DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

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dhmcfadin

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unfortunately, now i have to tear my truck apart this weekend after reading this thread!!!

Of all things with these trucks being so good, the b&o stereo is just unimpressive. I came from a 16 Denali with Bose and it would blow this system away. though it looks like a simple enough upgrade. Are the factory front 6x9 speakers 2-ohm? Sorry if i missed this, my brain is mush from all the information i just took in.
Everything is 4 ohm
 

lawdog

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unfortunately, now i have to tear my truck apart this weekend after reading this thread!!!

Of all things with these trucks being so good, the b&o stereo is just unimpressive. I came from a 16 Denali with Bose and it would blow this system away. though it looks like a simple enough upgrade. Are the factory front 6x9 speakers 2-ohm? Sorry if i missed this, my brain is mush from all the information i just took in.

Hey...all of the B&O speakers are 4ohm units.

This would be a much better system, IMO, if they had actually let B&O/Harman do the speakers too, instead of just the amp/dsp. I still think 99% of owners would think they were getting B&O speakers in their B&O system, not cheap paper FoMoCo crap...pretty misleading, IMO. Have fun!
 
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For GEN2 (2018) with B&O factory system, I went with the Kenwood KAC-M3001 amp to power the new 8" Kicker shallow sub. My question is, does the amp need a remote power (signal to turn on and off)? I noticed after completing my install (no remote power) the amp stays powered on for about 90 seconds after the truck is completely off. Is this normal? Should I wire in the key/on to the remote power on the amp? Any pointer would be much appreciated.
 

dhmcfadin

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For GEN2 (2018) with B&O factory system, I went with the Kenwood KAC-M3001 amp to power the new 8" Kicker shallow sub. My question is, does the amp need a remote power (signal to turn on and off)? I noticed after completing my install (no remote power) the amp stays powered on for about 90 seconds after the truck is completely off. Is this normal? Should I wire in the key/on to the remote power on the amp? Any pointer would be much appreciated.

Your amp is getting its remote signal from the rca voltage. Your amp stays on because the b&o amp stays on 90 seconds after the truck turns off.
 
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Hmm another strange thing I notice when the truck is off and the amp is off and I open the truck door, the amp power light comes on. Could this be related to how the RCA cables were wired from the factory sub? The factory had (1) red and (1) black paired together and (1) white and (1) green paired together. I repeated the same configuration when wiring the RCA plugs (1red,1black) Right and (1white,1green) Left. Did I miss something?
 

dhmcfadin

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Because the amp turns on when you open the door. Thats how you get chimes, etc. everything starts power up when you open the door. Light come on, fuel pump primes itself. Your truck is a computer, it goes to sleep when you lock the truck, it wakes up when you open the door again.
 

Kahuna

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OK guys, so I am starting to collect the needed for when my '19 is built. (802 with B&O) I am going to go with the following...

Dash: Pioneer TS-A878 3 1/2 Inch 2-Way Speakers This will be hooked up to my Kenwood TK-790H VHF radio, not the stereo.
Rear: Pioneer TSA1676R
Front door: Pioneer TS-A6996R I am going with these over the components as a car audio shop owner on another forum reviewed that the 5-ways sounded better than the components he had initially put into his F150.
Sub: Kicker CompRT 43CWRT81
Sub amp: AudioControl ACM-1.300 Hoping that this amp will deal with some of the bass roll off without separate processing until someone figures out a Forscan hack..

As far as tweeters, I would prefer soft dome so have been looking at these: Pioneer TS-T15. They aren't from the TS-A line so I am worried about sensitivity. Am i better off getting the 6.5" component set from the TSA line (Poineer TS-A652C) and using the mid in rear and tweeter up front?

Any thoughts on the sub/amp combo?
 
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smurfslayer

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I would revisit a couple of those choices; the tweeters are only good to about 30w RMS, so if you plan on upgrading your amp from the B&O down the road, you’ll need to swap them again kicker makes a set good for about 50 rms - kst250

center channel; same deal. You can decide on this, I think the stocker is an 8ohm speaker, common replacement are 4ohm, but since you’re running this with the vhf, not a big concern.

This won’t be the last thing you do on the stereo if you’re scheming this out.
If you’re looking for the sub, I have a spare one. Still have the 43CWRT81 in my truck, I just have a spare. PM if interested.

There are for scan settings - at least good on the ’17’s, that will send a flat signal, but it still requires some splicing.

The sub is about as good as you’ll get in the stock enclosure, you’ll need a different enclosure to go bigger. The kenwood 300w amp has enough power, but, you are pushing it to near max to get the sub fully powered. You might could go a little bit bigger on the amp but the kenwood / kicker is enough to blur the mirrors.
 
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