So, as you guys know, I'm an SPL nut.

But as of lately I'm getting pretty tired of the completely bone stock setup in my daily driver.

I had been talking about doing a nice install for a while, but frankly don't really know where to begin. I was talking to a buddy of mine (former IASCA SQ competitor), and he was talking about doing some A-pillars with 3" mids and tweeters and then doing some 7" midbasses in the doors.

Frankly, I have no idea how that would work or what equipment to look at. I even thought about just going basic with some nice components in the doors (tweeter and 6.5"), and then maybe getting a little fancy with some 8" woofer kickpods to go along with a nice 12" in a center console enclosure.

So basically what I need from you guys is a shove in the right direction. Do I go all out (and all active) with the pillars or do I keep it stock looking with components in the doors? (and maybe the 8" woofer kickpods).

And while we're on the subject, I also need equipment recommendations. I don't want to break the bank, but I'm willing to spend a fair amount on speakers. I can already get good deals on amps, so I'm not too worried about that, and I already have a nice 12" to use (Fi Q) and an amp for that (kicker zx2500). I also have some 8" woofers I can use for the kicks, if I go that route. So really it boils down to brands of components or brands of separates.

Headunit is most likely going to be a double DIN DVD player, so no serious EQ'ing will be done from the headunit.

Those bravox look pretty tempting, but I'm just unsure.

Help an SQ n00b out!

Edited October 27, 201014 yr by tommyk90

It really depends on what level of sound quality you are trying to achieve.

If you're just trying to go for clean 'n clear sound without concern for imaging/staging/etc, a simple quality comp setup in the doors ran passive would more than suffice. Really no need for all of the custom speaker locations and multiple amplifiers in that type of setup. It would certainly be a nice upgrade over stock in performance without breaking the bank or taking half a decade to install, setup and tune.

If you are looking for something that not only sounds "clean" but also stages and images well......then you're going to need the more advanced processing if you plan to use midrange and midbass speakers that A-pillar/door mounted as you'll need, at minimum, time alignment. Or you can get fancy with kickpanels to equalize pathlengths, etc. And really, if you want to go the full-out SQ with active crossovers, major EQ work and time alignment and you aren't very familiar with the inner-workings of a "true" SQ setup.....you'd better have someone there who can help you in person get everything setup and tuned properly, or you'll end up with pretty bad results. Despite the e-popularity, these types of systems are pretty difficult to setup with good results, and a 3-way frontstage of that caliber would be a nightmare for a SQ novice to tackle on their own.

So really, first you need to decide how hardcore you want to get with it

If you are on team Kicker ... Why don't you run kicker products ?? Kicker has very nice high end equipment ...

It really depends on what level of sound quality you are trying to achieve.

If you're just trying to go for clean 'n clear sound without concern for imaging/staging/etc, a simple quality comp setup in the doors ran passive would more than suffice. Really no need for all of the custom speaker locations and multiple amplifiers in that type of setup. It would certainly be a nice upgrade over stock in performance without breaking the bank or taking half a decade to install, setup and tune.

If you are looking for something that not only sounds "clean" but also stages and images well......then you're going to need the more advanced processing if you plan to use midrange and midbass speakers that A-pillar/door mounted as you'll need, at minimum, time alignment. Or you can get fancy with kickpanels to equalize pathlengths, etc. And really, if you want to go the full-out SQ with active crossovers, major EQ work and time alignment and you aren't very familiar with the inner-workings of a "true" SQ setup.....you'd better have someone there who can help you in person get everything setup and tuned properly, or you'll end up with pretty bad results. Despite the e-popularity, these types of systems are pretty difficult to setup with good results, and a 3-way frontstage of that caliber would be a nightmare for a SQ novice to tackle on their own.

So really, first you need to decide how hardcore you want to get with it

That is a very good point and something I was thinking about. I know the more complex I get, the harder its going to be to set up and stage properly.

I have a few SQ guys local to me that can help, but I'm not sure if I want to burden them with fixing my truck if I jack up the front stage real bad.

