Soda Popinski Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I thought I'd throw this thread out there incase anyone else was curious as to where amps might fit, or what room was under the 2 front seats, and when the console was removed. Warning: messy car pics ahead (I cleaned it afterwords) Decent view of the center console removed, and both front seats Take notice of the rear seat bolt positions, and vent positions for points or reference.: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/cherrybloom203/2008%20Subaru%20Legacy%20Audio%20Upgrade/IMG_1925.jpg View of the driver's side: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/cherrybloom203/2008%20Subaru%20Legacy%20Audio%20Upgrade/IMG_1922.jpg View of the passenger side: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/cherrybloom203/2008%20Subaru%20Legacy%20Audio%20Upgrade/IMG_1921.jpg View of the console: http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u148/cherrybloom203/2008%20Subaru%20Legacy%20Audio%20Upgrade/IMG_1923.jpg Points of interest: The harness for the driver's powered seat is bigger than the one on the passenger side. In fact, there's a plastic pop rivit and zip tie that completely inteferes with the amp in this picture if left in it's OEM position. Using plyers, I popped the rivit out without breaking it, and zip tied the harness closer to the left side of the car. You can see that I mounted the left amp (in this picture the XD 600/1 sub amp) closer to the console than the passenger side amp (4-channel). This is because there is a 6-way seat adjustment motor that hangs far enough below the seat that it could potentially crush the amp and/or cause damage to the seat motor if it were used to lower the seat alltogether towards the floor. The amp had to be moved closer to acomodate. Because of this, I couldn't use the pre-cut hole in the floor carpet to pass wires through, and had to make a 2.5" slit in the carpeting closer to the console side rail on the driver's seat. The passenger side amp was mounted in such a way that would use less cabling, especially when dealing with 4awg power and ground cables, which aren't as giving when trying to maneuver. I wanted to avoid running the power cables under the actual amp so I faced it towards the console and used the pre-cut hole in the carpeting to pass the wires into. This amp is the XD400/4 4-channel amp that powers the door speakers in the cabin. I popped the rear seat and sides off and snaked the subwoofer wiring under the carpet into the rear part of the console. I took care to make sure to use a) flat cable and b) not to twist the cable when pulling it, leaving no seam in the carpet on the floor. This cable can be pulled nearly 100% in a straight line from subwoofer to just about the emergency brake handle and then I took it to a 90% angle to the amp. Pictured above there is some extra but I trimmed it off to avoid clutter / spaghetti. The power cable was easy to run, I ran it along the firewall and into the passenger side gromet (located behind the glove box. From there, I simply zip tied and ran it conceiled behind the radio, and directly down the center of the console, using existing cable management! Thanks subaru! I grounded both amps with the same point using 4awg grounding cable and 4awg brass crush rings. This point was the center-most bolt that holds the emergency brake. Although covered in electrical tape for this picture, there is a distribution block where the power cable (red) splits without stepping down into each amp. No fuses were used here, because the amps I have have fuses inside the amp itself (I checked with the audio shop with this and they approved). The only reason for this setup is because I have in-line fuses in the engine bay to prevent shorts from damaging anything. In order to make this distribution block fit, I had to remove the plastic dome that it came with, and also use a hacksaw on the underside of the console cup holder where the extra molded plastic came together. It's not needed for the cup holder to function, there are no leaks and the electrical tape was simply another layer of protection from rubbing should the console get leaned on. The bottom side of the distribution block has double sided tape (foam based) and 1/8" plastic to shield. RCA cables can easily run up the console into the head unit. There is so much room behind the OEM head unit that I was able to install a 4-channel hi-low converter BEHIND The head unit, and still have room for the harnesses, cables and feet of zip tied extra wires behind it. And there's still room to put something the size of a 4-pack of cigarettes there should I need to expand. Speed wire used: 3 1/2 feet - from the back of the radio harness to the 4-channel amp. You don't need a lot of cable at all this way. Hope it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murdoc158 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Just did this myself last weekend. No room under the driver's seat due to the NAV unit, so the amp went under the passenger seat. Had to buy a smaller amp since apparently there is less room under the Legacy seat than the WRX/9-2x seat. I ended up buying a [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sony-XM4S-Slim-Channel-Amplifier/dp/B000PB2LII/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1305633686&sr=1-1]Sony XM-4S slim amp[/ame] and it just barely clears the connectors under the passenger seat. Trunk install was not an option as I was trying to save as much space as I could building a fiberglass box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
808Legacy Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Nice work! I got my two alpine amps under my seats too. The 2011 fits them snug! Heat isn't too bad either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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