My 3 Month Old Kickers Are Crackling! Time For The Real Audio Build; Help Wanted!

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.

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
Okay, so lately, I've been noticing my Kicker CS series speakers [stock sizes] are crackling at low volumes and it's irritating, infuriating, and disallowing me to enjoy my music without blasting the **** out of it!

They've never been amped, and aside from testing things out, I don't run any of the headunit's processing through them. Just an EQ, level 1 out of 2 loudness, and usually 2-3 bass boost as well as an HPF on the smaller rears so I can sorta drown out distortion at higher volumes.

Speaking of which, I always try to run them one volume tick below where I can hear distortion in my music on a per song basis.

I'm just wondering which parts are damaged and why. I'm thinking it's the tweeters, but IDK. It sounds like someone rustling a candy wrapper whenever a kick-drum hits or a certain tone of voice is sang. And I can only hear it at below blasting volumes [~23-25+, the head only goes to 35. Most of my music starts to distort at 27, though classic rock like slow ride, free bird, carry on my wayward son and the like can play clearly all the way up to 35]

Anyway, if these are irreparable, which I think they are, I want to start saving up and moving onto my dream setup. And for that, I want recommendations for everything, including amps and a different head. Might as well right?

So, I want stock sizes all round [or whatever will fit without modification to any panels or covers aside from screw drilling/mount mounting, etc.] and I want all speakers to be component style, or coaxial style with separate hookups for the tweeter and woofer so I could run my own x-over or even active.

The front door 6x9's I ONLY want as component, as I will not be using the tweeters for those, and instead run them as 'subs' until I get an actual sub[of which, I'm wanting a single 13.5" in the rear between two smaller portions of the split bench seat.]

I'd also like 3.5" speakers for the dash. Or, if 4" would easily fit and be a good match as a 'midrange' driver, that will work, too. And I've been told countless times that a 6.5" will fit in the rear, so I might as well.

Since I'm absolutely NOT going to be competing, I want some GOOD, medium-high to high tier consumer grade equipment that isn't exorbitantly priced. I'm looking to spend perhaps $1500-$2000-ish total for the main system [front door speakers, rear door speakers, dash speakers, head, amps, x-overs, wires] not including sound deadening, or the actual big sub or anything that goes with it.

Ancillary costs such as beefing up the electrical system are also not included in this price. All labor will be done by me with extensive research to get it right the first time. Screw Geek Squad and Worstbuy!

Soundproofing will consist of a single layer of CLD on the inner door skins, outer door skins, and door panels, with speaker baffles and speaker rings all around, as well as dampening/restriction of moving and vibration prone parts such as the wires in the doors, or the power window controls.

If I missed anything or you have any questions, please let me know.
 

justin13703

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Posts
1,174
Reaction score
394
Location
MD
Ram Year
2008
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Kicker speakers are terrible. I know of a lot of people on here that use them, and no disrespect to them, but I would never use them in any of my vehicles. As an installer I saw WAYYY too many sets of those things die.

These kind of threads can go into so much info and detail that it can be overwhelming. I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible. There are a million ways to do it, and every single person will have a different opinion of what should be done.

What I did is this, in short. Pioneer double din, Infinity kappa 3 way 6x9’s in the front doors, kappa 5.25 2 ways in the back doors, polk audio tweeters in the factory dash locations with their own crossovers, 4 channel amp under the front passenger seat sending 80w rms per channel to the speakers, alpine type r 10” in a ported fox acoustics box under the rear driver side seat with a 500w rms amp under the front drivers seat. I think that’s it lol.

My advice, DONT try to get any bass out of your door speakers. This is how they get distorted and blown. They’re just not made for that and the construction of a door panel doesn’t lend itself well to creating bass.

Also, unless it’s a straight bolt in, don’t bother changing the backs to 6.5s if you’re getting a sub. The sub will provide all the bass you need and there’s no reason to modify anything to fit a larger speaker in there.

Core-Lokt I think is his name on here has a thread on audio upgrades that me and some other people contributed a lot of information to. It might be worth looking it up and reading through it.
 

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
Well our speakers aren't invincible, they can be blown like any other speaker.

OP, if they are under warranty, please feel free to send them back in for warranty, or return to your point of purchase.
Most of the time running speakers off stock, underpowered headunit, we reach for the volume and max it. Ive had CS or KS in a ton of vehicles, stock un-amplified and amplified. Distortion can kill a speakers faster than over powering it.

