joemomma

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm all about saving money, as this is a budget build for sure. I like the idea of not upgrading the rear speakers (someone else mentioned that too) and spending the difference on a better front setup. So skipping the LC7i and going FORSCAN it is. I'll see about getting that adapter ordered and getting setup with FORSCAN. I was looking to spend ~$200 for fronts/rears, so I need to re-evaluate my options for a set of components in that range. I still need to decide on an amp as well. Hush - I will PM you when I get a few ideas together. Thank you.

EDIT: Truck is a '16 XLT SCrew, 7 speaker non-Sony with NAV

Pienstar

I've been into car audio for many years, but had stepped away from it for a bit as well. I took a chance and tried out NVX's 5 channel "jad900.5" amp along with some of their subs & speakers as well. Honestly, they have all been amazing and in my opinion are hard to beat for the money! Good luck with your build!

joemomma

Thanks for the feedback - NVX definitely checks the boxes for price, and have excellent reviews as well.

Hush - do you think amping the stock rear speakers would be OK? I'm planning for a 5 channel amp, as at some point I will likely want to upgrade the rear speakers as well.

HushCarAudio

I don't know what the stock speakers are rated to so I can't comment. I'm doubting you can push 100 watts to them though. You might blow them quickly.

Pienstar

You're welcome! I wouldn't amp the rear OEM speakers.... Like Hush said, you will probably blow them pretty quick. I installed NVX's 6.5" coaxials in the rear doors, and have them running off channels 3&4 of my 5 channel amp. I prefer to have most of the sound coming from the front speakers, so I have the rears turned down a bit lower. I highly recommend the 5 channel NVX amp I'm using. It's a very small footprint, and has plenty of power for my front 6.5" components, rear 6.5" coaxials, and 2 10" NVX subs mounted under the rear seat of my crew cab. I went with NVX's entry level 10's and they were like $75.00 for the pair! I'm feeding them about 230 watts rms each, and they sound great. They're mounted in the enclosure linked below.

http://www.foxacoustics.com/ProductD...2D210%2DV%2D09

HushCarAudio

I was wondering how they could sell the amp for so cheap. But then I saw it's a class D amp for all channels. You'd get a better sound out of a class A/B amp for the door speakers. For the sub a class D is perfect. If you're not an audiophile then you might not notice any difference between the two class of amps. If you are on a budget then this amp is very hard to beat for the cost. I've often been surprised with SQ of lower grade items so I'd never bash on anything I haven't personally tested. I honestly have zero experience using anything from NVX. I'm interested in hearing what they sound like now.

joemomma

Yeah the NVX is priced within a few dollars of the Pioneer GM-D9605, which is also a class-D amp on all five channels. I'm leaning towards the Pioneer at this point, along with Hertz components, although the JL C2 have my attention as well. I can always just power the fronts and leave the rears off. I really like that Alpine PDX-V9, but I think it's just going to be out of reach for this build, at least at this point. I can always upgrade later.

HushCarAudio

Good decision Joemomma. That Pioneer is A/B rated for the door channels and D rated for the sub. Walmart has them for less than $200 and free shipping usually. The only issues I've seen with Pioneer units is that they tend to get hot so make sure you place them in a well ventilated area of the truck. Behind the rear seats might be a tad tight and not enough air flow. A/B amps, in general, tend to get hot as well. If you can mount them on a tiny piece of wood to raise it off of the amp rack so air can get under the unit would help with cooling. Hope that makes sense haha.

joemomma

Thanks Hush - that's a good catch. I have some stand-offs I can use to get some airflow underneath.

Another question: I see that Pioneer has speaker-level inputs...I'm guessing it would be better to run 2 pair of the speaker to RCA connectors and use the low level inputs on the amp, rather than the high level speaker inputs direct?

HushCarAudio

Correct a truly flat signal will always work better. Also by defeating the EQ and bass roll-off via Forescan you'll end up with a better signal going to the amp. There is also less chance that you'll have any additional noise in the system from the amp converting the signal to low level.