Speaker pods/General stereo questions

[Rusty Nail]

Pioneer seems to be a great "one size fits all" that can even be had on a budget - there's nothing inherently "wrong" with them. Not in my experience anyways and there IS one in my truck NOW. Hell there is another BNIB unit awaiting install.
I think the one i'm using ATM was purchased new in 1993 and truth be told i'm almost done using it but mostly because i'm ready for a change. You be the judge.

You plan on powering them dash speakers off the head unit? How you gonna wire it?

 

[scenic760]

Pioneer seems to be a great "one size fits all" that can even be had on a budget - there's nothing inherently "wrong" with them. Not in my experience anyways and there IS one in my truck NOW. Hell there is another BNIB unit awaiting install.
I think the one i'm using ATM was purchased new in 1993 and truth be told i'm almost done using it but mostly because i'm ready for a change. You be the judge.

You plan on powering them dash speakers off the head unit? How you gonna wire it?

Welllll.....good question. I guess I need to see what kind of power the head unit puts out and match it up with the speaker capacity?

My thought was to wire the 3 dash and 2 rear speakers to the unit and run an amp to the sub? My home speakers are wired that way, does that hold true for a car system as well?!

 

[Rusty Nail]

Well, you don't want to bridge the amp in your head unit. It's not made for that. Maybe I should have been more clear. You may be alright lowering the impedance of the speakers though.

Do you own due diligence. I assume ZERO liability and neither does this website.
Mmmkay?
The stereo is gonna have 4 pairs of speaker outputs.
Since you choose to run three speakers instead of four, that makes it harder.
remember the 3 inch adapter insteadvof 4x10?
Best thing you can prolly do now is wire the threes in parallel from one side of the head and wire the 4x10 to the other. Your balance feature will adjust the level and you'll lose left to right control.
The 6x9s will be straightforward so at least you'll maintain a fader.

For example: left front stereo connection to left front 3inch. + to + and - to -.
AND THEN
Connect that + to the right front 3 inch + and the - to the right front - .
Use the right front outputs of the stereo + to + and - to - of the 4x10...and I think your 3 inchers will be around a 2.5 ohm load and louder than the center. .SO you will have to use the stereos front balance control to adjust that volume.
Of course the regular volume will control it all still but only in a different way.

Hope this helps.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Mr Stay Puft]

I like your box in the back. I'll be very interested to hear how you like it. I am working a similar project on my burb. I went with 3.5" Infinity Reference in the dash corners, Kenwood 4x10s in the back, and a Retrosound head unit. It sounds way better than the barely functional radio and speakers I had before but not great. I agree with most comments about the Retrosound. It's not a high end head unit, but it looks the part and sounds ok. I have had an issue that the bluetooth calling gets all garbled for the person on the other end listening to me. It only happens when the car is moving though. It's fine if I am stationary. I think it is the plugs/wires/cap on the engine that were replaced with aftermarket parts. I've read that the AC Delco parts have better insulation so I am going to swap them at some point. I am currently finishing up the LMC window relays and 100% of the weather-stripping, but I just got the Q-Form Kickpanels yesterday. I am going to be installing Infinity Reference 6.5" components this weekend in them and a Pioneer 2 channel amp. Test fitting the kickpanels last night, they appear to clear the e-brake and don't look like they will intrude too much on foot space. I need a sub for some kind of low end coverage. I don't need to shake the neighborhood, but the current setup has no low end at all. I am debating a box like yours, or a round box that fills the spare tire location. I have 33" tires right now and the spare doesn't fit so that space is wide open. This is the closest I've found to a premade box that I think would work:

Twin 12" Subwoofer Custom Auto Box Enclosure | eBay

Twin 12" Subwoofer Custom Auto Box Enclosure.

www.ebay.com

But $400 bucks seems 2x what that should cost from a dude who sells random garage sell finds on ebay. Making a round box seems like a pain, your box looks like an easier fab.

 

[scenic760]

Well, you don't want to bridge the amp in your head unit. It's not made for that. Maybe I should have been more clear. You may be alright lowering the impedance of the speakers though.

Do you own due diligence. I assume ZERO liability and neither does this website.
Mmmkay?
The stereo is gonna have 4 pairs of speaker outputs.
Since you choose to run three speakers instead of four, that makes it harder.
remember the 3 inch adapter insteadvof 4x10?
Best thing you can prolly do now is wire the threes in parallel from one side of the head and wire the 4x10 to the other. Your balance feature will adjust the level and you'll lose left to right control.
The 6x9s will be straightforward so at least you'll maintain a fader.

