Hey guys, new to the forums here and I have several questions that I would like some insight on.

I have a 2002 supercrew. I want to build a sound system that is accurate, loud and crisp. I like the tone/sound that the stock speakers have for the most part. I'm hoping that gives you guys grounds for comparison. What it lacks is any bass/mid bass.

I listen to mainly different forms of rock music ranging from metal/metal core (asking Alexandria, miss may I, I see stars) to alternative and punk (the red jumpsuit apparatus, yellowcard, Saosin, Silverstein)

What I want from my sound system is something that maintains factory like tone but adds more quality to the sound and also adds mid bass and some real bass as well. I want to be able to feel the kick drum and snares and hear the cymbals really well. Tight, punchy and accurate.

What I don't want is some super boomy muddy bass that has no definition.

My budget isn't really set as I am 18 and still living at home. But I cannot put down 2 grand on a set of components.

Any help is appreciated!

 

Sounds like what you want is a nice sealed sub, most likely downfiring underneath one of the rear seats. I'm not sure what kind of space you have to work with in the rear under the seats, but I used to run a single 12" alpine type r shallow on about 450 watts rms under my rear seat and it did just about what you want, maybe a little more. It's about the second best shallow sub you can get second to the Stereo Integrity BM series ones, great sq properties (meaning it can stay tight and fast) and it can still dig down low. Another option would be the Rockford Fosgate P3S shallow, also can stay pretty tight and clean, not as much output, but pretty decently priced. And both of them are available in a 10" model which tend to lend themselves more towards rock music with quick double bass.

One of those subs, a small amp, and a line out converter if your still on the stock headunit and you could have a decent setup for under 500 if you shop around.

Otherwise if you go the adding components route, you'll be able to fill in the missing mid bass, but you'll still lose a lot on the deep bass and you won't really get the feeling from it as much.

Since you said you want to feel it, I'd honestly say go the sub route, and then if you still feel like your missing the midbass, upgrade the headunit (it really does help), then a set of components up front, and then amp the door speakers, and then go to just a decent set of 6x8's for the rear doors.

Also since you prefer the factory like tone, you may prefer a set of quality 6x8's over components, because by changing the sound stage, your going to change the way you hear the music.

If possible I'd recommend trying to find some people in you area (preferably with a truck similar to yours) and listening to their setup to try to get a feel for all the different possibilities.

 

Thanks for the response!

The reason I brought up the factory sound is because I'm not sure how to explain it(whether it be a warm tone or a bright tone or a good blend of the two) and I hoped maybe someone could point me in a certain direction for a good set of components. I'm even willing to buy the mid woofer and tweeter separate. I definitely want to raise the sound stage because I'm kinda jealous of the way my moms 2010 honda odyssey's sound system is from the factory.

As far as subs go, I'm lookin for behind the seat application and I do have the means to build custom boxes. I would just buy a pre-built one but I don't want the bass sounding like it's biased towards one side. The box supercrewsounds offers is either a single sub or two subs but both end up behind the rear passenger seat. My questions on the subs are, should I go single or double subs? 10"/12"? And should I try to make less air space and feed them a little more power to compensate or just stick with what they recommend if I can?

 

And also, what am I looking for amp wise? Should I look into a 5 channel? Or separate amps for subs/speakers?

 

Okay so today I was digging around behind the rear seats and in the rear corners of the cab I found what seems to be 6x8 speaker openings. Would I benefit from utilizing these with a set of 6x9's for some mid bass thump, especially for times when I have the subs turned wayyy down or even off?

And for those who want to know, the plan is to make a custom sub box for behind the rear seats. I plan to sound deaden the entire rear cab wall. Then cut a piece of mdf that is 53.5" long by 12.5" tall. This then gives me a piece that fits behind the hump in the floor of the cab. I will then build two separate boxes off this piece of mdf on each side of the cab. It will be trapezoidal in shape. The bottom piece will be 8.5" by 16.75". One will be shaped accordingly to comply with the hump and the other to match for air space reasons. The top piece will be 4.5" wide by 16.75" long and the piece that goes against the seat, thus completing the trapezoidal box, will be in the neighborhood of 14" wide by 16.75" long. The remaining section of the back plate will be used as the amp deck. These numbers are not compensating for the inner dimensions. I will be using 3/4 inch mdf.

Another quick question, which orientation would sound better? Firing into the seat back or firing into the cab wall.

 

Amp wise, either would work, 2 seperate amps may cost a little more and take up more space but give you more flexibility upgrade wise for the future, whereas 5 channel amps somewhat limit what you can upgrade without replacing the amp.

