prometheus4280 said:
I am new to this forum, back in June i got a 2008 Ford Escape. I am now looking to upgrade the audio system completely. So far i am looking at getting 2 JL Audio 12w3v3 12's, two 500W alpine mrp-m500 amps, and the Pioneer AVIC-X910BT HU. I don't know what to get as far as door speakers, and other audio accessories. So if anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated.
Hey there, you've got roughly the same deck as I do, and it sounds like you want sound quality as much as I do. consider running an amp for the front channels, preferably active and preferably with time-alignment ability to offset the pathlength differences that will come with installing a set of components in the doors. This can be done with a processor, or possibly if you find the right quality main amp it could have onboard abilities. Don't worry about the rears at all, I don't use them other than the stock speakers with head unit power. It only needs to serve as rear fill ambiance when you have quality staging speakers up front.
I second working with the PPI components, they are excellent bang for the buck and will please most listeners. When going active you can also piece together your own component set, but the PPI is solid as a rock. If you MUST have a passive setup, deeply consider the Alpine SPX-17PRO components, because the crossovers will actually compensate like a processor for off-axis positions and speaker location path length differentials. It is nowhere near as good as actually having control over these things on your own, but still its better than just chucking speakers in the door and hoping for results that don't suck.
Also, and I know most of you hate me for saying this so much... you need to deaden the truck properly to extract good sound. I follow the SDS approach. the website is
http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com. His name is Don, he is genuinely a nice guy to chat with and his prices are incredibly competitive. Follow his approach to the letter and you should be quite happy.
