Audio Install - 3sixty2/alpine/cdt/JL - pics

[FishingFiend]

Got tired of waiting to complete my trunk vision, so I went ahead and installed my components in a non-invasive manner. This way I can demo my gear before I move everything to the trunk. Instant gratification won out.

 

System consists of:

 

Rockford Fosgate 3sixty2

Alpine PDX 4.150

Alpine MRD-M605

CDT HD62 with braxial kit

CDT Upstage Kit

Polk Audio db650

JL10W6

Dynamat Extreme + Second Skin Damplifier

Accoustic Foam

 

My stack of gear.

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/gearstack.JPG

 

Instead of buying an enclosure, I followed some of the outstanding how-to's on this board and was able to make my first fiberglass enclosure.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23343&highlight=fiberglass+cloth

 

I took my time and completed this over about 3 weekends. Made sure to go over air bubbles with extra layers and sand down the mdf to the shape I wanted.

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub1.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub2.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub2a.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/tirewell.JPG

 

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub3a.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub4.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub5.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub6.JPG

 

From the RC airplane world, I found out that DEAN connectors make great connectors for this application. Requires soldering, but the connection is great and easy to disconnect.

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/sub7.JPG

 

Here's a couple of pics of the front door. The crossovers are ultimately going into the trunk, but hacked into the doors nicely. Not a great spot for the longrun, but works for now. I used a combination of Dynamat Extreme and Second Skins Damplifier for the doors and trunk. I also used some acoustic foam I found at a hobby store for train tracks. The foam made a noticeable difference, but I believe the true bennefit comes from better sealing the doors.

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/door1.JPG

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/door2.JPG

 

The PDX4.150 is a great amp and it's small size creates mounting options. I was able to get the amp and distribution blocks under the drivers seat.

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/amp1.JPG

 

For bass, I'm relying on my old school Soundstream Ref. 500. This amp was awesome back in the day, but it's showing it's age. Planning on replacing this soon. Fits nicely under the passenger seat though...

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/amp2.JPG

 

Replaced the Soundstream with an Alpine MRD-M605. My turn on/off thumps are now gone. Finally silence... This amps hits way harder than the soundstream, I'm suprised. Great value and the digital dispaly is cool.

 

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/amp3.JPG

 

This gives you an idea of where the 3sixty2 was installed. In the upper passenger footwell.

http://fishingfiends.com/webgallery/audio/3sixty2.JPG

 

Overall the sound is dead on with my expectations. Clear highs, tight mid and sub bass. Balance and clarity were my goals and I'm pretty close. Once I move the upstage tweeters to the a-pillar I believe my imaging will improve and move up and forward. The CDT's as I've posted elsewhere, sound great and I'm very pleased with their sound. I'm really suprised by the Polk db650 coaxials. For the money they sound great, what a great value.

 

As for the Alpine amp, I replaced a PPI PCX280 with the alpine and must say that the PPI with traditional A/B power sounded smoother and fuller. For some reason, the 150x4 really feels more like 100x4. Regardless, the sound is very clean and very natural for an all digital amp. I like where this technology is going... Others will say tube amp all the way, but damn this amp is small!

 

Spent quite a bit of time tuning with the 3sixty2 and I have nothing but praise. Amazing control and you can hear the changes as you make them. Time delay is the final challenge, but so far I'm very pleased.

[one69chev]

looks like a very clean installation.....

[FishingFiend]

Thanks, it's been a several month project to source all the equipment and get the installation done to this point. It sounds awesome and makes me smile everyday...

[bjmsdrum00]

beautiful

[axis008]

Looks good sir. When I get my car, I'm going to have to stop by to hear how it all sounds. Where are you located?

[NSFW]

Great job on the box, that turned out beautifully.

[FishingFiend]

Looks good sir. When I get my car, I'm going to have to stop by to hear how it all sounds. Where are you located?

 

Let me know when you're down in the OC... Maybe there's a meet or something coming up.

 

Thanks for the sub compliments, anyone can do it! It just takes time.

[axis008]

I'll be back for spring break in like 3.5 weeks for like 6 days and then summer. I just go to school up north, but I am graduating in June.

 

Again, install looks good. How is the sub? When I get my car, I want it to be solid, but not overpowering. Any rattles w/ the Dynamat?

[FishingFiend]

I'll be back for spring break in like 3.5 weeks for like 6 days and then summer. I just go to school up north, but I am graduating in June.

