Upgrade stock speakers

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

78Staff

US Navy Veteran
Military
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Posts
961
Reaction score
540
Location
NE Florida
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7L Hemi
I had the 6966's, I touched on them some in my build thread (link in sig)... summary - better than stock, but there's better out there. I've since upgraded all around adding higher end speakers, couple amps, 12" sub in fox box, DSP, etc but if I were doing just a simple speaker upgrade, I would look at the RAM-specific Kicker setups, or the Kicker setup @Graygoose linked above.
 

ctdodge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Posts
161
Reaction score
121
Location
Bristol, CT
Ram Year
2017 Laramie 1500
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Looks like a pain to get to the dash speakers

I put off doing the dash speakers for that same reason. Just looked like a royal pain in the ass. Finally decided to bit the bullet and the two sides took me all of 1/2 hour total. Haven't done the center speaker yet as I don't know I need to since the sides sound so much better
 

buddy guy

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
2,559
Reaction score
2,116
Location
alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi
yeah i watched a video on the dash speakers and how easy they are to change. i had assumed it would be a dash removal originally but that didn't seem logical to me. surprisingly simple to do but the stereo as it is with the pioneers changed out is good enough for my audio needs. stereo upgrades could be a never ending game for me..to what end? i know me and having been in radio for 31 years, listening to music 8 to 16 hours a day I spent a lot on car and home audio equipment. As I got older I started to go for simpler solutions. Because of a hearing injury to my left ear in the 90s and simply my age compounding it, there comes a time where good is good enough. I get my ears tested annually and I know exactly the frequencies i can hear:)

i have a top of the line HK amp and studio monitor quality reference speakers that Warner Bros used to mix recordings in studios sitting in boxes at home I haven't used since 2010. It is easier just to buy a good sound bar for tv these days. I have a yamaha atmos soundbar I paid 1300 for (i won a 600 dollar gift certificate I put towards it) and love it. The 5000 dollars of home stereo gear otherwise sits in storage. lol. I don't have the heart to part with the setup. I never would get a fraction of what I paid for it and it's been with me longer than 2 wives were. lol
 

Graygoose

Indecisive Car Owner
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Posts
16,824
Reaction score
31,460
Location
Oklahoma
Ram Year
Convert, for now.
Engine
small
I too was about to order the Kickers after upgrading my head unit last week. My buddy reminded me though that you are paying more for the name than you are the speaker. He turned me on to Skar Audio that he runs in every car him and his family own. (A lot of cars lol) I paid like $145ish for all 6 replacement speakers. And not just their entry level speakers, I went with their high end ones. I haven’t installed them yet but the quality looks amazing. I can’t wait to hear them. b6e8568e7e57fbfc6e50a0dcbf4277e2.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Just to note, some names it not just buying the name. They design their own speakers, and own the tooling. which cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its what makes them more unique. Some smaller companies just buy a basket, magnet, voicecoil and spider and put their name on it. So there is sometimes a reason there is a higher price. There's the innovators, much like Kicker, JL, Alpine, Kenwood, Focal, etc,etc, then the ones that just go to a build house.
I am NOT saying anything bad about your decision, you will love the upgrade. But wanted to address the costing issue. :)
 

UGAFAN

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Posts
53
Reaction score
56
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7L Hemi
Just to note, some names it not just buying the name. They design their own speakers, and own the tooling. which cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its what makes them more unique. Some smaller companies just buy a basket, magnet, voicecoil and spider and put their name on it. So there is sometimes a reason there is a higher price. There's the innovators, much like Kicker, JL, Alpine, Kenwood, Focal, etc,etc, then the ones that just go to a build house.
I am NOT saying anything bad about your decision, you will love the upgrade. But wanted to address the costing issue. :)

You must work for a manufacture? lol. You took the point I was trying to make the wrong way. I never said that Kicker wasn’t worth it or anything like that. You definitely get what you pay for. That’s not in question. My point is, there are always equal quality products out there that don’t have that “Prestige” name that you are also paying for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Graygoose

Indecisive Car Owner
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2011
Posts
16,824
Reaction score
31,460
Location
Oklahoma
Ram Year
Convert, for now.
Engine
small
You must work for a manufacture? lol. You took the point I was trying to make the wrong way. I never said that Kicker wasn’t worth it or anything like that. You definitely get what you pay for. That’s not in question. My point is, there are always equal quality products out there that don’t have that “Prestige” name that you are also paying for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes I do, I've seen what it takes to make it. Been in the industry for 31 years. I meant your friend stated that, just wanted to elaborate on "why" some manufactures cost more. I've been to build houses. No disrespect.
You just stated he said " though that you are paying more for the name than you are the speaker."

