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The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 1

15K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  the persuader 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

So the title may be a bit of a stretch, but after getting my truck back last night from Bing at Simplicity in Sound I'm at a loss for words. The look and sound of this system is beyond description, the pictures don't do it justice. I'm just throwing this up quickly before I head back to work but I'll be sure to do a more in depth review when time allows. But for now....Enjoy.
A style of vehicle that I don't get to do often is a great way to kick off a new install session following my vacation to the OBX. In this case, it’s a 2011 Dodge Ram reg cab belonging to our member SFtrainer.

Goals for the install:

1. As this is his work truck, the install needs to be durable and hidden out of sight
2. No loss of seat movement fore and aft ; seat back must still go pretty much all the way back. (Not the easiest considering the amount of gear we needed to fit back there)
3. Obtain a decently high level of sound quality for daily listening and the occasional MECA competition
4. Still have a little bit of flash built into the design

Though the newer gen Ram have a lot of room behind the seat for a reg cab, the requirements above still made for a pretty challenging install space wise...but in the end, what surprised me the most was how this truck SOUNDED given the locations of the various components. I will touch on this more at the end. :)

Let’s get started:

The headunit and a small interim system was already installed by the time I received the vehicle, the headunit is a Sony XNV-770BT all in one NAV piece, the dash opening has been nicely trimmed by another shop to make for a precise fitment around the fascia, I went in and redid some of the wiring to accommodate the new system:



As the system uses Zapco DC reference amps, all tuning is done via Laptop from the front seat via the USB cable that is run into the glovebox:



It was decided a long time ago that this car was going to run a set of Audible Physics XR Duo...the advantage of having so much of the freq range above the dash cannot be overstated in a vehicle like this...we toyed around with the stock top of the dash location or A pillar mounting for the XR3...but in the end, after consulting with fellow Team AP member Chefhow who has a similar vehicle, we decided on the much simpler and stealthier stock location approach, not to mention wrapping the pillars with their integrated grab handles would present quite a challenge.

The XR6 midbass went into the stock lower door location, the customer had previously gone in and sound proofed the inner and outer door skin from the inside...I ran a new set of speaker cables into the door and reorganized some of the alarm related wiring:



Here you can see the ensolite install onto the outer door skin:



I then fabricated two sets of mounting baffles for the XR3 and XR6, the XR3 out of 1/8" hardboard so the phase plug can still fit under the stock grill, and the xr6's out of 3/8" MDF:



The midbass baffles were then coated with truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:



And the XR6s were bolted up:



Here is the termination point on the driver side midbass:



And the speaker fully secured:



The same procedure followed on the passenger side:









Next, the plastic door cards received a layer of Deamplifier pro to stop it from buzzing and resonating:



 
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#2 ·
The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 2

The XR3s were then secured to the mounting baffle and wired up:







And then bolted to the factor dash locations:





Here are some wiring pics of the bundles traveling from the front to the back of the vehicle:









Now comes the completed pics of the install...due to the vehicle's small interior, it was almost impossible to snap a good picture, but I tried my best hehe...also anyone know how to clean sand particles from the INSIDE of a camera's lens? We managed to pick up some on the beach while on vacation and now it shows up in all the pics :(

Here is the view normally, as you can see, nothing can really be seen and the seats are at their full back positions:





Slide both seats up and fold the seat backs forward and here is what you see, a single amp rack/sub enclosure runs the entire width of the cab, with a slight backward tilt. It is wrapped in carpet closely matching the factory finish. A series of vent holes help heat escape from the amp rack, and three covers covered in breathable black trunk liner hide the components from view. Also note that the front fascia of the rack has raised rings sections to highlight the openings:







Pop off all the covers and here is what you see, two Morel Ultimo SC 10" subwoofers are placed behind each seat in .55 cubic foot sealed enclosures, while the center features an amp rack housing TWO Zapco DC reference amplifiers, a DC650.6 sends 180 watts to each midbass and 150 watts to the XR3, while a DC1100.1 powers the subwoofers with 1100 watts at 2ohms...it’s really hard to see the two amps but you will get a sense in how they are fitted in the build pics to come.