The difference between firing into the seat or into the wall is going to be negligible. I think depending on how flush that box sits with the seat back, you may have trouble having enough room for the sub to properly extend, you want about 1.25-1.5" past where the box face is for the sub to have proper movement. Also downfiring or upfiring in a truck will generally yield the most output.

The reasoning for them going behind the passenger seat is that's where it'll sound the loudest to the person in the drivers seat.

As for box sizing, I'd try to shoot for right around what it's spec'd at, if you end up a little under you can add some polyfill to make up the difference.

And since your building the box yourself, I'd start with a single sub. Depending on the sub, a single 10 or 12 would be more than enough to fill it what's missing and still let you feel the bass.

As for the rear 6x8's, you could put a set of 6x9's in if you really wanted, but a quality set of 6x8's would perform just as well and not require you to cut out the openings more.

 

Thanks for the response!

Have any of you ever seen the two speaker holes I'm talking about? Not in the doors but actually built into the cab (supercrew). And what are the advantages and disadvantages of me adding a speaker to these holes(other than price concerns of course)?

 

Hey man I'm new to forums as well but i was actually in the same boat as you with my truck.. I listen to the same exact music as you so this should help i like your selection of music.. I'm actually in a metal core band.. Ace Augustine.. but anyways. ill link you some options

First off if you want subs and a lot of preset options you need a new head unit of course.. I would go with a Kenwood, preferably something with USB phone connect for good quality. I owned this head unit in my old jeep and i was very happy with it


Speaker wise you want to amp them, this will give you a lot crisper/louder sound. i put 4 Kicker 6X8's in my truck and i actually couldn't ask for much more sound wise. it was everything i was looking for. I will link both speakers and amp i would suggest. this amp is very nice because its so little you can fit it behind your head unit.



now as for subs.. this is where it may get a little pricey but i would go with a dual 10 inch box from that site you mentioned. thats exactly where i got mine and it sounds awesome. i have MTX's in my truck and i love the sound. Also have a mono block amp I'm running them into




sorry this was very long, but hopefully this will help you out a little bit

 

I'm like you, my head unit is a kenwood is like a kdc-455 something or another. Can't exactly remember.

I might get a little flak for this but I just hooked up an 800 watt 4 channel Dual audio amp that I'm powering my factory speakers with until I get can afford new speakers. I also really like those kicker 6x8 co-ax speakers. Very full tone. Not harsh at all. But honestly, the set of Quinn Acoustics 6.5" component set sold by cartoys has me sold. Great full tone, decent midbass which sound deadening can improve, and the tweeters are bright enough to play the guitar chugs without sounding muddled. But they aren't too bright where you're cringing every time there's a squeal in a song.

As far as rear speakers go, it's a toss up between the kicker 6x8 co-ax or the Quinn 6x8 co-ax. I will be getting 2 10" jl subs to go into a fiberglass box I'm making.

And lastly, thank you all for your feedback. Much appreciated. And I'll check out your band!!

 

Oh and those Quinn Acoustics speakers...me and a buddy of mine went into cartoys to demo some setups and as soon as we hit that speaker we both looked at each other and said yesssssss. Dunno much quality wise about the speakers, but I don't listen to my music loudly so I should not be too concerned with blowing them.

One last question, not looking forward to spending hundreds on dynamat, what, if any, are my alternatives?

 

What jl subs are you gonna be going with?

And I'd check out second skin, raamat, and some of the other brands like that. If you don't mind buying open box, over on caraudioclassifieds there's usually someone always selling leftover sound deadener from there install a chunk cheaper than new. And if you don't mind waiting until a holiday rolls around second skin normally runs some pretty decent sales. And they're bstock prices are awesome too, if you don't mind spending a bit extra time on the install and having some spots be slightly less thick than it should be.

Other alternatives versus a quality deadener would next be those cheap eBay brands you'll see like fatmat. Then beyond that would be using something like peel and seal from Home Depot.

 

Probably the 10w1v3-4's probably gonna start with one. I've decided to fiberglass two boxes in the very bottom corners of the cab where there were two more 6x8 openings that I'll probably insulate and seal up.

The woofers will utilize the space in front of the sealed speaker openings. If utilized correctly, I could fit one of those big ole dvc fosgate 10" subs in the corners. They will be set up so that the sub on the passenger side will fire at an angle towards the drivers side windshield and the opposite for the drivers side sub. This also allows me to work around the lump that would otherwise get in the way. Both my speaker amp and my sub amp will be mounted in between centered on the back wall. At least this is my plan. Any criticism/changes that I should make??

I appreciate you guy's help a ton.

 

I pm'd you. I have a 01 screw with some would consider a pretty nice set up.