Premium Audio Upgrade for less than $250

I gotta know man...is the stealthbox really worth the $700?

 

JL subs are fantastic, but the stealth box price is based on ease of use, design, etc. It's not worth it to me, but may be worth it to you.

 

For all of those with a sub...do you have a TON of rattles? My truck sounds like its falling apart..ha. And I'm not even talking when its full volume just like volume around 30 I hear so many rattles...going to take forever to track them down. And yes, my doors are deadened and the back wall behind where my sub is too.

 

The stealthbox was completely worth it to me. My biggest thing is the way it sits and looks. Looks factory in the back cubby. Fit is perfect. In all honestly, I would rather a lesser sub and a better fit finish. Having said that. The sub hits hard and is very tight. I bought mine with the groupbuy at 20% off. Totally worth it to me. I made my own speedwire and soldered radio schosche radio and harness adapters, so it was plug and play behind the radio then to a taco tunes recurve equalizer. From there to a JL xd700/5 amp.

I am going to change things up though. This amp is capable of being a line out converter, it will take inputs from the radio. So I am going to make another speedwire to my amp, and take out the taco tunes recurve.

I will be selling the recurve with the plug and play harness, along with rcas, so you can just add your own amp, sub if you want, and wires to each door or back to the radio harness. If anyone wants it let me know. It won’t come out until next weekend when I have my new harness made.

 

Just finished the door speaker install and had a few hiccups.
1. I had no idea how the frame from Crutchfield holds the speaker. Those screws go in and they give some janky L bracket that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. Ended up super gluing and screwing into the plastic

Tip for fellow newbies. You take the door frame off from the bottom but put it back on from the top. I spent 15mins trying to figure out why the top wouldn’t line up. Gotta drop it in that window sill sorta.


Also....kinda let down. Was hoping for some real hard bass. Maybe my expectations are just higher but I think I need to get an amp to get the sound I want. . Overall definitely an improvement over stock and was a fun beginner project for me personally. Really wish I could of put sound deadening in. But someone stole the package


Update: much better sound when I adjusted the “Mid” in EQ. Something I rarely adjust.

 

I've had mine in for 3 weeks..I still would like an amp because I LOVE it loud, but give the speakers some time... the bass really deepens after a week or so.

 

Still a little work to do. Ran out of time today.

 

With a sub sitting right behind the seat like that, it seems like when it hits hard and moves outward that it would be smacking up against the backside of the seat.

 

Believe it or not. It does clear when the seat is up. I made sure of that. Now with the seat down it’s another story.

 

Great write up, thanks OP.

 

I've been running an alpine type s 10" for about a year now on an otherwise stock system. Snagged a sundown sd-3 10", the tweeters, and the front door speakers tonight. Excited for the upgrade! Thanks OP!

 

Installing morel maximo 6.

 

People who compete in sound quality competitions for car audio never install rear speakers. They really don't because rear fill is just fill (sound) for passengers and would get points knocked off as it never mixes perfectly with the $4,000 speakers they have up front which are tuned for the driver only. So in some regard your actually better off not having rear speakers as having them only up front will actually sound better.

 

That's pretty interesting, I never knew that. What is the typical setup/layout in that environment? 2 highs, 2 mids, and 2 lows?

 

And a subwoofer. some set ups are like that. All with "active" crossovers. It's pretty cool. It all has to do with setting a stage, as if you were in an audience, and the band was on stage in front of you.....

 

Just pulled the trigger on the tweeters..after I get those plopped in I'll be looking at those door speakers in the next few weeks. Unless they go on sale.

 

Here ya go. Just finished the fronts. Rears tonight.

 

How do you guys feel about alpine speakers? Thinking about putting those on.

 

Just got done doing this today. Sounds really good. I think for the money this is a great mod that I'll enjoy every time I'm in the truck. Thanks OP!

BTW...I applied the Nioco mat to all the doors as well and it definitely helps to quiet down some of the road noise - well worth the effort.

 

Alpine does a lot of things well, but speakers are not really one of them (subs excluded of course)