Dash Speakers - Sundown Audio SA-2.75 Installed

[GRN69CHV]

Getting a clean soundstage up front wihout breaking the bank or doing a lot of mods has been "on the list" since I got the truck in Feb 2015. Tried 2 different set of tweeters, both sets sounded terrible reflecting off the dash. Set of Bose speakers from a Caddy (I think maybe installed in A pillars), these were lost. Finally decided to give the Sundown Audio SA-2.75's a try. Bought them from Woofers Etc. via Amazon. Are these audiophile quality? Reviews on DIYMA were mixed, but then again, they were comparing them to much more expensive (like 3x-4x-5x pricing) speakers. My thoughts, these are a huge improvement to the factory offering - and they bolt right in. Mids are bright and defined. Upper end of the highs roll off a little (which is a good thing, tweeters reflecting off the windshield were harsh). Running Alpine Ty-R coaxials in the doors with the tweeter angled up, surprisingly, I am getting some high end definition that you wouldn't expect with a low mount speaker. What has been missing was definition of vocals, guitars, keyboards. I do have them amped along with the front door speakers, not a lot of power actually, still running the Alpine 45x4 compact amp, tucked behind the glove box, through the factory wiring harness. Front doors are the aforementioned Alpine 6x9 Ty-R's with a 60hz hpf setting, rear doors are Earthquake 8" Shallow mount subs, ran as full range off the same amp in well insulated and sound deadened doors. The SA-2.75's are right there blending in nicely. I'm happy.

 

 

[Jeff5347]

This is awesome to hear. I have been curious on a good bolt in dash speaker. Is this one that you would recommend?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[GRN69CHV]

Yes, I honestly don't know anything at this price point that's even an option.

[Blk2015gmc]

Nice set up! I really want to upgrade mine as well I have the bose but I have been used to high end speakers and they just dont cut it. Did you keep the factory deck? Did you have to modify to fit 8's in the rear doors?! I haven't taken a look to see what stock speaker sizes are yet.

[gregrob20]

Nice install. Getting ready to do a build myself.

 

Audiofrog 3 way active setup, GB60 in the doors, GB25 in the dash, and GB10 in the sail panels.

1800 Watts of power from Arc Audio XDis

Helix DSP PRO with Director

2 10s under the rear seat, haven't decided what brand yet.

 

I may try Sundown shallow subs!

[GRN69CHV]

Nice set up! I really want to upgrade mine as well I have the bose but I have been used to high end speakers and they just dont cut it. Did you keep the factory deck? Did you have to modify to fit 8's in the rear doors?! I haven't taken a look to see what stock speaker sizes are yet.

 

Yes, factory 8" Deck. Just tapped into speaker wires coming direct off the head unit. Factory Bose is another story and presents a whole different set of issues as I understand it. Dash speakers with Bose are same size in a 3.2 ohm speaker. I don't see why you couldn't run a 4 ohm speaker in it's place. Wouldn't want to go to a 2 ohm speaker, don't know how stable the amp would be. Running a 4 ohm speaker vs a 3.2 ohm, maybe you'll lose a few watts of power? Doubt you would notice.

 

As for the rear doors, did require some cutting to fit the 8's into the doors and some mild trimming of the door panels. I already had the 8's so used them, if I didn't already have them, in hindsight, I might have gone a different way. First time around, I added sound deadener, but not enough, was getting some sheet metal buzz. Replaced these with 6.5" components ( this is when I put the tweeters in the dash) and added a compact Kicker self powered sub. This was a step in the right direction bringing the sound stage back to the front of the truck and adding a little deep bass. When got the truck back from having the deer hit repaired, they had removed sound deadener from the drivers door (I had pulled the speaker on that side prior to sending it into the shop). I decided to try the 8's in the rear doors again, only this time adding more sound deadener to both the outer skin and the inner skin, focusing on sealing up the doors. Made all the difference. Kicker compact sub is on the shelf in the garage.

