Hey guys,
Well I'm not looking at buying sound system gear for the Hilux just yet but I have been looking at what I will buy. I want the sound system to look neat and integrate with all the stock equipment as much as I can. So for a head unit I was looking at this: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320828637053
And as for speakers I was either going to leave the fronts stock or maybe get some nice 3-way 6.5"s. As for the back I was thinking some nice 6.5" splits powered by a good amplifier. I was also thinking of an 8 or 10 inch underseat active subwoofer however I talked to a mate about it and he said that another bloke we know has one in his ute and my mate reckons it sound like sh*t. So I am a bit confused as to what I will do about some extra bass boost. Should I just get a active slimline sub or just get a really good set of 6.5" splits? I don't need anything too overpowering like the twin 12inch kickers I had in the maggie but just something that has some more bass boost than the stock speakers. And one more thing I wanted to ask, should I put the better speakers in the front of the car? The back sound like an obvious answer but it is a dual cab so it won't have the same acoustics as say a sedan or wagon. So what do you guys think? Thanks

And one more thing I wanted to ask, should I put the better speakers in the front of the car? The back sound like an obvious answer but it is a dual cab so it won't have the same acoustics as say a sedan or wagon. So what do you guys think? Thanks
Why is the back the obvious answer? The higher the frequency, the more 'directional' sound is. Anything other than your sub should, more or less, be aimed towards you. This means that a good set of front speakers are essential. Your rear speakers are basically redundant.

I'm not sure how much room you have to play with, but I'd go a set of 6.5" splits in the front, a slimline sub under one seat, and an amplifier under the other seat.

The back is the obviously stupid answer. Unless the twin cab has somewhere to fit a slimline sub you only have a few options. Some really good splits and amp (something like Digital Designs DDA6.5's perhaps) and make do; mangle the door cards and fit a 3 way active setup (be prepared to spend $$$ though); or assuming you have rear door speakers too, ditch them, get some 6.5" subs, seal the rear doors up as best you can (to create a box persay) and work with that. You don't really need rear full range speakers especially in a ute, so utilize the space you have in the rear doors in my opinion.

Why is the back the obvious answer? The higher the frequency, the more 'directional' sound is. Anything other than your sub should, more or less, be aimed towards you. This means that a good set of front speakers are essential. Your rear speakers are basically redundant.



Yeah, well usually with sedans the case is you make the back speakers your best as usually in sedan you have 6x9s in the back and 6.5s in the front. But like you said, a good set of front speakers are essential as they are the ones that aim at you. As to what Lugo mentioned, I know you can get free to air subs which don't require boxing so wouldn't need to seal the doors then aye? But would it still sound crap if I use free to air subs in the doors and not seal up the doors? Also, about slimline active subs, I should be able to fit one under the passenger's seat as I have about 100mm clearance for height (most slimline ones are around 70-100mm, usually bout 80mm). The other question I have too is if I were to go for a slimline active sub, should I go 10" or 8", ie. is bigger always better? Or I should I go with a higher powered 8" over a lowered powered 10" for example? And have you guys heard many of the slimline active subs? If so, are they as good as the normal subs, or not much worse? Thanks

Oh yeah, I found some 6.5 subs which apparently can be used for free to air applications such as in car doors. This is the brand and model no: Kicker CompVT 08CVT654 . Are these better than say a slimline active sub or am I still better off opting for a slim active sub? I also heard that subs in doors rattle a bit however I couldn't think that they'd rattle anymore than the speakers already in there would they?
These are the specs for the Kickers:
Features and Specs
Size 6 1/2 -inch
Impedance 4 ohms
Cone Material Injection-molded poly
Surround Material Santoprene rubber
Ideal Sealed Box Volume (cubic feet) N/A
Ideal Ported Box Volume (cubic feet) N/A
Port diameter (inches) N/A
Port length (inches) N/A
Free-Air Yes
Dual Voice Coil No
Sensitivity 84.6 dB at 1 watt
Frequency Response 25 - 350 Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) 50-150
Peak Power Handling (Watts) 300
Top Mount Depth (inches) 2 7/8
Bottom Mount Depth (inches) N/A
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) 5 9/16
Vas (liters) 9.28
Fs (Hz) 53.9
Qts 0.667
Xmax (millimeters) 0

