Finally finished my stereo install over the week-end! (56K maybe)

[TheProfessor]

Well, first off let me say that I\\\'m not terribly good with tools, nor doing anything of this magnitude, but I figured what the hell, I helped do the install on my wife\\\'s 3, why not try this one alone. Also, keep in mind that I live in a condo, so it\\\'s not like I have a garage full of power tools or anything......just a simple cordless drill and a jigsaw.

The gear:

Head Unit: Factory deck with 6 disc in-dash MP3 CD Changer
LOC: Navone Engineering 774V (4 channel)
Amplifier: JL Audio 500/5 (100W rms x 2 for fronts, 25W rms x 2 for rear fill, and 250W rms x 1 for subwoofer)
Front Speakers: JL Audio VR650CSi 6.5\\\" component speakers
Rear Speakers: JL Audio VR600CXi 6\\\" coaxial speakers
Subwoofer: JL Audio 10W3v2 (dual 2-ohm voice coils) in a custom sealed box made to JL specs
Wiring: Stinger 4 awg power and ground, 14awg speaker wire, 2 x 17ft gold plated twisted RCA\\\'s
Other: JL Audio RBC-1 Bass Control Module (allows me to adjust the bass boost for the subwoofer from the drivers seat)

The install was fairly straightforward since I had this exact set-up in my Mazda6....the only problem was that I had to fabricate the plates for the speakers.

This pic just shows what I started with:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1673.jpg

And this was about half way (don\\\'t laugh at my lousy jigsawing.....it was my first time, and it ended up working out perfectly with a bit of filing):

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1687.jpg

And the speakers are done:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1141.jpg


After that I just ran all the wiring....power wire and the remote bass control knob wiring down the drivers side and all the speaker wire and RCA\\\'s down the passenger side.

The pocket where the Nav would be turned out to be a perfect spot for the LOC as seen in this pic:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1697.jpg

Once that was done I wired up the amp and voila, all done (I\\\'ll have to take a better pic, at this point I had been in the freezing underground parking garage for about eight hours and was just beat):

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1702.jpg

I had a shop carpet a piece of MDF for me to mount the amp to, and had \\\"legs\\\" put on so that there was a space between the MDF and the decklid for me to run my wires through. This was I have full access to all of the controls and wiring.

There were a few hick-ups along the way, the most noteable being that my power wire ended up being two inches too short! What a piss off. Thankfully I had the fuse only 12 inches from the battery and you\\\'re allowed to be as far as 18 inches, so I just picked up a scrap piece and extended that, then had to pull the excess back to the trunk.

All in all I\\\'m very happy with the end result. The system sounds considerably better in the 3 than it did in my 6 (stupid Bose audio crap). All I\\\'m waiting on now is a grill for my sub (on back order) and it\\\'ll be complete.


Just to get it over with, my wife\\\'s 3 has the exact same set-up except that she is running a JL Audio e6450 amp instead of the 500/5. The 500/5 is a better amp so I\\\'m trying to pick up another 500/5 to put in her car but most shops want in excess of $1100 plus tax for it, which is a huge rip-off.

Here\\\'s a pic of her install (done by another board member named Eurojet and myself):

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/PSIVIC/IMG_1161.jpg



Thanks for looking........feedback/comments welcome.

[skunk2]

nice set up.
can you go into more detail how to wire up the 5 channel amp from the 4 channel loc?
i havent seen or done how the 5 ch is hooked up.
thanks

[TheProfessor]

That was actually quite simple! The amps have a setting for the 5th/6th channels called \"input from\". It basically allows you to get the signal from either the front channels or from a direct input via RCA\'s.....I just set it to get the signal from the sum of the front and rear signals.

[ZOOM ON 3]

Nice setup. I have a JL Audio E4300 amp in my car just running all of the Kaption Audio door speakers.
Is that amp ok to mount upside down....I think JL audio does not recommend installing the amp upside down.

Vito:)

[TheProfessor]

Thanks! I actually had the e4300 and sold it to upgrade to the 500/5. The e4300 was a great amp, very conservative power ratings! As for mounting amps upside down, while you are not supposed to, I e-mailed JL and they said it should be fine. I had it mounted that way for nearly two years in my 6 with no ill effects, so it\'s all good.

