Need Help Finalizing My System

Man I could go broke in lowes real quick lol. I'm gonna try some of that door seal on some things while I have it open.
So I'm not going to be using the power from the head unit speaker output and I want to have some ambient led interior lighting that stays lit when the truck is running. I was thinking of running a relay from the headlights or something with a one way diode from the dome light. But now that I have 4 run power lines from the deck that I'm not using can I wire the leds from the head unit speaker lines? I would only be putting 4 one foot strips, one in eacj footwell and one under each front seat. If it is okay to do is there any way to have the light be steady, I I ok ne want it to pulse to the music.

 

*I do not want it to pulse with the music.

 

Ehh, that’s not really how the radio power works. Speakers run on AC voltage, and LED’s run on DC voltage. While you ‘can’ power LEDs from speaker power, the brightness will vary depending on volume and the music itself.

For tying them to the dome light, that gets tricky. Luckily @DSIM makes a handy little device for this. As for tying them to the headlights, I personally got power from the illumination wire at the radio. I have this run to my relay panel and use it to power the backlights of my switches. But it could just as easily be run to a relay and used to power LEDs like you want to do.

There is probably somewhere else in the truck that can be used to get an illumination signal (fuse panel I’d imagine) but I already had aftermarket wiring at my radio location so it was easy to splice into without cutting factory wiring.

 

Brilliant. I am going to run a relay from the illumination on the deck and power straight from the battery. I'm thinking I will need a distribution block for other accessories and power. I've been looking at getting some new battery connections and a power distribution block for lights and other things. For now I'll probably run them direct to the battery until I get the stereo all installed.

 

I’d check out the “show your aux fuse panels” thread if you haven’t already. Tons of stuff

 

This is a great thread, OP, I hope the build is going well. Not to thread jack, but I was hoping to get clarity on a few items that I think are on the same topic.

1. Could I get away with using only SDS CLD sheets to cover 25% of the doors and back? Would it be a noticeable improvement, if so, how many tiles would I need?

2. I plan on using my 20w/channel aftermarket HU, should I continue to use the stock speaker wires? I have a pioneer avh w4400nex, and did the kicker cs/Subaru upgrade.

3. I’d like to get a 300w rms JL TW1 10” at 2 ohms. Can you recomend a mono 300.1 amp?

Fyi, I got the roadkill speed rings for the doors and they seem to be working well. I also got the baffles to use as rain shields, the amount of water that gets in those doors makes me nervous. Thanks again

 

1. That's a better question for Don at SDS. I know you can get away with that using CLD tiles, but not sure about sheets. Keep in mind that's 'as low as' 25% - strategically placed. Oh, and if you do buy tiles, make sure you buy some sheets for the rear wall. Getting tiles back there is tough because of the corrugation. Hard to say how much you'll need, but buying too much is better than buying too little come install time

2. 20W should be fine through stock speaker wire.

3. Jeez, where to start. A budget would help narrow the options. Off the top of the head though, the JX250/1D might be a good choice. I don't know too much about the JX series, but all the other JL amps I've seen on a dyno made well over rated power. That JX might put you right around 300. And it's cheap. Lots of folks here swear by them.

 

