New Car Audio Install (Pics)

I just got finished with upgrading my stereo in my 97 Riv. Here is what I installed. Pics included also

Sony Xplod 52X4 Head Unit MP3 WMA Selectable Sub Output
Scosche Adapter and Wiring Harness
(2) Scosche RCA Signal Cables. (One for each amp)
(2) Phillips Y (Splitter Cable)
Sony Xplod 5.25 4way Speakers. 35w RMS Power 160w Max
LED's I picked up and wired in to give the speaker grill some red glow to it.
Sony Xplod 6x9 3way Speakers
(2) Xplod Woofer 15" XS-L156P5B 450 RMS 1500 Max
(2) Xpold Amps 4 Channel 600w Max, Bridged 300 rms to each sub.
Legacy 3 Farad Capacitor LCA300SL
4 Gauge Power Wire with 2 Distrubutiion Blocks.


I'm happy with the install and boy does it slam. My next step is to dynamat and add tweeters off of my (2) 4 channel amps.

very nice setup. I really like those led hookups
thanks for posting the pics.

Nice setup. The LEDs are a cool idea. Got any pics of them with the speaker grill on?

No I just took thos pics this morning. This evening when it gets dark I'll go out and take some more. I added some blue led's in the dash so all my gauges glow blue. I'll take some pics this evening and post them back up here

Looks good. I see you went with the 3 farad capacitor, good choice. Prolly pounds decent bouncing the subs off the rear trunk wall like that.

If you think your getting good sound now... wait til you dynamat it!

Yeah, it sounds 10 times better with the windows rolled down. When they are up it just makes thing rattle 10 times worse. As far as that cap I love it, With windshield wipers on, headlights, heater, and the heated seat I never budge below 14.40 volts. You have any recomendations on what type of dynamat to use?

Well when it comes to sound deadening materials, you can basically use the same logic as capacitors, in the sense that its pretty hard to go wrong. All the manufacturers of sound insulation basically follow in each others footsteps.

Your gunna notice your sound level increase with the windows down, with them down you are basically converting the car into a giant bandpass box, with the windows acting as ports. Thats why when you enter into sound off's, or DB drags, etc. they won't allow you to have your windows down.

Albert did some writing on various sound deadening materials he found and used.
Saved some money by not buying the Brand Name stuff like Dynamat. And was successful in helping eliminate noise from his exhaust into the cabin.
If your interested in what he used do a search for Sound Deadening Material and you may be able to find it.

I have heard of Fat Mat. It looks to be realtivley inexpensive. Anyone have any experience with this? Also where is the best location to start with the dynamat? I assume start back along the trunk area and just work your way up?

Start at the source of your vibration... in your case the trunk.

Rickw wrote:

Albert did some writing on various sound deadening materials he found and used.
Saved some money by not buying the Brand Name stuff like Dynamat. And was successful in helping eliminate noise from his exhaust into the cabin.
If your interested in what he used do a search for Sound Deadening Material and you may be able to find it.

...I used eDead I bought from eBay, came with installation roller. I found a comparison on line where someone had tested how the different deadeners reacted to application of heat - heat as might normally be expected, heat that would be experienced on a car floor panel if say an exhaust heat shield failed, and heat to failure (burning or melting of the deadener) and as well measured sound attenuation. eDead was not the best BUT was the least expensive one with good sound attenuation that stayed put better than flammability standards and did not melt off. It seems to be what you'd expect to get if you took the butyl adhesive roll from a winshield installation kit, extruded it in a thin flat sheet and laid a layer of thick aluminum foil with plastic (probably mylar) topcoat over it.

What I learned was that sound attenuation with these materials is not their most important attribute, rather it is vibration dampening. It turns out you actually get sound attenuation with *mass* such as you can get with 'mass loaded vinyl' or lead (yeah the metal) sheeting paired with fibre insulation.

Hometown Hero is correct about 'bandpass box' - the re3sonance changes with the size ofthe passenger cabin. Which is one thing that makes sound control int he Riv tricky. The Riv cabin has serious resonance at various frequencies. The other comment was it is hard to go wrong with the different sound attenuators that are similar to Dynamat. I'd say there are differences as to how well they stick (in the long run) and it's easy to use Google or whatever to find out about those differences so I won't dwell on them here.

Albertj

I'll have to check into the Ebay product. I'll most likely wait till the Spring to start this because are winter here in WV is very cold. I took some more pictures of the LED's in the speaker grill and in the dash. The wire's run through the door and into the car behind the dash and I put a switch in place of the cig lighter. I used the dimmer to dim all the lights down and then use my blue led's and red speaker led's to make the car look a bit neat inside. Sorry for the quality. My camera doesn't take good pictures.

DAMMIT you already have the blue LED dash, that along with TL tint was next on my spring to do list

Great minds think a like! Tint is something I'd like to have done too.

They aren't Sony products but I have a very nice sounding set of Alpine add-on tweeters for sale - you mentioned you wanted to add tweeters.

