Started my Shelby Kicker upgrade

[i am ryan]

Correct...maybe I took as you were going to go the Shelby kicker route.

I apologize.

No hard feelings at all, sir. Just wanted to make sure I understood. I don't know crap about building a stereo in a car because frankly wiring terrifies me.

 

[BadHabit2Break]

So the new Kicker door subs arrived today, and I could not wait to put them in and get rid of listening to crappy sound.

Took me about an hour and a half and the difference is alot better. Even my wife can tell the difference and that there is more vocals and mid bass.

I need to put the Shelby/Kicker grills back on...but I have to drill four small holes for the grill to be screwed down.

 

[DevGittinJr]

With just the interior speakers installed the Shelby door woofers sound fine. With the amp under the dash, you get crisp, loud highs and mids but very little bass. IMO the Shelby/ Kicker system sounds best when the trunk sub is added as well. It's as if its designed to be used all together, not just part of it. With all of the kit installed, it wouldn't sound right if the 8's put out as much bass as the stock set up.

 

[BadHabit2Break]

With just the interior speakers installed the Shelby door woofers sound fine. With the amp under the dash, you get crisp, loud highs and mids but very little bass. IMO the Shelby/ Kicker system sounds best when the trunk sub is added as well. It's as if its designed to be used all together, not just part of it. With all of the kit installed, it wouldn't sound right if the 8's put out as much bass as the stock set up.

This is true.

The 4.1 amp seems to have crossover points set for the 6x8's, 8" door speakers and the sub out on the amp.

So just running part of the system will make things sound like garbage.

 

[NotaHybrid]

Ordered replacement door subs today....These will work alot better than the Shelby/Kicker ones.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_69524_Kicker-CompRT81-40CWRT81.html

Did you pair these with an amp when you installed them or are they being powered off the head unit?

Sent from my helicopter

 

[BadHabit2Break]

Did you pair these with an amp when you installed them or are they being powered off the head unit?

Sent from my helicopter

I bought those to run off the OEM amp for the door subs. They sound great.

 

[NotaHybrid]

One more dumb question before I order them, does that link sell them as a pair?

Sent from my helicopter

 

[DRock]

It does not look like it^^^^^^

Is there any way you can tell me how deep our doors are? I really wanna now how deep of a speaker i can shove in there. Not afraid to run a spacer or take off the grill just wondering.

 

[BadHabit2Break]

One more dumb question before I order them, does that link sell them as a pair?

Sent from my helicopter

That is per sub.

It does not look like it^^^^^^

Is there any way you can tell me how deep our doors are? I really wanna now how deep of a speaker i can shove in there. Not afraid to run a spacer or take off the grill just wondering.

I will have to check. The Shelby/Kicker's use a spacer ring.

 

[DRock]

Figures....I really wanna put a midrange speaker in there as I'm running a Kicker SS 6 in components with a decent sized tweeter. A woofer is fine but would really like a midrange to keep up and help fill in some areas.

 

[MountainMichael]

BadHabit2Break,

Good info here. Thanks for posting that link about the 1 ohm subs. Those look bigger in the back than the Shelby subs...

Did you have to cut the door trim panels to get back clearance (for the sub magnets and baskets) with the 1 ohm subs?

Did you use the Shelby spacer ring with the 1 ohm subs?

Any stability problems with the stock sub amp with a 1 ohm load? I know it's only .2 difference... also, have you checked for any wear on the speaker surround from excursion rubbing against the Shelby grille?

Any details on installation snags/solutions would be appreciated.

Not trying to shoot holes in anything; mainly, I reeeally want to use those 1 ohm subs.

Thanks,

Micke

 

[BadHabit2Break]

BadHabit2Break,

Good info here. Thanks for posting that link about the 1 ohm subs. Those look bigger in the back than the Shelby subs...

Did you have to cut the door trim panels to get back clearance (for the sub magnets and baskets) with the 1 ohm subs?

I used the Shelby/Kicker spacer that is supplied with the original subs. So no cutting is involved.

Did you use the Shelby spacer ring with the 1 ohm subs?

Yes I did, and will put the Shelby/Kicker grills on to.

Any stability problems with the stock sub amp with a 1 ohm load? I know it's only .2 difference... also, have you checked for any wear on the speaker surround from excursion rubbing against the Shelby grille?

No stability problems at all. The OEM subs are DVC subs @ 1ohm on each coil. I still have my grills, just not had time to install them yet.

Any details on installation snags/solutions would be appreciated.

