Hey all, I was wondering if any of my fellow S/D owners had any ideas on custom audio set up for crew cabs...like relocating the rear speakers from behind the seat...I now have a Pioneer w/ Kenwood 6x8 excelons in all 4 corners, a 900 watt Rockford amp, one 10" sub w/ 200watt amp, but it just ain't cutting it, any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks, Chopper.

 

I just did 3 weeks at Installer's Institute, your only limited by how much utility can sacrifice. According to one instructor, audiophiles don't like the idea of rear fill any more. So if you really want speakers around, you may consider a 5.1 system. Custom door panels or door panel pods, a center channel and however you wish to handle the rears and sub. Probably a center console with buckets for the rear. If you really want to help out what you have, insulation. I put down a single layer of aluminum backed asphalt/butyl and a single layer of sound dampening foam and it made a huge difference. My stock premium speakers sound like $400 component speakers after that job.

My ideal setup is upgrading to 12" subs in the rear, a cheap set of rear co-axials and an incredible set of components up front. 4th order passive crossovers, 100-32k Hz+. Subwoofers to handle ~18-100 Hz, and as fast a crossover point as I can get. I think my processor handles atleast 12 dB/octave, maybe 18. I am happy with 100 watts per channel and 200 watts for a pair of subs in a sealed box.

However you probably want more, like a ported box tuned to 1/4 of your cab, built as a center console with 1000+ watts of power and a huge pair of 12" subs. One kid in my class just did a pair of 12" MA something or anothers and a 4000 watt amplifier in a ported box and it was loud (too loud for me.)

 

Thanks ReAx, I'm thinking of moving the rear speakers from behind the seat to the rear doors, I just hate to cut the metal in the doors...Chopper.

 

Does anyone know what lies behind the rear door panel on a crew cab? Is there enough room to put a speaker in there?

 

I'd go with 2 12's behind the rear seat. Thats What I had in my o2 and more than likely whats going to go in my 06

 

The doors have plenty of room, however they will not be pointed in a nice direction or could be blocked by the seat if you don't mount them far enough forward. For custom, I would add a 45 degree surface between the rear of the cab and the C-Pillar. I say 45, but more pointing toward the opposite front seat.

 

Thanks All, Chopper.

 

with some wood working and fiberglass know-how, you could do some killer setups on the lower part of the rear doors, Cadence used to offer a 8" co-ax speaker that you could mount on a set up to the lower part of the door. Also look into upgrading the wiring and adding a four channel amp to power your speakers, a better powered system will sound better than the factory system. If you don't have the time/ability to go really custom then consult a stereo shop you can trust. They can do some of the fab work for you then you just wire up the system and mount speakers/subs of your choice.
PS don't be afraid to try the work, just don't do any cutting on the truck until you are sure of your design

 

Thanks again, I allready have a 4 channel amp(900 watt Rockford), it sounds pretty good. Is it really worth changing the speaker wires? A guy at the local shop I go to said the factory wires are good enough. Everything else, rca's, power to amp, is Monster Cable. I was thinking of buying a spool but he kinda talked me out of it...Chopper.

 

It depends on the power and length. I don't if there is a standard for AC voltage or if it's even different than DC. I'd start by turning your stereo up and seeing how much AC voltage is pushed out the amp. Then divide that by the output (watts) per channel and you will have the amps being pushed. Odd are good that the stock 18ga (or there about) is going to be fine.

 

Say each channel of your 900 watt amp is 225 amps @4ohms. Say each speaker runs at 4 ohms too, P=e^2/r. 225=e^2/4 900=e^2 so e is 30 VAC, P= 225watts, so 225/30 is 7.5 amps. I think your fine for quite a long run at 7.5A.

E=I*R and P=I*E, I=E/R substitute E/R for I and P=e*e/r.