Suggestions for putting together decent system in 04 Explorer

[mazzasec 5,000+ posts]

I vote 5 channel! Then id go with a single 15" sub.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

with no 3rd row, you can mount 1 or 2 amps and hide wires under the 1st compartment behind the rear seat, plenty of room in there for stuff



please dont touch mbquart, especially if your complaining about harsh tweeters

the sound has alot to do with the placement and the type of tweeter and the eq'ing, do you remember what kind of tweeters they were?

its 5x7 front and rear, but for the best sound, do 6.5s and make adapter plates

i glassed a set of tweets in my apillar, some quick pics

i love smooth sounding speakers, cant stand harsh stuff, they sound great the way they are mounted, kinda facing toward the center of the dash or so, imaging is great

not too many 5ch amps, for a beast the RF 25 to life is hard to beat, but hard to find and expensive

we do alot of audison and hertz 5ch amps, kicker makes a 700.5 that is pretty nice

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

A Kicker 700.5 is wayyy too much for a build with a budget of $1k.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

299.99$ for it, not sure, not too bad

http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-08ZX700-5-5-CHANNEL-CAR-AUDIO-AMPLIFIER-ZX700-5_W0QQitemZ200265451745QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Amplifiers?hash=item200265451745&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

[mazzasec 5,000+ posts]

Hey Bama boy. What do you do when you need access to the amps? I considered putting my amp down there but thought how much of a pain it would be to get to if something happened.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

Hey Bama boy. What do you do when you need access to the amps? I considered putting my amp down there but thought how much of a pain it would be to get to if something happened.

mine arnt there any more, they are on the box, if you have a big box on the compartment, it can be a pain to move the box to get down there, i had the 2 18 btls there and it was hard to push them out of the way to get there, just had to push it up a little bit to be able to flip it up, but something smaller would be no problem, its nice to be able to hide all the wires and amps, i even had 2 fans down there circulating air, it gets hot down here in summer

 

[SeaNile 10+ year member]

Stopped by a place today and was pleasantly surprised what $1,000 gets you.

Here is what was proposed.

Headunit, new Kenwood kdc bt742u with USB port, ipod control, bluetooth, etc.

JL Audio tr570cxi in front and rear

Kenwood KAC 6404 amp

JL 10" 10W1v2 sub.

Sirius tuner

$1290

Do I go with this and run the fronts and amp off the amp and use the headunit to run the rears or look for a 5 channel amp on ebay?

Comments welcome!!

John

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Stopped by a place today and was pleasantly surprised what $1,000 gets you.
Here is what was proposed.

Headunit, new Kenwood kdc bt742u with USB port, ipod control, bluetooth, etc.

JL Audio tr570cxi in front and rear

Kenwood KAC 6404 amp

JL 10" 10W1v2 sub.

Sirius tuner

$1290

Do I go with this and run the fronts and amp off the amp and use the headunit to run the rears or look for a 5 channel amp on ebay?

Comments welcome!!

John

Too much money for what youre getting.

 

[SeaNile 10+ year member]

Too much money for what youre getting.

Do I look for different or better equipment or is it just the price is too high? The 1290 is installed with all wiring, dash kits, harness, etc. He hinted that 1150 would be a possibility.

--John

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

what kind of bass are you looking for?

thats 1 10, its a JL, but still their low end sub

i priced up that system before with 2 12s and a big RF 1000watt rms amp, for about the same price, that was a Double din DVD with free harness and dash kit and a nice system

just let me know what your looking for as for bass, 1 10 or 2 12s etc

no matter which brand, you would be alot happier with a double din touch screen for ipod etc

 

[SHOemup233 10+ year member]

Too much money for what youre getting.

Exactly.

Do I look for different or better equipment or is it just the price is too high? The 1290 is installed with all wiring, dash kits, harness, etc. He hinted that 1150 would be a possibility.
--John

Subs:

-2 RE SE's D4 off ebay - $300

-Because you didn't really specify what kind of sub you are looking for. The SE's ported will get plenty loud, and still sound amazing.

Sub Amp:

-AQ1200 - $250

-Hifonics 1606 or 1608 - $250ish

Both solid amps. I have personally seen a hifonics blown, but it was because of user error. The AQ will have much better customer support, along with a little bit better quality. The Hifonics will put out a little bit more power though, were talking 100-200 watts, not enough to be noticeable to the ear.

Box:

Build it yourself for cheap,

If not that, I have dealt with FisherCustoms and they make very high quality boxes, but expect upper 100's for a box.

