Cheapest Sound Upgrade

WyRam · April 17, 2005

For my 05 Silverado,speakers maybe?I'm not a sound guy but would like to have it crank alittle louder without distortion.

masterp2 · April 17, 2005

a walkman

mmmikkke · April 17, 2005

For my 05 Silverado,speakers maybe?I'm not a sound guy but would like to have it crank alittle louder without distortion.

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I replaced all the speakers, the radio, and added a subwoofer and amp in my 2005 Silverado LS. So here's my take on what was the best bang for the buck, in order of best use of investment dollars.

1. Front door speakers. A lot of work. Factory speakers were a 6 3/4" woofer and a 1" mylar dome tweeter. 4-ohm. I used some Pioneer TS-D701P's, took them apart and replaced woofer with woofer, and tweeter with tweeter. Cost about a hundred bucks. (Be careful removing the door panel. There's a screw behind the manual lock that seems not to be mentioned by any of the other posts on door panel removal. Manual lock bezel must be pried out at rearmost edge.)

2. Rear door speakers (extended cab). Pretty easy. Factory 4x6's were 8-ohm full-range speakers with whizzer cones! Replaced with Pioneer TS-P462's. Cost about 90 bucks. (Which GM purchasing guru paired 8-ohm rear speakers with 4-ohm front speakers??)

3. Radio. Requires the purchase of a Metra GMRC-01 or -02 if you want all of your warning chimes to continue working (is this a safety issue?). About 50 bucks. Also requires the purchase of a Metra kit (#99-2003) to adapt the 2-din opening to your 1-din aftermarket radio. Another 15 bucks. Then a decent radio will probably run you $150. Radio replacement total minimum cost: $215.

I doubt that the factory speakers could take any more power than the factory (non-Bose) radio is putting out. But on a long shot, you might try the messy task of adding an amplifier to the factory radio. I'd probably just amplify the front speakers, as they might be able to handle more power, and their acoustic cavity is better isolated from the vehicle. You could probably do this for $50-100 and it will take a fair amount of work because there's no easy way to mount the amplifier up front. So you'll be running speaker wires to the amp (using the high level inputs) and more speaker wires back from the amp to either both kick panels where the speaker wires go to the doors, or back to the radio where you can pick up all the speaker wires that used to be connected to the radio.

ChadroG · April 17, 2005

All good things start at the begining so replace your deck first if not and you buy amps and stuff first and you have a crappy signal you only have amplified crap.

masterp2 · April 17, 2005

I used some infinity reference drivers, sound phenomal with only 10-20 watts, very efficient and can be had for $60 pair. Far nicer sound on the bose harness than the stock drivers.

masterp2 · April 17, 2005

And deaden the doors while your in there.

mmmikkke · April 17, 2005

And deaden the doors while your in there.

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Hey, MP2, about how much would it cost him (or me) to do the 2 front doors with dynamat or = ?

masterp2 · April 17, 2005

I just get the dynamat extreme bulk packs for about $120 shipped. That will do 4 doors plus at about $3 or so psf. Some open cell foam, 2' thick on the door panel. You can pick up the foam as mattress pads, they heavier ones, don't cost too much at walmart or target. I would never do a speaker upgrade without these. The result is about the same as doubling your power.

Also try to use a foam ring (foam rubber wx strip works great) to seal the door panel to the inner skin, when the panel is back on.

WyRam · April 17, 2005

I just get the dynamat extreme bulk packs for about $120 shipped. That will do 4 doors plus at about $3 or so psf. Some open cell foam, 2' thick on the door panel. You can pick up the foam as mattress pads, they heavier ones, don't cost too much at walmart or target. I would never do a speaker upgrade without these. The result is about the same as doubling your power.

Also try to use a foam ring (foam rubber wx strip works great) to seal the door panel to the inner skin, when the panel is back on.

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Thanks guys,it's a lease truck so I don't want to spend a ton.

masterp2 · April 17, 2005

Like I said, walkman.

We just did a response curve on a new 10" sub creation. With no EQ, at 200W RMS (3.5 ohm), got 130 dB at 55HZ, 122 dB at 40. The drivers will take about twice that power. And it fits behind the CC seat.

And you can take it with you when you turn it in.

April 18, 2005

A lease truck makes a lot of difference since you'll be giving most of the upgrade away.

I'd start with speakers. mmikke is right, Pioneers make great replacements on stcok heads. Had them in my Exploder and they were great. After deciding which ones you want, go to ebay and get 'em cheap.

A second step you may want to take is a powered sub enclosure. Use a LOC on a rear door speaker for signal. You can easliy unplug and take this with you when you turn it in. I'd ebay this one too.