DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

nofire said:

What did you do with the other speaker since you only need one? I'd be willing to go halvsies with someone on the middle 3.5". lol

---------- Post added at 03:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:59 PM ----------

Alright, this thread has inspired me to upgrade my stereo (as well as stop lurking and actually join the forum). I picked up everything needed aside from the center 3.5" and I doubled down on the dynamat including 2 of the dynaliners to go under the carpet. Hopefully it'll all sound amazing when it comes in and I throw it in.

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Guy said:

Smurf,

Nope I bought The dynamat just last week and played with it today on the front doors.

The sub enclosure took one roll for 20+ bucks on amazon that I did awhile ago.

The front doors was 4 rolls total... under a hundred bucks... but not part of the DIY for under 500.

The dynamat in the doors is now me just fooling around a bit. I''m being honest when I say I started taking readings because by ear I couldn't really tell any difference. Lol. So I wanted to see if it was doing ANYTHING... and it did... albeit very little.

Is it worth the money to do the doors?

Not really... It's a 500 dollar stereo mod... not a 10,000 mod... so I think that's the discriminating factor....

Now admittedly I haven't driven the truck yet... if for some reason it makes for a quieter ride I'll let you know.... but I doubt it.

But it DID make a difference with the sub enclosure as did the polyfill. Those you can hear without a meter. It improves the character and accuracy of the bass.

Those are all my two cents.

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Toadster said:

any measurements on road noise difference?

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Lanabat said:

My LB Raptor is finally coming in tomorrow (fingers crossing) and am also looking to upgrade the stock stereo system after reading through every posts in this thread. I really enjoyed reading this thread and all the information provided by various members, especially Guy and Smurfslayer, so thank you!

I do have a question though. I understand that the purpose of this thread is to keep the budget under $500.00, but I noticed several members are also upgrading the subwoofer and amp (which bring the cost over $500.00). If that's the case, why not upgrade every speakers to Polk Audio DB line? It costs approx. $160 more and based on the description, it has a higher maximum RMS wattage. Is it because of the smaller frequency range?

Any information or assistance provided would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get the best bang for the bucks.

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Mcdonaho said:

Well back to the audio shop after this Texas Raptor Run. It smells like burnt electrical wire behind my back seat something is smoking not sure what it is. I got a car full it doesnt start smoking till heavy base song comes on. Wonder what it could be...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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nofire said:

I'm sure the Polk speakers you mentioned are generally better speakers, but the Pioneer speakers listed here have a SUPER high sensitivity level. In layman's terms they play louder with the same amount of power, which is incredibly important when you're trying to run with the stock amp.

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Lanabat said:

Thank you for the reply nofire, I greatly appreciate it. So if I'm to get the Polk speakers, it would be better for me to get a new 4 channel amp?

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Guy said:

I covered every inch of the stock enclosure with dynamat extreme.

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