Sounds Good Stereo Upgrade - Base XLT system

[3rdgenfan]

I can't really leave things alone for too long, and I quickly grew tired of the non amplified stereo in the XLT so opted to do something about it.

Went with the "stealth" behind-the-seat Gladen Audio 5 channel kit which was just one notch above their entry level package; originally I was going to just do their subwoofer enclosure but figured I'd just take care of everything all at once.

While it's considered a "plug and play" setup, the longest part of it all was the sound deadening install in all the nooks and crannies of the inner door skin. I think the total time to do the work was around 14 hours...and I am sure some of it was just from taking the time not to break things.

Started with taking the door panel off which was six 7mm bolts and it popped right off.

Final product:

The block off plate replaces the vapor barrier and seals up with the butyl/foam sound deadening. Inside of the door is also a few Blackhole tiles in addition to more sound deadening on the inner skin of the door. I also put some sound deadening on the door panel but forgot to take a pic of the drivers side, but I'll have a pic of the rear doors as an example.

Moved to the rear doors, here is what the door looked like (after I removed the speaker/vapor barrier), but after I did the internal sound deadening.

Here is the back of the door panel with the sound deadening on a few different areas. The factory door panel had some jute padding hooked into a few areas that covered the bottom pocket.

The weekend before was filled with running the power wires from the 12v battery in the middle of the firewall area down the frame rail and up into the rear of the truck. I then had to run a pair of wires that covered the left and right tweeters as well as the supplied T-Harness that would intercept the signal for the audio from the factory radio control module.

I also went and installed sound deadening on the rear panel after removing the carpeting from the truck, which needed some trimming for the sub enclosure.

The final install looks pretty good and stealthy which is what I was going for, and the only thing that needed to be moved was the jack which is able to fit in the little storage cubby under the rear seats. I also did have to take the step bit to open up their mounting hole on the amp rack that goes into the seat latch since it didn't line up initially, almost like it was about 1/2" short to line up perfectly.

The itty bitty speakers that came out of the truck looked a bit under powered, and claim to be 25w speakers but I'm sure that's max and they are likely a grand total of 60w rms for all four lol.

Haven't given it a full test just yet since I'm beat, but from the quick few minutes I spent sitting in the truck after cleaning everything up I am pretty impressed; crisp sound and the sub works to fill in the other part of the sound stage that was previously lacking.

Additionally all of the sound deadening on the doors helped to make them sound and feel solid.

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[Lightning Rod]

Looks like a good install!

 

[kbuicker]

LOVE THIS! Nice job! I did the sound deadening on my truck as well. I used Kilmat, very nice stuff, and fun to install!

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Did the sound deadening also reduce Road Noise in a noticeable way?

 

[3rdgenfan]

Did the sound deadening also reduce Road Noise in a noticeable way?

The doors feel solid now when closing, and when you tap on them it doesn't feel like a soda can; it appears to be a very quiet ride in regards to road noise. On my commute I only seem to hear a bit of wind noise along the top of the A pillar area.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

The doors feel solid now when closing, and when you tap on them it doesn't feel like a soda can; it appears to be a very quiet ride in regards to road noise. On my commute I only seem to hear a bit of wind noise along the top of the A pillar area.

That A Pillar wind noise drives me crazy. It's probably been in my ICE trucks too, just couldn't hear over the noise of the rest of the truck.

 

[rsanapala]

Did you run new speaker wires or have you connected the amp back to the factory speaker wires?
What is the RMS per channel of the amp.
Do you mind sharing the stealth sub specs or link.

thanks in advance.

 

[3rdgenfan]

Did you run new speaker wires or have you connected the amp back to the factory speaker wires?
What is the RMS per channel of the amp.
Do you mind sharing the stealth sub specs or link.

thanks in advance.

Looks like the prices increased since I ordered it, but they included a T-Harness that ran from the radio module in the dash back to the amp which utilizes the factory speaker wires.

