Speakers

Im in the middle of doing this right now, does anybody know off hand how much room we have in the front doors for mounting depth?

 

Truck speakers. I have expensive home speakers too but I spend my time in my truck then my house. Found them for 2500$ I just list whatever crutchfield says. Saving up now, should own these by Xmas.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091NO7...77225&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=16695940225&awdv=c

 

Chalk another one up for a punch 45. Had it brand new in my '86 Toy back in the day and still going strong in the '98.

 

You used RAAMMAT for this didn't you? Do you have a pic of how you applied it to the front doors?

I was perusing your build thread (quite entertaining btw) and saw that you deleted the rear speakers. I'm curious about this. Is it a budget issue or do you feel they do not add any value to the sound stage?

I am getting ready to replace my stock speakers. Insights would be very helpful.

 

I did use Raamat. And I followed Rick's DIY on his website.

I took the rear speakers out because the sound from them are awful compared to the Polks up front. I've always been a proponent of "music is to be played in 2 channels, 3 if you count the sub" train of thought. For now the rear speakers are not needed but I will definitely add them in the future (after the amp-sub) for some back fill.

Some insight: That package#1 Rick sells is perfect for sound deadening the rear wall, two doors and strategically doing the rear quarter panels (the former two being the most important as they are the most resonant). After a TW discount and speaking with Rick it came to about $120+ delivered to my door... within two days.

Buy yourself a cheap trim/panel remover tool. Makes removing the clips very easy.

I don't have many pics from my adventure but it is pretty straight forward. The raammat (BXTII) is used to stiffen the panels that are very resonant. The more play a panel has, the more vibration is has the more road noise, etc resonates through your cab. So the rear wall and our doors (both inner and outer panels) are very prone to this. I went overboard with the raammat and still have some left over.



I don't have pics of the door panels getting covered in the raammat but this one shows two valuable things. One: You need to reach up in between the inner and outer panels and apply the raammat on the outer panel. Rick said 50% coverage in there is sufficient, I did more like 75-85% coverage. Two: Cut a 6"x6" piece of Ensolite and place it on the outer skin directly behind the driver of the front speaker (and the same for the rear speaker if you're going to run them). This breaks up the backwave without sacrificing any mid range. What this essentially does is make your mids so much tighter/cleaner



Once you are done stiffening all the panels with raammat, cover everything in Ensolite. This material really reduces a lot of road noise.





And like I said, I still have a bunch of material left over so I also strategically covered a few places with Ensolite. Namely the back of the kick panels (which is an area prone to road noise) and I also lined the back of the speaker mount so there would be no rattles between the plastic and the metal door panel when I'm really driving the front speakers.





The difference is truly night and day.

Before any of this if I was going 45 or 50 mph or more, I really would have a hard time having a conversation with someone in the passenger seat at a normal speaking volume. And I would have to crank the stereo up if I wanted to hear the music... and even then it sounded drowned out and muddy. Now, if the music is off and I'm on the highway (with the windows closed of course) it is very quiet inside the cab. It's not like a Bentley quiet, but it is a vast improvement over stock.

Not to mention the doors now close with a solid "thud." A clear indication that the inner and outer panels are solid.

Before deadening, take your fist and bang on the outer door panel from the outside. It's like beating on a drum. After deadening do the same thing. It barely makes a noise... and it's a very dull thud with no resonance at all.

 

Great info, thanks man. Is this the package you purchased?

http://www.raamaudio.com/package-1-...s-ofensolite-iuo-peel-and-stick-41-625-sq-ft/

 

Yup.

And here's the DIY walkthrough I used:

http://www.raamaudio.com/pages/How%252dTo.html

And for shits and giggles here's his 96 ext cab he's won many contests with

http://www.raamaudio.com/1996-toyota-tacoma

 

Thanks Madjik

 

x2, Thanks for the info Madjik Man... Something else on my to-do list.

 

I received my kit from Raam Audio and started taking apart my truck today.

Did you do anything with the storage cubbies, their lids or the rear deck under the carpeting that essentially supports the weight of the rear passengers?

BTW I was amazed at how loud that rear wall resonates when you hit it with your fist. It's like a drum!

 

Yeah you'll be amazed at how much noise that kit will reduce. Just wait until you do your door panels... those were so resonant. Now they not only shut with a solid thud, but the speakers sound SO much better.

I didn't do anything with storage cubbies or the rear deck. Phase II of my audio install includes turning the passenger one into a sub... at that time I will raammat and ensolite that area.

 

Gotcha.

I'll post a picture of my sub setup when I put everything back together. It's not extremely cool, but it works, and it is easily removable when I need the space for gear or another passenger (which is like twice a year). It's essentially a sub in a box that's sits on the rear deck behind my seat with quick disconnects and an L-bracket with a single nut.

I'm not nearly as talented as you so I had to go with something more basic.

 

my speakers sound better than my moms 2010 cruze and my dads 2013 ram. I havnt ever looked to see if i have stock or what. Mine sound great the way it is. I have a 10" kenwood sub in a box i made to fit right behind my console so i could use my "backseats" lol. with a 350w kenwood sub for bass.

 

Does anyone know if this yellow foam is factory? My guess is that is from the previous owner. Also note black mat material on outer skin.

See attached image.

 

The foam is factory. My foam is Grey, but the same otherwise

 

in 1st gen I have alpine type s in the front, stock in the back. a 4 channel amp powering the alpines and the other two channels bridged to a 12 inch Boston G1 in a ported truck box behind the drivers seat.
my second gen taco is stock for now

 

MB Quart fan myself. PVM216 components up front, 75watts rms from 38hz to 32khz, crossed over at 2.9khz. Made tweeter mounts from delrin plastic at work and mounted in stock location. Bought a pair of 6.5" adapters and modified to fit the 6.75" woofers. Crossovers installed in the door panel space behind the windows controls. Installed 6.5" woofers in the rear doors. Built adapters from .5" mdf. They're Dayton Audio DC160-4 rated at 60 watts rms from 30hz to 4khz. Round out the mid-bass really nice but you need to cap them at around 2khz or less to get them to bass nicely. Took the idea from the "Stereo Clarity Tacoma" sub build and modified the rear under-seat compartment as well. Slightly different but same idea with dual JBL GTO804 subs in parallel instead of the ED E308s. Head unit is a Kenwood KDC 655U supplying a pair of MB Quart amps, the OA600.4 four channel for the front and rears, 75 watts x 4 at 4 ohms and the OA500.1 mono-block for the paralleled subs (2ohms), 500 watts rms x 1 at 2 ohms. The PVMs sound almost too good to describe and with the Daytons and the JBLs coming up from 30hz, the overall soundstage is impressive to say the least. It was not my intention to be heard coming down the road from 2 blocks away but I can definitely annoy the neighbors a couple of houses down from mine. But the real satisfaction comes from listening to clean, quality music. I've heard sounds coming from Yo-Yo Ma's Bach Cello Suite for solo cello No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 Prélude that I never new a cello could make. And the harmonizing of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young leave one simply awe-struck. In the end you need to figure out what it is you wish to accomplish and then save your pennies, do your research, and spend wisely. I'm 55 years old and I still enjoy my music loud from time to time (you know what they say about your hearing with age, LOL).

 

I just put these in my front doors with an aftermarket head unit. They scream on deck power. And Crutchfield sent the conversion plate for the door and a new wiring harness for a plug and play install.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777P65/Sound-Ordnance-P-65.html?tp=95