Technical Any audiophiles on here? Car stereo install

Two cars, one truck, all 1600W RMS 5-channel systems. When the next truck is done, it will have the same.

I will not have a vehicle without a sound system, ever. My motorcycle helmet even has one.

Music brings me joy. Listening to exhaust systems for hundreds of miles does not.

 

So what brands give you the most bang for your buck? I don't mind spending a little for better quality, but keep in mind, The interiors (even with dynamat and loads of insulation) are a dull roar at best.

 

Names that have been around for a while are Rockford Fosgate, Sony (ES stuff), Kicker, JL Audio, Alpine and so on. No Kenford, Rockwood and any other off brand Chinese brands. Now, if you truly want to try and be an audiophile like was mentioned a couple of post ago, look at Focal, audison etc...

 

Like was mentioned in another post, sources are the most important to choose. Crap into an amp will be crap out of an amp only louder.

 

One thing to consider is your vehicles alternator. The bigger the amp, the bigger draw on current will happen. Especially on deep bass notes. That is why you see some off topic tuner cars dim their headlights when the bass hits.

 

Anyone know anything about Memphis Audio?

 

I had a couple of 10 inch subs and they performed pretty well.

 

i have that same stereo, only with cassette. bought mine in 1975 and always ran it through a craig power booster amp from the same era. great sounding unit; they used to advertise that it could pick up FM signals at the bottom of the grand canyon!

 

I installed Hidden Audio in 2012. Ten years later it still works well, at 40 mph and below, above that
the wind noise drowns it out. Typical roadster!

 

Pioneer and Kenwood used to be great, along with Alpine if you could afford it. Don’t have a clue if the newer ones are as good or not.

 

It's a real thicket of choices out there, and with constantly evolving tech and changes in the sale of music you have to decide what direction you want to go. One apparently good thing that has come out of this is the music industry isn't nearly as paranoid about digital copying. Used to be every time there was a format change they expected you to repurchase your music collection all over again. That seems to have gone away, although how many hoops you have to jump through to do this is something I haven't researched yet, but a brief look seems to show there's now much fewer hoops.

Bottom line though is if you're using MP3 or streaming audio sources, you're leaving a considerable amount of audio quality on the table. I'll send you a PM in a while expanding on this...

 

Well, I had tied my two things I enjoyed together back in 2010 and 2011, my 56 dodge went to world finals for Sound quality, got the points championship and 2nd place at world finals. Don't hate on me for the trophies in the video, rules required for full points the display of build book and trophies. 2 Texas championships after USACI world finals. It was a basic system but was tuned very well.

My 200 dollar Pioneer Component set with a Rockford Fosgate 10 shallow mount behind the seat did the work well. Speaker placement is key, and being able to tune and match things together to work right. I further expanded this setup shortly after 2011 Finals, and promptly went back to the way it was other than the Radio was moved into the glove box, and amps moved from under the seat to behind the seat on an amp rack. I beat out numerous vehicles built by shops with 10 times the money in equipment.

Technology has come a long way since, and bluetooth amplifiers have made huge strides also, I honestly think if youre not worried about soundstage and quality and adjustability you would be fine doing retro sound or bluetooth amp. My dads 58 has the Pioneer mids and high driven right off a retro sound head unit. It sounds well for what it is. If it had an amp it would really shine. The reason I use the pioneer mids and highs is the frequency response is much better and goes deeper than everything else so the need for sub is reduced. I have made more Focal Fan boys hang their heads in disbelief when listening to my truck. My Pioneers are 13 years old, still running good, still play deep and clear and clean, the Rockford Fosgate P400.4 and 500.1 Power series amps still sound perfect. Quality products but not bank breakers have stood the test of time and competition grind also. This system has been judged over 150 times, played at full tilt for hours on end for demo. Never missed a lick.

Sorry for the paragraph, hotrods and audio are two things I still love. I know some folks here would shake their heads for doing this, but if it makes you happy and makes a more enjoyable experience for your ride, do it up man. Also if you can do kick panels, I would encourage it as they are removable for the next owner and can be made to hide things well. Remember never put tweeters facing your head, always aim to middle of the vehicle with tweeters, and mids I would aim at middle of the dashboard to make both seating positions have great sound. Subs are easy to hide in just about everything with these new shallow mount subs etc.

