Uconnect/stereo wiring question on a post 1st owner 05

Yes it’s perfectly capable of having the sound, that’s what it’s designed to do. It only creates high pitched sounds, from about 2000htz on up. A smaller speaker has more precise movements for more detail. The midrange speakers only really produce midrange frequencies.
My opinion is if you have the components up front with a good tweeter position, you don’t need the dash speakers unless you want to include a center channel speaker. That’s kinda a special application that’s somewhat rare.
I would go 5.25” speakers in the back. The speaker holes are smaller and it takes some modification to fit 6” and up. To me it’s not worth the effort to fit them in.

https://www.ramelectronics.net/Woofers-Tweeters-Crossovers.aspx
Here some basic info. Not sure how knowledgeable you are about speaker systems. But it’s always good to learn new things

I know I’m late to the party but I’ll go ahead and drop my opinion in anyway.

60-100w RMS per channel is a good range for what would be a good sounding system, without going over the top and spending huge money.

I like components. What I don’t like about them, especially in such a big vehicle, is how seperated the sounds are. For example, all the highs are coming from way up at the dash and none from anywhere else which can cause strange effects if you move your head around. What I did, was install 6x9 coax in the front doors, with tweeters in the dash locations. Also 5.25 coax in the back doors. They all are fed by an amp at 75w rms per channel. The tweeters in the dash are connected along with the front door speakers to the front two channels of the amp. There are in line crossovers for the tweeters.

So basically, my setup is:
Infinity Kappa 3 way 6x9 in front doors
Infinity Kappa 2 way 5.25 in rear doors
Polk MOMO tweeters in factory dash locations
No center channel speaker installed
75 watts per channel

Also have an Alpine Type R 10 under the back seat with a separate 500w rms amp.

Oh and just fyi, your radio only puts out around 13w rms per channel.

So, your tweeters are getting 75w? And outputting that?

And would having rear components with fronts as well accomplish the same goal of preventing that separation? I kinda want to keep it as simple as possible with using the same sized speakers in all the doors, and then two 10's under the rear seat with a 1.5" seat lift so I can have more air in the box for the subs to function better.

So my proposed end game setup would be 4x 6.5" components, one in each door, with tweeters mounted in the pillars, the fronts aimed like chrisp, and the rears aimed toward the center of the vehicle. Each of these would be fed 100w RMS from a four-way amp. After that, get two full sized 10" subwoofers under the rear seat, with each of those fed with 200W RMS. Not forgetting the seat lift for a bigger box and therefore more airspace.

And wait, do you mean my stock radio, or the brand new Kenwood I just got? Because I just looked in the manual for the Kenwood, and it said Max Output Power is 50W x4 and "Full Bandwidth Power" is 22W x4 at less than 1% THD for 4ohm-8ohm speakers.

Sounds like a good plan.
Probably means the stock radio. Most aftermarket head units run about 20-25 Watts rms

So what he was speaking of would be covered by my proposed setup? Do you experience any of the separation he speaks of? Would quality soundproofing eliminate this proclaimed issue, or accentuate it?

And, I believe I asked earlier, would 5.25" speakers all around be a better match for the 10" subs than 6.25" speakers would be? I.E. A more adequate separation of frequencies, rather than putting them too close together in size and response.

I have this assumption that likely needs to be quelled that a "midrange" has to be about ~half the size of the sub it's going to be paired with. Hence why I would only run a giant sub if it was to replace two small ones. like a single 15 instead of two 10's. or a single 18 instead of two 12's.

I also have this other assumption that you should generally run a 2-to-1 ratio of speakers per sub, so in a four-door car with 4 main speakers, you get two subs twice the size of the speakers, or one sub that would have about the same surface area as those two smaller subs.

Thoughts? Corrections? OCD/Myth busting? {{All of the above would be welcome. My OCD is bad. As is my "want to/got to/better have it my way" syndrome, as you've seen with the "Questions about performance options." thread....}}

Honestly I think you may be over thinking it alittle bit. I’ve always had 6.5” speakers and never had a complaint. I can tell a slight difference in the sound spacing that I had in my car, but it was a smaller vehicle and I had made custom kick panel speaker mounts that pointed the midranges towards me and it was an awesome setup. Now in the truck the speakers are just in the stock location so they aren’t at optimal position. Sound deadening will help lower road noise and some resonant frequencies, I doubt it will do much for the sound position, that would have more to do with the speaker placement.
I know you said you wanted to keep it simple by having the same size front and back, but it’s actually easier with a smaller speaker in the back door. The bigger speakers require you to modify the mounting holes, either by new holes or trimming the opening. The. You have to get them just perfect to fit when you put the door panel back on. I had to basically jam mine on. I only used them because I had 6.5”s left over from my car.
You might have issues trying to fit a big sub in the truck unless you want to lose seats or make a completely custom center console.

As far as car audio goes, never pay attention to what “max” numbers are. They mean nothing. Rms is the number you need to look at. And yes my tweeters would be getting up to 75 Watts rms each.