[Jeff5347]

Getting a clean soundstage up front wihout breaking the bank or doing a lot of mods has been "on the list" since I got the truck in Feb 2015. Tried 2 different set of tweeters, both sets sounded terrible reflecting off the dash. Set of Bose speakers from a Caddy (I think maybe installed in A pillars), these were lost. Finally decided to give the Sundown Audio SA-2.75's a try. Bought them from Woofers Etc. via Amazon. Are these audiophile quality? Reviews on DIYMA were mixed, but then again, they were comparing them to much more expensive (like 3x-4x-5x pricing) speakers. My thoughts, these are a huge improvement to the factory offering - and they bolt right in. Mids are bright and defined. Upper end of the highs roll off a little (which is a good thing, tweeters reflecting off the windshield were harsh). Running Alpine Ty-R coaxials in the doors with the tweeter angled up, surprisingly, I am getting some high end definition that you wouldn't expect with a low mount speaker. What has been missing was definition of vocals, guitars, keyboards. I do have them amped along with the front door speakers, not a lot of power actually, still running the Alpine 45x4 compact amp, tucked behind the glove box, through the factory wiring harness. Front doors are the aforementioned Alpine 6x9 Ty-R's with a 60hz hpf setting, rear doors are Earthquake 8" Shallow mount subs, ran as full range off the same amp in well insulated and sound deadened doors. The SA-2.75's are right there blending in nicely. I'm happy.

 

 

I had some more in depth questions regarding these 2.75s if you don't mind. I'm sure as you know there are only 2 different types of 2.75 in speakers these, powerbasd, massive audio, ect that are in a very good price range or others like hertz, audiofrog, ect which are Hell's expensive.

So to my questions..

-When you mounted the sundowns are they an exact bolt in or drilling needed..?

-Did you add any closed cell foam behind the speakers for wave cancelation concerns?

-did you cut the stock speaker connectors or purchase connectors to keep the stock plug?

-the sundown speakers come with a capacitor so it doesn't play lower than 200 hertz...did you leave it, add one to bring up the cutoff and if not where did you set your cutoff on your crossover?

Sorry for all the questions...I'm just about to buy these but just curious on some info before purchase. How are they still going? Still happy with the sound?

Thanks

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[GRN69CHV]

I had some more in depth questions regarding these 2.75s if you don't mind. I'm sure as you know there are only 2 different types of 2.75 in speakers these, powerbasd, massive audio, ect that are in a very good price range or others like hertz, audiofrog, ect which are Hell's expensive.

So to my questions..

-When you mounted the sundowns are they an exact bolt in or drilling needed..?

-Did you add any closed cell foam behind the speakers for wave cancelation concerns?

-did you cut the stock speaker connectors or purchase connectors to keep the stock plug?

-the sundown speakers come with a capacitor so it doesn't play lower than 200 hertz...did you leave it, add one to bring up the cutoff and if not where did you set your cutoff on your crossover?

Sorry for all the questions...I'm just about to buy these but just curious on some info before purchase. How are they still going? Still happy with the sound?

Thanks

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Jeff, hope this answers it. Bolted right in, no drilling, Bolt holes were a little tight, not bad. Screwed in the bolt next to the windshield first. If anything, you could maybe enlarge one screw hole a drill size, but not necessary. I had cut the wires previously, just spliced them and taped. Used the capacitor that came with the speakers. Front door speakers and dash are being ran through Alpine 445U mounted behind the glovebox through the factory wiring. I have front doors and dash running with 60hz HPF (this unit has either 12db or 18db rolloff, don't recall, most likely 12 db roll off). While not huge power, I have hit them with most of the 45W/channel this amp has to offer. No sound deadener, closed cell foam, etc installed.

 

As for the sound? I would happily make a recommendation to Sundown Audio for this product. Aside from being an avid motorsports enthusiast, I am a musician (keyboards, bass and guitar). I need to hear clear vocals, keyboards, horns, snap of a snare drum and a little bit of cymbals up top. That in my opinion is where many car stereos fail, too much emphasis on real bright extreme upper end to the point where is gets tiring. Could you spend more? Yes, but I wouldn't spend anymore unless I was doing a major upgrade with a lot more amplification and sound processing - overkill and not happening in this truck.

[Nasty]

I was contemplating on the sundown 2.75 as I'm a sundown guy. But im going to buy using a cdt mid tweeter high passed from 800hz and up. And a silverflute or hybrid audio l6v2 for dedicated midbass bandpassed from 40-900 hz. 2 way active front stage

[Jeff5347]

 

Jeff, hope this answers it. Bolted right in, no drilling, Bolt holes were a little tight, not bad. Screwed in the bolt next to the windshield first. If anything, you could maybe enlarge one screw hole a drill size, but not necessary. I had cut the wires previously, just spliced them and taped. Used the capacitor that came with the speakers. Front door speakers and dash are being ran through Alpine 445U mounted behind the glovebox through the factory wiring. I have front doors and dash running with 60hz HPF (this unit has either 12db or 18db rolloff, don't recall, most likely 12 db roll off). While not huge power, I have hit them with most of the 45W/channel this amp has to offer. No sound deadener, closed cell foam, etc installed.

