Some tips I learned for doing stereo work on the Raptor

[goblues38]

car audio NOOB

but nice post

 

[Hush Car Audio]

What made you decide to go with Skar audio for the sub enclosure and amplifier?

Dud Bruce recommend it? That may be the only off the shelf enclosure I’ve ever seen that fits back there comfortably enough to operate the seat.

I don’t have a ton of experience with Skar, but I do know it’s budget friendly and I’ve heard it’s good bang for the buck. No pun intended...

I’d love to know more about it if anyone has experience.

not all builds have to cost a bajillion dollars to sound great and meet the needs of the owner... that’s for certain.

I recommended Skar to him as it fit his requirements perfectly. He didn't want a loud booming system due to his brain injuries but wanted to enjoy something that played low bass tones without the headache. The ported sub enclosure is so small that it fit perfectly down low under and behind the rear seats offering him all the floor space and he didn't have to relocate the jack. The cost of the unit was very cheap which is always a welcome consideration. This sub will vibrate the mirrors a bit without being overbearing and an improvement over the stock sub. The seats fold without any issues and the power rating for the sub is only $200 making any amp a cheap option. Now for the rumors and flame wars.
Skar has always faced issues with bad press since they had issues with Sundown Audio. If you check out both product lines they are near identical. I was told it was because Skar's owner was the engineer for Sundown and they split. I'm not sure how true this story is but that's what was told to me. I've used, tested, and installed a lot of Skar products and they work just as well as other brands in my experience. Some people will say they are junk due to the significantly lower cost. I have experienced a few warranty returns using their stuff so I'm not saying they are perfect. The customer service is on point and the replacement or refunds have been extremely fast which is much better than many of the other brands that I work with. Their SPL line of subs are disgustingly loud and scary. The sub that Oldfart got is pretty nice. I've seen a couple of cars with 4 of the 6.5" subs flexing the roof of the vehicle and nearly cracking glass so I know they can pound.
If you have more questions or interest in their products you can ask me or go to their website for more info.

 

[greatone99]

question ,still doing my b and o full upgrade , the new tweeter wire from a pillar to rear cab (amp location ) ,r u guys snaking the wire from the a pillar to front kicks ,then down both sides of the truck

 

[Guy]

Bruce,

That’s a lot of history! I didn’t know any of it. I’ve seen some of their stuff in a local
Store and it looks as good as any midrange speakers I’ve seen.

I have a commuter car (BMW) that I use for work that I’ve been thinking about doing a little midrange upgrade on. Nothing crazy like my truck. I’d have to deal with two 8” under seat factory subs. When I get the truck finished (again) I’ll have to see if we can put together something simple for it.

everything Ford used is absolutely the bottom of the barrel. I guarantee you Skar is a huge upgrade over stock.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

Bruce,

That’s a lot of history! I didn’t know any of it. I’ve seen some of their stuff in a local
Store and it looks as good as any midrange speakers I’ve seen.

I have a commuter car (BMW) that I use for work that I’ve been thinking about doing a little midrange upgrade on. Nothing crazy like my truck. I’d have to deal with two 8” under seat factory subs. When I get the truck finished (again) I’ll have to see if we can put together something simple for it.

everything Ford used is absolutely the bottom of the barrel. I guarantee you Skar is a huge upgrade over stock.

bavsound does decent upgrades for bmw. as well as the underseat subwoofers. we do quite a bit of them. pair it with a match up7 amp and you are good to go.

 

[Oldfart]

What made you decide to go with Skar audio for the sub enclosure and amplifier?

Dud Bruce recommend it? That may be the only off the shelf enclosure I’ve ever seen that fits back there comfortably enough to operate the seat.

I don’t have a ton of experience with Skar, but I do know it’s budget friendly and I’ve heard it’s good bang for the buck. No pun intended...

I’d love to know more about it if anyone has experience.

not all builds have to cost a bajillion dollars to sound great and meet the needs of the owner... that’s for certain.

In talking with Bruce I told him I didn't want to lose rear space if possible, but would like to add more bass presence than I got with wrapping the stock sub. That had improved the B&O a lot, and made a big difference , but I wanted a little more. Bruce had said he had the Skar in his personal truck and was really impressed with it, and he thought it would be a good fit for my needs. I had never heard of Skar before I talked to him. I never would have thought a 6 1/2" sub in a compact enclosure could add strong bass like it does.

It fits like they engineered it for that spot, as long as you relieve it a little around the mounting bolts it fits like a glove. There's a bump out in the carpet just above it on the rear wall, and you have just enough room for the jack to still be usable on the other side. If it was an inch bigger it wouldn't fit.

 

[Oldfart]

question ,still doing my b and o full upgrade , the new tweeter wire from a pillar to rear cab (amp location ) ,r u guys snaking the wire from the a pillar to front kicks ,then down both sides of the truck

Yes & no. I was told you run power wires on right side for your home run, speaker wires on left, and do not run them together to minimize interference. Even in the old days I was taught that, so you don't end up with alternator whine and other odd noises/crap sneaking in. I ran the right side across to driver side, than ran both back to the crossovers/amp. It's really easy to run wires in the sills in these trucks. There's actually a channel to run the wires through on both sides. Use a coat hanger or a fish tape, you'll have them through before you know it.

 

[Oldfart]

car audio NOOB

but nice post

Thanks. I used to do systems in my cars/boats myself, but the last one was about 30 years ago when cassettes were king and 8 tracks had just retired. They were also very simple, even a real good system was a head unit, amp, and an equalizer plus whatever you did for speakers. Subs for car audio were not really a thing yet. Triaxial speakers were the hot ticket. Things had just progressed away from 6X9's to rounds for better accuracy.

That's why I thought this would be a nice way to get my feet wet again in mobile audio. Stuff has progressed a lot!

 

[GCATX]

car audio NOOB

but nice post

Everyone is a noob at everything, at some point. You shouldn't act so jaded, this isn't a audiophile website.

But nice post.

The problem with the Gen2 is that info is all garbled up, with not much distinction noted between the '17 Sony and '18+ B&O. The fact that someone is laying out a good plan on having "decent" sound on a B&O, is a good thing.

Not everyone wants to drop 5-10k to be king ding-a-ling.

 

[Guy]

The smartest money is really on a cost conscious upgrade so you don’t sink a mint on a truck that you’re going to trade in on the next great thing.

that was my original plan too.