Help with stereo system

[davewest]

I have a 90 regular cab chevy pickup. The factory setup is 4, 4x6 speakers front and rear. The head unit has been upgraded but Ill update that too. What i want is healthy bass and decent sound. This for my son so, you know the deal.

I understand its not even worth it to mess with the rear speakers, so I plan on replacing the 4x6 dash speakers with Infinity Kappa';s, or something similar and disconnecting the rears. Then add a pair of 10's or a single 12 in boxes behind the regular cab seat (low space).

If anyone has any real experience on this pickup, please let me know your thoughts. I understand the 4x6 platform isn't great, but the kid wants bass mostly. Id rather not cut into the doors for speakers, unless its absolutely necessary.

So, 4x6's up front, subs in back, a decent head unit, and amps or amp to run it all. Does this seem like a reasonable approach? Any suggestions on brands specific to the limited real estate i have?

thanks

 

[michael hurd]

If you don't want to cut into the doors for speakers, maybe look into Q-forms. They replace the factory kick panels below the dash, and allow for either a 5.25 or a 6.5 inch speaker set.

As far as subs go in a regular cab, I would stick with one high quality shallow sub in a long thin enclosure.
Use a pillow inside the enclosure around the halfway point to reduce any end to end standing waves.

 

[kennythewelder]

A decent head unit will push your speakers. All you need the amp for is the sub, or subs. a 12 with about a 1000 watt bridgeable amp should do the trick. Here is a speaker enclosure calculator. IMO it is better to go bigger with the size of the box, It just sounds better to me. It is all about air volume, so you can change the shape of the box, just as long as you have the air volume when it comes to subs. http://www.bcae1.com/spboxnew2.htm

 

[df2x4]

You're on the right track. I disagree with the whole "leave the rear speakers alone" mentality that seems to be the norm around here, though. If there's holes for a speaker from the factory, I'm going to use them. You can still adjust your soundstage to be mainly front-oriented.

Replace all the 4x6s with something decent, I recommend Polk Audio's DB series as they have silk dome tweeters and real rubber surrounds. Long and short of it is they sound good, and they last. A couple sets of these would treat you very well. You can drive them just fine off of a decent head unit, no amplifier necessary.

https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-6-Inch-Plate-Style-Speakers/dp/B000P0NJOO

And you're right, 4x6s won't give you anything useful below 100Hz or so. As mentioned, go with a shallow 12" sub or two in a small, thin enclosure and a mono amp to go with. This is where you can either spend a little money, or a lot. How much bass do you/your son really want?

 

[davewest]

Im leery about trying to run those dash speakers without an amp. Ive always understood that you can kill speakers faster being underpowered rather than over powered? I guess I need to shop for head units.

So I think ill start with a quality head unit and 4x6 dash coaxials in the dash, and a sub amp combo behind the seat. I can always add on. Any brands on thin subs and amps people like?

 

[kennythewelder]

The first thing I do when I buy a car or truck is upgrade the stereo system. I have had my 97 sense 2004. I changed the speekers then, and they are still going strong. They are pioneers. My sub is a 10 Sony explode. I installed it around the same time. My amp is a 680 watt pioneer. Its been in here sence 2008. I started with a smaller amp. I replaced my head unit about 3 years ago, because I wanted blue tooth. I do like loud music, so its not like I dont push the system. The truck I had before this, was a 93 WT,,RCLB I had it 10 years. I replaced the OE system with pioneer speakers, and a sony head unit. A 300 watt amp, and Sony Explod 10. That 10 and amp is in my wifes 4 runner. As good as pioneer regular speakers are, there subs suck. Sony subs are much better. The truck I had before th WT was a Nissan. Pioneer speakers kicker 8s. Had that for 10 years also. I have not powered any of my regular speakers from an amp, sense the 1980s when graphic EQs were the thing. It is just not necessary, and is a waste of money IMO. My 93 was set up much like you want to do on your truck. The Sony Explod 10 fit behind the seat just fine. I keep the box as thin as I could make it. It was about 4 inches shorter than the seat, and was around 54 inches across. I don't rememder how deep it was but it tapered at the top. I added some sides to it and it is now sitting in the back of the 4 runner. I wanted the box to sit level on the floor behind the back set of the 4 runner.

 

[df2x4]

Im leery about trying to run those dash speakers without an amp. Ive always understood that you can kill speakers faster being underpowered rather than over powered? I guess I need to shop for head units.

So I think ill start with a quality head unit and 4x6 dash coaxials in the dash, and a sub amp combo behind the seat. I can always add on. Any brands on thin subs and amps people like?

The underpowered vs overpowered thing is true for sure, however you have to keep in mind that we're talking about 4x6s here. They'll run happily all day long on 10W RMS. They don't need a lot of power to be driven properly.

As far as brands for the sub and amp... I'm a fan of Kicker, Alpine, and Rockford Fosgate. I run two RF shallow mount P3 12s in my regular cab.