For example: left front stereo connection to left front 3inch. + to + and - to -.
AND THEN
Connect that + to the right front 3 inch + and the - to the right front - .
Use the right front outputs of the stereo + to + and - to - of the 4x10...and I think your 3 inchers will be around a 2.5 ohm load and louder than the center. .SO you will have to use the stereos front balance control to adjust that volume.
Of course the regular volume will control it all still but only in a different way.

Hope this helps.

You must be registered for see images attach

Ahhhhh....now I see the light! So running the 2 4inchers in the middle would allow me to split the channel R/L and allow me to wire them together!?

Quick question- I looked for an adapter to fit 2 4" but could only find one to fit 2 3.5"? I think I could probably fab something up but for $5-10 for a piece of plastic drilled the correct diameter would definitley save some time!

I can actually still return the other 4x10's to Amazon... which I will now do!

 

[scenic760]

I like your box in the back. I'll be very interested to hear how you like it. I am working a similar project on my burb. I went with 3.5" Infinity Reference in the dash corners, Kenwood 4x10s in the back, and a Retrosound head unit. It sounds way better than the barely functional radio and speakers I had before but not great. I agree with most comments about the Retrosound. It's not a high end head unit, but it looks the part and sounds ok. I have had an issue that the bluetooth calling gets all garbled for the person on the other end listening to me. It only happens when the car is moving though. It's fine if I am stationary. I think it is the plugs/wires/cap on the engine that were replaced with aftermarket parts. I've read that the AC Delco parts have better insulation so I am going to swap them at some point. I am currently finishing up the LMC window relays and 100% of the weather-stripping, but I just got the Q-Form Kickpanels yesterday. I am going to be installing Infinity Reference 6.5" components this weekend in them and a Pioneer 2 channel amp. Test fitting the kickpanels last night, they appear to clear the e-brake and don't look like they will intrude too much on foot space. I need a sub for some kind of low end coverage. I don't need to shake the neighborhood, but the current setup has no low end at all. I am debating a box like yours, or a round box that fills the spare tire location. I have 33" tires right now and the spare doesn't fit so that space is wide open. This is the closest I've found to a premade box that I think would work:

Twin 12" Subwoofer Custom Auto Box Enclosure | eBay

Twin 12" Subwoofer Custom Auto Box Enclosure.

www.ebay.com

But $400 bucks seems 2x what that should cost from a dude who sells random garage sell finds on ebay. Making a round box seems like a pain, your box looks like an easier fab.

$400 does seem steep for some MDF made into a circle...I have 32's on mine but I put a 31 inch spare in there because I really don't like the idea of driving around with a spare!

Mine wasn't all that difficult, just made a template with cardboard of the wheel well and trimmed it up a couple of times, made a little popout for the gas filler bump in back..my goal was to keep it flush with the well in order to still fit a 4x8 sheet in the back so it's only 5 1/2" deep internally. The led me to use a shallow mount sub as well. I decided on a sealed box so I only needed .75 cu ft of space which I calculated by filling the space with a .75 cu ft measure amount of Perlite and then put the inside baffle where it needed to be. The back part of the box that doesn't have a lid on it in the picture I was going to use for storage and put a hinged lid on it.

I'm pretty sure you could get 1.5 cu ft out of the whole box if you wanted to port it (way beyond my skill set to tune a port honestly) or I guess if you really NEEDED 2 12" subs you could increase the dimensions on the box...

 

[Mr Stay Puft]

I think one 12" would be enough and I would go sealed instead of ported. I like the tighter vs boomier bass anyway.

I have been looking at the swing out hitch mounted spare tire carriers:

TRAIL SWING HD

Dirtcom's TRAIL SWING HD (heavy duty) fits a variety of full size trucks and SUVs. If you've upgraded to bigger tires and can't find a place to put your full size spare, then your search ends here! This is a great alternative to a heavy full metal rear bumper replacement. At 97 lbs. this high...

dirtcomusa.com

UltraSwing™ Swing Out Tire Carrier | RIGd Supply

The UltraSwing™ swing out tire carrier from RiG’d Supply. Mount a spare, carry extra gas, load bikes or make lunch on the trail. Find your Fit today.

www.rigdsupply.com

 

[scenic760]

I think one 12" would be enough and I would go sealed instead of ported. I like the tighter vs boomier bass anyway.

