My "cheap" stereo

[cj847]

I installed tunes in my truck this weekend. I meant for it to be as cheap as possible, but still be able to be heard over the rattling, the tailpipes, the wind noise, etc. In my previous truck it had a standard head unit with cheap speakers. It had to be turned up to the level of distortion before you could hear it. As usual, the darn thing swarmed on me and blew the budget.

Anyway, as cheap as possible but still fit my virgin dash. I also wanted it to be able to produce what I refer to as "Adult Bass". Also, I don't care about blue tooth phone calls in an old truck, but I do like to stream Pandora, Amazon, Spotify. That limited me to Custom autosound or retro sound. I went with the custom autosound as there lowest end version had preamp output where the retrosound didn't. So $200 at Summit. Then I bought a Rockville under seat SS8P sub $100 on Amazon. Also a Jensen 4 channel XDA91RB $119 at Walmart (interesting math, 4 channels at 80 watts per = 1000 watts....lol). I added kicker 6.5" CS speakers about $80 best buy. Then I stumbled on a nice set of Polk 6x9's for $60 at Walmart closeout (apparently a return from an on line sale $130 retail). Also a JL audio blue tooth adapter (will play tunes from you phone but not receive calls) $50. It plugs into your Aux. Bought a couple of speaker boxes for the 6x9's and the kick panel mounts for the 6.5". I stuffed the boxes with pillow stuffing. On the kick panels I put sound deadener behind. Also sound deadener on the plastic in the "standoff" part of it and put a little pillow stuffing behind.

Got it all hooked up and it had a terrible buzz/hiss. I studied the internet about ground loop problems. I did everything suggested to no avail. So, I bought 2 filters for $17 ea, which solved the problem.

In the end I am happy with the sound. It is a lot louder than I expected, and can easily be heard above the truck noises without distortion. It's nothing compared to the thumper systems that kids are running but is impressive for old farts who are half deaf. The only thing I am disappointed in is my $500ish sound system ultimately cost closer to $800ish all in.

Here are some pics for entertainment.