My budget audio install updated 3/22/15
#841
12-26-2017, 08:07 AM
Edited since this thread is long enough: custom small box with double 8" Tang Band subwoofers sounded like **** and would take a lot of custom work to look oem.
This is what should be the go-to option to upgrade the bass, in the same oem+ spirit of this thread.
Final subwoofer upgrade Sb Acoustics sb15MFC30-4 ($53 x 2) inside the stock subwoofer enclosure, with some polyfill stuffing added. Oem subwoofer amp and wiring leading from the oem box removed (can easily put back). Felt tape on wires so they don't rattle inside. Some double sided sticky tape on sub mounting edge so they don't rattle.
Alpine MRV-M500 Mono V-Power Digital Amplifier ($138) mounted in the frunk fits perfectly in place of the navigation unit. I'll bypass the fiber optic cable this week. Remote bass level **** ($35) mounted in the small storage gap under the headunit. Kicker 09DCK8 D-Series 8AWG Amplifier Kit ($23.27)
Best Buy install was $250 for the labor. I have 1 wire leading from amp to subwoofer, which then branches off. From single positive negative, to double. This way the 4 ohm subs are combining into 2 ohms. Quick disconnects near the oem spot, so you can remove for service or racing. I don't remember which source signal is tapped into the amp to turn on.
The amp is overkill for these subs, so the bass level **** is a must have. You can regulate between subtle neutral bass, to "wow my seat shakes a little bit", to "oops I hear port noise I better turn it down asap".
This is what should be the go-to option to upgrade the bass, in the same oem+ spirit of this thread.
Final subwoofer upgrade Sb Acoustics sb15MFC30-4 ($53 x 2) inside the stock subwoofer enclosure, with some polyfill stuffing added. Oem subwoofer amp and wiring leading from the oem box removed (can easily put back). Felt tape on wires so they don't rattle inside. Some double sided sticky tape on sub mounting edge so they don't rattle.
Alpine MRV-M500 Mono V-Power Digital Amplifier ($138) mounted in the frunk fits perfectly in place of the navigation unit. I'll bypass the fiber optic cable this week. Remote bass level **** ($35) mounted in the small storage gap under the headunit. Kicker 09DCK8 D-Series 8AWG Amplifier Kit ($23.27)
Best Buy install was $250 for the labor. I have 1 wire leading from amp to subwoofer, which then branches off. From single positive negative, to double. This way the 4 ohm subs are combining into 2 ohms. Quick disconnects near the oem spot, so you can remove for service or racing. I don't remember which source signal is tapped into the amp to turn on.
The amp is overkill for these subs, so the bass level **** is a must have. You can regulate between subtle neutral bass, to "wow my seat shakes a little bit", to "oops I hear port noise I better turn it down asap".
Last edited by 997TurboTom; 12-26-2017 at 09:39 PM.
#842
01-29-2018, 03:56 PM
small update to the subwoofer + focal setup above. Had maybe 10 more hours of break in, and they sound really clear. I'm often fine tuning the subwoofer dial on the amp, but only when I want to push the output and feel more bass. Anyone local to me is welcome to stop by for a listen
#843
02-20-2018, 07:14 PM
Edited since this thread is long enough: custom small box with double 8" Tang Band subwoofers sounded like **** and would take a lot of custom work to look oem.
This is what should be the go-to option to upgrade the bass, in the same oem+ spirit of this thread.
Final subwoofer upgrade Sb Acoustics sb15MFC30-4 ($53 x 2) inside the stock subwoofer enclosure, with some polyfill stuffing added. Oem subwoofer amp and wiring leading from the oem box removed (can easily put back). Felt tape on wires so they don't rattle inside. Some double sided sticky tape on sub mounting edge so they don't rattle.
Alpine MRV-M500 Mono V-Power Digital Amplifier ($138) mounted in the frunk fits perfectly in place of the navigation unit. I'll bypass the fiber optic cable this week. Remote bass level **** ($35) mounted in the small storage gap under the headunit. Kicker 09DCK8 D-Series 8AWG Amplifier Kit ($23.27)
Best Buy install was $250 for the labor. I have 1 wire leading from amp to subwoofer, which then branches off. From single positive negative, to double. This way the 4 ohm subs are combining into 2 ohms. Quick disconnects near the oem spot, so you can remove for service or racing. I don't remember which source signal is tapped into the amp to turn on.
The amp is overkill for these subs, so the bass level **** is a must have. You can regulate between subtle neutral bass, to "wow my seat shakes a little bit", to "oops I hear port noise I better turn it down asap".
This is what should be the go-to option to upgrade the bass, in the same oem+ spirit of this thread.
Final subwoofer upgrade Sb Acoustics sb15MFC30-4 ($53 x 2) inside the stock subwoofer enclosure, with some polyfill stuffing added. Oem subwoofer amp and wiring leading from the oem box removed (can easily put back). Felt tape on wires so they don't rattle inside. Some double sided sticky tape on sub mounting edge so they don't rattle.
Alpine MRV-M500 Mono V-Power Digital Amplifier ($138) mounted in the frunk fits perfectly in place of the navigation unit. I'll bypass the fiber optic cable this week. Remote bass level **** ($35) mounted in the small storage gap under the headunit. Kicker 09DCK8 D-Series 8AWG Amplifier Kit ($23.27)
Best Buy install was $250 for the labor. I have 1 wire leading from amp to subwoofer, which then branches off. From single positive negative, to double. This way the 4 ohm subs are combining into 2 ohms. Quick disconnects near the oem spot, so you can remove for service or racing. I don't remember which source signal is tapped into the amp to turn on.
The amp is overkill for these subs, so the bass level **** is a must have. You can regulate between subtle neutral bass, to "wow my seat shakes a little bit", to "oops I hear port noise I better turn it down asap".
