My audio system

12208 Views 41 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Angel, Aug 6, 2012

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · Nov 5, 2009

I did this about 7 months ago, still going strong. This is by far the best sounding car audio system I've put together. I tapped in to the factory deck and ran speaker wires to the Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 that is located in the trunk, that way I could have short runs of RCA line going to the amplifiers. I replaced the door speakers with 2 sets of Boston Acoustics SPZ60's, powering each channel with 150 watts RMS via JL audio HD600/4. The center channel has been disconnected and not used. The factory subs have been removed and now holds the 2 electrical boxes that were mounted below the rear deck lid. For bass, I'm using 1 JL Audio 13W7 in a sealed box powered with a JL Audio 750/1.

MSRP
Boston SPZ60 $1,200 2ea.
JL Audio 13W7 with sealed box $1,200
JL Audio HD600/4 $800
JL Audio HD750/1 $800
Rockford 3Sixty.2 $700

See less See more

5

1 - 20 of 42 Posts

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #2 · Nov 5, 2009

I was hoping the pix would be posted on the main body, oh well. Here are some more.

See less See more

3

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 5, 2009

Oh yeah, I wanted to show you how beasty the JL Audio 13W7 is. Yeah, that's a 2 liter bottle. 52 pounds of sub on it's own.

See less See more

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 5, 2009

All factory controls are intact, fader, balance.

pokey88

· #5 · Nov 5, 2009

Very nice, I like how you moved the XM and OnStar boxes to make a mounting location for your audio equipment.

dal20402

· #6 · Nov 5, 2009

Install looks real nice. :thumbsup:

How's the soundstage with the tweeters in the doors rather than the dash?

Might also suggest painting the edges of the tweeter housings silver to match the factory grilles...

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 5, 2009 (Edited)

My JL Audio/Boston dealer gave me the thumbs up on the tweeter location, even though I've had a few people ask about it. I don't think I can explain just how remarkable these tweeters sound. They make me like the music on the Focal CD's.

One of the nice things with the Rockford unit is that you can adjust the time delay for each channel. I played around with it a little, but there wasn't much needed. I moved the left speaker away a little to put me (the driver) in the middle of the front speakers.

NOFATTYS

· #8 · Nov 5, 2009

A couple of questions.

1) Did you utilize the factory speaker wiring or did you run now speaker wire? If so, how difficult was it to run through the factory grommet in the door?

2) How much clearance did you have for the front midbass in comparision to the door skin? When I installed my speakers, they werent centered on the factory speaker grill...and I am worried about the speaker hitting the skin when I turn it up.

3) Did you do any deadening? If so, where and how much?

Thanks and the system is really clean looking. Great Job!

fiveoh

· #9 · Nov 5, 2009

+1 Did you do any sound deadening?

Very sick system. :drool:

NDM

· #10 · Nov 5, 2009

JetSnake said:
I did this about 7 months ago, still going strong. This is by far the best sounding car audio system I've put together. I tapped in to the factory deck and ran speaker wires to the Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 that is located in the trunk, that way I could have short runs of RCA line going to the amplifiers. I replaced the door speakers with 2 sets of Boston Acoustics SPZ60's, powering each channel with 150 watts RMS via JL audio HD600/4. The center channel has been disconnected and not used. The factory subs have been removed and now holds the 2 electrical boxes that were mounted below the rear deck lid. For bass, I'm using 1 JL Audio 13W7 in a sealed box powered with a JL Audio 750/1.

MSRP
Boston SPZ60 $1,200 2ea.
JL Audio 13W7 with sealed box $1,200
JL Audio HD600/4 $800
JL Audio HD750/1 $800
Rockford 3Sixty.2 $700

Where are the pics of the sub?

You have good taste but more money than me as I am running the old Z6's instead of the SPZ's....I Love Boston Acoustics.check my link below...

I also have the 13w7....how do you like that rear end sag?Thats the W7's big con...Weight....should have used a Neodydnium magnet to save weight...

Also did you have the crazy plate rattle too? I fixed it by bending the plate a little and adding closed cell foam behind the plate.

pokey88 said:
Very nice, I like how you moved the XM and OnStar boxes to make a mounting location for your audio equipment.

Its really easy...I did the same thing..the cables are long enough.

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 5, 2009

I ran 2 new wires through each door grommet. Not fun, but I got it.

I can't remember what I did exactly, but I know I had to modify the factory speaker mount to get the Bostons to sit deep enough so they wouldn't hit the door panel. I think the back took the most work. What ever I did, I know I have enough room now.

