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Changed Dash Speakers To Kickers...WOW!

GermanDreams

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Anyone have any center speakers for sale ? I'm getting ready to order some but what to ask before I order 2 sets .
 

Clyde

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I installed infinity references in my dash. I have read others saying they did not use the supplied resistors when installing.

I decided to install them for a few days without the resistors and see how it sounded, it was ok, (definitely an improvement over stock).

This a.m. I pulled them out and soldered the resistors in line on the positive side. The resistors made a clear difference, the sound is more balanced throughout the truck and I am able the adjust the fade toward the front a little more than with out the resistors. I’m also able to crank it a little higher before distortion (not that I’ll ever play it near that loud - my hearing is already compromised from my youth, lol).

I also read about the polarity possibly being reversed on these trucks, I checked mine (using a 9v battery on the stock speakers) and on both sides the polarity was correct so the metra harness did not need to be reversed.

I’m loving these infinity references, sounds great and makes the stock 6 speaker systems pretty impressive.
 

LGBarnett

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I installed infinity references in my dash. I have read others saying they did not use the supplied resistors when installing.

I decided to install them for a few days without the resistors and see how it sounded, it was ok, (definitely an improvement over stock).

This a.m. I pulled them out and soldered the resistors in line on the positive side. The resistors made a clear difference, the sound is more balanced throughout the truck and I am able the adjust the fade toward the front a little more than with out the resistors. I’m also able to crank it a little higher before distortion (not that I’ll ever play it near that loud - my hearing is already compromised from my youth, lol).

I also read about the polarity possibly being reversed on these trucks, I checked mine (using a 9v battery on the stock speakers) and on both sides the polarity was correct so the metra harness did not need to be reversed.

I’m loving these infinity references, sounds great and makes the stock 6 speaker systems pretty impressive.
You must have the 6 speaker, non-Alpine, audio. The factory dash speakers are much higher resistance than for the Alpine speakers. THere are postings here on this. On Alpine the factory dash speakers are ~2.5 ohms from my reading. The Infinity's are 3 ohms.
 

Clyde

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You must have the 6 speaker, non-Alpine, audio. The factory dash speakers are much higher resistance than for the Alpine speakers. THere are postings here on this. On Alpine the factory dash speakers are ~2.5 ohms from my reading. The Infinity's are 3 ohms.
Essentially what the resistors do is act as a crossover, limiting the lows/bass.
 

Clyde

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You must have the 6 speaker, non-Alpine, audio. The factory dash speakers are much higher resistance than for the Alpine speakers. THere are postings here on this. On Alpine the factory dash speakers are ~2.5 ohms from my reading. The Infinity's are 3 ohms.
But yes, the resistance difference is why they are louder than the stock speaker(3 ohm vs 8 ohm).
All that said, you only want mids and highs out of your dash speakers, hence the need for the resistors.
 

LGBarnett

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But yes, the resistance difference is why they are louder than the stock speaker(3 ohm vs 8 ohm).
All that said, you only want mids and highs out of your dash speakers, hence the need for the resistors.
Not so for the Alpine and HK systems as they have dedicated power sources to each speaker location that are crossed over, or low/hi passed, and have proper impedance. That is what I've read on several prior posts and from personal experience with Alpine. My understanding is the 6 speaker system uses a common power source for both the dash and front door speakers. The impedance difference sends more power to doors. Using lower impedance speakers in dash causes more power to flow thru them. At least this is what I understand from reading lots of posts when I was figuring out what to use for my Alpine. Additionally, I believe resistors do not serve as a cross-over. I believe that would be a capacitor.
 

Kekxb00

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What harness is needed? 19 rebel quad cab, 6 speaker system, i had the alpine with the sub under the back seat in the 16 big horn i traded. I miss the alpine a lot. I just ordered a pair of the kickers. What do i need to install them and what all is involved in this center speaker you talk of?
 

LGBarnett

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Gentlemen, let me say that I echo everything that you have already said about the remarkable sonic improvement after upgrading all three dash speakers for a very modest cost. However, I believe that in the end, the highs tend to be much better defined and the imaging is clearly superior to both the front and rear door speakers. As for the roof speakers, I really do not know what the hell they do since I never hear them anyway. My question to you all is, does it not make sense to upgrade both the front and rear door speakers as well. I thought I wanted to do that until the installer told me that he will need to bypass or disconnect the ANC in the truck. That is a deal-breaker for me. I am just not going to be messing around like that with a truck that I bought less than three months ago. Any ideas? do I really need to bypass the ANC module?

I have 2 pairs of brand new, unopened 6X9 Infinity Reference speakers that I bought for the project and no longer need. Part of me is still hesitating thus the reason I have not sold them yet. I would be interested in your opinions and most importantly what some of you have done as a general upgrade of the Alpine system. BTW I also have a spare front channel speaker that I am willing to sell for cheap if anyone needs one. Easy.
Replace the door speakers! There are no issues with ANC or anything else. I did and improved the sound further, plus brought the center of Highs off the dash and into the middle of the cabin. I installed the dash first and listened to them for a while. As others state, made a big change - much more and clearer highs. Then purchased the 6x9 3-ways for the rear doors. Sounded even better with highs from all directions. Went like this for 2 months and decided to get the 6x9 components and installed the woofers only in the front doors. This tightened up the bass, alot. Now the systems sounds awesome. Maybe it could use more power, but only for some older music that was recorded with low gain. Note: I mostly listen to music from my iPhone iTunes library. I don't know what Apple does to the iPhone, but I find it to be the cleanest music source by far.
 

