Stereo installation issues...argh!

[rx7tt95]

Yep, very tinny. And I thought about removing the stock tweeters but I wasn't sure how much it was affecting things. I managed to pull out the JL's and put the larger MB's in the driver's door. I had one bad connection coming from the head unit and fixed that. I haven't put the second pair of MB's into the rears yet, too much of a PITA to do it after work on a Friday

Once I did that, I rewired everything into the amp as a normal 4-way setup without the sub. Big improvement. Still a bit too much upper midrange but an improvement none the less. I just wired the sub inline with the fronts and didn't use a filter since the fronts can produce a wider range of sound than the smaller JL's in the rear. Using a high pass filter on those. The 8" is putting out decent bass now but doesn't rock my world.

What do you guys think? Two 8"? I was actually thinking one 12" and psycho was thinking a 10", possibly two. I feel like the one 12" will be a bit less expensive and I can get a dedicated bass amp that way too. I also think I'm just going to remove the rear seats as I carry lots of equipment back there anyway and the area behind the seats barely cuts it.

I did a bit of searching and I didn't find too many 4 channel amps that put out decent power and looked like they'd fit under the seat. The mono amps in the 400W range don't seem all that large however.

[etlsport]

i had a boss audio camp (CH-450 i think) amp under my drivers seat for awhile.. that put out 50x4.. it wasnt the best amp in the world but it did the job and sounded pretty good.. plus it fit under the seat.. ive since upgraded to a larger amp that just sits behind the drivers seat for now

like i said.. i've got 2 rockford fosgate 8's run parallel off a 300x1 @ 2ohms sub channel on my amp and they hit hard

did you try upgrading all the wiring? the stock wiring isnt going to carry a very good signal.. i ran 12ga to all my speakers when installing the new amp

[Triathlete]

If you do a search you will find a couple threads from when Biju threw a couple of "modest little" systems in his Dragon and Proton!:bwgr::bgwp:

[rx7tt95]

Ok, I've done a bit of research. Hell, I can tear down a car and put it back together, design turbocharging systems, tune just about any vehicle but I'm a novice at audio. So I found this site which is great for beginners:
http://www.bcae1.com/

I've relied on a local shop in the past but I moved about 35 miles north and haven't had time to get down there.

I found an incredible deal on an Alpine PDX-5 amp which is small enough to fit under the driver's seat and Psychos2 is building a sub box for one 12" sub.

I definitely need to do it right and upgrade the wires running to the four speakers. But I managed to get her sounding pretty decent as is after messing around with the amp's filters/crossovers and the head unit's multitude of features and adjustments. I think I could easily spend five hours tweaking it. I really need to get the sub in there before making final adjustments. Right now I just have it running parallel to the front speakers and it's probably not pushing enough wattage.

How difficult is it to get wiring through the doors? It doesn't look like I have easy access underneath the dash. As a matter of fact, I think the VX has the most tightly-packed under dash I've ever come across. There's very little room anywhere under there!

At one point I just decided to remove the rear seat and put a sub rack/amp/subs back behind the driver's seat similar to etlsport's pic above. Probably would have been the best solution. I may still remove the rear seats anyway just for space. I think I had someone sit in the back of my Evo twice in over two years of ownership.

I'm using the JL Audio 300/4v2 "Slash" amp now http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=437 which unfortunately is a really nice unit. I think I paid about $500 for it and used it maybe three months total. So if anyone is interested in it...shoot me a PM. I still have the original box too. I'll also have four lightly used but mint JL Audio speakers, TR525-CXi's http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?comp_id=60 although I may try to hook those up again with the Alpine amp and new wiring first before selling. Fit in the factory locations without modification. Also one Diamond Audio 8" sub, D3. http://www.diamondaudio.com/content/view/132/146/

[etlsport]

the passenger side wire loom is cake... drivers side is a bit tougher.. go to home depot.. find a pipe just large enough to fit your wires through.. pull the looms out of both sides (door and interior) and stick your pipe through it.. put the wire though... then slide the pipe off the end with the shortest amount of wire.. wish i had learned that trick about 3 years ago!

yea to this day i am still making minor adjustments to my sound system.. lots of settings on my amp and even more on my headunit

[rx7tt95]

I've used a wire hanger before. Fold the hanger into one long piece (or cut as necessary) and just duct tape the end of the wire to one end and push everything through assuming you can get your hand in to the other side. But the pipe idea sounds fantastic. Might get around to doing that tonight.

[etlsport]

hanger didnt fit through the drivers side for me