2018 Raptor Audio Upgrade

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johnlocal3

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So I really took a liking to the 12.1” touch screen radio for the raptor which led me into upgrading the audio as well. I don’t really know much about car stereo equipment anymore. I was recommend someone to do the work on my truck. I’m gonna post what he suggested and you guys tell me what you think..

ACTIVITY QTY
ESTIMATE # 1044 DATE 09/09/2019

Pac-Audio AP4-FD21
AP4-FD21- amplifier interface
Includes factory harness extension so there is no cutting required.

Hertz H8
Digital signal processor
Hertz Mille ML Power 5
5 channel amplifier. Powers front tweeters, front woofers and subwoofer

Hertz HCP4
Hertz 4 channel amplifier - powers 2 rear door speakers

Hertz CPX 165 PRO
6.5” rear speakers
12” ported sub box
Under the seat
Rockford Fosgate P3SD2-12
12” shallow sub

Install materials
Speaker wire, power wire, rcas, fuse holders, TOSLink digital sound cable etc

The equipment is all high quality and the total cost is around $4500 with 16 hours of labor. That seems a little high on the labor end and I guess the signal processor and amp interface are all necessary ?

Can anyone break this down for me so it makes sense ?

Thanks,
John
 

smurfslayer

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At least with the fronts + sub, that amp should have enough push for what you want.
you should be able to get about 45-50w to the doors cleanly, probably close to 500 clean watts at the sub. That will go nicely together.

You might save a little by doing component front doors, and run the tweeter to the a-pillar. Then you could run all 4 doors + the sub and still have the a-pillar tweets. I just got this up and running in my ’17 with ~45-50w to the doors and tweets + about 400 or so to the sub. Much improved over stock.

I think the PAC is pretty much required for the ‘18+, and if it comes with plug/play harnesses that will save a lot of heartache. all the 802A stereos are expensive to mod (and keep all the factory stuff).

The labor is no joke. It’s not a hard job, but it’s time consuming if you don’t do this often and you’ll save a lot of frustration paying someone to do it.
 

Blown00gt

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I can't speak for your component speakers as I have not heard them however I will tell you that the box and 2 10's that Noah @TheCarStereoCompany built me is amazing and is not in the same class of any Fosgate subs I have heard. Its a small box that fits under the rear driver and middle seat and as far as accurate and musical they rock for shallow subs as well as go low. You would not be able to run them off of the one channel from the 5 channel amp though. I know for getting the signal to processor from the B&O we used the Nav-TV A2B.
 
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johnlocal3

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At least with the fronts + sub, that amp should have enough push for what you want.
you should be able to get about 45-50w to the doors cleanly, probably close to 500 clean watts at the sub. That will go nicely together.

You might save a little by doing component front doors, and run the tweeter to the a-pillar. Then you could run all 4 doors + the sub and still have the a-pillar tweets. I just got this up and running in my ’17 with ~45-50w to the doors and tweets + about 400 or so to the sub. Much improved over stock.

I think the PAC is pretty much required for the ‘18+, and if it comes with plug/play harnesses that will save a lot of heartache. all the 802A stereos are expensive to mod (and keep all the factory stuff).

The labor is no joke. It’s not a hard job, but it’s time consuming if you don’t do this often and you’ll save a lot of frustration paying someone to do it.


Yeah I’m definitely gonna save myself the headache and pay someone to do it, I read your posts lol.

So overall what’s the biggest improvement you noticed after the upgrade ? A much more crisp clear sound ? It seems the biggest investment besides labor are all the components needed to tie into the head unit. With that said are there any other upgrades worth doing ? I think I might ask him to install 2x 10” subs instead of the 1 12”. I’m not trying to vibrate my wheels off with subs I just want a nice balance. What I’m really looking for is that crisp clean sound and clarity that the amp creates to the door speakers.
 

smurfslayer

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So overall what’s the biggest improvement you noticed after the upgrade ? A much more crisp clear sound ?