Can you show me the amp grounding location in your frunk? Thanks!
#845
05-08-2018, 02:04 PM
going to add some RAAMmat BXT II sound deadening sheets with Ensolite IUO closed cell foam to the rear cabin, to tame down some noise that my exhaust and motor mounts added. Will use an iphone decibel meter to see before and after, I will be happy with small reduction. Weight wise, I'll try to keep at 20lbs and down
I'll make a separate thread
I'll make a separate thread
#846
05-10-2018, 08:17 PM
I am not a fan of Bose speakers period. But, I did noticed they are made in Germany, so I assume from another speaker maker? I installed a Pioneer Avic 8200NEX and Alpine PDX-V9 to great success. I am currently contemplating the replacing the speakers, so this thread is very helpful, so thanks!
#847
05-11-2018, 08:17 PM
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rye, NY
Posts: 3,335
Rep Power: 199 
I am not a fan of Bose speakers period. But, I did noticed they are made in Germany, so I assume from another speaker maker? I installed a Pioneer Avic 8200NEX and Alpine PDX-V9 to great success. I am currently contemplating the replacing the speakers, so this thread is very helpful, so thanks!
#848
05-11-2018, 08:45 PM
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&sour...26182012698102
Last edited by jimmyz2; 05-11-2018 at 09:28 PM.
#849
05-17-2018, 09:05 AM
being made in Germany doesn't make them sound good, compared to $150 Focal speakers. I've had lots of time to break mine in, and they sound amazing with the upgraded subs. 10-15lbs of sound insulation in the back will only improve things for me, once I have time to do it
#850
05-17-2018, 11:18 AM
My point is, after I replace the head unit and amp, the sound dramatically improved. I am sure replacing the speakers will improve sound also, but replace the source and amp fist,IMHO, and then decide about the speakers. However, I do wish you the very best and thanks for sharing.
#851
05-17-2018, 11:35 AM
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rye, NY
Posts: 3,335
Rep Power: 199 My point is, after I replace the head unit and amp, the sound dramatically improved. I am sure replacing the speakers will improve sound also, but replace the source and amp fist,IMHO, and then decide about the speakers. However, I do wish you the very best and thanks for sharing.
You will double your benefit with a speaker swap. Seriously.
#852
08-06-2018, 09:07 AM
Just completed this upgrade with Focal IS200 in both doors, ISC100 in front doors and rear panels, a single TWU 1.5 for the front center, and Dayton DC130B4 to replace the subs. Overall, I spent $520 for all the speakers, $8 for the ABS, $8 for woofer speaker foam baffles, and $8 for rubber weatherstripping.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
Last edited by TypeRx; 08-06-2018 at 09:39 AM.
#853
08-09-2018, 09:08 AM
Just completed this upgrade with Focal IS200 in both doors, ISC100 in front doors and rear panels, a single TWU 1.5 for the front center, and Dayton DC130B4 to replace the subs. Overall, I spent $520 for all the speakers, $8 for the ABS, $8 for woofer speaker foam baffles, and $8 for rubber weatherstripping.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
#854
08-09-2018, 09:09 AM
does anyone have a DIY on removing some or all of the rear cabin interior trim and seats? I want to add about 10lbs of sound insulation
#855
08-10-2018, 02:16 PM
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rye, NY
Posts: 3,335
Rep Power: 199 Just completed this upgrade with Focal IS200 in both doors, ISC100 in front doors and rear panels, a single TWU 1.5 for the front center, and Dayton DC130B4 to replace the subs. Overall, I spent $520 for all the speakers, $8 for the ABS, $8 for woofer speaker foam baffles, and $8 for rubber weatherstripping.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
I made the rear panel mounts from ABS and reused the factory mounts for the 8" woofers in the front doors. I did notice that the front door cards are not a 100% perfect fit (they protrude about 1/8-1/4") around the bottom corner edge (near the woofer), but fine elsewhere. This isn't noticeable unless you lie on the ground under the door. So, I'll need to see what requires some further adjustment. I think the new woofers are ever so slightly contacting some plastic that surrounds the circumference of the factory grills (backside of door card). Probably would benefit from some very mild trimming. Alternately, the 3/4" MDF mount most use probably provides just enough clearance without any trimming.
Also, wanted to note that the (+) wires on the dash tweeters are actually very lightly striped, with the (-) wires being solid. This is in contrast to other wiring in the car which generally follows the solid wire is (+) and striped wire is (-). Finally, I ended up tapping the factory wiring (to allow easy reversion to OEM) and terminating all speaker ends with female spades, etc. However, I realized yesterday that I probably could have just shoved the mini-spades (like for the tweeters) into the factory harness connectors. Oh well. Also, cutting ABS with a rotary tool (aka Dremel) is more work than it needs to be. An oscillating cutter tool ($20-$35 at Harbor Freight) is MUCH quicker and the rotary tool can be saved for cleanup or very fine edges.
Overall, it definitely sounds markedly better, especially at higher volumes. Very good upgrade out of the box (and looking forward to further improvement in time), especially when using quality source material!
PS: Happy to sell my extra TWU 1.5 tweeter. Just PM me.
You will definitely hear improvements over time. Especially with the subwoofer. The thing about a car application is that you can't burn in the drivers overnight or for any extended period. Easy with any home audio, but given that a car is only run for maybe half an hour at a time, it takes a while to burn in the drivers. After a few hours use, everything sounds much better, unfortunately the subs take a bit longer. I assume your resulting front spacers are too thick; I didn't have any clearance issues with the 3/4" MDF.
I have an extra pair of 4" coax Focal speakers in my basement if anybody is interested. Will take a reasonable offer.