'99 Dakota RT Install

audiobliss

Ok, so a friend has a '99 Dakota RT extended cab, and he's ready to replace the audio system and, thankfully, he's come to me to get some advice!

He wants a new HU, components up front, speakers in the back (can't talk him out of that), a sub (though one that's not intrusive and is easily removable), and the necessary amps.

I can pretty much take care of that pretty well myself, though I'd still really appreciate any input you guys would have for recommendations.

However, there is one catch. One complication. Isn't there always? He wants to install outdoor speakers UNDER the truck so he can play music outside the vehicle at will. I'm assuming this would require yet another amplifier and some creative mounting and wiring.

Now, I realize how hard that can possibly be, to do, and to do RIGHT. The problem here is that my friend will get it done...no matter how...what the challenge is going to be here is NOT doing it...but doing it in such a way that the truck's not going to burn down!

So, the first step is going to be the regular audio system, then the outdoor speakers part will happen. However, I suppose we should plan ahead while undertaking the first step.


So, anybody have any good ideas for how to do that, what a good game plan would be for it?

Thanks!

exalted512

Outdoor speakers are not meant to be put underneath a car, you better look at something more along the lines of PA speakers and/or horns.
-Cody

audiobliss

Have any specific recommendations? We're open to ideas!

I'll get more specific with subsequent posts, but I'm going to bed now!

vawakemonster

marine speakers in the bed of the truck are a better Idea. I am thinking about putting two marine speakers in boxes mounted underneath my bed tool box or you could put them in the tool box and pull them out when needed. I have also seen a truck with the rear speaker in boxes with access wire so he could pull them out and put them in the bed or on the roof for tailgating.

99dakotaR/T

Hey all this is my truck he is talking about, sorry I didn't post it my self ive just never done stuff in a forum before.
And about those outdoor speakers under the truck, I have two outdoor PA or something speakers, I was told they were used on a putput course, they work I plugged the wires into the back of my home audio system and some fairley loud music came out.
I would also like to hide the speakers under the truck so they would be somewhat permenant and I could bounce the sound off the pavement.

Now about the inside of the truck I would like some really nice sound, something good for Quality but some times I would like to rock out, some times some good bass too. I wouldnt mind waking the dead with it.

audiobliss

Ok, let's get this thread moving, here.

First off, let's forget about the outdoor speakers and focus on the inside audio system a little first. Good sound is desirable, the ability to go loud (though not deafening) a necessity.

Here are a few pieces I picked out so far for him, but PLEASE feel free to recommend something in their stead!

HU
Pioneer DEH-P4900iB
$130
Never seen this HU before, but the specs for it do look to make for a pretty good deal for the price.

Kenwood Excelon KDC-X591
$180
This looks like it's got a lot of good specs, too.

What's the consensus on those two HU's? Any others worth looking at in that price range?


Speakers
What would be good, here? Some db series components? Nothing too expensive. We want front and rear speakers (can't talk him out of those rear speakers ).


Amp
What's a good amp to go with? If we do four speakers and a sub, then I guess we're either looking at a 4-channel and a mono amp, or a huge 5-channel amp. Any suggestions here?

Thanks, folks. Let's get this ball rolling if we can, 'cause we wanna get this install done over the break!

Bubba -NJ

audiobliss wrote: »

Speakers
What would be good, here? Some db series components? Nothing too expensive. We want front and rear speakers (can't talk him out of those rear speakers ).


Amp
What's a good amp to go with? If we do four speakers and a sub, then I guess we're either looking at a 4-channel and a mono amp, or a huge 5-channel amp. Any suggestions here?

Thanks, folks. Let's get this ball rolling if we can, 'cause we wanna get this install done over the break!

I can vouch for the db series components - awesome sound quality and they can get loud . As for amps , I'm running an Alpine Mrp-M450 for my momo 8 inch subs(2) . I just finished the install on my 4 channel amp - Massive Audio 400.4 , sounds great and plenty of power , even comes with a CEA 2006 rating . Now I just need to learn all the intricacies of adjusting the gains and high/low and full pass settings .

audiobliss

Well, so far it looks like the Pioneer DEH-P4900iB is the HU to choose, and I'm thinking we'll see if we can't go for the MMC6500's for the front speakers. Now, I'd love to put some MOMO series coaxials in the back, but they're not listed as fitting on Crutchfield or Polk's fit guide. Why is that? Why will they not fit but the components will fit in the back? Anybody at Polk with an answer? What would be required to make them fit? And if we don't want to tackle that, what would be another good option? Mixing MOMO and db?

audiobliss

Well, my friend and I went out to a few car stereo shops and looked around a bit.