Front Speakers:

-PG RSD's -

-ID CTX165 - $180

There are many other options, but these are my two favorites. The RSD's are the best budget components. With some tuning, they can sound like much much more high end speakers than what you pay for. The CTX's are simply really good sounding speakers with a higher price tag for it. They are very good for the price though.

Front amp:

Way to many options. Notable ones:

-Alpine PDX 2.150 or 2.100

-Kicker ZX350.2 $230

Two very strong amplifiers. The kickers are normally underrated and will give you at least 110 watts to each side @ 4 ohms. That is plenty of power, and you will probably have more with the kicker.

Wiring:

A lot of knukoncepts. $100ish

Total: $1030-$1300ish.

If your going to spend the money, do it right. The system above is a very good "budget" system. It will sound amazing, and get pretty loud too.

Also, all the said equipment is prices for new, if you get any used it will be cheaper and likely sound exactly the same.

EDIT: I forgot a HU. That'll bump the price up a couple hundred. Save by buying 1 15" SE and a smaller amp.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

Kenwood DDX512-$399$ with free kit and harness, save you a little bit on parts

RE SE 12- 155$

http://cgi.ebay.com/RE-AUDIO-SE12-12-CAR-SUB-WOOFER-SUBWOOFER-SE-12-D4-new_W0QQitemZ390028537447QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Subwoofers_Enclosures?hash=item390028537447&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

box for 12" SE12 20cu ft @32hz-$120

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-RE-AUDIO-SE-ENCLOSURE-BOX-RESONANT-ENGINEERING-SE12_W0QQitemZ390028553551QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item390028553551&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

08ZX700.5 $299

70x4(4ohms)+420x1 @ 2ohms

or save a little bit do a ZX550.3 for like 225$ run fronts and sub off amp, leave rear on HU

RF 4ga amp kit with everything like 75$

2 sets of RE audio 6x8 @ $55 per pair

or Boston Acoustics SX85 for like 98$ per pair

or boston also makes a component plate for a 6x8 opening for like 150 on ebay

would blow that other sytem out of the water

there are a ton of options you could do on there

 

[SeaNile 10+ year member]

I'm thinking about this and do have to question a few things.

I will say the HU really impressed me with the iPod/iPhone hookup, the flashdrive/usb port, sub control and the blue tooth. Kenwood kdc bt742u Is there a DD HU with the same options?

The 4 channel amp driving fronts and sub seems weak to me. I have no idea how much room in under the rear seat if I go the 2 amp route.

I'm just surfing the web and ebay and do see some decent deals on JL Audio subs with enclosures. I don't want to have a sub driven system but 2 10's, 2 8's,etc for under $150 is tempting.

Still thinking this over but will be doing a system soon.

Thanks again. This advice is great!

John

 

[SHOemup233 10+ year member]

I'm thinking about this and do have to question a few things.
I will say the HU really impressed me with the iPod/iPhone hookup, the flashdrive/usb port, sub control and the blue tooth. Kenwood kdc bt742u Is there a DD HU with the same options?

The 4 channel amp driving fronts and sub seems weak to me. I have no idea how much room in under the rear seat if I go the 2 amp route.

I'm just surfing the web and ebay and do see some decent deals on JL Audio subs with enclosures. I don't want to have a sub driven system but 2 10's, 2 8's,etc for under $150 is tempting.

Still thinking this over but will be doing a system soon.

Thanks again. This advice is great!

John

After actually reading through the thread I can see that what I suggested may be a little more than you are looking for. I don't really feel like going through and changing my recommendations, as that is the lowest end system I would probably ever get and I am lazy.

I don't know what advice to tell you except that in most cases, you get what you pay for. JL IS overpriced for what you get. It isn't a debate. This does not take away from the quality of JL by any means, they are some amazing woofers, with high price tags. Don't be sucked in to something on ebay just because it is cheap. Since you are on a budget, I would say that you are going to want to get the most out of yours subs. 2 ported 10's would work perfect for you, or even 1 ported 12. If you go ported though, I would not get a prefab box. If you went sealed I wouldn't get a prefab though either. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[SeaNile 10+ year member]

Any comments on these? They are local....

I am selling 2 Eclipse Aluminum DVC 12" Subs & Kenwood Excelon 1600 Watt Mono amp.

I paid $450 per sub and $650 for my amp. (Nearly $1600.00 for the whole set up) Im selling these subs that were in the back of my BMW M3 due to the fact that i don't really drive the car much so I will be selling that as well. The Subs are in MINT CONDITION due to nothing was ever allowed to be in my trunk at any time! The AMp is mounted to the back of my seat so that is also in MINT CONDITION because nothing was ever near it. The Subs are in a custom enclosure that I will give away with the subs FREE OF CHARGE! Will include capacitor