A client from Gilroy recently dropped into California Car Sounds and Tint to discuss options for a 2018 Ram 3500 stereo system upgrade. He liked the truck, but the factory sound system left him disappointed in almost every way. After talking to the client, it became clear that his pickup was in dire need of better speakers, a subwoofer and more powerful amplification.
Alpine X-Series Speaker Upgrades
One of the key ingredients to an amazing sound system are the speakers. We removed the factory woofer from the door and applied Blackhole Foil sound damping material to the exterior skin of the vehicle. A set of Alpine X-Series X-S69c 6×9-inch components would serve as the new speakers for the front stage of the sound system. The tweeters from the Alpine set are installed in the factory tweeter location.
We installed a set of matching X-S65 6.5-inch coaxial speakers in the rear door locations to round out the sound in the cab. Our fabrication team created a set of custom speaker adapters to allow the round speakers to bolt into the 6×9-inch factory speaker opening.
JL Audio Subwoofer Upgrade for Amazing Bass Performance
When it comes to high-performance drop-in subwoofer solutions, nobody in the industry can match the Stealthbox enclosures from JL Audio. We ordered an SB-D-QDRAMD/10TW1 Dodge Ram Crew/Quad cab enclosure for the client. This fiberglass enclosure is home to a pair of 10TW1 subwoofers and fits perfectly under the rear bench seat of the pickup truck.
RAM 3500 Stereo System Amplifiers
The system is powered by a pair of the new Alpine X-Series amplifiers. An X-A70F four-channel amplifier provides 120 watts per channel to each of the door speakers. An Alpine X-A90M monoblock amp provides 900 watts of power to the pair of subwoofers. Thanks to their small size, we were able to mount the amplifiers behind the subwoofer enclosure in a space under the rear seat back.
A PAC AmpPRO4 AP4-CH41 integration module allowed us to extract a full-bandwidth, unprocessed audio signal from the factory source unit to drive the new amplifiers and speakers. We used JL Audio interconnects to connect the amps to the integration processor.
System Tuning and Delivery
With all the equipment in this Ram 3500 stereo upgrade installed, it was time for our guys to fine tune the system crossovers and levels to ensure it would sound amazing. The client was truly impressed by the upgrade. The stereo now had the sound quality and output capabilities he wanted. If you are in the San Jose area and want to improve the performance of your mobile audio system, drop by California Car Sounds and Tint in Campbell and speak with a member of our sales team. You can also reach us by e-mail using our contact form.
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