Audio upgrade! Audiophile grade!!!

I have 0 amp knowledge and I'm too anal on the install that I would be pissed if it was bad

 

This should be called the "ask @MannyTheAudioGuy an audio question" thread.

Aside from that, I installed an ArcAudio 850.5 amp because I knew I was going to un-hodgepodge my front stage in the future. Right now, the front stage consists of PPI 6.5 woofer drivers in the doors, and the kicker drop ins on the dash, utilizing the OEM wiring. And while it is satisfying in the near term, I would like to switch to a nice front stage, with the rears just being used as fill (right now they are also running off the ArcAudio on the OEM wiring).

So tell me more of this 6x9 component kit by Hybrid, and what specific part numbers they are, because I'm probably going to:

1. re-connect the rears (Kicker 6.75 coaxial) to the head unit (non-JBL Premium) for rear fill
2. disconnect speaker level from the amp and run to a DSP (suggestions for a low $$ DSP welcome, I'm not looking for an Audison)
3. run from to DSP to amp
(steps 2 and 3 probably won't happen)
4. Bridge amp for non-active front stage or non-bridged and active front stage (but I have no idea how to do this, so I'll probably not go active)
5. Front stage

 

It depends. The fix86 is only 6 rca outputs so if you only plan on doing 2 way active up front no tears and a sub then you could go without passive crossovers but if you want to do fronts rears and subwoofer then you have two options run passive crossovers get a better processor with more outputs. Or get a amp with a frequency multiplier so you can run active without the need of a dsp.

 

What elduder said is correct the factory enntune radio has a tiny amp inside to power the speakers and def start by upgrading the fronts but I disagree with him on the putting 6.75” speakers in the front. I would not go smaller then 6x9 you’d be going backwards.

 

6.75" are in the back. Im running 6x9 JL 690 components in the front.

 

Hey so hybrid is a very high end speaker company from the us. And they make a really good 6x9 woofer mid and tweeter I def suggest you go to there website and check them out https://hybrid-audio.com/speakers/unity/ and I can vouch for all there speakers I’ve used every single one in there line up. And as far as dsp are concerned if you want a great budget dsp I would go with the brand new alpine dsp for multiple reasons
1 it is a powerful dsp
2 gives you 10 channels of rca outputs
3 has a built in amplifier so you can run tweeters mids or rear fill.
4 budget friendly
5 easy to use/setup.
And also if your going dsp route it would be a waste not going active. For multiple reasons, such as you won’t be able to set up a proper soundstage and imaging. You also won’t send you speakers all the power they deserve/need because the passive crossovers steal power and you would be limited to the crossover points that the passive crossovers have built in which are usually set pretty high to protect the speaker from blowing.

 

Alright sorry tw like I said I the beginning this is going to be a slow build. Because I’m busy building others people systems lol but I got some free time while building a customers a pillars and I had a extra drivers pillar so I did a quick tweeter install to see what my options were and see what my depth was. I’m not going to use this pillar on my build because I’m going to make my tweeters on axis. But I’d thought I share this 3rd gen pillar I built

 

And this is not my Tacoma but it’s a third gen we did at my shop with a custom ported 8 inch sub behind the rear seat. I wanted to share so you guys can see and maybe help others who are looking around for ideas! This thing pounded hard and deep

 

Hey @MannyTheAudioGuy ! I want to clean up my front a little..... Right now I'm running the following:

1. Kicker drop in tweeters that everyone else is
2. PPI 6.5 drivers from a P65c3 kit I had leftover from another truck connected to amp by OEM wiring
3. Kicker 6.75 coaxial in rear door that everyone else has connected to amp by OEM wiring.
4.

$720 Arc Audio XDi 850.5 - Arc Audio 5-Channel 850W RMS XDi V2 Amplifier

Arc Audio XDi 850.5
5. Audison APS10D sub
6. Speaker line level run back to amp, then from amp back to OEM wiring using harnesses I made.

I am looking to fix the tweeter staging by moving to the window sail panels, and am looking for more integrated sound quality with a bigger door driver. My question is:

What do you recommend for my front stage? I ordered a second set of sail panels to either send out with the tweeters, or fuck up myself.....

I have a budget of $500, but that has to include wiring, new adapters for the door speakers, and if needed, making the sail panels.

I am not adverse to well kept used speakers, in fact, my buddy has a set of HSK165 Hertz components he has collecting dust....

 

Alright sorry for the slow progress but I gutted all my trucks interior yesterday and did the sound deading on the floorboard of my truck. I layed ballistic sound deading in first followed by ballistic suppresor foam matting on top and then I reinstalled the cheesy factory foam matting and carpet.
For anyone attempting this gutting interior is super easy took me 1-1/2 hours to complete remove everything. And the hardest part was getting the under seat ac ducts back in since the extra layer of foam rased them up a bit. Other then that it’s a pretty easy and straight forward job.

 

Hey so for your budget I would recommend some nice speakers from a bigger brand such as alpine you can get some nice 6x9 components and still have some money leftover and with your 500 dollar budget it’s going to be hard to find a shop to fiberglass you pillars so you might want to consider doing it your self.

 

Ever see those pinterest fail slide shows?

Yeah..... I know when I am out of my knowledge base.....

 

Lol all you need is patience seriously if you take your time I know you can build them! Plus any questions just ask I can tell you what material work the best and how to apply them. And sorry for the late reply I’ve been slammed at work! We’re getting a couple cars ready for car shows and we have a big sema build.

 

Alright sorry for the slow post hopefully I will knock out the headliner deading tomarow I will take pics and after that I will start running all the wires for the speakers, dsp, power for amps. I did manage to finish the back wall in the last two weeks since I’m slammed at work with a big sema build and couple other customs cars! But I did two layers on the back wall I did a layer of ballistic and one layer of sound skin pro which is the same I will do on the roof of the car!

 

I am exploring the possibilities for retaining the stock upper door driver location.
$32 ea.
For some of the cleanest, lowest harmonic distortion in a driver this size: https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-3-fullrange/fountek-fr88ex-3-full-range/