Car Audio stuff

mopar250

Registered
Hey guys have a question for all the audio guys. I have a 2004 GMC ext. cab that I want to put a good system in. I have a good Sony head unit for it all ready. Next I want to put in 2 Kicker 10 inch L5's in a box under the rear seat. I want to get a Kicker amp also for the truck. In the beginning I just want to run the subs with it, and as time goes on I am going to replace the rest of the speakers and in the future upgrade the rest of the system and maybe add another amp. So, my big question is how do I know how big of an amp to buy? Where is a good place to get these items at? I have a local stereo shop but they want 250 each for the subs and i've seen some the the internet for 150. I'm all about helping the local guy out, but I think that's a bit much. Has anyone had any experience with the refurbished Kicker stuff sold on ebay? It comes from the factory and they back it up for 90 days like the new stuff. The L5's from them are about 90 bucks. Also any good forums that anyone uses to get some more idea's? I decided to post here first because i'm sure someone is into this stuff.
Thanks,
Bill
 
yeah 250 sounds a bit steep for those subs.  For what its worth, your overall sound quality is going to be affected most by the box itself.  Great subs in a shiddy box are going to sound like shid, decent subs in a great box are gonna make you smile.  I've always been partial to rockford fosgate stuff myself.  What kind of box are you going with? Ported, sealed?   I assume you arent going with an isobaric box because you said the box will be under the seat.  If you're going with a sealed box, the most important things to do whem you put everything together is make sure the box is sealed up as tight as possible, make sure you stuff some polyfill into the box (pillow material) this will "trick" the subs into performing like the box is bigger than it is, get subs that are built to perform in the ft^3 that your box actually is, and get a box that has individual enclosures for each sub.  

Likewise for the amp....get something that has a power output that will match the capabilities of the subs.  For example, dont buy an amp thats 800 watts a channel for subs that will only handle 400 watts - it's a waste of money, and if you ran the amp wide open, it'd probably damage the subs.  The converse though is getting an amp that has too LITTLE power.  too little power, and your amp will be overworked and always overheating.  Also, it wont have enough power to give you an accurate response (sloppy sound) because there isnt enough power to keep tight control on the magnets on the back of the subs.  Also, you'd mentioned that you may power other speakers with this amp later, or you may not. You need to make this decision BEFORE you buy your stuff.  My personal preference is to run the subs off of one amp, and to run everything else off of a separate amp.  However, how you do it is up to you, just be aware that you'll have to add a crossover network later.  

You didnt say if you're installing this stuff yourself or not.  If you are, feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to give you some input on wiring everything.  Sometimes it isnt as simple as you would think, and a few mistakes that a lot of people make can ruin an otherwise good installation.

Good luck!
 
In that truck it will sound good. One of the biggest things I can tell you is box quality. I am not a huge fan of kicker I have heard some really good systems with kicker subs. As far as amps I would almost run a Sony before I would a kicker amp.

Back to the task at hand you go with a traditional sub you can get a nice Q-logic under seat sub box. They are nicely built without the cost of a custom box. You can get one under each of the rear seats with an amp box that fits in the middle but that you could build yourself. If not find a good installer to build the box for you and that usually means they will cut you a deal on the merchandise too. If you want to go cheap buy form ebay I have bought several subs amps components, ex from there it is fine. ONLY BUY NEW. Refurbished car audio gear may be good but it is not guaranteed the new stuff will be.

It all depends on your budget that is the main thing you have to base car audio off of. I have a few grand in mine but I enjoy it I like building and listening to systems I have been addicted to it since I had my first car. I have worked at several shops doing install work I hate alarms. I like to make it sound clean and keep it hidden. If you are not hell bent on kicker I could have that truck hard to sit in for about $1200 and probably another $300 to build a nice box. That is going all JL audio throughout with a single 10w7 run off a 500/1 amp two sets of 6.5 components ran off of a 300/4 amp. All the other stuff I could talk you through installing I have a Tahoe and it is all the same inside but the box is better built at a shop unless you have good carpentry skills.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the responses.
I am/was going to go with a box to fit under the whole rear seat. So, it will have a bunch of area for the subs. So since I am going to run subs with 900 watts peak and 450 rms, I need an amp capable of 900 watts correct? Any chance you guys could point me toward a good middle price amp that would sound good? I'm not set completely on Kicker, but when I was in college in Oklahoma they gave me a scholarship for a semester so I thought I would send them some cash back. I am planning on running the subs off the one amp and later on when I start to upgrade the other speakers adding another amp to the system. I ran a system in an older truck of mine in my younger days that had 2 rockford 12's and one amp, but it wasn't to complicated nor was I to concerned about the looks of everything. I guess I'll have to pm you guys to get some idea's of the wiring issues that I might run into. Also, can a novice build my own box? I'm a Machinist by trade so I'm confident enough about getting the job done, but is there any theory in porting or size wise, and materials ect?
 
I have a 2001 Dodge ram with a custom made box behind the seat with custom built amp rack with 2 JL Audio amps (600x2 for the subs ) and a (300x1 for the front speakers and crossovers) I have 2 JL Audio 10's. I paid $1,900 for the whole system including the alpine head unit. I believe in saving money but if you want the best it will cost you.
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Sometimes porting your box in a very tight cab or space don't sound to good, I have a sealed box and it sounds better than ported. You need space for a ported box to work well.
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You could start it all by measuring out the box and how big you can make them. Once you have your measurements look at speaker specs and see if you can find what will fit in there best. I am partial to JL I had a competition system with Rockford before. All good quality stereo systems are pretty much the same so if you have no preference then just figure out what will fit in there the best. Then once you have the speakers narrowed down it will be as easy as finding a good amp that is more than enough to handle them. Once you get some measurements done lets figure out the cubic feet and see where your at space wise. Then I can help you from there on he subs and from there the amp.