for the sake of hoping to help. even though its not as young as your hilux, with my dads '90 lux, also dual cab, am working on doing the audio in that, and few other minor things like adding a few extra cigarette light ports etc in the front and back. but for the audio, the amp, rather putting that under the passenger side front seat, or behind the back seat ( whole back of the seat folds down on itself such as goes from this _| to this =, the amp am making a bracket for the attach it to the actual cab itself, not slip it in the pocket behind the seat for it to bounce around etc...redoing the speakers, 6x4's on all for doors. tweeters in the back in the top corners, depending on amp placement, considering a tube sub somewhere. debating on that still. anyways another consideration is making up a new centre console section from gear stick right back to the seat, and house some small speakers in there, or maybe a small sub somehow, idk just yet, just throwing ideas out there.

for the sake of hoping to help. even though its not as young as your hilux, with my dads '90 lux, also dual cab, am working on doing the audio in that, and few other minor things like adding a few extra cigarette light ports etc in the front and back. but for the audio, the amp, rather putting that under the passenger side front seat, or behind the back seat ( whole back of the seat folds down on itself such as goes from this _| to this =, the amp am making a bracket for the attach it to the actual cab itself, not slip it in the pocket behind the seat for it to bounce around etc...redoing the speakers, 6x4's on all for doors. tweeters in the back in the top corners, depending on amp placement, considering a tube sub somewhere. debating on that still. anyways another consideration is making up a new centre console section from gear stick right back to the seat, and house some small speakers in there, or maybe a small sub somehow, idk just yet, just throwing ideas out there.

Ok, cool, thanks for sharing that man. See as I may have said in my above posts, there is absolutely no room behind the rear seat so can't do anything there. And I don't want to modify the interior too much (hey, I don't even really want to drill big holes in my door trims to accommodate flush mount tweeters! So I'll have to figure out some sort of surface mount) As for starters for the sound system, I was thinking these speakers: http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/speakers/kicker/6-inch-speakers-sku-99622/ . And either this amp : http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/amplifiers/kicker/2-channel-amplifier-sku-72222/ or this one : http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA0457&CATID=88&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=1028#4 . I think those kicker splits powered by an amp would produce a good quality sound and have decent bass (I know probably not earth shattering but enough to feel). I thought I should power those splits with an amp as the sound would be much better. I would plan to put the splits in the front and either keep the rears stock or put some nice 6.5" 3-ways in there powered by the H/U. As for a sub, if the bass is good enough from the splits, I may not even buy one. However if I find that it just needs a bit more of a kick I might later down the track consider a slim active sub under either the driver's or passenger's seat.

Although I'm still not sure and I don't really want to get something and it ends up lacking in a particular area or sounds crap. So does anyone think what I have listed above work out for me or should I do something different? Thanks

no prob's, checked the links, they all look pretty sweet, been looking at similar speakers also at jb. 6" Mid Range & Tweeter to be exact, with the speakers, to save drilling big holes in the trims, get some angled speaker pods, that way the holes will only be like the width of a pen, if that, here's an example http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pair-6-Fibreglass-Door-Speaker-Pods-Spacers-Tweeter-Mount-GREY-/260933458828?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cc0d89b8c#ht_3817wt_992 or http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6x9-Black-Vinyl-Fibreglass-Speaker-Pods-Spacers-VR-VS-/260825892818?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cba6f47d2#ht_3066wt_1031 would b e alright on the doors, front or back, the amp, would seat nicely under one of the front seats maybe, or under the glovebox, havent seen the 2007 insides yet so not sure what space there is inside...as for a sub, could maybe go for a typical 12" or 10", but that leaves another question, where the heck would it go?? so another option for sub perhaps would be http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-Amplified-Audio-Subwoofer-Bass-Tube-Speaker-Sub-Box-4-Inch-150W-23-x-10-cm-/150784113609?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item231b6efbc9#ht_1358wt_1139 :think:

That little 4" sub's pretty cool man :P . With the amount of bass my splits will have, the little 4" give it the boost it needs :D . As I said though, see how the speaker and amp set up goes first. I'm guessing that the speakers and amp should go pretty good. The cheapest I could get a slim active underseat 8 inch sub is $299 from supercheap (if I don't buy from the internet). I think there's a soundstream one on eBay which is a bit better than the fusion and cheaper too. There's also a 10 inch active slim sub on eBay too (I think it's a DNA). There's some nice little 6 inch 2 or 3 way (can't remember which) option audio speakers at the WOW closing down sale which have 60 W RMS and they are only $90 or so reduced from about $180. I was thinking about getting those for the back. Would they be ok? And would they be ok to run off the stock H/U? As I will not amplify those ones if I get them, just want to know whether or not to get them because the closing down sale finishes on Sunday.

