Audio upgrade help

[crazykid1994]

Alright guys. This is very new to me. I have the base audio system in my truck. Truck came with the ra1 3” radio that I swapped to the ra2 5” radio shortly after buying the truck. Added the factory backup camera and steering wheel audio controls so looking to keep those functions. I’m finally looking into upgrading the stereo system but I’m looking at piecing it together. I am currently looking at the jl audio stealth sub box with the w3v3 subwoofer from Crutchfield and a 5 channel amp. Most likely the Rockford fosgate r2 750x5 amp. I am not set on the head unit and have no clue on what to do for speakers. I’m not sure as I’ve seen mentioned about rewiring the dash speakers separate from the doors or using bass blockers. I am not familiar with the different brands for speakers either. I am trying to keep a low to medium budget as I’m not an audiophile. Just want better clearer sound with a nice bass. The majority of my music is rock and country. What are some good speaker options and some pointers for the front doors and dash speakers. Also what head units are the better ones. I wouldn’t mind CarPlay but definitely looking for something fairly simple. I’ve seen some have the canbus compatibility to read and display engine stats.

 

[crazykid1994]

Alright so I think I’m narrowed down to 3 head units. Looking for pros and cons on these.

 

[healthyrx]

I am also not an audiophile but in my experience with truck speakers (my 2003 ford 6.0 only had 4 speakers and my brothers 2007 ford 6.0 also only had 4 speakers) even just a moderate spend + amp is a dramatic upgrade. When I bought speakers for those vehicles, I think i spent ~$100 per speaker and ~400 on a 4 channel amp. My only conern with your truck that I wouldn't know how to account for-so hopefully someone else can chime in would be whether you need a DSP of any sort with the base sound system to be able to get the full utilization out of it

 

[crazykid1994]

Alright. So looking at fronts possibly?


And rears?

 

[LeeD]

Since you’re replacing the head unit I don’t think you’ll need a DSP. I could be wrong but I believe the DSP comes in when you upgrade the system and leave the stock head unit. Any quality speakers will make a huge improvement in sound. Kickers are very popular.
I wish I’d have replaced my head unit when I upgraded my truck.

 

[IDSandman]

I did a low to medium budget build in my truck. I absolutely had to have hard tight tight bass, clean crisp highs and solid clear mids as I am really picky about audio. Used to build high end home theaters and sound systems for a living. Car audio for fun on the side. I ended up going with a kicker key 200.1 up front set to bi amp for a set of Kenwood Excelon speakers with the dash rewired. The kicker key has a built in dsp which was a must.
I then added kicker kS 2 way in the rear doors powered off the deck as they are just fill.
Fox single 10” ported box with a sundown 10” sub powered by a kicker key 500.1 amp ran mono so getting all 500 amps to the sub. Sound treated all doors and, pan of back seat and back wall.
This system absolutely cranks out super hard hitting clean music. I was around 2k for all components.
I have now installed this same system in a few buddies trucks who wanted an upgraded system and were blown away by it.

Kenwood Excelon KFC-XP6903C

Excelon Series 6"x9" component speaker system for select Chrysler and Toyota vehicles

www.crutchfield.com

 

[crazykid1994]

I did a low to medium budget build in my truck. I absolutely had to have hard tight tight bass, clean crisp highs and solid clear mids as I am really picky about audio. Used to build high end home theaters and sound systems for a living. Car audio for fun on the side. I ended up going with a kicker key 200.1 up front set to bi amp for a set of Kenwood Excelon speakers with the dash rewired. The kicker key has a built in dsp which was a must.
I then added kicker kS 2 way in the rear doors powered off the deck as they are just fill.
Fox single 10” ported box with a sundown 10” sub powered by a kicker key 500.1 amp ran mono so getting all 500 amps to the sub. Sound treated all doors and, pan of back seat and back wall.
This system absolutely cranks out super hard hitting clean music. I was around 2k for all components.
I have now installed this same system in a few buddies trucks who wanted an upgraded system and were blown away by it.

Kenwood Excelon KFC-XP6903C

Excelon Series 6"x9" component speaker system for select Chrysler and Toyota vehicles

www.crutchfield.com

Can you explain what benefits I get to separating the dash and front doors? That’s the exact front door and dash speakers I’m looking at. Was trying to figure out if it would be better to rewire the dash speakers and run a 6 channel with a dedicated amp for the sub but that puts me up on cost going that route. The Rockford fosgate r2 has a dedicated subwoofer channel at 350w which is why I was leaning that way and just running bass blockers on the dash speakers. I was definitely leaning towards the kickers in the rear doors but not sure how mixing speakers will do

 

[crazykid1994]

Alright so a ton of research and this is what I’ve come up with.
Head unit


5 channel amp


Front door and dash speakers


Rear doors


Under rear seat sub box with sub

 

[IDSandman]

For the fronts you want them separated as to get full benefit from an amp, not sharing ohms as well as the key amp will listen to each speaker and determine where the highs and lows go. No need for bass blockers.
350 is pretty low for a sub amp. 500 is my minimum since subs want their peak amperage to operate efficiently.

 

[healthyrx]

I agree with @IDSandman
If you can get separate amps for speakers and sub you’ll get much better performance from both.
You can also get a much more powerful mono amp for driving a subwoofer for less money than a similar rms 5 channel