Rockford System Questions

[Sammy Sandbag]

Infinity Kappas are power hogs. I wouldn't run them off a weak oem amp. I used to install car audio and work at Best Buy. If you didn't hook Infinities up to some clean and powerful amp, they sound like crap. Of course this was near 10 years ago with the old green Kappas, things might have changed.

[Russell]

Wow I just wanted to know what the Rockford did for a sub in the upper models. I have the XE stock system and wanted to add alittle more bass. I have it all in the works now and Im just waiting for all the stuff to come in. Its amazing how cheap some subs are out there and the crap that is out there too. I ended up going with a 4 ohm dual voice coail form rockford rated at 800 watts. Needs only .30 - 50 cubic feet of air space. Im going to build a full fiberglass back molded in the back and an amp rack going from the drivers side to about the middle of the back I dont want to take up to much space back there. I Have to wait until July before I can start building between work and other projects who has the time anymore you know. Some great sites to visit is carstereo.com alot of info and some useful tools there. I just want to say again Thanks guys for all the feed back

[piopremier]

hey guys, just figured i'd add in some input. Since i got the truck in Jan. i've been trying to figure out a good system that would be pretty stealth as opposed to all the installs i've done in my other cars. I'm starting with the stock rockford system along with the stock dvd player. I decided to stick with the stock head unit for many reasons, mostly being the cost of replacing everything it had that i wanted such as steering wheel controls, and the 6 disk changer then there was the fact of having to remold the front dash to put anything else in since there isn't a kit out yet and then having to rewire the dvd player. So the next best thing was to get an eq. I got an in dash eq to get the control the head unit didn't have and then ran the signal to 2 Orion amps. One amp to 2 rockford T1 10"s under the rear seat and the other one to just the front mids and highs which I replaced with a set of premier 6.5" mid/1" tweet comps. Im not a fan of rear fill and faded them out but left them in and powered by the stock deck for rear seaters to listen to dvds and will be taking the stock sub out and maybe trying to sell it if anyone is intrested. Only other thing I might do is replace the stock center channel. I'll post pics in a few days if anyone is intrested.

[Chilicat]

An indash eq off the stock head unit? Yeah, you have to post pics of that!

Does the faux-RF head unit have line level outputs? I looked at the pic bestatchess posted and there doesn't seem to be any RCA out puts. How did you connect the EQ to the stock head unit piopremier?

[SarkaZm]

Originally Posted by peanutbutter

Real quick, but here is a list of my list of top manufacturers of Subs:
1. Adire Audio www.adireaudio.com
2. JL Audio www.jlaudio.com
3. RE www.respl.com
4. Image Dynamics http://www.imagedynamicsusa.com/website/home.html
5. Elemental Designs http://www.edesignaudio.com/
6. Rockford Fosgate (I put this here but it will be one of two that people recognize, there are more but I am sure this is good enough).

Nice choice of subs! I would second the Image Dynamics. Very clean and accurate. I currently have a single 12" IDQ in my Accord pushed by ~200 watts of Eclipse power. Sounds awsome! Would also recommend the JL's. Adire's (Brahma's) are for some serious bass, but you will need more power. I've seen them do some freaky things to sheetmetal! Elementals I've never heard, but they seem well built and those that have them swear by them! RE?? Rockford - NO Thanks!

Oh one more you left out ---> http://www.crystalmobilesound.com/ Comp series...expensive though!

[piopremier]

had to get a hi-low converter from PAC before the eq.

[bestatchess]

"In my opinion, you should just lose the center speaker unless you intend to do some sort of theater surround stuff."

Wouldn't this break up my relationship with the NAV chick?

[peanutbutter]

Originally Posted by SarkaZm

Nice choice of subs! I would second the Image Dynamics. Very clean and accurate. I currently have a single 12" IDQ in my Accord pushed by ~200 watts of Eclipse power. Sounds awsome! Would also recommend the JL's. Adire's (Brahma's) are for some serious bass, but you will need more power. I've seen them do some freaky things to sheetmetal! Elementals I've never heard, but they seem well built and those that have them swear by them! RE?? Rockford - NO Thanks!

Oh one more you left out ---> http://www.crystalmobilesound.com/ Comp series...expensive though!

Oh, there are tons more, just wanted to give some people some options. Memphis, MMatts, Orion, Eclipse (which really should be number 4 or 5). Plenty more out there, just hard to name them all. Ah yes Crystal, I remember them well. Havent heard a sub in a while though. Go here: www.powered4sound.com and check out Multimedia. This guy loves to use Crystal 8's. Cool stuff, too expensive.

PioPremier, did you wire it yourself or did a shop do it?? If you did it yourself, what wires did you use to come into the LOC? I appreciate the help.