Mind you I’m still making adjustments, but here’s what I’ve gotten so far.

lower volume settings are actually a little quieter. Not much, but a little. It’s tough to quantify this yet, because I’m looking for songs with complex tracks, particularly with rhythm tracks that are easy to miss and songs that exercise the sub a little so I’m finding myself ... ‘nope, nothing on that channel, next, nothing there, repeat several times, find a song I want to hear and up to about 25, then back down and of course it’s whisper quiet :) I probably need to bring the db meter into the truck to get a read on loudness.

Of course, the whole system is louder but clearer at volume than the old Sony components. This makes sense because when I first got sound, I replayed the sine wave file to set the sub gain, and turned it way up until I got any clipping. so the input signal is probably a lot ‘cleaner’; the output is for sure a lot cleaner.

I would describe the overall sound as far more precise in representation of sound.

I think your proposed front amp with up to 1x 550w for a sub would be well balanced and produce good sound. I’m sure 2x 10’s would be significant, but a single 10” is all I’m running - shallow mount at that and it’s great. I think if you went with that 1 amp, front component speakers with the tweets in the a-pillars, you can get by with a single ground/power run from the battery, a simpler install than >1 amp, and the wiring will be less of a challenge.

you’re right about the stuff to tie everything together. the signal processing is a chore but needed to get the right sound. From a time perspective...

doors took me about 40 minutes per door for the speakers, another 45 for dynamat. it’s not hard, just a little time consuming. The tweeters are easy to get to, but, you will need to fabricate a mount. I screwed in a few leather strips, others have used glue and metal pieces. 30 minutes per.

Wire for the crossover from the tweets- I did this when I had the pillar trim off, from front to back. it’s about 20-30 minutes to do, and you may as well run the power and ground wires at the same time in the driver’s door channels. speaker wire was about 15 minutes each, but power and ground are a bit more work to get through the firewall. I used a piece of 12/2 romex, some white lithium grease as a fish hook, gorilla taped the power wire ( I tried to get both at the same time fished through, and was not successful ), then repeated for ground wire.

biggest PITA was figuring out how the heck I was going to mount this stuff on the firewall. with only 1 amp and a signal processor, you will be on easy street for that part.

I’m going to try and tinker with the main amp gain today, maybe tomorrow but I’m definitely much more satisfied with the sound quality now.

good luck !
 

goblues38

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I am 3 months in with my set up and it puts smiles on my face every day.

2 - 10's is the perfect amount of thump.

The biggest "difference" is the fact that i can now hear and feel the music with windows down, roof open at 90mph on the high way. With the stock system, it was loud only when the windows were shut, and not loud enough when the windows were down. And when the stock system got "loud", the bass went away because of the factory management. you never felt your music.

Remember. if you have the B&O stereo, you HAVE to use the NAV-TV. No way around it.

If you have the sony, you can get by with other signal source options.

I did mine all for $2,200 doing all my own labor. 16 hours seems about right for the work i did including box fabrication. 10 if the box was a prefab unit. I made my own harness by soldering into the factory wires. to a lot of time, but i did it correctly.

i went with mid grade separates to save money. At some point, i may drop another $1,000 to upgrade to better door speakers.

And sound deadening is not needed. it is a truck. it is going to make noise. just turn up the volume. DSP is not "needed" either. It is a matter of taste. i chose to not do DSP and don't regret it at all.
 

melvimbe

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I have a 12" ported sub on mine and am rather happy with it. I think it's a good option if you are send 250W or so for subs. If you're going with 500W, then get 2 10".

As for needing the NavTV, are we sure that's still needed when you're using the 12 inch screen (are you using Phoenix auto)? Has the installer taken a look to see what he's got to work with or basing this off of previous builds with F-150s. I would ask the installer to have navTV on hand if needed, but take it out of costs if not. Some of the other material may also be unnecessary with the screen.
 
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johnlocal3

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Another question for you guys. My installer has the Pac-Audio AP4-FD21 picked out. I see a lot of you guys are all running the Nav a2b instead. Is there any reason for this ? The PAC audio seems to be a little cheaper. When I checked crutchfield it said my 2028 raptor with the B/O system is compatible with the Pac-Audio AP4-FD21.

Thoughts ?

Thanks,
John
 
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