yeah they are pretty cool little units from what ive heard :happy: repco at the moment have a Sony AMP 2-Channel 350W for like $89, or a 600watt 4 channel for $135, Sony Explod Subwoofer 12" 1000W $65, supercheap for amps, theres fusion or kenwood or a pioneer for $149 all 2 channel, 10" active tube sub for $249, 12" from $99 up, and some fusion 6" 2ways $59 or JVC 6" 2 Way $75.00, sony 6" 2, $69, plenty options really. but slimline amp would be good under p/s seat. and some 6" in straight or angled pods on back doors might do the trick. save ya slicing and dicing the door trims etc, just need a small enough hole for the wires to run through, then run them into the pillar and back out to the amp ? then before install, could paint the pods to try match the door trims, so they look a part of it sorta thing.

Also in my tp, i disconnected the stock speakers ( in dash ), installed some pioneer 6x4"s on the 2 front doors, ran them to the h/u, then in the back end, 2 6x4 kenwoods on the parcel shelf, and putting in 2 6x9 pio's in the boot running those 4 to the amp. jvc head unit, and the amp some cheap thing from cashies, V power or v tec or v3 or something or other ( not going to be staying am thinking a replacement will be coming soon ). and getting one of those 4" units to go in the boot also.

I wouldn't go to Supercheap for audio. If you have to go to a chain, at least go to JB Hifi or Autobarn.

I simply wouldn't bother with a 4" sub. I would stick with an 8" or 10" slimline sub. Have you measured up to see whether you can fit one underneath a seat or behind the rear seat?

And MagnaficentTp, three sets of speakers might look sick-as, but one set of good speakers will sound better than three average sets of speakers. If you value sound quality, less is more.

I wouldn't go to Supercheap for audio. If you have to go to a chain, at least go to JB Hifi or Autobarn.

I simply wouldn't bother with a 4" sub. I would stick with an 8" or 10" slimline sub. Have you measured up to see whether you can fit one underneath a seat or behind the rear seat?

And MagnaficentTp, three sets of speakers might look sick-as, but one set of good speakers will sound better than three average sets of speakers. If you value sound quality, less is more.

Yeah, I wasn't going to go to supercheap anyhow haha, just thought I'd mention the price. A slimline active sub should fit under my passenger's seat. Most of the slimline active Subs are under 100mm and that's the clearance under it. As I said before, I can't fit any other type of sub as for one the back seat doesn't retract forward, you have to unbolt it. Secondly I can't because there is absolutely no room in there so I'd have to scrap that Idea. As for the amp for the front splits, I would position that under the driver's seat (or maybe the passenger's seat if there's enough room after adding the sub). So Red Valdez, do you think those kickers would sound alright with the kicker amp? Also, would it be a good idea to get some decent 6.5s in the rear powered by the H/U? Because for the moment, I could probably afford to get the splits, the kicker amp (possibly, depending on my bank balance) and a decent set of 6.5s for the rear. It will probably take me a few more weeks to a month to get the sub. Plus I have other mods planned for the 'lux too such as towbar, bullbar, 17" wheels with A/T tyres etc so I need some money aside for that too, but should be able to get the sub :D

Have mostly dealt with autobarn, have not tried anything from jb yet, jaycar have bought a few items along the way and been happy with though also. but never had a problem yet with autobarn, always good quality, and helpful before during and after purchases.

and well this can be true in some cases Red, have seen and more so heard some poor quality ( my brother for example twin subs tweeters 6 speakers ), but mine sounds pretty decent i think, 3 sets, no sub ( yet ), no loss of quality that goes through my ears, no complaints so far. less is more, indeed, but i have what i have, am happy with the quality. not one to worry about impressing, just listening to the music in all directions possible, front, side, behind. only have all 3 sets as they were given to me so i felt obligated to use them, as opposed to them sitting around gathering dust, one day maybe getting used. thers some photos on one of my threads somewhere, far from impressive setup really, front speaker spaces are chipboard, and falling apart, wires dangling from the amp etc. think theres a video also somewhere of when i was testing it out.