Hello,I am looking to make a few changes to the system I have in my 2005 dodge ram,I pieced together and installed the system myself and while it does sound pretty sweet I think there is definately some room for improvement,especially in the front speaker department.What i have for components is:
old alpine 7838 HU,audiobahn AEQ-8 crossover/4band EQ/w8V output.3 year old pioneer premier 6in seperates(aluminum cone),driven with a JL450/4, a jl 10w6v2 sub up front and a JL 12w6v2 in the rear,both driven by a JL 1000/1. I also have a set of polk 5 1/4 speakers in the rear doors for fill and I have raised the rear seat 3inches and moved it ahead 3 inches so a larger rear box could be made to fit the 12in driver as well as make room on the back wall of the cab to install the long JL amps.

I think the biggest reason I am unhappy with the sound is virtually all my music is derived from downloaded MP3's,it is going to be a big job to replace all my music with wave or FLAC files but I know it must be done.The other thing I dont like is the mid bass is weak from the pioneer seperates ,and while I like the audiobahn AEQ8, 4 bands of EQ is not enough.I went with the audiobahn because of the 8 volt output and because it has a crossover and EQ.

My plans are to possibly replace the HU if needed,for sure replace the front speakers based on input from you guys on this board and replace the equalizer with one that has more adjustment.Unfortunately I listen to rock and hard rock which I know is not very "musical" in the first place but I want to make the sound as good as I can,thanks for any input !!!

 

that box looks pretty sweet and stealth

 

I would upgrade the front speakers and then the processor. I happen to be selling an Alpine PXA-H700 in the For Sale section if interested

 

what you want for it? .....PXA-H700

 

PXA-H700

 

I really want to stay with a 1/2 din rotary **** controled processer that is dash mounted,I am thinking maybe the clarion EQS746 will give me a little more adjustability.I'd like to hear what you guys recommend for front components for my truck,that will be my next change.

 

Some of the higher end cd players have more ability to manipulate the signal internally that most of the outboard processors. Eliminate this step in the process and keep the signal chain shorter. Take the $ from that processor and throw it into the headunit. The Pioneer and the Eclipse have very powerful processors to allow you to do this.

 

Ability of the PXA-H700 to manipulate the signal is pretty impressive, plus it has an optical-input so there is no loss of signal quality if you use it with a deck that has an optical-out...... AND the internal D/A's in the PXA are some of the best out there again giving a quality signal.

It also has 8-channels of time alligned small incriment control, and parametric or graphic eq over each of the 8-channels individually...as well as some pretty amazing x-overs.