truck audio systems

[Oldshell4481]

i have a 1997 ford f250 regular cab and am in the market for an audio system,, i dont have much knowledge in this field, but i plan on getting the stereo, amp, and some 12" speakers, anyone got reccommendations for a sweet sounding system?? i want to keep it under 250 dollars...

[ATC crazy]

Good luck finding all that for under $250, unless you buy it all used (which is not good)

[Oldshell4481]

welll i suppose i could go 10" :D my friend hooked up a good system for under 300 and it sounds alright

[wanta86r]

for 250.00 you could buy a good set a headphones , but thats about it

[OldSchoolin86]

Does your factory system have a CD player?

[BIGCRIP28]

you can get a new radio for that much. amps are expensive so are speakers.

[90nut]

Well depend if you want it to sound good or waste your money. You could get all used audibahn JUNK for about that much. Or you could get on Ebay and type in JL audio or kicker. For a standard cab truck like you 150 I would recomend a JL 10w0 or 10w3. They are kind of exspensive but they require much less air space than a kicker and are alot clearer sounding. I would get a jl 10w0 and build a box for it or buy one. You could get a cheapie CD player and I would get the alpine v12 mono block or the JL 250/1 mono block amp. But you are at about 350-400 now. You can get a new 10w0 for about 60 bucks around here and I had one in my ranger with the alpine amp and an alpine CD player. It sounded great. Super clear and loud. Truthfully I don't think you can get a good QUALITY sounding system for under 300. That is about what I have in mine but I have gotten deals of a century on everything. Well that is some food for thought. At least you drive the right truck though.

[threewheelin-feelin]

well if you already have a cd player....i recomend best buy....they usally have 2 12 inch subs...box and amp for about $350....plus probly about 100 installation....but if you are looking for a really killer system you are gonna want new tweeters too.....for a whole pakage deal installed you will probly need atleast $500 to $600......or you can always go with one sub woofer....and in a standard cab...you wont need more then one

[bigredhead]

You don't need 2 x 12's.. one good 12 or even a properly powered 10 " will rock a truck pretty good.

but forget " Quality " for 250.. it's gonna cost more than that.

[vartiak15]

you can do it for 250 and make it pound man. ill get pics of my buddys. 2 infinity references, we built the box, and profile amp. its like 200 bucks or so. ill get the site from my bro on the subs and what not and get back to ya. and tues ill get pics of my buddys system.

[bigredhead]

I guess we all have differing ideas of " Quality " .. lol....

A LOUD system that POUNDS does not always sound good.

I personally rather have half the DB with all the quality.

[OldSchoolin86]

I guess we all have differing ideas of " Quality " .. lol....

A LOUD system that POUNDS does not always sound good.

I personally rather have half the DB with all the quality.
I agree. A good "middle of the road" solution is a MTX preform. They have a dual 10" preform box for the 97 f-series reg cab with subs for $250. Spend another $100 a decent amp and your in business. I've heard a couple of these preforms from MTX and they sound really nice and clean. They will out pound your cheap-o 12" subs.
Example:

http://a763.g.akamai.net/7/763/1644/v004/app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/extra/1/VPID/1499748/ver/004

[ATC crazy]

I agree. A good "middle of the road" solution is a MTX preform. They have a dual 10" preform box for the 97 f-series reg cab with subs for $250. Spend another $100 a decent amp and your in business. I've heard a couple of these preforms from MTX and they sound really nice and clean. They will out pound your cheap-o 12" subs.
Example:

http://a763.g.akamai.net/7/763/1644/v004/app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/extra/1/VPID/1499748/ver/004


Those look great. But dont forget the head unit, as I doubt the 97 F-series came with a factory CD player unless it has the Lariat package, or was an option for the Lariat. I would look at one in the $150 range, as these will give you options to curve the sound to match the design of the cab, or to your liking.

[Oldshell4481]

welll im going to make my own truck ride box out of fiberglass and plywood for one 12 inch speaker, we have various amplifiers laying around that we have bought at the junkyard out of wrecked cars,, including a nice amplifier made by jbl for a ford audio system, im going to change the speakers in the doors also though which i already have because my father never installed the speakers he got for christmas, my friend is giving me a nice pioneer radio/cd player due to the fact that he has just recieved a new one,, all i need to buy is the kicker really, but i wouldnt mind a new amplifier

[Oldshell4481]

thos MTX's look nice though, i think i may get those if they come all set like that with the boxes...

