Miami Son
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2012
- Posts
- 240
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Port St. Lucie, FL
- Ram Year
- 2012 Ram 1500 Sport Crew Cab
- Engine
- 5.7L Hemi
Just tore open my truck to put in a set of Kicker 6X9s in the doors and 3.5s in the dash. Some observations:
1. The connector for the dash speakers is different from those for the door speakers. If you order the connector pigtails thinking they are all the same you will be disappointed. I removed the ones from the stock speakers and soldered them to the new speakers. Cutting and splicing is not an option given the tight quarters. The door speakers have the correct connectors.
2. Dodge engineers should be shot. There's no excuse for not making the door openings big enough to fit a standard aftermarket 6X9 with a 20 oz. magnet. Not only did the fronts hit the window rail, but the speaker opening on all the doors was too small. I had to heat the plastic on the rears to stretch them so the Kickers would sit flush in the hole and I had to cut some of the webbing out of the window rail mounting. The rail itself is not an issue, thankfully. On the fronts I had to use 1/2" spacers because I did not want to chop up the window rail.
3. The stock speakers are crap. Paper cones, no midrange or tweeters, small magnets and all made in Mexico.
4. New speakers really opened up the sound. I can actually hear something coming from the dash speakers now. The door speakers have some clarity and brightness and the rears now have some presence. So much so I was able to turn down the mids and highs from the 4 and 7 (respectively) that I had them at on the EQ to an acceptable 1 and 3. Much more natural sounding.
5. Removing/reinstalling the door panels on my 2012 is way, way easier than it was on my 2000 Ram.
Overall, I am very happy with the sound quality and with knowing that the speakers in the doors are much more durable than that paper crap they replaced. I don't need a subwoofer, so this was a pretty cheap and relatively easy mod.
1. The connector for the dash speakers is different from those for the door speakers. If you order the connector pigtails thinking they are all the same you will be disappointed. I removed the ones from the stock speakers and soldered them to the new speakers. Cutting and splicing is not an option given the tight quarters. The door speakers have the correct connectors.
2. Dodge engineers should be shot. There's no excuse for not making the door openings big enough to fit a standard aftermarket 6X9 with a 20 oz. magnet. Not only did the fronts hit the window rail, but the speaker opening on all the doors was too small. I had to heat the plastic on the rears to stretch them so the Kickers would sit flush in the hole and I had to cut some of the webbing out of the window rail mounting. The rail itself is not an issue, thankfully. On the fronts I had to use 1/2" spacers because I did not want to chop up the window rail.
3. The stock speakers are crap. Paper cones, no midrange or tweeters, small magnets and all made in Mexico.
4. New speakers really opened up the sound. I can actually hear something coming from the dash speakers now. The door speakers have some clarity and brightness and the rears now have some presence. So much so I was able to turn down the mids and highs from the 4 and 7 (respectively) that I had them at on the EQ to an acceptable 1 and 3. Much more natural sounding.
5. Removing/reinstalling the door panels on my 2012 is way, way easier than it was on my 2000 Ram.
Overall, I am very happy with the sound quality and with knowing that the speakers in the doors are much more durable than that paper crap they replaced. I don't need a subwoofer, so this was a pretty cheap and relatively easy mod.
Bigger basket.....
