i used to do custom high end set ups for a living....
maybe i can help here
as for mids and tweets, don't buy a component set and separate them. they are designed to work together, and sound best when they are close together. also when doing kick panels, i see so many people here making them to fit the truck. they look nice, but having a speaker at your feet doesn't sound so nice. if going with kick panels, which if designed correctly, should work best.... remember to "aim" your speaker up towards your ears. BOTH SPEAKERS. to have a stereo system means that you will listen to your music in stereo. meaning 2 channels. left and right. don't skimp and put all that work into making them look nice and aim them at the floor or your seat. you can't enjoy them down there. 1. you are wasting power by having to crank it up, reducing speaker and amp life. 2. the sound is usually muffled by the time the sound waves bounce off of everything in your cab before getting to your ears. so take the time and do it right 1 time. if using components, mids and tweets should be around 40-80 rms as a pair. remember this: 10-20 rms per linear foot of distance between you and the speakers for mid to high range. there is a term, whats known in the audio world as a "sweet spot"
this is where all the magic happens! this is the area that the speakers can team together to make music happen right. when building a car or truck audio system lots of variables are involved. like sound deadening to prevent sound loss in the cab, amperage/wattage, speaker choice and placement, cubic volume of air space in vehicle.... all thing considered there are ups and downs installing in trucks. cubic volume is nice, two people can enjoy this small space and not go deaf. speaker choice and placement is hard because alot of us don't want to compromise the classic looks of our trucks in order to gain a few decibels of sound quality. amperage... what do you want, 1 sub and a pair of mids and tweets? don't buy an amp that does both. you wouldn't buy a pair of golf shoes and use them to play basketball in right? well thats why they don't make multi-use sport shoes, except cross trainers. but you can't play golf in those things! so buy an amp for each of your speakers needs. sub amp for bass, mid-high amp for mids and tweets. also a good equalizer will make a world of difference. the controls on your head unit can do only so much. also the head unit is very important. dont be fooled by a max power rating! that doesn't mean crap! a max or peak power output rating means for a very short time this is how much power this can generate. wow. rms= root mean square, but that will just confuse you if i get scientific. rms = continuous power. these are the numbers that mean anything to us. if your speakers are 4000 watts peak or max but can only handle 50 watts rms, the max or peak number does us no good. it just means thats the boiling point of a speaker, or how much power it will take to blow out. so if your speakers are 50 watts rms you would need an amp that puts out 45-55 watts rms. anything over that would just distort sound clarity and aggravate the speakers. now for the sub. in this case the sub is up to you. what type of music do you listen to and what type of bass is it? 10-12" subs are great but sound really different.10" subs are a deep low rolling bass, and a 12" sub is a harder more sharp precise bass. you decide. also ohms are a big part of buying a sub! 1 sub can handle alot of power depending on the ohm load it can handle. match the amp with the sub, this is very important!
jl audio amps are by far 1 of the best consumer amps available. they are very power friendly and rarely ever have problems. a 500.1 jl amp will be the last amp you will ever buy for bass. sub positioning is just as important! back facing subs always sounds better than downward facing subs, period. i wont go into details on that but back facing is the way to go. do you have a gas tank in the cab? this will cause a problem sound wise.
if you do just remember to use sound deadener like dynamat or B-quiet on the tank and floors.
well i know that was really long but you asked!
let me know if you need help picking anything out or setting up a full system.
eric