Upgrade advise for 1st Gen

I think I've reached a spot where I want to go all in on the sound system in the rig. I did a lot a stereo installs back in my 20s but that was 20 years ago when Zapco and HiFonics were the way to go. Kicker was pretty up there in quality too. I know a lot has changed, and I'm not real familiar with best options now days. I don't want to buy brands that used to be good, but sold their souls to WalMart and China, and are actually a waste of money

Not looking to break the bank here. But willing to spend a bit of coin to get good, reliable, sound.

I'd be looking for the following, and prefer to keep speakers/amp all the same brand.

2 shallow mount 10 inch subs
6.5 inch componants - front doors
6 to 6.75 two way or possibly mid only - back doors

1 Mono block amp - subs
1 Four channel amp - doors

Head unit = Double Din - tilt screen ok

*I'll reserve next post for list of what I'm thinking

 

Option 1 suggestion

Sub - Infinity 103WSL
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R103WSL/Infinity-103WSL.html?tp=111

6.5 componant - Infinity Kappa 603 CF
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K603CF/Infinity-Kappa-603CF.html?tp=106

6.5 Two Way - Infinity Kappa 63 XF
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K63XF/Infinity-Kappa-63XF.html?tp=78072

Mono amp - Infinity Refrence 10001A
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R1000A/Infinity-Reference-10001A.html?tp=115

4 Chanel amp - Infinity Refrence 3004A
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R3004A/Infinity-Reference-3004A.html?tp=115

Head unit - ???

 

Option 2

Sub - JL Audio 10 TW3 D4
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_13610TW3/JL-Audio-10TW3-D4.html?tp=111

6.5 componant - JL Audio C3 650
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_136C3650/JL-Audio-C3-650.html?tp=106

6.5 mid range - JL Audio C6-650cw
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_13699059/JL-Audio-C6-650cw-Single.html?tp=78072

Mono amp - JL Audio RD1000/1
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_13698617/JL-Audio-RD1000-1.html?tp=115

4 Chanel amp - JL Audio RD400/4
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_13698621/JL-Audio-RD400-4.html?tp=115

Head unit - ???

 

Back in the day, we were doing cut through on S10s with four 15s in the bed and amps the size of rifle cases.

A lot has changed since then.

 

Not sure why you wanna stay all in the same brand, but you're going to make sacrifices to do it. Some brands make great electronics, but crappy speakers - etc.

I'm personally a fan of Sundown's SD subs - great sound and output for a shallow(ish) sub. The JL thins are nice too, and more compact than Sundown, but IMO they're not as good as the SDs if you can make them fit. There are more choices as well in thin subs, but that's where I'd be looking to stay at sane price points with great performance. As far as components - way too much to choose from there to start recommending without price point.

You're spot on about Kicker. They used to be one of the better brands, but sold out to big box and traded volume for quality. And the old HiFonics - well, you know. Same as Kicker though - hard pass on the new stuff. Zapco still makes some very nice gear though.

I went through a few component speakers for my 1st gen before landing on what I think is a winner - wound up going with SEAS U16RCY/P for midwoofers and Stereo Integrity M25 for tweeters. Been using this combo for 5 or 6 years and LOVE it. Ported Sundown SA10 tuned to 29 Hz for bottom end. Powered by a JL XD 600/6v2 and Alpine MRX M55 - fully active from a Pioneer 80PRS. It punches above its weight and sounds great! Also works great with OEM electric.

Don't forget the deadening - made a massive difference in my '03.

 

Hell... I learned something... I didn't think Zapco was still even around. They were local to me back in the day and they were having some... shall we say... legal issues.

I figured they were gone.

I'll look through your suggestions for sure. Totally get what you're saying about amps vs speakers and manufacturers. It's just a pet peeve of mine. I can run different amp vs speakers if neccesary.

Sound deadening is a definate good suggestion. Everything inside is deadened thoroughly (when everything was torn out for the 4wd swap, 2nd transfer case, and BMW seats). Only thing I'd need to look at is the roof. And that's on the list for sure.

Price point is around what #1 and #2 options are above.

 

Yeah buddy, Zapco makes some nice high-end gear to this day. They also make a cheaper ST series - which IMO is m'eh.

