1953 Studebaker Truck Product Selection

[rton20s]

I think that the single din units that I had worked better than the double dins I have now in terms of how fast they load and switch modes and seem to have less issues overall. My favorite was the Alpine 149 for the SQ and 9 band parametric EQ and the Sony single din (forget the model) that had 40 wpc built in. That Sony actually sounded real good just because of that built in amplifier and my wife also found it intuitive to use.

Someone is eventually going to say it but AudioFrog coaxial speakers would undoubtedly sound great.

I put an Alpine CDE-147BT in my wife's GLI. It was a great unit and I was quite pleased with the performance, including the limited tuning capabilities. It is unfortunate that I don't think the latest Alpine releases are up to that level.

I also appreciate the input on the Sony. That additional power is one of the biggest reasons it made my short list.

Sorry rton20, when I mentioned " gs6 " I was referring to the FROG coax, they really did sound amazing.

There..... Frogs mentioned ��

Thanks for the clarification. I think the GS62 are the top of the list, but also probably the very top of the budget.

And neither one of you need to worry about being first to mention the Audiofrogs. They were in my OP.

[Holmz]

...
I'm really not sure what you are suggesting? My thought for a subwoofer, if he chose to add one, was to build a small enclosure in the center above the transmission hump. "Midbasses" would be the coaxes in the doors. And horns would take the price of the build to a whole different level, IF I could even get them to fit. Seating orientation seems to be pretty vertical in a '53 Studebaker and there isn't a whole lot of depth underneath the dash.

The centre section of the dash looks like it may have contained a couple of speakers?
If there were any room there then it may actually sound better than shoved into the doors?
If there enough room there, then running a single 8" sub up to 500 or 1000 Hz could take care of a few things at once?
(would it be better than doors? I dunno, if the doors are thin it might not be easy to shove them in the doors)

Then you mentioned in the other post that there were some holes in the dash in the corners?"
If some horns fit there, then a system with a couple of horns and a 8" sub also doing MB and lower mid range could interesting.

They are probably hairbrained ideas, but you get what you pay for.
It looks interesting.

[rton20s]

I met with the truck owner over the weekend to take some additional measurements and talk options. The budget is certainly going to be tight at about $500 for equipment. Based on our conversation, the build will consist of single DIN head unit hung beneath the dash/aftermarket A/C, 6.5" coax in the existing door openings (5.25"W x 3.5"D), a 4 channel amplifier and a small sealed (<0.33cf) subwoofer in a center console. Some stuff I'll donate, such as left over CLD, some custom mounting brackets for the head unit and possibly the enclosure.

Listed below is what I came up with. It comes in just under the $500 limit for equipment.

Head Unit
Kenwood KDC-X304 - $130
Metra 99-9000 Under Dash Mount - $15

Amplifier
Kenwood X301-4 - $135
8 AWG OFC Amp Kit & 4 CH RCAs - $55

Speakers Options
Morel Maximo 6 Coax - $90

Subwoofer Options
Sound Ordnance M2 8SVC - $60

Total Equipment Cost - $485

Secondary options for the speakers and sub would be the Kenwood KFC-X174 ($60) and JBL Club 810 ($60). Both the Sound Ordnance and JBL 8" subs model to work well in extremely small (<0.2cf for 0.707 Qtc) enclosures. This in combination with a fairly shallow mounting depth should make the down-firing center console enclosure a bit easier to integrate.

With adding the sub to try and get full range frequency response out of the build, including an amp became a necessity. I looked at everything from mono amps, to four channels, to 5 channel amps. In the end, a small 4 channel with the rear channels bridged to 4 ohm for the subwoofer seemed to make the most sense. Especially considering the budget. I initially thought using a micro amp like the Kenwood KAC-M3004 or NVX VADM4 tucked up into the dash would be the best bet. But, with the current price and power of the X301-4, I think it is the winner. It just means the amp will need to get mounted behind the seat. There is also enough room back there to mount a shallow subwoofer, if the center console enclosure idea doesn't work out as planned.

If anyone has any thoughts or feedback, I'm still open to hear them as it will likely be a week or two before anything is ordered.

[chithead]

I love it! That is going to be awesome! Really wish there was more room to do a ported Sundown E8 from their yard sale site, but that's half a cube, PLUS port volume. What you've put together so far, I think that will be awesome!!!

[rton20s]

I love it! That is going to be awesome! Really wish there was more room to do a ported Sundown E8 from their yard sale site, but that's half a cube, PLUS port volume. What you've put together so far, I think that will be awesome!!!

Thanks. I actually looked at the E8 and it looks like it works well in a tiny sealed enclosure as well. The V.5 D4 models with a Qtc <0.7 in only 0.16cf. If it was for myself, I might risk a Yard Sale buy, but for someone else I don't think I would. And at over $100 it would really be pressing the budget. $80 for the new V.6 model may be worth looking into, but I couldn't find updated specs anywhere.

[Holmz]

I love it! That is going to be awesome! Really wish there was more room to do a ported Sundown E8 from their yard sale site, but that's half a cube, PLUS port volume. What you've put together so far, I think that will be awesome!!!

I can help with the port volume

[rton20s]

I can help with the port volume

I don't know what that means, and something tells me I don't want to.

On another note, sometimes it is best not to look into something if you don't really want to see the answer. I also modeled a Skar VD-8 D2. It wants a little larger enclosure, but could work in 0.33cf. The Skar has more output than the others (closer to the 10s I modeled) and should play just as low for about the same price. BUT, its Skar.

Here is the sim comparison with simulated cabin gain (LW Transform) and 60Hz LR4 LPF applied.

[TheTodd]

I don’t know how set you are on using traditional car audio manufacturers but I just happened to be cruising Parts Express a few minutes ago and noticed that the Dayton Classic 8” says optimum sealed is .19cf & ported was .45 (if you could squeeze just a tad more room). And it was only $50. That could free up a few extra $$ to be used elsewhere. Just a thought.

[rton20s]

I don’t know how set you are on using traditional car audio manufacturers but I just happened to be cruising Parts Express a few minutes ago and noticed that the Dayton Classic 8” says optimum sealed is .19cf & ported was .45 (if you could squeeze just a tad more room). And it was only $50. That could free up a few extra $$ to be used elsewhere. Just a thought.

You must not be familiar with my posts.

I certainly do appreciate the suggestion though! The Dayton was actually at the top of my list for a bit.

I actually started at PE, modeling drivers and then moved on to more traditional brands. I modeled everything from in 8"-10" all the way up to the Ultimax drivers. Bang for the buck, available power and space limitations landed me at the Sound Ordnance, JBL Stage 10, and now, possibly, the Skar.

On the Dayton specifically, I was concerned about over excursion. It actually models quite well otherwise. In a 0.33cf (0.748 Qtc) enclosure, it only takes 180W to reach Xmax + 15% with that driver. And while the X301-4 is only rated at 150W @ 4 Ohms bridged, dyno testing of the similarly rated X801-5 shows actual power levels in the 300-340W range (with all channels driven).

Perhaps I am being too cautious, since this wouldn't be for myself. This is also the reason I selected the Sound Ordnance over the JBL. Listed below is what it takes for each of the subs to reach Xmax + 15% in a given enclosure size...

Sound Ordnance M2-8SVC: 450W @ 0.11cf
JBL Stage 810: 170W @ 0.19cf
Skar VD-8 D2: 1180W @ 0.33cf
Dayton DCS205-4: 180W @ 0.33cf