They dynamated the entire trunk/spare tire area, the metal area where the rear 6 1/2" speakers go, and the metal behind the door panels. I think it has made an improvement in noise reduction, especially in the rear, where every little rock/pebble seemed to ding against the underneath rear tire wells.

 

Yep. There are two trim pieces the Metra kit comes with. A single din w/ pocket on the bottom. And a double din trim ring. The double din trim ring is meant for two single din units, one on top of the other. Instead, i put one single din unit on top, and plexiglass on the bottom. If the plexiglass weren't there . . . you'd see a hole.

 

Can you achieve the flush look by using the single din w/pocket on the bottom?

 

Not in my opinion. The basic kit is the same. The only difference is which front trim piece you use. It looks better/more flush w/ the double din front trim piece in my opinion. The best way to know what I'm saying is have the Metra kit in your hands and to look at the two trim pieces for the kit. The next best way is to compare the various pictures posted on this web site . . . those with the pocket trim piece vs. those with the double din trim piece.

 

I remember reading a post a while ago about the fact that the speaker cover of the MID needs to be 'drilled out'. Something about half of the speaker cover is actually solid plastic. Perhaps if this is true it would help to "bring out" your mids.

 

Man I'm getting back to you kinda late. I thought about that too. So I listened with those grills completely off . . . like this :

 

I even took the speakers out . . . checked the polarity to ensure positive to positive and negative to negative. Then I took a C size battery and connected postive to positive and negative to negative to ensure the cone of the speaker pushes out when a DC battery is connected.

 

Ultimately the answer to the mids problem was to add these:

 

So when you said "Add" you didn't add a set of Focal componants did you? You took your Diamond audio's out of the door and put them in the custom kickpanel enclosure, right?

I have almost the same exact setup, diff. Alpine HU, and my problem is that the tweeters of the Diamond Audio are way to bright. I didn't have an opportunity to listen to the before purchasing but figured that the silk was supposed to help this problem. As a result of this brightness, I have to keep the treble control at -2 and loose some vocal strength.

To quote another poster, "The *** clowns that did the installation," didn't set the tweeters to the -2 dbl position like I asked them. I finally tore the doors apart last week to adjust the crossovers and that helped a lot!

 

Yeah, my silk Diamond tweeters are set at -2db too for the same reason. But to answer your question. Yes, I added the Focal 5" Polykevlars to the Diamond Hex 6" set. I'm running the two right channels in parallel with one another and the same with the left, such that my amp (JL 500/5) is seeing a 2ohm load in each the front right and front left channels. It sounds great.

 

I too have tried to achieve a quality sounding system while keeping the stock look. I installed the Alpine IVA-D900 7" Wide Screen HU with a custom face plate because I didn't like the open slot on the after market ones ( thought it looked cheap ). After taking the door panels off and seeing the available space and the way the stock speaker grilles were 50% solid plastic I decided on going to 5.25'' AVI's instead of 6.5's. I replaced the stock tweets with AVI's and with a minor mod I was able to keep the stock looking tweeter cover ! I haven't replaced the rear p.o.s. speakers yet but it's coming. The system sounds much better than stock as is but I still need more bass. The stock 8" isn't cutting the mustard. Also when I turn up the volume with the base cranked I'm getting some vibrations in the plastic by the drivers head because of the woofer being right behind the drivers seat. I'd like to add two 10" subs similar to yours under the strut tower. All I need now is the money.

 

MS,

Did they make the Focal enclosures for you? How much if you don't mind me asking?

I am getting a set of Focal 165KV2 6.5 componet set, but wished, someone made enclosures like that.

Also is you box fiberglassed?

I am looking for 6.5 or 5" enclosures.

Thanks for any help