2012 Chevy Silverado (Full Phoenix Gold Install)
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:00 pm
Pretty much every car I've ever had, had some sort of system in it, but about ten years ago I had to buy a truck, and that killed that. There just wasn't enough room, and so I got out of this hobby. Back around Thanksgiving I decided I was getting a new (as new as I'll buy anyway) truck, specifically a crew cab because it had the most space in it, and I decided that I was going to get back into car audio. I pretty much always loved the Phoenix Gold gear, and when I heard they came back under AAMP I researched them extensively and eventually took up residence on this forum. I decided that I was going to have this install professionally done because I work six days a week most of the time, and I basically live in my truck when working, so I couldn't have it in pieces for long stretches. I could have probably done it myself, but I just didn't want the aggravation. The nearest Phoenix Gold dealer to me however is two and a half hours away in Johnson City, TN, a company called Sound Decision. I took a day off in January and headed down to scope them out, see what kind of work they did, and that sort of thing. I met Chris, the shop owner, as well as Benny, Bubba, and Jimmy. I sort of quizzed Chris a bit, and I was satisfied that they were a quality shop and did good work. Benny, one of their fabricator/installers dropped this tome of a photo album on the counter in front of me of installs they'd done, Lamborghinis, vintage cars, hot rods, all fiberglass installs, dual motorized amp racks, basically showing me that they could do any install that I wanted them to do. Unfortunately I am not a millionaire and didn't want to go quite as over the top on the install as some folks would, but I was convinced that this was who I wanted doing mine. Here is their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/SOUND.DECISION.JC
I figured I was older now and didn’t really need something over the top loud, I just wanted it to sound good. Further, the nature of this vehicle is that you can’t have something that is god awful loud because you just don’t have that kind of space for a sub enclosure. Pretty much what everyone does in these trucks is put a pair of tens sealed or a single sub ported under the seat, so that is what I did. I had them put in a double din pioneer head unit, two sets of Elite.65 components in the front and rear doors, and ran those off of an Elite.5, using a single Ti2 10” sub ported. I also had them install an SPP1200 Stinger battery, do a big three upgrade, and put sound deadening in the doors. They also put in a Sirius/XM tuner, back up camera, Audiovox MTG flip down DVD screen in the ceiling in the back, and a Prestige alarm system with remote start.
It turned out very well for being a pretty basic install, and I thought they did a hell of a job on it for what it was. However, as it turned out, I am not as old as I seemed to think I was, and even though that Ti2 10” had amazing output for a single 10”, it wasn’t enough. I found myself driving it too hard at times, and turning the volume down to spare the sub at others. I looked inside myself and finally had to admit that bass is like cocaine to me, and accepted myself for what I was…….
….So less than two weeks after having that done, I called Chris back and said I want to upgrade the sub system, but I haven’t figured out how yet because I was out of space under the seat. He assured me that they could do pretty much whatever needed done and he’d work with me on it. I was so impressed with what the Ti2 10” sub in my first install did that at no point did I consider something else. Unfortunately I have to have the back seat in the vehicle for my daughter’s car seat, so removing the seat was out. I went back to researching what people had done in trucks, and whipped out a 3D modeling program to mock up boxes to see if various ideas would fit. I decided that I needed to raise the back seat an inch and a half, and if I did that, I had enough space to make an Elite.1 and Elite.4 amp fit, along with (4) Ti2 10” subs, but BARELY. I drew it up as a proof of concept and went back down to Sound Decision to see what they thought. Chris referred me to “Bubba” as they call him (I have no idea what his real name is), and he is the guy that designs most of their enclosures. He’s smarter than anyone I have ever met named “Bubba” for damn sure. He spent the better part of a day under my back seat taking measurements and determined that my model wouldn’t work, (I had them firing up) but if he moved the subs to fire out the front, it would work, though building that box would be an absolute nightmare because of all the angles that would be required, and the fact that being even a quarter inch off on it anywhere, and it wouldn’t fit under the seat. Another challenge, perhaps the biggest of all, was the fact that I lived so far away and couldn’t leave the truck there. I said, “Well, if it’ll work, let’s do it. Oh, by the way…..since there is going to be space on top over the subs, let’s put a plexiglass window there and light it up or something” lol (to paraphrase the conversation). I’m a sucker for lights. Also on the agenda for this was the fact that it basically HAD to have a grill because of the sub’s forward firing location, and of course I was going to need an alternator of some sort. As luck would have it, they had done a dual alternator install in a 5.3L Tahoe last year, and that guy had them pull everything out of his vehicle a few days after I was there so he could trade it in and buy something else, making that alternator something he no longer needed, and fit my truck perfectly. Chris brokered the deal and got me his used 300 amp alternator and bracket, and I was in business. It also came with an adjustable voltage regulator that allows me to dial up and down the voltage from 12 volts all the way up to 16+ if I wanted, but I keep it around 14.7 volts mostly. It’s pretty handy to have though. Chris had a local machine shop make custom brackets to raise the seat, and everything was in place. On my way out that day Benny showed me what they had done on another install with lighted glass and said he was going to do something similar to mine. We tossed around ideas, but in the end I left it up to him because I knew he knew what he was doing.
