well guys, there was some debate after i got my speakers all wired into the stock head unit about which way i was going to go next. But instead of half-assin it, i went ahead and did a new head unit, ran new speaker wire for the doors and rear deck, and bought the sub i was looking at, and even ended buying a box from the shop, because i really didnt want to build one, and this one conveniently stuffed itself right up under the Don Rome Strut Tower Brace in the rear, so it doesnt even need any brackets to hold it in place ...

so i ended up going with a KenWood deck, because i wanted ipod controls, aux in, and the USB input for the ipod works with any kind of USB storage as well - more on that later

i got the Kenwood Excelon KDC794 ... for the price and controls there was nothing close to it that felt as easy and intuitive with this nice of a display ... she was about 175 or so, plus the peripheral enclosure thing to adapt it to a DD size opening, and the kit to make the Chimes/ONstar work without throwing codes ...

the speakers in the doors, are Hertz ESK165L, and the crossover is mounted in the dash, and the tweeters are up on the dash ( going to move them later, because they are WAY too bright ) and the speakers in the rear deck are Hertz ECK690 ...

i had originally only done the speakers off the stock amp and they sounded like absolute S&^$ ... missing so much midbass and way too high of treble so that was were the development took a turn towards wanting a new head unit to power and control them properly, and without the sub in the trunk, they sound ungodly clear, sure they miss some bass but they are not meant for that ...

well i also recycled an old amp/box from a friend and that kind of dictated what size sub and what power it was going to run at, because lets face it, if you can get something real cheap ( reallllly cheap :p ) ... and it still works, why buy something new ... so i reused his Polk C500.1 mono block that is now putting out approx 350watt rms at 4 ohm to my new Hertz - Es 300 12" subwoofer in a ported/ snake like enclosure that is about 1.3 cubic feet ... this part was tuned by the guy at the shop for a 6 pack ... because i have never had an amp and a sub, so i didnt know what to do, at first i was scared of the gain because i thought something was wrong ... because my mirrors were shaking a bit ... ( of course i gave it time to break in at a lower level, but you gotta do the initial thump test right ? )

well its almost all wrapped up now, gotta run some longer Rca's and a new remote wire down the passenger side kick panel along with new speaker wire for the rears.... because when i initially did all the wiring i was planning to run them through the center console, only to later realise how much of PITA it is to get the rear seats and carpet up, so its getting moved to the passenger side and just tucked in between the seat and arm rest in the rear ...

now for some pictures ... maybe a video later if anyone demands ... it doesnt beat up stuff hanging from my rear view like JAWS' system does, but then again ... he's pushing like 6-8 times the wattage in a giant box
but i wanted clarity, for less than $1000 and im just under that total with new longer rca's and more wire purchased the other day ... sure if i had bought a new amp it might be a little over but im happy with the end results


rears before putting package tray back in


from just outside the driver seat ... see the head unit and tweeters


like i said before, the wiring may all be in but i still need to clean some stuff up and even find a better home for the amp, because im sure she doesnt like being mounted there ... and i gotta find a better ground because with the gain past half i get some interior light dimming but the box really doesnt kill trunk space too bad, as i can fit a case of water on teh right side and a gym bag or suitcase in the back still


close up of the head unit, and yes that is a pocket knife in my car, thats my anti theft device ... in case they dont notice me behind the wheel ... shiny point things deter ... like that bum in downtown chicago that wouldnt quit touching my car ... stuck that out the sunroof and he got the message ...

 

and it may be the wrong section, but the UPS guy surprised me about half way through all the stereo complications with something else that was a PITA to get put in ...

see if you can spot that new shiny box under my hood ... and you can see the power wire for the amp up here too ... and if its worth mentioning, i didnt pick the location for the power on the amp box, the guy at the shop said that is where he usually puts them, but this was a random guy there and not my sales/ normal guy ... so it could be wrong/ bad or maybe it is just fine but i havent noticed anything wrong with the car since, no blown fuses or problems

the only thing bothering me so far is whenever i drive under some serious power lines it sounds like someone turns the volume in my car to like a 1/4 of what it is ... but my friend laughed at me when i asked about this because he said all stock or aftermarket stereos do this ... well shoot me in the foot for not noticing before ...


ahh i just noticed that you can see where i put the HID ballasts, as well as the front strut tower brace ... other than the exhaust, which im not getting under the car to take pictures of, that just about sums up the car ... oh wait ...

 

 

Nice... Kenwood HU are always nice. Have fun with it!!!


thanks for the quote about my system I appreciate it

 

Is your amp power wire going to the fuse box instead of the battery itself? I've never understood why people do that.

 

yeah it is, the guy who helped me install everything at the shop ( basically run the power wire through the firewall, was all he had to actually do for a 6pack ) said thats where he usually puts them, and i havent noticed any problems with it so far ...

but when i get to rewiring for finishing everything up ... hopefully this coming week ... i will see if i can move it to the battery without having to modify anything or get a longer cable ...

does it really make that big of a deal ?

