LooseBoltsRob

Okay, I just got home with my 2005 2500 QC which has the infinity system. I am far from impressed. My 04 F-150 w/ the factory audiophile system BLOWS this system away. The biggest complaint is the rattles in the front doors....dynamatt is a necessity. But the highs are embarassing for an "infinity" based system. Also, the headunit is horrible with only 5 FM presets (or did I not figure out how to find FM2, ect.?), and a cassette??? Come on dodge!

Anyway, I am a big infinity fan (aftermarket infinity anyway), and have been planning on replacing all 6 speakers with kappas or mix and match with references. A JL audio stealthbox or Q-logic single 10" box w/ Reference sub, Infinity Reference 6 channel amp (56x4, 287x1 in 5 channel mode) OR Kicker 700.5 5 channel amp, and a Alpine or Pioneer head unit.

My questions are about the stock system. Is the amp for the stock inifinity speakers built into the headunit or not? If not, is it easy to disable and wire to the aftermarket amp? Are there any other complications with the factory infinity system? Also, what are the exact sizes of the stock speakers? I know 3.5" in the dash and 6x9 in the front door, but the rear is unclear...are the 6.5 or 5.25? Any depth restrictions on them?

Thanks!!!

Jeff K

I used one of these which allows you to re-use all the stock speaker wiring in the doors/dash. All you do is unplug the connector from the factory amp (behind the glove box) and connect this harness. Works really well

I would also look at the "hot box" center console sub enclosure on ebay. I bought one and it is really nice. The guy uses factory matched fabric/leather. It replaces the bottom of the center console and it sounds AWESOME!!

BTW, I had to upgrade my stereo after going for a ride in a buddies 04 f-150 and hearing that stock system....it flat out rocks!

LooseBoltsRob

Awesome...thanks for the reply! That harness was exactly what I was completely in the dark about....you never know where the factory amps are in these things. I used the same style of harness in my '97 F-250HD that had a factory amp, worked great.

The sound system experience is one of my only, and biggest, loss by selling my F-150 for the 2500. I honestly have not heard a factory system that has better bass quality and distortion free sound than the audiophile in the F-150. Your reason for upgrading is the same as mine....I cannot go from the F-150 to the 2500 without making improvements.

Thanks again for the info.

UnrulyNFS

When I did my system in the '06, the factory wiring to the door speakers and dash speakers was way too small for any kind of wattage. I wasn't even using serious quality speakers. I ended up running much MUCH larger gauge wiring to all the speakers. It was a real serious pain, but it got rid of the rattle which was coming from the speakers crapping out. The sound is SO much better after simply changing out the wires.

I had to do this because of the next picture.


There is no room to run the wire through the factory boot because of this connector. Some small black loom has made this very hard to see.

VikingDiesel

what exactly is this for? Why would I need those wires if im planing to get a 4 channel amp to power the door speakers?

UnrulyNFS

Because the factory wiring is like a 24 gauge nothing wire that can't handle the output of any kind of amp. I tried it with mine and the speakers sounded really good until you turned it up. Then they died. The wire were so small they couldn't flow the juice, so I ran all new wiring to the door and dash speakers from my 4channel amp under the drivers seat.

VikingDiesel

how much for all that wiring and how much work did it take you to install?

phloop

You did add rubber grommets to those holes you drilled when you added the loom didn't you? If you didn't, you may have some spendy, funny sounding sounds coming from your stereo again one of these days.

The_Mexican

I use the JL Cleansweep ( I wanted an aftermarket head unit but then would lose the factory Uconnect ), added a sub and changed the doors' and dash board's speakers (exept the one in the middle, that's the central channel or something like that ), it sounds really good (nothing fancy though).

Here is a pic of the qlogic box you talked about:



I didn't make the install and know almost nothing about wiring a sound system but the guy that did the install said it's wired something like this:

Stock head unit--> stock infinity amp--> JL Clean sweep--> aftermarket amp--> aftermarket speakers.

Hope this helps.

juice

Although the stock speaker wire is small, it has enough capacity to utilize the Infinity amp. I am not sure what size the Infinity amp is but it works fine for powering the 220Watt Pioneers I installed in the doors. I considered swaping the wire out for something a little more beefy but after testing the sound I decided that there was no reason to spend an extra couple of hours routing new wire through my truck.