Car Audio (Van)

Markee
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2/25/2019 8:49am Edited Date/Time 3/2/2019 11:35pm
Want to upgrade my sound in my sprinter van. The space i have to work with is about 6ft past the drivers/passenger seating, then there is a partition sealing off the "garage" of the van.

Have a pioneer deck i have installed running a couple small 4x2 3 way speakers, obviously they distort with any bass. I already wired for an amp when I built the van.

Any suggestions? Not trying to do anything crazy, just a nice balance.
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Motox627!
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2/25/2019 9:05am
What kind of music do you primarily listen to?
Markee
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2/25/2019 11:40am
Man I listen to everything but r&b.
Markee
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2/25/2019 11:49am
This is the space I'm working with.


Falcon
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2/25/2019 11:55am
Have you looked at what you can install in the doors? I'm guessing a 4x2 like you have may be your only option, but if you can upgrade to even a 5 1/4" round speaker, your options for good speakers get much better. You'll increase the bass doing just that.
If you are looking to add some deeper bass to round out the sound, put a subwoofer enclosure under that bench seat and you're done. Even a single 8" sub will make that van sound better.
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The Shop

ocscottie
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2/25/2019 12:22pm
Man, way back in the day in my '79 For Econoline i had a system that could set car alarms off, there was like 14 speakers and 1000 watts LOL It was a fun little hobby to work on. This was like '87-90'ish.

Oh ya it was also all Pioneer, deck+12 disc changer, i actually still have those, and a ton of other oldschool misc. parts.

Let me know what you come up with and how it sounds, i have to do something with my van without going all crazy, but want some clean sound, i dont need another earth shaker.
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huck
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2/25/2019 12:55pm
ocscottie wrote:
Man, way back in the day in my '79 For Econoline i had a system that could set car alarms off, there was like 14 speakers...
Man, way back in the day in my '79 For Econoline i had a system that could set car alarms off, there was like 14 speakers and 1000 watts LOL It was a fun little hobby to work on. This was like '87-90'ish.

Oh ya it was also all Pioneer, deck+12 disc changer, i actually still have those, and a ton of other oldschool misc. parts.

Let me know what you come up with and how it sounds, i have to do something with my van without going all crazy, but want some clean sound, i dont need another earth shaker.
Pussy! Wink

Motox627!
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2/25/2019 1:18pm
Markee wrote:
This is the space I'm working with. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/02/25/327860/s1200_IMG_20190225_144457.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/02/25/327861/s1200_IMG_20190225_144512.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/02/25/327862/s1200_IMG_20190225_144527.jpg[/img]
This is the space I'm working with.


The acoustics in a van should help, but i would throw either 2 x 8" or if there is enough room, 2 x 10" subs under that bench seat. Then, like others have mentioned - upgrade the door speakers and then mount 2 either 6 1/2" or 6x9 in that back wall so all your mids and highs aren't just coming from the doors.
Markee
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2/26/2019 11:21am
There are no door speakers, just some 4" up in the dash and those ones I added to the head liner.
2/26/2019 1:01pm
Markeebro, in my opinion, you should find a starving stray cat at the local repository. Smear just enough cat food around the van and then lock the starving feline inside. Van will be cleared out in no time.
Markee
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2/26/2019 4:35pm Edited Date/Time 2/26/2019 4:40pm
Markeebro, in my opinion, you should find a starving stray cat at the local repository. Smear just enough cat food around the van and then lock...
Markeebro, in my opinion, you should find a starving stray cat at the local repository. Smear just enough cat food around the van and then lock the starving feline inside. Van will be cleared out in no time.
You're getting closer and closer to getting a cat in the mail! lol
Markee
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2/26/2019 4:38pm
Motox627! wrote:
The acoustics in a van should help, but i would throw either 2 x 8" or if there is enough room, 2 x 10" subs under...
The acoustics in a van should help, but i would throw either 2 x 8" or if there is enough room, 2 x 10" subs under that bench seat. Then, like others have mentioned - upgrade the door speakers and then mount 2 either 6 1/2" or 6x9 in that back wall so all your mids and highs aren't just coming from the doors.
Leaning towards this route. 10" sub under the seat and 2 6x9's mounted behind the front seats. 4 channel amp.
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KDXGarage
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2/26/2019 10:51pm
One sub under the seat

kickpanels or door pods with 5 1/4"

one four channel amp big enough to run the doors in stereo off one pair, then bridge the other for the sub

check your wiring gauge

Try not to get 6x9's if you can.

Also, try to put the non-sub speakers in front of you.
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Markee
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2/27/2019 4:42am
KDXGarage wrote:
One sub under the seat kickpanels or door pods with 5 1/4" one four channel amp big enough to run the doors in stereo off one...
One sub under the seat

kickpanels or door pods with 5 1/4"

one four channel amp big enough to run the doors in stereo off one pair, then bridge the other for the sub

check your wiring gauge

Try not to get 6x9's if you can.

Also, try to put the non-sub speakers in front of you.
Reason to avoid 6x9s? I've actually never had them
KDXGarage
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2/27/2019 7:55am
The main thing is to try to get the main (stereo) speakers in front of you. 6x9's aren't usually a "mounted in front of you" size.
Motox627!
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2/27/2019 8:11am
There is no reason to avoid 6x9 speakers. Literally half the cars and trucks on the road have them in the doors......
KDXGarage
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3/1/2019 11:50am
Motox627! wrote:
There is no reason to avoid 6x9 speakers. Literally half the cars and trucks on the road have them in the doors......
No. They do not. That statement is incorrect..
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ocscottie
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3/1/2019 1:29pm
Im with KDX, a component set sound so much better than 6x9's, not even a discussion IMO.
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Falcon
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3/1/2019 3:00pm
Any non-circular speaker (6x9) will stretch at the limits of its travel and thus distort the shape of the cone slightly. It can lead to lower fidelity reproduction. Get any round coaxial speaker set, or better yet, some separates.
Markee
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3/2/2019 7:30am
At the least i'm going with a 6.5 component set with a 10" sub.

Bounced the idea around of just doing 4 6.5 and 2 tweeters. My ram1500 doesn't have anything special in it from the factory and I think it sounds great.
KDXGarage
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3/2/2019 11:34pm
Markee wrote:
At the least i'm going with a 6.5 component set with a 10" sub. Bounced the idea around of just doing 4 6.5 and 2 tweeters...
At the least i'm going with a 6.5 component set with a 10" sub.

Bounced the idea around of just doing 4 6.5 and 2 tweeters. My ram1500 doesn't have anything special in it from the factory and I think it sounds great.
If Paul Thede made speakers, he would be talking to you. ""The best you've ridden is the best you know." :-)

If you can bear it, skip a second pair of main speakers.

two tweeters
two woofers
one subwoofer
one amp

Look into co-axial speakers if you are worried about mounting and not having to fool with mounting a tweeter.

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