Ford F1 amp/speaker options

JTB321 · Dec 31, 2022

Howdy, I’ve just done the noob introduction so now I’ll give some project details and look forward to comments/ suggestions. I’m building a 1950 Ford F1 custom truck and the audio needs some decisions. From the photos you can see the original dash instrumentation has been cut out and will get a carbon fiber dash. As the truck cab is quite small the center console ended up being narrow so choosing a head unit was tricky and I ended up with a Rockford Fosgate PMX-2 marine unit which fit well and looks acceptable. The unit has inbuilt 4*50w amps but that won’t do.
For speakers I have room for two full range 6*9’s under the dash and have options under the seats. So, now come the decision on what to do. I can get two more 6*9’s under each seat and/or a powered sub under each seat also. Thoughts on amp speaker choices and whether to go with the additional subs or not? Budget$6-800 for amp and speakers , additional $$ for the subs if I go with them. It will be a cruise/show truck but I need a reasonable sound quality. Generally rock and country music gets airplay along with FM.
Cheers, look forward to feedback, good or bad 😊👍

hispls · Jan 1, 2023

That'll be really pretty when it is done. If you can fab up some door panels the slots in the doors now could probably accommodate something nice for mids and highs. 6x9 components there perhaps? I can't really tell if you have depth to clear the window mechanism though so be mindful of that before you jump down that direction.

Alternately check out q-forms website and take a look at the custom kickpanels. While I'm sure they don't have anything to fit 70 year old trucks it'll give you an idea of what a good speaker location in the kicks will look like and perhaps that's something you can fab up yourself out of fiberglass or carbon fiber or both. Kickpanels with speakers aimed up around where a dome light would be generally provides very good imaging so that would be my first choice of where to put a set of aftermarket speakers.

Subwoofer is probably a must if you want good full sound. You shouldn't need a lot of power and there's plenty of options that'll give you reasonable output in a small space if you have realistic expectations and just want good balanced sound. 100x4+300X1 or 125x6 type 5/6 channel amps can be had for reasonable money from several different brands, I've got an old Phoenix Gold SX 5 channel in my Corolla and a newer Focal FDP 6 channel in my F250, neither are beating down the block but both provide enough power to a subwoofer to fill in the low end so that it's reasonably balanced with a good set of components up front.

If this is a show car and you're going to mount the amp some place for show you may even base your decision there around what looks pretty, provided you stay away from the junk-drawer brands most of the stuff on the market will perform similar enough to everything else. Or if you want to really nerd out on tweaking looking for studio quality sound some of the premium priced brands sell amplifiers with DSP built in.... they're not cheap but if you consider what you would spend to get that processing power in the head unit or stand-alone they're a fair value if you really want advanced sound processing options. Be very wary, trying to get the sound of a good listening room in your home inside a vehicle can be a maddening rabbit hole to jump down; compared to a room in your house a vehicle is just a nightmare acoustic environment so you're shoveling shit against the tide the whole way.

Last but not least, if you have that truck stripped down you may well consider adding some sound deadening all around. Butyl/aluminum dampening + MLV (mass loaded vinyl) + CCF (closed cell foam) could get you a ride that's quiet like a new luxury car. Low noise floor also helps your music seem louder. If you're doing some Greased Lightning tier engine mods and you want to hear that rumbling pass on sound deadening.

JTB321 · Jan 1, 2023

hispls said:
That'll be really pretty when it is done. If you can fab up some door panels the slots in the doors now could probably accommodate something nice for mids and highs. 6x9 components there perhaps? I can't really tell if you have depth to clear the window mechanism though so be mindful of that before you jump down that direction.

Alternately check out q-forms website and take a look at the custom kickpanels. While I'm sure they don't have anything to fit 70 year old trucks it'll give you an idea of what a good speaker location in the kicks will look like and perhaps that's something you can fab up yourself out of fiberglass or carbon fiber or both. Kickpanels with speakers aimed up around where a dome light would be generally provides very good imaging so that would be my first choice of where to put a set of aftermarket speakers.

Subwoofer is probably a must if you want good full sound. You shouldn't need a lot of power and there's plenty of options that'll give you reasonable output in a small space if you have realistic expectations and just want good balanced sound. 100x4+300X1 or 125x6 type 5/6 channel amps can be had for reasonable money from several different brands, I've got an old Phoenix Gold SX 5 channel in my Corolla and a newer Focal FDP 6 channel in my F250, neither are beating down the block but both provide enough power to a subwoofer to fill in the low end so that it's reasonably balanced with a good set of components up front.

