Sound system upgrades

[OnTheReel]

Doing mine incrementally because this stuff is eye-watering-ly expensive and a lot of work to install by myself.

So far have the JL Stealthbox (not even mounted, just being stored in the truck so the wife doesn’t see it ). Also have a JL VX1000/1i DSP amp for the sub. And a PAC AP4-CH41 with the TOSLINK add on to feed it a flat signal from the dash.

Waiting for the weather to get better so I can actually get down to the nuts and bolts. Too cold and don’t want to risk breaking anything when it’s freezing and the plastic is brittle. Will run the amp wires, and apply SoundSkins to the entire cab back wall and get the sub running. That’s it for phase one.

Eventually will network a second amp in (VX600/6i) to do an active front stage, deaden the doors, and replace all the speakers. Haven’t fully decided on what speakers yet. I just know the Stealthbox is going to bury the factory ones in terms of volume.

 

[quietpeen]

What sub (size, ohm, and wattage) is in that stealth box? I love good bass. The alpine is not that bad surprisingly.

 

[quietpeen]

Also I’m assuming you are bypassing the stock sub and keeping the 12” screen. What are you using to tie into the radio and get preamp outputs?

 

[OnTheReel]

What sub (size, ohm, and wattage) is in that stealth box? I love good bass. The alpine is not that bad surprisingly.

The Stealthbox has 2 down firing 10TW3-D8 subs, rated at 800w RMS total. The amp is rated at 1000w RMS so I’ll try to be a little conservative on the gain settings. They only have 600 or 1000 watt mono amps in this line and I’d rather overpower than under.

The Alpine is pretty decent overall, but I added a sub to my last truck and was missing the feel of the bass. Once installed, I plan to remove the factory sub. I can also dial back the bass on the factory EQ since the Stealthbox won’t be linked to it. This should improve the overall sound quality by allowing the door speakers to relax a little bit. They carry a lot of the bass load in the factory configuration.

The PAC Amp Pro AP4-CH41 plugs into the factory harness at the back of the display and gives you RCA pre-amp connections for front, rear and sub (non-fading). It also has a provision for an optical output which is what I am using. It will eliminate the possibility for noise vs the RCA cables.

The Amp Pro is necessary since the factory sub is a triple voice coil. So just tapping that for a typical converter or high level wouldn’t work. Plus you’d still have a processed signal with bass rollback at higher volumes, and the ANC.

Nothing too difficult once I get this first phase done. I’ll have the groundwork all laid. So when I do the rest of the system, all I need to do is run a T-harness at the factory amp under the seat to grab all the speaker connections and feed them from the new amp.

 

[quietpeen]

The alpine sub is triple voice coil? Or is that the Harmon Kardon?

 

[OnTheReel]

The alpine amp is triple voice coil? Or is that the Harmon Kardon?

The Alpine sub is a triple voice coil. The HK is actually just a single voice coil for whatever reason. So in that regard the HK is the easier system to expand on.

 

[quietpeen]

Sounds like it's going to be a very nice setup.

 

[OnTheReel]

Well, this is escalating quickly. Wound up buying the 6 channel JL VXi amp, and going to try the Focal K2 6.5s I had from a previous vehicle. I really wanted to stay with 6x9s but not many good options. I think I’ll get good results with the Focals since they are so efficient and strong. Also decided to buy CDT Unity 8s (2” wideband speakers) for the dash and the cheaper Unity 7.5s for the roof and center channel locations. Not a big tweeter fan and the Focal tweeters are a bit much. So the Unitys will run from 350hz all the way up. Should keep the soundstage high and let the Focals do their best on the mids.

Hopefully can build an amp board and a fuse mount under hood shortly and then just wait for a good weather week to slap everything together.

By the way, anyone with the Alpine should buy a cheap speaker phase tester. The factory goofed and wired my front passenger door speaker out of phase with the other three. So it’s basically just getting canceled out and not contributing. The drivers dash speaker is also out of phase but I believe that’s intentional because everyone says theirs was.

 

[Shaggy]

Well, this is escalating quickly. Wound up buying the 6 channel JL VXi amp, and going to try the Focal K2 6.5s I had from a previous vehicle. I really wanted to stay with 6x9s but not many good options. I think I’ll get good results with the Focals since they are so efficient and strong. Also decided to buy CDT Unity 8s (2” wideband speakers) for the dash and the cheaper Unity 7.5s for the roof and center channel locations. Not a big tweeter fan and the Focal tweeters are a bit much. So the Unitys will run from 350hz all the way up. Should keep the soundstage high and let the Focals do their best on the mids.

Hopefully can build an amp board and a fuse mount under hood shortly and then just wait for a good weather week to slap everything together.

