Stereos: What you guys Get/Got?... & Recommendations...

[Brock Samson]

Stereos:
  post pics if possible of your mounting solutions especially the front speaker locations, mine in the shallow kick panel are weak and the stereo installation guys are saying i should cut up the door panels...
you guys and gals still running 6x9s in the rear parcel shelf?.. any one using subs in the trunk?... etc. ect.... what about your decks?..
Ipods? multiple CD players?.. EQs?.. what brands?   what wattage?..


thanks! 

           

[moparguy01]

3" exhaust off a built 440? 

[71ChallengeHer]

Who needs a stereo when you have headers and dual exhaust

[mikesbbody]

I know what moparguy and jackie mean,  but i would say make sure your headunit has a input for a ipod (gone are the days of bulky cd shuttles) and it should be able to play mp3' (off a mixed cd that you make up) i have a 3rd gen charger and i dont know if 6x9's will fit on the rear shelf I cant say for 2nd gen chargers though. If you are going to cut up your door panels, have another spare set for if you want to change back. (or use the old set for the speakers) make sure your headunit has at least one pre out (for a amp) but todays headunits have decent amp of their own (4x45-4x50 are common nowdays) subwoofer...I wouldnt bother they ar mainly for big bass an todays speakers are pretty good (3 ways speakers) plus i dont listen to rap etc. but yes, speakers in the kick panels are a waste of time imo

[BMOTOXSTAR]

I jam punk,rock,metal,country,no rap or hip hop.
I will post pic's wheninstalled. What I am putting in my Charger is,
Interfire 1000 watt RMS mono block sub amp
2 rockford Fosgate 10" subs in the trunk
2 way Dual amp, for the highs
1 pair of Rock Ford Fosgate 6x9's that are going in boxes that will be on the back seat floor, between the floor & back seat.
I am putting 2 1/2 dome tweeters up front by the visor/windshield area, on each side.
All you really need up front is a good set of dome tweeters if you have 6x9's in the back.
I do not listen to rap but if you put some bump in the trunk you will never listen to music the same way in your car again.
It is a pleasure for the ears, I am tellling ya', even with metal & rock. You can adjust the amps so the bass does not hit like it does for typical rap bass.
It is like listening to your home stereo in your car.
I have a planet audio head unit that I am putting under the dash with an install kit.(I have one in my 74' Satellite & it whorks great)
I use my Creative Labs MP3 player for my media source.

[mikesbbody]

i do agree with bmotoxstar the bass is a good thing no matter what music you listen to. the thing is alot of people associate subs with rap or hip hop (im guilty) but subs make any music sound good (if not overdone) there is the space issue to think about though 

[BMOTOXSTAR]

I have a 73' Rally Charger and I had to buy a real narrow long truck box.
I will try to post some pic's soon.i am busy trying to get the rest of the car put back together after paint. Try to get ready for Carisle.

[mikesbbody]

i dont wanna hijac the thread buti would really like to see your sub box bmotoxstar  sounds like a killer system you have there. my days of the kick ass systems are over (my younger days) id be happy now with a good headunit, 4 good speakers and one amp.

[Charger1973]

Havent decided on a stereo yet but I will have one and it wont be in the dash. 

[Old Moparz]

Hey Brock,

Do you have the original dash speakers in your car? The center grille, or even the far left & right ones? I forget where I saw it, maybe Crutchfield, but they make a speaker for the center dash that has both left & right drivers in it. I know it may not be the best placement for separation of both channels, but I'd do that before hacking holes in the door panels. If you have the left & right dash speakers, that would be the best. You can find smaller quality speakers to fit in the original holes.

The first 69 Charger I had back in the early 80's, I cut the metal package tray area to fit separate drivers into it. I had 8" woofers, 3" midranges, & tweeters as well as crossovers, & used an amp to drive them. I never had front speakers. I don't know how you feel about cutting that area in your car, but I may do the same thing to the Charger I have currently because that area is damaged from some kind of accident. That's if I install any kind of stereo at all.

