Speaker/Amp Setup
 

I have searched the forum off and on the last couple days. Obviously, I don't know what I'm doin because I keep coming up empty handed. I want to add a sub and amp to my truck, but I don't want to put it under the back seat. I would like to put it behind the back seat. I know I have a small one back there already, but I would be replacing that one. I think.
I have a 17 Lariat with the Sony system, it just don't have enough bass for my liking.
Please show me what you put in your truck behind your backseat. Pictures and links to buy would be great!
Thank You!

So I don't have pictures, but I picked up the kicker hide away power sub. Super easy to install on my 16 super crew. I used these two forum discussions to help.

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/factory-sub-348088/

https://www.f150forum.com/f30/wiring...o-door-307111/

I used the special plug they call out in these. It was beyond easy and the bass is pretty good in my opinion.

I have a pair of these with a Skar Audio monobloc running them. Kicker sub enclosure

You have to relocate the jack, but they fit behind the seat, and both seats latch in the full up position. They honestly sound like at least a pair of 8's.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...b7c2ed445.jpeg

The plug they speak of is for non-amplified vehicles. Sony is different.

To OP. To add more bass, stray away from the hideaway and ultra compact subwoofer setups. The results are lackluster and not worth the time of install. That being said, time of install does not indicate the level of difficulty. It's very easy to do it right.

Let's start with the basics. For a bass upgrade on an oem amplified system, you need the following basic components

1. Subwoofer and enclosure
2. Amplifier
3. Power wiring
4. Speaker wire
5. Soldering iron and solder
6. Heat shrink

What you do not need:
1. Forscan
2. Rear channels for source

In order for a subwoofer or any speaker to play, the speaker needs a source. In non-amplified f150 systems, you would use the for-11ck harness for source. The reason you use the harness compared to the hidden rear plug is due to the following:
1. No forscan changes needed- forscan can cause more issues than it solves
2. Installing the for-11ck harness is completely plug and play and allows you to easily add an amp for your components speakers in the future if you choose to do so.
3. The front left and right channels of the non-amplied f150 systems is full frequency from <20hz to >20,000hz. This means there is not bass roll off of any kind thus all of your speakers being amplified will have a full frequency signal. The rears however have a non-defeatbale 50hz highpass filter. Do not use the rears for signal in any application. Music is recorded in stereo left and right. Not front and rear. Rear channels are simply a processed reproduction of the front channels.

I know OP does not have a non-amplified system. I say all this first because I know there will be people who have non-amplified systems and will have the same original question.

To OP:
On your Sony system, the for-11ck harness will not work for your truck. However, that does not complicate the install. The signal you will use for your aftermarket subwoofer will simply be the subwoofer output of the Sony amp. That signal does have a small amount of bass roll off to protect the oem Sony sub. However, this will not hinder your subs ability to play full frequency as long as you choose the right equipment.

The oem Sony sub is dual voicecoil. This mean there are four wires within the sub harness that supply signal to sub. You want to use all four of these wires. Think of each wire as a channel. Left 1 Right 2 Left 3 Right 4.

You want one of the following:
1. An amplifier that accepts high level input
2. A high to low level converter (AudioControl lc2i is the best out there). This converts highlevel subwoofer signal from the Sony amp to low level rca to the new subwoofer. If your amp accepts high level, you can skip this step.

For a sub and just a sub upgrade, I recommend one of the "all in one" subs. JL would be my go to. 1 TW3 or TW1 10" will sound incredible next to the factory Sony system. This setup will give refined, impactful bass that won't over power the rest of the Sony system will still giving you enough boom to put a smile on your face when you need it. It's absolutely an SQ oriented sub.

Any of these will work with a little modification to the back wall padding.

https://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-su...ified-microsub

From here, just run power to your new amp from the battery, find a factory ground (there are a number of them on the back wall).

Set your gain on your amp with a small amount of overlap to compensate for the small amount of bass role off from the Sony amp and you are done!

Can you provide some more info on this for-11ck harness please? I have a regular xlt stereo and would like to ad my sub and amp without dealing with forscan.
Thanks

This is the post I was looking for! With that being said, do you have any sub recommendations for someone on more of a budget?

I’m not interested in cutting any factory wires. I guess the only option then is to use the plug in the rear pillar and have enabled by dealer

you don't cut any factory wires with the FOR11-CK harness.. that's the point of the harness .. harness plugs into the factory plugs .. you cut the wires on the harness .. some go IN DSP/CrossOver/Amp the other set comes OUT from the amplifier

When I checked out the link above, the first thing it talks about is cutting wires I assume behind the dash.
Idk. I have a alpine amp and Rockford aub i’d like to install but would like to avoid having the dealer enable. Not totally opposed to it but they are a long drive just for that and if I could do it easily and fairly cheap I would but absolutely won’t cut any wires.