And this is part of the reason it took me 4 days to install this system, these 2 items alone took time. It all took time, I wasn't sure how I was going to lay it all out until I started on it. The crossovers for the Boston SPZ's are huge and I wasn't sure where to put them. But I wanted to make sure I was going to be happy with the system when I was done. I took my time. Also, I didn't want to "hack-up" a car that was only 2 months old.

I used lots of Second Skin Spectrum in the doors for sound deadener. I put some in the trunk, but plan on putting more in there.

See less See more

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #12 · Nov 5, 2009

The sub just sits in the middle of the trunk. I'd like to have a new box made that fits to the front of the trunk. There is not a lot of room for that beast, I might be asking for too much.

What plate are you talking about? About the only thing I hear inside the cab that rattles is my sunglasses in the holder on the roof. On the outside, the trunk lid makes some noise.

See less See more

2

NDM

· #13 · Nov 5, 2009

JetSnake said:
The sub just sits in the middle of the trunk. I'd like to have a new box made that fits to the front of the trunk. There is not a lot of room for that beast, I might be asking for too much.

What plate are you talking about? About the only thing I hear inside the cab that rattles is my sunglasses in the holder on the roof. On the outside, the trunk lid makes some noise.

Liscense plate...

I could make you an enclosure, I do them on the side...you can search the forum, there are plenty people with my enclosures on this and the other site.

Ill be making a new one for myself soon....

Check my 2 links for examples

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 5, 2009

Oh, license plate. I taped the plastic deal plate to the back side of the state plate using 2 sided carpet tape. If I didn't do something, I'm sure it would have broke off by now by the way that thing was flying around, crazy.

I'll keep you in mind on the box, but I'm thinking about just going locally. I have a few good options in my area.

NDM

· #15 · Nov 5, 2009

JetSnake said:
Oh, license plate. I taped the plastic deal plate to the back side of the state plate using 2 sided carpet tape. If I didn't do something, I'm sure it would have broke off by now by the way that thing was flying around, crazy.

I'll keep you in mind on the box, but I'm thinking about just going locally. I have a few good options in my area.

cool...

Where are you located?

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #16 · Nov 5, 2009

License plate mod

See less See more

tbully

· #17 · Nov 5, 2009 (Edited)

VERY nice setup. I'm planning on doing a similar system when I get my car out of storage next spring.

I see you mounted your crossovers in the back. So it goes without saying that you had to run an extra pair of highlevels back to the front. No big deal, I guess, if you're already pulling wire.

Speaking of that, what route did you use to pull the deck level lines back to the processor? Did you use the same route to get your amplified signals back to the front doors? (pics of routing would be great)

What about the dreaded alternator whine? Got any?

I don't know how crazy to go with deadening in the doors. I've read several theories. Do you have any closer pics of that? How does yours sound? (subjective question, I know)

Sorry for all the questions......excellent looking install.

See less See more

NDM

· #18 · Nov 5, 2009

JetSnake said:
License plate mod

When you get the permanent plate...You will need to do as I did...

BigEvil2005

· #19 · Nov 5, 2009

Dude you need NDM to build you a custom box...such a nice setup with a crappy box...no disrespect intended...

JetSnake

Discussion Starter · #20 · Nov 5, 2009

No problem with the question, keep'm coming, that's why I put this up here.

Yeah, I had to run separate woofer/tweeter wires from the cross overs in the trunk to the front door speakers. I was hoping to put the cross overs in the front somewhere to cut down on the total feet of speaker wire used, which I feel equals less interference noise. But with the size of the cross-overs, there just wasn't any other option.

I spliced the wires right at the plug that comes out of the right side of the factory deck, and ran them on the bottom side of the dash and then along the right side of the floor where the other wire bundle is, all the way back to the trunk to the Rockford processor. And then ran the wires from the cross-over to the door speakers back on the same location. Rights side speaker wires on the right side, left speaker wires on the left side.

No pix on the wire routing, or the sound deadener in the doors. The sound deadener is a spray on, I'd say I have it about 2 to 3 millimeters thick, covering the whole inside of the door.

If I set the volume to "0" to where there is no music heard, I think I might be able to hear a little alternator noise. It's so slight, I'm not even sure that's what it is, even if there is any noies there at all. Very happy with that.

And sound quality, I get that question from time to time. And I wonder if that is because I'm running the factory deck. But I got to say, knowing what I know today, and having the processors that are available today, I'll never roll with an aftermarket deck again

See less See more

1 - 20 of 42 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.