Just curious guys. What do you think of Infinity. Not for competition. Just for a good sound in my daily driver. I decided to go with an all Infinity audio set up in my Ranger.
I've got 6" X 8", 6810cs components in the front doors, 6812cf's in the back doors and 2 Infinity Kappa Perfect 10.1 subs in a custom made box behind the seats.
I got an Infinity 611a to drive the subs. 456 RMS X 1 @ 1 ohms, 657 RMS @ 2 ohms. Infinity 7541a 111 RMS X 4 @ 4 ohms, 139 RMS X 4 @ 2 ohms, to drive the door speakers.
I don't have it all installed yet. Just the ones in the doors. So far I'm happy. The subs and amps will get installed as soon as the box is finished.
What do you guys think? Good set up? Remember I'm just looking for sound quality. Not volume.

Ya its a good set up. IMHO Infinity makes good stuff. Its good to see someone looking for a nice sound and not that boom boom base crap.

What other brands were you looking at when you came up with this system?

Thanks Stang. Reason for this is I'm 69 years old and don't need to impress anyone, anymore.
I just want a good sounding system I can play my country, jazz, 50's-60's rock, 30's-40's big band
and yes even some classic from time to time.

Was mainly looking at JBL and MTX. Settled on Infinity because I managed to get a pretty good deal on all the stuff you see listed.
I paid about $200 for all 4 door speakers, $150 for the subs, and about $400 for both amps. So got the entire system for $750 shipped.

Think I might have done a little better on the price, but got tired of shopping.

Sounds like you did well memphissenior. I've heard good things about JBL. Fewer good things about MTX. I think for what you are going for that Infinity set up will be great for you! :thumbsup: Let us know how it sounds

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Thanks Fan. Put the comps in the doors a few days ago and they sound good. A little underpowered though.
That's because my current amp only has 60W RMS. A little low as the new speakers call for 90W RMS.
My new Infinity amp has almost twice as much power at 111W RMS, so it should get the job done.
Can't wait to hear what it sounds like with the new subs and amps. That won't be for a few weeks though.
A neighbor is building the new speaker box for me. I'll be putting the truck on jacks Friday so I can take out the seats.
Plan to finish the sound deadening. Floor, back wall, firewall and wheel wells.
Then I'll add the bucket seats and consoles from an Explorer.

You got a digital camera? It would be cool to see some pics of this project :thumbsup:

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On the left is my current set up. Amp, 10" sub, CD changer. I have a 2nd amp on the other side of the truck out of view.

On the right is the box I designed. My neighbor is building it for me now. When finished it will be 38.5"W X 17.5"H X 20" D and will house 2, 10" speakers, 2 amps and aCD changer.


Here's my new Infinity amp and 10" sub. I have 2 of each


Two 14" squares about 1/8" thick tar paper like material over the driver and passenger seats.
Plus 2, 6" X 14" pieces of the same material. Plus the headliner you see below.
This is the factories idea of "sound insulation."


The headliner consists of 2 layers of foam. TOTAL thickness is 5/16". Top layer is LESS than an 1/8" thick.
I didn't realize they could make foam that thin.


This is the three (3) layer sound insulation system I'm installing. On the left is a product called "Damplifier Pro."
It's a product of Second Skin Audio. It's similar to "Dynamat Extream" but much better IMO.
On the right are the 2nd and 3rd. stages. The white area is a spray on paint like substance that is both a sound and HEAT insulator.
Living in the Southern Calif. desert that heat protection is VERY important.
The black stuff is something Second Skin calls "Luxury Liner." Another sound insulation.


That's as far as I've gotten so far. I'll post photos of the speaker box and bucket seat installation as they happen.

Great project. It will be interesting to follow. Thanks for posting the images!

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Looks like you have a nice project going on there. Infinity makes some really nice stuff. Keep us updated. I'd like to hear how well this sound proofing works for you.... if there is a big difference on the road?

Well Stang, I can give you a partial answer right now. When I first bought my truck I made a 425 mile trip to see my daughter and grand kids.
The noise inside the cab drove me crazy. It was like riding inside an empty tin can. So I took the truck to the dealer and had them "Dynamat" it.
That helped some but the truck was still noisy. I've since moved and the ride to my daughters is now just under 100 miles.
About every 4-6 weeks I make the trip over there. The road is mostly rough 2 lane with a 65 mph speed limit.
Until about 3 months ago whenever I made the trip I had to keep the radio/CD player at a volume setting of 20-22. If it was windy a bit higher.
When I have a passenger, while we didn't have to yell, we did have to raise our voices to have a conversation.
I started reading about Second Skin back in October/November. Placed my first order in January and started working on my truck in early February.
I stripped all the "Dynamat" out of the doors and replaced it with the 3 step Second Skin process. I noticed an immediate improvement.
Not as much as I had hoped for though. I don't have a sound meter so I don't have any before and after numbers to give you.
In late February I pulled off the headliner, stripped all the "Dynamat" again, and replaced it with the 3 step SecondSkin system.
A week after finishing the roof I made the trip to my daughters again. This time I only had to set the volume at 15-16.
In one section where it was windy I went to 17. The doors and roof account for about 40% of the cab.
The back wall, floor, wheel wells and firewall account for the other 60%. Now most of the noise is coming through the floor/wheel wells/firewall.
Road and engine noise and muffler drone. I plan to double the amount of Damplifie Pro and spray insulation I used in the doors and roof on those areas.
Then cover that with the Luxury Liner. Then just for an extra measure of protection I'll use another kind of spray insulation as an undercoating.