If I decide not to cut, I may put whatever drivers fit there that will hide under the stock, pressboard shelf liner with the perforated grilles, & re-used my Bazooka Tubes with their own am in the trunk.

[Brock Samson]

  ok, ok..
I know all about the soothing sound of a built fourfourty six through 18 odd feet of three inch TTI exhaust,.. (edit: and yes the dreaded throaty stereo Flowmasters TK    )  sounds just exactly like an awfully horney panther at idle and a really pissed off tyrannosaurus at even the most modest throttle... and - the kick down of a race prepped 727 as it catches third gear at 50 MPH and chirps the tires hard is about as close to sex as it comes... no argument there... it's a delight to do it and i do it several times a day... whenever i can,.. gas prices be dammed... 

however: I've decided a first rate stereo is a gift i'm rewarding myself and my monster with for sticking with my employer for 27 years of absolute cruelty... 

  two estimates so far have been $1,300 and $1,601...  ....

Estimate one:
  is for a 1,100 watt amp. from a local concern called earthquake, three 10 inch subs in the trunk in a off the shelf box behind the rear seats with a top 'o the line pioneer CD player and two six by nines in the rear shelf (i asked for infinitys)  the owner guy says he'll throw in free installation.... he couldn't seem to get his three "boys" to get anything done at the shop dispite claiming biz was really slow this week...
so he was gonna make me a "deal"... he's been there a year...  and by the way he never pulled out so much as a tape measurer to see if his box would fit... 

were talking a bad vibe here folks,.. & i know better... 

Estimate two:
  from a Shop in Biz 11 years that specializes in high end stuff in high end rides...
shop manager said he'd suggest Helio head unit I-pod ready, two speakers in the kick panels and again two 6 x 9s with only one sub in back and a 600 watt Amp.
again barely a quick glance at the car and it's "special" requirments...

  the entire experiance reeks to me of hack jobs and ain't nobody touchin her unless i feel she's gonna get the respect she deserves...
let alone the componants... 
  they didnt even ask about where the head unit was gonna go and/or if they could cut the dash... 

perhaps i should do some research and purchase the parts or at least specify which parts i want and have an enclosure made up for the rear hump above the rear axle behind the rear seats... I used to follow stereo developments for both car and home but that was way back in the '80s 'n early '90s,..
  im sure i could use a refreasher course in stereo 101, and by the way, i want to be able to listen to my favorite P-Funk tracks at 6 on the richter scale and not worry about the speakers blowing out or the trim rattleing loose with sympatetic vibs...
  Seems to me some dynomat might have at least been suggested...
 

[TK73]

Stereo Flowmasters... 6 years of listening pleasure.   

[41husk]

I have an AM thumbwhell in the 68, in the 73 I just installed a Kenwood AM FM Cd player two infinity 6x9s in back, had to remove my rear defrost to install.  I put Infinity the same size as factory, I think 2x3? and a alpine amp in the trunk behind the spare. I have to admitt some times I turn it off and just listen to the 440, flowmasters and 3' exhaust, but sometimes a little Rush, pink Floyd, Haggar or even some Frank zappa needs to be heard.

[CB]

ok, ok..
I know all about the soothing sound of a built fourfourty six through 18 odd feet of three inch TTI exhaust,.. (edit: and yes the dreaded throaty stereo Flowmasters TK    )  sounds just exactly like an awfully horney panther at idle and a really pissed off tyrannosaurus at even the most modest throttle... and - the kick down of a race prepped 727 as it catches third gear at 50 MPH and chirps the tires hard is about as close to sex as it comes... no argument there... it's a delight to do it and i do it several times a day... whenever i can,.. gas prices be dammed...

well said!!   

[defiance]

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2324498/3 - interior
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2324498/2 - trunk

I'd definitely recommend against cutting up the door panels.  Not only do your door panels get cut up that way, but kickpanel is a far superior mounting location for speakers in a car (better staging because of equalized pathlengths).  Plus, in the kickpanel you can actually build a very well braced enclosure, where in the door panel the best case scenario has the speaker braced to the rather thin/flexible panel that vibrates pretty easily.

