Custom Rigs

Sound Advice: Audio Buyer’s Guide

7:21 am in Home, The Magazine by bruce-smith

Sound upgrades to turn your cab/sleeper into the front row seat of a concert

by Bruce W. Smith

Raindrops the size of quarters clatter against the cab as 31-year-old owner-operator Michel Himber closes his log book. It’s just before midnight and he’s beat after ending a 1,200-mile run in bad weather to Chicago.

Himber, who rolls in a Mossy Oak camouflaged 2000 Kenworth W900 with a studio sleeper, pulls out a soft pouch and thumbs through dozens of CDs before settling on one.

He slips Rascal Flatts’ “Feels Like Today” into the dash-mounted Sony head unit and adjusts the volume.

He dials home in Killen, Alabama, as guitars fill the cab with “Fast Cars and Freedom.”

The speakers mute as the sound system goes into hands-free Bluetooth mode and he checks in with his wife to make sure all is well at home and with their two young boys. The music rolls back up as he concludes the call.

Several hundred miles away Jordan Hitchcock cranks up the full-on custom 2,000-watt Alpine sound system in his working class Pete 379 show truck, rockin’ and a rollin’ on into the night with the highway pretty much to himself.

FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC

While legions of owner-operators like Himber are spending $500 to $1,500 to upgrade their stock sound system, another group of truckers like Hitchcock don’t blink at dropping $5,000 or more for custom sound systems that rival those of show cars.

Hitchcock, a 21-year-old audiophile who works for his dad at Webberville, Michigan-based MBH Trucking, is one of the new breed of truckers who have both the love of music and the skills to do much of the installation work themselves.

“I am an electronics lover who likes to have the newest and coolest audio stuff,” says Hitchcock, who put roughly $12,000 into the sound system. “But most of all I like having a good, clean-sounding system when it’s late at night, the roads are empty, and there’s no one to talk to on the cell phone. You just crank it up and cruise down the highway.”

Himber says a good sound system is therapeutic: “It really helps out in traffic jams,” chuckles Alabama trucker. “Music puts some sanity back in my life.”

sound-idea-sidebar-1 Which is why audio upgrades are on the upswing. Alex Gobel, manager of Western Truck Parts in Henderson, Colorado, notes his other local store and custom truck shop, Outlaw Customs, caters to a wide range of truck owners seeking audio upgrades.

“Those upgrades can range from $300 for a new head unit and a pair of nice speakers to a full-on custom system with high-end speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers fitted in custom-fabricated fiberglass enclosures, where the tab runs $5,000 and up,”

Glen English, the store manager of Joplin, Missouri-based 4 States Trucks and home of the Chrome Shop Mafia, gets similar customers, and adds sound system upgrades rank “about 5 or 6 on the ‘Top 10’ most popular upgrades truck owners make these days.”

Even local car audio shops are finding upgrading sound systems for truckers a growing part of their market.

Empress Car Audio & Marine in Gulfport, Mississippi, for example, is seeing more and more local owner-operators dropping by to have older head units replaced with more full-featured models that provide satellite radio and interface with iPods, USB and Bluetooth.

“It’s not unusual for us to see a truck owner come in and drop $800 to $1,500 on a new system,” says Manager Michael Taylor. “Such a package might include a 50-watt-per-channel (200-watt) Sat radio/CD combo head unit with four 4-by-6.5-inch speakers in the cab, adapted to the factory locations, with maybe four 6-by-9s popped in the sleeper.”

GOING UPSCALE

For those trucking audiophiles who to step to the next level with higher-end speakers, an amp and sub-woofers, the wallet gets tapped a little deeper. Custom installers say mid-level systems begin in the $2,000-$3,000 range.

The performance of mid-priced audio systems rival the best factory systems found in today’s upscale pickups and SUVs where 400-500-watt outputs are the norm.

Such power and fidelity brings the driver to the front row of the stage—or to the chair next to their favorite talk radio hosts.

English says an example of their mid-level system upgrades would typically include an Eclipse CD head unit with satellite/Bluetooth/USB/iPod/MP3 compatibility, Kicker speakers and subs, and an 800-watt Earthquake amp — all neatly integrated into the cab and sleeper.

An installation of this magnitude requires about eight hours shop labor, which can equate to a third to one-half of the bill. If a lot of custom work is required the price of labor may equal that of the components.

“The higher the price of the pieces, the more involved the installation,” says Gobel. “Fabricating fiberglass or custom consoles and custom wiring is very time-consuming, adding to the labor side.”

Five different speaker enclosures are molded into one filling the sleeper of Ivy's Poison built by the Chrome Shop Mafia.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

How components and brands are chosen, matched, and installed varies as much as the music pumped through them. For example, 4 State’s Chrome Shop Mafia likes the looks and performance of Eclipse, Kicker, and Earthquake components, while Arc Audio amps and speakers are the brand of preference at Outlaw Customs.

But there are more important matters than brand names and aesthetics. Swapping out a factory head unit and factory speakers for those of a higher quality is easy.

But when it comes to installing a full array of high-end audio and video, the task is better left to the pros to get it done right the first time.

“Truckers upgrading their sound systems need to pay special attention to two things,” advises Arc Audio’s Fred Lynch.“One is the installation; it’s more important than the components. Two: Get the best head-unit you can buy. Price really does reflect quality in that area, and if it’s crap, high-power amps and great speakers just magnify that point.”

Outlaw Custom’s Gobel agrees wholeheartedly saying, “The hardest part of a full custom installation of a high-end audio system is the correct placement of the aftermarket parts for optimum sound quality with minimal intrusion on interior space.

“Appearance and performance is everything — from placement to final presentation, it must all blend together and work perfect.”

Another aspect to consider is minimizing downtime. English says, the guys at 4 State recommend truckers who are eyeing a mid- to high-end system should drop by the installer to have everything measured then come back on the next trip for the actual installation.

“That allows the shop to get a head start on making any consoles or enclosures needed for the custom installation without actually taking the truck out of service. When the customer returns on the next trip, all that’s left is the actual installation of the hard parts,” says English.

While Hitchcock is satisfied with his ground-shaking sound system, Himber, like many other owner-operators, is already planning his next upgrade.

“I really want a DVD player and a 10-inch flip-down screen installed in the sleeper so when my wife and our two boys come with me on the road next summer the boys can be kept entertained.”–CR