Stereo Upgrade?

I appreciate that. Define active system please

how about a 5 channel amp? Each of the 4 doors and the sub, while keeping those dash speakers powered off the head unit? Alpine makes such a beast: PDX-V9. 4 channels @ 100 and sub @ 500?

Active is basically each channel of your amp feeding one speaker. You would use a sound processor to send specific frequencies, levels and time delay to each. Somewhat complicated but yields superior results in most cases.

S0CAL said:

how about a 5 channel amp? Each of the 4 doors and the sub, while keeping those dash speakers powered off the head unit? Alpine makes such a beast: PDX-V9. 4 channels @ 100 and sub @ 500?

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This was one of my first choices. However, since I already had my Kicker sub amp, adding two more Kicker amps was less expensive so I ran with it. I'll basically have two speakers per amp. Should sound really good. However, the five channel would be the ideal way to go. I think I did pretty good though. Got the PAC adapter, four Alpine 6x9 R series speakers, and both new amps for $750 shipped to my door. Just have to buy a few odds and ends for the installation and I'll be done with it. For good I hope lol

Kapt, I may be wrong but if you only had the sub amp before I'm gonna assume your power and ground wire is only 4 or 8 gauge. If so time to upgrade.

Eestee70 said:

Kapt, I may be wrong but if you only had the sub amp before I'm gonna assume your power and ground wire is only 4 or 8 gauge. If so time to upgrade.

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That was my first thought. Better beef up the wiring. I like the simplicity of big 5 channel & 6 channel amps on passive systems...it makes everything so easy with one exception...if anything goes wrong with that big amp (which happens more frequently due to all the bells, whistles, and gizmos in those style amps) you system is dead in the water. I am a fan of multiple amps. It has its challenges, but it can offer more control to your system especially if you are running passive. Now for the active guys with dsp....the dsp will quarterback all levels, xovers, t/a etc... With multiple amps you can finely select how much power to send to any group of speakers and buy amp(s) to accomidate your speaker requirements/needs. I would never power the rear doors with an amp (unless I had a big 6 channel and had channels to spare)...powering rear door speakers is simply a waste of money. From a tuning aspect, you really shouldn't hear the rear door speakers at any given time. Rear fill is simply for "fill" or ambience....adds a bit of depth to a system but you should never be able to pin-point the sound coming from the rear (unless you're doing some fun surround or the like) HU power is more than enough for rear door speakers.

You don't like being able to hear your surround sound? I can hear my rear speakers now, so I wanted to keep it that way

If surround is what you like then stick with it. What autokraftgt is referring to is the how music is supposed to be heard. Left. Right , center depending on how the music was recorded. When listening to live music the sound is coming from in front of you and you can
pinpoint exactly where on the stage the sound is coming from. Audiophile and purest look to recreate the same stage when listening to music in they're vehicles.

Kapt said:

You don't like being able to hear your surround sound? I can hear my rear speakers now, so I wanted to keep it that way

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No, I do not want to hear surround sound in my truck. I do not want to hear anything behind me. I want to re-create a sound stage in its purest form. I want lead vocals to hover right under my rear-view mirror, but above the dash. I want all instruments/musicians to have their place on my dash. I want my stage depth to SOUND very deep, and I want the stage width to be beyond my side mirrors. I want to be able to hear when a certain drummer switches from wooden tip drum sticks, to plastic tip sticks. Through time alignment, I want my sub stage (kick drum etc) to sound like it is in front of me, when in reality my subs are behind me. Some guys like the surround sound effect, but I do not....I'll save that for watching a movie on my home theater.
But it all comes down to what you want to achieve with your system.

autokraftgt said:

No, I do not want to hear surround sound in my truck. I do not want to hear anything behind me. I want to re-create a sound stage in its purest form. I want lead vocals to hover right under my rear-view mirror, but above the dash. I want all instruments/musicians to have their place on my dash. I want my stage depth to SOUND very deep, and I want the stage width to be beyond my side mirrors. I want to be able to hear when a certain drummer switches from wooden tip drum sticks, to plastic tip sticks. Through time alignment, I want my sub stage (kick drum etc) to sound like it is in front of me, when in reality my subs are behind me. Some guys like the surround sound effect, but I do not....I'll save that for watching a movie on my home theater.
But it all comes down to what you want to achieve with your system.

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My problem is that I like both.

TomT said:

My problem is that I like both.

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I am in the same boat as you. I do like a well defined stage but there are some songs that are meant to be heard like you were at a club surrounded by speakers. Not that I get to clubs any more at my age but damnit, if I were to go! Lol.