You also paying for R&D...some other brands don't have.
 

buddy guy

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
2,559
Reaction score
2,116
Location
alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi

buddy guy

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
2,559
Reaction score
2,116
Location
alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi
i would like to see what you were referring to though
 

78Staff

US Navy Veteran
Military
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Posts
961
Reaction score
540
Location
NE Florida
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7L Hemi
my pioneers


nothing on link..kinda:)

Weird, loads for me. Anyway here's a screenshot... They are pretty hand to have around... snap on your 7mm socket, and turn it with a wrench or ratcheting wrench, instead of using a socket/ratchet like normal. will be thinner overall so gives you a bit more room on that forward bolt.

screenshot-17.png
 

buddy guy

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
2,559
Reaction score
2,116
Location
alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi
ahhh ok. took me to sears canada. this is cool. i've never used those but get the idea. when i searched socket cap it just took me to like allen wrench head screws! cool
 

78Staff

US Navy Veteran
Military
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Posts
961
Reaction score
540
Location
NE Florida
Ram Year
2016
Engine
5.7L Hemi
ahhh ok. took me to sears canada. this is cool. i've never used those but get the idea. when i searched socket cap it just took me to like allen wrench head screws! cool

Crazy Canucks LOL :p Yeah they are handy, and inexpensive to boot.
 

Mission72

Junior Member
Joined
May 23, 2015
Posts
27
Reaction score
18
Location
Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2019 Warlock
Engine
V6
Ive been pouring through the forums the last couple of days trying to figure out which Kicker speaker upgrade I need to buy for the base system. For the fronts, I've narrowed it down to the 77kick28ab (82215414). Now there's been a lot of discussion with having to add the resistor due to the 8ohms. Since these tweeters have the resistors built in, I'm assuming there's no need to still add the resistor to these ones?

Second issue I'm running into with the 77kick28ab (82215414) is most sites say that these do not fit. Do I just disregard?

Rears should be fairly straight forward with the 77kick41 (82215415).

Price for the Kickers arent that great on CDN sites. Don't mind spending a bit but wondering if there would be something a bit better than these that would work with the factory 8.4 or do these just seem to work real good together? I don't plan on adding any amps but will probably just add a small 8" powered sub down the road.

Thanks.
 

buddy guy

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
2,559
Reaction score
2,116
Location
alberta
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 hemi
yeah, seems like a number of us have gone that route. Honestly, i think any brand name 6 x9s that will fit the opening that are 2 or 3 way speakers are going to be a massive improvement. find what you can on sale and you'll be happy. honestly, I view (viewed) Pioneer as old school speakers, same with Sony in the sense I haven't used them for years and they aren"t "Bose" or "Kickers" or " Infinity" or "Alpine", but I honestly am thrilled at the value they offered. I don't know how close you are to the border but if you can make a run across I"ve seen the A series of the ones I got for 78 a pair (which are the G series, comparable sound but don't have the same power handling) are DIRT cheap. I've seen them I think on Amazon or some US site for like 38 US a pair. So for 100 bucks Canadian you could get 4 really good sounding 6 x 9s that will make it sound like you upgraded your whole system!
 

CincyCuda68

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Posts
1,241
Reaction score
947
Location
Ohio
Ram Year
2018
Engine
6.4
Anything with a decent rep will make dramatic improvement over the stock speakers. I did the Kicker CS all around, w/4ohm resistor on the dash’s like PowRam. The difference was night and day...when the bass hit I can feel the air move my leg hairs...so I was bit by the bug and bought a 10”Rockville powered sub and mounted it behind the rear seat. Now it sounds pretty darn good for about $500 or so.
Exactly what I did, difference is night and day and it was real inexpensive considering! I did also add a small amp for the 6 speakers made things even better!
 

cnitty

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Posts
144
Reaction score
82
Location
77044
Ram Year
2017
Engine
5.7
I did all Kappa great improvement.
 
Top