[djltoronto]

Originally posted by PSIVIC


Thanks! I actually had the e4300 and sold it to upgrade to the 500/5. The e4300 was a great amp, very conservative power ratings! As for mounting amps upside down, while you are not supposed to, I e-mailed JL and they said it should be fine. I had it mounted that way for nearly two years in my 6 with no ill effects, so it\'s all good.

After reading this....I peiced it all together...
I am the proud owner of your old e4300. I remember meeting you in a Honda dealer parking lot.
I agree, the e4300 is a great amp, but the 500/5 is better.

(lemme know when your ready to upgrade again so I can buy you 500/5 - lol)

[TheProfessor]

OMG, that\'s awesome! Glad to hear you\'re enjoying the amp. I liked it so much that I ended up buying the e6450 for my wife\'s 3! There is a very small chance that I end up selling it to pick up another 500/5, but only if I can find a reasonable price. I\'ll let you know just in case :)

[salvix]

Hey PSIVIC, any comments on the 6-disc MP3 CD changer?

BTW, your setup looks (and probably sounds) good :)

[TheProfessor]

Salvix, thanks.....I\'m very impressed with the end result. Sounds so much better than it did in my 6! I actually don\'t have the changer yet......when I bought my car I was one of the first to get the MP3 changer and they didn\'t have them in stock, so it\'s supposed to arrive over the next couple of days from Japan.

[Broli]

looks good!

does it pump clean?

[TheProfessor]

Well, I\'m an SQ guy, so it\'s very clean. The whole set-up was designed to be musical, not to go boom boom (though it is capable)! The sub also hits pretty low for a 10\".

[Broli]

Originally posted by PSIVIC


Well, I\'m an SQ guy, so it\'s very clean. The whole set-up was designed to be musical, not to go boom boom (though it is capable)! The sub also hits pretty low for a 10\".

that is pretty good, every now and then u need a little boom boom!

lol

so it wasn\'t bad to make ur own adapters eh!
that is encouraging!

so the fronts where components

how was the tweeter install?

did ur tweeters fit in the stock location?

i want to get some new components for the front, i am a bit worried about what will fit or not,

[TheProfessor]

Yup, the fronts are components. It worked out pretty good, my tweeters fit perfect, and I just used a bit of a tacky putty type of stuff to hold them in place.

The car is capable of loud volume levels, but it isn\'t a 12\" Crunch in a bandpass if you get my drift ;)

[Broli]

well thanks for the info PSIVIC

i am gonna make it my winter project to finish my system
when it is done i will post it up as well!

wait until u see my jigsawing!

lol


i am with u, good clean sound is most important,
:D

[TheProfessor]

Originally posted by Broli

wait until u see my jigsawing!

lol

:D

Seriously dude, nobody jigsaws as bad as I do! I\'m very lucky I still have all my fingers :D

[Broli]

Originally posted by PSIVIC



Originally posted by Broli

wait until u see my jigsawing!

lol

:D

Seriously dude, nobody jigsaws as bad as I do! I\'m very lucky I still have all my fingers :D


lmao
it could be true, but i am sure i could give u a run fo yo money!\\


I am sure that once i start, my friends will take over
not cause they are nice
but cause they don\'t want me to bleed on their tools!

[Flagrum_3]

Hey Psivic,

How you do\'in?

Very nice job (great pics also), and congrats on the new 3. It just happens I had my 2 RF amps and 1.3f cap placed in the tray also...it all fit beautifully and its completely hidden-(which is the way I like it). I have no overheating problem with the amps covered even after hours of continous play.I\'m sure your system sounds awesome SQ wise.We should have a mini sound meat before the weather gets too bad, any thoughts?



-3


.

[TheProfessor]

Sure man, let me know when you\'re free and maybe we can get some others to come as well.

[Flagrum_3]

Hey Psivic, sorry for not getting back sooner, but because of the unexpected early snowfall, my babies now stored for a few months.Maybe in the spring we can get together with some others and have a sound meet.

_3


.

[TheProfessor]

Sounds good!

[Rak]

Hey Prof!

Oddly enough I picked up almost the same system you have now for Christmas. JL VR series front and rear (component and coaxial). Alpine MRP-F450 4-Channel Amplifier to power them. I've never installed a car stereo before but I'm going to give this one a try in a couple days (waiting on my LOC to arrive).

