2002 Chevy Quad Cab Mobile Entertainment - Sight and Sound Made Simple

We've heard people mock others that own vehicles with DVD players and monitors in them. Well, if you've ever been trapped in a passenger seat for the long haul, you know how monotonous it can be. This is especially true for families that have already spent too much time with each other-some alone time can be a good thing, especially when it comes to kids. Reading isn't an option for everyone while traveling, because for some, the narrow focus on the black text on white pages can make you sick while bumping around in the cab.

MTX's 6001-series speakers... 

   

  read full caption

MTX's 6001-series speakers will put a 4-ohm load each on the amplifier. You could wire the front and rear speakers in parallel to run the amp with a 2-ohm load, but you won't be able to control the rear speakers separately. Our head unit has the ability to use sound processing for surround, so we opted to run our system at 4 ohms.

About the only way to escape the confined cab would be to sit Indian-style, rest your hands on top of your knees with hands face up, touch the tips of your middle fingers and thumbs together, close your eyes, and try to channel a Shaolin Priest named Grasshopper-or you could just watch the Kung Fu series on DVD. Mobile entertainment is not that impractical, is it?

It's not inexpensive to add interactive entertainment to your truck, but it doesn't need to be difficult, too. How about a system that provides your passengers with all the luxuries of an audio/visual system that you can install yourself? With this in mind, we contacted MTX to upgrade the power level and step up the drivers, then we talked to Vizualogic for its replacement headrest with a 9-inch-that's right, we said 9-inch-monitor and a 1/2-inch DVD player built right in. The TN liquid-crystal panel has a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, made of 336,960 dots, using a TFT active matrix drive system. Visualogic's A-2000 headrest kit includes the two headrests with monitors, one with a DVD player, an FM modulator, a pair of infrared wireless headphones, and a GamePak GP-50.

The MTX Thunderform line of sub boxes are designed to fit in contorted areas in the cab of your truck-in our case, behind the seat. You can get the Thunderform molded in the stock factory color, and installation is a snap. Replacing the rear speakers could have been made easier, if we would have used MTX's 6502 speakers, but we wanted to upgrade the sound system with separated drivers to enhance the quality and level of the sound. The Thunder 3404 four-channel amp supplies 50 watts per four channels at 4 ohms or 100 watts per channel at 2 ohms. The Thunder 3404 also has a high-impedance input, which basically means you can disconnect the speaker wires from the stock head unit to run the audio.

The crossover for the separates... 

   

  read full caption

The crossover for the separates divides the sound and sends the proper spectrum of frequencies to the speaker designed to reproduce the specific notes. When separating the highs, mounting can be an issue. If you separate the speakers too much, the projection of sound from each speaker can confuse the sound direction. If the tweeter gets mounted close to your head, such as on the A-pillar, the tweeter can be attached to the terminal that is marked "-3dB." This will reduce the gain level of the tweeter so it doesn't overpower the mid.

When you integrate video, you need to be able to switch that source between stereo and video. Most aftermarket head units have this capability, but if you want to run the stock head unit, you will need to buy a device that will provide this ability. This device is called an Auxiliary Audio Input switch, or Aux Box, and can be adapted to most any stereo system. This wasn't needed with our '02 Chevy Quad Cab; it already had an aftermarket head unit that was equipped to interact with monitors. Here's how it came together.