Introduction
Our client came to us to have the sub-stage upgraded and add a little more power overall to the stereo system all while retaining the factory touchscreen radio. This 2015 Ford F-150 had the factory SONY upgraded audio system with an 8” subwoofer behind the rear seat with the SONY amplifier powering all four door speakers. Our client also decided to add some sound deadener to quiet the ride and add a bit more mid-bass to the system. So, LIS Audio set out to make it happen!
The Alpine Type-R front and rear mid-bass speakers were already installed prior to the truck being brought to LIS Audio. We had to tidy the install up a bit while adding Hushmat to the doors. The previous installation was unavailing yet seemed to work and produce music. We removed the speaker grilles that we installed with the speakers behind the factory door panel speaker grilles. The system had already been tapped into to provide signal to the aftermarket 5 Channel amplifier and the AudioControl LC7i was used to pull and sum the factory audio signal.
We used an Alpine 5 Channel amplifier to power the front speakers, rear speakers, and subwoofers. The client and I decided to keep the installed Alpine speakers and rewire the entire system and add a custom enclosure behind the rear seat to deliver much more bass. As you can see, the original wiring was a bit questionable and very unorganized, and not all components were properly mounted or secured. It was ideal to build a rack to mount the factory amplifier and signal processor all behind the rear seat with the subs. The Alpine 5 channel amplifier was installed neatly under the rear seat in the storage cubby.
I had to extend the factory wires behind the seat so that the SONY amp would be retained in order for the factory radio to continue to work properly. Each wire had a length of new wire soldered in-between each cut end to extend the connectors to the passenger side of the truck. As you can see below, I also decided to put in a proper ground using nut-certs and a bolt, making direct contact with the metal body of the truck. The jumpers inside the LC7i were also move in order to sum the signal and separate each channel by highs, mids and lows.
We chose the Massive Audio GTX 6 inch subwoofers for this system. The enclosure is sealed and was custom built to spec, to home the 3 subs in the limited space provided behind the rear seat. The client was skeptical, at first, but once the job was done he was greatly surprised and satisfied with the direction we decided to take. You can see the breakdown of the build process of the enclosure below. It also seemed to make sense to build the amp and processor rack onto the side of the subwoofer enclosure so, I did.
The power wire was previously run very loosely and the fuse mount was not mounted under the hood, which can cause issues to arise. I decided to create a fuse holder mount out of ABS so that the fuse holder would be secure. I secured the wire with zip-ties and wrapped it to match the factory wires in the engine bay. After testing the battery upon arrival we found that it was on its last leg. Near the end of the installation we replaced it with new lead acid battery, and added some anti corrosion sealant to the terminals.
I counter sunk the subwoofers into the sub enclosure to allow for the subwoofers to have plenty of movement without hitting the back of the rear seat. A bit of bracing was built into the sub enclosure as well. The factory tweeters were also still installed into the factory locations so, we needed to add the new Alpine tweeters to help put the full sound together. The new Alpine tweeters were installed into the factory locations and Alpine crossovers were secured behind the removable dash end caps, for easy accessibility.
The entire subwoofer enclosure and amplifier rack was wrapped in black carpet to give the custom structure more of a factory feel. As you can see, everything behind the year seat was tucked up and secured neatly. This allows for much less chance of issues to arise with the newly installed audio components. The structure mounted in place also prevents any of the new equipment to move around while on the road.
Overall the full stereo sounds light years better than the factory installed components. All visible factory panels we installed back into place hiding the new audio as to be integrated and appear to be factory. Until music starts to play and the volume is turned up! This setup sounds awesome!
Thank you for reading our LIS Audio Blog. Stay Tuned next month to see which build, or installation, makes the next feature. Who knows, it could be yours!!
Contact LIS Audio if you have any questions…
Phone: 913-912-6990
Email: info@lisaudio.com
Address: 631 S. A-Line Dr, Spring Hill, KS, 66083
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TheChimpo,
great post sir. I like it.
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Thank you! Still sounds great today!
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