I have been looking at the swing out hitch mounted spare tire carriers:

TRAIL SWING HD

Dirtcom's TRAIL SWING HD (heavy duty) fits a variety of full size trucks and SUVs. If you've upgraded to bigger tires and can't find a place to put your full size spare, then your search ends here! This is a great alternative to a heavy full metal rear bumper replacement. At 97 lbs. this high...

dirtcomusa.com

UltraSwing™ Swing Out Tire Carrier | RIGd Supply

The UltraSwing™ swing out tire carrier from RiG’d Supply. Mount a spare, carry extra gas, load bikes or make lunch on the trail. Find your Fit today.

www.rigdsupply.com

Those are pretty slick! $2k seems pricey...you could probably have someone weld one up for 1/4 that?

 

[Ricko1966]

Okay I didn't know if I should put this here or nor but here goes. Does anybody have a working decent condition 2 knob pioneer super tuner they want to sell?

 

[Rusty Nail]

Mine got stole out of Babe the Blue ox more than a decade ago. It was a Super Tuner 3. was in the truck when I bought it.
Good luck.
You can find one on eBay.

 

[Ricko1966]

Thats a good idea. Thanks @Rusty Nail

 

[scenic760]

Well, you don't want to bridge the amp in your head unit. It's not made for that. Maybe I should have been more clear. You may be alright lowering the impedance of the speakers though.

Do you own due diligence. I assume ZERO liability and neither does this website.
Mmmkay?
The stereo is gonna have 4 pairs of speaker outputs.
Since you choose to run three speakers instead of four, that makes it harder.
remember the 3 inch adapter insteadvof 4x10?
Best thing you can prolly do now is wire the threes in parallel from one side of the head and wire the 4x10 to the other. Your balance feature will adjust the level and you'll lose left to right control.
The 6x9s will be straightforward so at least you'll maintain a fader.

For example: left front stereo connection to left front 3inch. + to + and - to -.
AND THEN
Connect that + to the right front 3 inch + and the - to the right front - .
Use the right front outputs of the stereo + to + and - to - of the 4x10...and I think your 3 inchers will be around a 2.5 ohm load and louder than the center. .SO you will have to use the stereos front balance control to adjust that volume.
Of course the regular volume will control it all still but only in a different way.

Hope this helps.

You must be registered for see images attach

Ok...so I'm rounding up parts and I think I'm almost there but I need a 5 channel amp:

Head Unit- Pioneer dmh c2550nex- It allows for remote mounting of the touchscreen/headunit so I am going to be able to mount the unit in stock radio location and secure the touchscreen to a mount without cutting anything.
Front speakers- 4x 3.5" Cerwin Vega HED 30w RMS/275w max- 4ohm
Rear speakers- 2x 4x10" Cerwin Vega HED 50w RMS/320w max- 4ohm
Subwoofer- 12" Infinity Reference 250w RMS/1000w max- switchable 2/4ohm

I have read that you want an amp that has 75-150% of the power RMS? So if I were to run each pair of 3.5" in one channel, each 4x10 on it own channel and the sub at 2 ohm would that make it a 5 channel amp?

So would this amp work out well? Also, I sent the seats out to get reupholstered so I don't have them to check but will 23"lx7"wx3"h fit under a front bench seat?!?

 

[Rusty Nail]

I don't know anything about that brand. Nor that amp. But see how it says "class AB"?
That's not as good as "class a".
Have you got any other choices that involve a better amplifier? I'll look it up... but it might suck.
My initial thought involves wiring the 3s and the 4x10s in parallel out of the front channels and bridging the rear channels at the amp to power the sub.
Right +, left -.... and that brought concerns about that amp quality.

Y u no haz 6x9s?
Y u no run a dedicated subwoofer amp?

I came back in here to fetch that model number.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Tons of good reviews for that amp. Is 5 channel really? It has dedicated subwoofer channel? Pretty neat for that price. Ppl compare that brand to Rockford Fosgate?! Mmmmmmkay.

 

[scenic760]

I don't know anything about that brand. Nor that amp. But see how it says "class AB"?
That's not as good as "class a".
Have you got any other choices that involve a better amplifier? I'll look it up... but it might suck.
My initial thought involves wiring the 3s and the 4x10s in parallel out of the front channels and bridging the rear channels at the amp to power the sub.
Right +, left -.... and that brought concerns about that amp quality.

Y u no haz 6x9s?
Y u no run a dedicated subwoofer amp?

I came back in here to fetch that model number.

Yeah....I was trying to go simple and now I'm down the rabbit hole! I just wanted to drop in the 4x10's to the stock location and be done but running 6x9's in those spots with a spacer probably the way to go...like you said in the beginning, haha

I thought about 2 amps as well before I found the other one..I think I will give that amp I found a shot!

Thanks a bunch!