Stereo upgrade

Glassman504 · Jan 13, 2018

Hahah yes it slams. It shakes my steering wheel but it’s clean that’s what I like the most.

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HD F250 · Jan 14, 2018

Quigs4u said:
Slick looking truck man!!
It looks angry!!
You can always add the subs later if you want more BOOM!!

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Thanks man!

I have a 17. With jl processor audio frog in the doors, jl amps and 2 12s jl subs. But I may change to some sd3s. Also have soundskinz everywhere. Really clean

I have heard good things about audio frog as well. Thanks for the feedback also. I agree that you truck must hit hard as hell.

HD F250 · Jan 22, 2018

Gentlemen, what did you all do with the dash center channel? Any pics? Is it one or two speakers?

Quigs4u · Jan 23, 2018

HD F250 said:
Gentlemen, what did you all do with the dash center channel? Any pics? Is it one or two speakers?

My center channel is gone.
I removed it. You can’t run the center channel without a processor and I’m not running a processor so it’s been removed.

HD F250 · Jan 26, 2018

Quigs4u said:
My center channel is gone.
I removed it. You can’t run the center channel without a processor and I’m not running a processor so it’s been removed.

Thanks, I will probably remove it as well.

Kreep · Jan 30, 2018

HD F250 said:
I am looking upgrade my stereo using the factory nav head unit and have a few questions for the audio guys.

1. Anyone figured out a solution to add amps to the factory head unit? I want a good clean signal because I am going with some high end components (Focal, Hertz or Morel probably).

2. Any recommendations on which speakers to use for the dash? My quick research revealed that it is two 3 inch speakers.

3. My truck is a regular cab so looking for a recommendation on a nice small enclosure sub.

1. It depends on if you have Sony or not. If you have Sony, the PAC unit mentioned earlier or the iDatalink Maestro AR canfeed an amp such as the Kenwood XR600-6DSP. My truck has Nav but not Sony so these are not an option. Instead, the hot ticket is to use FORScan to reprogram the head unit (ACM) which will result in a perfectly clean, flat, balanced output. Throw in a Parrot for-11ck wiring harness and you are in business. A word of caution if you are planning to just feed high level inputs to new amps. In either case the factory does some significant signal modification. Also, the ACM has resistance sensing. Without a speaker (or amp with high impedance inputs) hooked up it sends the chimes and such to the IPC instead and you can't hear them with the stereo playing...

2. The center channel would only be used if you care how it sounds in the passenger seat. It is a 3.5" speaker but looks to me like a 4" would fit. The real problem here is that there aren't at lot of signal processors that can properly upmix the center channel. JBL MS8 (with Logic 7) and Alpine PXA-H800 (Dolby Pro Logic) are the only two currently available (L + R and L - R solutions don't count). However, the MS8 is discontinued (available on Ebay for ~$425) and the $750 PXA-H800 requires the use of the $300 RUX-C800 single DIN controller (or certain Alpine head units). There are rumors of options from Audio Frog, Zapco and Arc but nothing available currently.

HD F250 · Jan 31, 2018

Kreep said:
1. It depends on if you have Sony or not. If you have Sony, the PAC unit mentioned earlier or the iDatalink Maestro AR canfeed an amp such as the Kenwood XR600-6DSP. My truck has Nav but not Sony so these are not an option. Instead, the hot ticket is to use FORScan to reprogram the head unit (ACM) which will result in a perfectly clean, flat, balanced output. Throw in a Parrot for-11ck wiring harness and you are in business. A word of caution if you are planning to just feed high level inputs to new amps. In either case the factory does some significant signal modification. Also, the ACM has resistance sensing. Without a speaker (or amp with high impedance inputs) hooked up it sends the chimes and such to the IPC instead and you can't hear them with the stereo playing...

2. The center channel would only be used if you care how it sounds in the passenger seat. It is a 3.5" speaker but looks to me like a 4" would fit. The real problem here is that there aren't at lot of signal processors that can properly upmix the center channel. JBL MS8 (with Logic 7) and Alpine PXA-H800 (Dolby Pro Logic) are the only two currently available (L + R and L - R solutions don't count). However, the MS8 is discontinued (available on Ebay for ~$425) and the $750 PXA-H800 requires the use of the $300 RUX-C800 single DIN controller (or certain Alpine head units). There are rumors of options from Audio Frog, Zapco and Arc but nothing available currently.

Thanks for the input. Now I need to find out if I have the Sony unit or not. I have purchased a few used Zapco Z-LX series amps to start and will definitely be using a DSP. As for center channel, I probably won’t use it since it’s hard to make good use of it. I will keep everyone posted.

Tricon · Feb 21, 2018

I installed some Infinity Kappa Perfect 600's in the front, Polk DBs in the rear for fill, and 2x10" Infinity Subs behind the rear seat. 200wx2 rms to the front and 400wx2 to the subs...holy moly this is one of my favorite installs. I was hesitant to go with the Kappa Perfects as the last go around they had really bright tweets. Seems like they listened this time, they sound amazing and I can turn it all the way up to 100% volume with 0 distortion or clipping. Super happy with these.

I completely gutted the interior and sound deadened the cab, then did some Mass Loaded Vinyl on the doors. The cab is dead quite inside while driving down the freeway. Its really odd being in this huge diesel monster and not hearing **** going down the road.

I didnt have the Sony system, just Sync and the 7 speakers. I ran high level signals to my amps directly and the sound floor is amazing. There's zero distortion, hisses, pops, etc. Just really clean and really loud.

HD F250 · Feb 21, 2018

Sounds like a nice install. I don’t have the Sony either, just Nav and Sync 3. I haven’t bought speakers yet, but I have some high end Zapco’s ready to push some sound soon. Thanks for feedback!

COPowerStroke04 · Feb 25, 2018

Recent upgrades to my system

I put Focal KRX2's in the front and KR2's in the rear with a 13.5" JL Sub behind the seats with 2 amps. This thing screams. For converting sound from the stock head unit, I am using the JL Fix-86 which gives good clean sound and will probably be adding the TWK by JL as well.