Factory Amp?

Banditgrrr · #1 03-02-2015, 10:20 AM

Brand new the forum and just bought a 1999 Ford Ranger regular cab with only 30,000 miles on it from an estate auction. When I bought the truck, it had the factory head unit in it (double DIN) and only had speakers in the front 2 doors. The speakers sound good but I wanted to do a bit of an upgrade. I just installed a new touch screen unit and I bought 4 new kenwood speakers. Last night I installed the head unit and the 2 speakers in the existing grills behind the seat. The rear speaker grills did not have existing wires ran so I had to pull new wire. After everything was done, the door speakers sound great but the 2 new rear speakers don't sound very good. Long story short, I'm wondering if there's a factory amp that I should have pulled the speaker wires too. The rear speakers sound very week and the existing door speakers sound great. Only thing I can think of is maybe the front speakers are amplified and the rear speakers are not. Any ideas?

casey.mikl · #2 03-02-2015, 11:38 AM

Being that your truck is a regular cab and only had 2 speakers, there is no factory amp. The speakers sound weak because they are behind seats and aren't open like the doors. You can change the adjustments on your headunit to more of the rear speakers than the front to even it out.

GLH · #3 03-02-2015, 04:42 PM

What size and type wire did you run to the rear speakers ? Be sure you have correct polarity unbroken from headunit to speakers. Which speakers and headunit are they ?

Banditgrrr · #4 03-03-2015, 10:59 AM

Thanks for the response. I used 18 gauge wire to the speakers. I installed a Pioneer AVH-X3700BHS headunit and the speakers are Kenwood KFC-C6895PS.

I was hoping it would sound good without having to add an amp. Could changing to a thinner speaker wire make a difference?

GLH · #5 03-03-2015, 11:13 AM

Are the speaker runs unbroken, as in, full runs from headunit to speakers ? Are you sure the polarity is correct on all 4 ? I never use speaker wire smaller than 16 gauge.

casey.mikl · #6 03-03-2015, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banditgrrr

Thanks for the response. I used 18 gauge wire to the speakers. I installed a Pioneer AVH-X3700BHS headunit and the speakers are Kenwood KFC-C6895PS. I was hoping it would sound good without having to add an amp. Could changing to a thinner speaker wire make a difference?

No don't go thinner. If anything you want thicker. My door speakers are ran on 14 awg. Because I had a spool of it. Move the seats all the way forward and see if the sound it better.

GLH · #7 03-03-2015, 11:17 AM

If you do not want to amp the Kenwoods, is it possible to exchange them for more sensitive speakers like Infinity or Pioneer, that will do better with low headunit-only power ?

Banditgrrr · #8 03-03-2015, 11:27 AM

The runs are unbroken all the way to the head unit and the polarity is correct. In order to equal out the sound, I have to use the fader on the head unit and put about 70% towards the rear.

I'm a relative novice on car stereo's. Before I made any upgrades, there were only 2 door speakers and they sounded pretty good. When I went to 4 speakers (even though it's a different head unit) does that somehow split the power in half? The specs say the head unit has a built in Amp of 50w x 4. Does this mean that if I add an amp, it would need to be more than 50w in order to hear any kind of difference?

GLH · #9 03-03-2015, 11:53 AM

The head is not 50x4. If it is a Kenwood, maybe 18x4, Pioneer 14x4, JVC maybe 20x4. Never take max or peak wattage seriously with any component. RMS specs only. Casey might be correct about the seats blocking the highs. No, it does not split the power. The head has 4 dedicated outputs for speakers. If it was only powering 2 speakers, they would get the same power. A good quality 50x4 amp would bring those speakers to life. Even better in a regular cab would be a small sealed subwoofer behind the seat and only the 2 door speakers. You can power all 3 with a 4 channel amp. Your soundstage will never be right if you want the rears as loud as the fronts. They aren't supposed to be. When you are at a live music venue, do you turn your back to the stage ?

casey.mikl · #10 03-03-2015, 01:07 PM

Okay guess I'm being ignored. Did you move the seats up? Has that done anything

Banditgrrr · #11 03-03-2015, 01:40 PM

I just went out and moved the seats up. It does sound quite a bit better without being blocked by the seat. I have about 70% of the fader set to the rear and I guess I had better expectations for upgrading to kenwood from factory and adding the two additional rear speakers. I could try adding an amp but it seems like I'd have the same issue.

Unfortunately, adding a sub behind the seat may not work if it required me to move the seat forward to make room. I'm 6'4" and since it's a standard cab, I don't have much room and would have even less if I had to move the seat forward to make room for a sub.

FORD4LIFE9876 · #12 03-03-2015, 03:24 PM

I have two 10's in my single cab and I have to move it up one click. You could probably build a slim box and fit a shallow mount sub without moving the seat. Or an 8" speaker will probably fit well

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Also U can put it behind the passenger seat if it needs to be a click up

GLH · #13 03-03-2015, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casey.mikl

Okay guess I'm being ignored. Did you move the seats up? Has that done anything

I gave you props in my long post, above ^.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Banditgrrr

I just went out and moved the seats up. It does sound quite a bit better without being blocked by the seat. I have about 70% of the fader set to the rear and I guess I had better expectations for upgrading to kenwood from factory and adding the two additional rear speakers. I could try adding an amp but it seems like I'd have the same issue. Unfortunately, adding a sub behind the seat may not work if it required me to move the seat forward to make room. I'm 6'4" and since it's a standard cab, I don't have much room and would have even less if I had to move the seat forward to make room for a sub.

If you don't want an amp, send the Kenwoods back and get Pioneer 6x8 coaxials with 90db or more sensitivity rating or get Infinity Reference 6x8 coaxials which are ~3ohm and 91+db sensitivity. Gotta have sensitive voice coils for low power.

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Alpine Type R 8" in a very small built to spec sealed enclosure and given rated power with a small frame Class D mono amp under the passenger seat, FTW.

Banditgrrr · #14 03-03-2015, 06:28 PM

I just wanted to say thanks to each of you who had suggestions. I certainly appreciate the help.

casey.mikl · #15 03-04-2015, 01:41 PM

I can vouch for the alpine type R 8. I absolutely love mine! Goes great with the mrv250 amo from alpine. I also have the Mrv500 amp.

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In my 97 single cab with explorer seats and explorer console.