Truthfully, yeah anything will be better than stock, even in the stock locations. I was thinking about going 2 way active to keep things simple. 7" mid in the doors and a tweeter wherever it needs to be (sail panel, a-pillar, so on). This way I only have to use one amp with a decent built-in crossover network. Then down the road I could always upgrade to bigger pillars if I wanted.

If you are on team Kicker ... Why don't you run kicker products ?? Kicker has very nice high end equipment ...

Unfortunately Team Kicker is no more.

I keep that in my sig for nostalgia's sake.

For a sub choice i recomend any ssa subwoofer really ACCURATE sounding drivers.

He already has a 12" Q.

Truthfully, yeah anything will be better than stock, even in the stock locations. I was thinking about going 2 way active to keep things simple. 7" mid in the doors and a tweeter wherever it needs to be (sail panel, a-pillar, so on). This way I only have to use one amp with a decent built-in crossover network. Then down the road I could always upgrade to bigger pillars if I wanted.

I'd say that sounds like a pretty good plan. Get your feet a little wet on this side of things with a simple active setup, then progress from there. Imaging won't be great from the doors without TA and such, but with good speaker selection it should still blow stock out of the water.

Is this going in that S10 you had or are you rocking a different daily driver now?

Truthfully, yeah anything will be better than stock, even in the stock locations. I was thinking about going 2 way active to keep things simple. 7" mid in the doors and a tweeter wherever it needs to be (sail panel, a-pillar, so on). This way I only have to use one amp with a decent built-in crossover network. Then down the road I could always upgrade to bigger pillars if I wanted.

I'd say that sounds like a pretty good plan. Get your feet a little wet on this side of things with a simple active setup, then progress from there. Imaging won't be great from the doors without TA and such, but with good speaker selection it should still blow stock out of the water.

Is this going in that S10 you had or are you rocking a different daily driver now?

I have a 2003 GMC sierra for daily. The s-10 is too untrustworthy for me to drive it on a daily basis.

As much as I'd like to do TA, I'd rather have a double DIN DVD player and sacrifice that.

I actually still have an alpine CDA-7892 with TA if I wanted to use that.

My only real concern now would be where to put the tweeters, but I guess thats a matter of getting some modeling clay and moving them around.

All you'll need for the tweeter location is a free afternoon, some velcro and a beer

Just make sure you don't xover the tweeters too low.....or tweeters go poof.

Also if going active, it can be beneficial to put a cap with a low xover frequency in line with the tweeter to save from possible damage as a result of turn on/off pop or other mishaps.

He has a Chevy 1500 series as daily driver.

industrial grade Velcro FTW!!!

All you'll need for the tweeter location is a free afternoon, some velcro and a beer

Just make sure you don't xover the tweeters too low.....or tweeters go poof.

Also if going active, it can be beneficial to put a cap with a low xover frequency in line with the tweeter to save from possible damage as a result of turn on/off pop or other mishaps.

Yep, I was definitely going to get an amp with a decent built in crossover and then spend a few bucks on some 2khz (or whatever is necessary) caps just in case I screw something up.

Beer is readily available.

Now the question is, do I stockpile my equipment and wait for spring, or do I brave the cold now? I'm voting spring. Deadening in the winter isn't fun.

The weather up here really sucks ass, doesn't it? I hate seeing build logs in the dead of winter from the bastards living down south who are still enjoying 60* days while I'm out shoveling snow.

Anyways.....I vote now! Last time I put my stereo off until spring, I spent the entire winter kicking myself in the ass.

The weather up here really sucks ass, doesn't it? I hate seeing build logs in the dead of winter from the bastards living down south who are still enjoying 60* days while I'm out shoveling snow.

Anyways.....I vote now! Last time I put my stereo off until spring, I spent the entire winter kicking myself in the ass.

I feel the SAME way, my rebuild is to commence as soon as temperatures become reasonable again

It gets really cold down here in the south ... just not much on the snow. Just misersble humidity and rain, sleet, stuff like that. We try to find a heated shop to work on our stuff just like you all (at least I do anyways).

Well, unfortunately the topper on my truck doesn't let it fit in my garage, so everything has to be done outside.

I'm gonna start piecing stuff together and hopefully the buildlog will commence.