Need some advice. I have a 2000 Lightning with the cd changer, and I am very dissapointed with the sound quality. I am wondering what is the best approach to take to increase the sound quality on a limited budget. I do not need the real loud experience but i am looking to increase the crispness and definition of the system. What we the experts recommend to replace to get what I am looking for.

Thanks!

 

The order most people go in is:

1) speakers
2) head unit
3) amp
4) subwoofer

Your stock speakers are 6"x8" which is an odd size, but 5"x7" drop right in. Speaker install is a breeze on these trucks, especially if you get the instructions and wiring adaptors from Crutchfield. 6.5" rounds will also fit but are a little bit more work.

The front speakers are much more important than the rears, so if you are on a strict budget you might want to only replace the fronts. Decent ones start around $100/pair. Most good speakers will crave more power than your stock stereo will feed them, but will still sound a lot better than stock.

Decent head units start around $250 or so; will have 15-20 watts/channel and give much better sound than the stocker. Installation can also be easy if you get a wiring harness adaptor.

For general info, check out crutchfield.com and for a forum on audio, check out sounddomain.com

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1999 XLT S/C, 4.2 V-6, auto, 3.55 rear, dark torreador red/harvest gold, bed liner, Clarion ARX8570z Head Unit, Sony 10 disc CD, Infinity 610cs components & JBL GTO7520 speakers, Edelbrock IAS, Steeda Rear Anti-sway bar, Superchip, Airaid FIPK.

Steeda Rear Anti Sway Bar

 

If your looking for good sound on a budget, I would look at the Clarion plate speakers. I just installed them in my F-150 and they sound great! I paid less than $100 for the pair through Crutchfield. They have removeable tweeters that can be mounted seperately. I am still using the factory hu with no external amp and it sounds great. Another good investment is sound dampening. It really helps eliminate the outside noise and add definition to your sound.

Let us know what you do.

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1999 F-150 XLT Supercab Black factory stepbars Flareside Sport Package Oxford White Full tint - all windows. Bug Shield CD player 17" wheels, K&N Air Filter Ford Soft Tonneau Cover Gibson Super Truck "Did it myself" Undercoating Herculiner, Image Tailight Covers

Stereo Mods:
Clarion Pro Audio SRC5752s mounted in the front, tweeters mounted above arm rests.
Kenwood KFC-577Cs mounted in the rear doors.
All speakers installed with baffles behind them.
B-Quiet sound dampening installed in all doors, three layers on rear wall, and entire floor board done as well.

"Freak on a Leash"

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I was looking at the Pyle 2000 speakers in 5x7. My distributor for my alarms deals with them, and says they're pretty nice. Getting them for cost, so I can't complain... Already got the Kenwood head unit and Kenwood cd changer. I'll post here after the install to let everybody know how they sound.

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1997 F-150, 4.6, automatic, Dark Toreador Red, Supercab, Flareside, 4X4 Off-Road, Towing Package, Ford hvy dty rubber floor mats, Kenwood 10-disk cd changer, Kenwood am/fm cassette head unit, Ford bugshield, Chrome Grizzly Wrap Around Push Bar with 2 KC 100w Daylighters, Lund Lunar Visor, Ventshades, Ford bedliner, Lund Premier tonneau cover, cab and bed professionally undercoated, Code Alarm Sure Start RVS remote starter, Ford alarm, Realistic CB with Wilson Little Wil antenna, ported MAF sensor, and Lots of TLC!! (Besides being an F-150 nut, I am a Ford auto technician.)