[piopremier]

i haven't done it yet but im going into the 2 front channel mids

[VShortt]

Originally Posted by Chilicat

Guys,

Thanks for the excellent replies. I agree that the RF system probably isn't worthy of sinking alot of money into but I like the steering wheel controls would probably cause some domestic discord if I gutted the RF system AND got my OEM rims chromed (which I'm doing).

My idea was to replace the two rear speakers (they seem to be really weak) with some like these and then figure out if there was some way I could isolate the bass output and drop in a $100 buck monoblock with a bigger sub. You guys seem to know quite abit, am I better off just leaving things alone and waiting another two years until I trade in and do a total aftermarket on that truck?

The speakers in the back are no less efficient than the speakers in the front. Putting the Kappa separates in the doors in the rear will make very little difference in the way that it sounds because the amp that is driving the current speakers is the same amp that will be driving the new speakers, and the fact is that the amp is the problem. All the wonderful speakers in the world do nothing without proper amplification. In fact, it becomes even easier to "blow" them because people have a tendancy to want to turn the volume up louder thinking that they now have speakers that will allow this. Well...they do, but what they do not have is an efficient amp. Therefore, the power going into the new speaker is the same as before, allowing the new speakers to sound only slightly louder because they are better quality speakers. However, they are still sensitive to distortion and will "blow" if fed power that is distorted which is what you get when you try to turn a weak amp up to higher volume levels than it is capable of. If you truly must go this route (new speakers and existing head unit) I would put the new speakers up front and them play with the fader controls to find a front/rear balance that you are happy with. You see, the tweeters in that system are extremely directional, meaning that they must be "facing" you to be most effective. It is wasteful to put the better speakers in the rear where the sound has more trouble finding your ears. If you sat in the back seat while driving, I would say go for it. But of course you don't. Also, if you really want a sub, you should try and find one that is powered (self amplified). Most of these are found in the form of "bass tubes". Trying to power an aftermarket sub off of the stock head unit simply is not going to happen. Trust me on that one.

[VShortt]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

"In my opinion, you should just lose the center speaker unless you intend to do some sort of theater surround stuff."

Wouldn't this break up my relationship with the NAV chick?

Bestatchess, I really would like to answer your question, but I truly don't uderstand your question. What do you you mean by "NAV" chick? I understand the "NAV" part but not the "chick" part.

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by VShortt

Bestatchess, I really would like to answer your question, but I truly don't uderstand your question. What do you you mean by "NAV" chick? I understand the "NAV" part but not the "chick" part.

On mine, there is what appears to be a speaker grill opening in the top of the NAV screen in the middle of the dash. I think this is the center speaker. I am not 100% sure, but I think this is where the NAV voice (female-chick) comes from. If music is playing on the stereo, it goes mute, then the guide voice comes on "Turn right 1/4 mile, etc." I am not sure if this is over all the speakers or just this one center speaker.

I would start swapping out stuff (head unit - amps - speakers) if I could find some way to keep NAV - DVD - Steering Wheel controls integration.

[VShortt]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

On mine, there is what appears to be a speaker grill opening in the top of the NAV screen in the middle of the dash. I think this is the center speaker. I am not 100% sure, but I think this is where the NAV voice (female-chick) comes from. If music is playing on the stereo, it goes mute, then the guide voice comes on "Turn right 1/4 mile, etc." I am not sure if this is over all the speakers or just this one center speaker.

I would start swapping out stuff (head unit - amps - speakers) if I could find some way to keep NAV - DVD - Steering Wheel controls integration.

It is difficult to answer that question because I do not have the NAV system. I can tell you however that if you are serious about doing this, you should start looking into reputable stereo shops in your area. They will usually have photo albums set up for you to see their custom work, or will display trophies that they have won at installation competitions. That said, there are ways of making everything work in cojunction, including the steering wheel controls. A good stereo shop will answer any questions that you have without making you feel rushed. Stay away from "chain" stores because they do not do good custom work. They have a "get-'em-in-and-out" approach to everything. Sorry that I cannot give you more info, but there are shops that can. Just go talk to people and find these shops.

[peanutbutter]

Yeah, there is always a way to upgrade without changing your head. You can use a LOC to keep everything. If you want to change out heads, you can get something that will have AV input/outputs to keep your DVD. NAV, that is tough. I am sure that is wired to a GPS system. You can simply move it to another location (under dash). It is tough to say, but it is so tough to do anything with that stuff without losing money. I would just put in a LOC, get a 4 channel amp that puts out 100watts RMS x 4 and change out the front and back speakers. Leave the tweets alone, they sound okay and the speakers you add will more than likely come with another tweeter. Make sure the 4 channel amp has preamp outputs, that way you dont have to run seperate RCA's. The whole setup is easier to do than explain if you know what I mean.

[stevemis]

Originally Posted by Geoff

Speakers pulled from an SE with the popular package (6 disc changer but not RF) are Panasonic (20W power handling).

Ooh, classy.