I went down last week so they could put in the alternator, raise the seat, and while the seat was out, go ahead and deaden the back wall and floor of the truck. Between that and what they did in the first install, really the only area that hasn’t been deadened at this point is the ceiling. Bubba took final measurements once the seat was raised to see exactly what space he had to work with, and he went to work. Yesterday I went down for “Phase 2” which was putting in the box, subs, and amps. Things took longer than I think everyone expected, and I didn’t leave there until about 10PM, getting home around 12:30. I’m going to go back in a couple weeks when I can find another day so they can tweak a few cosmetic things here and there, and make some adjustments. It was just too late to try and do what all needed done, and I had to be back for an appointment this morning. I’m well pleased with it though, and the sound quality is amazing. It isn’t the loudest system ever, but it’s plenty, and my bass addiction is sated. At least until my daughter is old enough to ride up front and I can take that seat out.
The subwoofer enclosure is sealed, and Bubba said there was just under 2.5 cubic feet of enclosure space in that box for the subs. The sealed “SQ” box size that Phoenix Gold recommends for that sub is 0.6 cubic feet including displacement, so really the box is just about spot on with the recommended SQ box size. A sealed SQ size box doesn’t get loud, certainly not like a ported box, but when you have 4 10” subs, and a clean 2800+ watts rms driving them, it gets loud enough, and the sound of the bass is really pitch perfect. On rock tracks it is very quick and punchy with no overhang. You don’t have that blending of notes that you sometimes hear on songs with a heavy double bass drum from bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Drowning Pool, and other bands like that. Each double bass drum strike has its own beginning and end before you hear the next drum beat. I have honestly never heard a system play songs with aggressive double bass drums as well as this one does. It also sounds great on dubstep tracks as well that have those long, very low bass notes. Being a sealed box, you aren’t going to hear it from blocks away, but even the very low end bass on the electronic music is reproduced very well in spite of the sealed enclosure which surprised me. The subs are still very much in their “break-in” phase since I have only had the system in there for about 24 hours at this point, and while it has gotten louder throughout the day, and will continue to do so for several weeks I expect, I don’t really expect that it will be a system that ever posts an impressive meter number. I was going for a great sound quality system that will get pretty loud, and that is exactly what I got. Last year I was on the front row to see Five Finger Death Punch, and this system is every bit that loud in the cabin, with MUCH better overall sound quality. I’ll gladly take that. You don’t really need something that is much louder than a live concert.
I can’t say enough good things about Chris and his team from Sound Decision. Sometimes the story isn’t what gear you put in a vehicle, it’s what vehicle you put the gear in, and getting two Elite amps and (4) 10” subs to fit under the back seat of a truck is no small task. To my knowledge no one has ever done that. I haven’t found anything on the internet that was similar using (4) or more 10” or larger subs in a truck of any kind that retained a functional back seat that can actually carry passengers without their head touching the ceiling, and without using bed space to house subwoofers. The closest I have seen was (4) 8’s, and that guy raised the seat so much it wasn’t usable. I was talking to Chris today, and he said it blew his Phoenix Gold rep’s mind that they got all that under this seat, and he was dying to see pictures. I guess the least I can do is take some pictures and email them down to them. It was so late last night that I got out of there that they didn’t get any pictures of the total install.
-Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS Head Unit
-Phoenix Gold Elite.4 Amplifier
-Phoenix Gold Elite.1 Amplifier
-Phoenix Gold Elite.65 Components (2 Sets)
-Phoenix Gold Ti210D4 Subwoofers (4)
-300 Amp Alternator with dual bracket and adjustable regulator
-Stinger SPP1200 Secondary Battery
-Audiovox MTG flip down video player/screen
-Prestige alarm system with remote start
https://www.facebook.com/SOUND.DECISION.JC
I figured I was older now and didn’t really need something over the top loud, I just wanted it to sound good. Further, the nature of this vehicle is that you can’t have something that is god awful loud because you just don’t have that kind of space for a sub enclosure. Pretty much what everyone does in these trucks is put a pair of tens sealed or a single sub ported under the seat, so that is what I did. I had them put in a double din pioneer head unit, two sets of Elite.65 components in the front and rear doors, and ran those off of an Elite.5, using a single Ti2 10” sub ported. I also had them install an SPP1200 Stinger battery, do a big three upgrade, and put sound deadening in the doors. They also put in a Sirius/XM tuner, back up camera, Audiovox MTG flip down DVD screen in the ceiling in the back, and a Prestige alarm system with remote start.
It turned out very well for being a pretty basic install, and I thought they did a hell of a job on it for what it was. However, as it turned out, I am not as old as I seemed to think I was, and even though that Ti2 10” had amazing output for a single 10”, it wasn’t enough. I found myself driving it too hard at times, and turning the volume down to spare the sub at others. I looked inside myself and finally had to admit that bass is like cocaine to me, and accepted myself for what I was…….
….So less than two weeks after having that done, I called Chris back and said I want to upgrade the sub system, but I haven’t figured out how yet because I was out of space under the seat. He assured me that they could do pretty much whatever needed done and he’d work with me on it. I was so impressed with what the Ti2 10” sub in my first install did that at no point did I consider something else. Unfortunately I have to have the back seat in the vehicle for my daughter’s car seat, so removing the seat was out. I went back to researching what people had done in trucks, and whipped out a 3D modeling program to mock up boxes to see if various ideas would fit. I decided that I needed to raise the back seat an inch and a half, and if I did that, I had enough space to make an Elite.1 and Elite.4 amp fit, along with (4) Ti2 10” subs, but BARELY. I drew it up as a proof of concept and went back down to Sound Decision to see what they thought. Chris referred me to “Bubba” as they call him (I have no idea what his real name is), and he is the guy that designs most of their enclosures. He’s smarter than anyone I have ever met named “Bubba” for damn sure. He spent the better part of a day under my back seat taking measurements and determined that my model wouldn’t work, (I had them firing up) but if he moved the subs to fire out the front, it would work, though building that box would be an absolute nightmare because of all the angles that would be required, and the fact that being even a quarter inch off on it anywhere, and it wouldn’t fit under the seat. Another challenge, perhaps the biggest of all, was the fact that I lived so far away and couldn’t leave the truck there. I said, “Well, if it’ll work, let’s do it. Oh, by the way…..since there is going to be space on top over the subs, let’s put a plexiglass window there and light it up or something” lol (to paraphrase the conversation). I’m a sucker for lights. Also on the agenda for this was the fact that it basically HAD to have a grill because of the sub’s forward firing location, and of course I was going to need an alternator of some sort. As luck would have it, they had done a dual alternator install in a 5.3L Tahoe last year, and that guy had them pull everything out of his vehicle a few days after I was there so he could trade it in and buy something else, making that alternator something he no longer needed, and fit my truck perfectly. Chris brokered the deal and got me his used 300 amp alternator and bracket, and I was in business. It also came with an adjustable voltage regulator that allows me to dial up and down the voltage from 12 volts all the way up to 16+ if I wanted, but I keep it around 14.7 volts mostly. It’s pretty handy to have though. Chris had a local machine shop make custom brackets to raise the seat, and everything was in place. On my way out that day Benny showed me what they had done on another install with lighted glass and said he was going to do something similar to mine. We tossed around ideas, but in the end I left it up to him because I knew he knew what he was doing.
