Audio System Recommendations?

[Erik the Awful]

Audio experts, if you were to build the perfect simple audio system in your truck, what would you build?

I probably won't actually get around to putting Roscoe's interior back together soon, but I'm wondering what to do for audio when I do get it back together. I want to keep it inexpensive and simple. I already have tinnitus, so I'm not looking for a killer system, but I want something that can handle everything from Nine Inch Nails to Pink Floyd at a volume that won't destroy my hearing, and also play regular voices loud enough for me to hear on the highway if I'm in an NPR mood.

It will be a stock '88 interior, but I'm not afraid to do some modification if needs be. I'm already planning on a decent amount of sound deadening. Thick SoffSeal wherever I can, and thin Thermo-Tec everywhere else. I'd like a 4.1 setup. I'm fine with the factory-size 4x6s in the dash, but the 4x6s high in the B-pillars seems like a bad idea - too close to my ears. I'm not really a fan of putting speakers in the doors or kick panels. Can 6x9s be fit in the lower B-pillars? Do they work well enough there?

It's a regular cab, so I'm trying to maximize interior space. I'm not planning on a center console so that I can fit a third person in case the situation arises. Do I just go for putting the sub under the middle or passenger seat? Is there room for a 10" sub and amp or should I go with an 8"? Building a box isn't a problem for me so long as I'm not having to mold fiberglass, and even then I might be willing to learn. How many watts am I looking for from an amp? The watts I knew back in the day relate in no way to the wattages people are talking about now, but I'm pretty sure 1000w is still overkill for my needs.

I'm currently planning on budget-line name brand speakers. What's good?

I probably won't decide on a head unit until I get closer to installation, but what brands should I be looking at for a double-DIN with Bluetooth/FM/CD/MP3 player and a backup camera?

For reference, my daily driver '06 Mustang GT has a Shaker 1000 system and it's all I ever need for power and sound quality in a stereo. I just wish it had bluetooth.

 

[johnckhall]

This is the set up I went with in my ‘94. I didn't really need a backup camera and wanted the stereo to look as stock as possible. I just left my cassette/EQ in place in the dash.


Retrosound Santa Cruz M4 receiver (this model has the output for a sub), Retrosound in-line Amp, replaced speakers all the way around with Infinity Reference speakers, and I put a powered Bazooka Bass Tube under the back seat. There are other powered subs that are more flat boxes that can fit upright behind a single cab seat.

 

[df2x4]

IMO you're shooting yourself in the foot a little by not wanting to do door or kick panel speakers. You want the majority of the sound to come from in front of you, and stuffing 6x9s in the rear isn't going to help that any. I have a decent system in my red truck ('97 standard cab) and my amp for the rear speakers died sometime last year. I haven't missed them. A good set of 6.5" or 6.75" round speakers up front is really all you need in a standard cab unless you're trying to keep up with a lot of bass. I have two shallow 12" subs with a 1KW amp in that truck and the front 6.5" components with about 50W each are more than enough.

If I were you I'd consider one nicer set of door or kick panel 6.5+" component speakers with a good amp, a good subwoofer/amp setup, and potentially leaving all the factory 4x6s (or at the very least the rear ones) unhooked.

Whatever head unit you go with, make sure it has a decent graphic equalizer and a time alignment feature. The EQ will enable you or a shop to tune the resonant frequencies accordingly with an RTA, and time alignment will delay the sound from each speaker appropriately so that it all reaches your listening position at exactly the same moment. Neither of these are anything new on the market, but both are often overlooked and they make a HUGE difference.

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Back in the day when mine was a daily, I had Clarion 4x6 plates in the dash and b-pillar. They were "separates" mounted on a plate, and two 12" subs behind the seat. 4 channel amp drive the plates and another 2 channel bridged to the 12's. If you turn the rear speakers down so they don't run full blast, it's good.
More than enough room behind the seat for a single 10" if that's all you want. I would suggest a 5 channel amp, and just turn the rears down so they aren't blasting you.

 

[Martin Evans]

IMO you're shooting yourself in the foot a little by not wanting to do door or kick panel speakers. You want the majority of the sound to come from in front of you, and stuffing 6x9s in the rear isn't going to help that any. I have a decent system in my red truck ('97 standard cab) and my amp for the rear speakers died sometime last year. I haven't missed them. A good set of 6.5" or 6.75" round speakers up front is really all you need in a standard cab unless you're trying to keep up with a lot of bass. I have two shallow 12" subs with a 1KW amp in that truck and the front 6.5" components with about 50W each are more than enough.

If I were you I'd consider one nicer set of door or kick panel 6.5+" component speakers with a good amp, a good subwoofer/amp setup, and potentially leaving all the factory 4x6s (or at the very least the rear ones) unhooked.

Whatever head unit you go with, make sure it has a decent graphic equalizer and a time alignment feature. The EQ will enable you or a shop to tune the resonant frequencies accordingly with an RTA, and time alignment will delay the sound from each speaker appropriately so that it all reaches your listening position at exactly the same moment. Neither of these are anything new on the market, but both are often overlooked and they make a HUGE difference.

The '88's didn't come with door speakers. If he's going to put 6 1/2" speakers in, he's going to have to do some cutting somewhere, in his door panels as well as the metal panel that the regulator is attached to, which I don't know if that is something he wants to do or in his dash which I don't know if that is something he wants to do, either. That is what I was going to do at first until I found some very nice door panels that I didn't want to cut up. I ended up modifying the dash (dash was already out of the truck) to fit some 6 1/2" coaxes in.

 

[df2x4]

If he's going to put 6 1/2" speakers in, he's going to have to do some cutting somewhere

Not necessarily. The kick panel option only requires bending or relocating the parking brake pedal.

