2004 Silverado Single Cab SQ Build

[ds0110 10+ year member]

The focus of this build was "SQ per dollar".

Pioneer 80PRS - The first true sq HU ive ever owned. Upgraded from a clarion DXZ785USB. Before that was a DXZ775USB, before that was a Pioneer (6800) and before that a kenwood im not sure of model number. This is by far the best HU. Super quiet HU, the only complaint I have is how sensitive this unit is in regards to hot swapping RCAs and popping pico fuse... The other choices were a clarion cz702, which wouldve been a bit cheaper but lacking some functions the 80prs has...or the eclipse 7200mkii or 7100..which never came up for sale. Im more than happy with this HU choice. 3way independent DAC, dual USB, SD, auto TA. Got it off ebay with warranty for ~250

Tri amp SQ goodness. Arc Audio KS 1000.1 , Arc Audio 2075SE , PPI Art A300.2. I think I spent around 700 on all 3. All 3 perfectly level...

Arc Audio KS 1000.1 - Non BX model. Class H. At one point this was going to be an exclusive PPI Art build. This amp changed my mind. VS the PPI 600.2, I gained 250 watts at greater efficiency with arguably very similar SQ. When researching amps with high output at 4 ohms, this was the winner. You will not find more clean SQ output at 4ohms for less money. I still got to stay away from class D, without worrying about heat issues, its the best of both worlds. I have enough headroom that it barely ever gets warm. 850watts@4ohms...yet when I checked with oscope it will do much closer to 900 cleanly..I run it around 825watts@4ohms.

Coming into possession of this was not fun. At first, I bought a KS1000.1 from murphy_smith. It had been freshly powder coated, brand new set screws, recently returned from arc. That shouldve been my first red flag. Upon opening the amp it was obvious capacitors, ALL of them, had been replaced, as well as some work being done to the toroid. There was some other obvious solder work done...this is what you get when buying off craigslist. Granted, the amp did work, albeit with excessive current draw, until one day a few months later, it died. I found another KS1000.1 on diy, although the shroud was is pretty rough shape. I put the freshly powder coated one on newer amp I bought and all was good. The internals on this 2nd amp looked flawless...like it had never been opened before...

Arc Audio 2075SE - New school class A/B SQ midbass SQ sweetness. I think this is the only current Arc amp line to be still made in USA, which keeps with the original "all american power" theme of this build...Robert Zeffs "best amp (he) ever made" Got this off CL for $200 from an authorized Arc dealer with birth sheet showing it is only a few months old. Still under warranty. Came out his personal vehicle, he wanted more power. Nothing wrong with it...again I think this was a steal. I wouldve expected $300 for this... I love this amp. Its just as good if not better than the PPI Art when I had it running mids, The crossover/gain controls under the steel plate is kind of a hassle imo. 4 layer board, balanced inputs if I ever decide to upgrade, The clipping indicator is really nice. I play a wide range of vinyl rip oldies to dubstep so max volume can get tricky. I could go on and on about this amp... This is the amp im pushing hardest, rated 100watts@4ohms, the mids are under-rated at 75rms@4ohms...so along with Oscope/DMM gain setting, that clipping indicator is another line of defense against clipping/heat. The logo glows blue until the amp starts to heat up, then slowly fades to red to let you know to lower volume as it cools. I was considering an older ARC or a Zapco C2k, and im so happy I avoided the symbilink bs...If you see any of the Arc SE amps at a reasonable price....JUMP ON IT

PPI Art A300.2 - Legendary Old School Class A/B SQ. American hand made. Crystal clear super transparent uncolored highs. Still running strong after almost 20 years. This is rated at 75x2@4ohms, I have it only doing ~25ish@4ohms. It barely gets warm. These are a bit of a gamble. Components age. even at rest without use. I found that getting into these art amps requires you have great solder skills or a good relationship with someone that does. Capacitors will need to be replaced, unless you want to buy multiple amps until you find one with no issues....which is what I did. I went through 2 before this one. They are the cleanest sounding amp I have ever owned, im just not sure they are worth the hassle...That being said...these are the way to go if you are looking to do "SQ per dollar", as they can be had for less than 140, compared to other options (zed mikro, zapco c2k) at near double that.

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[ds0110 10+ year member]

My beloved Rainbow SLC 6.5 NG component set. These are what got me into SQ. A friend ran them off an Alpine HU and I wanted to unlock their full potential. I found a set on CL NIB plastic sticking to the woofers for $150, which is a STEAL considering its post 2008 stock with the newer tweeters and newer crossover that has various tweeters settings and option to bi-amp. Yes, they are passive, I dont care...they sound amazing. Mounted in Q logic kick panels.

 

[ds0110 10+ year member]

Mounted in Q-Logic kick panels. These kick panels are amazing. Im guessing its the way they are pointed, but they brought the sound stage up front and on the dash...Its amazing the difference they made vs trying to do door mounting and tweets in the a-pillar.

