Stereo Install

[LeeHuff]

Thought I would share a few photos of my new stereo. I purchased everything off eBay except the Sub and Sub amp (Already had from an old car) did the install myself over a few days. Sorry, I do not have any pictures of the install in progress just the finished product. I did most of it after work in the dark with a flash light. I did spend one Saturday building the Sub Box, I may rebuild it to allow for the 4 channel amp to be mounted on the side of the box because I am not too happy about where it is now. If I put it on the side I think it will make for a better install with the wires hidden. The Sub amp is mounted on the back of the box.

Products Installed:
-Pioneer Avic-F900BT headunit
-PAC SWI-PS (Steering Wheel Interface)
-JL Audio G4500 4 Channel Amp (door & rear speakers)
-JL Audio Mono 250W Amp (Sub)
-JL Audio Dual Amp Wire Kit
-JL 12WO Sub (Custom Box)
-Kenwood KFC X682C 6x8" (rear)
-Kenwood KFC C6882ie 6x8" (doors)

[Fourth Horseman]

Looks great! Did you have to trim the opening in the dash at all to get the head unit to fit?

[Vortech347]

That looks pretty damn good! How does the interface work? yay, nay?

our cars should of came with this from the factory.

[LeeHuff]

Looks great! Did you have to trim the opening in the dash at all to get the head unit to fit?

Yes, you do have to trim the dash on the top and bottom to get the unit to fit. I also cut out some of the plastic inside the dash to get all the wires to easily slide down out of the way. I used an install kit that I got from John Kuhn(thanks!). Installing the head unit was probably the most time consuming part of the project.

[LeeHuff]

That looks pretty damn good! How does the interface work? yay, nay?

our cars should of came with this from the factory.

The interface is one of the better things that I like about the Pioneer Avic units. Before I bought this one I played around with a few of the Kenwood units and they worked well, but I just hated the way they looked. It was like a 12 year old did all the design work and the resolution was just horible. The Pioneer dose take some time to start up even with the new update, but once up and running it works great. The bluetooth is my faforite feature and it works well too. There are a few hacks that can be done to modify a few things, but I have not ventured into that area yet. Alot of info can be found on Avic411.com about the Pioneer units.

[ctrlraven]

Nice clean install.

[JohnPPD]

Looks great. Can you elaborate on the "trimming the upper and lower dash or lip". I've heard this about double dins but have never seen pics. Are we talking about something that can't normally be seen behind the factory radio, or a butchering of the visible dash?

[Peace2Peep]

That's all great and junk but can I hear about the Porsche and Lotus(?) in the garage!???

[J-NYC]

Nice install.... What happened to the Johns Stereo section?

[larryo340]

Nice install.... What happened to the Johns Stereo section?

He decided to not be a vender here anymore :(

[Damien2003]

I love ur install. I was going 2 do the samething because i need the space. I was waiting 4 some 1 to do this with the full size spare in. Yea put the amp on the side or in the back. I have a 1000 watt amp and 2 10s and 420 watts 4 the front and rear. My amps r tied 2 the rear seat. One question 4 u, does ur bass interfer with the sound of ur rear speaker ?

[LeeHuff]

Looks great. Can you elaborate on the "trimming the upper and lower dash or lip". I've heard this about double dins but have never seen pics. Are we talking about something that can't normally be seen behind the factory radio, or a butchering of the visible dash?

There is a lip behind the face of the factory radio that helps stabilize the factory head unit. You only need to trim the top and bottom to install an aftermarket head unit, do not trim the sides as this is what the install unit uses to hold the new radio in. You can put your factory head unit back in without seeing what was trimmed. The reason I know this is because I put mine back in due to running out of time one evening. The only draw back is the factory radio will be a little loose in the dash. It only can move maybe an 1/8" up and down by pushing on it, but remained in place and did not rattle with normal driving. I hope that answered your question.

[LeeHuff]

That's all great and junk but can I hear about the Porsche and Lotus(?) in the garage!???

The Porsche and Lotus(Fiero) are my roommates cars. The Porsche is a 90 911 Carrera 2 that he got last year after totaling his XJ8 Jaguar at 120mph (lucky to be alive). I will have to ask him if I can get his pics of the carnage. The Fiero is what I like to call a "free car", his grandfather gave it to him. He uses it as his rainy day car and to keep the miles of the Porsche. He comes from a family of car lovers... his father has a 72 Pantera, Two XJ8's, 01 Corvet, and two Fiero's.

[LeeHuff]

I love ur install. I was going 2 do the samething because i need the space. I was waiting 4 some 1 to do this with the full size spare in. Yea put the amp on the side or in the back. I have a 1000 watt amp and 2 10s and 420 watts 4 the front and rear. My amps r tied 2 the rear seat. One question 4 u, does ur bass interfer with the sound of ur rear speaker ?