If this is a show car and you're going to mount the amp some place for show you may even base your decision there around what looks pretty, provided you stay away from the junk-drawer brands most of the stuff on the market will perform similar enough to everything else. Or if you want to really nerd out on tweaking looking for studio quality sound some of the premium priced brands sell amplifiers with DSP built in.... they're not cheap but if you consider what you would spend to get that processing power in the head unit or stand-alone they're a fair value if you really want advanced sound processing options. Be very wary, trying to get the sound of a good listening room in your home inside a vehicle can be a maddening rabbit hole to jump down; compared to a room in your house a vehicle is just a nightmare acoustic environment so you're shoveling shit against the tide the whole way.

Last but not least, if you have that truck stripped down you may well consider adding some sound deadening all around. Butyl/aluminum dampening + MLV (mass loaded vinyl) + CCF (closed cell foam) could get you a ride that's quiet like a new luxury car. Low noise floor also helps your music seem louder. If you're doing some Greased Lightning tier engine mods and you want to hear that rumbling pass on sound deadening.

Hi hispls (cool name),
some great points here to think about. Let me add a few notes on the general cab design. The carbon fiber accents are going to be carried over into the door panels. The F1 has quite a distinctive panel in the mid to lower part of the door that is getting the CF treatment and the electric window mechanisms would force the position of a speaker towards the rear of the door and effectively be blocked by the seat. So no door panel speakers.
The lower kick panels under the dash are restrictive also as the AC and heater hoses come in and the internal door hinge support frame eats up that area, so no kick panel speakers!!
Under the dash, left and right are open and clear for 6*9’s though they will be pointing down but fully enclosed. That leaves the under seat area to play with. From your comments I’m thinking a four channel amp, to power the 6*9’s and two powered subs under the seats is the way to go. The head unit could be an issue. It has pre out for the front channels, good there. The pre out for the rear channels is selectable to be either full range or sub, so going to be a pre out short for the rear 6*9’s. I guess I could take the 50w speaker out from the head unit and attenuate to be a pre in to the main amp? Any success with this approach?
As far as recommendations for the amp, speakers and powered subs (8” due to space constraints) in my budget range, any preferences? Appreciate you taking time for a detailed reply. I’m on a number of forums and always try to do the same.👍
cheers

hispls · Jan 2, 2023

JTB321 said:
Under the dash, left and right are open and clear for 6*9’s

For best results you'll really want to be able to see the cones from your listening position. Firing some 6x9s down at your feet or into the side of the seat or whatever in the back won't give you squat for output and what sound you get will likely be muffled and lacking any sort of treble.

The higher the frequency the more directional and line of sight the sound produced. You may do well to get a 3 way component set and build some pods to mount 3 or 4" mid and small format tweeter up on the dash in the corners and do the 6.5" woofer firing down at your feet (if you can provide some sort of enclosure for them). This would work good and if you can fab up a nice looking pod for the small speakers they could be affixed with velcro or something else removable on the dash so you wouldn't have to cut or drill or anything. I saw some nice ones on DIYMA forum where someone started with just a styrofoam ball from the craft store, whittled it out to fit his speakers then put fiberglass/bondo/paint on the exterior so that it was nice and shiny. Google search the Bowers and Wilkins tower speakers and take a look at the pod they mount the tweeter on top in... that sort of thing but you don't need it nearly so deep of a teardrop shape, a simple sphere would function or any other shape you like the looks of.

IF you can get a good component set up front somewhere where the sound will project to your listening position there's absolutely no need for more than one component set. Focus your efforts into good mounting locations and prep for one set, get something above average quality and you won't need more. Powered subs would be the simplest plug and play option and I wager Kicker, Pioneer, Kenwood, JBL, etc. all make something that you could cram under a seat. Around these parts we prefer to build our own boxes and buy raw drivers, but if you're not into carpentry and need only modest output I'd think any of those all in one kits would get you by. Considering you are very limited in space in any sort of standard cab pickup, anything short of extreme body modification to the vehicle is ever going to get you anywhere near loud bass even with unlimited budget for the """best""" small subwoofers and power for them.

Anyway, front and sub channel out of your source unit is fine to get good sound, the only caveat being that head units with few RCA outs are often of lower quality overall, though this isn't always the case and unless you're getting into really big power it probably wouldn't even be noticeable.