What are the demensions of your subwoofer box? I figured it would be very hard to get 15's to fit in the trunk due to hight. Most of them are well over 16" high and it doesnt look like they would want to fit.

I'm probably not interested in the tweeters, Thanks for the offer though. Im not sure about the exact demensions for the box, I will measure for you and get them, but I will say it is a tight fit. The box acutally slides back a bit towards the rear seat, so that gives me a bit more room for the trunk to close.

Sony "imploads" = fail....well sony + car audio = fail in first place....

i would of went more along the lines of am underground comapy than to best buy or other rip off places.

just some pics of a guy i knows compay (fixmyspeaker.com)
he builds subs from scratch and fixes about any speaker. cool guy








but i like the leds in the dash. those are pretty nice!

Sony may not be in my top running for car audio manufacturers either. But I am pretty sure hell would have to freeze over before I bought a speaker that sum dude made in his basement. Hows his warranty btw? LOL

Sony may not be the brand name in car audio, compared to Bravox, Zapco, Rockford, etc. but unless your in DB drag who cares? Buy what you can afford and if it puts a smile on your face then you won't regret it. Pioneer has been manufacturing garbage for over 20 years imo, but it obviously pleases alot of other people who buy it out there so to each his own. I don't doubt your friend makes a fine speaker, its really not all that complex, but he will never match the warranty and R&D that a "real" audio manufacturer does. I noticed he stuck to the Pulp cone on the sub you have pictured, good choice, far better SQ than PP injection molded.

Just for some information, I'm sure Sony isn't the best out there and I could care less. I know from experience that I have never had any problems with Sony. I had a backline Walmart Xplod sub that I used for about a year and went hard on it and to this day there is nothing wrong with it. However these Xplods werent the typical Walmart Xplods. I've compared the subs I have now two MTX, Pioneer, Fusion, Lanzar, Rockford Fosgtate. I will say my best bet would have been MTX but money was a issue. On the Pioneer comment, I did have a 12 inch Pioneer sub that was rated for 150 rms and I put 300 rms on it and cranked it. It blew after about 6 months of use. Overall it was a good sub and I can't fault it because obviously it was mis treatred. If you want my opinion on custom subs, I am not for them yet until other people have bought more and they have been used. However I have heard Fi (BTL) makes some good stuff.

Also as soon as I can find a camera, I plan on uploading a video of them in action. I'd like to find a nice DB meter to see how loud it actually is. Not that this has anything to do with how loud it is but it moves my t-shirt from standing outside the car.

Hometown Hero wrote:

Sony may not be in my top running for car audio manufacturers either. But I am pretty sure hell would have to freeze over before I bought a speaker that sum dude made in his basement. Hows his warranty btw? LOL
snipped....
:

Some of the best sounding speakers around have been made in the basement of enthusiasts. Good speakers either run correctly and wearout over time or are missused or placed in to incorrect enclosures causing thier early failure. the trouble is proving how they broke!

just playing devils advocate.....

I also think fitting any speaker larger than a 10 inch sub into a normal car is not actually warrented let alone more that 50 or 60 watts total.

Nigel

:[/quote]

Some of the best sounding speakers around have been made in the basement of enthusiasts. Good speakers either run correctly and wearout over time or are missused or placed in to incorrect enclosures causing thier early failure. the trouble is proving how they broke!

just playing devils advocate.....

I also think fitting any speaker larger than a 10 inch sub into a normal car is not actually warrented let alone more that 50 or 60 watts total.

Nigel [/quote]

Partially true... though the people you speak of though lack the resources and materials to mass produce a speaker, which is a companies largest downfall if you plan on making a go. Also you can't manufacture the best speakers in the world in your basement without doing alot, and I do mean alot of research. Which costs money, trying to determine things like proper, enclosure sizes, enclosure types, frequencies, etc. so many variables.

The audio Pioneers back in the day you could say did it right outta their basement but there wasn't competition at that time. Car audio didn't really make a splash in a big way until the late 80's and early 90's. Now that you can buy mass produced proven products which are handmand as well (the good 1's anywayz), why would you buy an unproven speaker with questionable to no warranty?

Gamble much???

I bought these 2 15's and have a 2 year warranty. I thought that was pretty good. I've heard cold weather is not good on them. I don't thump them unless it's atleast 32 degress or warmer. What is a good temp to run them but still be safe

agrimm34 wrote:

I bought these 2 15's and have a 2 year warranty. I thought that was pretty good. I've heard cold weather is not good on them. I don't thump them unless it's atleast 32 degress or warmer. What is a good temp to run them but still be safe

If its super cold.. turn them on.. but turn the bass way down
and slowly turn them up.. thats what i do... and mine have been fine for a long time..

I uploaded a couple vids of my subs in action. I know the quality is very poor sorry, but hey better than nothing.


https://www.youtube.com/user/andrewgrimm900

My youtube channel