Subthump center console pre-fab box. This is where I kind of splurged...I get 1.16cu before displacement. Vinyl wrapped. custom black. I keep my storage area behind the seats. I think they usually only go to dark gray in darkness whereas I got mine in black close to $300 shipped. That hurt, but it fits perfect, looks GREAT, works good for my sub. I didnt want to make my own and it look half ***. I didnt know anyone local that was reasonable...So this is the one. Im very happy with it. Custom I couldve went downfire, ported, bigger, etc...but this is an SQ build and this worked for me perfectly.

Incriminator Audio Flatlyne 12 - rated at 750@4ohms (pffft..) This beat out IDQ, Fi Q, JL w7, alpine type r, dayton HO....the only other two subs I really considered were Soundsplinter RL-P, and Ascendant Audio Avalanche...both of which are super rare finds. I think i'd still have a very hard time passing up a RL-P 12...Black friday rolled around, and this went on sale for under 300 shipped NIB. Underhung XBL. Most people run these IB. I can tell you they work GREAT sealed as well. The output is amazing for how little power it takes. It gets more than loud enough for me to blend in with the amped highs/mids. My only regret is that im not giving it quite as much space as it would like, but it still performs flawlessly. Id recommend this sub to anyone even remotely interested in low freq SQ. I was worried about buying an "SQ" sub, that it wouldnt get loud enough vs my old treo street series dual sub setup... This gets plenty loud, and is VERY accurate no matter what I throw at it. Pink Floyd, Expendables, Manson, Le Castle Vania, Project Pat.... I have it crossed over at 80hz. Again, this thing sounds GREAT. Kinda pricey, but well worth it...

Everything was crimped first, using a hydraulic or ratcheting crimper...then soldered using a torch and qualitek rosin core solder. KNU OFC speaker/power wire throughout. Gold plated terminals when possible. Tedious but necessary. Btw, barefoot, indoors, with plenty of flux is the only way to go heh...

 

[ds0110 10+ year member]

This is my power situation under the hood. The fuse holders are both screwed to the fuse box cover. This makes for a clean looking, yet tedius battery removal process. I like that the KNU fuse holder is waterproof and seems to be very solid, but the ease and convenience of the memphis fuse holder is nice too...im not sure which I like better.

I did all this to then find out there is a horrible leak issue with the factory speaker locations. So ~20sqft 80/100 mil deadener in the doors and no speakers in the doors.... Water just pours into the top of the speaker during a wash or storm. Baffles were my first attempt, and I saw quickly that was a waste of money as water>foam. I went to the q-logic kick panels mainly as a way to get my mids out of the water, and in the end was very surprised and pleased at the sound stage improvement. Looking back...I couldve used deadener to make a kind of double sided wall/dam to keep the water from dripping onto the speaker, and been fine. At one point I wanted to go ahead and add another SLC component set using that idea, fiberglass the A-pillars to mount tweeters, mids in the doors...but I was worried about cancellation vs increased loudness. I really enjoy the soundstage on the dash, and didnt want to do anything to mess that up.

Valentine One radar detector hard wired in, Bluetooth mic ran through A-pillar. The valentine is arguably the best detector in the history of radar detectors, it will pick them up from literally a mile away if they have their radar on full blast pointed at you. The bluetooth mic worked out really well imo, looks clean running through A-pillar, clipped to visor.

This is the weak part of my system. Everything is so tight in the back of this single cab, wires had to be ran very close to each other. Here im actually using the insulation of the speaker wire as a buffer of sorts to keep the rcas away from the power/ground...Not the best situation, but I have no noise, so it seems to be working ok. The amps are screwed to 3/4" mdf that is glued (u418 windshield adhesive) to the back wall. Speaker wire to the KS1000.1 is ran above the amp. All amps have their own ground. Everything crimped/soldered. Used the biggest fattest aircraft bolts I could find. RCAs ran under carpet, power/ground wire ran under the insulation under the carpet.

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

such a coincidence reading this post. hvent visited this forum in several years. and i see the TC was talking about a soundsplinter rl-phe couldnt locate because they are pretty rare, and i have 2 of them, one which is for sale. its the 15 inch model i believe its dual 4. and i have an 18 inch rl-p in my truck, dual 2.

 

[ds0110 10+ year member]

such a coincidence reading this post. hvent visited this forum in several years. and i see the TC was talking about a soundsplinter rl-phe couldnt locate because they are pretty rare, and i have 2 of them, one which is for sale. its the 15 inch model i believe its dual 4. and i have an 18 inch rl-p in my truck, dual 2.

If they were 12's, I wouldve jumped on it just to see the difference between the flatlyne vs rl-p in my setup. IMO the flatlyne is a nicer sub, but its made for IB where I have a sealed box that would be perfect dimensions for an rl-p 12, which were made to be ran sealed.