Everything is actually oriented vertically at a perpendicular angle to the floor, with a slanted space in front. I did this in order to space the subwoofers as far away from the seat backs as possible to reduce tactile vibrations against the seat backs...learning from my experience with my first ever vehicle-- an 89 Toyota reg cab pickup; also to give the subs the same visual angle cues as the amp rack.

The inside of the racks are lined with silver 3M Di-noc CF wrap, and three pieces of 3/8" plexi covers the openings, each with circular cutouts with polished inside edges for venting purposes:

 
#3 ·
The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 3

The inside of the racks are lined with silver 3M Di-noc CF wrap, and three pieces of 3/8" plexi covers the openings, each with circular cutouts with polished inside edges for venting purposes:















Close up pics to show the centered hole in the plexi for the subs and amps, as well as the raised rings around the cutout:







Now comes the build pics.

Each sub enclosure/rack is made up of several pieces of MDF in varying thickness...here you see them laid out:



The surfaces that will be seen are wrapped in Di-noc:



And the whole thing put together:



Same goes for the other enclosure:





 
#4 ·
The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 4

The center amp rack is also done in a similar fashion; note the slot for passing wires through and the top panel with its vent cutout for heat to escape:



Wrapped in Di-noc:



And put together, with the bottom piece not yet secured:



The bottom amp - DC650.6 is then secured to the rack, to get the tightest fit possible, the Zapco logo was removed from the top of the chassis cover:



The wires are then secured to the back of the rack traveling to their respective locations:



The DC1100.1 was then secured over the first amp at a slightly lower position, the amp is secured via two pieces of CF wrapped 3/4 “ MDF spacer and two metal spacer rods with a bolt traveling through it:



And the new wires are bundled and secured as well, note the bolts and lock nut with a big washer to provide additional support for the bottom amp:



The bottom piece was then secured in place and the amp rack is ready for installation into the vehicle:



Two side pieces were made out of 1/8" hardboard and wrapped in graphite carpet:





And secured to the outer sides of the sub enclosure, these will be the sides of the finished rack:



The amp rack was then put into the vehicle and wired up, due to the angle it was impossible to show the connections, so here is the best I could do:







The master ground cable travels through a sealed grommet on the driver side and is bolted directly to the frame, the point of contact is then covered with undercoating to protect it against the elements:



 
#5 ·
The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 5



The two sub enclosures were then secured into the vehicle; each enclosure is anchored to the floor MDF board via 6 screws, and they in turn sandwich and secure the amp rack from both sides with 3 screws each. Here is the naked view before the top cover goes on, showing all the trim:









The main outer cover is made out of three sections; here is the forward facing portion, before and after the cutouts are made:





Next, the rings were routed out, the outer edges received a round over and the inner edges have a slant cut on them. The rings are sized so there is 3/4" of MDF to attach the plexi to all around the opening:



The rings were then secured to the front main panel, and the top panel is then fabricated with the vent holes cutout and routed; there is also a small 1" vertical strip attached to the bottom of the front panel at the appropriate angle...though it can be a bit hard to see:



Next the top and front panels are mated together forming the top cover:





The entire panel was then wrapped with graphite non-backed carpet:





And the plexi secured to the openings via HD plastic epoxy:





 
#6 ·
The Best Sounding/Looking Dodge Ram Stereo Ever? Part 6

The grille covers were then fabricated and wrapped in black trunk liner:





So that’s it...I was quite pleased with the cosmetic outcome, being my first regular cab install in a long time...but the biggest surprise was when we got down to tuning...and here a big thanks goes out to Scott Welch (fellow MECA SQ competitor and judge with consistently one of the highest scoring cars on the west coast) for his awesome tuning abilities :)

Out of the box I thought the truck would sound decent, but with never having installed this set of speakers in the stock locations like this, and the fact that the subs were located directly behind the seat, I was worried about how it would all stage, image, and how well the sub will blend with the front.

