So my 2012 has the stock system. Sync with no sony no nav no sub. I want to get a lot more out of the system. I like my bass and all around sound and the stock speakers just aren't cutting it. Let me know what your suggestions are!

 

So I know people are going to throw stuff and talk about pricing, but we have alot of good reviews on the kicker F150 powerstage and door speaker kits. I have the kicker 6x8s in all four doors and really like it. I don't have a sub yet. Really any door speaker upgrade is going to be good money spent.

6x8 Kicker F150 door speaker upgrade kit (install video also)

 

Do you need more volume, as in louder with the speakers getting muddy?

 

Loudness I think is fine. What I really want is more bass and all round sound. Where when the louder it gets the bass gets turned up too. Right now I find that once I hit about 50% volume it just levels off and only gets louder no improvement in sound

 

Do you have a budget?

 

Well it depends. I don't personally have the money it would more be a gift idea

 

Do you know what general range the person buying it is willing to spend? There's plenty of things I can recommend all over the price range from cheap to high end. Sounds like you want a set of components up front, some deadening behind them to help the bass, and an amp to run them. After that possibly upgrade the rear speakers and put them on the amp too to help give you better low end response all around. Then if that's not enough you can always add a sub, size dependent on how much more bass you want.

 

I'd add a single 8 or 10 inch sub, and not mess with the speakers at all. IMO, messing with your door speakers in search of bass is a long, fruitless road. A smaller sub will provide that bass without being over-powering. I think a 10" inch in a good box is the best for overall sound. The only reason I have 2 12's is because I like having something to play around with. And it would be less than $200 for a sub, amp, and wiring if you got the stuff from a flea market, which would be the cheapest route. Some people don't like to go to places like that, but they're great if you can get up the courage to go haha

 

Don't wanna argue, but a 200 dollar complete setup from a flea market most likely isn't adding bass, it's adding noise.. Those cheap amps and subs aren't worth half of what they try to sell them for haha. If your gonna do it, I'd do it right the first time so your not upgrading 6 months again down the road.

 

I agree with you entirely. Except in the cases where you're buying "better", name-brand stuff from the flea market. Believe it or not, I can buy Kicker, Alpine, Kenwood, and Memphis gear at mine. If you aren't an audiophile, it's hard to justify the increase in price to go to "quality" stuff, specifically amps. I was just throwing out the budget way to do it.

A friend of mine had a $3,500 (complete) sound system in his CRV before it was totaled. Every sound was insanely crisp, you could pick out each individual instrument, the bass added body and was tight an extremely responsive, the sound was incredible. Car audio is his "thing" and he swapped out each piece until he got it the way he wanted it, so he probably had way more than $3,500 in his system, that's just the rough value of what was in it. BUT, I was more than happy with the system I had in my first truck that ran me $700. His was unquestionable better, but not 5 times better. Get me? Anything is better than stock in the older trucks like ours!

I have maybe lower middle grade stuff now (with cheap crap being low end, and the best of the best being high end). Kenwood touchscreen HU, Kicker CVTs, Boston speakers, and a little ProAcoustic 1100w amp that refuses to die so I haven't replaced it. My subs are waaay under powered, but I need a very compact amp to fit under my driver seat and I only listen to country anyway. I think I have about $1,200 in it, did all the install myself. And I'm perfectly happy with it, except the rare times when I'd like a little more volume, but I'm not going through the hassle of amping my door speakers. And nothing I have was purchased from a flea market, but I've gone with my friends that are less knowledgable and gotten stuff for them. And they're happy with everything as well. I make everyone buy HU from respectable vendors, specifically Crutchfield. Because crap HUs are, well, crap.

 

Huh I wish my flea market had stuff like yours does. The best audio stuff you can get at flea markets around here is stuff like boss, lanzar, Pyle, etc. that stuff I wouldn't touch. If I could go to mine and get a discount on name brand stuff I'd be so happy haha. The closest place to me that says anything relatively name brand and/or decent would be best buy and their prices are crazy are most things.

 

I guess each flea market is different, but I was pleasantly surprised the first time I went to the one closest to me. Of course you can still buy all the stuff you mentioned there, but they've got a decent selection of name brand stuff. It isn't like Crutchfield or Best Buy's selection, but there's some stuff you can get. There's one flea market about a half hour away that a lot of my work buddies describe like heaven and is supposedly massive with more total vendors than you could handle in a single day. But we've got the 4th biggest city in the country feeding that thing's business haha. Best Buy is ridiculously expensive, no way in hell I'd ever have aftermarket stuff if I had to buy it from places like that, or if I couldn't install it myself. I don't know how people can shell out for that stuff. That buddy with the CRV has worked for Best Buy off and on for almost 5 or 6 years now too haha.

I like that that super cheap stuff is available for the kids that are 16 and doing their first systems though. It's good for them to be able to get into audio when they don't have any money, just for a little starter system. A 1000w Boss amp is literally 40 bucks, a HU for $50-80 (I tell the kids to buy at least the $120 ones from major brands), 4 speakers for around $100, and two 12" Kicker Comps in a box for around $150 or 2, then wiring kit is $20. Full audio system for less than $500, you can't beat that for a first system that's something to play around with and show your friends. I sometimes miss my obnoxious 15" Comps that I had, vibrated my face from the cargo area of my old Suburban, and could keep you from breathing in the 3rd row . . .

 

Haha yea I stick to craigslist, ebay, and friends most of the time for sources for my system. Let other people pay the high prices, and when they go to get the newer stuff, I'll happily take it off them cheaply haha. As of right now I probably have about 400 in my current system, and if you went and bought it new off of like sonic electronics you'd be paying over 8-900 or so. I love getting used stuff because around here I can get it pretty cheap (all the young kids gotta have the new stuff) so it allows me to try out at lot of different things.

 

Jeez, 400 is dirt cheap! Good job being resourceful. It is pretty convenient how much used technology depreciates haha. I like to buy a quality thing once and then keep it for a long time/until it breaks, so I wouldn't be feeding into your system! That's pretty cool for you though. I redid my math and I think I'm about right at a grand with mine, but all of it was new when I bought it. I got my speakers for like 1/3 normal price cause Crutchfield had them on heavy clearance for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure I bought my box from Sonic Electronics. I want to get my sub box sprayed in bed liner by my neighbors shop to make it air tight. It's insane how much better a ProBox or properly built and sealed one sounds compared to a cheap one.

 

Yea my sub is retail around 350-450 and I paid right at 125 for it on eBay because the alpine logo on the cone was scratched and the guy said it didn't look good anymore haha. I wait for deals like that and then jump on them ha