I recently purchased a 99 Ford F150 XL Extended Cab. It has the factory stereo in it currently. I installed a pair of Boston SL80 6x8 speakers in the rear doors that I had purchased for another car and would not fit. It sounds a lot better but need more upgrades. wanted to get some more experienced comments or suggestions before I proceed. I was thinking of getting a set of the Boston SR80's for the front doors, the Kenwood KDC-HD545U Stereo with the bluetooth adapter. I found on ebay a single JL audio 10w1v2 sub in a box designed to fit under the passenger side of the rear seat with .65 cubic feet or airspace. And a Kicker 10Z700.5 5 channel amp to run it all. I would really appreciate some comments, suggestions, warnings here as I am really looking forward to doing this project, but I have no real knowledge of what works and what doesn't. I am looking for sound quality with this system. Thanks All Steve
sounds to me like you have the makings of a nice system. when looking for wire look for a quality 4 gauge or larger if you plan on upgrading. do the big 3 (google it, or look for the thread here). it will help by letting the power you have on hand (factory alt) flow better. for lack of a better explanation.
Thanks Pedro. Hey, we are less than an hour from each other. I am in New Port Richey. I searched on here for big 3 and didnt find anything, but I googled it and found some info on it. Thank You for the tip. All of this equipment, I found about by just doing internet research on different amps, head units. The sub, I was kind of stuck on as the space below the rear seat is very limited. I am hoping that the .65 box with the JL Audio sub will give me some good solid bass. It is a sealed unit. I found other pre made boxes that fit my truck, but they all use two 10" subs, which I am thinking may be a bit too much. And the fact that one sub keeps the cost down slightly. I was a little leary of going with the Kenwood HD-545 but everything I've read so far seems to indicate it is a good unit. My last car I had a Clarion installed professionally and I liked it a lot, but Im thinking or at least hoping the Kenwood will be nicer. So thank you for the info, I feel a little more reassured in my selections now. Going to order the Kenwood first. I do have one question though. Right now the speakers are wired using the factory wiring. When I add the amp, I have to run new wire from each speaker back to the amp. What happens to the factory wiring at the head unit plugging into the factory harness? Is this just ignored? Do I have to cut them out of the factory harness? I have to run 3 sets of RCA cables back to the amp and wire the speakers to the amp? I hope I am making myself clear. This will be my first attempt at doing car stereo install.
You don't need to cut the factory speaker wires from the factory harness. You should be using a new harness to install your new Headunit. One like this: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120701771/Receiver-Wire-Harness.html?tp=2977 You can cut the speaker wires from the new harness that plugs in the HU so they don't short. Leave your factory harness alone. It can stay put unconnected. If space is an issue, tie it back to another run of wires outta the way. I wouldn't cut the factory harness because if you sell the truck later, you can reinstall the factory radio in minutes. Don't forget to run a wire to your amp for switched signal. Its usually light blue. The harness info should tell you which wire to connect to switched (acc.)
Ok guys, here we go. I am going to start some of the work this weekend. Making the amp mount, and running RCA cables and speaker wires. The amp will be mounted under the drivers side rear seat, sub to go under the passenger side rear. Question 1) When running the speaker wires, the drivers side speaker wires are going to be much shorter then the passenger side. Should I keep all runs of speaker wire the same length or cut to fit? Question 2) How far should I keep the amp power wire from the speaker wires and RCA cables?
I cut to fit. There is no need for extra wire under the dash. As long as the RCA cables are shielded (most quality cables are) the power wire shouldn't be an issue. Speaker wires are output so that shouldn't be an issue either (unless you have bare wire,lol).
Well, I got the wires run, no big issues there. But it seems that JL Audio may have thrown a wrench into my works. I just read about the new JL Audio XD700/5 amp. I was planning on going with the Kicker ZX700.5 but now am unsure. There isnt much info out yet about the new JL Amp but I was wondering if anyone had any comments on JL Audio amps versus Kicker amps?