Message me if you need any help laying something out that will work good.

 

Dynamat, and the like, just stop sympathetic vibration in panels. Those materials do not stop sound waves.

They are only one-third of the sound deadening process.

All of my 4-wheeled vehicles that are not under construction, including the modern OT stuff have a three layer system that I like to use.

The first is the dampening layer, like Dynamat, but Fat Mat XXX is just fine, and cheaper.

The second is a decoupling layer. That is closed-cell foam (won't absorb moisture). This can be had in self-adhesive squares. I use 1/4" thick squares.

The third is the absorption layer. That is mass loaded vinyl. Firewalls, and floors over the exhaust system get 1/4".

This stuff is serious business. I cannot even lift up my roll of it solo. It weighs in at 2lbs. per-square-foot.

Where there is no mass loaded vinyl, I put another layer of closed-cell foam, so the carpet padding and carpet is even, with no weird steps.

When my mid-engine pickup is done, the entire cab-back will be done up in this manner.

 

Cheap and sounds cheap.... Not real audiophile equipment. Infinity Reference series is what I would suggest as a cheap well rounded piece.

 

I have a couple of generations of Infinity equipment. It all works well.

 

Someone else mentioned and I'll second Polk momo 6.5 speakers. That's what's in my boat and they sound amazing. I have a Polk 12 sub as well, and two Rockford amps for the 6.5s, and an alpine that is yuge for the sub. It's LOUD and clear af.

I did have to upgrade my alternator, also as previously stated. You don't need to unless you are really pulling some power and have the volume high, but if so, definitely needed. Before I installed it when my bass hit, my volts would drop to like 5, lol...

 

I probably should have upgraded my alternator back in the day, but I thought it was cool that the headlights dimmed when the bass hit...

 

All of my alternators are between 165A (OEM) and 200A.

Both of my OT vehicles inexplicably have a cold-weather package.

 

One of my younger cousins had an OT 3rd Gen Firebird with a hell of a system. Entire hatch area was full of amps and speakers. It drew so many amps he ran two alternators and two batteries.

 

I have mass loaded vinyl for the 55. I sprayed the floor with bed liner and then added fat mat XXX, then the mass loaded vinyl. I will add a synthetic felt/jute then the carpet. Should work out.

 

If the tweeters don’t point toward your ears you don’t get “soundstage” imaging. Most of our ears aren’t in the back of our head or our butts.

 

"Ona wizard on whaleeee!"

 

So, bass is non-directional, yes? Meaning, it doesn't really matter as much on placement?

 

Yes and no... It will depend on where your crossover frequency is and your speaker response. In my experience bass at 60 HZ or lower can't be located to a point. As frequency goes up, that becomes less and less true.

 

Yes, for low deep bass. As it gets closer to mid then no.

I'm out on super mega bass systems, I've never worked or owned one. Same goes with the super multi unit systems. Mine are basic, hidden and minimal by the standards in this post.

I knew someone was going to bring up the compression loss of digital music, to me the loss is very small in a noisy car, with the windows down and using it at a reasonable volume (because on one else wants to hear my music). If I was at home in a quite room with speakers surrounding me or with quality around the ear headphones on then the compression loss would be way more noticeable. Plus I don't want to carry that many Cds and my iPod is always set on random so I need all my music at the same time.

 

Junk Yard, go to the Cadillac section, pull the AM / FM radio and the speakers, take them home and put them in your car. Radio in the drivers kick panel and a speaker in front and in the package tray, you be done. Why the radio in the drivers kicl panel, 1 you are the radio operator, 2 no messing up the dash.

 

Hey @Roothawg
Maybe stop by your local stereo installation place. Don't tell him you're not going to have him do it, but pick his brain a little. Ask him what are the most popular setups these days, etc.

 

I like the iPod or iPhone sending the signal to a hidden bluetooth unit in the car. If it doesn't have enough oomph, add a small inexpensive hidden 50 to 100 watt amplifier. Two good speakers is actually enough. Maybe with a separate subwoofer.

 

@Roothawg
Maybe stop by your local stereo installation place. Don't tell him you're not going to have him do it, but pick his brain a little. Ask him what are the most popular setups these days, etc.[/QUOTE]

Be sure to fully describe your rod to installer also, so he understands it is not a new Lexus or Navigator.