Mod: Cab Speakers + Sub + Amp
DETAILS: Cab Speakers + Sub + Amp
My rig came with the 9” infotainment system but stock speakers. I’m told by the professionals at Street Sound Plus in Van Nuys, CA that the chassis stereo head unit is actually half-way decent (made by Pioneer), but the speakers are the weak link. They are very cheap and there is no amp or powered sub in the stock system.
Kenwood Speakers
I had all 4 speakers replaced with a Kenwood component system (one mid-range speaker in each door and both tweeters on top of the dashboard). I also added a 4-channel Kenwood amp and a 8” Kenwood subwoofer (all pictured above, links below).
Kenwood Amp
The amp was installed under the floor on the passenger side (where the bottle jack and tools used to be, which have since moved to an outside storage bin). The installers custom-built the largest box that could house the 8” subwoofer in the space just behind the front seats (below the main floor). The subwoofer is facing up and a custom grille was created to allow the air/sound to escape forward. You can feel the bass throughout the entire coach when the chassis stereo is on!
Subwoofer Wiring
It’s important to plug the subwoofer into the dedicated sub input in the back of the chassis stereo and that the sub is wired through a low pass crossover. With this wiring, the intensity of the subwoofer can be set independently of the treble/mid/bass and equalizing parameters. If you lower the Center/Woofer Volume to 0 (or even a negative number), you’ll hear the subwoofer drop out but all of the other speakers are unchanged.
Audio Settings
My audio settings are set as follows:
Treble Gain = +3
Mid Gain = 0
Bass Gain = -3
Center/Woofer Volume = +7
Loudness = 0
Equalizer = LIVE
The reason the Bass Gain is set to -3 is to lessen the low frequencies being sent to the 4 component speakers.
Bluetooth Source Volume
To avoid distortion, it’s imperative that the volume on the Bluetooth device is set no higher than 3/4. For best results, set the output volume (on your phone, tablet, etc.) to a number between 2/3 and 3/4. Then, adjust the volume to taste on the stereo itself.
Kenwood Component Speaker System: www.amazon.com/dp/B007WOLBIM
Kenwood 4-Channel Amplifier: www.amazon.com/dp/B01BE6S84S
Kenwood 8” Subwoofer: www.amazon.com/dp/B001ULS3DY