DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

[John Butler]

Comment prase

 

[John Butler]

B&0 and zen

 

[John Butler]

I’m a focal lover but I am sure. Thanks so much for help.

 

[dhmcfadin]

B&0 and zen

Ok, so need to add that to your list. You can order it directly from NavTV, plug and play.

 

[John Butler]

Had a stroke so sometimes I miss words

 

[BIGDJE]

might be a reach but anyone in socal do the upgrade i could listen to? i am OC

just spend $20K + on mods only thing for audio is new tesla style unit thats on preorder so not much budget left for stereo but can make $500 work

 

[smurfslayer]

if cash is an issue, do the sub, amp, dynamat and sub box first. less the $300. Use the Kicker shallow 8” sub and a heat gun on the stock box to make it fit. Take the cue from @dhmcfadin and run huge power and ground leads from the battery to the cab. grab power and ground from junction blocks. This will make the inevitable upgrade more palatable financially and easier to do. It will cost more up front, but will save in the long run.

Speakers are to preference and budget, but while you have the doors apart, take the time to dynamat them. It won’t hurt.

Beyond this you need some signal processing that will be year and stereo dependent.

When you decide that the 300w through the 8” sub isn’t enough, you can kit out how you please, probably best to do this when you pull the factory amp and do the signal processor.

 

[BIGDJE]

been keeping quite but when i read all the comments how bad the B&O is, it sounds pretty good to me. Dont get me wrong its not great but almost good enough not to mess with. sure question will be have i heard or know what good audio sounds like?

answer is yes. been building systems as we used to call it since i was 16 now 43. I had a 2002 F150 Harley truck it had the supercharger on it like the lighting did. I put $100K into that truck including a $30K stereo aka system, lots of custom fab with focal utopia components front and back and had 4 10s 3000 watts rms with 5.1 DTS for watching DVDs. Will post some pics of it at bottom of post.

ok so back to topic i went to my ford dealer today for something else and happen to bring up to the GM who is pretty knowledgeable how i found out from this forum that all speakers are crap ford paper when i thought i was getting B&O. He told me that guy from ford was in and told them for 2019 the front speakers are real B&O but the rear doors where still paper ford crap. I have not pulled my door off to verify and did ask him then why would the 18 be paper all around. He was not sure but swore up and down the fronts on a 19 are real B&O. not sure if anyone else has a 19 that can verify if paper or B&O. now if he correct then makes sense why it sounds not to bad to me. I also changed setting from stereo to surround which sounds way better and I can feel the sub hit bass when lots of people say you dont even know it has a sub its so week. so not sure if sub is also upgraded on 19 vs 18.

I admit all of this make no sense or logic to me that 18 be paper and 19 be real deal but at this point until i pull my own front doors off I have to believe the guy from dealer today. now if someone comes on with a 19 and say no they paper then i dont know what to say. Maybe being older now and ears are half deaf lol. I was all ready for the $500 upgrade but hate to do it now if I do have real B&O vs crap paper speakers.

I would almost rather save and go full blow focal utopia 3 speaker components up front and focal rear and 2 JL 10s under the seat with 2 amps then this small upgrade but thats a whole different level of budget and i just spent over $20K on upgrade that will start to get installed next week.

sorry for long post but wanted to get it all out. lol

my harley truck had NOS, brembos, all kinds of crazy stuff. shit i would never do that much upgrades on a truck again. i spent more on upgrades then the truck even cost but I did love that truck.I did win a few ford best of shows with it and was in some magazines. pic with the girl was for a magazine it was in.

 

[BIGDJE]

few more pics of bed with amps 4 10s ports to cabin and nos bottle front center channel

 

[BIGDJE]

last set sorry if to many pics and off topic