Budget sound system

cyoung1253 · September 26, 2006

Ordered the rest of my "budget sound system" today.

Kenwood DPX-501 head unit

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/ListPro...&k3=173&pr=2377

Kenwood Excelon KFC-X170 front doors

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/ListPro...&k3=159&pr=2151

Kenwood Excelon KFC-x460 rear doors

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/ListPro...&k3=165&pr=2157

Also got a Rockford Fosgate P110S4 sub to be installed into my home-built sealed enclosure under the rear seat.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/pr...89&locale=en_US

It will be powered by a Pioneer GM-3200T bridged to deliver 150w @ 4 ohms

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/p...91522415,00.htm

Total outlay so far is $490 including an 8 guage amp wiring kit, the enclosure was built out of materials I had kicking around so no cash spent there. Just under my $500 target

I'll be running the coaxials off the head unit at 22w rms x4 for now, should I install "bass blockers" on them and let the sub do the hard work or just run 'em full range? I'm thinking >100hz on the 6 3/4's and >300hz on the 4x6's. Opinions/advice appreciated.

Truck is '05 Sierra ext cab WT with the crappy 4 spkr AM/FM radio that has just got to go.

Wingnut · September 26, 2006

You shouldn't need any bass blockers...The pre-amp outs will go to your amplifier, where you should be able to set the freq for it's high end...Just overlap that a bit with what the frequency response range for the coaxials/stereo combo, and you should be gold.

That's going to sound bada$$...ESPECIALLY for spending under $500.

cyoung1253 · September 26, 2006

I'm not too worried about the front door speakers, they should be able to take whatever the 22wx4 channel head unit can dish out. Just wondering most if I should cut back on the low frequency abuse to the 4x6 rears.

Wingnut · September 27, 2006

Well...I've installed them before, and they do work.

I think I paid about $4 each for them. And they just install inline into the + speaker wire.

cyoung1253 · October 9, 2006

Update

Finally got aroung to installing the "budget system". Used some 1/8" foam padding left over from a flooring project to insulate and seal the door panels to cut down on road noise.

Extra 1/2" thick foam rubber was added to the plastic panels around the speakers front and rear.

Comparison of OEM speakers and the Kenwood KFC-X170's. No wonder it sounded so crappy.

Had to fab a couple of brackets to install the double-DIN sized DPX-501.

Fits perfect in the factory cut-out. Unit is a hair crooked in this pic, tweaked the brackets to straighten it.

Here is the home-built sub-box. Used bed liner spray to finish it and it looks right at home in the Work-Truck interior. The Pionner amp is small enough to hide behind the sub-enclosure and held in place with heavy duty velcro strips.

How does it all sound?

Bass from the down-firing sub has plenty of thump. No bass blockers needed for the door speakers as the Kenwood deck features high-pass filter adjustments for front and rear as well as low-pass sub pre-out adjustments. The DPX-501 has tons of tweaks and settings to choose from and is a bit confusing at first. (I actually had to read the frickin manual )

Will it win any "crank-it-up" contests and make your ears bleed? Of couse not but it plays well above comfortable listening level and makes the rear-view mirror vibrate. Huge improvement over the P.O.S. radio GM put in, and worth every penny of the $500 I spent.