DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

[blk91gt]

Thanks for all the great info. I placed an ordered to do everything but the sub. This will be different, in that this is a 801A (No Sony /B&O) I do have the Factory Ford/Kicker sub (The sub still needs help)
I know I may need to add an amp, but will start with just the speakers. I don't need ear bleed volumes, just better sound.
I am also trying the 5-way Pioneer 6x9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
It appears to be pretty efficient and in the same class as the 4way...
After the speakers I will address the sub. It seems to have also have DSP from the head unit feeding the kicker sub amp. The sub amp has power and ground and two input wires. The out put appears to be 2-channels four wires, one pair feeding each voice coil.
When the time comes I will probably take speaker level from the two channels and feed a more powerful amp and probably use the Pioneer sub as described. I have 3-5/16 depth. Depending on magnet size the sub, the kicker housing may need to be massaged similarly to the Sony sub set up. (The kicker enclosure has a hump in the same spot)
I will keep you posted.
Thanks for the help and all the great info.

 

[blk91gt]

Well I completed replacing all the speakers as listed in this post and I have to say it works well on 801A cars too. Quite pleased.
I sound deadened all the doors inside and outer skin. I used Noico 80mil and it worked great. I didn't go crazy and do every square inch, but covered all holes and the majority of the doors. ( The doors even sound better when closed)
The only difference is, I used the 5-way Pioneer 6x9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
rather then the 6x9 listed. They work well too.
My truck has the optional Ford / kicker sub and even that sounds better... I haven't even wrapped it yet. I have an old JBL amp I may use for the sub in the future.
I have to readjust all the settings. Turn most things down.
It sounds so much better.
I do wish there was an EQ of some kind to fine tune it. It may just be a limitation of what the factory unit puts out. Do 802 systems have an EQ?
I am happy I upgraded and am thankful everyone took the time to post all this information. For anyone that is wondering this works great on the 801As too.

 

[lawdog]

Well I completed replacing all the speakers as listed in this post and I have to say it works well on 801A cars too. Quite pleased.
I sound deadened all the doors inside and outer skin. I used Noico 80mil and it worked great. I didn't go crazy and do every square inch, but covered all holes and the majority of the doors. ( The doors even sound better when closed)
The only difference is, I used the 5-way Pioneer 6x9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
rather then the 6x9 listed. They work well too.
My truck has the optional Ford / kicker sub and even that sounds better... I haven't even wrapped it yet. I have an old JBL amp I may use for the sub in the future.
I have to readjust all the settings. Turn most things down.
It sounds so much better.
I do wish there was an EQ of some kind to fine tune it. It may just be a limitation of what the factory unit puts out. Do 802 systems have an EQ?
I am happy I upgraded and am thankful everyone took the time to post all this information. For anyone that is wondering this works great on the 801As too.

Congrats on the upgrade...glad you like it.

The 802a only has digital sliders for Treble, Midrange, and Bass. They are universal settings, i.e., they cover/apply to all inputs, unlike some head units that allow separate settings for each input (much better...AM radio/satellite much different than CD, digial audio, etc.). What I have done on this headunit and a few in the past is send it a pre-equalized signal from an iPod or iPhone, and then tweak that as best I can with the unit EQ settings to get the sound as close to what I want. Good luck!

 

[nikhsub1]

For those of you that tapped the power inverter for power to your amp - did you run a wire so the amp senses when the car is on / off? I did not now I'm wondering if I should?

 

[smurfslayer]

For those of you that tapped the power inverter for power to your amp - did you run a wire so the amp senses when the car is on / off? I did not now I'm wondering if I should?

I didn’t.

 

[nikhsub1]

Well, I finished swapping the speakers in my 2018 with the B&O to the listed Pioneers... definitely sounds miles better - the worst offenders seem to be the sub and the 2 6x9's in the front doors - they are paper crap with tiny magnets. If someone were are a real tight budget here, I'd say the 'best' of the stock speakers are the tweeters and 6.5's in the rear doors. I expected the OEM tweeters to be junk, but they look pretty decent and have almost the same heft as the Pioneers do.

If you think taking the door panels off is difficult, don't. If you have a trim removal tool set it's super easy. I didn't have to remove the door handle cable on any of the doors, I just put a stool by the door and rested the panel on that.

 

[Guy]

Love your neighborhood

Well, I finished swapping the speakers in my 2018 with the B&O to the listed Pioneers... definitely sounds miles better - the worst offenders seem to be the sub and the 2 6x9's in the front doors - they are paper crap with tiny magnets. If someone were are a real tight budget here, I'd say the 'best' of the stock speakers are the tweeters and 6.5's in the rear doors. I expected the OEM tweeters to be junk, but they look pretty decent and have almost the same heft as the Pioneers do.

If you think taking the door panels off is difficult, don't. If you have a trim removal tool set it's super easy. I didn't have to remove the door handle cable on any of the doors, I just put a stool by the door and rested the panel on that.

 

[nikhsub1]

Love your neighborhood

Me too

 

[lawdog]

Hey, all...I was strongly considering an upgrade along these lines, or AT LEAST the front 6x9s. I had settled on the JBL GTO series because of their low cost/high sensitivity/low impedance. I just talked to a very reputable installer locally about putting those in, and he said not to bother with a 3way speaker because the signal from the amp to the 6x9s is crossed over just for midbass/bass. This makes sense, because the paper crap that's in there now is basically just one-way mid-bass woofer. Essentially, the from tweeters and 6x9s are a component set.

So, question for those of you who have done the Pioneer switch with the existing headunit...are you hearing/getting treble/mid performance out of your 3way Pioneer 6x9s? Does anyone know the crossover point for the front tweeters/6x9s?

If the crossover can't be changed, I may look for an alternative that matches the crossover point better than a 3way....

 

[smurfslayer]

Good question. I can say the sound volume is better with the pioneers, the sound quality is better but I haven’t put my ear up to it for gauging the range of sound. if I get some time I’ll take a listen.