Audio System Upgrade, the Gadget way

[Gadget01]

I purchased this car in April 2012. I replaced the head unit the day I bought it with an Alpine ida-x305sBT and ran the usb cable into the glove box where it reads from a 32GB iPod touch.

The door speakers will be replaced with a set of Focal K2 Power 165KRX2 components and an ARC Audio 10" sub will go into a custom fiberglassed enclosure in the rear cubby area. Powering these will be an ARC Audio KS 900.6 amplifier. Run at full power, it might strain the reserve capacity of the converter, but I only listen at loud volume levels once in a while. I might install an additional 12v battery to give it more reserve.

The amp needs a direct source of 12v power, the DC-DC converter. It makes no sense to tap the battery under the hood and run a power cable to the back as one would do in a conventional vehicle. The mission today was to locate the DC-DC converter 12v output and figure out a mounting location for the amplifier. Next will be to make a rack to mount the amp and crossover. It will be a few days until I make any more progress.

Your comments and questions are welcome.

[Mister]

Cool! Good luck
If you haven't seen it - check this out

[Gadget01]

Originally Posted by Mister

Cool! Good luck
If you haven't seen it - check this out

I did see that thread. I'm very skeptical about that approach. I'll post my comments about it there.

[Gadget01]

Started applying sound dampening material to the driver's door last night:

[WINGZERO619]

I just got my Insight this past weekend and upgraded the head unit and speakers as well. I actually removed all the interior parts except for the dashboard and doors and padded all areas with Frost King. Today, I finally finished up doing the doors and it was worth every hour I spent applying this stuff. Can't wait to see your finished project!

[93accordlxwhite]

Wow you're going to have a nice setup


Some personal experience if it helps:

@1 year no issues- running 120 watts to each of the 2 front speakers, 300w to the subwoofer (4ohms for all). I can't recall the fuse I used, but it was the suggested max amperage I found through searching this site.

No problems with anything, fuses/lights dimming/etc. (even though the fuse I used was lower amperage than the one suggested for the amp)

There's enough room to tuck the crossovers behind the carpet on the passenger side (as long as your passengers don't stomp their feet towards the front of the car), and on the left wall of the drivers side footwell (doesn't affect my clutch)

Couldn't tell any difference in the cars performance, charging, discharging, etc., but I hadn't owned it very long prior to the install.

Sprayed sound dampener on undercarriage, used MLV & CCF under carpeting. Probably wouldn't pull the seats and carpet if I hadn't been running wires for the amp (under passenger seat). Would do it all again except for pulling the carpet [(the added thickness makes it a nuisance to reinstall, plus the carpet must have been installed before the dash in the factory because I couldn't find a way to remove it (easily) without making a cut in front of the shift column (which can't be seen once reinstalled)]. That being said, if you're going to pull the carpet anyway I'd consider using OCF &/or MLV. Definitely not a luxury ride afterwards, but noises are lower pitched, and it doesn't sound as much like a tin can.

Can't tell a difference in SQ/SPL with the sub in the wheel well vs in the hatch area. It's not a SQ sub though and I'm not that picky. I leave it in the well out of sight.


Enjoy your build, happy listening.

[Gadget01]

Originally Posted by 93accordlxwhite

Wow you're going to have a nice setup


Some personal experience if it helps:

@1 year no issues- running 120 watts to each of the 2 front speakers, 300w to the subwoofer (4ohms for all). I can't recall the fuse I used, but it was the suggested max amperage I found through searching this site.

No problems with anything, fuses/lights dimming/etc. (even though the fuse I used was lower amperage than the one suggested for the amp)

There's enough room to tuck the crossovers behind the carpet on the passenger side (as long as your passengers don't stomp their feet towards the front of the car), and on the left wall of the drivers side footwell (doesn't affect my clutch)

Couldn't tell any difference in the cars performance, charging, discharging, etc., but I hadn't owned it very long prior to the install.

I appreciate your inputs. Glad to hear there are no power issues with your setup. I intend to install both an amperage and voltage gauge so I can monitor "watts" going on. For now, I'm applying sound deadening to the doors, the wall just behind the seats, and spare tire well. It's slow going since I'm working long hours. Hopefully, I can get a bunch done this weekend. I will apply some deadening to the floor and perhaps under the headliner/roof later on when time and $$ allow. I'm getting a good deal on AlphaDamp though a sale thread I found over at DIYMA. I've been driving around since last weekend with only one speaker playing and no door panel on the driver's side for a week and it's getting old already.

The factory speaker mounts don't work well for my new speakers, which are just slightly larger in diameter (6 3/4" vs 6.5") than the originals. I plan on making a thick spacer so I can mount them directly to the inner door panel, but the stock grill will remain intact for an oem appearance.

My fiberglass resin/fabric order from US Composites should arrive next week so I can get started with the sub enclosure soon after. I'm toying with the idea of mounting the amp under the battery/converter rack and the crossover and fuse block in the cubby area on the right, where the "shoebox sub" would normally go.

I wish I could just take a whole week off and knock this out, but oh well. Gadget lust is not a cheap affliction...

[Gadget01]

Made some progress on the driver's door today.

Finished laying down AlphaDamp deadener, ran speaker wire through the door jam, got the standoff measurement and bolt-hole pattern sorted for speaker mounting, and made connections to the speaker. Only took 7 hours...

[Blue-Civic-Hybrid]

Looks fantastic and hopefully it will sound just as good.

I do have a question about that Alpha Damp deadener that you installed, have you noticed a drastic reduction in road noise?

How difficult was it to install and you have any suggestions for some spray on sound deadening for the inside of the doors or rest of the car?

I recently installed some dynamat extreme (not dynamat but looks exactly like it) like substance in my doors and i did notice it helped with the exterior road noise. I didn't get the full door kit and I am wondering if I should have...

[jonnyvtec]

Would a ring of MDF be better to stiffen the door inner skin and spread the load rather than those localised points of each screw?