You’re way overthinking it as far as speaker ratios and such. Just get an amp and speakers that all work together well as far as rms power handling. From that point on, all the fine tuning will be done with the amps. Crossovers, frequencies, high/low pass filters and all that. And just stick with 5.25s in the back. It’s a pain in the ass to put 6.5s in there and it’s really not gonna gain you anything.

Also, a single good 10” sub and amp setup imo is plenty. Two tens or two twelves or a single 15 or whatever is good for nothing but being obnoxious, for people that wanna be heard coming down the street for some reason. If you want good sound quality, put a single 10 in it and call it a day.

Before you spend a bunch of money on components for the rear, I suggest at least sitting in the truck and playing with the fade controls to see how much you actually hear the rear speakers. It’s probably less then you think. It may convince you to just use a basic setup in the back and put the money you save towards an even better pair for the front.

EDIT:: Post Redacted.

Right now I ONLY have rear speakers. And stock ones at that. And I damaged the left one by driving the **** out of it with my new head unit.

I think I'll listen on the sticking with 5.25 rears. It sounds like it wasn't worth it just to have a bigger speaker there, and it does look like there would be clearance issues with the door card.

As far as a single sub goes, the only two reasons I was wanting two under the seat was for symmetry, and for soundstage. Bass typically comes from behind you, not right beside you as it would with a single in the center console. And it definitely shouldn't come from in front of you, as it would for the rear passengers if I went with a single in the center.

Besides, if I WERE to put a single center in, say a 10" in the stock center console, would there even be enough volumetric airspace for a sub to function correctly there?

Also, if I'm gonna stick with stock sized rears, should I go with stock sized fronts, then, too? Or would 6x9's have too much bass response for 10" sub or the rest of the whole system? {{Still considering your idea, Justin. Stock multi-way speakers all round, tweets in the dash, tweets in the rear pillars maybe, and two 10's under the seat. Depends on what I think after you get back to me about the above-mentioned questions.}}

Too much bass with 6x9”. Just remember you probably should pick up some 6x9 to 6.5” adapter plates. And I would recommend throwing some speaker baffles on also

Keep in mind if you are installing subs, you are going to use a high pass filter on the 4 way amp for the speakers to cut most of the bass out of the door speakers. That way at high volumes you don’t get distortion. That is why I was saying not to overthink it or worry about all these ratios of speaker to sub you are talking about. Someone who knows what they are doing can set up the amps and radio settings to sound exactly the way it should.

If you are doing components up front, you’ll probably have to go with 6.5s because 6x9 components are pretty uncommon. If you’re doing 2 or 3 way coax’s up front with separate tweeters, you can either still go to a 6.5, or stay with a 6x9. Personally I stayed with a 6x9.

Just come up with a budget and get the best stuff you can get within that budget and make all the equipment match up as far as rms values. All the fine tuning will be done with the amps and head unit. Don’t worry about speaker to sub ratios and all that. You’re overthinking it.

Is your truck standard cab or quad cab? If it’s quad cab there are single sub boxes that go underneath the rear seat. You don’t notice whether it’s coming from the left or right. Bass travels and it sounds like it’s coming from everywhere, you can’t put a direction to it.

What's with all of the different 'ways'? I read that the more a speaker has, the more BS it really is. Like the number of tweeters on a midrange/woofer is just a big gimmick aside from a 2-way, and maybe a 3-way on something like a 6x9. Is this true? Kinda seems so for anything cheap, but if one of the big name brands made, say, a 5-way 6x9, could it or would it be good?

And okay. I'd assumed low/high pass filters would be used. Question, should I just throw in some smaller coax speakers in the dash rather than straight tweeters? It would provide more frontal midrange, rather than just having all the highs made shrill by the glass.

And yes, mine is a quad cab. Though, I'm half considering trying to trade straight up for an 06 single-cab 4wd in similar/same condition with the same motor. I won't be dealing with these in anything other than the Hemi.

Only half considering, though. I have nieces and a nephew to cart around with their grandma in the truck, too, and sometimes even another passenger.

Honestly, my optimum truck would be an extended cab with a half length suicide rear door, and two quick fold, quick remove seats turned sideways and facing inwards from the doors, or outwards from the center.

That plus a 6 foot even bed, bulkhead to tailgate, with the axle/wheels and tires centered along that length. In that setup, I could have a nice, big, single subwoofer right in the middle and not affect passenger capacity, since only two would fit, anyway. And barely acceptably at that.

Plus, I'd have a decently tight wheelbase for performance while having optimal cab space for valuables and delicate items and such, and a bed that's short, but not hopeless/useless like Ford and Dodge's super short beds. GMs' is supposed to be 5'10, but I just assume use the K.I.S.S. principle on something like that.

