Anyone have the radio(10) and sound sys?

[bull8042]

Thanks bigcritter, that makes me feel much better. I am sure as well that someone says I made a dippy decision, but I just wanted something better than a crappy AM radio and a single round speaker in the center of the dash! hehehe Ahhh, the good ol' days.
May not sound like the 384W upgrade system w/subwoofer I got in my Durango, but you make me feel like it will be just fine.

[bucketboss]

I put 6 1/2" Infinitys in the doors and it was simple to install, cost only $100 for the pair, and made a huge difference in the stock radio's sound. The outer door panels are a breeze to remove if you can run a torx driver.

[bull8042]

Hmmm, I think I can handle that.

[halo36]

Here is what I did to mine, just to give you ideas. The AVICD3 is a good choice because it give you nav, dvd, ipod, and a host of customization and other connections for under $1000. I had a custom faceplate made because I did not want to wait for shipping on one. This one matches, but I can repaint it or wrap it to customize it more.



I really like the Alpine PDX amps. Sound quality is great, they are digital and generate little heat, and are really small so they fit under the seats. I have one that is 4x150 and one that is 1x600 RMS. I thought about adding more power for the sub, but after it broke in a little, I'm not sure it is necessary. Sound quality is great. The new JL digital amps would be another great choice when they are available.



I used C5 JL Audio 6.5" in the doors. As I mentioned, they only required a little bit of trimming on the door panel to fit. The door panels will still take the factory speakers back if I need to switch them back. I had the tweeters of this component set put in the factory tweeter location but I am considering moving them to the pillars. Any quality 6.5" should be a big improvement over the factory. I am not sure why a car audio place would tell you there isn't anything they can do for $600. You could easily get a small amp and decent speaker set installed for this price.



We installed the sub under the dash. I got that idea from this forum and highly recommend that option since there is cavernous space under there. Even with a JL 10W3 (a beefy sub), we lost no space in the car and can still easily get to the battery / fix a flat without removing anything.



We went one step further since we are using this as advertising and demo purposes. We used the second set of channels from the four channel amp and run a large pair of outdoor speakers off of them. We used this setup the other day at an event at a bar. We had more people standing outside by the car than inside the bar because they said the sound was better out there than inside. We got a kick out of that.



Realistically we could hook up any other home speakers to this setup due to the way we designed it. We can also easily disconnect the rear / outdoor speakers if we need the room.



Don't let anyone fool you. This is without a doubt one of the easiest cars to work on and upgrade. With removeable door panels that anyone can take off and a battery that is located inside the vehicle, wiring and access is super simple. Even the carpet is designed to come up with no effort. If you have the upgraded sound system, you can literally reach up under the dash and replace the tweeters without removng a single panel or part of the dash. If you are looking for an upgrade path, start with replacing the speakers and adding an amp. Next go for a sub and amp. Finally a head unit will ultimately clean up the sound quality and add a ton of features. You can do it in stages if you want and it shouldn't cost you any more overall than doing it all at once.

[NY Smartie]

Originally Posted by bull8042

I am just wondering what the radio (10) and sound system with the active sub really sounds like.
Will it make my little one bump and thump at the stop light like the teenie bobber in the hooptie-mobile you usually see?

I have it and I think it is great, and worth the purchase. it's the best in-car audio I have had, with the sole exception of the Bose system I had in my '01 Audi S4.

YMMV.

[bull8042]

WOW halo36! Awesome and informative post! Thanks.

[bucketboss]

Process:

Evilution site has these as well as photos.

1. remove several torx screws for mirror trim and remove.
2. remove 3 torx holding the mirror onto the door. Temp hang mirror up one screw hole to hold it out of the way.
3. remove 2 torx at the door handle
4. remove 1 torx (that holds the panel in place) under the mirror along with it's metal shoulder washer
5. The door skin slides forward and comes free from 3 clips in slots at about 3/4 the way up the panel.
6. pivot the skin down and now back taking great care of the small lip at the door handle section.

Now that the panel is off you can get to the speaker by gently pulling out the foam weather/sound guard.

Note how cheesy factory speakers are!

I unscrewed the speakers and used the Infinity adapters by first screwing the speakers to the adapters from the front of the speaker and then screwing the adapter to the factory studs all using the install kit that came with the speakers. I just cut the wires and soldered the leads to the new speakers but I suppose you could just crimp connectors on.

reinstall the foam and reverse the above steps taking care to get the rubber parts overlapping correctly. The tricky part is getting the front lip of the panel over the front of the door. Once past the front section, pull up on the panel, see that the clips are engaged and the panel is flush and slide back into position.

The first door took me about 25 min with some head scratching. The second took about 10-15.

[jefferios]

So if I buy the 6 1/2 speakers I can do it myself? COOL!

Hey what kinda depth do we have to work with with these door speakers?

[bucketboss]

The Infinitys had no depth problem at all. The window is actually cut out at the bottom to fit around the speakers. Probably 3" although I no not recall exactly the dims.

Dave

[bucketboss]

Here is my radio/scangauge install. I made a plate to hold the scangauge and used a single DIN radio with a bezel from the UK. The space to the right of the scangauge is for an additional 12v socket.

Dave