2020 Non B&O Audio Upgrade Sanity Check Request

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RRitch

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Sorry, this is going to be a little long, I previously posted about heading down a rabbit hole with the upgrade to my 2020 Non B&O system. It started out as just getting a Kicker Hideaway and quickly morphed into replacing pretty much everything but the Sync 3 head unit. I am adding the Hideaway along with a Kenwood 4 channel amp and replacing all the door speakers. I have not messed with car audio in a long time, and things have changed quite a bit since I did. I went with a PAC active LOC to convert speaker level to low level to input into the amps that I will mount behind the head unit. I also got the PAC T Harness to tap into the factory harness. I am going to run a 4-gauge power feed from the battery with a fuse at the battery to the amp rack behind the back seat, and as of now I am planning to use the factory ground behind the trim panel on the back wall of the cab. I will split the 4-gauge into 2 8-gauge using distribution blocks for both the 12v and ground and will install individual fuses for each amp. I also bought 9 conductor speaker wire to run the speaker feeds back from the amp and tie back into the factory harness behind the head unit, and I have RCA cables to run the audio feeds from the LOC to the amps. I will run the remote from the LOC to turn on both Amps. I have read that the voltage is probably too low to trigger 2 amps, so I am probably going to use a relay and pull power from the main power feed and use the remote to trigger the relay. I should also mention that I have a modest budget to do all of this and I already have blown it as far as I dare, and I know that there is much better equipment than what I have chosen, but I am not going for super high end and crazy SPL I just want something that will play at decent volume and sound good.

Now for my request. I have done a lot of reading and research so I am pretty sure I have it all planned out correctly, but I would appreciate if people with more experience and knowledge than I do could look at the schematic and just confirm I have not screwed something up. One thing of note, I went with the PAC LPA2.4 Active LOC which is 2 channel in and 4 channel out. I did this instead of the 4 in, 4 out because I have read that Ford filters some of the low end on the back channels to avoid distortion with the factory speakers as where the front channels are full range. I plan to use the front channels into the LOC and then send the 4 channels back to the amps. Since I am using a powered subwoofer, I am planning to split the low-level feed for the back channels off the LOC and feed both the 4 channel and sub with it. I also have a question about the ground, I have read that some people recommend running a ground all the way back to the battery because of the aluminum body and others say as long as you tie into a location where a factory ground is you are fine because Ford added a ground bus at those locations. I am not sure which is correct which is why I said for now I am planning to use the factory ground on the back wall of the cab. Here is the wiring schematic I put together laying out how I plan to connect everything. The schematic has all of the models for the equipment, but if anyone wants, I can post a parts list as well. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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RRitch

RRitch

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I am also starting to second guess my choice for the 4 channel amp. I originally chose the Kenwood KACM-1814 because of price and small footprint, but it is rated at 100w per channel max and 45w RMS. I am now wondering if I should go with something with more power so I am looking at the Pioneer GM-A6704 which about the same price and is 60w RMS. Should I stick with the Kenwood or swap it for the Pioneer and why?
 

Shane361

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I am also starting to second guess my choice for the 4 channel amp. I originally chose the Kenwood KACM-1814 because of price and small footprint, but it is rated at 100w per channel max and 45w RMS. I am now wondering if I should go with something with more power so I am looking at the Pioneer GM-A6704 which about the same price and is 60w RMS. Should I stick with the Kenwood or swap it for the Pioneer and why?
Have not dealt with Pioneer or Kenwood since I was in my early 20's. Check out this amp...or look at some JL Audio amps. The JL Audio 75x4 will push most speakers nicely. I recall you keeping it somewhat budget so I'm taking that into account here.

 
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RRitch

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Have not dealt with Pioneer or Kenwood since I was in my early 20's. Check out this amp...or look at some JL Audio amps. The JL Audio 75x4 will push most speakers nicely. I recall you keeping it somewhat budget so I'm taking that into account here.

I looked at the JL Audio and it looks like a nice amp, but over my budget. I went ahead and ordered the Pioneer and am going to return the Kenwood. More power and also has screw terminals for power and speaker connections. The Kenwood has a pig tail with lite wires that can be replaced.
 
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RRitch

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Since I am swapping the Kenwood for the Pioneer I had to redesign my amp rack. Here is the updated design, I had to make it 8 inches wider to accommodate the bigger amp so it will be 13 inches tall and 32 inches wide. Still should be plenty of room behind the seat for it.

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greatone99

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I am also starting to second guess my choice for the 4 channel amp. I originally chose the Kenwood KACM-1814 because of price and small footprint, but it is rated at 100w per channel max and 45w RMS. I am now wondering if I should go with something with more power so I am looking at the Pioneer GM-A6704 which about the same price and is 60w RMS. Should I stick with the Kenwood or swap it for the Pioneer and why?
the difference between 45 watts and 60 watts is nothing ,it takes twice the watts to gain 3db I had 2ohm fronts at 250 a channel ,im now running 4ohm at 140 a channel ,its no difference
 
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RRitch

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Yeah probably not much difference from a sound perspective. I did make the swap to the pioneer but it was more about the build quality and connections in this case.
 
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RRitch

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Have not dealt with Pioneer or Kenwood since I was in my early 20's. Check out this amp...or look at some JL Audio amps. The JL Audio 75x4 will push most speakers nicely. I recall you keeping it somewhat budget so I'm taking that into account here.

Should have just gone with the JL in the first place. Pioneer had a blown channel. Ended up returning it and now have a JL Audio JD400/4 on order to replace it.
 
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