Bit of a noob here, after about 15 years away from doing car audio installs. Thrilled with all the new gear out there, though. Looking to do a conservative little system in my 2005 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, as the stock 4-speaker AM/FM/CD system just doesn't cut it with the windows down and wind rushing thru the cab. Not looking at anything to impress anyone, just wanting to up the SPL's a good 3 to 6 dB.

This truck has the regular 4-speaker system, not the upgraded Infinity 7-speaker system. As I understand it, that means 6x9's in the front doors, 6.5's in the rear doors, and the amp integrated in the head unit. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Head unit aside, I'm debating two options for amps and speakers. One would be a 4-channel amp and simply upgrading the four door speakers. I'm guessing the factory head unit is below 25W x 4, so this could be one easy way to really improve things without much hassle. The other option would be a 5-channel amp and adding a single sub under the rear seat in a Q-logic enclosure. I do not want to give up both of my under-seat storage bins (need them for trailer hitches, tie downs, etc.), so an MTX Thunderforms is out of the question. Besides, I'm mostly listening to straight up rock, and a single sub should keep up fine with the rest of the rig.

Since I want to keep things clean and simple (time is a bigger obstacle than money), I'm wondering what my options for routing the speaker wiring would be. I assume the most popular location for installing an amp in these trucks is under the driver's seat. That means running at least four pairs of wire from the head unit to the amp under the seat. I'm also assuming that it's easier to just keep using the factory wiring to the (upgraded) door speakers, which I guess means running another four pairs of wiring from the amp back to the factory speaker connector behind the head unit. That's eight pairs, fished from the head unit to under the driver's seat, in addition to feeding power to the amp.

That's how I'd have done it in the past, probably using coax for the feeds to the amp, and twisted pair or rip cord from the amp back to the factory speaker connector. Is there an easier way these days? Since this is going to be a pretty modest system (probably 50W x 4 + 160W), I see no reason to run new wiring to the door speakers, unless it would somehow be easier and cleaner. Any advice?

Still debating on what to do about the heat unit. Very tempted by one of the Bluetooth & USB-capable head units with aux (phono) inputs. My primary MP3 player is a Sony Ericsson w580i walkman cell phone, although I also have an iPod classic 40GB that I use on occasion. I mostly listen to the w580i thru stereo Bluetooth headsets, although I haven't tried running Bluetooth for streaming audio in the car.

Thank you.

 

All my wires are run from behind the dash under the carpet to the cutout under the center console. I pullled the consol anyway but I used a hanger for the initial pass through and every time I pull some wire through I would include a dummy wire for the next group. Much easier than running across dash and down kick plates and you never see it.

Power wire runs from battery under truck and weaves in and out frame then up under driver seat. Took ground from cap through same opening and grounded to frame and then sprayed with liquid electrical tape.

 

I guess I should add a couple other things. Overall majority of people feel the foxbox sounds the best. I went with the fox box and couldnt be happier.

My door speakers are hifonics zeus and yes 6x9 upfront and 6 1/2 in the rear and they fit well. I like the fact that the hifonics light up blue so all my door have a blue glow from the speaker grills.

My amp runs to factory speaker wires in dash no real point going all the way to the doors unless your running real power.

I used a DP video radio I picked up at frys which has the 3" screen in the face for dvd's, blue tooth mic that is hooked on to my visor, and it will stream bluetooth music or you can use the audio in. It also has USB jack for my 8bg flash drive. I have 430 songs and flash drive isn't even half full.

My biggest grip with this radio is lack of last song memory but the bluetooth is crisp and clear and outweighs anything else. I had to use a line driver for the sub out as the voltage output is weak. Cant have it all...

 

i would use fox box as well he makes a sinle 10 or 12 for either side. it may be a liitle more than you are looking for but i am an alpine fan. they make an amp pdx-5

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...ine_PDX-5.aspx

that is small but would power your whole system no problem. ebay has them for 370.00ish. hope this helps you

 

Ive got a FB and love it. It sounds much better than my old ProBox I used to have.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I'm on foxacoustics.com right now. Most of the recommendations I've seen on FB's are from owners of dual 10" or dual 12" enclosures, but I see they do have single 10" and 12" options. At first glance, the look a lot like the Q-logic enclosures, but I see they have an advertised volume roughly double the equivalent Q-logic.

Was checking out 5-channel amps in the $500 range at Crutchfield. The only one with decent SNR is the Polk Audio PA1100.5, but it's more than 26" long! I haven't measured, but I imagine that's not going to fit under the driver's seat. The Alpine PDX-5 would fit nicely, but it's SNR is an awful 77 dB! Any recommendations?

 

Couple things after reading your post.

First, your factory amp should be behind your glove box. It's not difficult to get to, just about 40 screws that you'll have to keep track of. You can catch all your door speakers there.

As far as wiring your amp, you can pick up something called speed wire, basically it's got all of your speaker wires plus your remote turn on all inside one insulated bundle. Makes running multi-channel amps so much easier since you're not having to fight multiple wires for your speakers headed from the amp back up to the dash. You can pick something like this up at Best Buy or just about any car audio shop, usually will run you around $30.

 

Thanks for the tip on the speed wiere. I had assumed someone must make such a product.

I have the 4-speaker AM/FM/CD system from Dodge, not the 7-speaker Infinity system. I was under the impression that there is no external amplifier / only a powered head unit in this system. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks.

 

you can find the pdx5 on ebay for 270.00 ish. also if you have an alpine HU they make a plugan and play 45 x 4 amp that just plugs inbetween the deck and the wire harness. no wires to run. if i werent power hungry that is what i would get. it is about 109.00 on top of a newer alpine deck. really good deal in my book.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...e_KTP-445.aspx

then you dont have to run any new wires!!! there is no amp on you set up. heck i have the infinity option and there is no amp on my set up.

 

I need to check out the spec's a little more, but that little amp looks great! With KTP-445, I could just plan to run my four door speakers at 45W for now. If I decide that's not enough down the road, then I can add a 200W'ish sub off the third set of pre-amp outputs.

Has anyone else tried the KTP-445? It seems to be getting generally positive reviews.

Thanks!