[speed20]

All you need is 1 12" power acoustik mofo speaker....1200watts constant, 2400w peak power....awesome speaker....as for amp....something mosfet powered, like a rockford fosgate punch 800 bridged (pushes about 1600watts bridged.)....or just get 2 fairly good amps that are about 1000w a piece. trucks are the hardest thing to get to drum, but cars rattle!

[OldSchoolin86]

thos MTX's look nice though, i think i may get those if they come all set like that with the boxes...
They come complete with with speakers and they make them in a couple different colors to match your interior.

[Oldshell4481]

killer that gray matches it, as for sound,, does it pound or is it sharp and crackly, i like that bass even though i dont listen to rap it sounds good on what i listen too..

[83185s]

ok about the jl w-0 series...they are old...thats about it..they sound pretty good and hit pretty hard but they are old..and you cant push much watts to them...my bro hooked up a 100 watt fusion amp to 2 10 w-o's and blew one and the other is pretty crappy soundin now...it pushed them that much..but the fusion amps and subs can push alot more than what they say...now my bro has a 900 watt fosgate amp to 2 fusion 10" subs..i forgot what they are called...but they POUND! and rattle everything because they pound...im just saying..i wouldnt get jl w-o's if i was you... there are alot better subs out there...btw for 250..you wont get much unless its used...and used isnt all that bad..as long as you get some of the better used stuff..and not stolen...

[hondatrikesrule22]

Personally.....Here is what I would do.

I would go buy a good head unit, all new 6X9s, and a big ass amp to power them.(Alpine makes some nice ****.) I would deal witht the low end later.

Nothing is better than a stereo that you can hear 2 blocks away...CLEARLY. :D I would rather have high decibal numbers than a bunch of bass.

[threewheelin-feelin]

i have a brand new 45 watt alpine head unit....and im planning on putting new real good 6x9's in the dash and getting one 12 inch sub behind the seat with like a 400 watt amp.....i might go with 2 10's but i havent desided yet

[RideRed250R]

in my dodge i have two jl 10's with dual 1200 watt kicker amps, sony head unit, then 4 6,5 inch door speakers, 2 tweeters and that makes my system, it cost me 500 bucks but it is clean and HITS HARD when you get it on the right song, on Just alittle Bit... by 50 cent lol, it will make my rear veiw mirror and side mirrors shake so bad that it just looks like lookin into a messy painting at night i cant see were the cars are i just see theres something behind me LOL... anyways, hits pretty good on Rough and Ready by trace Atkins.
adam
my yota has a similar set up but isnt queit as sharp because its small and doesnt let the subs breath very well...
adam
BTW i got the subs used with the amps at a garage sale for 100 bucks, ebay is your best freind when it comes from head units and the four door speakers, the amps were the only thing that i really had to pay for and then i got them at bestbuy on sale for 70 bucks a pop which is un HEARD of.. but i love the system, if you really are on a budget you can get anythign off ebay or get anything at all for a good price

[90nut]

w-o's are not "old" really they sell them every day. They may be the cheapest sub that JL makes but they still sound a heck of alot better than any audiobahn, or other crap that everyday stores sell. There is a difference between loud as heck and sounding like crap or loud and being crystal clear. Leave the crystal clear part to the JL's. Oh and 85185s your brother shouldn't have blown them with a 100 watt amp un less the subs were junk to begin with or your brother doesn't know how to hook them up. You said he had two of them hooked up were they hooked to a mono block amp and have them bridged or what?

[Oldshell4481]

those mtx's wont fit the old style 97 f-250, so ive looked at a bunch of pioneer stuff
Pioneer GM7100M Mono subwoofer amplifier 800 watts
Pioneer DE-H1700 45 watt X 4 in dash cd player
2 10" Pioneer TSW250R Subwoofers

[rm125zr440]

Two tihng you all seem to have over looked is box design and signal quality. Subs need to have the right amount of airspace to work at their peek and even the best subs will probably sound like crap, as will they sound like crap with a cheap amplifier that is not sending good signals. But even cheaper subs with hte right box and a decent can sound very good and be quite loud. That said, getting a whole QUALITY system for under 250 is just dreaming, however you could easily get 2 good subs and a good amp for roughly that price www.cardomain.com often has good deals thats where i got my subs. PS I recommend hifonics amps for decently priced high quality amps

[OldSchoolin86]

those mtx's wont fit the old style 97 f-250,

Really? http://www.mtxaudio.com/caraudio/products/enclosures/FRP20.cfm