I would bet f you even had a small amplifier, you'd see much more out of them.

My suggestion, if under warranty, let us replace them, and add a good 4 channel amp.
 
OP
OP
Drunken Hamster

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
Kicker speakers are terrible. I know of a lot of people on here that use them, and no disrespect to them, but I would never use them in any of my vehicles. As an installer I saw WAYYY too many sets of those things die.

These kind of threads can go into so much info and detail that it can be overwhelming. I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible. There are a million ways to do it, and every single person will have a different opinion of what should be done.

What I did is this, in short. Pioneer double din, Infinity kappa 3 way 6x9’s in the front doors, kappa 5.25 2 ways in the back doors, polk audio tweeters in the factory dash locations with their own crossovers, 4 channel amp under the front passenger seat sending 80w rms per channel to the speakers, alpine type r 10” in a ported fox acoustics box under the rear driver side seat with a 500w rms amp under the front drivers seat. I think that’s it lol.

My advice, DONT try to get any bass out of your door speakers. This is how they get distorted and blown. They’re just not made for that and the construction of a door panel doesn’t lend itself well to creating bass.

Also, unless it’s a straight bolt in, don’t bother changing the backs to 6.5s if you’re getting a sub. The sub will provide all the bass you need and there’s no reason to modify anything to fit a larger speaker in there.

Core-Lokt I think is his name on here has a thread on audio upgrades that me and some other people contributed a lot of information to. It might be worth looking it up and reading through it.
I was only gonna run the 6x9 as subs until I got the actual sub, then they'd run the upper sub bass range.

My idea for the full setup x-overs was run the big single up to 75, start the 6x9s at 50hz and cut them at 150hz, run the rears from 100hz-250hz, and run the dash 3.5s 200hz to the tweeter crossover.

All I have decided anything close to resolutely in the x-over department is how high the big sub and 6x9s are set. Before I get the big sub, the 6x9s will get an lpf that cuts them around 150hz, the rears start at 100hz, and the dash speakers will start at 250hz.

Sent from my magic 5-inch
 
OP
OP
Drunken Hamster

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
Well our speakers aren't invincible, they can be blown like any other speaker.

OP, if they are under warranty, please feel free to send them back in for warranty, or return to your point of purchase.
Most of the time running speakers off stock, underpowered headunit, we reach for the volume and max it. Ive had CS or KS in a ton of vehicles, stock un-amplified and amplified. Distortion can kill a speakers faster than over powering it.

I would bet f you even had a small amplifier, you'd see much more out of them.

My suggestion, if under warranty, let us replace them, and add a good 4 channel amp.
I'll take them back to best buy and see what they'll do for me.

Sent from my magic 5-inch
 

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
Yes, they should cover them, then if you loo for a Kicker KEY amp, or a DX or CXA3004, would be plenty!
The KEY amp has 45x4, with auto EQ and DSP, under $220
 

justin13703

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Posts
1,174
Reaction score
394
Location
MD
Ram Year
2008
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Well our speakers aren't invincible, they can be blown like any other speaker.

OP, if they are under warranty, please feel free to send them back in for warranty, or return to your point of purchase.
Most of the time running speakers off stock, underpowered headunit, we reach for the volume and max it. Ive had CS or KS in a ton of vehicles, stock un-amplified and amplified. Distortion can kill a speakers faster than over powering it.

I would bet f you even had a small amplifier, you'd see much more out of them.

My suggestion, if under warranty, let us replace them, and add a good 4 channel amp.
Well our speakers aren't invincible, they can be blown like any other speaker.

OP, if they are under warranty, please feel free to send them back in for warranty, or return to your point of purchase.
Most of the time running speakers off stock, underpowered headunit, we reach for the volume and max it. Ive had CS or KS in a ton of vehicles, stock un-amplified and amplified. Distortion can kill a speakers faster than over powering it.

I would bet f you even had a small amplifier, you'd see much more out of them.

My suggestion, if under warranty, let us replace them, and add a good 4 channel amp.
I’m not saying they should be invincible. I’m saying I saw dozens of them dead out of the box or within a couple weeks. This has been years ago, maybe the quality changed since then, maybe not. But regardless personally that was enough for me to stay away from them. I also never really liked the way they sounded, especially the subwoofers. I also about 10 years ago had a very expensive 2000 watt kicker amp that in kicker’s infinite wisdom decided to not externally fuse, so when one of the two subs (also kicker) fried, it threw the impedance out of whack and took the amp with it, since they decided not to fuse it, it just cooked itself. I think since then they have started fusing their amps, but I’ve seen and had enough bad experiences with kicker stuff that I just can’t recommend them anymore.

