Hey Guys,

I have a Pioneer Z1 HU with my Ford audiophile speakers and sub. I find it really easy to distort the Ford audiophile speakers by turning on the "loud" setting on the Z1 and I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of the music listening possibilities.

From what I've read it seems like the speakers are a big "it depends on preferences" decision. However, many seem to agree that you need an amp to power the speakers.

Amp:
So I was thinking about an amp. First thing is it'd be a 4 channel amp to power the front and rear speakers. Second thing, is there any place I can mount the amp besides behind the rear seat? The rear seat in the supercrew just looks like a huge pain to take out and I don't think I really want to go through the trouble.

Speakers:
I've been toying with the idea of replacing the Ford front component speakers with aftermarket component speakers and the rear Ford coaxial speakers with aftermarket coaxial speakers.

I want good quality speakers and a quality amp, but I don't want to break the bank. I'm really trying to go below $400 on the entire project.

Here are the questions:

1. Any amp location besides behind the rear seat on the supercrew?

2. Suggestions on amps and speakers based on my price and quality requirements listed above?

3. Suggestions on where to buy? I looked at Crutchfield, CC, and Best Buy and then looked on Ebay and the sellers on Ebay are definitely cheaper, but am I risking anything by buying from a seller on ebay?

TeckBargins,

Any advise on this topic? Does your contact have any deals running now? Maybe a repeat customer discount from buying the Z1?

Thanks,

Duke

 

For starters 400 is not much....especially when you figure in wiring costs as well.

at best buy you would feel like you probably wasted your 400.....

your best best bet would probably be ebay.... I would specifically look for a factory refurbished sx 4 channel kicker amp...you should be able to get into one of those for about 130 or so.....for the rear definately pioneer TS-D681R (handle plenty of power reliably and a great sound for the money...key word though DURABLE)

for the fronts I personally look for a silk dome tweeter but in that price range excellent quality is hardto come by. I think alot of the metals are harsh....I am a huge fan of ADS speakers as they are silky smooth and very durble....I would go with ADS 346 CS's..I use all of their upperend speakers on my vehicles and any audiophile will agree their product is great....around 150...you'd be hard pressed to find a better speaker for the money, If you've heard these you'll agree....

Problem with EBAY...upper end companies like kicker will not warranty a product not bought in person at a factory authorized distrubutor, however, some sellers offer warranties on them...

 

piece of advise too, like most otherthings people always end up upgrading and keep adding on to things...that being said...I would run a 0 guage power wire even though it would be overkill just for one 4 channel medium power amp, but it will give you flexibility in thefuture to run additional amps and accomodate any future plans without having to re run more power wire, which is a definite pain....

 

I went on Ebay and bought a super nice set of Infinity Reference 6x8 component speakers for $127.00 for the front and a set of 6x8 infinity 3 ways for the rear for $44.00 also off Ebay. I have a Kenwood 600 watt amp i bought for $199 and it powers them nicely...the tweeters on the components sounds sweet, i can crank it up and get absoutely no distortion...well at least as far as I go up with it...throw in a $50 amp wiring kit and there ya have it...nice set up for close to $400

 

Let me know if your looking for a specific brand and I can check.. Or if you want I can swing by the place maybe tomorrow and see what brands and costs for front components, new rears and amp.

Are you also looking for sub stuff or no?

Also you can mount your amp either where your jack is or if you replace your whole sub with custom rear box you could put them under front seats. Might be easier then taking out the whole back seat. (in regards to where to mount you jack, some have made a mount for them under the hood of the truck)

Let me know what your looking for... wattage??
Also when I replace my front components speakers in my 04, I had to fabricate some new wood for the speakers to sit in, I couldnt reuse factory mounts.

 

screw infinitys. For under 400 dollars i would recomend getting either some rainbow slc's, polk momo's, or maybe even some JL xr570csi. For the money you cant go wrong with any of them. Personally i run the polk's and love them. Bought them off ebay for 150 bucks and have some coaxils in the rear and they sound great.

 

not that infinity's are crap but there are definately some better brands.....polk's are alright for the money and rainbow has some nice products...but I'd still pit ADS against the polk any day....see if you can find a place to hear the ADS's in person......I'm telling you, I've had it all....almost everybrand in every price range......

