A client from New Kent, Virginia, came to Extreme Audio for a 2011 Ford F250 audio system upgrade. He had already done many performance mods to the vehicle, so the outside looked great, but when it came to the interior, the factory navigation radio was nice, but the stereo system was anemic at best.
Initial Discussion Helps Determine Client Needs
When the client came by our facility, our team spent significant time on going over the truck with the client and took lots of notes as he explained his goals for the upgrades. We asked him many questions and gave him several ideas based on our experience with these trucks. After we had gathered all of our information, we worked up a proposal that we thought best fit his needs. He liked what we showed him, so we set an installation appointment.
Great Looking Factory Radio Retained
It was decided from the beginning that we would keep the factory navigation system in the vehicle. It looks right at home in the dash and gives the client all the features he desired. Many people think that you have to change out the original stereo system in the vehicle to improve the sound, but in the vast majority of cases, that is not true. This F250 is a perfect example of great engineering that stopped when it came time for power and speakers.
Arc Audio Amplifier Powers System With Big Power In A Small Footprint
We chose an Arc Audio XDi 1100.5 amplifier for its ability to interface directly with the stock navigation radio, and its impressive output and clarity. As it has a small footprint, we were able to fit it neatly in one of the storage compartments under the rear seat. This amplifier has incredible output, supplying more than 600 watts of clean power to the front and rear speakers and 500 watts of power to the subwoofers. We also installed a bass level-control knob, giving the client easy control over the amount of bass in the system.
JL Audio Subwoofers For Great Sounding Low End
Speaking of bass, we used a high-quality pre-made enclosure to hold two JL Audio 10TW1 subwoofers, and it fit great behind the rear seat. The JL subs work in the smallest boxes of any 10” subwoofers we have seen, yet they have the output and detail of subwoofers that need boxes three times their size. We also love the fact that they are made in America.
Audiofrog Speakers Fill The Truck With Sound
When it came time for speakers, we went to Audiofrog, a new company that makes great-sounding speakers for the dollar. We installed the GS component set up front, using the GS62 6.5” woofers in the front doors and the GS10 1” tweeters that we installed in the factory tweeter location. We used FAST rings and Roadkill to improve the output of the door woofers.
In the rear doors, we went back to Audiofrog for the GS682 5×7” coaxial speakers, which fit perfectly in the stock locations.
Final Tuning Maximizes Ford F250 Audio System
As with all of our audio upgrades, our team spent significant time on fine-tuning the sound system to extract every last ounce of quality in the music. We believe that our clients should get all of the performance they paid for, so this is standard practice for us.
When the client came to pick up his vehicle, he was thrilled with the outcome. He loved everything, from the quality of sound to our attention to detail. And that made our day.
When you are ready to upgrade the audio system in your vehicle, we invite you to stop by Extreme Audio and get to know us. Let us show you why Mobile Electronics magazine chose us as a Retailer of the Year.
You can also contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.
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