My builds on hold until I get back from vacation on the 3rd of December. I have definitely run into a few issues. The box dimensions I found here online were way too big. I ended up measuring myself and building my box for the two 8's....I did not account for the subwoofer protruding from the box so the plastic ring that covers the edge of the subs is really tight behind my seat. I am worried that the woofers will be damaged by passengers sitting in the seat while the subs are running. I was very close to having everything installed before we left town so I connected everything so I could at least turn it on before we left....sounds like shit. I am pretty worried that I made a mistake. I'm pretty deep into this project as far as money and time goes. I didnt tune the amp or anything yet but man it just sounds so wimpy. This is exactly what I have going.
I ran the kicker components up front with the pioneer 6x8 4 ways in the rear with 2 shallow 8 inch pioneers in the box i built. The subs have dual 2 ohm voice coils that i wired for a total of 2 ohms. I ran a 6 way rca and speed wire from the deck to the amp. I used OFC 4 gauge wire with a 120W inline fuse and put in a new positive battery terminal. I used the same OFC 4 gauge wire for the ground that I connected directly to a spot on the frame that I had just taken down to bare metal. I used new OFC speaker wire to wire the sub box and ran that same wire from the amp to the subs. I did run the speed wire from the amp to the rear of the deck and connected it to the factory speaker wires tho(wondering if this is an issue). I did have to cut away a ton of the stock speaker brackets to get the new speakers to fit. I went with that NVX true 900W 5 channel amp and put back in my JVC head unit....when I turned it on everything fired up but sounds weak. The subs wont hit at all, even with the bass knob on full and the volume high. The door speakers were louder with stock speakers running off the deck. Is tuning this amp going to make that much difference?
Sorry for the novel guys...I'm laying in hawaii right now thinking about my truck back in Idaho lol.

 

All sounds like radio and amp settings to me. And yes, tuning and EQ will make a ton of difference

Make sure subwoofer is turned on in the radio settings

make sure amp crossovers are all turned off (if you can adjust them in the radio)

Bump all the gains up a bit and see what you have then.

 

I'll work on it as soon as I get back and post up how it goes. Thanks, I feel a little better

 

If you get sound from all 6 speakers (and both subs) then everything after that is easy. Wiring is the hardest part, so getting sound from every speaker is a great thing. That means at least the wires are connected.

 

If you're running off the speaker high level inputs, and you can use the RCAs back to the amp, go to the RCAs. High level is a compromise. Sounds like you need to get your gains set properly. Nothing you can do about that now though - enjoy Hawaii & fool with this later.

On the sub thing, maybe consider a double baffle on the front of the enclosure if you'll be rebuilding & set the woofer in flush - like deez



That isn't flush, but illustrates what I'm talking about. You can also usually remove the rubber gaskets if that will make any difference. It's usually the surround that's gonna hit something though.

 

I didnt run the high levels, deck signal to amp is all RCA. What I used the speed wire for was running the remote wire from deck to amp and speaker outside from amp to stock wire harness.
I'm going to have to rebuild the box for sure, unless I can get away with pulling the subs out and use a router to sink the mounting depth. I have more than enough MDF to make another box.
I am getting sound from all the speakers so I know they are wired correctly, glass half full right?
When i get back I'm going to mess with everything and see what happens.
I read that breaking in speakers I should actually play music louder than I typically would to get them to move past the point they usually would. Is that right? Also heard that Amps have a break in period where they will sound better after a few weeks. Any truth or advice for brake in periods and procedures?

 

Just play the things. Yes, the suspension does loosen and the T/S parameters migrate after some play time, but it's not necessary to do anything special. If you're paying attention, the sound certainly changes. The big story here is that they'll settle into a permanent condition after some amount of time.

Amps have no break in period.

 

Home now and it got cold real damn quick. Anyways, I have played the system and adjusted settings on the deck and amp. (I adjusted everything by ear, no special equipment) I ended up having to turn up the bass a ton to get anything near what I had hoped for. I realize its 2 small subs but man I certainly thought it would hit a little harder. The box i built is small, stuffed with polyfill and sealed. I didnt measure for airspace when i built the box, just built it to fit behind the seat and under the horizontal brace on the cab rear wall. The longer I play music the better it sounds so hopefully that trend will continue. Now that I have put all the doors back together I am wishing I had made speaker baffles and deadened the panels, so Ill probably be doing that soon. The door speakers sound pretty good. The front kicker component speakers sound okay, the pioneer 6x8 4 way speakers in the back sound much better in my opinion. Kind of shitty since the kicker components cost 3x what the pioneers did. There is no possible way that I am going to be able to fit the subwoofer box i built in behind the seat. I should say it fits but the cone itself is touching the seat back and cannot move freely. I am contemplating removing the subs from the box and using a router to recess the speaker mounting area but even then Im not sure it will work. I now understand why the boxes that are sold online for the 1st gen double cab are shaped the way they are and dont have a flat bottom. The subs i got may not be the absolute slimmest out there but they are under what the online boxes call for.