I’m guessing you work for kicker? I know everybody wants to push their own product but I’m just providing my unbiased opinion based on what I’ve seen and used over the years. I don’t want to make this into a brand war but I do like to give my personal experiences with this kind of stuff.

I do like what you said about distortion/underpowering a speaker will damage it quicker than overpowering it. There’s not a lot of people out there that understand that.
 
OP
OP
Drunken Hamster

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
I’m not saying they should be invincible. I’m saying I saw dozens of them dead out of the box or within a couple weeks. This has been years ago, maybe the quality changed since then, maybe not. But regardless personally that was enough for me to stay away from them. I also never really liked the way they sounded, especially the subwoofers. I also about 10 years ago had a very expensive 2000 watt kicker amp that in kicker’s infinite wisdom decided to not externally fuse, so when one of the two subs (also kicker) fried, it threw the impedance out of whack and took the amp with it, since they decided not to fuse it, it just cooked itself. I think since then they have started fusing their amps, but I’ve seen and had enough bad experiences with kicker stuff that I just can’t recommend them anymore.

I’m guessing you work for kicker? I know everybody wants to push their own product but I’m just providing my unbiased opinion based on what I’ve seen and used over the years. I don’t want to make this into a brand war but I do like to give my personal experiences with this kind of stuff.

I do like what you said about distortion/underpowering a speaker will damage it quicker than overpowering it. There’s not a lot of people out there that understand that.
I understand that distortion will eff them up. Problems are that I cant tune out distortion with just the head AFAIK. Only way to prevent it is to lower the volume. So far, 25/35 is completely safe. And theres an "Amp gain: low power/high power" setting in the head unit I have that limits the volume to 25, instead of the 35 max.

But with that, I run into the problem where I'll get a "quiet" song on my phone going (compliments of converting from YouTube) and I'll need to turn it up to actually hear it. Or there will be those rare songs that'll just play nearly maxed out with no distortion like I listed in the op.

And, of course, the usual threshold of 27/28 out of 35 volume before distortion. It makes a difference, especially going down the road when all the bass takes a **** and everything's quieter.

Either way, what I think I'll do is get these exchanged or get my money back and get the component 6x9s for door subs and some coax 3.5s for the dash and just run the limiter (so no amp) with all the speakers wired the way I want until I can afford the new setup.

And then it's game on. But I still need brand and series recommendations that fit my goals and the setup I want. Can somebody get Demon and Portin in here??

Sent from my magic 5-inch
 

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’m not saying they should be invincible. I’m saying I saw dozens of them dead out of the box or within a couple weeks. This has been years ago, maybe the quality changed since then, maybe not. But regardless personally that was enough for me to stay away from them. I also never really liked the way they sounded, especially the subwoofers. I also about 10 years ago had a very expensive 2000 watt kicker amp that in kicker’s infinite wisdom decided to not externally fuse, so when one of the two subs (also kicker) fried, it threw the impedance out of whack and took the amp with it, since they decided not to fuse it, it just cooked itself. I think since then they have started fusing their amps, but I’ve seen and had enough bad experiences with kicker stuff that I just can’t recommend them anymore.

I’m guessing you work for kicker? I know everybody wants to push their own product but I’m just providing my unbiased opinion based on what I’ve seen and used over the years. I don’t want to make this into a brand war but I do like to give my personal experiences with this kind of stuff.

I do like what you said about distortion/underpowering a speaker will damage it quicker than overpowering it. There’s not a lot of people out there that understand that.
Well I'm not here to spread the word, I'm here for trucks first and foremost, been here since 2011 and I can give personal feedback about our gear, but don't care to push it. And that's totally fine to have personal taste, why some like a silk dome tweeter for example, some not. Its all a personal preference.
But sure, we see blown stuff. A woofer we say power max with 700 watts, customer has a BOSS 3000k watt amp on them...well...they blame the woofer. So customer abuse happens. Sometimes it is a factory defect. I've always summed it as "anyone can blow a sub, it takes talent to make one last"
I've been here since 1988, before the SI amps,which amp do you speak of that was not fused? Did you not fuse it under the hood near the battery? Did the amps not have fuses?

