I finally got sick of my stock stereo and am redoing everything in my 00 C2 coupe. I've purchased the following and I need advice on some of what I'm thinking.

- Headunit - Kenwood DNX9980HD
- Speakers - Focal K2/100VRS for the rear (side panel back seats) with a Hertz HSK 163 (3-way) Component set for doors and dash.
- Subwoofer - Custom box from http://www.caraudioinnovations.com/porsche996sub.htm which has the (3) JL-Audio 6W3's.
- Amp - Audison LRX 5.1 or Alpine PDX-5

I'm shooting for a true 4-way system overall as you can probably see.

Questions:
1. The Hertz HSK 163 has a 6.5" mid-woofer that I would put in the doors but I know they won't fit. Has anyone used this set in their 996?
2. Anyone have experience with either the Audison or Alpine amps and which would you recommend? I don't think I have the room to put in more than one amp which is why I'm going multi-channel.

Any other comments of merit are appreciated. I did order the accessory kit from Loi for the Kenwood, the cubby and all the misc accessories and tools I need and unfortunately (or fortunately) have to install it myself because there's nobody in my area that I felt confidence in doing it.

 

Nice system.Are you planing runnig active or passive?Look like passive to me.Anyhow if you want active setup good sound processor would be needed.
Now back to speakers.The hertz midbass is 6.5 inch and can be easy fit to the door with little baffle you have to make.I would take out your existing door plastic seal enclosures and make buffle from mdf or other unless your midbass speaker requiere sealed enclosure.That case you keep them and enlarge the opening to fit the new speaker.As far the rear speaker i think os waste of money and will ruin your front stage.Remember music should come from the front like you at concert and not from rear.
I have mixed experience with alpine amps plus they weird to bridge.I would better look to jl hd series digitals or new hertz hdp amps.Audison are nice amps but honestly for the car little big unless you running only one.
Also dont forget about soind deadening at least to your door.Dynamat should make the trick.Also good interconects would be benefical.
Let me know if you need anything else

 

Excellent points and thanks! Now I can go ahead with the Hertz system. I was planning on running passive because I didn't think I would get much from an active setup in such a small cabin.

Now you've completely destroyed my idea of putting the K2's in the rear seat sides. I was actually thinking the same thing from an imaging perspective but was in denial because I already bought (2) sets of them before I changed my plan. I thought maybe they would bring a "surround" experience like 5.1 but who am I kidding?! I might still do it just to see how bad it would be.

I am trying to run only one amp. I liked the Audison because it's a multi-class amp with AB, B and D plus I've yet to find a bad review of the model I'm considering. Since the old stock amp will be nixed, there would be 21" laterally behind the spare in the trunk so just about any amp would fit but only one large or two small. The Alpine being "stackable" of sorts would have given me more flexibility to drive the sub and speakers separately and from what I read, they run pretty cool but I have to consider heat dissipation with a larger amp. I'll take a look at what you suggest.

 

I have audison amps, zapco,tru technology and sinfony,alpine and endup with jl hd.They stackable and save space plus they very cleand and cool.I dont see any difference in sound.
Well i started passive and ofcourse end up go full active and let me tell you if you tune the system properly will be big difference in sound when running active.
Your hu is only double din i would consider because the garmin nav and friendly use.Much i love pioneer i was discussed with the nav from them.
Now i running denon with optical out to my audison bit one and rainbow vanadium 3 way plus image dynamics sub on the rear seat in custom enclosure.After 4 months i still tuning the sound and getting beter and beter.

 

If you need interconnects i have ixos ixotica terminated 2 pairs for grabs.

 

I have 6-1/2 inch Focal PolyGlass speakers in my doors. I've also got a custom box behind the rear seat for my subwoofer. I chose to keep mine as OEM looking as possible, so the subwoofer box is covered with OEM carpet. I'm running a Focal four-channel amp that's installed where the CD changer originally resided.

 

Dennis, that's a very nice setup man! I like the way the amp looks integrated into the trunk. Nice and clean! Do you know where you got the factory looking carpet for your sub and did you make the sub yourself? I just visited a shop and I have a Graphite Grey Interior so the carpet and seats are lighter than the standard carpet used for these enclosures.

I did find a local shop that appears to be able to do the work that I want and I'm probably going to give them a shot. I listened to the Focal's they had and they were excellent, especially when compared to a few others I heard.

TIPS FOR ANYONE/EVERYONE
One thing I'll say to anyone looking at speakers; There is a reason why some systems cost significantly more than others. It's not just the sound they produce which is obviously most important, but it's the ability of those speakers to handle the power cleanly and across the frequency spectrum no matter how loud you drive them.

A second tip is to get as powerful an amp as you can afford and preferably a good A-B amp. If you go with a multi-channel amp that will drive the speakers and the sub, this is all the more important. Also don't believe what's on the box and peak power means nothing; it's the RMS power rating that is significant and if you think you're getting a real 1000W amp for $100, you're getting a stiff one up the backside without even a kiss as there's no such thing. My point is to check the specs, read reviews and listen to your choices.

Lot's to think about...

 

Thanks!

My installer found the carpet locally and did all the work. I'd love to personally take credit for it, but it's simply not my area of expertise. My OEM carpet had faded quite a bit (the car is nearly 10 years old!) so the match isn't perfect. He actually went one shade lighter with the new carpet to try to match it. Even so, you'd have to really look for it to know it was different. He also did the custom carpet in the frunk to cover up the amp.

I chose the Kenwood Excelon DNX-6960 for my headunit. I debated between the DNX-9960 as well as some Pioneer units. I ended up with the DNX-6960 because it has a **** instead of buttons to control the volume. I know this is a personal preference decision, and I happen to like a **** better. It also doesn't have a motorized face. My logic here was that no motorized face means one less thing to break. I had Sirius/XM installed as well as Garmin live traffic updating. The antennae for the GPS and the Sirius/XM are located on the front bumper, concealed underneath the bumper cover. The mic for the phone was installed in the factory location. I had a custom iPod/iPhone dock built into the dashboard also. It totally conceals and protects the iPhone when it is connected. So far, I've been very pleased with the sound quality and the upgraded features.

After about 30 hours of use, I took the car back to the installer for some final adjustments, including opening up the amp a little more now that the speakers have properly broken in. The sound quality is excellent.

 

Love the custom iPhone/iPod dock - - was it difficult to do? Very well done!

 

I wish I could tell you. All I did was write the check, and that wasn't too hard!

 

12" polk sub, dual voice coil, driven by an Alpine MRP-M500 (500 watts mono). Someday I'll either carpet the box savannah beige or do the whole rear deck and box in black carpet. Maybe.

 

Alpine PDX-5 with a custom sub box with two JL Audio 6.5" subs and two 6.25" Infinity Kappas. I replaced all 4 inch speakers with Infinity Kappas. The sound is great!

 

I put the same heartz set up in my doors and dash. And focal subs in a custom box in the rear. I went with a kenwood system and audison 6 channel amp. I used dynomat throughout the entire floor and the system sounds amazing. You can see pictures at the album under my profile.