But all my concerns evaporated quickly, right off the bat with no EQ set, the truck already showed a very neat curve on the RTA...surprisingly, there passenger side has more reflection issues than the driver’s side but it was far from being bad...in fact this truck perhaps needed less work than most of my previous installs from a tuning standpoint.

After a few hours of tuning by RTA and by ear, I popped in for a listen and was quickly BLOWN AWAY...

Tonality wise, it was very pleasant to listen to, smooth yet details highs, superb midrange resolution and the midbass was very punchy. The stage was quite deep; to me it was slightly past the windshield and with such a massive dash and faraway seating position, it only made things seem deeper. ..seemed like 5 or 6 feet in front of me; the width was within the pillar but still good considering the locations, and height was very good as well...the one part that really blew my mind was the bass response...despite the subs being so close to you, it was REALLY anchored upfront almost centered in the dash...on most songs, you hardly feel the vibrations to your back, and I even cranked up the techno song "Havana", where the opening drum line features a very punchy midbass portion with a fat bass line; this track can easily expose a lack of integration between the midbass and the sub, resulting in what appears to be two separate notes...but man...in this truck, even turned to a really high level, it was solidly one note and right in the middle of the dash...and its kinda funny because at this high output level, you can feel a bit of vibrations in the small of your back, but your mind distinctively says "upfront!"...I previously thought my own car was pretty good at this track, but I jumped into it later to listen to it and it wasn’t even close.

Once again I am very impressed with the XR Duo...and these subs...and for just an initial baseline tuning session, I already think this truck is going to be quite competitive in the Street class in MECA...I wouldn’t be surprised if it consistent scores higher than my car (a mid to high 70s car).

Here is a snap shot of the RTA curve we achieved in the end...with really NOT a lot of movement on the EQ :)



Now I really want to do more of these trucks... :)

Cheers,

Bing
 
#8 ·
Always have been a fan of Bing's installs. Very clean as always. Install came out great, no lack of attention to the details. Very nice curve on the RTA as well, considering using stock locations. Great job Bing, and congrats SFTrainer!
 
#11 ·
Nice subs man. I really like the looks and specs of those. I've been trying to get 2 of the old Phoenix Gold XMAX speakers for awhile now they remind me a LOT of those. I found a couple but they were used pretty hard and I didn't want to go that route. I'm looking at some soundstream 10's or maybe a single twelve to go underneath the rear seat of my quad cab. I'll probably end up going single twelve and let them use the seat for air space in ported box. No idea for door and dash speakers yet, but I'm a big soundstream fan. Amps are another ballgame and I've been out of it for too many years now that i have no clue what is decent anymore, I'd have to really do some research. Nice install, and hopefully I'll have something similar in the next year or so. Slowly but surely...
 
#12 ·
thanks guys :) and Thanks for SFtrainer for this amazing experience...this is only my second dodge ram install since moving to cali a few years ago, the first was many years ago and not quite the same focus on SQ: http://www.my350z.com/forum/audio-b...it-different-srt-10-ram-install-with-dls.html
dont ask me why its on a 350z forum lol :)

i am COMPLETELY blown away at how this truck sounds...i honestly dont recall another i have done with stock locations that sounded nearly as good...i wish i had taken a picture of hte rta curve with zero eq on it...its honstly not too far off...it makes me really want to consider a Ram for my next car...if someone told me a few years back that you can get this type of overall sq out of a single cab pickup and with no loss movement to the seats and bed cuthrough, i would have chuckled...but now....:SHOCKED: it has to be said a lot of credit also goes to the XR3 superwide band speaker that runs from 250hz all the way up to 20khz...an amazing little speaker that is perfectly suited for this truck.