Trust me, I'm totally ok you not recommending them if they don't meet your needs or expectations, there are many brands you may like. (kinda like vehicle brands, we all have favs :))
 

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
Either way, what I think I'll do is get these exchanged or get my money back and get the component 6x9s for door subs and some coax 3.5s for the dash and just run the limiter (so no amp) with all the speakers wired the way I want until I can afford the new setup.
Components would be nice, if you get whatever, you can power them as long as its a good clean signal. We did a 4 door Ram with 16 12's, and the DS 6x9 components in each door, with a bridged CXA300.4 on each pair of doors...so plenty of power, and they scream.
 

Demon-HeMi

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Posts
4,346
Reaction score
3,297
Location
Houston
Ram Year
2003, 2003, 2008, & 2013
Engine
(2) 5.7 HEMI, 3.7, & 3.6
I have to agree with Graygoose on here, I have my selection of speaker brands that I prefer and Kicker is one of them, ive never blown one that i wasnt doing something wrong with, and i have always gotten great quality our of them (especially their subs, but they have to be in a properly built box), I have kicker door speakers in my 08 and im running them with a pioneer DD head unit and to say the least im not gentle on them and they have yet to even try to slow down,

im gona go with Graygoose and see if they will get replaced under warranty, and when they do or you get replacement speakers, then get an aftermarket head unit and have it tuned properly, door speakers are for higher mids and high notes IMO, I will suggest a 6.5 in the rear for the bigger woofer to give more mid range sound to the rear of the cab but thats my opinioni will typically turn my HPF up higher to cut out the bass below 80htz, and depending on my system ill go even higher on that, usually when i get subs since it just makes since to let the subs give you the bass instead of the doors...
 

Demon-HeMi

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Posts
4,346
Reaction score
3,297
Location
Houston
Ram Year
2003, 2003, 2008, & 2013
Engine
(2) 5.7 HEMI, 3.7, & 3.6
I did just put these fosgate 6x9s in my black reg cab, and ill say this, IMO they are much more clear then my kickers are, when i was testing them i had a neighbor come from across the street and tell me he could make out every note perfectly that far away, so if you want to stray away from kicker then id give fosgate a try

c8aab82fe56eaad0526a4e7e3b0b2a70.jpg

Also the CS speaker line is pretty much their base line of speakers, not knocking them because thats whats in my red 08, but if you are going to play it hard and loud, then you may step up to the higher end series of kicker, if you go back with them
 

justin13703

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Posts
1,174
Reaction score
394
Location
MD
Ram Year
2008
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Well I'm not here to spread the word, I'm here for trucks first and foremost, been here since 2011 and I can give personal feedback about our gear, but don't care to push it. And that's totally fine to have personal taste, why some like a silk dome tweeter for example, some not. Its all a personal preference.
But sure, we see blown stuff. A woofer we say power max with 700 watts, customer has a BOSS 3000k watt amp on them...well...they blame the woofer. So customer abuse happens. Sometimes it is a factory defect. I've always summed it as "anyone can blow a sub, it takes talent to make one last"
I've been here since 1988, before the SI amps,which amp do you speak of that was not fused? Did you not fuse it under the hood near the battery? Did the amps not have fuses?

Trust me, I'm totally ok you not recommending them if they don't meet your needs or expectations, there are many brands you may like. (kinda like vehicle brands, we all have favs :))
Fair enough, most of the stuff I’ve had experience with has been pre-2011 so chances are a lot has changed since then.

Btw thanks for allowing us both to have a minor difference of opinions and not having it escalate to ww3 lol

I can’t remember the exact amp I had but I know it was around 08 that I bought it. I think it was around 2000w rms. It was a big ***** lol I think retail price at the time was around 500 dollars.

And yes, the power wiring was fused within 6 inches of the battery. The amp itself however had no fuses at all. I couldn’t believe it but there were really no fuses on the thing. Actually the power kit I used was a kicker kit as well. That is one of the things I have always used and recommended from kicker, is the wiring kits. The wiring is so nice and is actually AWG rated, and the fuse holders are awesome.
 

Demon-HeMi

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Posts
4,346
Reaction score
3,297
Location
Houston
Ram Year
2003, 2003, 2008, & 2013
Engine
(2) 5.7 HEMI, 3.7, & 3.6
Fair enough, most of the stuff I’ve had experience with has been pre-2011 so chances are a lot has changed since then.

Btw thanks for allowing us both to have a minor difference of opinions and not having it escalate to ww3 lol

I can’t remember the exact amp I had but I know it was around 08 that I bought it. I think it was around 2000w rms. It was a big ***** lol I think retail price at the time was around 500 dollars.