 

Again, install looks good. How is the sub? When I get my car, I want it to be solid, but not overpowering. Any rattles w/ the Dynamat?

 

I think there's a meet coming up in the OC soon, maybe you can attend that and hear for yourself along with other people's systems. There should be plenty.

 

Before I switched amps, I ws contemplating a second sub. Now it's fine, I'm content with 1 sub and 600watts. Hits hard when you want and it's very musical for other types of music.

[dr_sharp]

Nice install... have you had any issues with the amps overheating under the seats?

[FishingFiend]

Nice install... have you had any issues with the amps overheating under the seats?

 

The amps are located in front of the air ducts pointing at the rear passengers feat. I've had the heater on full blast and no overheating problems to date. If I start to overheat, I can put the AC on full blast and cool the amps. Not great for the backseat passengers, but it keeps my amps cool.

[mevanvt]

What size spacers did you use in the front doors for the CDT's and did you have any problems w/ the braxial tweeter mount hitting the door?

[FishingFiend]

What size spacers did you use in the front doors for the CDT's and did you have any problems w/ the braxial tweeter mount hitting the door?

 

 

I used 2 sets of IA spacers for 1" total to get the Braxials to fit. As for the Braxial tweeter hitting the door, YES by about a 1/4 inch or so even with the door pin extenders provided by IA.

 

I don't have a work around yet... Any ideas?

[mevanvt]

I used 2 sets of IA spacers for 1" total to get the Braxials to fit. As for the Braxial tweeter hitting the door, YES by about a 1/4 inch or so even with the door pin extenders provided by IA.

 

I don't have a work around yet... Any ideas?

 

Thanks man. By the way nice install! (sorry I forgot to say it above) I've had the braxials since the fall but have been too busy to install them. Hopefully now that the weather is nice I'll get the chance. I have the IA performance spacers which are a total of 1" I think (thin and thick one correct?) along with the door pins. I'm assuming this makes it so that the window clears the speaker? The main thing holding me up is running the stupid wires into the doors because I already ran them to the front of the car and back into the trunk from the HU.

[FishingFiend]

Thanks man. By the way nice install! (sorry I forgot to say it above) I've had the braxials since the fall but have been too busy to install them. Hopefully now that the weather is nice I'll get the chance. I have the IA performance spacers which are a total of 1" I think (thin and thick one correct?) along with the door pins. I'm assuming this makes it so that the window clears the speaker? The main thing holding me up is running the stupid wires into the doors because I already ran them to the front of the car and back into the trunk from the HU.

 

Which Braxials do you have? Each one has slightly different mounting depth requirements.

 

As for the IA spacers, a single set is .75". This is why I had to order a second set to get the 1" needed. With the second set you will not need the thicker base spacer, just the 1/4" one. When it was all said and done, it was (1) 1/2" spacer and (2) 1/4" spacers.

 

Running wires into the doors was a biatch! Cut off the electrical tape, run your wires and seal it back up.

[mevanvt]

I've got the same ones as you but I assembled them from a set of HD-63 Drivers and drt-26 braxial tweets. I have the 650i crossovers to go with them so I should have the exact same setup as you sans the upstage kit. I only ordered 1 set of spacers so it looks like I'll have to stick with what I was going to do and use some 1/8" semi-rigid rubber I got from work in a sheet, that or make a 1/4" one from mdf or plexi. I figure I'll know right away if the rubber will work when I'm putting the speakers in. Hopefully it does b/c it will help to isolate the speaker from the door and seal it up.

[lucas569]

you can also chop up the stock speaker and take out the center portion. that what i did w/ my girls tribeca. perfect spacer ring!

 

btw how do you like the cdt spkrs ? been thinking of using those myself....

[JBLU24]

you can also chop up the stock speaker and take out the center portion. that what i did w/ my girls tribeca. perfect spacer ring!

 

thats exactly what we did with my install, lol

[FishingFiend]

I hacked the stock rear speaker to get the Polk's to fit. I just don't feel good about my dremel work. I did put a 6 1/2 speaker into a 5 1/4 frame. In hindsight, I would still use the IA for the base spacer because it fits perfect. However, I would have traced the IA 1/2" spacer on piece of 1/2" MDF to get the other 1/2" inch. Just to be clear, the braxial with 3/4" spacers will clear the window, but theres a big weight or something at the bottom corner of the glass that catches the magnet.

