Fins_UP
New member
After about 6-7 months of research, planning, and purchasing, I finally have my "dream" system installed!!! Well, most of it at least. My main goal going into it was for it to sound good TO ME. I know people talk about SPL and SQL and all that. If you're into that, good for you. I don't plan on taking my truck to any competitions for sound pressure level. Nor do I want my truck to bounce down the road because I have 14 subwoofers in the trunk running off eight 1000 watt amps from circuit city. Seriously, that's just not my style. I have a very good ear for audio, I just wanted it to sound good for me.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent. I just wanted you to know what the goal was with the system. Here's what I came up with during my research:
Headunit: I have a TON of mp3s on two different iPods, so iPod integration was a major factor in deciding on my headunit. I looked at several but it really came down to the Pioneer AVIC-Z1 and the Alpine IVA-W200. (Both double-DIN units.) I also thought about Eclipse and liked a lot of what I saw, but didn't like the lack of Bluetooth, etc. Ultimately the Alpine headunit won out for me because of the iPod integration (much better than Pioneers). I also liked the expandability (I got the Bluetooth and Sirius tuner - hoping to add the Blackbird NAV soon). So Alpine it was.
Speakers: I had the 10 speaker upgraded JBL system in my truck for 2 years and thought it was just OK at best. *Certainly* not worth the $800 upgrade from the dealer. That was a mistake but hey, live and learn, right? I ended up at several high end custom stereo shops. I probably listened to upward of 30 different speakers sets including Alpine, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, Focal, Polk Audio, etc. I was all set to get Boston speakers (Pro60 I think) for the car when I came across a shop that had Focal speakers. I played with them for a few minutes flipping back and forth and back and forth, but it was immediately obvious to me that the Focal speakers were the way to go for me. They beat anything else I heard in the price range (and even some more expensive speakers) hands down, no contest. I ended up with the Focal 165KF 6.5 speakers (with tweeters) for both the front and rear.
Subwoofer: This, along with the amps, I sort of purchased "blind". I don't like doing it but I did enough research to know that JL Audio's reputation for building quality amplifiers and subwoofers is second to none. I thought hey what the hell, all the fuss must be for a reason. Ended up purchasing a single JL Audio 12w6v2.
Amplifiers: Again, purchased "blind" but hoping that I would not be disappointed by what numerous other people had said. I ended up with a 300/4 to power the Focal speakers and a 500/1 to power the subwoofer.
Installation: I gave some consideration to attempting this myself, but something abnormal happened. The wise part of my brain took over and said, "nah... better leave this one to the professionals..." Which, in hindsight, was definitely the correct decision. I'd done my homework, and it was still more difficult (or out of my league is the better terminology) than even I thought. I ended up having a friend of mine do the installation. He used to own his own custom stereo shop in Maryland and is very talented with this type of thing. I gave him the following requirements... I wanted the system to *not* stand out. More of a "stealth" install if you will. *I* know what's in there, I don't need to advertise to anyone else what is in there. I also wanted to maintain most, if not all, of the cargo area in the rear. I knew that would be a bit tricky, but I thought it was do-able. Other than that, I gave him the keys and my blessing, and off to work he went. He used all top of the line wiring and interconnects. No reason to skimp here when I spent all kinds of $$$ on the rest of the system. And if you've done any research on the 6-disc JBL system, you know that basically EVERYTHING has to be gutted.
This forum has been an invaluable resource and I thank all those who post here for that.
Now for some pics!!!
Anyway, sorry for the tangent. I just wanted you to know what the goal was with the system. Here's what I came up with during my research:
Headunit: I have a TON of mp3s on two different iPods, so iPod integration was a major factor in deciding on my headunit. I looked at several but it really came down to the Pioneer AVIC-Z1 and the Alpine IVA-W200. (Both double-DIN units.) I also thought about Eclipse and liked a lot of what I saw, but didn't like the lack of Bluetooth, etc. Ultimately the Alpine headunit won out for me because of the iPod integration (much better than Pioneers). I also liked the expandability (I got the Bluetooth and Sirius tuner - hoping to add the Blackbird NAV soon). So Alpine it was.
Speakers: I had the 10 speaker upgraded JBL system in my truck for 2 years and thought it was just OK at best. *Certainly* not worth the $800 upgrade from the dealer. That was a mistake but hey, live and learn, right? I ended up at several high end custom stereo shops. I probably listened to upward of 30 different speakers sets including Alpine, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, Focal, Polk Audio, etc. I was all set to get Boston speakers (Pro60 I think) for the car when I came across a shop that had Focal speakers. I played with them for a few minutes flipping back and forth and back and forth, but it was immediately obvious to me that the Focal speakers were the way to go for me. They beat anything else I heard in the price range (and even some more expensive speakers) hands down, no contest. I ended up with the Focal 165KF 6.5 speakers (with tweeters) for both the front and rear.
Subwoofer: This, along with the amps, I sort of purchased "blind". I don't like doing it but I did enough research to know that JL Audio's reputation for building quality amplifiers and subwoofers is second to none. I thought hey what the hell, all the fuss must be for a reason. Ended up purchasing a single JL Audio 12w6v2.
Amplifiers: Again, purchased "blind" but hoping that I would not be disappointed by what numerous other people had said. I ended up with a 300/4 to power the Focal speakers and a 500/1 to power the subwoofer.
Installation: I gave some consideration to attempting this myself, but something abnormal happened. The wise part of my brain took over and said, "nah... better leave this one to the professionals..." Which, in hindsight, was definitely the correct decision. I'd done my homework, and it was still more difficult (or out of my league is the better terminology) than even I thought. I ended up having a friend of mine do the installation. He used to own his own custom stereo shop in Maryland and is very talented with this type of thing. I gave him the following requirements... I wanted the system to *not* stand out. More of a "stealth" install if you will. *I* know what's in there, I don't need to advertise to anyone else what is in there. I also wanted to maintain most, if not all, of the cargo area in the rear. I knew that would be a bit tricky, but I thought it was do-able. Other than that, I gave him the keys and my blessing, and off to work he went. He used all top of the line wiring and interconnects. No reason to skimp here when I spent all kinds of $$$ on the rest of the system. And if you've done any research on the 6-disc JBL system, you know that basically EVERYTHING has to be gutted.
This forum has been an invaluable resource and I thank all those who post here for that.
Now for some pics!!!
