It is time for an upgrade to the factory speakers in my 05 Dodge quad cab. I am looking for quality sound, not just noise. I am not sure what brands are best so that is where I need some help. I don’t need the most expensive stuff out there, but I do believe in spending a little more to get quality. Crutchfield says I have 3.5” dash speakers, 6x9” in the front doors, and 6.5” in the rear doors. I don’t mind the extra effort of component speakers. I did the factory navigation upgrade in my 03 Chevy with a sub box and amp under the rear seat. I like it but I don’t like the fact that I can’t easily change the bass. It is too much for talk radio or not enough for some thumping tunes. I will change the head unit in the Dodge, but I don’t want navigation or video. I am just looking for quality sound. I miss the read out on the radio that gives the artist and song title. Are the HD radio’s any better?

Thanks for the help!

Mark

I did a little looking around tonight and I am considering Boston Acoustics. They have a PRO series which is the second from the top of their offering list. I found an online dealer that has a good BBB rating selling the PRO60SE door speakers for $300 a set. Boston Acoustics also has a GT50 amplifier that is 4x45 @ 4 ohm and 1x190 @ 4ohm. That is selling at $319. The nice thing I found with that amp is that it has a remote control for the sub which is exactly what I wish I had in the Chevy. To top it off I would use the G510 sub in a box under the rear seat. I only found ten inch enclosures and I am thinking of only one to keep room for the amp. It looks like a good package. Now I just need to find a head unit. Let me know if I am on the right track or not.

Thanks,

Mark

I'm am not too familiar with the BA speakers, although I have heard good things about them. I would double check the power handling specs on the "PRO" model speakers as they probably would like more the 45w. Too little power is just as bad as too much. Just my initial thought.

The Boston's will not let you down. I have been a big fan of the Pro series for years. Run some good power to them, and you'll be amazed. I currently have the 6.5 Pro component sets in my doors, and they are the best sounding components I have ever used.

I've not used Boston Acoustic brand but have heard good reviews. Another company you might want to check out is Elemental Designs.
www.edesignaudio.com (http://www.edesignaudio.com) They are located in IA...so you get your orders quickly. They have a great staff that helps via phone, email, or IM too.

I learned about them a couple years ago when meeting up with friends at Corvette shows. I've since used them in my truck and Chevelle and have several buddies running their stuff. I've been very pleased.

I have their 6500 components in my Chevelle. They have re-engineered that and now it's called e9.65i. They also carry the DLS line-up too.

They have various subs and amps as well. Their NINe.1 amp has bass control knob. I personally use a RCA in/out bass control knob in my truck that controls the signal sent to the amp for situations like you describe about talk radio vs. music.

Best of luck to you with your install. Let us know what you end up with.

Boston Acoustic are good and they sound real good have them in another vehicle with precision power amp. Have had them in there for a few years now and they still are going stong and sound great.

I called Boston Acoustics customer service line today. I told them what I was looking at and they suggested going with more power. They recommended a 4x75 watt amp for the four speakers in the doors and a separate amp for the subwoofer which is 1x275 watt. It makes sense to use more power for a speaker that is designed to handle it. Or, maybe I am just a sucker? :rolleyes:

I bought two sets of Pro60 - Boston Acoustics Pro 6.5" 2-way component speakers. According to Crutchfield the 6.5” is ¼ inch too big for my front doors. I can’t imagine that it would be that tough to fit them in. The difference in the depth is only a couple of millimeters. I did not get an amp or sub yet. I will have to look into those a little more and decide if one sub will be enough or if two are that much better. I do have room for the amps behind the seat which leaves under the seat open. The other option is to have one sub on one side under the seat and the amps on the other. 10 inch is the largest size that will fit. Two subs = 2 x the $ and requires a bigger amp with bigger $....

I called Boston Acoustics customer service line today. I told them what I was looking at and they suggested going with more power. They recommended a 4x75 watt amp for the four speakers in the doors and a separate amp for the subwoofer which is 1x275 watt. It makes sense to use more power for a speaker that is designed to handle it. Or, maybe I am just a sucker? :rolleyes:

I power my 6.5 components with 150watts peak per channel, and it seems to work well. Kinda like adding a lift pump- gotta have enough reserve supply to see peak performance. :D I think you'll be very hapy with the Bostons.
I also use a seperate amp for my subs. It makes it easier with a dedicated amp- you can set the gains independently to tailor the sound to your liking, and it also allows you to use the high and low pass filters on the amps seperately, as opposed to using a multi-channel crossover setup.