Love the kicks!

Alrighty, I'm trying to feed into that community bit and share personally.... So, I have a build in the street thread, but id like to share what ot is I do all day long to be able to afford ot build my race truck "Wh4t3v3rs". I've already regretted these pics, and I haven't posted them...

www.gmt400.com

 

[Killerc998]

Find some quality sq oriented 6.5 components (1 set should do for you), do a 8 or 10" subwoofer in a sealed box will be able to run it all on 1 full range amplifier. You will want the speakers in the front of you with the sub behind. If your deck is able to, do time alignment so the sound gets to the driver's seat at the same time. Deaden the cab/doors to keep excessive noise outside. Which in turn will quiet up the interior and make the sound quality better while playing. Look up how people are sound deading/quieting their vehicles. Mass loaded vinyl, cdl tiles, ect. it is time consuming but will make a difference. If you do place the speakers in the doors it will give better mid bass.

 

[kennythewelder]

I am running a pioneer single DIN head unit, with a pioneer 680 watt amp, bridged to 1 Sony explod 10" sub in a box under the back seat. I did replace all of the OE factory speakers with pioneers I think. I have had this set up for a long time. It is a good clean sound, but I will say this, don't buy the cheapest stereo head unit you can, be it pioneer or what ever. They are junk for the most part, even the name brands. I just installed a Sony stereo in my 79, Vette. Pioneer doesn't offer a remote for there stereos anymore, from what I see, and in the Vette, I wanted the remote. I'm basically driving the car, laying down, so to reach the dash, console is a hassle. I bought the car with new speakers already installed in the factory holes. MTX brand, and they are fine. I did add a bass tube. Looked at a bazooka, but there are pricey. I ended up with a Rockville 10 inch bass tube, that has a built in 500 watt amp. This works very well in the Vette, but there again, that's in a Vette. So, I'm filling a much smaller area with sound. The only regret is that the mic is built into the Sony head unit. It would be better if it was a mic that I could place in a different area. Oh, and also the Sony head unit, doesn't store a quick call menu like the pioneer does. With the pioneer, I can store up to 5 numbers on the touch screen buttons for the phone numbers I call often. These are the same buttons you use to store you radio stations. The Sony doesn't have that feature. I guess it's fairly simple, if you buy cheap, you get cheap. Spend a little more and get a better stereo. You can find a nice unit for $100-$125 ish, for a single DIN unit. The Rockville 10 inch sub tube with the built in amp, was $145 on Amazon. I like good crisp, clean sound, and that's what I have in all 3 of my vehicles. All have 1 10 inch sub, and a bridged amp pushing them. I am 64 years old, and although I do listen to a wide variety of music, I do NOT want a boom boom, thump thump, system. Just good clean crisp sound, at a low, and high listening levels, and thats just what I have.

 

[Erik the Awful]

I don't like cutting door panels, especially as janky as the doors on our trucks are. Speakers in the door tend to get kicked, and I really don't want door speakers. I'm less averse to kick panel speakers, but I'm still not sold on them. For argument's sake, would 6x9s in the lower B-pillar be better or worse than 4x6s in the upper B-pillar?

I'm not too interested in a sub smaller than 10" because I prefer bass range over punch, but my audio preferences are based on what was available in the '90s. Back then 10" was the dividing line between low frequency performance and punch. Smaller than 10" lost the low end, and larger than 10" lost the punch. Is this still true, or should I consider a smaller sub in a ported box?

Bass tubes are a consideration. Which takes up less room, a sub in a box or a similarly performing bass tube?

I'm planning on spending money on good (not great) speakers and a name brand head unit, but I've also been watching some Williston Audio Labs videos on budget subwoofer amps. Thoughts?

www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRXKHM1B

 

[kennythewelder]

I don't like cutting door panels, especially as janky as the doors on our trucks are. Speakers in the door tend to get kicked, and I really don't want door speakers. I'm less averse to kick panel speakers, but I'm still not sold on them. For argument's sake, would 6x9s in the lower B-pillar be better or worse than 4x6s in the upper B-pillar?

I'm not too interested in a sub smaller than 10" because I prefer bass range over punch, but my audio preferences are based on what was available in the '90s. Back then 10" was the dividing line between low frequency performance and punch. Smaller than 10" lost the low end, and larger than 10" lost the punch. Is this still true, or should I consider a smaller sub in a ported box?

Bass tubes are a consideration. Which takes up less room, a sub in a box or a similarly performing bass tube?

I'm planning on spending money on good (not great) speakers and a name brand head unit, but I've also been watching some Williston Audio Labs videos on budget subwoofer amps. Thoughts?

www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRXKHM1B

A bass tube takes up a lot less room than any sub enclosure will. When I replaced the OE speakers in my 97, c1500, I went with the same size speakers. In the 79 Vette, again there are the same size as the OE speakers. None of these are 6x9s. They are way smaller than that, but the bass tube or sub and amp, filles the void that the OE size speakers leave. Lie you, I didn't want to cut anything. When I had my 93, WT, I had a single 10, again a Sony explode, and the same 680 watt amp, that is on my 97. It sounded grate, and the 10 was behind the driver's seat. That same box, was cut down, and moved into the Toyota 4 runner, when we had that, and is now in my wife's 2016 Camry, with a 250 watt Sony explode amp. In the Camry, I used a LOC and tied that into the rear speakers. Again, I ended up cutting down the sub box, but since I am the person who built the box, it was no big deal. There is a math formula to figure out how big of a box is the minimum size, for the most sound for, whatever size sub you have. In the Camry, the box is close to that minimum size now. It sounds grate in that car. Just putting the info out there for you. In my 93 WT, I started out with some 8" kickers, and they sounded good, but not near as good as the Sony 10" does.