Someone in the past had installed...
Someone in the past had installed a 6-inch speaker in each door, so I opted to use the same location to mount the Kicker DS60 coaxial speakers. It’s not the optimum location, but it beats leaving a 6-inch hole in each door and relocating the speakers elsewhere such as on the kickpanel.
To supply the heavy bass when...
To supply the heavy bass when I listen to my MC Hammer albums and to suit the rather confined area of the C10 cab, Ron turned me on to Kicker’s CompVT subboxes, mounted under the seat. Their compact size (51⁄16x91⁄16x165⁄16 inches) and blistering performance, thanks to the CompVT 8-inch subwoofers, make them one of the most versatile subs available.
Providing the power for the...
Providing the power for the system is Kicker’s DX 600.5 amplifier. Rated at 779 certified watts, it can be divided across two AMP channels (40Wx4 at 4 Ohms stereo, 75Wx4 at 2 Ohms stereo, or 150Wx2 at 4 Ohms mono) and one SUB channel (300x1 at 2 Ohms mono or 150x1 at 4 Ohms mono). It’s diminutive height of only 2 1/4-inches makes it a great candidate for under the seat mounting as well.
The final piece to our audio...
The final piece to our audio puzzle is the brand new PXi50.2 iPod amplified controller. Acting essentially as our head unit, this will mount under the seat with the rest of the components while the remote will give us access to the iPod controls.
Here’s the lay of the land...
Here’s the lay of the land for the under-seat components. Everything just fits in the space under the seat.
To power the amp, I ran a...
To power the amp, I ran a 4-gauge wire from the battery to the amp with an 80 amp fuse mounted close to the battery.
The icing on the cake though is Kicker’s newest product, the PXi50.2 iPod controller. One of the stipulations I had when we were putting together our audio system was that I didn’t want a head unit of any kind, be it in the dash or under the seat. Let’s face it, CDs and, *cough*, cassettes are a thing of the past and don’t get me started on FM radio! No, the MP3 player is king today and I’m a bit attached to my iPod as I bet many of you fellow music lovers are as well. And with nearly 20,000 songs on my iPod alone, why would I need anything else? I wanted a system that I could simply plug my iPod or iPhone in and be a’rockin’ and a’rollin’—the PXi50.2 was the perfect solution. An amplified controller designed to easily add tunes to a vehicle not previously equipped with a music source, for all intents and purposes, the PXi50.2 is a head unit that can be mounted under the seat or in the glovebox thanks to its small footprint. A wired remote allows for control of basic functions of the device and a 66-inch connection cable provides continuous charging to the docked device. This translates essentially into a system that can be completely hidden out of sight when not in use, something that I was keen on from the beginning to thwart off the potential thief, yet rivals any aftermarket stereo system. Short of the door-mounted speakers, the entire system is out of sight.
Eager to pump my cab full of tunes as well as wanting to keep any exhaust fumes and heat out and cool air in, I tore into the project with the veracity of a whirling dervish. First came the bench seat, followed by the floor mat, and finally the stock insulation, which had to be scraped off the cab floor. From there, it was a matter of laying down Dynamat followed by Dynaliner, planning out the location of each device, and wiring everything up. By that afternoon, I had the cab back together and had pissed off a few neighbors with my new bumpin’ sound system. If it’s too loud, you’re too old. Yeah, something like that … CCT
I then ran the power cable...
I then ran the power cable through the firewall grommet and along the floor of the cab between the padded Dynaliner sheets, allowing the wiring to tuck in nice and tight to the floor and out of harm’s way.
The backside of the amp is...
The backside of the amp is where all the power, ground, remote, and speaker connections will be made. The area marked ‘sub’ will power the two sub woofers under the seat, wired in series, while the bridge wiring terminals on the upper, AMP1 section will go to the 6-inch coaxs in the doors.
The power cable attaches to...
The power cable attaches to the back of the amp on the terminal marked 12V. Note the ground wire connects to chassis ground and remote wires connect to the remote output wire on the PXi50.2. This tells the amp to switch on when the PXi50.2 turns on.
On the front side of the amp...
On the front side of the amp are the inputs. The PXi50.2 comes prewired with a set of RCA outs that attach to the AMP1 input on this side.
To further dial in the sound,...
To further dial in the sound, Kicker provides a ZXRC bass remote control that adjusts the bass level. See that knob? It goes to eleven.
Wiring the PXi50.2 is fairly...
Wiring the PXi50.2 is fairly straightforward. The red wire runs to a 12V ignition source, while the yellow wire is fed a constant 12V. Black of course is a ground wire and that blue wire is the previously mentioned remote out that switches on the amp. The gray and white wires that are visible tucked under the aforementioned wires are speaker outputs should the PXi50.2 be run as the sole source of amplification. The larger pair of black wires at the top are the RCA outputs that run to the amp and a 3.5mm Aux-in for connecting another input device.
To attach the multiple battery...
To attach the multiple battery feeds, I purchased an amp installation kit from a local auto parts shop that came with a multiple outlet battery post clamp. The inline fuse is the 12V constant feed for the PXi50.2.
One cool thing about the PXi50.2...
One cool thing about the PXi50.2 is that it can be setup to control the iPod either by using the provided remote, or by using the iPod itself. The backlit remote has a number of built-in features such as track and play-list skip, volume, pause, shuffle, and power toggle.
I ran the wiring for the remote...
I ran the wiring for the remote under the floor mat and up the firewall behind the dash and installed it in the ashtray so that I can stow it when I’m not using it. This keeps it within reach when needed and retains the stock look of the dash when it’s not. Note the radio delete plate that I installed after pulling the tape deck out. I wanted to retain the stock appearance of the dash as much as possible. To the unassuming, it’s just a stock truck, but plug your iPod in and the hidden audio system comes to life!