Base Sound System Upgrade/Build

[zombie]

I bought a Kenwood KAC-D8105, and a DS18 AUDIO V5HL line converter plus a rockford punch 12" sub, just waiting for it to all arrive.

I'm fully intending to replace the sound ordnance speakers by the end of this, it was more or less an experiment to see what crutchfield's house brand were like. They're actually not bad for the money, IMO.

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[CruiserGuy]

Yeah those boom mat style enclosure/speaker proctors are really bad for muffling sound and restricting cone movement. I always used to cut them in 1/2 to protect the top half from moisture. You probably won't have that problem in the kick panels. So do they sound better than factory now?

 

[zombie]

Yeah those boom mat style enclosure/speaker proctors are really bad for muffling sound and restricting cone movement. I always used to cut them 1/2 to protect the top half from moisture. You probably won't have that problem in the kick panels. So do they sound better than factory now?

Yes, they're still obviously not high end speakers, but they do sound much better than stock (IMO, of course audio stuff is all subjective)

 

[GGOuterBanksSquatch]

I've bookmarked this thread and will be watching for everyone's ideas. I'm sure the local shop will want to sell me a super high end package, but I don't need crazy, just quality. The stock Rockford Fosgate system in my Xterra actually sounds pretty darn good.

I would think new speakers, a decent amp and a small sub placed somewhere would be just fine and shouldn't be mind blowingly expensive.

I just added a subwoofer to my Outer Banks w/ LUX & B&O Sounds system. In my opinion, the factory B&O sub is not very good. Perhaps just putting a new speaker in place of the factory sub would work, but I think the problem is more likely in the amp, but you wouldn't know until you tried it. It would be really hard to replace the factory amp, so adding an amp and connecting it to factor sub or aftermarket sub would be just as much work, so i opted for an additional sub. I may eventually tune the 8" factory sub to cover the midrange/higher low range frequencies.

I installed a 600W Alpine amp and a 10" Alpine subwoofer tube. All in about $250-300 with parts and wiring. It sounds incredible, i worked as a custom car audio installer and built several state competition winning vehicles... it's not a competition sound, but sounds great. This is my first post so hopefully this works, i'm adding some pics of the factory sub and wiring.

I used my AUX switch #6 for my remote wire, that way i can turn off the "extra" bass when necessary, without having to have a separate bass control knob. If you haven't wired any of your AUX switches yet, it's pretty easy. The hardest part is the glove box... the wires aren't long enough so getting both hands into the small space to splice them together was tough.

I installed a 8 AWG power wire from an empty battery post > new 40A fuse block > Driver's side firewall (gasketed hole already there, no drilling needed). Ran Power down drivers side under the door jams. Grounded near the amp on a factory grounding post. Installed a LOC from the factory wiring. There are four speaker wires going to the factory sub. My LOC had four speaker inputs. Because I've read that the factory B&O system tones down the subwoofer at higher volumes, I wanted a fuller sound without that downscaling. So i used the speaker wires from the Rear left speaker, and one of the pairs from the subwoofer. Ran RCA's from the LOC to the sub. Connect everything, and good to go. Total install time, about 4.5 hours.

Be very careful removing the rear panels. The clips are tricky. I didn't break any of the main clips, but did break some of the small ones. Putting it back together was not easy, and my softtop closure is tighter now.

Wiring:

Factory Sub & Amps (blue wires are my subwoofer > LOC splice)

DRIVER REAR Speaker Tie-in

Sub and amp installed:

 

[Lonestar777]

I just replaced my dash speakers with the Polk Audio DB402. I used the 300Hz bass blockers. Just that one change completely transformed the sound. I thought I had read in one of the threads that the Metra 72-5600 was the right connector for the dash speakers. These did not work for me at all. Luckily the stripped ends of the speaker wires were the perfect size to insert into the connector, and I just taped them like that until a proper harness is released.

 

[adkern392]

I posted in another group but wanted to ask the same question here. Has anyone had experience with under seat subwoofers? I was maybe thinking of putting two of those under the front seats to give some bass and then upgrade the speakers. Hoping for some thoughts on this idea.

 

[buzpro]

I posted in another group but wanted to ask the same question here. Has anyone had experience with under seat subwoofers? I was maybe thinking of putting two of those under the front seats to give some bass and then upgrade the speakers. Hoping for some thoughts on this idea.

if all you do is upgrading the speakers, then dont even touch the 6.5s in the kick panel and only upgrade the 4' speakers in the dash .... you will not hear any difference in the kick panels and its a real pain to get to them.

However if you put an amp in there to drive the front 4 speakers, then by all means do the 6.5s as well. Most people chose to upgrade the amp driven 6.5s with 2 way speakers, which I'm positively sure will get you a very nice range .... I opted for high quality amp driven woofers and the result is an outstanding front stage .... it sounds very loud but, crisp and clean.

You can always opt for the under the seat woofers but I don't think you need to, if you upgrade the back too.

I will probably do the back in a few months!

 

[adkern392]

if all you do is upgrading the speakers, then dont even touch the 6.5s in the kick panel and only upgrade the 4' speakers in the dash .... you will not hear any difference in the kick panels and its a real pain to get to them.

However if you put an amp in there to drive the front 4 speakers, then by all means do the 6.5s as well. Most people chose to upgrade the amp driven 6.5s with 2 way speakers, which I'm positively sure will get you a very nice range .... I opted for high quality amp driven woofers and the result is an outstanding front stage .... it sounds very loud but, crisp and clean.

You can always opt for the under the seat woofers but I don't think you need to, if you upgrade the back too.

I will probably do the back in a few months!

