The Project Pad

I need 50 1.2!

So it's been over two years since I made the purchase of what is in my opinion, the best car I have ever owned. I've also been dealing with a TERRIBLE stereo system in it because I was more concerned with go fast treats. When I picked up the car, I almost immediately pulled out the stock head unit in place of something more modern capable of iPhone integration, Bluetooth calling/streaming and MP3 support. I picked up a JVC Arsenal KD-A815. It wasn't chrome flashy and cheap looking and also offered infinitely variable color choices so I could match the red/amber interior lighting of the 200 to make it look less out of place.

Ever since the install of the JVC unit coupled with the factory Bose system I've basically hated it. Not the functioning of the unit (it works perfectly) but the sound quality, popping, alternator whine, hissing and the list goes on. I am not even sure how I have dealt with it for this long. Maybe because it's not my daily driver and I pretty much only get in the 200 to go out putting a hurting on unsuspecting victims, lol. Either way, I woke up last Friday and said "I'm doing something about the stereo in the 200 today." So on to it I went.

I've had sitting in my room a set of Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 component speakers from one of my previous vehicles from at least five years ago. I was trying to keep this system as low budget as possible and couldn't let these beautiful speakers go to waste. I knew that fitting them in the doors would be quite a challenge considering that they are 6.5" and are very deep for a door speaker. I pulled off a door panel and started looking at my options and they only option was having the speaker mounted on the outside of the panel. I wan't too keen on the idea of cutting a 6" hole in the door panel but it was my only option without dropping down to a 5.25". Here's the start of the process:



That plastic ring only holds the speaker grill in place. We used those wood screws only to hold the ring in place while cutting the panel. The speaker gets mounted through four m4 screw/bolts via a steel ring on the back of the panel that creates a sandwich with the speaker, grill ring and door panel. It mounts very secure (has to for the weight of these things).

Here's a pic of the speaker mounted:



Back side:



Grill in place:



Luckily my car was a Bose car because it gave plenty of room for the speaker depth but also for the crossovers (yours truly doing the wiring):





I mounted the tweeters in the corner trim piece near where the mirrors mount:



And all back together:



I don't have any photos of the amp install but it's mounted in the truck to the bottom of the rear deck (not sure what it's called). It's a four channel amp and just something my friend had laying around (cant remember specifics/specs). Ran all new wire from each door, through the loom and to the trunk.

So, I get in the car to test it out and it sounds great until....I start the engine!!!! FML, the alternator whine is still there despite all of the new wiring which ditched every bit of the factory nonsense. Some of you have probably seen my thread about the alternator noise issues. Either way, after hours of troubleshooting I was frustrated and slept on it. Woke up today and went to a car audio store (specifically car audio) and it's actually where I bought my head unit. I asked the guy for help. He said nine times out of ten this is caused by the RCA cables. They don't even have to be bad however there are several things that can induce noise through them. Differences in length, resistance and shielding can contribute to noise issues. The ones I originally used were two different lengths, brands, material, condition, age and quality. He went into the store and brought out an awesome looking four channel specific cable which also had a separate wire hanging off of it to ground the shield. We hooked it up running outside the car and the noise had vanished. I questioned that maybe running outside the car kept it far enough away from the noisy devices and after it was installed if it would be back. He said it was very unlikly but if that were the case he'd gladly refund my money.

Went home, installed the wires and the noise is gone! WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry the long post :(

Random pic for fun:

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