The amp for the speakers is a Kicker KEY200.4, which is 50w RMS per channel.

https://soundsgoodstereo.com/produc...-o-including-unleashed?variant=44148835877076

 

[joesrepsol]

I follow SGS's YouTube channel... awesome group of guys there. Would love to hear how the system is performing and if the $4k+ investment was worth it. Obviously everyone has a different opinion of worth... but as an audio head myself, I think this could be in my near future. Thanks for posting!!!

 

[Replika]

That A Pillar wind noise drives me crazy. It's probably been in my ICE trucks too, just couldn't hear over the noise of the rest of the truck.

It’s hard to reduce wind noise in high profile vehicles. Nothing I’ve tried has been near the level of a full-size luxury sedan.

That said, the RAM 1500 is really good for a truck (better than the Lightning imo) and the V8 is near silent while cruising. I wonder what they might be doing better.

 

[rsanapala]

I can't really leave things alone for too long, and I quickly grew tired of the non amplified stereo in the XLT so opted to do something about it.

Went with the "stealth" behind-the-seat Gladen Audio 5 channel kit which was just one notch above their entry level package; originally I was going to just do their subwoofer enclosure but figured I'd just take care of everything all at once.

While it's considered a "plug and play" setup, the longest part of it all was the sound deadening install in all the nooks and crannies of the inner door skin. I think the total time to do the work was around 14 hours...and I am sure some of it was just from taking the time not to break things.

Started with taking the door panel off which was six 7mm bolts and it popped right off.

Final product:

The block off plate replaces the vapor barrier and seals up with the butyl/foam sound deadening. Inside of the door is also a few Blackhole tiles in addition to more sound deadening on the inner skin of the door. I also put some sound deadening on the door panel but forgot to take a pic of the drivers side, but I'll have a pic of the rear doors as an example.

Moved to the rear doors, here is what the door looked like (after I removed the speaker/vapor barrier), but after I did the internal sound deadening.

Here is the back of the door panel with the sound deadening on a few different areas. The factory door panel had some jute padding hooked into a few areas that covered the bottom pocket.

The weekend before was filled with running the power wires from the 12v battery in the middle of the firewall area down the frame rail and up into the rear of the truck. I then had to run a pair of wires that covered the left and right tweeters as well as the supplied T-Harness that would intercept the signal for the audio from the factory radio control module.

I also went and installed sound deadening on the rear panel after removing the carpeting from the truck, which needed some trimming for the sub enclosure.

The final install looks pretty good and stealthy which is what I was going for, and the only thing that needed to be moved was the jack which is able to fit in the little storage cubby under the rear seats. I also did have to take the step bit to open up their mounting hole on the amp rack that goes into the seat latch since it didn't line up initially, almost like it was about 1/2" short to line up perfectly.

The itty bitty speakers that came out of the truck looked a bit under powered, and claim to be 25w speakers but I'm sure that's max and they are likely a grand total of 60w rms for all four lol.

Haven't given it a full test just yet since I'm beat, but from the quick few minutes I spent sitting in the truck after cleaning everything up I am pretty impressed; crisp sound and the sub works to fill in the other part of the sound stage that was previously lacking.

Additionally all of the sound deadening on the doors helped to make them sound and feel solid.

Do you mind sharing pictures of the where you connected the ground wire and how you got the power wire to the 12V battery? I have watched the SGO video but I am assuming it will be different for the lightning.

I can't really leave things alone for too long, and I quickly grew tired of the non amplified stereo in the XLT so opted to do something about it.

Went with the "stealth" behind-the-seat Gladen Audio 5 channel kit which was just one notch above their entry level package; originally I was going to just do their subwoofer enclosure but figured I'd just take care of everything all at once.

While it's considered a "plug and play" setup, the longest part of it all was the sound deadening install in all the nooks and crannies of the inner door skin. I think the total time to do the work was around 14 hours...and I am sure some of it was just from taking the time not to break things.

Started with taking the door panel off which was six 7mm bolts and it popped right off.