I see you went back and filled in some blanks since I posted. Some good picks there if you wanted to stay all JL. For C6 prices, you can do better, but it's a good kit. They don't make head units for cars & trucks though. I don't keep up with the new touch-screen stuff, but there are lots of choices, even on the cheap end, that come with some great DSP features.

 

@rob feature

Are these the Sundown Audio 10s you were talking about? At 3.78 mounting depth, they should work for sure.

https://gpcaraudio.com/sundown-audi...3B_UxkaUEj7L1b9m1ptKMfOKygKqANnIaAqJ1EALw_wcB

Price point isn't bad... at all, either

 

One of the things I think I need to improve is the head unit. Right now I'm running Kenwood Head Unit (a lower model) with all Power Acoustik speakers and amps. (I know, I know) It was just to get something, for the last few years, for cheap... while I was going in different directions on the truck (re-gears, new axle, long travel, etc).

Now I'm tired of not being able to get the sound right. I've been adjusting this stuff for 4 years and can never get it where I like it. 100% because it's all cheap stuff... I totally get that.

 

No sir - that's the SML - one of their newer offerings. Never heard it, but I'll bet it's a decent sub.

SD and SLD is what I had in mind, but that SML might be a winner too - would have to model them all & check out the specs. Original SD was the only one out when I bought it.

SLD-Series SD-2 10" 600W Shallow Mount Subwoofer – Sundown Audio

Sundown Audio SD-4 Series 10" 600W Neo Car Audio Subwoofer/Sub NEO SD4

 

If my head unit got stolen tomorrow, I'd stick another 80PRS in there (single DIN, no touch). I have 3 more, lol. Call me a luddite, but I still can't stand touch screens in vehicles. Gimme buttons and knobs any day. If I had to buy something modern, I'm not sure what it would be. There's just nothing out there that's as good as the 80PRS and P99 & some of the other higher end HUs from previous decades.

 

Also a great shallow and on sale right now. They share a building with Sundown and swap some parts on some of their custom builds

BM-11 – StereoIntegrity.com

 

I’m running a SLD 10” of a JL audio mono amp in a ported box. It’s sounds awesome.

 

I'm intending to try a DEH-S7200BHS in the future, spec-wise, the only difference between it and the 80prs is the DSP chip. But then this supports A2DP, where I don't think the 80prs does, too old.

I had planned to get a few extra 80prs' for the future, and time got away from me.


OP, I would suggest mixing and matching speaker brands, as well as consider a DSP or an amp with a built-in DSP, instead of running the passive crossovers. Disadvantage is you'd then need 6+1 channels instead of 4+1 channels. But the amount of system control offered is almost beyond most people's abilities to use. Which is nice not to be constantly hitting system limitations to work around

 

Break out the wallet lol. Scarcity tax wft.



OP, another thought. If you're mostly carting around yourself and maybe another front seat passenger, you may be better off with front speakers only (plus sub). You can use 4 primary amp channels on an active front stage, not buy the rears, and put more toward the front stage - which generally sounds better. If you fill the rear seats frequently, the rear speakers start to make sense.

 

Let me make sure I'm understanding a couple things.

So, if I ran speakers in the back door and componants in the front, the suggestion is to run 6 channel to run the tweeters, and 6.5 in the front and the rear door speakers on independent channels and ditch the passive cross over that is included with the componants?

That would definately be better than what I have. Seems like the highs are always too high in the truck with the tweeter in the upper door panel.



As far as rear speakers. The rear is often full... but never with people. I no longer have a back seat

I always thought to have rear speakers for "fill." (And fade). I normally have them at just over half volume compared to the fronts.

But to do the F tweet, F mid, and rear on seperate channels at a 6 channel amp... you're right, the difference between 4 channels and 6 channels is something to consider.

 

Hell, my 4 channel now is DSP. It might be worth it to test it out buy abandoning the rear door speakers and running the 4 channels to the componants I have now.

 

Yeah, if it were me, I'd ditch the passives. Active is sooooooooooo much gooder. It'll help improve your front stage as well.

Rear channels just complicate things, but you like what you like . In SQ circles, the idea is to emulate the concert experience - which considers a 2-channel recording...the way stereo recordings are intended to be experienced.

I don't have back seats either - replaced with a plywood sheet

 

I ended up losing those speaker grates and making my own.




The speakers were traveling enough to hit the original grates.

 

Loving how creative you got with the install! I can't wait to see where you go with the next version!