ramButz

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Replace the door speakers! There are no issues with ANC or anything else. I did and improved the sound further, plus brought the center of Highs off the dash and into the middle of the cabin. I installed the dash first and listened to them for a while. As others state, made a big change - much more and clearer highs. Then purchased the 6x9 3-ways for the rear doors. Sounded even better with highs from all directions. Went like this for 2 months and decided to get the 6x9 components and installed the woofers only in the front doors. This tightened up the bass, alot. Now the systems sounds awesome. Maybe it could use more power, but only for some older music that was recorded with low gain. Note: I mostly listen to music from my iPhone iTunes library. I don't know what Apple does to the iPhone, but I find it to be the cleanest music source by far.
(y) :love:
 

Nibis

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Replace the door speakers! There are no issues with ANC or anything else. I did and improved the sound further, plus brought the center of Highs off the dash and into the middle of the cabin. I installed the dash first and listened to them for a while. As others state, made a big change - much more and clearer highs. Then purchased the 6x9 3-ways for the rear doors. Sounded even better with highs from all directions. Went like this for 2 months and decided to get the 6x9 components and installed the woofers only in the front doors. This tightened up the bass, alot. Now the systems sounds awesome. Maybe it could use more power, but only for some older music that was recorded with low gain. Note: I mostly listen to music from my iPhone iTunes library. I don't know what Apple does to the iPhone, but I find it to be the cleanest music source by far.

Hey, can you post the part numbers of the speakers you used. Sounds like a nice setup. I have the nine speaker setup in my trailhawk, I used the Kicker upgrade, the dash speakers made a big difference, I really don't think the doors needed to be done though.

Also, how hard were the door, my trailhawk kinda sucked, I was using all my strength to pull the panels off
 

Ellisstrong

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Replace the door speakers! There are no issues with ANC or anything else. I did and improved the sound further, plus brought the center of Highs off the dash and into the middle of the cabin. I installed the dash first and listened to them for a while. As others state, made a big change - much more and clearer highs. Then purchased the 6x9 3-ways for the rear doors. Sounded even better with highs from all directions. Went like this for 2 months and decided to get the 6x9 components and installed the woofers only in the front doors. This tightened up the bass, alot. Now the systems sounds awesome. Maybe it could use more power, but only for some older music that was recorded with low gain. Note: I mostly listen to music from my iPhone iTunes library. I don't know what Apple does to the iPhone, but I find it to be the cleanest music source by far.
I’m actually interested in what speakers you used for your doors as well and how difficult the install was
 

LGBarnett

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Hey, can you post the part numbers of the speakers you used. Sounds like a nice setup. I have the nine speaker setup in my trailhawk, I used the Kicker upgrade, the dash speakers made a big difference, I really don't think the doors needed to be done though.

Also, how hard were the door, my trailhawk kinda sucked, I was using all my strength to pull the panels off

Dash: Infinity Ref 3022 3.5” 2 ways (replaced by 3032 2 ways)
Front Doors: Infinity Ref 9630 6x9” Components (used only the woofers)
Rear Doors: Infinity Reference 9633 6x9 3 ways

Purchased all on Amazon for much less than Crutchfield but purchased Metra connectors from Crutchfield (don’t recall parts no’s but you can search on here for them. They are different for dash and doors.

Search for instructions to remove, there are many examples on here. Suggest you purchase an interior trim toolkit - I got this one -> (Fstops Labs 39 piece) on Amazon. Installation is fairly straightforward and with the tools you wont mar you plastics on the door. The retainers on the door panels are very sticky they hold on to the panels very well. But when they break free the panels come off easily. First time you’ll think you broke something. The plastic pry pieces in the toolkit help a great deal on breaking the panels free. I tended to leave the electrics and door pulls connected and used a bungee cord to keep the panels far enough away I was able to work around them. Most posting here will describe removing the panels completely. Good luck!
 

Nibis

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Dash: Infinity Ref 3022 3.5” 2 ways (replaced by 3032 2 ways)
Front Doors: Infinity Ref 9630 6x9” Components (used only the woofers)
Rear Doors: Infinity Reference 9633 6x9 3 ways

Purchased all on Amazon for much less than Crutchfield but purchased Metra connectors from Crutchfield (don’t recall parts no’s but you can search on here for them. They are different for dash and doors.

Search for instructions to remove, there are many examples on here. Suggest you purchase an interior trim toolkit - I got this one -> (Fstops Labs 39 piece) on Amazon. Installation is fairly straightforward and with the tools you wont mar you plastics on the door. The retainers on the door panels are very sticky they hold on to the panels very well. But when they break free the panels come off easily. First time you’ll think you broke something. The plastic pry pieces in the toolkit help a great deal on breaking the panels free. I tended to leave the electrics and door pulls connected and used a bungee cord to keep the panels far enough away I was able to work around them. Most posting here will describe removing the panels completely. Good luck!
Thank you !
 

ramButz

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Dash: Infinity Ref 3022 3.5” 2 ways (replaced by 3032 2 ways)
Front Doors: Infinity Ref 9630 6x9” Components (used only the woofers)
Rear Doors: Infinity Reference 9633 6x9 3 ways

Purchased all on Amazon for much less than Crutchfield but purchased Metra connectors from Crutchfield (don’t recall parts no’s but you can search on here for them. They are different for dash and doors.

Search for instructions to remove, there are many examples on here. Suggest you purchase an interior trim toolkit - I got this one -> (Fstops Labs 39 piece) on Amazon. Installation is fairly straightforward and with the tools you wont mar you plastics on the door. The retainers on the door panels are very sticky they hold on to the panels very well. But when they break free the panels come off easily. First time you’ll think you broke something. The plastic pry pieces in the toolkit help a great deal on breaking the panels free. I tended to leave the electrics and door pulls connected and used a bungee cord to keep the panels far enough away I was able to work around them. Most posting here will describe removing the panels completely. Good luck!
hey that bungee cord is a good idea (y)!
 

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