Need Detailed Suggestions - 1996 Chevy Tahoe 2 Door

1462 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Lycancatt, Sep 27, 2016

SamSpade

Discussion Starter · Sep 25, 2016

I recently purchased a 1996 Chevy Tahoe 2 Door from my grandfather's estate. the vehicle is in really good shape for being 20 years old. It has nothing of note in the audio department. The vehicle has the separated HU and CD player. It also has the stock 6.5's in the door and the horrendous 4x10's in the back headliner. I would love to upload pictures of my vehicle, but I have not reached the post count yet. As a frame of reference, Darth SQ is slowly finishing a rather phenomenal build on a relatively similar vehicle. I can't post a link to his build yet either. I will change both of these issues as soon as the post count has been reached. In any case, his vehicle, minus the 2nd row of seats and doors , is nearly identical to mine. As much as I would love to put that much quality into my vehicle, I simply do not have the time to invest in such an outstanding project. That being said, I would still like to make my vehicle competent.

After that excessive tangent, to the meat and potatoes of the post. I am happy to do as much research as possible on all situations and setups conceivable, but I want to make sure I am understanding things correctly. I would like suggestions or opinions as to what would work best in my vehicle.

I would like to use AudioFrog for the front stage. I am unsure if 2 or 3-way setup would be best. I doubt I will use anything in the back, maybe just something running off of the HU as back fill. I want to remove the spare tire, jack assembly, and plastic components in that area and use that space to build a box for my sub. I need at least half of the cargo area open for daily use. I am again unsure of sealed vs ported or a single vs dual 10" or 12" setup. I would like to incorporate an MS-8 in the system. I also plan on converting the dash from the stock to a double din setup. Any suggestions on HUs? I see that Arc, PPI, JL, Zed, Masconi, and so on and so on. I intend on doing sound deadening throughout the vehicle.

I welcome any and all suggestions and opinions.

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Angus Young

· #2 · Sep 26, 2016

I had a 95.. had a 3 way setup with kick panels holding tweets and mids and midbass in the doors..

H700 display was mounted where rear heat controls would normally be..

The kick panels are fine if you are only one in it.. but after awhile they get abused/hit no matter what you tell people it seems..

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SamSpade

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 26, 2016

Angus Young said:
I had a 95.. had a 3 way setup with kick panels holding tweets and mids and midbass in the doors..

H700 display was mounted where rear heat controls would normally be..

The kick panels are fine if you are only one in it.. but after awhile they get abused/hit no matter what you tell people it seems..

As much as kick panels are interesting to me, I am concerned about the abuse they will take. I am decently large individual (6'5" 255lbs) and I think my legs will block the sounds and skis (feet) will always be smashing them.

Is there any true benefit to 2 way vs a 3 way setup? Assuming the installation and tuning are equal?

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Lycancatt

· #4 · Sep 27, 2016

these are cool vehicles to work with, pretty easy and not all tha tnoisy inside to begin with.

in order of signal flow

doing a double din in that car is, from what I remember, a real pain, you have to cut into the original plastic dash piece to fit it and then do fiberglass molding to make it look right..its possible but is a bit of an undertaking.

there are a lot better and easier to use processors than the jbl ms8 these days, and for similar money. my personal favorite is the Rockford 360.3 for a lower budget, and the alpine h800/c800 combo. I'd run the alpine set up because you could put the c800 controller where the cd player resides currently, and you don't need a laptop to tune/tweek on it.

arc makes some of the berrer class d amps, the 1200.5 and 1100.1 give tons of flexibility, and the ks series is even nicer though harder to find. the other amps you mensioned are all pretty good as well, except the zed ones..i have seen too many bad reviews/breakdowns to recommend them in confidence.

audiofrog makes a fine product, though a bit overpriced for now imo..the gb60 is a seriously good midbass and should fit in your doors with little modification. two way is ok, but for me, theres no going ack from the 3 way setups I build and use daily.

with how wide the truck is, a pillar pods for a four and tweeter should not present a sightlines problem at all. the gb25 is a nice midrange but doesn't go low enough for many listeners who might crank it up a bit, so I recommend the gb40 and gb10 combo.

a single ported 12 should fit in your spare tire enclosure, or two sealed 10s. I'm a fan of having more moving cone area than i'll ever need, and I also prefer a ported boxes sound overall ut you have to put some effort into the design of them verses sealed.

as for subs? alpine type r is my personal favorite for lower budget, and image dynamics idmax for a higher budget. I cant in good confidence suggest the audiofrog subs but if you want to use them, they are ..ok.

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rton20s

· #5 · Sep 27, 2016

Budget?

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SamSpade

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 27, 2016

@Lycancatt - In your opinion, is there a comparable 3 way setup with the Audiofrog that is more reasonably priced? I have no issue with you telling me my entire plan is garbage. I'm trying to put together a reasonable setup. I am not as knowledgeable as most, so any insight is very much appreciated. I am not sure if it matters but I enjoy metal, classical piano, and house/progressive music. Are there certain brands that are better for certain types of musical genres?

@rton20s - I'd like to keep the whole thing between $5k-$7k.

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Lycancatt

· #7 · Sep 27, 2016

audiofrog makes a good product overall, I just don't feel the gb25 goes low enough to really make it a great midrange in a 3 way. this might be personal bias because I like pointsource drivers myself and I like to keep them playing as low as they can without killing them with excessive volume.

if you are going the route of 6 channels of amp for 6 speakers, which I highly suggest you do, you can go far, really far, with raw drivers. there is no reason you have to buy your 3 pairs of speakers from the same maker, but many feel comfortable doing this and I would be remiss not to suggest it.

have you considered a midbass in doors, and a 4 inch pointsource or coaxial in the a pillars? this keeps much of your sound above the dash and on ear/eye level, which is often more pleasing. a 3 way set would do this as well, but you'd have to have more complex custom work done to fit 2 drivers up there vs just one.

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SamSpade

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 27, 2016

I most certainly have considered that option. It is just an area where my knowledge drops very shapely. I am uncertain where to even begin mixing and matching in that arena. So my comfort level in making an informed decision, just isnt there. What should I be looking for?

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Lycancatt

· #9 · Sep 27, 2016

if I was building a system for your truck..this is what I would do.

double din if you can fit it, the kenwood ones are my favorites bbut the pioneer ones are more user friendly.

alpine h800 and c800 combo for processing.

two arc audio 600.4 amps and one 1100.1 all from the xdi series.

peerless sls eights in custom door panels replacing the factory grill to fit the eight driver on the same plane as the door panel.

morel 4 coaxials in a pillars, I forget there lines but the good $500 ones, entegra I think?

pair of sealed alpine type r 10s or a single ported 12 depending on space allowances.

one 4 channel amp would be bridged to run the midbasses and the other would run the coaxials and rear fill if you choose to add it in.

this is a pretty solid way to go, uses mostly known brands except for the peerless drivers, and would be kind to your alternator as class d amps aren't as voltage hungry as class a/b ones.

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