door speakers – High Tech Auto Sound

Its time to highlight one of the sound systems we worked on at our shop! This sound system was installed on a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 and covers all the basses needed for a full-blown sound system.

Here’s the overall breakdown for what we installed:

1 AudioControl LC6i to get a clean signal from the truck’s factory radio.
0 Gauge oxygen free power and ground cable.
2 Hifonics Gemini Amplifiers- one to power our subwoofers and one to power the door speakers.
2 Sets of DS18 ProNeo speakers for the doors.
1 Set of DS18 low profile tweeters for the dash.
AudioControl’s Epicenter Bass Restoration processor.
1 pair of DB drive 8” woofers
Our custom-made ported woofer box.

Now the most important part of any sound system is going to be the stuff you don’t even hear- the wiring and line output converters. We decided to go with 0-gauge Stinger brand oxygen free copper (OFC) power cable to serve as the foundation for the entire system. Using oxygen free cable in your sound system is going to make sure all your amplifiers are receiving the optimal amount of power from your battery. While OFC cable tends to be a little more expensive than other types of amp power kits, we fully believe it is the best bet to go with to make sure any system works no matter the size.

The next bit of the system’s foundation is the line output converter. For those of you who may not know- line output converters are little devices that let us connect your aftermarket sound system to your factory radio without having to modify it! There are tons of options out there for line output converters to use, but for a build of this size our preference is Audio Control’s LC6i system. Using the right line output converter can make or break any sound system in your car because its going to act as the source of the audio signal that your amplifiers are going to work with. The LC6i is going to give us the cleanest signal from our factory radio without introducing any extra noise. Using cheaper or less powerful alternatives won’t give us a quality signal to which will make your system not sound the best- even if you shelled out the money for top-of-the-line amplifiers and speakers.

Now for the fun stuff! This build utilizes a set of DS18 ProNeo pro audio speakers and tweeters powered by a Hifonics brand 4- channel amplifier to deliver the mids and highs for this system. The DS18 ProNeo series of door speaker provides a whopping 250 watt rms punch to this sound system delivering loud and clear mids and highs.

Pro audio door speakers like these ProNeo speakers from DS18 will sound best when paired up with a 4-channel amp. Factory and aftermarket stereos simply do not have the power to drive these speakers on their own.

For the bass we went with two DB Drive 8” sub woofers loaded in one of our custom ported boxes. These woofers are being powered by a monoblock Hifonics amplifier at 1 ohm so that we can get the full power of the amplifier. This customer mentioned to us that he listens to a wide range of genres of music, so we also decided to add and Epicenter from our friends at Audio Control. The Epicenter is a bass restoration DSP that allows us to adjust the amplitude of lower frequencies- aka it increases the bass in songs that don’t really have a lot of bass in them like corridos, banda, country, etc.

DB Drive 8″ woofers in one of our custom ported boxes.

And finally, we went ahead and added some interior and exterior lighting around the truck to give it that extra personal touch. While these LED lights and underglow don’t add anything to the sound system it helps the truck stand out from the rest.

If you’re interested in getting a sound system or have any questions about car audio, security, or suspension feel free to give us a call! Remember, it’s your ride made better.

Most people will hold on to their cars for at least 10 years which is great- until you realize that the average lifespan of factory door speakers are about 3 to 4 years. Getting ahead of the curve and replacing your old factory truck speakers before they go out can save you a bunch of headaches down the line. There are a wide range of truck speakers available out on the market today, so picking the right door speakers might be a little overwhelming at first, but don’t worry we got you!

Picking the best door speakers for your car is going to mainly boil down to one question: How loud do you want to go?

Kenwood Excelon truck door speaker installed. — Kenwood Excelon door speaker installed.

If your main goal is to improve your existing the sound quality and clarity of your factory system, then we highly suggest looking for speakers that advertise themselves as being “factory replacements”. These types of door speakers will work great with your factory or aftermarket radio and won’t need a four-channel amplifier. One of our absolute favorite speakers in this category is the Kenwood Excelon Reference series of speakers. These door speakers are built using a glass fiber cone which means that they’re built to last and come with a built in high power tweeter. This series of door speaker can handle up to 100 watts rms so while they’ll work great with whichever radio you have, they can also handle the addition of a 4 channel amplifier if you want your sound system to go even louder.