 

As for the sound? I would happily make a recommendation to Sundown Audio for this product. Aside from being an avid motorsports enthusiast, I am a musician (keyboards, bass and guitar). I need to hear clear vocals, keyboards, horns, snap of a snare drum and a little bit of cymbals up top. That in my opinion is where many car stereos fail, too much emphasis on real bright extreme upper end to the point where is gets tiring. Could you spend more? Yes, but I wouldn't spend anymore unless I was doing a major upgrade with a lot more amplification and sound processing - overkill and not happening in this truck.

Grn, do notice an improvement in mid range...meaning does the sundown sound like it hits a little lower than stock?

Oh was curious too...are you running a DSP?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[GRN69CHV]

Grn, do notice an improvement in mid range...meaning does the sundown sound like it hits a little lower than stock?

Oh was curious too...are you running a DSP?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Jeff, Do not have a DSP. Stock 8" LCD screen with factory head unit, running through Alpine 445U compact amp. 445U has 3 levels of HPF built in, I run the front doors / dash at a 60hz cut to tighten up the bass.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ktp-445u/

I was not able to compare the factory dash speaker to the SA2.75 back to back, dash speakers in mine had been modified to use as tweeter mounts. As I recall, factory speaker has good mids where it lacks is, it is not quite as crisp and drops off hard on the top end. Factory speaker has a small capacitor installed, don't recall the specs on it, it might be between 500- 800hz crossover. I know on the Bose systems they set the crossover at 500hz. I recall running a lot of treble boost on the factory setup. SA2.75 has good mids along with top end. I did a search prior and found options limited, decided to just spend the $70.00 and give these a shot. Post above, Nasty mentions CDT mid tweeter, I had considered those also, didn't see these as a true drop in, not so much for mounting, but would have required rewiring the truck to use a good crossover which I just don't feel like getting into at this point.

[Jeff5347]

Thanks GRN. The capacitor on stock speaker for cutoff....is that mounted right at the speaker or is it so far in you need to run a new speaker wire?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[GRN69CHV]

Thanks GRN. The capacitor on stock speaker for cutoff....is that mounted right at the speaker or is it so far in you need to run a new speaker wire?

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

Mounted right on the speaker. Tiny capacitor, so maybe 800hz 6db roll off? Real simple install. Grab handle has two 10mm hex hd bolts, then just pulls right off. Driver side just pops off, there is a retainer clip that needs to be removed, you'll see it as you pull the pillar cover off. Dash insert pops up, spring clips about every 6" or so. Pry up one end and work your way across.

[Nasty]

I would do 18-24 dB roll off for that speaker. 6db roll off os more for subs

[Boyd_835]

Getting a clean soundstage up front wihout breaking the bank or doing a lot of mods has been "on the list" since I got the truck in Feb 2015. Tried 2 different set of tweeters, both sets sounded terrible reflecting off the dash. Set of Bose speakers from a Caddy (I think maybe installed in A pillars), these were lost. Finally decided to give the Sundown Audio SA-2.75's a try. Bought them from Woofers Etc. via Amazon. Are these audiophile quality? Reviews on DIYMA were mixed, but then again, they were comparing them to much more expensive (like 3x-4x-5x pricing) speakers. My thoughts, these are a huge improvement to the factory offering - and they bolt right in. Mids are bright and defined. Upper end of the highs roll off a little (which is a good thing, tweeters reflecting off the windshield were harsh). Running Alpine Ty-R coaxials in the doors with the tweeter angled up, surprisingly, I am getting some high end definition that you wouldn't expect with a low mount speaker. What has been missing was definition of vocals, guitars, keyboards. I do have them amped along with the front door speakers, not a lot of power actually, still running the Alpine 45x4 compact amp, tucked behind the glove box, through the factory wiring harness. Front doors are the aforementioned Alpine 6x9 Ty-R's with a 60hz hpf setting, rear doors are Earthquake 8" Shallow mount subs, ran as full range off the same amp in well insulated and sound deadened doors. The SA-2.75's are right there blending in nicely. I'm happy.

 

 

 

 

It sounds like you just cut and did your own connections but don't they make just a adapt from the factory wire harness to the aftermarket speaker so you don't have to cut the factory plugs. Im looking at replacing the dash speakers as you did and doing a kicker vss power stage with that and just leaving the rest of the factory system

 

also just to clarify are these the sundown speakers your purchased

 

https://www.amazon.com/SA-2-75FR-Sundown-Performance-Neodymium-Speaker/dp/B00NO70ZO2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1480623599&sr=8-5&keywords=sundown+speakers