Stealth sound system install on a Duster

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MaximumTacos

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Anyone played with adding nicer sound to their Duster/Demon? I found two places in the back passenger bench headrest area for speakers (looks like 6x9), and I also have the stock AM radio + dash speaker. It's awful.

All I want is nice, not perfect. Perfect is for living rooms and mine is full of parts and stuff. Mostly the sound of the road is all I want, but sometimes it's good to crank some music.

I'm thinking - and all of this will be used to save $ - basic and hidden deck/receiver that also plays mp3s off a thumb drive, basic amp, modest subwoofer box in the back, 6x9s in the back headrest area, and a pair of 4x6s tucked under the dash.

The existing radio controls (and the push buttons turned into momentary switches for next/back for mp3s/cds) could be rewired out and used to control the hidden deck while looking old and uninviting to thieves.
 
Haven't done mine yet, but here's what I'm planning:

Receiver in dash. It's already cut for a DIN mount, so that's where it's going. Alpine CDA117 is what I'm looking at. Built-in iPod controls. The iPod can get stashed away then.

Boston Acoustics 6x9's in the deck. In the middle of the deck is another 6x9 hole that was used for optional defroster. I plan to make a box and put a subwoofer in there. Maybe a 10" JL. If necessary, the top of the box would have a necked-down "funnel" that attaches to the deck. That's because the trunk springs get in the way.

Two 6" Boston speakers in the kick panels. Custom kick panels need to be made that angle the speakers a bit. 4 channel amp for the full-range speakers, and a sub amp for the sub. Done!

Back in the old days, I had a pair of 6" speakers in the doors. Not recommended. Your mounting depth is not great, plus the window cranks will likely hit the grills.

Wiring the controls could take a very long time, and could go bad pretty easily... It WOULD be very cool, though. Most guys just stick the real stereo in the glove compartment and leave the stock one in the dash.
 
MT,
Im also a musician so tunes are VERY important to me.
I will be running two 3.5" speakers in the factory hole on the top of the dash. Also a 4" in each door panel. I dont like the idea of putting speakers in anything with the term 'kick' in its name because thats exactly what will happen to the speakers.
Because of the rear firewall I elected to build a sub into the center rear console in stead of putting it in the trunk. And I have two 6"x9"s in the factory holes at the package tray, I made fire proof cans to maintain the integrity of the passenger compartment. Ill be running a 2din unit in the center console with one small external amp for the sub.
Andrew
 

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I just remove the face panel from the Kenwood. Then all the flat black blends together so it looks a bit like radio delete to some. Its USB cable goes to the glove box. 6X9s in the package shelf and 2 tiny tweeters above the kick panels. I still want a Bazooka Bass cannon behind the rear seat back.
 

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i want to do this too but im unsure of how to wire in the head unit. any ideas? schematics? is the a harness converter for a car from the 70's?

(sorry dont mean to hijack)
 
The stock radio 12 volts when switch is on = red. Aftermarket head unit should also use red. Stock dial illumination is orange. Aftermarket should also be orange but if not they are labeled.
Aftermarket unit will also need a 12 volt hot at all times for its memory. That will be a small yellow wire in the under dash harness which is your dome lamp circuit.This is the only wire you will need to locate/identify. Very likely a yellow on the aftermarket too, or pink maybe, but again they should be labeled.
 
that sounds ok but the head unit has alot more than 4 wires coming out as does the stock one.
 
the stock radio also has 2 speaker wires to the dash speaker. Aftermarket units have wires for power antenna, multiple speakers, etc.. Use the ones you need and tape away the rest.
 
kay thanks. that actually clears things up. ill havde to take a look at my head unit and stuff and try to get it to work. oh one thing i forgot is the original radio dont work no more, what would be the first thing to check? do they just go bad sometimes?
 
Check fuse and speaker. The stock radios were almost indestructible.
 
Awesome installs guys, I definitely need to get one of those brackets for the center dash speaker. The doors scare me for anything bigger than a little tweeter dome, like the earlier post said about clearances for the windows.
 
MaximumTacos said:
Awesome installs guys, I definitely need to get one of those brackets for the center dash speaker. The doors scare me for anything bigger than a little tweeter dome, like the earlier post said about clearances for the windows.
Click to expand...

The doors do have provisions for speakers. I think they all are in the lower forward corner ( like shown above ) whether there is a vent window or not. If the is a vent window a much deeper speaker is possible.
 
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