1SE(60 mil), so I can't wait till it gets here and again, I'll post up how it sounds.