[65straightsick]

65 coupe with no stereo in it, the dash has been cut and still has the bezel from the radio the last person had, but i would like a modern cd player with like a 4 speaker setup using the kickpanel and rear quarters for speakers, and eventually considering a couple of subs and an amp. Anbody have some pics of their setup that doesn't involve custom autosound.

[PCH_Cruiser]

I've got a few dozen pix at my website. See sig.

[geordie]

Impressive website.............great job on the restoration......lots of great photos to get the rest of us inspired.

[65and68Stang]

If the dash has already been cut, that should relieve all the anxiety and will really open up your options. I have the 67/68 dash, so its a bit different, but I do have the kick panel speakers and they look really nice and are positioned so the sound is decent. Since you have a coupe, I would use the package tray for mounting a set of 6x9's instead of using the rear quarters, since there would be no permanent damage that way.

Good luck!

Kelton

[69PaleHorse]

I've had PCH Cruiser's website bookmarked for a couple of months and LOVE what he's done. Really great stuff and I am slowly trying to emulate the kickpanel and trunk installs he's got. Good stuff!

[NorCal66]

I actually got the basic idea from PCH way back last year, but it looks a little different, here it is. Nothin beats those kickpanels he's got though.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/338909/6

[65straightsick]

PCH did you lay a piece of fiberglass over the amps or something, in the picture it shines so i'm guessing you installed something over them making the trunk somewhat usefull. Very nice setup, i'm drooling.

[Snail50]

Those are some nice setups! Congrats

[65straightsick]

Originally Posted by 65and68Stang

If the dash has already been cut, that should relieve all the anxiety and will really open up your options. I have the 67/68 dash, so its a bit different, but I do have the kick panel speakers and they look really nice and are positioned so the sound is decent. Since you have a coupe, I would use the package tray for mounting a set of 6x9's instead of using the rear quarters, since there would be no permanent damage that way.

Good luck!

Kelton

Never thought about using the package tray.. that makes some sense, also i think the last owner tried to install an amp so there is an amp feed from the battery already, just found it yesterday, things are falling in my lap. I need to but the head unit, kickpanels, package tray and the amp and subs for $1500 or less maybe closer to $1000, but i don't know if that is possible, that of course will be the very last project on this car but i want to keep my eyes open to find good deals now so i will be ready. thanks for the ideas.

[calpolymustang]

i have the 6.5" kickpanels and like the looks of em, but i recommend a 5.25" speaker. the problem is thta speakers like enclosures behind them and its hard for a 6.5 to sound any good in the kickpanel of a mustang. there is not much air volume behind the speaker. get some good crisp 5.25 2ways or 3ways if you want a lot of treble. id go 5.25 infinitys or alpines. then put either 6x9s or 6.5s in the back but install the back ones so there is a lot of space behind the speaker. i put my head unit in the glove box so no one would see it, leaving the stock one in place. you will want to get something that is hard to steal since it will be visible in the middle of the dash. eclipse has a good anti thrft device in thier stereos, but the units run 300 (very good unit and has power). go either two tens or one 12 woofer. keep it simple with JL W0s or alpine type S's, then throw in a 300watt rms 600 peaks amp. should sound good.

[cardude]

nice setup, what made you decide to point the subs to the back instead of into the back of hte seat. I just built a box to house 10's facing into the back of the seat. just curious. Also what did you all use to create the kick panel speaker enclosures? I am struggling with what to do there.

thanks

[PCH_Cruiser]

65straight- the amps have a clear plexiglass cover over them. Anytime I put something in the trunk, I have two carpeted inserts that protect the plexiglass from scratches.

cardude- I built the boxes with the subs pointing aft for looks. The sound is pretty much the same either direction. The kick panels are made from fiberglass, bondo, and vinyl. See this webpage of how I made them.

[65straightsick]

I meant to say plexiglass, i don't know why i said fiberglass ............Well i admire your setup there, how much did the whole thing run you, i mean with the head unit, the kickpanels, all speakers and subs and amps. Also, if I run the kickpanels and the package tray speakers with two subs, what kind of amp do I need to look into getting, or do you not know??