So what you’re saying is that with an upgrade to the Amp and all the speakers should be more than enough to have good sound even with the top down? Which speakers did you get for the dash and kick panel?

 

[buzpro]

So what you’re saying is that with an upgrade to the Amp and all the speakers should be more than enough to have good sound even with the top down? Which speakers did you get for the dash and kick panel?

Obviously when the top is down the acoustics get diminished significantly, but with Amp driven speakers for the front, you can expect a LOT MORE sound even with the top is down on the highway. Having a decent front sound stage is everything.
Like i said, most people opt for 2way speakers both for the dash and kick panels, but I chose 2way for the dash and woofer for the kick panel.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-WJNe63fU8S6/p_301CX100/Hertz-CX-100.html?XVINQ=GW3&XVVer=69P&awcp=&awcr=397029058487&awdv=c&awkw=cx 100&awmt=p&awnw=g&awug=9030095&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt-6LBhDlARIsAIPRQcJMsvhucP2BDELFf0FQ4bLCHm3HpKvGRKs29bu-XMJKHOICHu7ZeAMaAsUsEALw_wcB


https://www.crutchfield.com/S-737gI...rq58sVSZWxEnwDyF4BTCCPoFaH-L0JU8aAo4WEALw_wcB


I got mine from Amazon, they were a little cheaper.

plus these baby's for the 6.5s

 

[airstreamin]

Obviously when the top is down the acoustics get diminished significantly, but with Amp driven speakers for the front, you can expect a LOT MORE sound even with the top is down on the highway. Having a decent front sound stage is everything.
Like i said, most people opt for 2way speakers both for the dash and kick panels, but I chose 2way for the dash and woofer for the kick panel.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-WJNe63fU8S6/p_301CX100/Hertz-CX-100.html?XVINQ=GW3&XVVer=69P&awcp=&awcr=397029058487&awdv=c&awkw=cx 100&awmt=p&awnw=g&awug=9030095&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt-6LBhDlARIsAIPRQcJMsvhucP2BDELFf0FQ4bLCHm3HpKvGRKs29bu-XMJKHOICHu7ZeAMaAsUsEALw_wcB


https://www.crutchfield.com/S-737gI...rq58sVSZWxEnwDyF4BTCCPoFaH-L0JU8aAo4WEALw_wcB


I got mine from Amazon, they were a little cheaper.

plus these baby's for the 6.5s

Any particular reason you went with the Memphis audio speakers rather than the matching Hertz 6.5 mid bass?

 

[Perfect-Beast-2]

I ordered the JBL sound bar to be installed on my BD. Will see tomorrow when I pick it up how it performs.

 

[marjen]

if all you do is upgrading the speakers, then dont even touch the 6.5s in the kick panel and only upgrade the 4' speakers in the dash .... you will not hear any difference in the kick panels and its a real pain to get to them.

However if you put an amp in there to drive the front 4 speakers, then by all means do the 6.5s as well. Most people chose to upgrade the amp driven 6.5s with 2 way speakers, which I'm positively sure will get you a very nice range .... I opted for high quality amp driven woofers and the result is an outstanding front stage .... it sounds very loud but, crisp and clean.

You can always opt for the under the seat woofers but I don't think you need to, if you upgrade the back too.

I will probably do the back in a few months!

So I am starting to plan my audio upgrade (need to do something to pass the time while i wait for a build date )

If I am reading correctly, the kick panel speakers are NOT 2 ways and the rear speakers are pretty useless? IF you add a new amp then you could just get mid-bass drivers for the kick panels OR 2 ways? This would also allow to make better use of the rears as well?

I am thinking of going With audiofrog. I would do GS42 for the dash and back pods. Then for the kick it would either be the gs40 (mid base) or gs42(2-way)

I might just start there and see how it sounds.

For amp I am thinking of completely blowing up the budget and getting JL Audio VXi amps. I like the idea that you can set and save multiple profiles. So you could optimize sound for top on, top off, front panels off etc if you want to.

Not sure about sub yet. If I dont go all out on the amps looking at the kicker key amps.

 

[buzpro]

Any particular reason you went with the Memphis audio speakers rather than the matching Hertz 6.5 mid bass?

The Memphis 6.5s have 100db sensitivity

 

[zombie]

If you add an amp the rear speakers can definitely contribute to your "soundstage", they're just not driven hard enough without an amp, IMO.

Stock kick panels are just woofers, I upgraded to some cheap 2 ways and it made a noticeable difference, but nothing major.

For me, amplification was the big turning point, I can't recommend it enough for anyone wanting better sound from the base system.

 

[buzpro]

So I am starting to plan my audio upgrade (need to do something to pass the time while i wait for a build date )

If I am reading correctly, the kick panel speakers are NOT 2 ways and the rear speakers are pretty useless? IF you add a new amp then you could just get mid-bass drivers for the kick panels OR 2 ways? This would also allow to make better use of the rears as well?

I am thinking of going With audiofrog. I would do GS42 for the dash and back pods. Then for the kick it would either be the gs40 (mid base) or gs42(2-way)

I might just start there and see how it sounds.

For amp I am thinking of completely blowing up the budget and getting JL Audio VXi amps. I like the idea that you can set and save multiple profiles. So you could optimize sound for top on, top off, front panels off etc if you want to.

Not sure about sub yet. If I dont go all out on the amps looking at the kicker key amps.

Yes, stock kick panels are not 2 ways ... look, the stock speakers as a whole put out sound, they're just not enough .... but some folks might be perfectly ok with them.

I went with Kicker Key 200.4 per recommendation of @philjmatt for the front and I am super happy with it.

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