Speakers in the bed: I need some nerds building, control, putting, Boston

andy

Okay guys I love to tailgate and ride my boys around in the bed of my truck. So what I did was bought two 6x9 speakers and am building a box for them, and putting them in the corner of my truck bed. Here is what I have so far (if it matters):

Alpine IDA-X001 Head UnitAudiobahn A16000V AmpTwo Alpine Type-E SubwoofersTwo Boston Acoustic 6.5quot; speakers (front)
Two Kenwood 6.5quot; speakers (rear)I want to hook these two 6x9's up so that I can control what comes out of them by my headunit. I want a switch in my cab that will turn these speakers on and off. That's pretty much all I'm looking for.

Now...

I understand this is tricky and can have some obstacles: resistance and crap like that. So what I could do is have a switch that turns my back speakers in the cab off and my bed speakers on. That way, the output has somewhere to go and doesn't destroy the universe.

What I would really like is to have a master switch in the cab that can turn the bed speakers on, and a separate switch, or two (one for each speaker) mounted in the bed so the riders can turn them off if they want. That I am not too concerned about. If this is a big deal, forget about it.

Discuss.

.I've got NO experience with an application like this, but just thinking about it, seems kinda like a pain. The best way to do it, would be to buy a separate amp to power them. If you want to run all 6 speakers off the head unit, you could possibly install a seperate toggle switch on the grounds of each pair of speakers. Just need to make sure that both of them are not on at the same time. Would not be able to play all 6 at the same time, tho. For instance wire the rears along with the bed speakers to the deck, and switch between the 2. Dunno if it would work, just throwin idea's around...

.x2...get a separate amp...then put the rem wire on the switch for the amp...run rcas to the H/U, and power from the battery...done and done...

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Originally Posted by bogieboyx2...get a separate amp...then put the rem wire on the switch for the amp...run rcas to the H/U, and power from the battery...done and done...

X3.

.Get some marine speakers cause weather will kill standard ones. Then get a small cheap amp to power them and mount it inside some were and put a switch on the amp.

.like said above, use marine speakers.

put switches on the remote wires of both amps.  the amps will not turn on unless the remote wire is giving them a signal.  then you just have 2 switches in the cab, one for each amp, or set of amps.  that way you can determine where the sound comes from.  of course, this is assuming that every speaker is amped.  if the speakers are not amped, then this method will do jack shit for you.

.Forgot to mention - speakers will have plugs that can be taken out when not in use. No need for marine speakers.  I did think about that in the past, just got a good deal on 6x9s.

.You could use a switch like this: from : localhost/www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062538

DO NOT THROW THE SWITCH WHILE THE RADIO IS ON.You're only needing to interrupt one wire from each speaker.  Wire the two radio +'s to the center terminals, then wire the cab speakers to one side, and the bed speakers to the other side.

.Would any DPDT switch work?

And this would shut off two speakers in the cab and turn two in the bed on, correct?

.It would need to be capable of handling the amount of current that you're putting through it.

.i'd go with a couple of relays myself....gives plenty of room for the current too...

.Never use relays.  The coils affect the sound, and sometimes they do interesting things to impedances.

.rhino line the boxes you build.  It will protect the wood from rain.  Spent time testing this.

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Originally Posted by AudioNutzNever use relays.  The coils affect the sound, and sometimes they do interesting things to impedances.

eh, i'll backtrack on the impedence issue....but sound?....c'mon now......it's 6x9s in the bed of a truck....

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Originally Posted by IowaSQeh, i'll backtrack on the impedence issue....but sound?....c'mon now......it's 6x9s in the bed of a truck....
coils set up something called EMF ( electro motive force) which is what makes motors turn and relays click and speakers move to create sound and they will most deffinetly affect your sound. As Audionutz said it will also screw up your impedence and could ruin you amp or your H/U.