Speakers-best bang for the buck

[dmac]

You have an STX as well, so we have the basic head unit which IMO is the easiest to upgrade.

If you only want to add a powered sub like the HS10, the HS10 has a built in LOC if you will. Owners will splice the left rear door speaker for signal. The high level output from the head unit into the high level input into the HS10. The HS10 has a crossover built in. The HS10 has an auto turn circuit built in (detects signal from the source) or you can provide your own "blue wire" to turn it on. Then provide power from somewhere (+/- straight from the battery is best).

That said, depending on how involved you want to get, a lot of owners will add some kind of harness behind the head unit. I've read it can be done without taking all the dash apart and going in directly from the top. Having installed a harness myself I don't see how if you want a clean install. Plug-N-Play (ask for Joe) is a popular harness. From there you have all the channels to pass to a quality LOC then to an amp or to an amp that has high level inputs. Again, boils down to how involved you want to get.

Hope this helps.

I'd recommend wiring the HS10 up to the front speakers at least, especially if you haven't set a flat signal in the ACM with forscan. The rear speakers don't get full range in factory ACM configuration with the 7 Speaker system.

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[Jersey devil]

For those of you that put the kicker HS10 behind the seat any idea how it compares to putting it under the rear seat? Do you lose a lot of volume/sound out of it and if so are you able to tweak it with the gain and bass boost adjustments to make up for it. I'd love to relocate mine from under to behind the seat but would rather not give up sound quality.

 

[TexasTruck]

For those of you that put the kicker HS10 behind the seat any idea how it compares to putting it under the rear seat?

I didn't have a choice but behind the rear seat, so I never tried another location to compare it to under the seat. Personally, for what the HS10 is, I get plenty of volume. I have the gain set at 1/4, no bass boost, and the crossover is set at 120. I think what helps is the rear seat back isn't right up against the front of the sub and has a large gap below the sub for it to vent under the seat. It's difficult to explain. I'm happy with it.

 

[dmac]

For those of you that put the kicker HS10 behind the seat any idea how it compares to putting it under the rear seat? Do you lose a lot of volume/sound out of it and if so are you able to tweak it with the gain and bass boost adjustments to make up for it. I'd love to relocate mine from under to behind the seat but would rather not give up sound quality.

I'll second @TexasTruck . I dont have mine near all the way cranked up.

 

[JExpedition07]

Is Polk still doing stuff? My buddies dad had a Polk system in his boat and that think kicked ass back in the day

 

[mredwin25]

kickers and call it a day, use a head unit power pack like the one alpine makes

 

[TexasTruck]

Is Polk still doing stuff? My buddies dad had a Polk system in his boat and that think kicked ass back in the day

Yep, they are still around... I have Polk/MOMO in the boat... a number of boat makers used them for a few years. I remember MTX was a thing too.... Kicker too... man how time flies.....

 

[JExpedition07]

Yep, they are still around... I have Polk/MOMO in the boat... a number of boat makers used them for a few years. I remember MTX was a thing too.... Kicker too... man how time flies.....

I just remember another guy on the dock spent like $20,000 for some crazy Fusion/JL audio system and the guy I referenced 4 6x9 Polk speakers and sub absolutely kicked the shit out of the JL system. They used to play around and do stereo wars, but those Polks sounded like you were at a concert and could run right over those JL’s like they weren’t even on. Crisp and clear high in the volume too. That was a great system for way cheaper.

The magnet on the back of those Polks were MASSIVE. I talked to him last night actually, he said he doesn’t think Polk makes those giant magnet 6x9 anymore. Shame. Those kicked the shit out of $10,000+ systems for 1/10 the price.

 

[dmac]

I love my HS10, I could not agree more. Took a little trial and error to set is just right but now all is good.
I also did the forscan tweaks that you did, again I agree.

Only thing left is try your speaker and block off recommendations. I had a long road trip yesterday and Just could not get the sound great. To me, I want to say things sound overly bright, if that is the right term. Can't get the highs and mids good at the same time. I have a CNC and some HDPE laying around so I might take a stab at making the plates myself. Need to make a good test playlist....

Thanks for sharing all that info in one place!

So I have one for you...

Try this in forscan for the ACM (save your old config before hand)


727-01-01: 382A 15F1 ****


Then set your fader all the way back to just barely touching the rear seat bottom.

Turn down trebble your liking.

This finally made things smooth and not overly bright, kinda like my 2015 sony system. As long as you wired your sub to the front speakers, I think you'll see a big improvement.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

So I have one for you...

Try this in forscan for the ACM (save your old config before hand)


727-01-01: 382A 15F1 ****


Then set your fader all the way back to just barely touching the rear seat bottom.

Turn down trebble your liking.

This finally made things smooth and not overly bright, kinda like my 2015 sony system. As long as you wired your sub to the front speakers, I think you'll see a big improvement.

What does this setting do?

 

[dmac]

What does this setting do?

It changes the rear speakers to only mid/highs. Also sets the center dash speaker to full range.

In my experience this allowed a fade to the back, without any bass loss if you wire your sub to the front. A much richer but less surround type sound.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Cool, thanks. So it's really only useful if you have a sub then.

 

[bhamilton]

How crucial is it to use an 8ohm center speaker vs replacing with 4ohm?

 

[Graygoose2021]

How crucial is it to use an 8ohm center speaker vs replacing with 4ohm?

It would be alot louder in the center channel

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