Personally, having done car audio installation professionally for several years (a while back, admittedly, but that's not the point), it's very difficult to find a shop where you can take a car as special as ours and really get the treatment they deserve.  It just doesn't happen.  Maybe that's just this area, though, i dunno.  From what you're describing, though, it sounds like the shops you've talked to are no different...

As for a config and components, I'd personally recommend you get elemental designs for everything you can.  I've used a whole lot of stuff, much of it in national level competition (Kicker, Kenwood, Alpine, RF, Phoenix Gold, Clarion, JBL, Oz, Infinity, Audiocontroll, etc.) but they've completely converted me since I stumbled onto them.  Quality of the stuff matches most of the above 'big names', and the price and service blows them out of the water. - http://www.edesignaudio.com

If I was building a system for a charger to match that budget and those requirements, here's what I'd do:

-head unit
I'd go to ebay and get a 'new' last-year model of a pretty high-end head unit.  Head units sell kinda like like fashion stuff- if it's last year, it doesn't matter if the quality is top-notch, it's not worth crap.  Personally, I think that mentality is silly, but I'll take advantage of the price breaks!   Something like a kenwood 532u (I always loved my kenwood hus, but you could also go alpine or sony or whatever) would go around $120 shipped, plus the ipod interface (if you want) for around $30.  So $150 there

-Personally, I'd go for a single amplifier solution.  I absolutely love Elemental's nine.5 amp - http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/product_info.php?products_id=550  --- If you choose subs to get the channel to 1 ohm, you've got a 600w RMS sub output and 4x100w RMS speaker outputs for $500.   If you're wanting something beefier, you can always switch to a nine.1 for subs (1200w RMS) and a nine.2 for speakers (150x2 if you pair speakers for 2-ohm) which would bring the total amp price up to around $600.  Or you could step down to a nine.4, bridging the rear channel for the sub and end up with 150w sub, and 2x100 for speakers for $250.  All would be good.  The nine.1 is what I've got in my car, and it's absolutely amazing.  Honestly kicks the crap out of my old kicker ZR1000.

-From your description, I'd definitely recommend two subs.  Not only does it allow for greater output, but it also adds to wiring flexibility.  Especially if you use dual voice coil subs.  For example, with the nine.5 configuration, you'd be perfectly matched to put in a pair of dual-4-ohm 13kv.2 subs http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/product_info.php?t=0&products_id=31 which will run you around $200.  The nine.4 config would also work well with the 13kv.2s, but you'd want the dual 2-ohm config to match the optimal impedence of that amp.  The nine.1 config you'll want higher capacity subs, though - I personally have it on 16kv.2s, but it looks like they've discontinued that particular sub... shame, too, cause they freakin' ROCK!   but the 16ov.2s are a better sub anyway, and you can still get a pair for $370. 

-speakers, I personally don't bother with rears - they hamper imaging anyway, unless you've got a good rear fill processor - but if you don't care about imaging (most people don't ), I'd get some decent quality mainstream 6x9's and be done.  From the driver's perspective, the fronts will carry the majority of what you hear. 
For the fronts, though, I'd go pretty with a good component set.  The 6000 component set from ed is $135 and would work well with any of the above configurations http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=49 - which is the best damn component set you can get for that price.  If you really want a REALLY nice component set, the 6500 is one of the best I've ever heard, but it's $350

-As for dampening, you're right - you definitely want to dampen that car.  eD makes stuff for that, too, but I'm already starting to sound like they're paying me, so I'll stop and just say dampen it with good stuff.  Places I've found it helps the most (in order) - rear deck panel, ALL trunk panels and especially the lid, floor pan, front firewall (inside), door panels, roof.  There's probably more you could do, but that's a lot of work already!

-Installation hardware should be in the $150 range for 0-gauge main wire, beefing up the ground with an 0-gauge, a nice main fuse or breaker, good battery terminals, speaker wire, etc. 