I attached a pdf plan (I am a CAD Tech by trade, use at your own risk requires modifications of the top back left corner to clear the dash speaker and trunk torsion bars) of the speaker box that I built to fit the 12" Sub in that place. I do know that you can fit a 10" Sub there without building a too difficult box. Seeing how I already had the 12" I wanted to see if I could get it in there. Once I covered the box with carpet it fits quite snugly and I did not have to do anything to tie it down so it will not move. The amp I have pushing the Sub is not all that strong so the bass dose not interfere with the rear speakers. It just took a few days of playing with the levels to get everything to my liking. I was afraid of having to deal with vibrations from the sub, but these cars are built so well that there were virtually no vibrations. The sun glass holder vibrated just a little, but I fixed that with a little bit of the fuzzy side of some Velcro.

[JohnPPD]

I hope that answered your question.
Yes, it does. Thank you. Thanks for the avic411 tip as well. So you definitely like the Pioneer over the Kenwoods, like say the DNX-8120? I'm definitely getting one of these two units. My knowledge of these units is based mainly on youtube videos though, no hands on, or ears on knowledge.

[cougar9150]

Look great. I'm getting ready to do mine soon also. Where did you decide to drill the hole to pass your amp power wiring through?

I'm not using such a fancy head unit as I have my old Kenwood EZ-500.

I will have the following in my car:
-Kenwood EZ-500 Head Unit (has a bunch of great features for amplified systems)
-Boston acoustic NX-87s (installed with stock) or MB Quart D CD-157s (from my Cougar) not sure which set yet.
-JL Audio 300/4 for the Mids and Highs
-JL Audio 500/1 for the Bass
-Kicker TS10L5 sub box with a L5 10" sub
-Second Skin Spectrum coating in the trunk and on the rear deck
-0AWG Power Cabling

The box is made for a truck but my wife bought it and got a good deal on it. She basically paid the same price as what the sub would cost alone. I'm installing the whole box for now so I don't upset her but want to do something custom in the future. I'll probably hit up Magindat or try my hand at it when I'm ready.

I'm building a custom Amp rack to go where my spare tire is for practice.

[MidnightStalker]

Do you still have your head unit? and are you willing to let it go for a reasonable price? Let me know, Ive only got a tape player :(

and does anyone know if it will work in my 96 Grand Marquis? I cant imagine why it wouldn't...

[MM03MOK]

Lowell, while we appreciate your interest in becoming a vendor at MM.Net, John Kuhn has renewed his vendorship and will remain our audio guru. John's forum has a new name....Pops Stereo, found in the Vendor Forum section.

[LeeHuff]

Where did you decide to drill the hole to pass your amp power wiring through?

On the passenger side of the firewall there is a main harness that travels through a large factory grommet (hard to see from the engine bay, it is under all the A/C Heater stuff). All I did was make a small hole in the side of the grommet to allow for the amp power wire to go through then ran the wire under the carpet to the trunk. Obviously be careful to not damage the factory wires. The grommet is made out of tough rubber and is a pain to cut, just take your time and be patient and it should work out for ya.

[LeeHuff]

Do you still have your head unit? and are you willing to let it go for a reasonable price?

Yes, I do still have it but I am going to keep it encase I ever deiced to sell my MM. Which I hope never happens. Check eBay out, I see them on there from time to time or post a thread in the parts wanted section. I'm sure someone on here has one laying around.

[cougar9150]

Thanks I was thinking I was was going to have to bust out a Unibit. :beer: I just wasn't sure where a good place was to install a firewall grommet would be. I've been trying to find a spot where I was sure I wouldn't puncture anything.

[magindat]

Your box is too long and doesn't sit flush with the trunk wall.

I hope your amp board is not screwed tot he back wall or you have a hole in your gas tank.

Wiring is clean. Dash looks good.

Your entire trunk is basically non-functional with the amp in that location waiting to get scratched by stuff rolling around. It should have gone on the side of the box behind the hinge.

Not being mean - offering experience. It is what it is.

[sanco]

nice job man, clean and simple install

[xenogenesis]

Does anyone have any suggestions on making a pass through for my JL W13 that is placed on the bottom of the trunk? The rear deck is a metal plate that has a cut-through for the OEM sub, so the only options are cutting the metal rear deck or cutting a pass-through where the rear arm rest is. Right now I only have the opening from the OEM sub, but that's not enough space to let the bass waves permeate the driver's cabin. Suggestions?

[GreekGod]

I have two 12" JL subs in a sealed JL box in my trunk, along with a JL 500 watt sub-amp. the bass is powerful, and I have no passage from the trunk to the cabin..

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[-Matt-]

IMO i hate pioneers nav system. Their interface is very slow as well. Kenwoods may not look as nice interface wise but they are way quicker and hold rights to Garmin's Nav interface

[2,4shofast]

IMO i hate pioneers nav system. Their interface is very slow as well. Kenwoods may not look as nice interface wise but they are way quicker and hold rights to Garmin's Nav interface

Kenwoods would be much better if they didnt take 2 minutes to start up every time, other than that they have some pretty awesome options.

[Pops]

If you sat the Pioneer next to the Kenwood and checked in real time they are faster than Kenwood. Starting with the 910 series. The new 920 are being shipped now.

[TAKEDOWN]

NIce... bringin' the B00M to those ear drums!

[Emoney81]

The install looks good. I've been trying to do an stereo install myself with a double din radio, but I trimmed the side tabs in error. Anyone have any ideas on how I could correct it with out having to find a new dash?