 

That guy needs to learn how to install then! The only logical explanation for not wiring the power lead directly to the battery is if it's physically impossible, other than that it's pure laziness and ignorance.

Have you seen how tiny the wire is that runs from the battery to that fuse box, I believe it's somewhere around 12-14ga, so essentially he has your power wire (looks to be around 4ga) spliced into a 12-14ga wire for the final few inches to the battery. Knowing the cost difference between 12ga and 4ga wire, you essentially paid a premium price for your power wire for aesthetic reasons only. Your 4ga wire is only carring as much current as the stock wire can supply it, no more, no less. Might as well just run 12ga power lead to your amp.

Does any of that seem like a big deal to you yet?

I'm big on practicing doing things the right way so it becomes second nature, so even though there may never be an issue with it wired up this way due to the low power level of your system, it's just not the right way to do it and opens up too many opportunities for something bad to happen. What if, for the sake of argument, the current draw exceeds the current capacity of the tiny wire feeding the fuse box.....yup, that wire will melt. What if there were some type of surge, short or malfunction with your amp that sent a spike of voltage back up the power wire to the fuse box, I'd imagine some nasty things could happen there. Since your 4ga is only carrying what the 12ga can supply it (as far as current) your amp is seeing less power, the voltage is less stable and the amp is having to work harder to do it's job.

Any of this a big deal yet?

That guy would not touch my car cause he's clearly not very well versed in the do's and don'ts of car audio. I mean, this is basic stuff here and he's taking short cuts and basically bottlenecking the power supply to the amp just to save some time in the install. That's horrible! Please don't take any advice from this guy or let him touch your car again, he's a hack!!

 

alright man, couple of things ... i mentioned in the post you quoted, that in my attempt to finish all my wiring some time soon here that i was going to pull up some slack in the power wire and do my best to get it drawing from the battery rather than the fuse box lead ...

so your overly drawn out explanation/ borderline rant directed towards me asking numerous times "does this seem like a big deal yet" is horribly offensive, almost insulting ... now my assumption of your tone, hot and heavy as it may be, is exactly that, my assumption ...

Your preference for doing things the proper way, while understandable and agreeable necessitates the knowledge prior to initial attempts, which is exactly what this was. MY first car stereo installation, and while nothing has blown or melted yet, even my common sense was enough to tell me i needed to find a better ground for the amp, get a longer power wire, hard mount the amp in the car, and run my wires properly under the door/ kick panel and get them properly run prior to calling it "finished" ... which i havent yet

secondly, the wire coming from the battery to the fuse box is nearly identical in thickness to my power wire, now while the actual diameter of the copper inside of it may vary, i would not think its a far jump to say they are within 1-2 sizes of each other, so you saying that ive wasted money, or foolishly followed someones poor advice, is repetitive and redundant ... because in asking the question here ... seeking advice from other people, clearly ive demonstrated that i am not a leming, mindlessly following my initial presumption blindly through good recent advice ... which despite your apparent hostility, you make very logical and in my own research since starting, correct points about what can happen in current draw miscalculation or undersized power wires ... because as noted in the OP, i have been experiencing some dimming when the gain on the amp is pushed past 50%, obviously requiring further searching to learn what can be done rather than purchase a cap ... which ive found is like a band aid for an arterial wound ...

i appreciate your thoroughness, but a sentence or two adamantly suggesting that i pull some slack through the car and connect it to the battery, without the hostility would have been appreciated much more

or if you prefer the commonplace internet reaction, youre an assclown ... JK :p

 

Simmer down Jr., my hostility is aimed at the hack who calls himself an installer. I'm not very good at conveying my intent over this internet thing....which was to instigate strong feelings from you about the shortcut taken in this install while explaining why it was a problem for it to be done that way so that going forward you would not think it's ok to install the wire there and would not allow someone else to do so on any of your further builds and would have to knowledge to understand and explain why.

Yes, you did mention you were going to extend the wire to the battery but after that you asked if it was really a big deal so that's why I responded with my long, drawn out explanation. Sorry if it seemed I was patronizing you, if anything I was doing so to the dude who thinks it's a good idea to connect the amp power lead to the fuse box instead of directly to the battery a few inches away.

One of the reasons I go so deep into these things is cause #1 I'm very passionate about car audio, hence my name, DBS=Driven By Sound. #2 I always want to know "why", so I assume everybody else is like that too. I could have just told you what you should do but IMO that would be hollow and worthless as you wouldn't have the knowledge to back it up. Now you do!

Oh yeah, last time I checked, finished = done

 

blame it on the chicago speech ... done is in no way a reference to having something finished or completed ... done might as well mean started yet not wrapped up ... in between, progession, a continuation if you will

jr. i would suppose in actual age difference its entirely possible but i would love to have someone call me jr. to my face

and dont worry about the misdirected or incorrectly assumed intentions, if we had a discussion about art, making, appreciating, teaching ... i would go off like a rabid dog on everyone ...

but thanks again for the advice because now im a bit more enthused to get it "finished"