 

I am also thinking that i may not use the speed wire after all. I have it wired with it now but the cable itself is very stiff and hard to bend, using normal speaker wire wont be as simple as running the speed wire but it will be much easier to hide and maneuver. Maybe if i have to rebuild this box i will build one that fits behind the center console in the back.

 

Some of it sounds like it may be the speaker box for the subs. I’m in the process of building one myself and everything I read is speaker box is more important than the speaker(s). The appropriate cubic feet in the sub box might help.

 

Update for everyone. I am not pleased. I cut the stock speaker mounts and baffles to accept the new front and rear speakers. I am not pleased with how the sound....sounds. (if that makes sense) so I'm going to pull the panels back off, make my own baffles and put some sound deadening on the doors themselves. I am not going to deaden the floor or roof right now but the back wall is gonna need it for sure.
I went with the NVX 900.5 amp and have to say that I'm not impressed. It isnt that its distorting the sound it just isnt as powerful as I would have thought. The door channels sound decent, both front and rear are 4 ohm speakers. I think with baffles and deadened I would be okay with the amps performance so far with these speakers. The reason I am returning this amp is bc of the sub channel. I realize that my box and tuning will impact the sound quality significantly. I have two 8 inch pioneer subs that have 2 OHM dual voice coils. I wired them for a total impedance of 2 OHM. With the bass turned up at the deck, subwoofer turned up at the deck, gains set pretty high and the bass knob cranked it's not even flexing the subs. Not talking sound quality because my lack of box building skills is more to blame here. Just talking about the actual speaker response. I played music for hours (with the sub box on my back seat since it doesn't fit behind the seat with room for the sub cones to move) trying to break everything in. The subs are absolutely working, they are producing sound, it's just weak. So now I'm going with another route for amp setup. I am going to go with a 4 channel and separate amp for the subs. I used the NVX 4 gauge OFC amp install kit. Do you think that I can use a power distribution block from that single 4 gauge wire to run both amps?

 

I think it would benefit you to pull the poly fill out of your sub box. It's a small cabinet and sealed boxes require more power to begin with, and stuffing it will poly will just choke the thing out IMO.

As for the rest of your settings, I don't know what your level of experience is so don't take any of this personal. Keep in mind that you should only be using crossovers at the HU or the amp and not both. Keep in mind that where you set your crossovers matters a LOT. Make sure everything is phased as well. Don't tune dead spots into the system (don't high pass your doors at 100 and low pass your sub at 60). Generally, subs sound about right if they are hitting around 10dB more than the rest of the frequency bands using in band gain as reference.

 

I had to pull that box out anyways for now. It fit behind the seat perfectly but the cone was touching the seat cushion. I wont fill the next box tho. I am absolutely ignorant to properly tuning a system so I've been going over a bunch of tutorials and any advice is very welcomed. I went with a 5 channel to save money but would rather spend a little more to be happy. I'm between 2 options now and any advice is appreciated.
Option 1 is buy a box from super crew sound (189$ shipped), use the two 8s that I have (120$ shipped) and get a good, compact amp to power them. (Undecided but I just left best buy and they have a kicker CXA 600.1 for 224$) then buy a 4 channel for the doors like the kicker CXA 300.4 for 179$. This option puts me at just over 700$ not including the wiring and door speakers.
Option 2 is something I just now thought of. I saw some hideaway subs in best buy just now. There are ones from jbl and kicker that are 8 inch under seat setups. These subs are smaller than the NVX amp that I currently have under my passenger so I know they will fit. I've never ridden in a car with these types of subs so I'm weary. But these are about 200-225$. I could do one of those powered hideaway subs and a 4 channel amp for under 500$.
My wife ends up driving the truck as her daily and she listens to rap and heavy bass music so it's important to me that the subs hit and she can slap when she wants to. Will I be disappointed in the under seat subs? Should I just bite the bullet and drop another 700$ on actual sub box and setup?