I'm upgrading my speakers and amps | Ford Explorer Forums

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I'm upgrading my speakers and amps

William Schumacher

Well-Known Member
Joined
February 26, 1999
Messages
652
Reaction score
1
City, State
Yonkers,NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
'99 Sport 4X4
I currently have the pioneer 6x8's in the front door and rear panels
also an 8" jl sub in the qlogic sidewall box {rear compartment}
3 separate amps that weren't that good,with a planet audio electronic crossover with sub control.

I'm going to have an installer do all the work
I'm no installer and this is beyond what I can do ,and it needs to be done right or it just won't sound good.
Speakers
I was never pleased with the 6x8 speakers,
I'm going with a component set {JL Audio XR653CS} 3 way for the rears
ordered them from ebay and don't have them yet.....
for the front I'll probably go with a 2 way match to the back set
I'll be keeping the sub.
Amps
the 3 amps I've been using I was never happy with,
I just scored an older Orion 500.4 off Ebay{4 channel amp} 62 x 4 this amp is a pretty clean amp,this will run the 2 sets of component speakers
the sub amp will also be upgraded to a very old A/D/S/ p120 I had since
1986,this 2 channel amp was just super clean sounding !
Crossovers
what I'm not sure is if I should use the planet audio cross,or the ones that come with the speaker sets ?
I'll see what the installer suggests to me.

this should turn out pretty nice,I'm not into very loud music anymore
I want a balanced, clean sounding system.
wish me luck !
 



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I'm going with a component set {JL Audio XR653CS} 3 way for the rears
ordered them from ebay and don't have them yet.....
jl doesnt sell anything online and wont cover anything bought online or used, so you have absolutely no warranty on them. just fyi.

i dont know if you need 3 ways for the back, you probably wouldnt hear very much of them, they would just be filler for the front stage, plus if no one rides in the back it makes even less sense. get a pair of nice components for the front and use the crossovers that come with them, you should be fine.
 






unless you have people that sit in the back frequently don't spring for the component set in the back. Just get a decent coax and you'll be fine. I hope you also purchased your adapter plates for the 6.5" component set as the 6.5s won't fit w/out the adapter plate. Anyway back on subject.

Use the crossovers supplied in the component set. The amp you chose is a very good amp. Orion builds quality stuff.

Personally I don't mind the setup you have chosen. But unless you have occupants in the back of the truck at least 85% or more don't buy the comp set for the rear. Its a waste of money.

I personally am running a 7" comp set in the kick panels, 6.5" dedicated mid bass in the doors and a high end 6.5" coaxial set in the rear doors. It sounds like you are in a movie theater.
 






Wow !!

please keep the suggestions coming guy's !!

I like that I can save some bucks on the rear !, I guess I should stick with JL XR's all around, I'll take a look at what they offer {Coaxial} for the back {what would you guy's recommend for the rears ?}
5-1/4" , 6" , or 6-1/2" coaxial back there

and can I fit a 3 way component system up front ?
6-1/2" woofer
4" mid
1" tweeter
what would be the best place and way to put them in !!
any way I can utilize the stock openings ?

and I don't have any adapter ring plates as of yet,is there a good set of them available off the shelf,or will they have to be made out of MDF ?
I've heard bad things from the plastic one's

thanks !!
 






Unless you go custom you can't fit a 6.5 woofer, 4" mid, and 1" tweeter in the stock location. You could go with a 2-way setup and run a 5.25" woofer with 1" tweeter.

For the rear get the Metra adapter plates and run a 6.5" coax.
 






what kind of customizing would need to be done ?
if I could get the 3 way setup that's on it's way up there,that would be sweet !
 






You could but they would have to put the 6.5" in the location where the 5x7 was, put the tweeter up on the door by the mirror(somewhere around there for clarity), and then wherever they suggest to put the 4" mid let them put it there.
 






you mentioned kick panels ?,is that where you have your setup ?
 






yea. I have a 7" component set in my kick panels. The 7" measures 6.5" so it fit just fine.
 






If kickpanels arn't an option for you or if you would like to keep the mids in the doors, it's not too hard to make a 6.5" fit. I managed a 7" (6.5") wide 3" deep mid in my doors. Just had to make a 1.25" spacer because the window rail runs right behind the speaker hole... :

DSC01055.jpg


I am also running no rear speakers and I love it.
 






IndyExploder said:
yea. I have a 7" component set in my kick panels. The 7" measures 6.5" so it fit just fine.
Indy
where did you get the kick panels from ? ,
only kick panels I've seen are from Explorer Express but they were only listed for a 5-1/4" mid and a 1" tweeter,

just double checking all this,
you have the kick panels with a 7"{6.5"} woofer,along with a 1" tweeter
then you also have a 6.5" mid in the stock location {where the 5x7 was}
I'd like to know where you got them from !!
your running 6.5" coaxials in the rear ,
your using the metra adapters in all the stock speaker locations for use of the 6.5 mids and coxials.

I just ordered a few seconds ago the metra 82-5600 speaker adapters !!
2 sets
 






yes. Log onto www.sounddomain.com They carry kick panels for our year explorers. Theirs are made for 6.5" woofers and 1" tweets. That is what I'm using. My front doors house a set of RE x.. mids and my rear doors house a set of Diamond Audio Coaxs. Both pairs are 6.5" in size.

My kickpanels are from www.sounddomain.com and my adapters are from Metra.
 






I'll check it out,
I just ordered a 6.5 coaxial set of jl audio xr 650 cxi !


only thing I can think of is I may have to make a special adapter for the fronts ?

I have a 6.5 woofer and a 1" tweeter for the kick panel enclosures,
then i have a 4" mid for the door location ?,I'm sure that's close enough for the installer :confused:

when I finally get everything set up I'll chime in and take some pics !
just waiting for it to get here !

thanks everybody !!!
 






don't split the component set that far. Just run the comp set in a 2-way mode for the kickpanel and use for 4" for whatever. I would have planned this out a lil better before I purchased things but its your decision. Please message me if you have any more questions.
 






WEll ,Q-logic doesn't seem to make one of those enclosures for my '99 ?
they only go up to the '95-'96 model years ?
anyone know if it's the same for my '99 ??
 






it should be the same but I'm not sure on the Gen 2 or 3s(is that what urs is, I don't know newer xploders).
 






Gen 2

I'll try and get ahold of explorer express in the morning and find out whats the deal with this ?
theirs is also a qlogic but they have it listed as '95-'00 ?,and their speakers size is for 5-1/4" ??

you wouldn't put the 4" mid in the door ? :confused: ,thought I had it figured out too .......
yeah I kinda jumped right into it :o
I'll get it squared away I'm sure,


thanks,
 






Explorer Express don't sell kick enclosures anymore :rolleyes: ,they believe the stock kick panels are the same ?,
I called up crutchfield and explained everything to them and they said order it try it {before cutting !}and if it doesn't fit.......I can send it back and the return shipping is free !!
the panels are on the way .

hopefully we can get them to work even if their not perfect ?
 






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