Audio Install (3 amps, Changer, HU, Matrix, Comps, Subs, PacSWIX, Optima, Sirius)

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by Griffey

Now that's a write up! Nice job Sammy.

I still have a questions though,Is the room behind a crewcab seat and a kingcab the same?And do your amps rub on the seat material at all or is their air space?

From what I've read, no they aren't the same. There is less room behind the KC rear seats. My amps do not touch the seats. The only clearance issue was the center seat belt, and it just barely touches.

[bestatchess]

Public Service Announcement:

At some point in time a power rear window became available, which may have an impact on mounting amps on the rear cab wall in vehicles so equipped.

[titanse05]

Originally Posted by bestatchess

Public Service Announcement:

At some point in time a power rear window became available, which may have an impact on mounting amps on the rear cab wall in vehicles so equipped.

You are absolutely correct....05-06 CC have the power rear window and that takes up any space that was previously available in the 04 CC. I put my amps/cap under the seat and my 12" on the hump(floor).

[grunge311]

Originally Posted by Griffey

Now that's a write up! Nice job Sammy.

I still have a questions though,Is the room behind a crewcab seat and a kingcab the same?And do your amps rub on the seat material at all or is their air space?

The KC has about 1/2" between the rear wall and the seat posts, the CC has over 4". You can still mount amps back there on the KC (I have 3 amps on my rear wall) you just have to make sure that they don't extend past the seat legs.

In the KC when the seat is folded up there is a good 1 7/8" of space before teh amps touch. when they are folded down there is over 2 1/4"

[ecbmxer]

I have a KC also. Yea, my amp barely touches the seat. So far even with the volume up loud and driving for over an hour, it doesn't even get hot to the touch. If I was going a long distance and was going to have the stereo up loud I could always fold the seat down. The main problem is just the screws and bolts in the wall. You have to grind them down a bit if you have a thick amp like my DLS A5. I really wish I had a crewcab. That is the biggest regret I have in my Titan purchase. I still need to put a piece of thin board behind the amp so it is more permenently attached. It is just wedged in there right now. Where have other people put their sat radio tuners? Did you think about putting it on the rear wall sammy? Seems like it would make for an easy antennae routing. Do you get any heat issues behind your cc seat with all those amps?

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by ecbmxer

Where have other people put their sat radio tuners? Did you think about putting it on the rear wall sammy? Seems like it would make for an easy antennae routing.

Putting it on the rear wall would have been much harder. Since it's daisy chained to the changer, wiring it up front was much easier. Plus the antenna wire is much longer than the JVC J-link wires. I also had very little room left on the rear wall after 3 amps, crossovers, and fuse distro block. If you read the whole section on my Sirius install, you'll see that I moved it to under the driver's seat after it kept over-heating.

Do you get any heat issues behind your cc seat with all those amps?

Nope, there's still plenty of clearance for air circulation.

[Blue_Water_Rush]

Hey Sammy,

kudos for a magnificent job putting this post together as well as the install you performed. I too have the RF system, and since installing my portable dvd player and sending the audio to the aux. port (instead of using headphone out, I first used the optical digital audio out from the dvd player) I have definitely damaged something in the HU, or have damaged the additional sub system I recently installed. The highs still sound clear, though the output is less, but the bass sounds absolutely terrible (excessive output and real muddy with way less crispness & punch) I have to attenuate to -2 if I'm playing at volumes above 15. I think this spring I'm going to upgrade to a new mp3 HU, 4 channel amp (100w x 4) & new speakers. I will try to re-use my JL sub system as well. I need to see an audio expert to determine that sub system is not damaged before considering re-using it. Hopefully its just the HU circuitry (which endorses my decision to ditch it.) I'm also considering MB Quart components up front (60 to 130 watt rms) and 2 ways in the back (100 watts rms).

I like the exad HU you have. It has all the features I'm looking for (especially the color matched display) and I like the touch screen feature, but I also like the panasonic CQ-C9801 as it also has 3 sets of 5 volt pre-outs, and a great interface for the mp3 files. It also has 2 aux. imputs, and is HD & SAT radio ready. The only thing is it doesn't offer cusomization of the dot matrix display like the 8901, but it does have the spectrum analyzer which I like alot. I think I'm leaning toward the 8901 because it has an SQ rating of 9, and a s/n ratio of 106db (impressive) Also, the power is 50w peak per channel for the 9801, where the 8901 is 70w peak (really doesn't matter as I'm running amps anyway, but question? could I use the front speaker leads from the HU to power the center speaker in the dash, regardless of running the front pre-outs for front components? If so, can you concievably bridge the left & right leads to one speaker?

I intend on doing just about everything you did, except my sub amp is already mounted as part of the sub box, and with the KC lacking in space behind rear seats I'll just mount the 4 channel amp under the passenger seat. I'm still debating on getting the optional SAT tuner. I also like the knuconcepts wires, blocks & battery terminals. I have a couple more questions, and would appreciate your advice and guidance:

1. with 5 volt pre-outs, is it neccessary to use a line driver?

