Starting my stereo upgrade

[K223]

you forgot the black hole tiles.....

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Do you offer these? These obviously lay on top of the sound deadening sheets? This is purely for road noise or does it assist with speaker sound quality as well?

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

Do you offer these? These obviously lay on top of the sound deadening sheets? This is purely for road noise or does it assist with speaker sound quality as well?

yes we have them. and yes, you ca apply it on top of the sound deadening. it does both enhance the sound and removes road noise.

 

[goblues38]

Don't agree. just replacing the speakers isn't a waste. You just can't expect to hear extraordinary sound from doing that alone.

The problem with car stereos is to REALLY tell the difference you have to do the whole ******** thing, including of course a good amp.


Biggest differences I could actually tell at home were when I added a dedicated amp and when I got a truly kick ass sub.

you want more volume. an amp is where it's at. combined with better quality speakers

same thing with a car.

sigh....we need a sticky for this. IN the B&O equipped trucks....just replacing speakers is a huge waste of time. because the ********* part of the B&O set up is the amp. It is where all the bass management and roll off come in.....and it is only about 12 watts per channel.

When I was doing my system, I ran the factory speakers off my new amp for an afternoon and it sounded 10x better then stock. Lack of power kills speakers...not too much power. As crappy as the factory ford speakers are....you supply them with a clean 100watts per channel, and they sound fine not great. Even better since bass management is now gone.

So yes...I stand by my advice...replacing just the speakers is a complete waste of time and money in a B&O equipped truck.

 

[lateralis]

Got started this weekend. I was able to get the speakers in and sound treat the doors. Front and rear doors treated with Sound Skins Pro Plus-Premium inside and out, Road Kill foam rings for the speakers, the fronts got some Second Skin Luxury liner pro, and huge thanks to Hush Audio set me up with some nice access hole covers. It took my son and me about 6-7 hours. Still, lots to do, A-pillars, amp board, sub box. Really surprised how much more midbass I get with just the speakers and sound treatment though. To install the Hush panels you will need a rivet nut tool I got one from Amazon a while back for some other projects. They are pretty handy.

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A quick word of advice for your sound deadening. Remove the stuff you applied in between door handle mounting brackets. Reason being is that when you put the door card back on the door handle will hit that. So when you open the door from the inside the door handle won't return from the open position. You can get away with ripping off the foam as that is what I did and I used the same stuff you are using.

 

[NV Paul]

A quick word of advice for your sound deadening. Remove the stuff you applied in between door handle mounting brackets. Reason being is that when you put the door card back on the door handle will hit that. So when you open the door from the inside the door handle won't return from the open position. You can get away with ripping off the foam as that is what I did and I used the same stuff you are using.

Yep had to pull it on the driver's side would stick the handle but on the passenger side no interference at all. Good note though for those reading through making the plan.

 

[Hush Car Audio]

I wouldn't use Luxury liner inside the doors as they are a tad too heavy. I think those foam tiles or 3M Thinsolate is a better choice. Another good idea would be to try Mega Zorbe™ - Hydrophobic Melamine Foam. The adhesive on those things are crazy sticky and the foam is super light. The insulation will also help keep the truck cool during hot days.

 

[NV Paul]

Got the sub box built, amp board cut out, and started. Picked up an extra wiring harness for the NavTV A/B replaced the female RCA ends with some males. Sacrificed a set Stinger 4000 but it was worth it. My OCD kicked in when I was that harness. The sub box came out .62 cubic feet. The speaker calls for .8 so we will see how it sounds. I have a 2” straight ahead seat kit coming so I was taking advantage of the added space, with the main goal is everything behind the seat. The grill will most likely have to come off the speaker.

 

[Hush Car Audio]

Looking good congrats.

 

[dhmcfadin]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it's important you know before you do final assembly. You are going to lose quite a bit of output due to your enclosure size. .18 cu ft is a lot. You can try some poly fill but again, .18 cu ft is a lot to compensate for. At 112 db, a 2 db difference is going to be drastic. Especially considering that your sub will be covered by the seat. Also, notice that FS is significantly higher with the smaller enclosure.

Got the sub box built, amp board cut out, and started. Picked up an extra wiring harness for the NavTV A/B replaced the female RCA ends with some males. Sacrificed a set Stinger 4000 but it was worth it. My OCD kicked in when I was that harness. The sub box came out .62 cubic feet. The speaker calls for .8 so we will see how it sounds. I have a 2” straight ahead seat kit coming so I was taking advantage of the added space, with the main goal is everything behind the seat. The grill will most likely have to come off the speaker.

 

[NV Paul]

Thanks for the input. It's not bad news, just the facts. I built it conservative because I do not have the straight-ahead kit installed yet, that will allow me to take some accurate measurements and redo it. I can also gain a little if I go to 5/8 instead of 3/4. It's packed with polyfill. Just wanted to get something in the truck to get started. I know there will be more mods coming. I am already planning on a possible speaker upgrade for Christmas and I have not even heard these yet. Unfortunately, I live in the middle of nowhere so I cannot audition speakers. I have been bouncing back and forth between JL C7 vs Focal Utopia? This has become one of those its the journey not the destination adventurers, I am learning a lot so thanks truly for the input!