At the first stop, we found an Eclipse CD4000. For $190. :eek::eek::eek::eek:
I knew we wouldn't find anything else that comes close to that much performance for the price. However, it was hard to use, and surprisingly, I don't think I'd own it just because of that. But, equally surprisingly, my friend seemed to like it, so at the moment it's the choice.

However, how, exactly, does it work? I never saw anything in the menus about the equalizer or time alignment or anything, but it did have "Area Shot" and a few other things that acted like it wanted a CD for. Don't tell me you HAVE to setup the equalizer and everything else on your computer and then download it to the HU. Do you? 'Cause I'm pretty sure we don't wanna deal with that mess. I also didn't see anything in its menus about setting up the crossover.

So, assuming the CD4000's not TOO hard to use, that's what we're going with. Otherwise, it's looking like the Pioneer 4900iB might be the one.

Then we went to Tweeters where we demoed speakers for quite a while. They had the MMC6500's which we listened to for a while. Then the sales guy recommended the Focal, so we listened to them for a while. They were 6.5" components for $274, but I don't remember the numbers on them. Then I also noticed they had the SR6500, so of course I started listening to them and the $650 Focals. Oooooh, man.....I want...errr...NEED new speakers! Haha.

The MOMO's sounded really nice, but so did everything else. I liked the overall sound of the $274 Focals a LOT, but they were quite bright and really shrill at some points (we forgot to bring CD's and so listened to the sales guy's Steve Vai music...lots of guitar + shrill speakers = not good).

When switching to the SR6500, the volume level when down quite a bit. Are they not very efficient? With the MOMO's and the other two pairs of Focals (even the pair of Z-series from JL which I listened to a LITTLE bit) were all about the same sound level, but the SR6500 were much quieter in comparison. Their high frequency response was MUCH different, too! They were very detailed, but they were MUCH 'mellower' and 'warmer' than the Focal. At no point did they ever begin to think about being shrill. Standing there comparing the two like that, I found myself questioning whether the SR's were as detailed, though I'm betting they were, and just the immediate comparisons were making me think they weren't. They sounded very nice.

I think in the end my friend finally decided on the MOMO's, though he really liked the Focals. He may be going with those, I'm not sure.

Oh, and some good news is he's planning on going with just front speakers first to see if he can live without rear speakers. That way we could biamp the front components.


I guess we're still kind of up in the air about amps and the sub. We want something that will really be able to kick out some bass, but also sound good when it's not just being blasted.

Anyhoo, that's all I can think of for the moment.

audiobliss

No one has any information on the Eclipse HU and how it works? What gives? Nobody wants to have any input on this?

I was looking at my friend's truck the other day, and there doesn't seem to be too many places to mount an amp. There's definitely no room under the driver's seat, and there's not much more under the passenger seat. However, there are black plastic cubby holes under the rear seats that he says he doesn't need, so I'm thinking itmigh tbe best to rip those out and mount the amps under the rear seat in their stead.

Any thoughts on that? Anybody worked with a Dakota before? Where did you mount the amps?

eloplayspolo

not sure on the amps.... but as far as that headunit goes, eclipse are not by any means simple to use, some of the functions are actually weird at times, however, they are built about as solid as they come and if ur getting a good deal on it, go for it. that pioneer will likely have noise with it.

Installer4life

You are very right about there not being to much room to mount a amp. As far as the speakers you looked at the SR6500 would definately be the best but in the $300.00 price range I like the Focals. I installed many a pair of these when I worked for tweeter and they all sounded great. Whenever we did highend systems the choice was the
SR6500's. You can get one of the new Alpine PDX4150's under the passenger seat with minimal modifications if any. That would give you 300 watts to you components and 300 watts to a subwoofer. If he has to have rear speakers then just wire them in parallel with the fronts. My guess is he will want the to play loud anyway. If they are to loud you can alway install a variable resister to tone them down. As far as you sub goes if you do not want to give up any room for a box there are stealth boxes available for this truck that fit into the factory package tray under the rear seat that holds one 8" woofer. The Alpine PDX will power this sub very nicely. If you choose the Focal components for the front use the Focal coaxial for the rear. You will not be disapointed. If you can spair the money go with a PDX amp for the front and rear speakers and get a dedicated PDX amp for the sub. You should be able to get one amp under each seat. The price of these amps is not cheap but they are very good and will fit. The Eclipse CD4000 is a very nice radio but I don't think it comes with time correction. It is a couple of years old but was around $400.00 when the model was current. The sound quality will be very good. This would be a very nice system and play pretty loud. Merry Christmas...