dogert: sure, loved to do another one haha

bombadillo: i have installed a bunch of hte old xmax subs, and youare right, they are similar, though the morel is even more "dry" and transparent sounding...its sad what has happened to both PG and soundstream, as they are just your average run of the mill stuff...a far cry from their glory days...though to be fair, soundstream never could IMO produce very reliable stuff and cant seem to stay in business long enough under one ownership hehe

now its just about getting the truck to a SQ comp and see how it fares...i would be surprised if its not competing for a win in Street Class each and everytime...
 
#15 ·
Lucky Owner

So I'm the owner of this Dodge and I have to say it's a much nicer truck now than it was a couple weeks ago. I could go on and on about Bing and the level at which he operates. But for the sake of time I will be brief, and to be honest I would rather be in my truck listening than typing right now. From our first meeting about the truck last year Bing has guided this build in just the right direction. From his recommendations on equipment to his extreme patience in answering all my questions and addressing all my concerns. He took my initial idea and gave it the Bing touch, even with some last minute equipment changes (I just had to go Morel subs over perfectly acceptable and certainly cheaper other brands). During the entire process Bing was in touch and always on the ball with every detail. I have to admit it's a bit difficult for me to give up creative control when it comes to audio but with simplicity in sound I have zero regrets. As for the sound....beyond all my expectations. When Bing told me it sounded better than his own car I thought he was joking...but he wasn't...and nearly 24 hours after picking up the truck my only complaint is that my face is starting to hurt from this permanent grin that I can't seem to get rid of. Thank you very much Bing...you are THE MAN.
 
#18 ·
Nice work.....wish I had the $5K+ to spend on audio this likely cost the owner and thats after already doing an earlier upgrade.
 
#19 ·
I won't say the system was cheap...but I got a phenomenal deal on the truck and having a nice audio system in my car/home has always been a requirement for me...all total my total investment is still less than 25 k on the truck...and I bought it new 9 months ago.
 
#20 ·
So i see you are over here too, i was just trying to get on diyma to look at it again but the site was down. I am so ready to get my install started, the fact that it sounds so good and i'm using the h audio's in the dash as well has inspired a lot of confidence, and to think i almost bought a type r component set lol.
 
#21 ·
Just wanna throw up a quick update :) a coupla weeks ago the truck went and competed in its first MECA sound quality competition.

It scored an amazing 82.0 on its first time out! I have never had a car score that high on its initial tune...and definitely nothing with stock locations. :)

for comparison, the high scores of the day was an 84.0 and a 83.5 (all scores out of 100) and one of those cars was last years world champion.

Congrats to SFtrainer!
 
#23 ·
sorry to bring this thread back from the dead...but i just wanted to let you Ram owners know that I was SO impressed with the truck, how it sounds, and how easy it was to work on, that on saturday, i went and purchase a 2012 RCSB Hemi Ram 4x2 which will serve as my vehicle for the next 5-7 years. :)

i dont think i can pay a vehicle a higher compliment than that :D

b
 
#24 ·
sorry to bring this thread back from the dead...but i just wanted to let you Ram owners know that I was SO impressed with the truck, how it sounds, and how easy it was to work on, that on saturday, i went and purchase a 2012 RCSB Hemi Ram 4x2 which will serve as my vehicle for the next 5-7 years. :)

i dont think i can pay a vehicle a higher compliment than that :D

b
You will not be disappointed :) BTW that system you put in is incredible. I spend alot of time in my truck, bought it in Jan. and have almost 15,000 on it now, and that is considering it had a starting issue gremlin for 4 months until it got fixed. Now I can get back on the road. :) I plan to upgrade the sound system just have not decided what to yet. I will be doing it myself so won't be overly complicated or for show competition. :) Just some premium sound for the daily driver. Again, Awesomeness man.!
 
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