2014+ Aftermarket Audio: Amps, Speakers, Subs Installed

C25A1guy · October 17, 2013

Just stopped by my installer since he has most of what he needs to get going. So here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea what we got going in there (if they don't pop up, let me know).

I'm treating my truck to about $15k worth of audio and work on this install. Of course I'm not going to pay that much. Basically what we have are:

Audison Bit 1 processor

Audison Voce AV Bit IN x2

Audison Voce 5.1k 5-ch amp

Audison Voce Due 4-ch amp

Scan-Speak studio reference 7" mid-woofer

Scan-Speak studio tweeter

Scan-Speak studio reference 5" driver (rear fill)

Alpine SWR-T10 sub in a custom underseat enclosure

About 300lbs of hushmat

Carder09 · October 17, 2013

Awesome! If I had the money, I would do the same! But I would more than likely do my own work.

mossbum · October 17, 2013

damn, can't wait to see all this come together. nice selection of components you have there.

ponchonutty · October 18, 2013

Very nice selection!

OhmMega · October 18, 2013

I've started my installation today. Got one door done...

I picked up a set of Focal Component 165A1SG's and Focal Coaxial 165CA1's.

I have a couple of Kenwood amps and two JL 10" sub's from my previous install.

I started with the passenger rear door and decided to use the stock speaker as a mount. This positions the speaker about two inches from the door to avoid the window and place the cone near the door grill.

The new speakers are about 1/4" in diameter larger than stock and needed to be set in the door about a half inch to clear the door panel.

I finished the rear passenger door and began moving to the front. I left off mounting the crossovers in the fuse panels. Both the drivers side and passengers side have a fuse panel with a nice space that is just large enough. Gives a nice concealed yet easily accessible spot.

Ill need to build a new, or hack up my sub box from my 2010 ext cab.

dtspitcherguy · October 19, 2013

Everything looks good. Was install any different/harder on 2014 than the 2007-2013? Can't wait to see rest of install

dtspitcherguy · October 19, 2013

Looking forward to more pictures! Have you used shallow alpine subs before?

C25A1guy · October 20, 2013

Looking forward to more pictures! Have you used shallow alpine subs before?

I haven't, but my installer has used them on a few cars already. The design is impressive and I hope that the sound quality will be up there with it's design. I have run nothing but Image Dynamics IDQ's in all my cars before (except for a little dabble with JL's in the way of a W3, and some Fosgates during my young boom boom days).

dmd277 · October 20, 2013

Great pictures, I want to upgrade my speakers. Is it hard to remove the door panels?

Prokopchuk_9 · October 20, 2013

I have to say I'm jealous of that setup! I'm getting bored of mine, I miss having real subs! Shallow mounts are ok but just not the same, I'm running JL everything and focal components.

OhmMega · October 21, 2013

It was more labor intensive than the 2010. Only because I'm a nut for perfection and consistency. The door panels are a little more difficult to remove as gm has added more clips. A few clips broke easily in the cold by the way.

An update...

I changed out all the speakers and setup the amp for the mids/highs. I still need to get a high to low converter with signal sensing. For now the amps are temped in on the RAP accessory circuit.

The front speakers are now 6x9. I cut out the cone like I did the rears. The gaps bothered me so I cut out some plastic and glued it in. I also added some dense foam to help dampen any unintended vibrations.

The dash speakers were an odd size around 2-3 inches. I tried to find a small coaxial speaker to replace it but the smallest would require some modification to the dash. So I decided to have some confidence in the component style speakers to deliver the full range of sound. I made some adapters to fit the tweeters in the dash. The wires had a nice path down to the crossovers in the fuse panels.

More in a bit...

OhmMega · October 21, 2013

The amp fits under the front of the center console without modification. I was hoping it would fit near the back under the main bin where there is an access hole. There is an airbag module there unfortunately.

All the wiring was easy to decipher once I knew what to look for. There was a post in another thread detailing the pinout on the green plug that goes to the xm/FM receiver. The modules body is plastic and will fool someone looking for something with a significant heat sink. But this is what drives the stock speakers. I metered out the remaining pins of the green and gray plugs looking for a switched 12v signal for the amps. I think this model runs solely on data between the radio equipment to enable the amp. I temporarily tied the amp trigger to the accessory rap in the drivers side fuse panel where there's a spade connector. No chimes when entering the vehicle, and using the radio while the ignition is off doesn't have sound.

Im looking into a SOEM-4 to convert high level audio and provide a 12v trigger. I also need to build a plug/harness to maintain the factory wiring. For now though at least I have tunes.

Carder09 · October 21, 2013

Technology in these vehicles making it that much more complicated to install sound systems these days. You will love that amp, I had the same one and it never gave up!

EChavez · October 21, 2013

I have to say I'm jealous of that setup! I'm getting bored of mine, I miss having real subs! Shallow mounts are ok but just not the same, I'm running JL everything and focal components.

I don't mean to hijack your thread C25A1guy, but can you tell me what subs your running Chevyboy? I was looking at some JL's as well the TW3 12's specifically and I want to know how hard they hit compared to the older subs I had (W3's).

Prokopchuk_9 · October 22, 2013

I have to say I'm jealous of that setup! I'm getting bored of mine, I miss having real subs! Shallow mounts are ok but just not the same, I'm running JL everything and focal components.
I don't mean to hijack your thread C25A1guy, but can you tell me what subs your running Chevyboy? I was looking at some JL's as well the TW3 12's specifically and I want to know how hard they hit compared to the older subs I had (W3's).

I was running two 12" JL w3v3's, but now I can get a good deal on some pioneers from a buddy. I've had them in my truck for a year now haha. Just trying them out right now, don't know if I like em yet. Dunno if I'm gonna give him cash. More wattage than jl's and louder bit no where near as clean. Cheaper than jl's too. But I can tell they don't handle the power as well even tho they are higher rms. Here's my setup. Sounds beautiful, shallow mounts aren't the same tho. But very clean.