Ideas for complete custom audio system for DD/tow vehicle

[Russell James]

Looking for ideas/suggestions on building a complete custom audio system for my 2007 Chevy 3500HD Classic Crew Cab diesel dually . Not a Camaro, but Camaro related as it pulls my race car trailer, which always has some variety and various generation of Camaro in it. ha Figured most of the audio experts would be here vs the general auto forum.

Doing everything - Head unit, amp, sub box, speakers.

Goal is great concert like sound. Quality sound, not window rattling distorting bass. I absolutely hate the vehicles that sound like one constant dinosaur fart.

Budget is about 2K, could go a hair more for quality.

Head unit location is double din. ('99-'07 classic style GMT800 dash). Features wanted - Bluetooth, USB, Back up Camera, No Nav. big round volume knob. Truck has no steering wheel controls, and I hate push button volume. In traffic towing a huge trailer, I like a big volume knob to zing up or down quick without looking at it.

Truck has dual batteries, 145 amp alternator.

Should I start with picking the amp and sub woofer/box? Then build from there knowing the amp specs?

There are several under the rear seat sub boxes available. For quality sound... any opinions on 2 x10" subs vs 1 x 12" like an L7 Kicker? Most of the Crew Cab under seat boxes are about 1.2 cubic feet volume. Any sub recommendations for quality sound vs that crappy distorted boooom boooom boooom BS.

Any Amp/Amp spec recommendations?

I think once I pick a good Amp and sub woofer configuration I'll have a better idea on what to look at for in a head unit and door speakers.

Thanks for any recommendations. This will be one of my winter projects to start piecing together.

[beak81champ]

Your subs and sub amp should be your last thought, IMO. They play one octave, and should only be there to compliment your front stage. Your first thought should be sound deadening the entire cab of your truck, which will probably take about $500 to do it correctly. This will be the biggest bang for your buck in the entire system.

Once your truck is ready for equipment, I would choose your head unit and a DSP. The DSP will allow you to send a more powerful, clean signal to your amp(s), time align, set crossovers, and EQ each channel independently. I’m not very versed in head units, but look for something with 3 sets of preouts, and whatever options you like. The Dayton Audio DSP should do everything you need for a great price.

From there Your ready to choose your front stage drivers. You will have to decide whether you are going with a 2-way or 3-way front stage, as that will greatly affect the size of tweeters, or wideband top end drivers. If you go 2-way, you will need a midbass/midrange driver that can comfortably play at least to 2k-2.5kHz, and you will need a large tweeter to play down to that area. If you go 3-way, you basically have hundreds of drivers to choose from, your restrictions being whether you want to use factory placement of drivers, or do some fabrication.

With a $2k budget, I would stick with factory locations. Do you know what size drivers you have now, and where they are located? If you have 6x9’s in the doors, I would look at using adapters and replacing them with 6.5’s, as this opens up a world of options. If I were you, I would look for recommendations for great raw drivers rather than branded component sets. You will get so much more for your money.

Get back to us with your factory speaker sizes and placements, and we can make some more targeted suggestions to get you where you want to be. Also, will you be installing this yourself, building your own sub box, tuning your own system? These things will also take a huge chunk of your budget...

Hope this helps a little! Please keep us informed of your progress with pictures and stuff!

[Russell James]

Thanks, that gives me some good ideas to start with. My 4 factory speakers now are 6 3/4" round in each door.

I'm going to buy a sub box, I've seen several for under or behind the rear seat.

So I think in the 4 doors, either 6.75s or 6.5s would work with adaptors.
I've seen where some recommend adding front kick panel speakers. Q logic has some kick panels for my truck with a 5.25 round and a tweeter pointed up towards the driver/passenger.

I will likely do the install myself. But there are several shops near me that do free installs if you buy the components there. So it's kinda up in the air.

I'll start looking at head units now, and that Dayton DSP.

[beak81champ]

So, you have no dash, pillar, or sail panel speakers? That seems odd, but you can still work with that. Before you go to your local guy, take a look at madisoundspeakerstore.com, partsexpress.com, and meniscusaudio.com. Specifically, look at 6-7” drivers from Silver Flute(midbass), SB Acoustics(mids and tweeters), and Dayton Audio RS series(mids). You should also look at diysoundgroup.com, at the Anarchy 7” or 5.5” mids(you will need some serious mounting depth for these, but will be richly rewarded).

Check out the mounting depth you have to work with, with the window down and possibly one or 2 stacked baffles on the inner door skin.