Thinking About Upgrading Your Sound System? Do It!

[gamefreakgc]

So when you trimmed the rear door panel the part you had to cut off, was that just extra plastic that had no purpose from the mold or did you actually have to cut into the pocket and can stick your fingers through it and touch the speaker etc?

I was looking to just put some 5.25"s in the back but there isn't anything that's jumping out at me, so I was thinking I may just go with a set of 6.5" speakers instead since they cost about the same.

When it's all said and done, yes you could stick your hand down the compartment and touch the speaker at the top, but not the bottom. I hardly ever use the rear compartments anyway and if water were to be spilled in there it would not damage the speakers at all since the bottom half of the pocket is intact.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Added more photos in the first post. Got my boomin' sub in there now, just need to finish up the flooring with more insulation and we're done!

 

[gamefreakgc]

Finished the insulation aaaand... my RCA's failed. Fun times.

I do not recommend the kit that I bought. The power and ground wires are great but I knew the RCA's were cheap once I pulled them out of the box. Not even made of copper. I tried to fix but I think the wire failed in multiple places so it's off to the store to try something else.

 

[Tomsea999]

Does anyone have a apple carplay receiver in their 4runner?

I put one in. It's through a harness to the stock speakers. It's a bit buggy for an Apple product, and I miss having physical buttons to operate while keeping my eyes on the road.

I'm pretty happy with it all things considered.

 

[s20004runner]

bump

yea, just do it! I only did the HU (Kenwood DPX501BT) for now, but super easy and looking forward to the speakers, small sub/amp (under the seat) and sound proofing!

I love my power antenna switch!

 

[sugjavier]

[MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION]

I'm planning on buying the same Headunit as you but 1 thing concerns me, the top most helpful review states that:
"You can not use this to listen to navigation on the Iphone using apps including but not limited to; Apple Maps, Waze, and Google. The music will pause when instructions are stated, however no sound is heard."

Can you confirm/deny this for me? I have an Android LG G4 and use Google Maps sometimes so I'd like to know if, while connected through BT, it will or won't play the Maps instructions sound.

My plan is to just buy this HU, and the replace my front speakers with these Kicker speakers

I will probably make a new thread to ask a bunch of questions regarding my setup since I'm just planning to buy the equipment and have a friend install them.

 

[gamefreakgc]

[MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION]

I'm planning on buying the same Headunit as you but 1 thing concerns me, the top most helpful review states that:
"You can not use this to listen to navigation on the Iphone using apps including but not limited to; Apple Maps, Waze, and Google. The music will pause when instructions are stated, however no sound is heard."

Can you confirm/deny this for me? I have an Android LG G4 and use Google Maps sometimes so I'd like to know if, while connected through BT, it will or won't play the Maps instructions sound.

My plan is to just buy this HU, and the replace my front speakers with these Kicker speakers

I will probably make a new thread to ask a bunch of questions regarding my setup since I'm just planning to buy the equipment and have a friend install them.

To be honest I've never used navigation with music going. I will give it a try when I go home today and report back.

iPhones have more features with most head units with Bluetooth than Android so we'll see. For example, an iPhone can allow the head unit to change stations on Pandora as well as like/dislike songs, whereas an Android can only skip and pause.

 

[sugjavier]

To be honest I've never used navigation with music going. I will give it a try when I go home today and report back.

iPhones have more features with most head units with Bluetooth than Android so we'll see. For example, an iPhone can allow the head unit to change stations on Pandora as well as like/dislike songs, whereas an Android can only skip and pause.

Thank you sir! I'll await your response

Yea iPhone has more features but it doesn't bother me to just do it on my phone. Currently, I'm using a Gogroove Flexsmart x3 for BT streaming to my car speakers and it's been great

 

[gamefreakgc]

Thank you sir! I'll await your response

Yea iPhone has more features but it doesn't bother me to just do it on my phone. Currently, I'm using a Gogroove Flexsmart x3 for BT streaming to my car speakers and it's been great

It worked fine with Google Maps open and Pandora going on my Samsung Light. No issues, at least for me anyway.

 

[sugjavier]

It worked fine with Google Maps open and Pandora going on my Samsung Light. No issues, at least for me anyway.

Well that's great! I really appreciate your response. You've been really helpful.

I'll keep watching the price on the HU for now. I'm thinking of getting an upgrade from OEM in a few months. I think I'd be okay with just buying this HU, Kicker 40CS654 front speakers and amping those with the same amp you bought (Alpine KTP-445A) and leave the rear speakers alone. I should be okay

 

[xcghxg]

Infinity speakers run at 4 omhs just like everyone else. They measure it by including the wiring to the head unit.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Well that's great! I really appreciate your response. You've been really helpful.

I'll keep watching the price on the HU for now. I'm thinking of getting an upgrade from OEM in a few months. I think I'd be okay with just buying this HU, Kicker 40CS654 front speakers and amping those with the same amp you bought (Alpine KTP-445A) and leave the rear speakers alone. I should be okay

If you watch Crutchfield they will occasionally sell open box/return items for cheap. That's how I got my HU and it was $30 off just because the box was opened once. Amazon does deals like that as well (Amazon "Warehouse Deals") but they go so darn fast because people are watching for those.

Installing an Alpine HU with the small little Alpine amp was the easiest wiring job I've done in my whole life. Literally plug and play, I don't think I'll ever buy another kind of amp from here on out. Only hard part is figuring out where to put the amp, depending on what year/options you have it can have more or less room back there behind the dash.

