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The tow rig stereo thread

Gravy

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
Location
The Land Northward (Bountiful), Utah
So I decided spending money on starting a project I'm not good at yet is a good way to dig myself out of depression.

I want to upgrade my truck stereo from the stock double DIN F250 unit to a head unit with a touch screen and Bluetooth wireless Android auto.

This will help me resist the urge to upgrade my 10 yr old 2012 F250 (which is perfectly fine still).

My budget is lowish. And I'd like to learn stereo stuff so I'll plan to install it myself.

So the question is: what do I buy?
 
Z

Zombie

Random Dead Guy
Location
Sandy Utah
Relevant, but not brand specific info inbound.

One of my requirements when I got my ram was that it have bluetooth for music and calls, I frequently get calls after I drop my youngest off for school in the mornings, so it was almost a safety feature for me. I also had a problem of one of the on-speaker amps being blown - shit design IMO, but it's a 98 Dodge, so...
I ended up pulling new heavier gauge wire through the accordions at the doors, replacing all four speakers, bypassing the OEM tweeters, adding a five channel amp, and an 8" sub in a sealed enclosure that tucks under the driver's seat, and I did it on the cheap. I used kicker speakers with decent frequency response and decent power handling, a boss touch screen head unit with a floating screen - this let me keep the single DIN adapter that was in the truck, and I love that I have the adjustment on the screen, it angles at me, it's easy to see, low enough that it never glares, and if it does, I can change the angle. It fills the space really well.
I used this head unit: Boss Floating Ten Inch Screen and a Planet Audio Five channel Anarchy amp. Be aware that the internal amp on the boss head unit is complete garbage, and couldn't get the kicker speakers loud without massive distortion. The Planet Audio amp is a bit overkill for my speakers, but it means I'm running it at less than 20% gain, and it gets louder than I want to hear it without any dirt coming through.

Recently, the bluetooth has started cutting out after three minutes on a call - read online and found it's a fairly common problem with Boss bluetooth decks, so I'm looking for a replacement that has a similar sized floating screen - I know it will cost more than the boss did, but I've really fallen in love with that feature. First pic is right after I installed the deck, and the second is after I changed the dash cover to the black non glare one, but shows the angle from closer to the seated view.

Right now I'm debating doing a rear seat delete on the truck, building a custom storage box with an integrated 10" sub in a small sealed enclosure, and a top deck spot for a pair of 6x9s. If I do that, I'll take the 6x9s out of the front doors and replace them with componant 6x9s in the front stage, with the tweeter set in the door card instead of the pillars, same place as the tweeter in the 94-97 trucks. I'd love to find a pillar gauges pod that included a grab handle for the drivers side, and I know there's not a hope for that with the OEM tweeter on the pillar and three gauges.
 

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Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
I don’t have a lot to add except that when I had my truck just like yours, I added a sub box and amp. I squeezed the sub box behind the backseat and was incredibly pleased with the improvement using just the OEM stereo.
 
DAA

DAA

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
West Bountiful, UT
Gravy said:
My budget is lowish. And I'd like to learn stereo stuff so I'll plan to install it myself.

So the question is: what do I buy?
Click to expand...

How low is "lowish"? I totally replaced everything that I'd already replaced once before in my LJ a couple years ago. But I paid up for really good stuff everywhere, and don't regret it one bit.

Do a good amp. But a good amp is only as good as a clean signal from the head unit. And that's how that chain reaction starts. But I think I'd rather have a really good amp on a cheapish head unit that a cheapish amp on a really good head unit.

My opinion, if putting in the time and money, budget for sound deadening. Not too expensive, but time and labor intensive, but gives great bang for the buck.

- DAA
 
jeeper

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
Hickey said:
I don’t have a lot to add except that when I had my truck just like yours, I added a sub box and amp. I squeezed the sub box behind the backseat and was incredibly pleased with the improvement using just the OEM stereo.
Click to expand...

Where do you keep the guns and tow straps that go behind the seat if you have a boom-boom speaker there??
 
DAA

DAA

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
West Bountiful, UT
Gravy said:
I don't intend on swapping out the stock speakers.
Click to expand...

So this is why I said "whatever then". I mistakenly took for granted that replacing the stock speakers would be part of your plans. Even with "premium" factory sound, I think replacing the speakers is always by far the best bang for the buck. Mid grade, low power aftermarket speakers would be a significant upgrade without doing anything else. That's exactly all I've done in my Ram 1500 Longhorn with the uber premium (crap) factory Alpine sound system. It sounds way, way better with just some mid grade speakers that match the factory ohms.

But higher grade, higher power speakers, require signal and power upgrades upstream to be worth doing at all.

These days, even factory and low end aftermarket head units that lack preamp outputs and need to use line level at the amp don't have terrible signal to noise ratio. A good amp will maintain that not terrible signal and drive good speakers way good. A cheapish amp will degrade that signal and not drive any speakers very good.

I guess, my thoughts, doing just the head unit will give you the bluetooth and android stuff and if that's all you want out of it, I think, really, whatever - the cheap head units should be as good as anything else for that. I was thinking you wanted a sound upgrade too though. Where the money should go to speakers and amp.

- DAA
 
Cody

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
Gastown
DAA said:
How low is "lowish"? I totally replaced everything that I'd already replaced once before in my LJ a couple years ago. But I paid up for really good stuff everywhere, and don't regret it one bit.

Do a good amp. But a good amp is only as good as a clean signal from the head unit. And that's how that chain reaction starts. But I think I'd rather have a really good amp on a cheapish head unit that a cheapish amp on a really good head unit.

My opinion, if putting in the time and money, budget for sound deadening. Not too expensive, but time and labor intensive, but gives great bang for the buck.

- DAA
Click to expand...
This

Also this scares me
but it means I'm running it at less than 20% gain, and it gets louder than I want to hear it without any dirt coming [\quote]
Click to expand...


Gain is to match the audio amplification to the input voltage. Volume should be handled by the source. Depending on the input voltage, 20% gain could be over amplifying the signal and become your source of distortion. As Dave said, clean signal from the deck makes all the difference which is why the non clipping 4v preouts on alpine decks always were the go to for mid priced system. But don't use the gain for volume.

In my 98 dodge I had 6.5" jbl gti components in the front with the tweet moved into the door to share the same plane as the mid driver and 2 tens in back. 1100 watts to components, 1000 to the subs and lots of sound deadening. That trucked screamed, and with the doors closed you could barely hear it.

Rear stage is useless as anything but filler and usually cancels enough frequencies to work against you for sound quality .
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
Gravy said:
Alright so what head unit do I get?
Click to expand...
Go on Crutchfield.com and enter your vehicle. Their website is super handy for narrowing down which head unit you want, and it will tell you what install kits and adapters you will need for your specific vehicle. You don’t have to buy it from them, it’s just a great resource for information.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
I am looking at replacing the head unit in my truck. It doesn't even have blue tooth. I've been looking at this atoto

[Upgrade] ATOTO Double Din Car Stereo with Wireless CarPlay,Wireless Android Auto,7in IPS Touchscreen,Bluetooth,Phone Mirroring,HD LRV Camera,USB Video & Audio,F7G2A7WE-S01 https://a.co/d/93J6xOg

I'm so deaf, sound clarity is very relative.
 
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