I would definitely go with sealed box probably downward firing speakers.
 
Also make sure that your cd player has a higher pre out voltage like 4, the better the pre out voltage the better your sound quality will be and you want half to turn your amp up as much, and second make sure you deck is has front, rear and sub controll so that your amps are controllable at the deck, that way you dont have to go to the amp to adjust it.
 
I got one of these for the back of my truck,people can put their feet on it,spill beer,it dont matter,they are pretty much indestructable.
Check it out. Its all in a one piece solid cabinet with the amp built in hangin' off the end.Wont win any DB contests,but sounds great and suits my needs. The bass radiates out the bottom,you they are hard to fug up.(dirt,beer,boots,etc)

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...........they weigh a ton and dont bounce around,but one day I will bolt 'er down.

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then some 6x9 Infinity's in the back. (dont curse Rubb out,that is NOT my hack job on the plastic. (previous owner was a little
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6x9 3-way Blaupunkt's in the doors,these sound great.(ignore the screens which are Massive.)

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YOU ARE GOING TO WANT AN AMP THAT IS CAPABLE OF MATCHING THE RMS OUTPUT OF THE SUBS. YOU COULD ALWAYS BUY A 5 CHANNEL AMP TO POWER EVERYTHING OFF ONE AMP. THE 5TH CHANNEL IS USUALLY A MONO SUB OUTPUT. YOU CAN WIRE THE SUBS IN PARALLEL OR SERIES AND RUN BOTH SUBS OFF THE ONE CHANNEL. WHEN IT COMES TO AMPS, LOOK INTO THE MEMPHIS CAR AUDIO STUFF. KINDA PRICEY BUT WELL WORTH THE MONEY. IN MY OPINION KICKER IS WAAAAAY OVER RATED. I PERSONALLY AM A FAN OF JL AUDIO AND MEMPHIS EQUIPMENT MYSELF. YOU CANT GO WRONG WITH EITHER.....
 
One think you might look into. If im not mistaken, you cant just replace that head unit with an aftermarket one. On the GM trucks, the head unit controls all of the sounds and stuff in the vehicle, kind of like a brain. I may be wrong, but you might have to do some fancy wiring and relocate the stock head unit under the seat or something.
 
One think you might look into. If im not mistaken, you cant just replace that head unit with an aftermarket one. On the GM trucks, the head unit controls all of the sounds and stuff in the vehicle, kind of like a brain. I may be wrong, but you might have to do some fancy wiring and relocate the stock head unit under the seat or something.
the truck already has an aftermarket sony deck in it. there is no need for any re-wiring in this truck. the only reason to keep the radio relocated is in newer vehicle that control diagnostics through the radio. or unless its a 97-99 honda civic with keyless entry since the keyless is controlled by the factory radio. his application is a pretty straight forward swap of oem with aftermarket.


on a side note, i would look into replacing that sony deck with either a pioneer, alpine or clarion. these units will give you far more control over your sound than any sony and they will sound a hell of a lot better than any sony you put in there. i used to install professionally for about 5 years and ive done way over 1000 installs. i always ran pioneer head units with any system that i would build for my vehicle. just my .02...
 
One think you might look into. If im not mistaken, you cant just replace that head unit with an aftermarket one. On the GM trucks, the head unit controls all of the sounds and stuff in the vehicle, kind of like a brain. I may be wrong, but you might have to do some fancy wiring and relocate the stock head unit under the seat or something.
the truck already has an aftermarket sony deck in it.  there is no need for any re-wiring in this truck. the only reason to keep the radio relocated is in newer vehicle that control diagnostics through the radio.  or unless its a 97-99 honda civic with keyless entry since the keyless is controlled by the factory radio.  his application is a pretty straight forward swap of oem with aftermarket.  


on a side note, i would look into replacing that sony deck with either a pioneer, alpine or clarion.  these units will give you far more control over your sound than any sony and they will sound a hell of a lot better than any sony you put in there.  i used to install professionally for about 5 years and ive done way over 1000 installs.  i always ran pioneer head units with any system that i would build for my vehicle.  just my .02...
So Oz, was I on the right track here?
 
One think you might look into. If im not mistaken, you cant just replace that head unit with an aftermarket one. On the GM trucks, the head unit controls all of the sounds and stuff in the vehicle, kind of like a brain. I may be wrong, but you might have to do some fancy wiring and relocate the stock head unit under the seat or something.
the truck already has an aftermarket sony deck in it.  there is no need for any re-wiring in this truck. the only reason to keep the radio relocated is in newer vehicle that control diagnostics through the radio.  or unless its a 97-99 honda civic with keyless entry since the keyless is controlled by the factory radio.  his application is a pretty straight forward swap of oem with aftermarket.  


on a side note, i would look into replacing that sony deck with either a pioneer, alpine or clarion.  these units will give you far more control over your sound than any sony and they will sound a hell of a lot better than any sony you put in there.  i used to install professionally for about 5 years and ive done way over 1000 installs.  i always ran pioneer head units with any system that i would build for my vehicle.  just my .02...
So Oz, was I on the right track here?
on the newer gm vehicles yes, but 03's didnt use the radio to control the vehicle diagnostics in the chevy trucks. the only thing he prolly lost when replacing the head unit is the door chime.

so in a nutshell, yes u are correct in thought, jsut a lil early on this year and model vehicle.
 
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