-A well-fitting box can be built for around $50 in materials.  If you can do the design and build work (not really hard, just requires a little math, a good table saw or if you're good and stead, a circular saw, and some patience), I'd recommend it.  If you've got a friend who can, take advantage of him.  If you don't, I think most shops will charge you around $200 for a custom fitted box, but IMO, it's worth it to have it fit in there snug.

So yeah, I'm thinking you'd be VERY happy with the .5, some 12s, and the components up front, which if you do the work yourself, should cost you around $1200 plus whatever you spend on damping (I think I dampened my whole car for around $100).  That would be one amazing system, though, and with the single-amp config, pretty simple to wire up.

Too bad you're out there on the coast, if you were in this area I'd love to help out with the installation, or let your hear my stuff ...  I kinda miss audio work sometimes...

[Charger-Bodie]

i have a factory am/ fm in my 68 charger and a set of rockford fosgate 5x7 s under the rear deck its no thumper but it does sound decent!!

[dkn1997]

Maybe I am old school, but I don't see the need for anything more than a quality deck with 4 good speakers.  really good 6 x 9's on the rear package and either the combo l/r speaker in the middle deal, or some creative mounting for the fronts.

under no circumstances would I cut up door panels, unless you go the route that 70charginlizard did where you really cannot see it.  Kick panels, since they seem to be floating around quite often, I would cut.  first, I would attempt to mount them under the dash at an angle in some sort of reversible, non visible way.

Check out the lizard:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,8402.0.html

to me, that's about as slick as it gets

[Charger1973]

I have an AM thumbwhell in the 68, in the 73 I just installed a Kenwood AM FM Cd player two infinity 6x9s in back, had to remove my rear defrost to install.  I put Infinity the same size as factory, I think 2x3? and a alpine amp in the trunk behind the spare. I have to admitt some times I turn it off and just listen to the 440, flowmasters and 3' exhaust, but sometimes a little Rush, pink Floyd, Haggar or even some Frank zappa needs to be heard.

They made an adaptor plate, and it was just shown on a thread the other day, that lets you add 2 rear speakers PLUS the rear defroster.  I cant remember what thread but it cant be too buried yet.  They werent available for B bodies from what I understand but you should be able to make one work and keep your defroster in place. 

[chargerboy69]

I have a Sony CD player in the dash. And I have Sony 6X9's in the rear tray, and 1 10" Rockford Fosgate sub in the trunk. All powered by an Audiobahn amp. It rocks my hairband music just fine. I have thought about getting a 4X10 for the front. I just have not done it yet. I know that Polk makes a good 4X10 speaker.

[Mean 318]

at one point and time I had a stereo in the glove box and the speakers mounted under the rear tray and two under the front seats

[Brock Samson]

thanks guys this is really helpful,.. 

[41husk]

I have an AM thumbwhell in the 68, in the 73 I just installed a Kenwood AM FM Cd player two infinity 6x9s in back, had to remove my rear defrost to install.  I put Infinity the same size as factory, I think 2x3? and a alpine amp in the trunk behind the spare. I have to admitt some times I turn it off and just listen to the 440, flowmasters and 3' exhaust, but sometimes a little Rush, pink Floyd, Haggar or even some Frank zappa needs to be heard.

They made an adaptor plate, and it was just shown on a thread the other day, that lets you add 2 rear speakers PLUS the rear defroster.  I cant remember what thread but it cant be too buried yet.  They werent available for B bodies from what I understand but you should be able to make one work and keep your defroster in place. 

Yep I saw that after I had the stereo installed, No biggy, I have a ramcharger air and I need the swithch and mount for the ramcharger switch,  Mine only had one 6x9 so no adapter.  So now I have a complete rear defrost set up to sell at Monster Mopar.

[69_500]

I'm still loving the way that Chris, and lizard installed their speakers up front. Behind the door panels. I'm still kicking around with that idea for the 500. I'm even considering mounting an amp, and some speakers in the rear window area, up on top of where the rear window package tray on a 69 is, but still hidden being that its a 500. Not sure yet though.

[Manfred318]

2 watt Music Master AM raido with a Spark-o-matic FM converter and stock front/rear speakers.