 

Hey Fellas,

So I'd definitely have to re-wire for the speakers? I'd hate having to run new speaker wire to the doors? The sub is staying as the stock audiophile sub.

I've been looking at the following for speakers: (these are all prices on ebay for NEW component speaker systems)

Rainbow SLC (can't seem to find them online though)
ADS - can't find anything online
Infinity Reference 6810cs - $84 on ebay
Infinity Kappa 50.7cs - $135 on ebay
Boston Acoustics Pro50 - $287 on ebay
Boston Acoustics SX50 - $127 on ebay
MB QUART Q-LINE 5.25" COMPONENT SPEAKERS QSC 213 - $280

Would it be possibly to just replace the speakers and not the wiring or add an amp?

Duke

EDIT:

Did an interesting comparo on crutchfield:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-m90wYBM...SD213&x=16&y=3

In this little comparo the Infinity Reference 6810cs shows quite well with silk tweeters, 92 db sensitivity (second place), best frequency response w/ 49 to 21k hz, best peak power handling of 270, third place RMS with 2-90 watts, avg of group with 4 ohms impedance...not to mention they are by far the cheapest.

 

I found plenty of ADS's entry level speakers on ebay...here's a link to the one's I suggested....They're bullet proof speakers..... http://cgi.ebay.com/ADS-346CS-6-5-CO...QQcmdZViewItem

i definately recomend doing it right the first time......you need new speaker wire for the amp.....amp/speakers....Get an amp and the speakers and do the wiring....mount the amp behind the rear seat....Even if you've never done it before with the appropriate simple tools on hand you can easily do it right in under 3-4 hours......getting to the back of the rear seat really isn't that difficult....

neither is running the power wire to the back of the seat....over the pedals under the dash is a rubber boot that you can easily find and run a 0 guage throgh......once in the cabin terminate the 0 guage with this or similair distribution block.... http://cgi.ebay.com/STREETWIRES-Silv...QQcmdZViewItem

pull up the plastic trim right over the door sill, run the 8 ga through there to your amp...couldn't be any easier.....run the speaker wires on the other side under that plastic cap as to avoid interference from the power wire....I'll post a couple pics in a few....

 

Thanks for the help hotstang!

However, the ADS speakers you show have 2" tweeters, will those really fit in my OEM holes in the doors? Also, those crossovers are really big. Where could I put those?

Here are some ADS specs I pulled from the listing:

impedance:4ohms (same as others)
Sensitivity:90db (2 lower then then 6018s but I think that's splitting hairs)
Frequency Response: 65Hz -22Khz (lower end is 16hz higher then the 6018s which seems a somewhat significant negative difference for the ADS and the higher end is 1k more, but the human ear can only discern up to 21k)

 

These pics were all prior to me finishing it off but you get the idea....and if you want tot go this route....terminate the 0 guage about a foot or so after it enters the cab and route it into a distribution block....a 0 to 8 guage would be fine for almost and normal amp you could think of...

coming through the rubber grommet inside the truck..



same angle from a little further back (under the dash)



right behind the battery towards the cab....I routed the wire right under the windshield wiper trim...



exited the windshield wiper trim through a factory hole in a perfect place, no need to drill...

 

You can see that rubber grommet to enter the cab....it's pretty close to where the grommet....and routing this way through the cab to the back leaves you crossing no speaker wires if you run them correctly from the amp on the other side of the truck so you have interference probs....

 

Thanks for the pics hotstang, I appreciate it. That's a similar route to what I took for the Z1 xm transmitter and nav transmitter as I put those under the wiper cowl too.

Sure wish I lived near you as I'd gladly pay you to help with the install.

Duke

 

you can mount the crossovers in the door behind the speaker in about 10 secs with some 5lb double sided 3m tape...stuff will hold like concrete and still allow you to pull them off and stick em back on should the need arise....

you have factory cut outs for the tweets in the doors and ADS provides plenty of mounting supplies......I spent about 5 mins with a dremel opening the whole slightly larger for mine.....but it's really no big deal at all....

what's easiest and looks fine is if you mount them on the surface of the sail panel.......sail panel is the shaped like a sail...lol...at the forward and highest most part on the inside of your door....

I'll try to find example...I had one on my stang b4 i turned it into a track only car....i'll try to find a pic...

 

I understand what you're saying but I think I'd rather stick with hiding them behind the panel for an OEM look.

Duke