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Been awhile since I posted. This is not an install to a Z, since I don't have one anymore, but I expect the information may be useful to others interested in doing their own. Many of the techniques are general and can be used on just about any car.
The goal: Replace the factory, 6 speaker system in a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport with the following:
*Kenwood DNX573S Double DIN Navi unit w/ steering wheel controls adapter, USB connection adapter and Sirius/XM module
*Alpine PDR-V75 5 channel amp
*Boston Acoustics Z6 speakers and crossovers (front doors)
*Infinity REF 6522ix coax speakers (rear doors)
*Boston Acoustics 10" sub in a 1 cubic ft sealed enclosure
*Clarion CC520 Backup Camera
I just finished installing the main power cable but don't have all the pics I want so will update tomorrow with those and whatever else I get accomplished.
The Santa Fe has this Styrofoam storage area that lifts out after removing the hatch mat and folding floor board. I'll be putting the amp in the square section on the left and the crossovers in the rectangular section on the right. I'll cut some 1/2" MDF to size and screw in the pieces. Those will act as the mounting surfaces.
I picked up this nice JL Audio wiring kit. Not cheap but high quality. 20' of red and 3' of black oxygen free copper, not the copper clad crap. Also includes 25' of speaker wire, remote turn on lead, fuse block, fuse, some zip ties and a screw for the ground wire.
To get the power cable from the battery through the firewall, I made a small hole in the seal / grommet where the main electrical bundle comes through. Fastened the cable to a Pro.Fit Wire Worm (Crutchfield) and pulled it through into the engine bay.
Then ran it around the perimeter to the battery.
Next, I pulled the cable over the top of the various mechanicals and harnesses on the driver's side, behind the driver's side and door sill trim panels and then under the pillar trim, using the Wire Worm again, and then just tucked it under the rear seats area trim panels to where the storage piece sits.
Then I cut some holes in the front side of the storage piece and ran the wires to where the amp will be mounted. For the ground wire, I used a small wire brush / cup in a drill to take a small patch of paint off, drilled a pilot hole and used the screw provided with the kit. This last pic, you can tell I've installed the MDF mounting surfaces and touched them up with some black spray paint.
Tomorrow: Run the RCA cables, speaker wires, install the backup camera and run its wires.
Oh yeah, that brings back memories of sliced fingers and lots of swearing.
It looks like you have a perfect place for the amp, and you absolutely went with the right kind of wiring for the power cable. JL Audio wires are unbelievably good.
Oh yeah, that brings back memories of sliced fingers and lots of swearing.
It looks like you have a perfect place for the amp, and you absolutely went with the right kind of wiring for the power cable. JL Audio wires are unbelievably good.
Gee, I'm inspired. I might one day take out the in-dash 8-track in my S30 and UPGRADE to.... < wait for it > an AM/FM CASSETTE PLAYER! Romance/seduction mix tapes FTW!! (Not that they ever worked for me back then.... sniff sniff.)
DO NOT remove the 8-track. That would be a sacrilege.
Hahahahahaha..... actually that was a bending of the truth I just recalled. The car HAS a late-70s vintage AM/FM cassette player in it now. And it actually works... sort of.
I just bought a Retrosound (vintage looking radio) digital media player that's going into the 240Z after I do the carpeting, interior panels and install the new seats. If that works out, I'll also put one into the roadster which now has a "semi-modern" head unit and a monster amp in the trunk. Totally wrong for my just-turned-50 year old car!! Goin' back to a vintage look more befitting.
I didn't see the fuse block... where is it? It should be as close to the battery as possible. Fuses protect wires (not components) from passing too much current and catching fire. A buddy of mine many years ago almost burned his truck to the ground due to lack of proper fusing
I didn't see the fuse block... where is it? It should be as close to the battery as possible. Fuses protect wires (not components) from passing too much current and catching fire. A buddy of mine many years ago almost burned his truck to the ground due to lack of proper fusing
Good point. Fuse block going in soon, will be mounting it as close to the battery as possible.
Decided to mount the crossovers under the seats so that I don't have to run two sets of wires for each door all the way from the back.
Made decent progress since last post, backup cam and rear speakers installed, RCA cables all in and left side front cross over installed. Pics going up tomorrow after I finish putting in the front door speakers.
Backup cam installed. Wires run to the front along the passenger side. Will be hooking it up next weekend.
Rear door speaker
Ran the speaker wire around the connector (through a grommet) and then through the rubber boot between the door and the body.
Crossover for the left under driver's seat. Used Velcro to fasten. Factory cuts in the carpet made this fairly easy work.
Fuse block mounted to side of engine bay. Could have mounted it lower but then realized being up higher will make it easier to access. The cable will normally be tucked / zip tied in. Fuse not installed in this pic.