2. I'll have a total of approx. 650 watts. would a 4 ga. power wire to dist. block and 8 ga. power wires from there to amps suffice, and will the stock battery handle that? Of course if I upgrade the subs later I might be over 1400 watts at that point, so the 0 ga. to 4 ga. might be needed then.

3. I'm still unclear as to how the pac swi-x works. Is the wiring from the steering wheel controls tied into the swix as well as the plug leading into the HU? How does it actually transmit the commands?

4. When matting the doors, how do you do the inside wall, as it is almost impossible to get to? I can also see a problem with the KC in running speaker wires to the rear doors, as there is no rubber boot, just a vinyl sleeve, and its packed tight with wires.

3. I will probably have more questions as I start planning this thing concretely. Thanks for any advice you can provide, and I can see you're quite experienced here.

Thanks, BWR

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by Blue_Water_Rush

could I use the front speaker leads from the HU to power the center speaker in the dash, regardless of running the front pre-outs for front components? If so, can you concievably bridge the left & right leads to one speaker?

I wouldn't do it. Most amps that are bridgeable are advertised as such, and ones that aren't, usually warn against this. Your HU, unless specified, is probably not bridgeable.

1. with 5 volt pre-outs, is it neccessary to use a line driver?

No, but I did anyways.

2. I'll have a total of approx. 650 watts. would a 4 ga. power wire to dist. block and 8 ga. power wires from there to amps suffice, and will the stock battery handle that? Of course if I upgrade the subs later I might be over 1400 watts at that point, so the 0 ga. to 4 ga. might be needed then.

Check this tool for wire size calculations: http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/sys...nassistant.swf

3. I'm still unclear as to how the pac swi-x works. Is the wiring from the steering wheel controls tied into the swix as well as the plug leading into the HU? How does it actually transmit the commands?

Magic.... No, it learns the IR signal commands from your aftermarket HU remote control, then emits them according to whatever steering wheel control buton you programmed in.

4. When matting the doors, how do you do the inside wall, as it is almost impossible to get to?

This is where forced child labor comes in handy, because their tiny little arms fit up in there. No, you just have to deal with the scrapes and awkward positions and get it in there. It really wasn't that difficult.

I can also see a problem with the KC in running speaker wires to the rear doors, as there is no rubber boot, just a vinyl sleeve, and its packed tight with wires.

That I can't really answer. Possibly just run it on the outside of this sleeve and tape it to it with electrical tape. Or remove the vinyl sleeve all together, tape your wire to the bundle, then cover with split loom and more tape.

[smoketitan]

man now thats A SERIOUS WRITE UP!!!

now onder you and bestatchess are moderators WHOA very impressive man!!!!!!

[ecbmxer]

You can also check out some of the new PAC products. They have alot of steering wheel adapter kits now that use the wired remote input on the HU. I'm pretty sure they released something for JVC, they did for all the other brands. Depending on how much power your running to the rear speakers, I would just use the stock wiring, thats what I did. I'm just running the rears off HU power anyway. I wish I would have matted the inside of the front doors more, but I was afraid of the window hitting it because of not being able to stick it on all the way. I would reccomend taking off the plastic stuff on the door before matting though. I didn't, but I think it would have helped deaden better if I did.

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by ecbmxer

You can also check out some of the new PAC products. They have alot of steering wheel adapter kits now that use the wired remote input on the HU. I'm pretty sure they released something for JVC, they did for all the other brands.

They do now. Unfortunately it came out after I had already installed the SWI-X and made the hole for the IR LED. I'd much rather have it hardwired, because in direct sunlight the SWI-X doesn't work.

[smoketitan]

Originally Posted by ecbmxer

You can also check out some of the new PAC products. They have alot of steering wheel adapter kits now that use the wired remote input on the HU. I'm pretty sure they released something for JVC, they did for all the other brands. Depending on how much power your running to the rear speakers, I would just use the stock wiring, thats what I did. I'm just running the rears off HU power anyway. I wish I would have matted the inside of the front doors more, but I was afraid of the window hitting it because of not being able to stick it on all the way. I would reccomend taking off the plastic stuff on the door before matting though. I didn't, but I think it would have helped deaden better if I did.

wait you placed you mat on top of the stock plastic?? that makes it useless. the mat needs to couple to the metal to be of any use, and yeah the inside of the door makes more of a difference in our doors since the metal is so thin


AWESOME write up, every time I read it, im even more impressed that you spent all that time putting it together!!

[adavis99]

Okay, I'm gonna go a different route with my reply...

F**K you. There is no way my install can ever compare to this quality. Now, I'm not pissed if people spend more money on stuff...but the attention to detail on this is total bullsh*t. What gives you the right? Just want to rub this in my face huh?

Just kidding man. That is an awesome install and will no doubt be very helpful when I finally get around to doing my install.

[glowinstrat]

sweet install that what kind i want to do

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by adavis99

Okay, I'm gonna go a different route with my reply...

F**K you. There is no way my install can ever compare to this quality. Now, I'm not pissed if people spend more money on stuff...but the attention to detail on this is total bullsh*t. What gives you the right? Just want to rub this in my face huh?

Just kidding man. That is an awesome install and will no doubt be very helpful when I finally get around to doing my install.

I'm not sure if I should be insulted or proud....