Okay.....Here goes...

I have a ford f150 --- I currently have the 4 door version of the truck with Boston Acoustics RC820 component speakers in all 4 doors..... Here are the speaker specs and I have the tweets flush mounted high in the door corners:

5 x 7" woofer with AMD

Neo 3r Kortec dome-flush mount tweeter....
Now.... Pushing these speakers I have a Pioneer Avic-D1 head unit and a JL 450/4 amp.

Here's my problem/ question ---- The system sounds fine driving with the windows up -- However, with the nicer weather I like to open the sunroof and roll down all the windows but this creates road/ wind noise. My system has a hard time keeping up/ and overpowering the wind/ road noise...... There are times I have trouble hearing the music over the wind noise.I have the gains set right on the amp but turning those up anymore just causes distortion at loud levels........

Suggestions? Better speakers --- Better amp ---- ideas? Anyone with a convertible have a system they can hear when driving with the top down?

thanks

 

One word...SUB You need a sub to help out with the low frequency when the windows are down. It allows the other speakers to play louder. A single 10" sub under the rear seat powered by another amp. Maybe even the JL Audio Stealthbox and their 250/1 or even the 500/1 amp would sound excellent and allow the Bostons to sing.

 

I don't understand how adding a sub, will make his front stage improve.

The Bostons could just be fairly ineffecient speakers and need gobbs of power to get loud. I would replace the front comp set with something else. Whats your budget for this fix?

 

Seal and deaden your doors. I like to drive with my windows down a lot and when I would roll them down the sound would go to hell-sounded terrible. After sealing the doors up I noticed a HUGE improvment. Sounds MUCH better. I can actually hear the detail in the music with the windows down haulin butt down the road.

Def give it a try. It will help more than anything.

 

I would check the crossover section of the amp. Where do you have the mids set to? It might be too low causing some distortion. A sub would allow you to raise the high pass filter to around 80 or higher and you should be able to get more volume without distortion. Bartak's idea of sealing up the doors would help a bunch as well. But, 150 watts to the front comps should be plenty to make them get pretty loud and clean. You have good speakers and a good amp. Maybe just some tweaking is in order. I would for sure consider a sub though.