I went down last week so they could put in the alternator, raise the seat, and while the seat was out, go ahead and deaden the back wall and floor of the truck. Between that and what they did in the first install, really the only area that hasn’t been deadened at this point is the ceiling. Bubba took final measurements once the seat was raised to see exactly what space he had to work with, and he went to work. Yesterday I went down for “Phase 2” which was putting in the box, subs, and amps. Things took longer than I think everyone expected, and I didn’t leave there until about 10PM, getting home around 12:30. I’m going to go back in a couple weeks when I can find another day so they can tweak a few cosmetic things here and there, and make some adjustments. It was just too late to try and do what all needed done, and I had to be back for an appointment this morning. I’m well pleased with it though, and the sound quality is amazing. It isn’t the loudest system ever, but it’s plenty, and my bass addiction is sated. At least until my daughter is old enough to ride up front and I can take that seat out.
The subwoofer enclosure is sealed, and Bubba said there was just under 2.5 cubic feet of enclosure space in that box for the subs. The sealed “SQ” box size that Phoenix Gold recommends for that sub is 0.6 cubic feet including displacement, so really the box is just about spot on with the recommended SQ box size. A sealed SQ size box doesn’t get loud, certainly not like a ported box, but when you have 4 10” subs, and a clean 2800+ watts rms driving them, it gets loud enough, and the sound of the bass is really pitch perfect. On rock tracks it is very quick and punchy with no overhang. You don’t have that blending of notes that you sometimes hear on songs with a heavy double bass drum from bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Drowning Pool, and other bands like that. Each double bass drum strike has its own beginning and end before you hear the next drum beat. I have honestly never heard a system play songs with aggressive double bass drums as well as this one does. It also sounds great on dubstep tracks as well that have those long, very low bass notes. Being a sealed box, you aren’t going to hear it from blocks away, but even the very low end bass on the electronic music is reproduced very well in spite of the sealed enclosure which surprised me. The subs are still very much in their “break-in” phase since I have only had the system in there for about 24 hours at this point, and while it has gotten louder throughout the day, and will continue to do so for several weeks I expect, I don’t really expect that it will be a system that ever posts an impressive meter number. I was going for a great sound quality system that will get pretty loud, and that is exactly what I got. Last year I was on the front row to see Five Finger Death Punch, and this system is every bit that loud in the cabin, with MUCH better overall sound quality. I’ll gladly take that. You don’t really need something that is much louder than a live concert.
I can’t say enough good things about Chris and his team from Sound Decision. Sometimes the story isn’t what gear you put in a vehicle, it’s what vehicle you put the gear in, and getting two Elite amps and (4) 10” subs to fit under the back seat of a truck is no small task. To my knowledge no one has ever done that. I haven’t found anything on the internet that was similar using (4) or more 10” or larger subs in a truck of any kind that retained a functional back seat that can actually carry passengers without their head touching the ceiling, and without using bed space to house subwoofers. The closest I have seen was (4) 8’s, and that guy raised the seat so much it wasn’t usable. I was talking to Chris today, and he said it blew his Phoenix Gold rep’s mind that they got all that under this seat, and he was dying to see pictures. I guess the least I can do is take some pictures and email them down to them. It was so late last night that I got out of there that they didn’t get any pictures of the total install.
-Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS Head Unit
-Phoenix Gold Elite.4 Amplifier
-Phoenix Gold Elite.1 Amplifier
-Phoenix Gold Elite.65 Components (2 Sets)
-Phoenix Gold Ti210D4 Subwoofers (4)
-300 Amp Alternator with dual bracket and adjustable regulator
-Stinger SPP1200 Secondary Battery
-Audiovox MTG flip down video player/screen
-Prestige alarm system with remote start