Looking to update my sound system in the dodge, I plan to get the factory dash that goes to a truck with a nav. system from the factory. I want a dvd/ navigation system that fits flush in the dash, I want a 7" screen. What is the best bang for the buck, also, are any of the indash navigation internet updatable like a regular navigation, i dont want one that I will have to pay to update it, also dont want one that runs off a dvd.

Also, what is the best mid speakers?


I found a good deal on two 10" kicker solo baric subs and a kicker amp, used. Does anyone make the under the back seat sub box for the square subs?


I have always like kenwood, jvc, pioneer, and i have always liked diamond and memphis subs.


Any help would be great, thanks!

 

I think the Kenwood DNX7100 unit is the best unit on the market. The Nav unit is Garmin and works better than any I have played with. The Kenwood units have great add ons like the reverse camera and Ipod interface.

 

Exactly what the three headed fish said...That is the unit I will most likely put in my truck, with the Alpine IVA-W205 being my second choice...

 

"What is the best..." questions are always subjective with mobile audio so you will have to sift through what everyone else's opinions are to find what best matches your own.

Personally, I am a fan of Alpine h/u's. They are certainly not the flashiest units on the market, but have the best user interface, best iPod interface, and most adjustability/control of any other brand h/u I have owned or used. They may not be the best at any one of these categories, but they are head over heels above any other brand, IMO, at doing it all at top notch levels. I personally, wouldn't put anything but an Alpine in the dash of a vehicle in my ownership. Here is a really nice in-dash unit Alpine makes. I am not sure on the navigation specifics, however, as my Magellan 4040 does all that for me separately. From glancing at the page it looks like a separate portable navigation receiver (like a Garmin or Magellan) plugs into the h/u and converts the 6.5" display to navigation. Not a bad idea of you plan on taking your navigation unit in another vehicle any time, you can just unhook it from your h/u and away you go:

http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...model=IVA-W205

When we get into speakers, you have to ask yourself what you are chasing. To keep things as simple as possible, are you going for SPL or SQ? SPL is Sound Pressure Levels, basically loudness. Do you want your "system" to be the loudest around at the sacrifice of SQ? SQ is Sound Quality, the clarity of the music at any volume level. Do you want a concert hall in your truck, even at the expense of the upper echelon of loudness?

Personally, I am an SQ man. I like my music loud at times, but will not sacrifice clarity for dB. So in my opinion, i would not consider anything but a set of component speakers for the doors. Replacement coaxial speakers will get you a louder output from stock, but even with the best coaxial speakers on the market you will not reach the sound quality that even the most budget priced set of components can provide. I personally like Rainbow components. They are a very well made, low quantity company that takes pride in their craftsmanship. When it comes to speakers I try to avoid the brands that are mass produced and carried at Best Buy, Circuit City, and the like. It seems once a mobile audio company goes mainstream the quality takes a dive. In the early 90's I was a big fan of Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, Infinity, etc. Since they have all gone mainstream, their quality has gone down the tubes in my opinion.

Here is a website where you can check out Rainbow separates if you are interested. I really like the Germanium line; I have heard them in a full size Chevy and the clarity is beyond text description; they WILL be the next set of components in my truck:

http://www.distinctusa.com/products.html

If Rainbow's aren't your style, there are plenty of other quality speaker companies out there. I am also a fan of Focal components, Boston Acoustics, and the higher end line of Polk Audio.

http://www.focal-america.com/
http://www.bostonacoustics.com/
http://www.polkaudio.com/

When it comes to amplification, I am of the mindset of KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. I want a dependable, easy to adjust, easy to tune amplifier. For this reason I prefer JL Audio amplifiers. The 300/2 is a fantastic amplifier to power a set of decent components (depending on wattage requirements), is easy to tune, and are made to last. The 500/1 and 1000/1 are also fantastic monoblock amplifiers for subwoofer driving and look great when paired up with another Slash series amplifier pushing your components.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_a...hp?page_id=221

When it comes to subwoofers, SPL vs. SQ comes into play moreso than probably any other aspect of mobile audio. Kicker Solo-baric subwoofers are almost purely SPL drivers. They will hit, and hit hard. However, they get very muddy at moderate to high volume levels and will never acheive a level of crispness that SQ-oriented drivers will. I am a fan of JL Audio subwoofers, personally. Some say they are overpriced, but I find pricing to be fair when it is what people will pay for an item. JL Audio has never had a problem selling their products so I don't think them overpriced. The w3v3 line is a good middle of the road line of subwoofers and i don't think anyone but a true audiophile would be disappointed in them. the w6v2 line is out of this world and the w7 line is nothing short of breathtaking.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_s....php?page_id=2

That being said, the higher end lines also have such deep mounting depths that they make installation a pain, which leads me into my next subject...

...enclosures. Even a great SQ subwoofer can sound like garbage in the wrong enclosure. Your enclosure needs to reflect the type of music you listen to and what you are looking for out of the woofer (i.e. hard, tight, punch-you-in-the-kidney's type bass or long, drawn-out, rattle-the-windows-out-of-their-tracks type bass). A quality sealed enclosure, when providing the right amount of airspace for the particular sub (read: manufacturer's recommendations are always a great place to start), will provide tight, crisp, punchy bass. A ported enclosure, when tuned low (<35Hz), will also produce excellent SQ-style bass. A ported enclosure with larger ports (>50hZ) will give you very loud, muddy bass. In the middle (35Hz<x<50Hz) will yield usually a good middle-ground, depending on the subwoofer.