 

[Hoye0017]

Infinity speakers run at 4 omhs just like everyone else. They measure it by including the wiring to the head unit.

I'm not sure what you mean about the wiring to the head unit. That would not affect speaker impedance. Not all Infinity speakers are 4 ohms. For a few years, they intentionally made the Kappas 2 ohms with the idea of getting more power from an amplifier. Some head units were not happy with the 2 ohm impedance so they would shut down when turned up.

The Kappa line was not designed to be run off a head unit anyway, they were designed with external amplifiers in mind.

I believe the current model Kappas are 4 ohm again.

Either way, I wouldn't recommend them personally. Their tweeters are too aggressive or "bright" for me.

 

[dhfth]

Any pictures of the deadening of the cargo area?

 

[gamefreakgc]

Not trying to bump my own stuff, but wanted to add a final thought or two.

A year later and I still love my sound setup, works awesome and sounds even better. Have it tuned in pretty good to how I like it. If I were to change anything I did, I would add sound deadening on the driver's and passenger's side foot wells. That's the only area I have sound bleed now that's significant. So if anyone is planning to do this, add that to the list! I only did the fire wall as far as I could reach and I wish I had just done an extra few feet more down to the seats. Still sounds great though.

 

[Scramble]

Alpine headunits are some of the best. I decided to go cheap and get a pioneer in my car and regret it. Now I'm fighting alternator whine due to the hu. Story for another time.

If you really want those Infiniti's to shine get a bigger amp. They tend to like more power and it's better to have to much amp than to little. You can't go wrong with the RAAM mat gear. I've got it all in the trunk of my car and went from hating the bass and wanting 2 12's to questioning if I should drop to a small 10 haha.

And while I know audiophiles disagree with rear speakers I'm the opposite. I enjoy rear fill if nothing more than for my passengers in the back. I will say that I wouldn't put an amp on them. Just a decent two way powered by the hu and you'll be good.

I dont disagree, the rear speakers are important to fill the truck with sound. It's the non-audiophilies that have no clue.

 

[jeremyc74]

Got everything put back together, and I'm surprised how happy I am with that little amp. Not sure how to put it, but everything sounds better defined, even at the same volume level.

Someone want to educate me on why increasing the wattage improves definition, without simply increasing the volume? Is a 40 watt RMS per channel HU really incapable of driving 4 ohm speakers at reasonable volume without distortion?

One of the biggest things is the damping factor. Basically it's a measure of how well the amplifier is able to control the speaker cone. Head units are typically limited in this regard because their output stages are limited to about 13VDC (input power from the vehicle). Amplifiers use a DC to DC converter to raise the voltage a lot higher, and that allows the output stages to be designed to have more control over the speaker.

The problem is, when you start doing the DC to DC conversion you add heat to the equation, and pretty quickly you need heat sinks larger than would be practical in the space a head unit has to occupy. Some of the higher powered head units are doing it, but they still can't use the large components needed to match the performance of a typical external amp. The DC to DC conversion requires a lot of internal filtration to keep it clean. That's why you see lots of large capacitors inside high quality amps.

In the photo below, nearly everything in the upper half of the amp is the DC to DC converter. The things that look like donuts wrapped with wire are toroidal transformers and you can see the banks of capacitors next to them for filtration. The lower half is the audio section. If your car could supply a clean 50-60VDC to the amp, you could get rid of everything in the top half.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

sorry for bringing up this thread.
with regards the door cards, is it better to use the foam-type insulation like you did, instead of using the dampening-type of insulation (the one with aluminum backing)?
I haven't done the door cards yet but I'm planning to, so I'd like to know which is the better one, acoustics-wise.
Thank you.

.....


Also put foam on the inside of the door panel, took away a lot of rattles. I used twice as much foam as I did sound deadening:

.....

 

[gamefreakgc]

sorry for bringing up this thread.
with regards the door cards, is it better to use the foam-type insulation like you did, instead of using the dampening-type of insulation (the one with aluminum backing)?
I haven't done the door cards yet but I'm planning to, so I'd like to know which is the better one, acoustics-wise.
Thank you.

It lives!!! Back from the dead.

Yes, the two pieces have different uses. The dampening type made of butyl or rubber mat with the foil backing is used to absorb vibrations. It is placed on exterior metal sheeting like the doors or on the floor or roof. By absorbing vibrations (also known as noise) that come from the tires, engine, etc. it reduces the noise level in the interior as well as providing a cleaner sound from the speakers which also send vibrations into the metal. It is normally placed right behind the speaker so when it fires the sound doesn't bounce around in the door like a tin can and instead it is absorbed by the mat and you only hear the sound being projected forwards towards the passenger.

The foam insulation is used muffle out all outside sounds. Because it is just foam it does not do a good job of absorbing vibrations but can be used in tandem with the rubber mats. A pro installer told me to put a layer of matting and a layer of foam behind the speakers in the door as well as anywhere else it fits. The more foam, the quieter the interior. I was also advised by some posts on here to do a DOUBLE layer of both foam and matting in the rear cargo so mat - foam - mat - foam. The rear cargo area is by far the noisiest part of the vehicle as so much sound comes up from the rear wheel wheels and cargo pan.

A side note - I overdid the foam on the top orange part of the interior door card, as you call it. The lower half really needed it but I had lots of squeaks after doing the top as it bulged and rubbed on the dash. I eventually took the top part off and left the foam only on the plastic bottom half (the orange looking material acts as a sound insulator anyway).

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

thank you for expounding.
may i know the thickness of the foam that you used for the plastic door panels?