[Charger1973]

2 watt Music Master AM raido with a Spark-o-matic FM converter and stock front/rear speakers.

Hay I have that same FM converter around somewhere...  it was mounted in my car when I got it!

[whitehatspecial]

Just got an old skool Audiovox mini fm converter. Works as crappy as they ever did. But it's better than AM all the time.

[472 R/T SE]

My deck is nothing special, they told me to spend the money on the amp/crossover.  My Focal highs (tweeters) are up in the dash.  One of the advantages of the 3 speaker dash.  You'll have a hard time getting a high quality speaker in the kick panels, if it's any good the magnet's gonna be too big to fit.  They built me wrap around's for the corner of the cab for my Focal mid's which is better for sound versus in the doors or kick panels. 
In the trunk I have a 300w Eclipse pushing the mids and tweeters and a 240w pushing the 10" subwoofer.  The Eclipse is a crossover as well.  I have a little 500 song capacity MP3 player, no more CD changing.
I'm real happy with the sound.  It's too loud before it distorts.  I think the sound I had in my Peterbuilt was better tho.  You could watch the exterior walls of the sleeper bounce, pretty intense.

[Manfred318]

2 watt Music Master AM raido with a Spark-o-matic FM converter and stock front/rear speakers.

Hay I have that same FM converter around somewhere...  it was mounted in my car when I got it!

I wish mine was in my car when I bought it. I had to buy mine on Ebay last year. I paid somewheres around $60 for it, which wasnt too bad considering what some of 'em go for.

[2Gunz]

I installed The audio system in my car.

And If you live in Socal I can help you with yours.

Im not a "professional Audio" Installer.

Which basically means I actually do quality work and dont take shortcuts.

My install goals where....

1. Look like it belongs.

2. Sound Quality

3. Price


I pretty much wrote the book on how it would not work in an effort to not "pimp my ride".

Lots of stuff I have done is against the rules of car audio. But listen to a few songs in my car,

and you will change your mind.


Head unit - 8 year old Alpine thats been in the car forever. I like it and it stayed.

Front doors - Polk Audio Plated 5 and a 1/4's   Covered with 71 Porche grills to give it that old school look.

    - As noted in an earlier post Kick panels are better. However I hate the look.

Rear deck -  top of the line Alpine 6 x 9's  - I ditched the Ricer grills and used some old school Vega covers.

    -  Also noted before the rears are not ideal for car audio, but the holes where already cut out.

Subs -   2 10 Inch Solo Baric's  In 2 very small boxs that "shouldnt" sound as good as they do.
                They are tucked up on top of the rear wheel well area and are pretty stealth.

      -  I could get alot more boom and grunt out of bigger boxs/ speakers. But that wasnt the goal.
         I wanted something as hidden as possible with no huge cabinet in the trunk area.

          And really it pounds pretty hard as it is. It rattles the garage door at 1/2  volume. And sitting in
          it with the bass cranked for a bit would prolly result in hearing loss as it is.


Amps....


Front and rear -   Audio Bahn 4 channel. Audio Bahn seems to have alot of haters in the Car audio world.
                          But I tried out 3 amps and the Audio Bahn was the clear winner for the price.


Subs -     Power Accousitic 2000 Watt amp.  Once again alot of mixed reviews about this amp.
               But trying to find a Class D amp for decent price is hard.  I wouldnt say Im in love of the amp.
               However because of its low power usage and price its a winner.



4 Farad Capacitor -  Its way overkill for the system. But basically I got it for 10 bucks more than a 1 Farad.




Heres a post of mine with some pictures on the doors and speakers.


http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,21757.0.html


I have alot of pictures and alot of interesting stuff I have done that I need to post about.

I also found an alternator that need almost nothing done to it to make it fit on a 440.

It comes with a V belt, and requires no special plugs.  120 Amps, externally regulated.

And an in stock of the shelf part..........


Anyway good luck on your audio hunt.

And once again if you live in socal, look me up.