Had a couple questions about wiring the whole thing.

Did you have to remove the rear seat?

Also, you mentioned that you ran the speaker wires down the passenger side. Where did you cross the cabin at for the drivers side?

Did you install the crossover thing for the components where it is located in the picuture? Double sticky tape? or should I say "3m FTW?"

Oh and thanks for the pictures. Would be pretty lame to take my door panel off and see that I need to drive to the store to get some mdf adapter materials. hehe

Happy New Year from the states =)

[Operator]

Really nice work. That amp is a worker!!!

[TheProfessor]

Hey Prof!

Oddly enough I picked up almost the same system you have now for Christmas. JL VR series front and rear (component and coaxial). Alpine MRP-F450 4-Channel Amplifier to power them. I've never installed a car stereo before but I'm going to give this one a try in a couple days (waiting on my LOC to arrive).

Had a couple questions about wiring the whole thing.

Did you have to remove the rear seat?

Also, you mentioned that you ran the speaker wires down the passenger side. Where did you cross the cabin at for the drivers side?

Did you install the crossover thing for the components where it is located in the picuture? Double sticky tape? or should I say "3m FTW?"

Oh and thanks for the pictures. Would be pretty lame to take my door panel off and see that I need to drive to the store to get some mdf adapter materials. hehe

Happy New Year from the states =)

Rak, sorry for the late reply, I only noticed this now.

I did end up removing the base of the seats as it just made the whole process a lot easier.

As for running wiring, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but I ran all of the speaker wiring down the passenger side and all the power/ground/lead wiring down the driver side. On both sides there is a 'channel' you can shove the wiring into if you just pull up the carpeting (first you have to remove the plastic moulding pieces).

I mounted the cross-overs exactly where they are pictured as that was the only place they would go on the door that did not interfere with anything while still leaving room to pop the door panel back on. I don't like to use 3M or double sided tape as after a year or so of slamming my door they eventually come loose. You can pop the cover of the cross over off and there are two holes to use to run some screws through. I just used one as the thing is quite light and once the door was on shouldn't move around all that much.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Operator, thanks! The 500/5 is such a workhorse I have one in my wife's Mazda3 as well :)

[Operator]

I also had an e4300 before, that I upgraded to a 450/4 to go along with my 1000/1. Can't complain about JL quailty. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/751750

[TheProfessor]

For the money the e4300 was a great amp, but there is no mistaking the power and technology difference between it (and other e series amps) to the slash series. Definately worth the extra $$$ IMO.

[wtom]

Proffy, Rak was asking where you had fed your speaker wires through to get to the front-driver's side speaker (since you had stated you ran your wires down the passenger side).

:)



Also, you mentioned that you ran the speaker wires down the passenger side. Where did you cross the cabin at for the drivers side?

[TheProfessor]

Ahh, I see. Well the speaker wires out of the deck run down the passenger side all the way to the amp in the trunk. From there all the wiring goes back to behind the deck where I simply connected to the factory wiring. I know the factory wiring is cheese, but to be honest I was beat and just told myself I would replace it at a later date. I still haven't done it, and now have no intention of ever doing it as it sounds perfectly acceptable.

[BiG_P_M3GT]

the pics are not working..

can someone upload the pics again...because soon i'll be installing my sub and amp with a cap and a MTX RE-Q5...but i can't seem to find any proper walkthrough available with full step by step pitures....

cuz i really wanna get this done properly....thanksss.

[TheProfessor]

Yeah, I accidentally deleted the pics from my photobucket account. I'll try and upload them again, though if you want just PM me your e-mail address and I can send them to you. If you need any specific info let me know, I'll do my best to help.

[Piru]

Yeah, I accidentally deleted the pics from my photobucket account. I'll try and upload them again, though if you want just PM me your e-mail address and I can send them to you. If you need any specific info let me know, I'll do my best to help.

I just finished putting in some new speakers in the doors. I already have a sub and an amp powering it from a previous setup. What I need to do now is install a second amp to drive the 4 new speakers. When you installed your JL Audio 500/5, did you take out the stock amp or just cut the wires running to it and put them through the JL amp? That's where I'm stuck and I can't seem to find specifics on this, I've checked TM3 and M3F.