And yes, the power wiring was fused within 6 inches of the battery. The amp itself however had no fuses at all. I couldn’t believe it but there were really no fuses on the thing. Actually the power kit I used was a kicker kit as well. That is one of the things I have always used and recommended from kicker, is the wiring kits. The wiring is so nice and is actually AWG rated, and the fuse holders are awesome.

ive noticed no fuses on amps more and more lately, i can see why they dont but at the same time i feel like they should have at least an internal one
 
OP
OP
Drunken Hamster

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
I did just put these fosgate 6x9s in my black reg cab, and ill say this, IMO they are much more clear then my kickers are, when i was testing them i had a neighbor come from across the street and tell me he could make out every note perfectly that far away, so if you want to stray away from kicker then id give fosgate a try

c8aab82fe56eaad0526a4e7e3b0b2a70.jpg

Also the CS speaker line is pretty much their base line of speakers, not knocking them because thats whats in my red 08, but if you are going to play it hard and loud, then you may step up to the higher end series of kicker, if you go back with them
Looking for component speakers only, including the 6x9 as I intend to run them as frontal subs until I get the big sub, then they'll be band passed (50hz-150hz) to act as supplementary sub bass and lower midbass.

Actually, can you and Dana and anyone else in the know just do what you did a few days ago a list the good brands/series to look at for my goals and each respective class and section of car audio{ie good sub brands, mid brands, tweeter brands, amp brands, and head unit brands}?

Again, totally not looking to compete or pay the price of. I just want a top tier/near top tier consumer grade experience.

Sent from my magic 5-inch
 

Demon-HeMi

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Posts
4,346
Reaction score
3,297
Location
Houston
Ram Year
2003, 2003, 2008, & 2013
Engine
(2) 5.7 HEMI, 3.7, & 3.6
Looking for component speakers only, including the 6x9 as I intend to run them as frontal subs until I get the big sub, then they'll be band passed (50hz-150hz) to act as supplementary sub bass and lower midbass.

Actually, can you and Dana and anyone else in the know just do what you did a few days ago a list the good brands/series to look at for my goals and each respective class and section of car audio{ie good sub brands, mid brands, tweeter brands, amp brands, and head unit brands}?

Again, totally not looking to compete or pay the price of. I just want a top tier/near top tier consumer grade experience.

Sent from my magic 5-inch


when i looked up kicker earlier, they have a 6x9 component system, all you would have to do is mount the tweeter, you would probably like that, i have the upgraded kicker components in my 2014, 6x9 sub in the door and tweeters in the dash, and honestly the sound is amazing, i was watching just my 2 6x9s vibrate my rear view mirror on the windshield, and my outter mirrors actually shake enough to blur your vision

my dad had some SONY components in his 05 and i did an install of some JVC components in a friends ride and they both SUCKED, so stay away from sony and JVC products, i know its a given for those two but i had to throw that out there
 

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
Fair enough, most of the stuff I’ve had experience with has been pre-2011 so chances are a lot has changed since then.

Btw thanks for allowing us both to have a minor difference of opinions and not having it escalate to ww3 lol

I can’t remember the exact amp I had but I know it was around 08 that I bought it. I think it was around 2000w rms. It was a big ***** lol I think retail price at the time was around 500 dollars.

And yes, the power wiring was fused within 6 inches of the battery. The amp itself however had no fuses at all. I couldn’t believe it but there were really no fuses on the thing. Actually the power kit I used was a kicker kit as well. That is one of the things I have always used and recommended from kicker, is the wiring kits. The wiring is so nice and is actually AWG rated, and the fuse holders are awesome.
No reasons to argue, ever.:cheers:

Me too, love our wire and RCA's
 

chrisp2493

Always Modding
Joined
Oct 30, 2016
Posts
3,006
Reaction score
1,870
Location
Warren, OH
Ram Year
2003
Engine
392 Hemi
I’ve had a complete kicker sound system for over 6 years now, higher quality ($200 when new) kicker components up front running about 65 watts rms. Never had an issue and always thought the sounds was really great. I even have custom made kick panels made for them when I had them in my Impala. I used to beat on that system pretty hard daily and it’s still going strong. Key thing is having the amp, not using the radio power, and of course high quality music. Try Spotify for $9 a month, it will probably save your speakers from downloaded music lol
 