[Plumcrazy]

Sony CDX-GT710 receiver
Alpine SPS-080A speakers up front
Pioneer TS-A5713 speakers in the rear
JVC CS-BB2 subwoofer under the passengers seat

[Brock Samson]

www.charger.com rocks don't it?.. 

[Shakey]

I just sent my AM radio to a place in MN that will convert it to AM/FM and also include an auxilary port for my mp3 player.  My car only had the single speaker in the dash so they sent me two speakers that mount in place of the single 4x10 up front.  I should get the radio back sometime this summer.

I dig the stock look.

I've got a photo of the speaker somewhere.....

[RoscoePColtrain]

I've seen some really good stuff from SoundStream here at a local shop.  What really got me interested is the fact that the deck was only $399 CDN, had a USB mini on the front face, and an SD card slot on the top.  Its got a black face and a 3.5" LCD screen.  It doesn't have too many colors like Panasonic has, its simple and looks great.

I remember friends that were in car audio competition saying that there was a place in Toronto that custom makes kick panels for all makes of newer cars.  At the time is was about $250-350 for a pair.

[Lowprofile]

Well, no stereo in the car yet, but I got a pretty nice set-up in my big truck!

Alpine CDA-9825 AM/FM/CD Player
Delphi SkyFi XM Satellite Reciever
Clarion SRR1022 4in Coaxial Speakers  [front]
Boston Acoustics 797 6x9 Tri-Axial Speakers  [front]
Infinity 6in Coaxial Speakers [rear]
Kenwood KFC-6903ie  6x9 Tri-Axial Speakers [rear]

Turn it up! 

[472 R/T SE]

Right-on Lowprofile.  Under my bed was nothing but the box that housed 2-12" JBL subwoofers.  I had JBL mids in the cab behind your ears on both sides behind seats and tweeters up above facing ya'.  2 big amps and a crossover box to mix the music and a 10 disc player in one of the closets.  Go in back and load up the player for a day of travel, I kinda miss it nowadays.
The mechanics would run to my truck when I pulled in our yard to see if I was due for servicing.  They wanted to cruise the lot with the tunes cranked. 

Sorry for the 'jack Brock.

[plum500]

I just sent my AM radio to a place in MN that will convert it to AM/FM and also include an auxilary port for my mp3 player.  My car only had the single speaker in the dash so they sent me two speakers that mount in place of the single 4x10 up front.  I should get the radio back sometime this summer.

I dig the stock look.

I've got a photo of the speaker somewhere.....

I think that 2x speaker idea is brilliant. Thanks for posting.

[2Gunz]

The dual speaker thing looks great.

I just wish they would have used better speakers 

[runningman]

I am retrofitted an older kenwood head unit into my stock am radio, not totally finished with it yet but it's looks cool and stock.  I bought some used old school RF amps and am going to get a couple of 10's for the back.  Going with components for the rear and front.  I have been thinking of trying to mount the mids into the kick panels and thought of trying to mount the highs (tweeters) into the front stock speaker location but make up a bracket that would have each speaker pointed to the driver/pass sides.  I am tbinking the sound may reflect off the windshield making them sound like they are mounted more towards the a-pillars.....Do you audio guys think this may work or should I try something different.  Sorry to hijack but thought this would be a good post ask..........thanks  matt

[chargerrt]

Here's some knowledge I attained from doing my stereo last fall...

1.  6"x9" speakers do not fit in the speaker holes on the package tray.  5"x7" are closer to the mark.  The only way you're gonna get 6"x9" is by cutting the original metal

2.  you can put a 6" round speaker in the hole in the bottom of the door behind the door panel, but if the speaker is going to come through the door panel, you won't be able to roll up  the windows if you have manuel roll-up windows

3.  cutting a repro dash radio bezel to fit a new cd player looks pretty cool in my opinion...thats why I did it

4.  screw trying to make an awesome stereo system for this 37 year old car by myself.  I'll have a professional shop do it when I fix up the entire car (thought to myself)


hope my  helps...

[defiance]

I don't know the pre-71 rear deck myself, but there are very few cars that won't fit 6x9's without cutting --- You just have to underhang the speakers