Audio System Upgrade Questions

[mrtucker80]

Getting ready to do some upgrades on my 98 Limited. Factory CD player is shot and I am sick of the constant up and down of the power antenna, so I have some things on deck.

I got a Kenwood Excelon Single DIN head unit and a fixed Antenna base and Tacoma Whip on the way.

Got an Alpine PA250.2 Amp that never got used on a prior project. No rear heat so it will go under the passenger seat.

Infinity Bass-Link, a hand-me-down from my wife's old WJ that will be going in the rear.

Now onto my question, where do you folks mount your cross-overs? I have a nice set of Polk MOMO 6.5" components that are still in the box. I know that is sad and some of you probably haven't ever heard of them. Anyway, for those of you who have replaced your fronts with a set of components, where did you put the cross-overs? Is there enough room for them to go in the doors somewhere? Where else have you all mounted them.

Thanks,

Tucker

 

[1blink]

i recently did this with mine:

 

[BrianSD_42]

I mounted mine inside the door after i added sound mat as well.

He sealed the large hole up. I did not. Cool idea though.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Infinity Bass-Link, a hand-me-down from my wife's old WJ that will be going in the rear.

I love my Bass-Link! Best under $50 mod I have made.

As for my crossover, I mounted mine in the door... Right above the woofer itself.

 

[mrtucker80]

I love my Bass-Link! Best under $50 mod I have made.

As for my crossover, I mounted mine in the door... Right above the woofer itself.

Do you have any pictures of the install? I was looking at the doors this morning on the way into the office and that is where I was thinking about putting them. Seemed like the way the plastic is formed there would be enough room for them under there and it would keep the run to each respective woofer and tweeter pretty short.

Also, How are you guys installing the tweeters? Just trimming the factory grill out and doing a flush mount or is there room behind the factory tweeter grill for them mount up on the door?

 

[robb1887]

Tweeter sizes vary greatly from speaker to speaker, I doubt you'll know till you try to mount them. I've had some tweeters mount in stock location and others have to be modified pretty extensively to get them to mount properly. IIRC the Polk/MOMO tweeters are relatively small (I had a set back in the day when they were new believe it or not) but I couldnt tell you if they fit or not.

 

[BrianSD_42]

is there room behind the factory tweeter grill for them mount up on the door?

Yes there is enough room if you disassemble the tweeters outer shell.

I currently have Infinity Kappas behind the factory tweeter grill.

You will need to bend a small piece of metal to act as a frame that holds the tweeter in place. Then use 3M mounting tape to hold it aligned properly.

 

[Doc2012]

Just so ya know...

The rear speakers are some weird size. Like 4.25" or something like that.

I bought 4 Rockford Fosgate 6.5" Primes. Took the back panel off, and couldn't fit them in.

I'm going to be putting in some 6.5" soon. Just need to find the time with all the other projects I have going on......

 

[BrianSD_42]

Yes minor cutting is required for larger rears - It is easy. I am running Kappa 6x9s.

4" is a super lame size.

Don't install 6x9s, with my rear Kappas the magnet prevents the window from going down the final 3". I think 6.5 would be fine.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Yes minor cutting is required for larger rears - It is easy. I am running Kappa 6x9s.

4" is a super lame size.

Don't install 6x9s, with my rear Kappas the magnet prevents the window from going down the final 3". I think 6.5 would be fine.

Brian and I seem to be on the same page.

I am running kappas up front, the tweeters fit just fine...

As for the pictures, I am currently in Afghanistan, so I don't have any... =(

I run kappa 6.5" in the rear with a small spacer that I made out of some plastic I had laying around. Essentially made a ring the 6.5" would fit in, bolted the ring to the 4" mount, and then bolted the 6.5" to the ring.

If that doesn't make sense, you're thinking too hard =)

Kinda like this... Only I didn't let a 3 yr old make it, and I didn't use wood that will swell if/when it gets damp.

(Photo "credit" to some miatabrah)

 

[Ron Helmuth]

while you have it all apart

good time to check your background lights for the HVAC controls/rear window switch area -

also if you want to use the back glass antenna you will need an adapter and coupler to combine the two antennas into one.

There is a good thread over on Yota Tech from RockSlide on how to combine the antenna signals.

Here it is:

http://www.yotatech.com/f2/guide-ho...-antennas-into-one-aftermarket-stereo-193751/

 

[Brian757]

If I remember correctly, I believe I installed 5 1/4" speakers in the rear.
The 6x9 would be cool to see! That would have been huge to stuff in that little spot I had. Very cool.
I installed 6x9's in the rear of my sisters boyfriend's Xterra. Their speakers are in the trunk..

 

[1blink]

also if you want to use the back glass antenna you will need an adapter and coupler to combine the two antennas into one.

