MGMDesertTaco's audio build

@soundman98 - I really don't mean any disrespect with this, but I know its possible you might read it that way... but do you really think that Stinger/Pioneer/Alpine/Kenwood/etc... headunit is going to get some sort of magical upgrade a few years down the road? The CPUs inside any of them aren't replaceable, you might get updates for a few years or something at best, but all headunits are that way. Shit, @5nahalf has had his Joying for about 5 yrs now (could be wrong) and conversations I've had with him seem about his Joying have lead me to believe that his is still running fine with only minimal slowing down (paraphrasing, and could be mistaken).

 

I emailed CDT about the rms sweet spot for the CDT's. John said any good amp 75w rms to 150w rms would be okay and mentioned they run these in their RAM truck powered by the stick amp.

What the heck is a stick amp? No way they're using an alpine power pack with these.

 

He probably meant “Stock.” Some Rams have 900w Harman Kardon systems.

 

You can upgrade the OS on an android system. But, from my experience with android phones, you get 2-3 upgrades, then you’re done. Then, as @soundman98 said, it slows significantly every update after that.

 

About 4 years going with mine, yeah she still works great. Might be a little slower than it was when new, but if I spend $360 every 4-5 years on a new one, thats ok. The functionality of it outweighs the slight slow down.

 

no offense taken. part of this aversion on my part is due to running a carpc for about 5 years, and an inadvertent software support role i took on in a previous job. it was the early days of DSP's, and i had the choice of the audison bitone, or a full alpine-specific headunit/amp/dsp trifecta that wouldn't work without any other part. each of which would've been around $2-5k. now a blind toss in any audio shop can hit a fully functional dsp from any brand. so instead i built a carpc for $1k that did everything i needed instead.

i got burned out by the constant supervision and updates the pc took, and in my work life, grew tired of supporting software by a company that never patched bugs, they just released a new version with new features that happened to fix the old bugs while creating a dozen new ones. i see a lot of the same trends with android and newer software in general, the "get it out first, patch later" mentality, so i get leary of updates. i prefer to keep to the bugs i know than to 'update' and lose features and get a whole new set of bugs on top of it. i run a pioneer 80-prs because it's old. it has 1 job, it doesn't need more processing power for it's features, it doesn't slow down, it doesn't get updates, and it works every time i turn it on. which i can't say all the time about my now-dozen different android phones over the same time period

 

That's what I'd personally call the Kicker Key that you're running lol

 

Maybe my 65w kicker 5 channel might not be too bad after all

Edit: Here's another interesting option - Again, all based of the assumption that you want to get rid of the Kicker Key amps lol

Alpine R-A90S for $600. 6 ch, 75x4 plus 150x2 staggered power design (@14.4v though). you could bridge down all 6 channels and run 100w x 2 to the fronts, and have 300w for a sub while forgetting about the rears altogether (my personal favorite idea for the Taco lol, wattages guesstimated for 12v input, rather than Alpine's 14.4v bullshit)

Or you could bi-amp the CDTs and have some fun with and run the Unity's off ch's 1 & 2, the 6x9's off ch's 3 & 4, and your sub(s) off ch's 5 & 6, all with active xover points on the amp.

Or even crazier, bridge ch 1-2 and 3-4 directly to the Unity's, run your 6x9's off ch 5-6, and if/when you get a sub, they have a 500w mono block

or you could be normal & boring and run it in 5ch mode because you think you must have rear speakers

 

I’m using the amps from my old SQL build. A KENWOOD X401.4(bridged), and a JLAudio HD1200.1. The JL is MASSIVE overkill for the sub I’m using, a Sundown Audio SD-4 12” D4. I’m still, 6 months later, undecided on my new front stage(paralysis by analysis).

What I love is the total flexibility of this setup. I can run any sub I want and have the power for it, and the 4 channel is bridged right now, but can be used 4/3/2 if I want.

My vote is 2 separate amps.

 

i really like my alpine pdx v9. 100w rms x4, with 500w rms x1-- variable power rails(i know there's a more technical term for this), so it hits that rated output regardless of speaker ohms. but it's discontinued, and the a90-x that took it's place is only 75x4/300x1 @ 4ohms, or 100x4/500x1 @2ohms.

for me, it came down to the pdx v9 and the jl hd 900.5 at the time. both have the variable power rails that make for the same power regardless of speaker ohms. biggest difference is the jl is about $500 more. now the audiocontrol 5.1300 exists for a similar cost of the pdx v9, so it'd be a strong contender if my v9 dies.

 

I’ve actually been eyeing the AudioControl 5.1300. I’m thinking about shrinking the amp footprint in my truck, and that one checks a lot of boxes. But I have to decide on my front stage first.

 

I watched @5nahalf 's android run through on his build page last night. I do like ability to watch movies and YouTube. However, I'm not sure that's what I want. I've got a few stereo shops near me and I'm going to see what they have in stock for apple car play units and see if I can play around with a few. The Pioneers are nice, but the reviews have a lot of negativity about CarPlay dropping connections.

The audio control 5.1300 is sweet, but I'd need to run all new wire for 100w. The DSP software looks intimidating too. I do like the JL XD700/5v2 and JL VX700/5i (DSP). Alpine's are solid choices too. I agree with @TurboGT that 75w x4 for the speakers and 300w for a sub is the sweet spot or at least for me.

I've also been looking at Mr. Marv's sub box options on his instagram page as well as the JL Stealthbox and the JL10W1V3-2. A lot of Mr. Marv's builds are based upon the 10TW3-D4. The W1 would require a pretty deep box. 1 10" would be plenty for me.

https://www.jlaudio.com/products/10w1v3-2-car-audio-w1v3-subwoofers-92080

https://www.jlaudio.com/collections...ducts/10tw3-d4-car-audio-tw3-subwoofers-92184

For now I've mocked up my stick amps ...

 

@TurboGT Factory ground was found under drivers seat mount on front hump.

 

Thats my kids favorite part. They like to watch the music videos on road trips.

 

I assume that's not possible on the Kenwood/Pioneer systems without grounding to parking brake or some other mod?

 

There should be a bypass for them too.

 

no, not possible, but very easy to do. there's a trillion modules and how-to's on it.

for the short 3 months i had a 7" pioneer screen in the car(until someone decided that the $200 hu looked like a $1500 hu and took it) i installed the parking brake bypass as well simply because it locked out a bunch of settings, making it almost unusable without the bypass.

 

I have the V-9 and love it as well, its a powerhouse. I actually bought a few months ago off a member here BNIB.

 

Got to play around with a few aftermarket radio's this morning, but only smaller screens and no Pioneer. I prefer the full screen of the 6600nex, so I placed a notification with Crutchfield to let me know when they get more. They give a small discount on the install extras when you buy them at the same time anyway.

I also thought about my subwoofer options and really like Mr. Marv's work. However, if I buy the 10TW3-D4, then a box, then pay shipping I'm not far from the price of the stealthbox and I still have to find a place to store the rear panels.

I ended up ordering the JL Stealthbox from Crutchfield and it will be here Friday evening. For now I think I'm just going to use the Key amps, the Stealthbox, and the RSE-165/RCX-165 Focals.

I can always upgrade the amp and head unit in the future.

 

Has anyone ordered from Creative Audio or Creative Audio via Amazon?