When I drive down the hwy. at 70 mph, if the radios not on, all I want to hear is my heart beating.

If you don't mind me asking.. How much does this product you are using cost. I really like what you are doing.

Keep in mind this is a Ford Ranger.. Not a Lexus

I don't think they gave much consideration to noise.

Kind of hard to answer that question Stang. Depends on what you want to accomplish and what combination of products you use. I'm using a 3 stage process.
For stage 1 there are 2 different products available. Stage 2 has 3 different products and stage 3 has 5 products available. So you're looking at 30 possible combinations.

Stage 1: Depending on what you order and how much. The prices range from....................................$2.34 to $4.39 sq. ft.
Stage 2: Again depending on what/how much you order. You're looking at ........................................$2.39 to $3.45 sq. ft
Stage 3 the price range is .................................................. .................................................. ...$1.20 to $5.64 sq. ft.
So if you go with the most economical (I don't think the word cheap applies in this scenario.)
to the most expensive combination you're looking at a price range of .............................................. $5.93 to $13.48 per sq. ft.

So for my Ranger requiring 125 sq. ft the price range would be $740 minimum to $1700 or more. I spent about $1500.
That's just for the materials. I'm supplying all the labor to install this stuff.



That's quite true. However that's doesn't make the truck any less unpleasant to ride in.
Like I said, when I first bought it, at hi-way speeds, it was like riding in an empty 5 gallon tin drum.
You saw the photos of the "factory sound insulation" in the roof.
What I found in the doors and firewalls was about the same. This is to say minimal.
I know you young'uns like it loud. Us old farts prefer the interior be a bit more quiet.
That's why I got rid of my FlowMaster 40 and got a MagnaFlow. Still has a nice sound outside the cab.
Without nearly the interior resonance and hi-way drone.

Also the difference between the least expensive Lexus and a Ranger is probably $15,000.
I can get a lot of sound insulation for that kind of money.

If you're at all interested. Or just curious. Second Skin web page can be found here. http://www.secondskinaudio.com/
I have the same user name "memphissenior" in the forums there.
You can see a step by step of my doors/roof under "SecondSpace" "Starting my 02 Ford Ranger."

I really enjoy a quiet car. My Mustang is not quiet by any means and when I get into some newer cars I really appreciate. It also doesn't help that my car is 10 years old. trim pieces are starting to wear... Things just loosen up and wear out a bit over time and I guess it leads to noise. Once again NICE PROJECT!

That's true to a degree Stang. More important though is the amount and quality of the sound insulation installed by the manufacture.
As I said in a previous post. My Ranger has been noisy since day one.

Badassstang had it right when he said " Keep in mind this is a Ford Ranger. Not a Lexus. I don't think they gave much consideration to noise."

If you're only planing to keep your car for a year or two, just learn to live with the noise. However if you plan to keep your car longer,
say 5 years or more, like me, investing in some good quality sound insulation would be worth it. IMO
Especially if you've gone to the trouble and expense of installing any after-market audio components.

I understand many people, like HS and collage students, can't afford or would want to spend $1500 or more for insulation like I did.
Keep in mind also that insulation adds weight to the car. I'd say I've probably added 100 lbs. to my truck and the job is only half done.
You don't have to go as crazy as I did to get some improvement though. ANY insulation you add to your car will help.
The funny part is it's not really all that difficult to do. I've had the door panels on my Ranger off so many times in the last 5-6 months.
I can now do it in my sleep. (well almost ) The back door panel is held in place by about a dozen christmas-tree fasteners. No screws.
I can get it off in a manner of seconds. Front doors only have 4 screws, but I have power windows & locks, so those wires need to be disconnected also.
For that reason the front doors take a bit longer.

If money is a problem or you just want to try it, you can buy as little as 10 sq. ft. at a time. That would probably cover 1 door, possibly 2.

You have a nice set up and should be quite happy with the quality of sound you'll get from your system. I had infinity for highs before I did my system over, I loved the clear, crisp, sound I got from mine.

If you don't mind me juming into your other topic, I used fatmat for sound deadening, I am very pleased with this product.

Check them out at fatmat.com
100 sq. ft. $100.00 or you can get the trunk rattle kit for 139.99
keep in mind that fatmat is thicker so shipping is costly as it weighs 39 lbs. for 100 sq. ft.

Thanks southern. Makes me feel better knowing I made a decent choice.

About the sound deadener. I don't mind your jumping in at all. That's what I'm here for. To seek advice and exchange ideas.
It's to late to change my mind though. I've already purchased the materials to complete the job.
Before doing so however I did a great deal of homework. Among others I read a rather lengthly article called "sound deadener showdown."
In which the author compared a dozen products. Including B-Quiet, Dynamat, FatMat, RAAMmat and Second Skin products.
I decided that while somewhat more expensive, IMO the better quality of Second Skin products, justified the additional costs.
This is a job I hope to do only once and have it last 15 or more years until I turn the truck over to my grandson.

Thank you again for your comments. I appreciate your input and help.

Hey memphissenior. Where did you find that article? Was it online?

Here you go stang. Article was last published in Oct 2005. There might be some updates. I haven't looked at it in 8-9 months.

Sound Deadener Showdown