There is a good thread over on Yota Tech from RockSlide on how to combine the antenna signals.

Here it is:

Guide on How to Combine Both Front & Rear Antennas into One on an Aftermarket Stereo - YotaTech Forums

I recently tried that mod. I had significantly Lower signal reception when the radio station tower was in front of me, but good reception when radio station was behind me. 30 miles out, driving towards a high power broadcast, and there was lots of static. Drive the other direction, signal was clear. This is on a Pioneer AVIC 700bt head unit. May work better on others? I pulled the parts immediately after I realized my reception actually got worse.

However, if anybody still wants to try this mod, I will sell the y-splitter and mini adapter for 50% of amazon's shipped price.

**I have done the Tacoma whip mod. That may be a factor here as well.

 

[mrtucker80]

good time to check your background lights for the HVAC controls/rear window switch area -

also if you want to use the back glass antenna you will need an adapter and coupler to combine the two antennas into one.

There is a good thread over on Yota Tech from RockSlide on how to combine the antenna signals.

Here it is:

Guide on How to Combine Both Front & Rear Antennas into One on an Aftermarket Stereo - YotaTech Forums

I have a flaky light on the fan controls that I am going to take care of. I am going to pull the little bulb covers off so it is a whiter light.

I hadn't even looked into the antenna deal. I will have to read up on that. I am doing the whip mod when I swap out the head unit. Do I need to reconnect the rear antenna? Can I do without it? And how do I check to see if I even have one? All I notice in the rear window is the defrost wiring, don't see anything that looks like an antenna in there.

As far as the rears, I am leaning toward a set of 5.25" 2-ways powered by the head unit to go in there. 95% of the time I am in there by myself and I am not going for a competition set up. I also read that the rears only contribute a very small amount to the what is heard from the drivers seat so I just need a decent set in there to round things out. Maybe some polk dxi's.

Thanks for all the responses, I will definitely document the process since it seems that I haven't been able to find any good write-ups on the process.

Any preferences on deadening materials? I know dynomat seems to be the go-to but I have read some things about lizard skin, anybody tried it. Other materials?

 

[1blink]

I am near completion on my project...sound deadening, wiring, speakers. I will post some of what I learned after I complete the job. Roof and headliner are all that remain. Headliner and sunroof have been more of a challenge than expected. The sunroof was dealer installed, and not very well done. For deadening materials I used Raamat and ps ensolite.
The rear antenna is located in the passenger side cargo window. The factory stereo could switch between the two based on signal strength. Combining the signal with a splitter is likely to have adverse affects on reception.

 

[BrianSD_42]

As for the pictures, I am currently in Afghanistan, so I don't have any... =(

Hey man I didn't know you were in the military. My heart goes out (as they say) to all the military on this forum. I served enlisted from 00-06 in the USN on a cruiser. We went to the Persian Gulf, technically a combat zone but I never was on the ground. You guys are definitely doing the tough work there in Afghanistan. Another friend of mine is a Cobra pilot and just came back a few months ago. I wish you and your unit the best.

About the 6x9 Kappas. We I am running 70W RMS to all 4 speakers but I have to say that the front components just rock and despite the 6x9 in rear, when I'm sitting up front I don't really hear them. Yes I could turn up the gain but I like it even. These Kappas are pretty legit but definitely need at least 50W RMS to come to life.

 

[mrtucker80]

New Question

So I was test fitting the Amp under the passenger seat and noticed that there is a large depression close to the trans tunnel, presumably where the rear heater stuff would normally go, and I was wondering how others had handled this when mounting their amps? Should I use a piece of plate or plywood to make a mount for the amp, or should I just fabricate some kind of spacer to allow me to support that corner of the amp? I had also seen where someone suggested using Velcro to mount the amp, anyone got any thoughts on that idea?

Also, the amp is going to take up most all of the available room under there, so I will probably run power in on the drivers side and do distribution under the drivers seat. Since the battery is on that side it will save a little wire. So Power down DS and RCAs down PS.

I am hoping to have the second set of RCA's in this week and hope to get the headunit and new whip antenna on this weekend. Then amp, wiring, etc. when I have seats out to replace the leather.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[BrianSD_42]

I put mine under the driver side seat.

I used this to make sure the floor appears flat to whoever sits back there ...

The floormat goes over it of course

..

 

[1blink]

i have a rear heater, so passenger seat was out of the question. I removed the driver seat, mounted my Polk PA 5000.5 underneath
If I had no rear heater, the passenger seat would have been a good choice. Stuff underneath with carpet scraps maybe?

Velcro should do fine, not like it's going to get airborne from under the seat. I used zipties thru slits cut in the carpet.