For lack of better place to put it, I figured I would do a new thread. So here are a couple pictures of the almost final install. The installation was done at my shop and fabrication was done in my wood shop next door. Most all work was done by Noah Stebbins from the Car Stereo Company. He will travel and do installations just about anywhere if you give him air fare, Dr. Pepper, food, and a place to sleep. The work took about 4 1/2 days, and the tuning took about a full day. There could be a roundy round about the choice of equipment, the value of doing so much insulation, blah blah. I let Noah pick most of the parts, and it boils down to budget and your listening style. The sky is the limit when it comes to components and the trick is to get a good balance so everything works well together. I like good ol rock n roll, so I'm running a pair of 10" subs and they are incredibly clean and tight. That is also as big as you can get without major surgery to the interior or having them stick out into the footwell bigtime. The rest of the equipment speaks for itself except the sound deadener. This shit is expensive and arguably marginal returns. I feel it is doing an awesome job, but we did EVERYTHING. Inside doors, door faces, roof, floor, firewall, back wall, and IMO the truck is way quieter. It changes and improves the listening environment a pretty large measurable amount. I guess I coulda gotten a bit scientific and done before and after decibel readings, but ummmm nope. Overall, the system lives up to what I was hoping for and then some. It actually gets me to listen to music I normally wouldn't because I find myself looking for anything that is well engineered and recorded. Noah did an incredible job of tuning and creating the stage considering the speaker locations are essentially in the stock locations. This obviously isn't for everyone as the price tag is 10K, but keep in mind this is very much a simple mid level stereo by high end standards. If you enjoy your music as much as I do and you feel like getting yourself a cool birthday present, this is the shit. Noah is over on the other site a fair amount, but you can pm me if you want his contact info. Here is a basic rundown of the job. Equipment list; focal es 165k2 (front speakers) focal ec 165k (rear speakers) mosconi 6to8 (sound processor) arc audio xdiv2 1200.6 ( speaker amp) arc audio xdiv2 1100.1 (sub amp) focal bam xxxl (sound deadening) audiomobile gts 10" subwoofer PAC Audio converter fiberglass sub box custom to be made on site stinger pro series 0/1 power kit stinger pro 4ga power power distribution block stinger pro 17ft rca cables stinger pro 6ft rca cables stinger pro 16ga speaker wire stinger pro 14ga speaker wire speaker adapter plates- custom made on site
The pictures don't show a finished product- the wiring was all tidied up, the sub box finished to perfection, interior put back together without a hitch. I will post some finished pics in this post later.
shelteredraptor I would love to see some pictures of the finished product, especially the subs in the custom fiberglass box. I recently replace the front door speakers in my truck with Alpine 6x9 and they sound great! Keep in mind I have the factory Sony system and built in sub from the factory. For $120 (sale $80 off) I made a big improvement to my system. Crutchfield sent free wire adapters and mounting plates, link below, and the install took about two hours and went smoothly. I'm considering doing 6-1/2s in the rear doors and a sealed 10" sub or two. Curiouse why you didn't use 6x9s in the front doors. Also $10,000 is way out of my budget. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPR69/Alpine-SPR-69.html
Focal 6.5" speakers are used with custom mounting plates. Not to sound snobby, but these are in a different zip code from 200 dollar 6 x 9's. The smoothness of these speakers is amazing, but like I said above, not for everyone. The sub box was made literally in place and fits perfectly, there is zero bounce in it. I'm going to the shop later and will take some pics of the finished product. I'm not into blingy stuff so there is no cutesy lights or showy display, just a good, solid install.
@kanaweli are you happy with your alpine? Would you recommend it? Sorry for being off topic. I'm looking for a new stereo and I'm leaning towards alpine. The thing is I've read good and bad. Most review sites cover the good and downgrade the bad. I've read some buyer feedbacks as well and that put me on the fence. Do they ship real melons? After searching the net I've found a better review. A bit harsh finally one that seems to tell it how it is. What do you think about this Alpine stereo unit? How bad are the drawbacks? How hard is life with just one USB? What about the screen resolution is it a pixel war? Tips?