There is an enclosure on the market now for our trucks that is pre-made and gives impressive results. It is called a Fox Box after the owner, Joe Fox. His dual 10" enclosure fits perfectly under the rear seat and is tuned to 35Hz. I put one in my father's '05 Ram 3500 with 2xJL Audio 10w3v2 subs pushed by a JL Audio 500/1 and the bass is EXCELLENT. I actually enjoyed the bass better in his truck than I did in my old S10 which had a Fisher Customs custom built sealed enclosure around a JL Audio 12w6v2 as it was much easier to blend properly, though that could be largely in part to my substandard tuning skills. Here is Joe Fox's website:

http://www.foxacoustics.com/

The last thing I will mention are peripherals, namely wiring and sound deadener. If you are looking for a truly exceptional mobile audio platform, DO NOT skimp on the small things. Get quality (name brand, not eBay offbrand) sound deadening material and large, well insulated wiring. If you are of the mindset that all sound deadeners are created equal, check this website out:

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

The size of your power and ground wires all depend on how extravagent your system will be but I never go any smaller than 4awg wire. Also make sure you have high quality RCA's and no smaller than 16awg speaker wire.

Sorry for the extremely long-winded reply, but hopefully this will get you thinking about where you want to go with your mobile audio and can base your purchase decisions accordingly.

 

Hound

I too have always been a big fan of Alpine units, always had them in past trucks, they don't do everything, but what they do is done very well. The Alpine IVA was at the top of my very short list, but after reading some reviews on other products, I'm leaning toward the Kenwood, helps that there is a quality local installer too (getting to the point in my life where I'm not sure if I want to do this one myself)

Thats some great info you posted there, will be looking at Fox.

 

Thanks for all the help, I like the Fox boxes. nice, what is the difference in the sealed and vented boxes as far as sound type? Are there any quality boxes made for the square solo baric subs, I like clean clear sound as well, but I Like subs that hit pretty hard too.

 

james-i've seen the Kenwood unit as well; it is a VERY nice h/u. Were I looking for a h/u with all the bells and whistles like you are, i would HAVE to take a look at that one. I don't have any need for a double din touch screen, DVD, navigation, or anything like that so when my free Sirius subscription runs out I will be replacing, most likely, with a plain jane CDA-9886. I don't think you will be unhappy with the Kenwood, though; they have been making good headunits for a loooooong time.

Jonny-I may be mistaken, but I think Joe Fox is making a foxbox for the solobaric drivers now. It may not be on his website, but I am fairly certain he is making them.

Your questions about the difference of sealed vs. ported (vented) enclosures is a tough one to answer without a specific subwoofer in mind. As far as the solobarics are concerned, I don't think a sealed enclosure would give you the most of your driver's performance. A ported enclosure will give you louder bass than a sealed enclosure (generally speaking) and you won't get too tight of bass out of a solobaric no matter what you do. Again, this is all just my opinion. I like the solobaric for what it is, a pure SPL driver. It just doesn't do what I like my subs to do, and that is produce near concert hall quality sound reproduction.

 

Any pics of the kenwood or alpine installed? Is the factory nav head unit double din making the aftermarket head units a drop in installation?

 

here is a link to pics of my truck with the kenwood unit https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...=183168&page=2

Mt very good friend work for a local car toys and he let me try out the diff untis because i did not believe him at first, i have always been a big pioneer/alpine fan and never a kenwood guy. no longer the kenwood is the ONLY way to go if you want to be able to watch(easily!!!) dvd and drive, talk hands free(will never own another truck without it) use nav without having a nav cd in the deck and easy i-pod control.

no if and or buts the only way to go!!!

 

thats cool man, my dad has that unit in his taco and loves it. where did you get the fill in mounting plate, crutchfield? Also, did you utilize the oem sirius sat. antenna?

 

So it seems that most of us like the Kenwood so far, soooo.......

What speakers would you guys use , I've always been partial to JL stuff. My old truck had an Alpine h/u (9851 I think) with JL VR component speakers and 2 10W0 subs behind the rear seat powered by an OLD Rockford Fosgate Punch 250.1 amp, this all sounded pretty good together.

 

im kind of partial to focal for a good component set with metal dome tweets or the cdt components with the silk dome tweets they are super smooth. im actually contemplating replceing my focal v2 comps and coaxes with the cdt's.

 

i like focal. polk makes some decent middle-of-the-line components. i really like rainbow components as well. I had a set of resonant engineering components in my last S10 (the RE Series, not the XXX series) and they sounded good but didn't have as much midbass as I prefer. Boston Acoustics also make nice components, though the Pro60's we had in my fathers truck died on us after only about 6 months due to the high volume of caliche dust that got into the cones from driving on lease roads all day...

 

I just had the dnx-7100 installed with ipod, bluetooth and sirius since I have been a suscriber for years. So far I'm in love.

 

I have the CDT eurosports in mine and they sound very good. Extremely accurate and not too bright. I am also looking to get a fox box for a single vented 10" JL under the back seat