Slow but steady progress. Tried to get the Steering Wheel Control interface programmed but could not. Will contact Support tomorrow.
To get the front speaker wires into the doors, I had to remove the doors so I could drill holes near the harness connectors. Realized after doing driver's side I should have drilled under the connector so as to hide things more but this will work.
While your at it you should upgrade the ground. Ive seen lots of Hyundai cars not start simply because the ground was crap. All I did was remove scuff the paint and reinstall and the car starts fine.
More progress today with the front speaker wires run into the doors and the mid-bass drivers installed.
First thing was to cut the factory mid-bass driver basket from the mounting part which left me with a nice mounting surface that already fits the factory holes.
It has foam on the speaker side but not the other so I ran some weatherstripping around the back of the hole to dampen vibration.
Then I noticed the speaker has a slightly smaller diameter then factory so I added weatherstripping to the back of the mounting surface.
Made sure the speaker wires don't impeded the window path, connected to the speaker terminals and fastened the speaker.
Now for the tweeter.
Here's the factory housing, front and back.
In the past, on other cars, I was able to ream out the driver and just mount the new tweeter but not so much with this one.
I considered cutting a hole in the housing and gluing in this surface mount but then thought it would ruin the housing and look less clean.
So, I pulled off the grille, snipped off the dome face guard, ran a bead of Goop around the edge of the tweeter housing and laid it right on top of where the old tweeter mated with the housing surface. Perfect fit.
While your at it you should upgrade the ground. Ive seen lots of Hyundai cars not start simply because the ground was crap. All I did was remove scuff the paint and reinstall and the car starts fine.
That's pretty much what I did. I used a small wire wheel on a drill to remove paint and grounded the amp there.
That's pretty much what I did. I used a small wire wheel on a drill to remove paint and grounded the amp there.
I was talking about the cars main grounds right from the battery, hopefully they did a better job on the 2016 model but in years past ive ran into more than one car that the main ground that connects to the chassis loses its connection with the battery.
Your new stereo is an impressive undertaking, I dont think I would want to dig into a car that new.
Microphone installed today.
The factory one pops out of the headliner with a little prying, then removed the element from the housing.
Notched the forward end of the housing and used a Goop to hold the new one in place.
Ran the cable over the headliner, down the forward pillar and under the dash.
Head unit installed. Not all that happy with the miss on the color match of the dash kit.
I expect I'll take the stock radio and the kit into a body shop and see if they can match and paint.
Backup camera works but the grid it generates is not adjustable while the one from the head unit is. I have to trace back and find the wire loops that have to be cut to disable the grid from the camera.
Will switch my Sirius subscription over to the new head unit tonight.
Tomorrow, connect power to the amp, connect the speaker wires, test the USB and Aux inputs, the phone mic audio quality and the Sirius.
After that, figure out a sub-woofer solution.
I could not get the steering wheel control interface to work. Support helped me understand the connections and everything looked right with the wiring but the unit won't program. Will return and keep checking for 2016 compatibility.
Went to a local shop, got a different brand of steering wheel control interface and it works great. The only difference from factory is I have to switch the mode to Bluetooth before using voice command to dial.
Ordered the Scoshe dash kit, hoping it has a better color match. Will know on Friday.
Decided to pull the Styrofoam organizer out and use the space for mounting the amp, the crossovers and installing a sub woofer box. Pics to follow.
Took apart the original enclosure, cut down two sides so that all sides were equal height and confirmed it fits after cutting out the bottom of the Styrofoam organizer. Before, the top was nestled between two of the side pieces.
Bought a piece of 1/2" MDF at Home Depot. This will replace the folding fake floor and act as the new face plate for the sub enclosure.
I used foam type weather stripping along the edge of the trim panel to prevent excessive vibration noise.
While 3/4" MDF would be best, I won't be driving this all that hard.
Then I measured and marked where the enclosure needed to be attached and first used wood glue to fasten the top, then added screws after cutting the hole for the driver.
Then, drove over to PepBoys for a 6' x 9' piece of cheap black carpeting.
Cut it using the factory piece as a pattern, glued to the top, cut the hole for the driver, hooked up the wires and mounted it with wood screws.
At some point, gravity should take care of the creases. Already ordered a raised bar type protective grille, should get it this weekend.
Last part is to get the posts that held the fake floor in place just right. They also act as hinges. My first try came out so-so. Should have it perfected tomorrow, then re-install the amp and reconnect.
Looking good. I would have counter sunk the sub so with the grill on it would be flush with the false floor. That way you could slide items you want to carry in the back right over it with no worries. Such a design would require a flat grill like THIS. The surround on the sub appears to sit pretty high so you would need a decent drop to get it level with the final floor height.
11-22-2017, 09:27 PM
New Audio Build