[PCH_Cruiser]

Everything was bought online for about $1100 I think. It's possible to power the front and rear speakers as well as the subs with one 5 channel amp, but you usually don't get much power to the subs this way unless you spend a bunch of money on the amp. Most people get two amps, one four channel for the front and rear speakers, and one two channel for the subs. Another option is to get two two channel amps, and power the rear speakers from the head unit. Rear speakers don't need as much volume and will provide enough rear fill from head unit power.

[65straightsick]

So a two cannel to power the subs and a two cannel to power the kickpanels is all that i will really need? Like i said i don't need a car show sound system, i just want to have a little more juice so i can thump when i need it to. What would you suggest for subs and amps. I have heard that MTX makes pretty nice subs and i'm not sure about amps. I am going with the speakers that comes with the kickpanels and i will buy either two 6x9 Infinity or Pioneer speakers for the back. But subs amps and head unit are still up in the air, i would like two get all three of these for about 600 dollars so I can save some money for more important parts on the car.

[NorCal66]

a decent head unit will cost you at the very least $200
Subs can be had for about $100 each (or ALOT more, depends on what you're looking for)
The trick is going to be finding an amp for $200 to keep it in your budget.

I got my stuff from www.onlinecarstereo.com

most local shops rob you on prices, shop around.

[PCH_Cruiser]

Like Norcal said, at least $200 for a head unit, and about $100 for a good sub. Do you want two subs, or just one? I went with two for looks only, but a single sub with enough power is more than enough unless you want to compete. Going with a single sub will save you some money. As for specific brands, they all have their good and bad, and everyone likes something different. I'd take a look at some of the different car audio forums out there and do some research. The one I used the most was Sounddomain.

[65straightsick]

I would like to go with two subs that are of lower in power so i can have some balance. The amp will be the most difficult, i don't know how many channels or watts i will need. I really don't know much about stereos for cars. I know I will buy a decent head unit, i don't need much, enough radio buttons and if it plays cd's i will be happy, The regualr 80 watt speakers will be in the kickpanels. I don't know about rear but they will be 6 x 9's for sure. And two subs, So if i need to buy two amps then tell me what to get rid of. I would like to have two subs, one amp and four speakers. If that combo won't work let me know what to get rid of.

[NorCal66]

I have 4 speakers, 2 subs and one amp...it's a 5 channel.
Problem is...I'm an electrical dumb@ss, so I had the local stereoshop deal with hooking them together... it CAN be done though.
The OTHER problem is the 5 channel amp was pretty damn expensive (400 or so) =\

[65straightsick]

The 5 channel got power to all speakers and the two subs, dang, how many watts did the amp have? I began thinking about maybe running 4 speakers on one amp and the subs on another, but i don't know about wattage. There is too many options. I want the better power but for less money, why is this so hard? haha

[65straightsick]

I'm looking at alot of things right now, mostly the amps. If I got with the 2 amp idea, i would do like PCH there and use a 4 channel for speakers and 2 channel for subs. It's hard to find a high watt 2 channel amp for cheap. anybody know a good name brand that's cheap??

Better idea, after some poking around I found an odd combination of components on sale that come out to $846!! It may not be do-able but using a $125 panasonic head unit to push the standard kick panels and some pioneer 6.5's in the back is a total of $318. Then add a 4 channel Crunch amp for a total of $476. The two pioneer 10 inchers in the back take it to $717. and the Crunch 2 channel amp pushing 300 to 450 more watts in there stops this system at $846. So panasonic pushes through pioneers backed up by pioneers all powerd by Crunch'es. Sound weird.....no sounds cheap. All this stuff was in the hot deals section of online car stereo. I played with the notion of just buying the kickpanlels with holes and putting in some bought speakers to make it pioneers all the way around. What you guys think? Roughly 846-874 for an entire setup. This might be all I need.