Seriously though, a DSP with easy to control presets or a HU with presets is the ticket. I know for me, I went from a DSP and RA3 to an aftermarket HU and couldn't be happier. I go to the seat position screen, tap driver, and I have "the stage" but I can also tap any other front or rear passenger (never happens) to give them the stage or just select all and have that surround sound.

troutspinner said:

I am in the same boat as you. I do like a well defined stage but there are some songs that are meant to be heard like you were at a club surrounded by speakers. Not that I get to clubs any more at my age but damnit, if I were to go! Lol.

Seriously though, a DSP with easy to control presets or a HU with presets is the ticket. I know for me, I went from a DSP and RA3 to an aftermarket HU and couldn't be happier. I go to the seat position screen, tap driver, and I have "the stage" but I can also tap any other front or rear passenger (never happens) to give them the stage or just select all and have that surround sound.

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You know you bring up a really good point that has started to bother me just a little bit. I get sick of the driver seat tune and insisting people or friends who want to demo my systems to sit in my driver's seat. I have had the capability, but have never done a really nice driver's & passenger seat tune...for when you're jammin with a buddy or the mrs. Also, I agree surround can be fun when done properly. We built a Tahoe for a friend using the Alpine H800 DSP, with 5 1/4 components in the rear and that was pretty fun. You're right, an easy interface with presets would be nice...time and a place for everything

My Mosconi has 4 presets and I plan to have a Me, Me and one friend, and a full truck tune. My rear fill are Dyn Esotar 650s so I can get pretty good sound in the back seats with the sail panel tweeters and the mids pointing up from the dash and reflecting off of the windshield.

I'm thinking preset #4 will be my "ok, I ****** it up three different times so going back to the drawing board" tune.

TomT said:

My Mosconi has 4 presets and I plan to have a Me, Me and one friend, and a full truck tune. My rear fill are Dyn Esotar 650s so I can get pretty good sound in the back seats with the sail panel tweeters and the mids pointing up from the dash and reflecting off of the windshield.

I'm thinking preset #4 will be my "ok, I ****** it up three different times so going back to the drawing board" tune.

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I will never sell my Esotar 650's...haven't used them in a while, but they're going no where

Question for the audio guru's in this thread. I've currently got some Polk Audio MM6501's and MM651's that I'd like to keep and put in my RAM 1500 sport. Crutchfield says they won't fit, but they also said they wouldn't fit in to the vehicle I currently have them in. Scosche makes an adapter bracket to put 6.5's in the 6.9 spots.

What I'd like to know is your opinions on replacing the 6x9's with the 6.5's or if should I stick with stock size when I upgrade my speakers?

Also, if using my MOMO's is fine, does the stock HU provide enough power to make them sound good or am I going to want hook up my JL Audio 300/4v2 amp?

On a side note, I saw some mention of the signal that the Alpine HU puts out being flat. Is that true or am I going to need a DSP to fix the signal?

Dodge This said:

Question for the audio guru's in this thread. I've currently got some Polk Audio MM6501's and MM651's that I'd like to keep and put in my RAM 1500 sport. Crutchfield says they won't fit, but they also said they wouldn't fit in to the vehicle I currently have them in. Scosche makes an adapter bracket to put 6.5's in the 6.9 spots.

What I'd like to know is your opinions on replacing the 6x9's with the 6.5's or if should I stick with stock size when I upgrade my speakers?

Also, if using my MOMO's is fine, does the stock HU provide enough power to make them sound good or am I going to want hook up my JL Audio 300/4v2 amp?

On a side note, I saw some mention of the signal that the Alpine HU puts out being flat. Is that true or am I going to need a DSP to fix the signal?

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First question is if you have the base system or the Alpine one?

Beyond that I will ALWAYS vote for adding an amp vs using stock head unit power. Some aftermarket head units have decent amps in them but the stock one definitely does not.

It's fairly easy to drop 6.5s into a 6x9 hole and there are many adapters and kits made for it. Since you already have and like (I'm assuming) the Polks I don't see any reason to buy 6x9s unless you really want to.

Tom

TomT said:

First question is if you have the base system or the Alpine one?

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The Alpine system.

Hey Dodge This.....start a new thread focusing on your subject so we don't get to far away from Kapt's subject thread. to the forum

Eestee70 said:

Hey Dodge This.....start a new thread focusing on your subject so we don't get to far away from Kapt's subject thread. to the forum

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Ok, I'll do that.