Fist off, I would like to give a HUGE thank you to everyone on this forum - especially the "How To's". Without them, there is no way I would have attempted this install.

I wanted my car to look exactly like it did from the factory, but have some real sound quality. I don't want a car that I will go deaf in, and I don't want the neighbors windows to shatter as I drive by. I just wanted the audio to sound good with punch. The components I installed:

Alpine SPR-176A Type-R Components in the front
Pioneer TS-G1647 in the back (just for fill)
Infinity Perfect 10.1D Subwolfer
BossAudio R935 Riot 5 Channel Amp (cheap and powerful)
Hi to Line level converters

First I installed the Type R's in the front:

 

Then the soundproofing . . . Dynamat is for suckers with lots of money - this roll of the same chemical propertied material cost me $40 at home Depot. Its yellow instead of silver backed.

 

I put it o the doors . . . 80% coverage is all that is needed.

 

Now for the one two punch. Sound deadener closed cell foam, again, available at Home Depot for $25 for a HUGE roll.

 

Cut it to fit and then glued the parimeter with silicone. The tape is there just to hold it in place while everything dried.

 

The Pic:

 

Then I build my sub box. Nothing fancy. Its 16 x 11 x 8.5, sealed with silicone all around.

 

Here it is installed. It BARELY fit. In fact, had the Infinity's top part not been completely rubber, it would not have fit at all. I got a little lucky with this. I thought I had measured everything right and calculated it properly . . . oh well. It works.

 

Last is the Amp. The Boss fit perfectly in the glove compartment. I cut holes on each end to accomodate cables. I had to make sure all my levels and crossover settings were right, because this sucker is not coming back out of there.

 

Here it is with all the car trim back on. The system, even though it uses the stock head unit (base model) still sounds really good. Its about a 93% solution. An EQ would help, but I bought all this stuff for $600 US total. And it sounds as good if not a little better than my buddies $2000 system he had "professionally" installed. I could tell he was a little pissed when he heard mine . . .

Thanks again to all who provided the helpful "how to's"

 

Nice Job!! Ya want to do mine?

 

Not on your life. I was a broken man after this install. No circulation to your legs for 10+ hours doesn't make for a happy next day.

 

That is pure beauty and I'll bet it has a KILLER sound!!

 

Nice looking. How does it sound with the home depot parts?? compare to Dynamats.



Mark

 

How did you get the alpine's in the doors? I couldn't get them to fit without hitting the window's....

 

The car is pretty quiet. I put the sound foam in the trunk under the spare tire as well. The stereo sounds really good, and I hear a wee bit of road noise, but not like it was. With this setup, when my volume is at 7, I don't hear any more road.

The Home Depot "ultramat" started to peel off a bit - but I had to go back into the doors anyways to adjust my crossover. Seems like it needed to get softer / mushier from the sun before it really got sticky. I re-pressed it on there and it appears to be staying. (For these Alpines and stock head, -3 DB on the tweet is perfect).

If I were to do this again, I would cut the pieces I wanted, then let them sit out in the sun and get real soft before applying them.

I got the Alpine's to fit by modding the stock clarion speakers. I cut away all the center area so that I was left with just the speaker shell. Then I cut away the area that held the foam from the old cone (trim trim trim until the speaker fits into the shell). DONT CUT AWAY THE VERY OUTER LIP!

I popped out the old wiring harness. However, if you wanted to, you could wire your speaker to it in order to use the stock harness. In my case, I ran the speaker wire through this hole so that it was clean.

Next I drilled mounting screw holes in the very outer lip and attached the Alpines. Lastly, I got rubber tubing ( it was actually isometric tubing that is used for weight resistance) and made a ring. This creates a bit of space between the door and the speaker housing. The tubing compressed where I needed, and provided a nice seal.

 

HOLLY CRAP! What an effort. You must be very proud. Great inovation on the speaker customization! Are you certain you don't want to do mine? You've got it down now.

 

the stock speaker mod is actually the same thing i did with my diamonds. It worked really well. The problem was that with my alpines i hit the window. And if i spaced it out any more i hit the door panel.

I have since blown one of my diamonds though so i will try that as i have nothing else to lose...

Thanks for the help.

Q

 

That's what is nice about using the rubber tubing as the spacer. You can play with the spacing, and the tubing expands and contracts to the size, keeping the seal. I think the tubing ended up being about a 1/4" thick. But I don't plan on taking the doors off anytime soon to measure.

 

hea mr.graphics, have u experienced any overheating issues with the amp being placed in the glove box? i put mine in there and due to the tremendous heat generated during heavy use it would intermittenly cut out. i had to drill about fifty holes in the top of the glove box and then install two computer fans on each side of the box to push that heat up, out, and away from the amp.