Install was pretty straight forward. Since I already had the Shelby/Kicker subs and install parts, I was good to go. Just replaced the subs with the 1ohm ones.

Probably took about an hour to do.

Not trying to shoot holes in anything; mainly, I reeeally want to use those 1 ohm subs.

Thanks,

Micke

I hope I answered everything for you. If you need any pics or help, just post here or hit me up on PM.

 

[MountainMichael]

I hope I answered everything for you. If you need any pics or help, just post here or hit me up on PM.

As I mentioned in pm last night, I have the car all torn apart doing the stereo thing right now - so I really appreciate your super fast response and detailed info!

I'm ordering those subs now. I already had the Shelby/Kicker kit on hand, so I have the spacers and deeper grilles. I'll sell the 4 ohm subs off in fleabay or something.

Thank you,

mm

 

[MountainMichael]

BH2B,

I ordered the 1 ohm subs, 1/2" mdf spacer rings and round Kicker plastic grilles. Trying to see if I can do this without picking on the Shelby kit and maybe get a decent price for that complete kit.

I downloaded pdf manual on the CompRT 81 and 82 subs. I ordered the 81's as they were linked and are 1 ohm. The manual makes it appear they have 2 voice coils.

If that's true, did you hook up both pairs of OEM wires to each Kicker 1 ohm coil (running both voice coils), run 1 x 1 ohm voice coil or bridge the coils and run at .5 ohm load? You said you were running 1 ohm load so I suspect you're running one of the Kicker voice coils... but I thought it better to ask than assume.

Thanks again!

mm

 

[BadHabit2Break]

BH2B,

I ordered the 1 ohm subs, 1/2" mdf spacer rings and round Kicker plastic grilles. Trying to see if I can do this without picking on the Shelby kit and maybe get a decent price for that complete kit.

I downloaded pdf manual on the CompRT 81 and 82 subs. I ordered the 81's as they were linked and are 1 ohm. The manual makes it appear they have 2 voice coils.

If that's true, did you hook up both pairs of OEM wires to each Kicker 1 ohm coil (running both voice coils), run 1 x 1 ohm voice coil or bridge the coils and run at .5 ohm load? You said you were running 1 ohm load so I suspect you're running one of the Kicker voice coils... but I thought it better to ask than assume.

Thanks again!

mm

I used all 4 wires from the OEM amp. Shelby/Kicker setup only uses 2 of them, as the Shelby/Kicker is and SVC (Single Voice Coil).

 

[MountainMichael]

I used all 4 wires from the OEM amp. Shelby/Kicker setup only uses 2 of them, as the Shelby/Kicker is and SVC (Single Voice Coil).

Good to know. Thank you for the info.

I wrote down the polarity of the wires before cutting, so I'm set. Besides, I have the schematics handy.

 

[BadHabit2Break]

Good to know. Thank you for the info.

I wrote down the polarity of the wires before cutting, so I'm set. Besides, I have the schematics handy.

I did the same.

 

[Wicked GT]

If memory serves me correct the factory speaker is a 3.5" topmount so unless you run spacers you need something 3.5" or less to fit in the stock location.

BadHabit, how big are the Shelby spacers they supply? I was looking at the same subs but don't want to run spacers... may cut out some of the factory box and/or heat and remold it.

 

[BadHabit2Break]

If memory serves me correct the factory speaker is a 3.5" topmount so unless you run spacers you need something 3.5" or less to fit in the stock location.

BadHabit, how big are the Shelby spacers they supply? I was looking at the same subs but don't want to run spacers... may cut out some of the factory box and/or heat and remold it.

I will measure tomorrow. It's not to thick.

Sent from my Ironman suit using Jarvis

 

[MountainMichael]

BH2B,

Do you think the Kicker 1 ohm subs totally removed the muddiness compared to the OEM Shaker 500 subs or do you think the Ford OEM amps might benefit from inline subsonic filters to knock out say 30hz and lower range?

It's not that I think the 8" subs could ever reproduce 30hz and lower, it's that I think some of the muddiness might be distortion from the amps and speakers "trying" (and failing) to reproduce what they can't possibly do in that range.

Regarding thickness of the Shelby/Kicker kit supplied spacers:

I measured the ones in the 05-09 Shelby/Kicker kit I'm not going to use and they are almost exactly a half inch thick. I ordered in round half inch mdf spacers from fleabay to avoid cannibalizing the kit. Going to paint them black so they don't stick out like a sore thumb with the grilles I'm using.

My subs are taking awhile to get here because I had to order them from 2 different sellers - and any accelerated shipping was too expensive ($50 each!), so I went standard.

mm