Aftermarket, in the factory holes.

SVO4Turbo · 11-26-2004, 01:02 PM

I used to be a car stereo guy...but admitably, after my wife and kid, I'm definately out of touch.

Here's what I want to do with my truck. I need to enhance the Hi's and Low's, but I don't want to deal with a bunch of custom stuff. I'm not looking for competition quality here, just a little better than stock.

I think the RF system sounds good, up to about volume level 15. That's when the Hi's and Low's in the system start to fade off, and you're left with nothing but Mid (Even with Mid at -5).

I don't want to go tearing out the factory head unit or any of that. I just want to know if there's a decent sounding combination of speakers to enhance the hi's off the factory amp.

As for the low's, I'm not looking for anything super bumpin', but my buddy's GMC Envoy sounds better with no sub.

I want something that goes into the stock location (under the seat), and I would be willing to put a small amp on this if needed. I don't want to do anything under the back seat, because I use my truck and need that space.

I've still got a bunch of my old stuff from my high school days (Xtant 3300c amp, Quart 4's, Quart 6's, Orion 1nd tweets, Quart comp 3 way xovers, blah blah blah, Eclipse ECD-415 Deck) but it's all nicely installed in one of my collectable mustangs and I don't feel like tearing it out since it was installed professionally.

Any cost effective solutions here? I casually asked the Best Buy car stereo guy (chick in this case) and was told that there is no direct replacement sub. Something about this one being a custom size?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

SVO4Turbo · 11-27-2004, 07:08 AM

Lizardking, you seem to be the audio guy around here.... any ideas?

Hatchman · 11-27-2004, 07:54 AM

Under the seat doesn't leave many options. I've been looking long and hard for a solution, because I'm not willing to give up any room under the back seats either. I think the best solution would be a custom 8" enclosure under one front seat, and a good sub amp under the other. After doing some measurements, seems like there is just a little more room under the driver's seat, but I would want the sub under the passenger seat, just so I'm not vibrating all the time.

Another option is the Clarion SRV303

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Clarion_S...ay_~full_specs

I have not been able to find many reviews on the product, and output seems to be "ok" at best. I have decided to be the guinea pig on this one and have got one on order. I fully expect it to perform badly, but I have to find out for myself. I'll let you know how bad it sounds in a week or so. Ha! And expect to see it on ebay a few days after that...

bestatchess · 11-27-2004, 07:59 AM

12" Sub under Drivers Seat and Sounds Great

bestatchess · 11-27-2004, 08:13 AM

"I don't want to go tearing out the factory head unit or any of that. I just want to know if there's a decent sounding combination of speakers to enhance the hi's off the factory amp."

The problem, IMHO, is that the stock amp is inadequate to power decent speakers. The stock RF speakers are 2 ohm 35 Watt Clarion. Before I tore out the stock RF amp & speakers, I noticed alot of distortion when conducting this test: With a Celion Dion CD playing (take it easy guys, I borrowed it from my wife), I turned up the treble setting to max, and then slowly turned up the volume. It is my belief that the resulting distortion originates mainly from the stock RF amp, rather than from the stock tweets.

It is of course possible to retain the factory head unit and replace the stock speakers and amp by using an LOC.

SVO4Turbo · 11-27-2004, 08:58 AM

Do you think that replacing the 2" papers in the dash with some real tweets would help?

lizardking · 11-27-2004, 09:14 AM

Replacing the factory speakers would help! As for the RF speakers there really not that bad for factory some of the best I have seen. Only one's that had the paper cone where the tweeters. The link bestatchess for the sub is your best bet since you don't want to get into a big install.. Like the bestatchess says the RF amp is a huge achilles heal.

bestatchess · 11-27-2004, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVO4Turbo

Do you think that replacing the 2" papers in the dash with some real tweets would help?

I dunno, another thing I noticed is that the stock RF system seems to lack any crossovers, or maybe that feature is built into the RF amp.

SVO4Turbo · 11-27-2004, 09:50 AM

But just about any tweets you put in are going to have some sort of inline crossover built in, so I would have to think it would help. Then, if it's a bit too bright, this system has more than enough mid to fade back in.

I'm going to do the polyfill thing today, just to see what it does on the low end. Do the door speakers have any sort of enclosure behind them that you could fill also? Or is it just open to the door?

SVO4Turbo · 11-27-2004, 09:55 AM

Does that Basslink Sub fit under our seat?

**CaliforniaTitan** · 11-27-2004, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatchman

Under the seat doesn't leave many options. I've been looking long and hard for a solution, because I'm not willing to give up any room under the back seats either. I think the best solution would be a custom 8" enclosure under one front seat, and a good sub amp under the other. After doing some measurements, seems like there is just a little more room under the driver's seat, but I would want the sub under the passenger seat, just so I'm not vibrating all the time.

Another option is the Clarion SRV303

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Clarion_S...ay_~full_specs

I have not been able to find many reviews on the product, and output seems to be "ok" at best. I have decided to be the guinea pig on this one and have got one on order. I fully expect it to perform badly, but I have to find out for myself. I'll let you know how bad it sounds in a week or so. Ha! And expect to see it on ebay a few days after that...

I can comment on the Clarion SRV303 a little...

I put one of these in my wifes old Pathfinder for the same reason the original poster said. She didn't want any of her 'space' to be taken up by a sub but wanted some 'depth'. I mounted the 303 under the passenger seat. I can honestly say it adds a nice lil low end bump until you go louder on a factory head unit and then it along with regular factory speakers will distort. But at regular and low listening levels it works pretty goo and hides well.

Chris

**CaliforniaTitan** · 11-27-2004, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVO4Turbo

Does that Basslink Sub fit under our seat?

No, the Basslink will not fit under our seats...Wish it did...very nice lil powered sub.

CHris

bestatchess · 11-27-2004, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVO4Turbo

I'm going to do the polyfill thing today, just to see what it does on the low end. Do the door speakers have any sort of enclosure behind them that you could fill also? Or is it just open to the door?

The front 6x9s have a partial plastic shroud that acts as an umbrella for the portion of the speaker inside the door, but it is not enclosed and cannot be filled with polyfill. The rears are completely open to the door interior, mounted to the door by a plastic spacer ring. The backs of the rear door speakers are exposed to water inside the doors.

SVO4Turbo · 11-27-2004, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliforniaTitan

I can comment on the Clarion SRV303 a little...

I put one of these in my wifes old Pathfinder for the same reason the original poster said. She didn't want any of her 'space' to be taken up by a sub but wanted some 'depth'. I mounted the 303 under the passenger seat. I can honestly say it adds a nice lil low end bump until you go louder on a factory head unit and then it along with regular factory speakers will distort. But at regular and low listening levels it works pretty goo and hides well.

Chris

OK, so let me try out this theroy on you. If I were to leave the factory sub in place, and splice off those wires to feed the High Level inputs (or put a converter in line and use RCA) on the SRV303, and put that under the passenger seat, how would that work?

A: Would it change the ohm load on the factory amp?
B: Would it result in any power decrease of what was being fed to the factory sub?

Think it would help?

bestatchess · 11-27-2004, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVO4Turbo

OK, so let me try out this theroy on you. If I were to leave the factory sub in place, and splice off those wires to feed the High Level inputs (or put a converter in line and use RCA) on the SRV303, and put that under the passenger seat, how would that work?

A: Would it change the ohm load on the factory amp?
B: Would it result in any power decrease of what was being fed to the factory sub?

Think it would help?

I think sammysandbag fried an amp by splicing the inputs post factory amp. Prior to the amp's demise, I don't think he was getting good SQ.