 

The CDT's sound great and the braxial setup provides a better stage. The localization of sound started to bug me, so I picked up an upstage kit. It's still not in an optimal location, but the stage is more at ear level. IMO the 2 tweeter setup sounds nice and balanced. It's really up to your ears, but for like $50 why not?

[gfxdave99]

Bump for a pimp job!

[CTATV]

sweet. How much wiring is involved with wiring in the 3sixty.2 and putting the interior speakers on to an amp. From my old car I have memphis M class components with crossovers, a 200 watt kicker ZX amp, and Kicker Solobaric L7 (15"), and a memphis 500 watt woofer amp. Also have a kicker 700 watt sub amp but have had that paired with two orion 12s and the 15 has been plenty loud in the past with only 500 watts. I want to install but with the Spec B having the steering wheel controls and the MP3 CD capability I have changed my mind and am not going to do the AC/ radio seperation as I previously thought.

 

First off i'm looking to at least get the sub in there and then eventually do the speakers. Usually i do all my work myself but I think im going to take this to the stereo place I dont want to take any chances messing anything up. if they mess it up they can pay to fix it.... I know the guys real well I used to go to them before i knew what i know now. I just dont have the time to keep the car torn down for a week while i take my time and double check everything. They let me hang out in the back and watch/help them whenever they do something for me. On my Chrysler it had a crappy stock speaker amp that blew out and so I needed help dealing with all the wires and figuring out which speakers they went to so I could hook them up to the Kicker ZX amp. I had pretty much finally gotten my system to exactly where I wanted it and then i crashed my car. I saved all the equiptment accept two of the four 6" component woofers. Can find a replacement for them on ebay at least i got all four crossovers and tweeters. Will probably build a regular wood and mouse fur box to fit the 15 in the trunk. The subwoofer install i have no problem doing myself. tracing all the seperate wires for the tweeters and speakers in the car I will need a little help with to do it in a reasonable ammount of time

[msmith]

Looks great! good job.

 

You really need one of these, immediately!

http://store.jlaudio.com/product.php?productid=16191&cat=255&page=1

[FishingFiend]

sweet. How much wiring is involved with wiring in the 3sixty.2 and putting the interior speakers on to an amp. From my old car I have memphis M class components with crossovers, a 200 watt kicker ZX amp, and Kicker Solobaric L7 (15"), and a memphis 500 watt woofer amp. Also have a kicker 700 watt sub amp but have had that paired with two orion 12s and the 15 has been plenty loud in the past with only 500 watts. I want to install but with the Spec B having the steering wheel controls and the MP3 CD capability I have changed my mind and am not going to do the AC/ radio seperation as I previously thought.

 

The wiring is straight forward, the trick is identifying FL/FR channels. The RL/RR channels are not needed as they are not detected by the 3sixtyX. As a result, you will loose the ability to balance/fade the sound. All this has to be done via the application, but once you config it you'll leave it alone.

 

Good luck on your system and post up when you're done. Don't be afraid to complete the install yourself. Mine is a daily driver and I did alot of prework to get ready and then knocked it out in 1 day. It would have been quicker, but the door handle held me up for a little while.

[FishingFiend]

Looks great! good job.

 

You really need one of these, immediately!

http://store.jlaudio.com/product.php?productid=16191&cat=255&page=1

 

DONE, 7 months ago! The grille has saved my precious sub on numerous occassions. Now if I could only get all the dents out...

[CTATV]

my buddy has one of those things that you clip on to a wire and it beeps anywhere along that wire so I can clip the wire in the door and trace it through carpet or anything like that all the way to the head unit (it makes a beep beep beep sound when you get close to the wire) so i shouldnt have too much trouble finding that. with the 360 can you continue to use your existing volume knob or do you have to add a different one. I dont really want to loose the use of my steering wheel volume controls...

 

I think this spring i'll just do the subwoofer and then over the summer after i graduate and have more cash id like to install my component speakers and do the 360 and component amp. I like the amp under the passenger seat seems like that might be a good place for me... Is there much room behind the doors? my crossovers are rather large but id rather put them in the door.

 

The wiring is straight forward, the trick is identifying FL/FR channels. The RL/RR channels are not needed as they are not detected by the 3sixtyX. As a result, you will loose the ability to balance/fade the sound. All this has to be done via the application, but once you config it you'll leave it alone.

 

Good luck on your system and post up when you're done. Don't be afraid to complete the install yourself. Mine is a daily driver and I did alot of prework to get ready and then knocked it out in 1 day. It would have been quicker, but the door handle held me up for a little while.