I power my 6.5 components with 150watts peak per channel, and it seems to work well. Kinda like adding a lift pump- gotta have enough reserve supply to see peak performance. :D I think you'll be very hapy with the Bostons.
I also use a seperate amp for my subs. It makes it easier with a dedicated amp- you can set the gains independently to tailor the sound to your liking, and it also allows you to use the high and low pass filters on the amps seperately, as opposed to using a multi-channel crossover setup.

Now you are talking my language! :D That is the kind of help I need. The place I bought the speakers from called me to be sure I wanted two sets of speakers, not just two speakers. That was nice. I asked him some questions and I decided to add the Boston Acoustics GT 42 amp because it was on sale for a great price. So now all I need is the sub speaker, enclosure and a head unit. I asked the salesman if I could use the tweeter from the front door speaker (the speakers I ordered are "separates" which mean that they have the main speaker and a separate tweeter) in the place of the dash speaker. He said yes, but he recommended the Boston Acoustics Imaging System speakers instead. Anyone try them?

I am pleasantly surprised to see that the head unit will probably be one of the least expensive parts of my system. I am checking out the Alpine CDA-9886. It has a CD player still with the ability to hook up to an I-Pod. It can also be used with an HD receiver. I grew up thinking that Alpine was a good name, and hopefully that is still true. One cool feature is that I can get a software package that has a microphone that is placed in the vehicle. Then you play some music and the software calculates the best settings for all the sound settings. That is good for a sound novice like me. All these add-on's does drive up the price though. I sure hope that I was a good boy this year!

I think you'll be very happy with the decisions you have made thus far. Its gonna sound goooooooooood! :D

I dont know where ya'll are gettin these brands at, i've neverheard of them, I've been doing the car audio thing since i was in middle school. Must be a northern thing idk. As for the subs, I've had Fosgates, JL Audio, Alpine, and Kicker(which I still use). I would say i like the kickers the best, they are by far the loudest, maybe thats because I got them when i learned how to build my own boxs. Anyhow, the old Alpine subs are alright, the new kind arnt as as good as the old ones. JL Audio are still pretty good to, Rockford Fosgate makes a pretty good amp but subs arnt the best. I know on the old Fosgate amps they had a knob to adjust the bass which might work for you. As for head units i would definitly go with Alpine, i've had mine since my first truck when i was 15, which was like 7 years ago! My system inclues: Alpine CDA-9807 deck, 4 alpine speakers, 3 12" Kicker Solobarics, 1000W+RMS Q something amp with a rockford wiring kit with 1 farad capacitor.

I am still looking around for some good deals, thinking that they are coming with the holidays. Has anyone used MTX Thunder Form sub woofer enclosures? They have one for my truck that includes an amp and two ten inchers that fit under the rear seat real nicely. Is there really a difference in how sub woofers sound? Will a Boston Acoustics single ten inch G5 (high end) with the Boston Acoustic GT 24 440 watt sub out perform the MTX dual ten inch setup with their 200 watt (class D?) setup? Does anyone know what dual 4 ohm voice coils do? Boston Acoustics offers two 10 inch subs in the G5 series.

Thanks,

Mark

My 1st choice for a sub would be JL Audio. Do your research to find what you want, and then look on Ebay for the deals. I never liked MTX's, they always seemed real cheap, and with my friends that ran them, they never seemed to put up with a lot of abuse. I have a Alpine head unit in my 01 that I bought shortly after purchasing the truck in 01. It's never skipped a beat. My only beef with it is, some of the buttons are way too bright.

I used to run a subthump box with 2 10" Alpine Type R's with a Rockford Fosgate Power 800a2 and Pioneer deck and it sounded awesome. Subs got loud and hit pretty hard, and I think I spent about 400-500 bucks on everything and I did the install myself.

I dont know too much about car audio, but i do know that my 6" door speakers have blown. Would it be possible to just put some 6" component speakers there without having to add an amp? my current set up is all stock Delco stuff....

Update. I found a two for one deal on the G5 subs so I had to get them. :rolleyes: I also picked up an MTX enclosure. Now all I need is the second amp for the subs and the head unit. I sure hope I was a good boy this year!:D

I dont know too much about car audio, but i do know that my 6" door speakers have blown. Would it be possible to just put some 6" component speakers there without having to add an amp? my current set up is all stock Delco stuff....

Yes. You can certainly do that but the speakers will not work up to their full potential without an amp if they are designed to be used with power. Check the specifications on the speakers before you buy. That will tell you if they will work or not just to be sure.

Hey thanks a lot for the info! sounds like your on your way to a nice setup :ro)

i had 4 10" mtx in a ext. cab s-10 with a 2400 watt fosgate amp, i loved the amp but the speakers seemed a little weak. I need to work on my setup now as well...stock speakers suck