OP
OP
Drunken Hamster

Drunken Hamster

Turncoat Ford Boi
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Posts
1,910
Reaction score
357
Location
South Carolina
Ram Year
was 2005
Engine
was 5.7 Hemi
When I was younger that was my bread and butter. [emoji6] I still have a set of Boston Acoustics Pro 6.4 sitting at home. LOL

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

My first real HU was an Eclipse ECD-410. I loved that thing, only down side was it only had one set of preamp outputs. I then upgraded to the Clarion DRX9375R. One of the first RDS tuners. That thing had a ton of features for the day including an external DSP.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Old school car audio was all about quality, unfortunately things have changed. Alpine always had excellent HUs as well, but their amps and speakers were lacking. JL always made quality subs as well. I've always liked MB Quart, Boston Acoustics and Focal highs and mids. PPI, Xtant, Phoenix Gold amps unless you had bank, in that case McIntosh amps FTW. [emoji16]

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

+1 on Boston acoustic for highs/mids. I had those in my Monte Carlo and they were amazing

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

JL subs have always been good, a tad overpriced but they are good, for consumer grade subs, i have always been a kicker and fosgate fan, of course thats the consumer stuff, when you get into competition we get to subs that are MUCH higher priced

There's a TON. I was always a fan of the original Kicker Solo-Baric subs. (not the square crap)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

ill be honest with you, for a normal setup, the biggest thing will be the box, the box can make the best subs sound like **** and some crappy subs sound amazing, lol, but as far as consumer subs and what works, there are many options, and many very affordable options, for example, i have some Skar audio stuff in my 3/4 ton right now, subs, amp, and box, that stuff has surprised me and it was less than $300 for it all

my neighbors truck i just threw together a system for him with a kenwood 800w amp, a under seat box and some kicker shallow mount 10s and it sounds great, like i said for normal consumer stuff there are tons of options and it to sound good, just make sure what you get fits the airspace of the box, and the amp matches the subs, wattage and ohms and you will be pretty good

Agreed about the box. I always preferred sealed enclosures.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Orion has a great entry level selection of subs, I've used one of there entry subs as well has multiple HCCA'S and have been extremely impressed with both. But that's just one of many options out there you can look at

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Yep, Orion had some high powered amps/subs back in the day. Just steer clear of their Cobalt series.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

This. This is basically all I was asking for. Again, I will reiterate. I want a top tier consumer grade system. I don't want to compete, or spend competition level guap. Sound deadening will more or less be CLD, baffles, and rings. I want to know good brands and product lines to go with for the separate pieces of the puzzle IE subs, speakers, amps, head units, wiring, etc.

I had to dig for what's quoted here. All the way back to 226, 227, and 228 of the WDYDTY3G-today thread. And it sucked. Maybe it's my fault though, I slammed you guys with a wall of text and you likely TL;DR'd it....
 

justin13703

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2014
Posts
1,174
Reaction score
394
Location
MD
Ram Year
2008
Engine
Hemi 5.7
This. This is basically all I was asking for. Again, I will reiterate. I want a top tier consumer grade system. I don't want to compete, or spend competition level guap. Sound deadening will more or less be CLD, baffles, and rings. I want to know good brands and product lines to go with for the separate pieces of the puzzle IE subs, speakers, amps, head units, wiring, etc.

I had to dig for what's quoted here. All the way back to 226, 227, and 228 of the WDYDTY3G-today thread. And it sucked. Maybe it's my fault though, I slammed you guys with a wall of text and you likely TL;DR'd it....
I went with 3 way 6x9s in the doors and added tweeters to the factory dash locations (actually replaced the stock 3.5’s with these tweeters). This way you’re basically building your own component system. I did this for two reasons:

1. I hate cutting unnecessary holes into the interior for stuff like speakers. I like to keep everything as stock looking and reversible as possible. So the tweeters went up in the dash.

2. You can have full range sound coming out of the 6x9 without negatively affecting its low range capability because (at least with the kappas I have) the mid and high frequencies are made by separate tweeters which you can fine tune to your liking. The kappas actually have a button on them that you can push that will reduce the decibel level of the high range, before you even need to adjust them at the radio or amp.

“Good” is relative when it comes to audio equipment. For every person who likes “X” brand of speakers, you’ll have just as many people that dislike them. Best thing to do is go listen to some equipment and see what you personally like. I myself tend to like the sound of most Rockford and Harman equipment (Harman/Kardon, JBL, and Infinity). Start by deciding what speakers you want and go from there as far as deciding on the amplifier and so on.
 
Top