Final product:

The block off plate replaces the vapor barrier and seals up with the butyl/foam sound deadening. Inside of the door is also a few Blackhole tiles in addition to more sound deadening on the inner skin of the door. I also put some sound deadening on the door panel but forgot to take a pic of the drivers side, but I'll have a pic of the rear doors as an example.

Moved to the rear doors, here is what the door looked like (after I removed the speaker/vapor barrier), but after I did the internal sound deadening.

Here is the back of the door panel with the sound deadening on a few different areas. The factory door panel had some jute padding hooked into a few areas that covered the bottom pocket.

The weekend before was filled with running the power wires from the 12v battery in the middle of the firewall area down the frame rail and up into the rear of the truck. I then had to run a pair of wires that covered the left and right tweeters as well as the supplied T-Harness that would intercept the signal for the audio from the factory radio control module.

I also went and installed sound deadening on the rear panel after removing the carpeting from the truck, which needed some trimming for the sub enclosure.

The final install looks pretty good and stealthy which is what I was going for, and the only thing that needed to be moved was the jack which is able to fit in the little storage cubby under the rear seats. I also did have to take the step bit to open up their mounting hole on the amp rack that goes into the seat latch since it didn't line up initially, almost like it was about 1/2" short to line up perfectly.

The itty bitty speakers that came out of the truck looked a bit under powered, and claim to be 25w speakers but I'm sure that's max and they are likely a grand total of 60w rms for all four lol.

Haven't given it a full test just yet since I'm beat, but from the quick few minutes I spent sitting in the truck after cleaning everything up I am pretty impressed; crisp sound and the sub works to fill in the other part of the sound stage that was previously lacking.

Additionally all of the sound deadening on the doors helped to make them sound and feel solid.

Do you mind sharing the pictures of Ground wire mounting location and how you got the power wire to 12v battery. I am about to start my upgrade but not going with the SGO system.
Appreciate you answering my previous questions. Great help.

 

[3rdgenfan]

Do you mind sharing pictures of the where you connected the ground wire and how you got the power wire to the 12V battery? I have watched the SGO video but I am assuming it will be different for the lightning.

Do you mind sharing the pictures of Ground wire mounting location and how you got the power wire to 12v battery. I am about to start my upgrade but not going with the SGO system.
Appreciate you answering my previous questions. Great help.

My Imgur is apparently not working so I can't upload the terrible pic I took, but I'll try to type it out instead

The power/ground cables were placed in through the frunk, close up to the firewall under the AC lines, then routed behind the body mount right behind the wheel well, routed along the frame until getting to the area of the cab where they said to knock the two holes in for their grommets/firewall pieces. Back in the frunk side of things, I basically ziptied the cables along the same path that the current 12v leads were going so there wouldn't ever be any issues of them being pulled right off the battery.

Now if I were to do it again, or if I did a bit more poking around as homework instead of trying to get it done before the sun went down, I would've seen if I could use the pre-existing sunroof drain hole which was basically in the right area of where the power and ground cables essentially routed. Granted, I don't have a sunroof so if your truck has one then obviously that wouldn't be available lol.

 

[3rdgenfan]

I follow SGS's YouTube channel... awesome group of guys there. Would love to hear how the system is performing and if the $4k+ investment was worth it. Obviously everyone has a different opinion of worth... but as an audio head myself, I think this could be in my near future. Thanks for posting!!!

I've been tinkering with car audio stuff since I turned 16 nearly 20 years ago, so I definitely enjoy these days of being able to just click "add to cart" for a full setup shipped to my door. I'd also say it's been worth it so far, other than wishing maybe having a quick upcharge to a Focal series kit as I hadn't heard of or seen Gladen as a brand, but otherwise, I have no qualms.

The stealth box uses two 6.5" subs, and they work wonderfully when asked to put in work. In fact, I've got a shallow-mount RF 8" sub in my VW Rabbit and think these blow that out of the water.

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