{{Lol, back to my OCD. I swear, I wished I owned an automotive company. That, and an electronics company, as I've had my own ideas about mechanical keyboard keyswitches for a few years now. And a shtload of other things... Shall I elaborate on how I would produce pickup trucks with said fictional company??}}

{{BTW, I measured the doors. Fronts are ~44" long, and the back is ~3/4 of that, as advertised by Dodge. Given how there's a little space after the doors for the back wall of the cab, and how there won't be the thickness of the rear seat backrest coming off of said wall, I think two people could chill in this setup back to back, OR playing footsy. }}

2 way vs 3 way is just basically what kind of sound range the speakers can create. 2 way coax is basically a woofer and a tweeter. 3 way is a woofer, tweeter, and kind of a mid range tweeter on there as well. Most good brands you won’t see over a 3 way speaker. As far as anything being gimmicky, yeah you can find boss 5 way speakers at Walmart or something. But regardless, anything boss is gonna be junk. What I’m saying is if you stay with a good brand, you don’t have to worry about gimmicky stuff. Companies like Infinity, Polk, Alpine etc got no time for gimmicky crap.

justin13703 said:

2 way vs 3 way is just basically what kind of sound range the speakers can create. 2 way coax is basically a woofer and a tweeter. 3 way is a woofer, tweeter, and kind of a mid range tweeter on there as well. Most good brands you won’t see over a 3 way speaker. As far as anything being gimmicky, yeah you can find boss 5 way speakers at Walmart or something. But regardless, anything boss is gonna be junk. What I’m saying is if you stay with a good brand, you don’t have to worry about gimmicky stuff. Companies like Infinity, Polk, Alpine etc got no time for gimmicky crap.

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Okay, what about JL, Diamond, Rockford Fosgate, Focal, DLS, and Hertz? And what about the stuff at best buy like JBL, Pioneer, Kenwood, and the Alpine stuff you'd get there? The JBL's sound really clear and crisp to me, are they a high end brand, or mid grade? Also, what are the other two layers you're supposed to use in addition to dynomat for soundproofing? I read that there was a foam separator and then some kind of woven fabric or cloth that eliminated road noise?

Sent from my magic 5-inch

Drunken Hamster said:

Okay, what about JL, Diamond, Rockford Fosgate, Focal, DLS, and Hertz? And what about the stuff at best buy like JBL, Pioneer, Kenwood, and the Alpine stuff you'd get there? The JBL's sound really clear and crisp to me, are they a high end brand, or mid grade? Also, what are the other two layers you're supposed to use in addition to dynomat for soundproofing? I read that there was a foam separator and then some kind of woven fabric or cloth that eliminated road noise?

Sent from my magic 5-inch

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All those brands are pretty much fine. I was just saying that it’s usually a good idea to stay away from Walmart brands and other eBay/off brands.

JBL and Infinity are both owned by Harman, which makes some pretty good quality stuff. You probably won’t be upset with either. Just keep in mind that even high end speaker brands have low end models.

As far as the soundproofing, I really don’t know. Most people just use dynamat or something equivalent and call it a day.

justin13703 said:

All those brands are pretty much fine. I was just saying that it’s usually a good idea to stay away from Walmart brands and other eBay/off brands.

JBL and Infinity are both owned by Harman, which makes some pretty good quality stuff. You probably won’t be upset with either. Just keep in mind that even high end speaker brands have low end models.

As far as the soundproofing, I really don’t know. Most people just use dynamat or something equivalent and call it a day.

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I found the forum and the post that had the info I was forgetting. It was a foam decoupler and mass loaded vinyl. The latter cuts road /wind noise, and the former prevents vibration from being transmitted from the constrained layer dampening material (dynamat is a name brand, not the actual stuff) through to the MLV.

CarAudioFabrication had the perfect video of how far I'm gonna go. "How to sound deaden like a pro."

One surface at a time. While I do the floors, I'll swap in fresh seats and such. While I do the firewall, I'll swap the dash for the 06+ and when I do the back wall, I'll set up the rear and seats for the subs. Finally, when I do the roof, I'll fix my two map light housings.

And THEN I'll install all the tech. Lawl. I think I'll do what Chris did and put gutter guard for the AC vents. Maybe for speaker grills, too. After all, I'm gonna do a gutter guard mesh grill, might as well use any extra or leftovers to do something useful with.

I think I'm gonna start my own build thread, make a list, and then knock stuff out piece by piece. Just.... What section do I put it in?

Sent from my magic 5-inch

Go to the member section, and they have member trucks/build threads. That’s the place to start. Throw up some pics of your truck and go from there [emoji1303]
And don’t do the gutter guard for the speakers. It was a big fail. The sun warped them all and I had to pull them out. I’m kind of at a loss on what to use, may make them out of thing mesh metal when I have time

Yikes... Maybe attach them to the top part where the leather is and just bend the edges flat? They'd look cool all curved like that, IMO, if you could get them to mount correctly.

And, okay. I still think I'll do a Gutter Guard front grill, though. Seen one that looked mint. And for supposedly ~$4, you can't beat it.