By the way, anyone with the Alpine should buy a cheap speaker phase tester. The factory goofed and wired my front passenger door speaker out of phase with the other three. So it’s basically just getting canceled out and not contributing. The drivers dash speaker is also out of phase but I believe that’s intentional because everyone says theirs was.

I have always wanted to understand audio but I could never wrap my head around it, but hopefully will get there some day. Just ask @G-Ride990 as he knows I was lost when we were talking audio.

Will you be doing a small build thread for this? I guess I should have asked first, are you doing the install yourself?

 

[OnTheReel]

Yeah, I’m doing all the work myself. I’ve done systems in all of my vehicles to some extent or another. But the plan to keep this as my “forever truck” really has me going all out on it with the DSP amps, sound treatments, etc. It would be tough to spend all this time and money on this if I planned to trade any time soon. Doing write up and taking lots of pics too.

 

[G-Ride990]

I have always wanted to understand audio but I could never wrap my head around it, but hopefully will get there some day. Just ask @G-Ride990 as he knows I was lost when we were talking audio.

Will you be doing a small build thread for this? I guess I should have asked first, are you doing the install yourself?

When it comes to Hi-Fi home systems I don't know much. MADDOG is the pro on that front!

My truck system is pretty stout though. 3 kicker amps, Kicker DSP, AudioControl LC6i and all the door and dash speakers are amp'd. No components this time though, went straight 6x9 three ways in the doors and 3.5 two ways in the dash. Honestly wasn't expecting much with this setup but, for a completely hidden install... It rips! Of course, fully sound deadened interior, AGM battery and Big 3 upgrade. Only pic I have is the CVRs and my fox box.

Mine is just loud and does okay, OP's is way more of a high fidelity setup. Probably sounds amazing!! Wish mine had a bit more adjustability.

On my next truck maybe I will dive in deep in the Hi-Fi stuff.

 

[OnTheReel]

When it comes to Hi-Fi home systems I don't know much. MADDOG is the pro on that front!

My truck system is pretty stout though. 3 kicker amps, Kicker DSP, AudioControl LC6i and all the door and dash speakers are amp'd. No components this time though, went straight 6x9 three ways in the doors and 3.5 two ways in the dash. Honestly wasn't expecting much with this setup but, for a completely hidden install... It rips! Of course, fully sound deadened interior, AGM battery and Big 3 upgrade. Only pic I have is the CVRs and my fox box.

View attachment 2650

Mine is just loud and does okay, OP's is way more of a high fidelity setup. Probably sounds amazing!! Wish mine had a bit more adjustability.

On my next truck maybe I will dive in deep in the Hi-Fi stuff.

Just loud is good too!!! That’s still one of the goals for this system. I need the ability to make my ears bleed and will have a preset in the JL amp for just that.

 

[OnTheReel]

These are the speakers all assembled into adapters and ready to go. Not a single one is the same size as original. Also have the amp side wiring done and run. Ready to plug in and go.

 

[G-Ride990]

Which focals are those? I mean all of their stuff is top notch but I am curious if this is their core line made in France stuff?

I'd love to dive in deep and build a sweet sq setup. Those vc dust covers look so dang nice! I still remember seeing focal for the first time, they had those subs with like 6 neodymium magnets around the basket. So cool! Seems like just yesterday but that was around the time that diamond audio was still alive and well, seems like audiofrog, morel and focal are really the only big names left these days.

 

[OnTheReel]

Yeah, those subs were pretty sweet. Not sure if they still do that magnet arrangement, haven’t really shopped subs since I knew I was getting the Stealthbox.

The Focals I have are like 7 or 8 years old. French-made, K2 Power. They were/are one step down from their top end. 165KRC coaxial for the rear and 165KR2 (2 ohm) in front.

 

[OnTheReel]

Put the Unity speakers in all the 3.5” locations today. They need more power than the stock amp gives them. But even being limited by that and the factory EQ, they sound really good. Smooth and clear. Not harsh. Might be inclined to call an audible give their 6x9s a try. CDT’s website is dated, confusing, and hokey as hell but seems like they make some pretty good stuff at nice prices.

 

[quietpeen]

Any updates? I’m interested to see how this build works out.

 

[OnTheReel]

Weather has been absurdly bad lately. A lot of the stuff I have left to do requires a little warmer temps, and a lot less rain. Looking like first or second week of April I’ll be able to get everything done and start typing up the summary.

 

[quietpeen]

Weather has been absurdly bad lately. A lot of the stuff I have left to do requires a little warmer temps, and a lot less rain. Looking like first or second week of April I’ll be able to get everything done and start typing up the summary.

not horrible for amount of having to wait

 

[OnTheReel]

Been a little agonizing since a lot of the stuff was bought 2+ months ago at this point. But it’ll be well worth it.