# 2015 Kia Soul SQ Build



## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

When my tax refund arrives this year, I will be replacing my Nissan pickup that I've been driving since I bought it new in 1997. Standard cab, manual transmission, broken A/C, check engine light on for the last few years, 150000 miles. She's been a good truck, but the time has come to move on...

The Kia Soul is a really cool little car. My uncle has one and he loves it. I've driven his, and being a big guy, I was amazed at how much room it has. It also handles very well, and has a great warranty. Since it's redesign in 2014, it's supposed to have a more solid frame, and increased sound insulation. Don't worry...I will be doing a lot of sound deadening on my own. While my system won't look completely stock, I do want to try and utilize the stock interior as much as I can. The most interesting problem I see up front is the weird upfiring tweeters. I plan on fabricating something that enables a more on-axis firing of the Morels.

I've been into car audio for many years, and have installed several decent systems over the years. Brands that I've used in my builds have included, Sony, Clarion, JL Audio, Phoenix Gold, Audio Control, Altec Lansing, Polk, Streetwires, Stinger, etc. I've known I would be replacing the old beater for a while, and have used the last year or so to accumulate what I hope will be an exceptional SQ system. I listen to mostly hard rock, but my taste ranges quite a bit...so my goal is a well rounded system that does everything well. I will not be competing, but I do spend a lot of time in the car.

Here are the major components of my system:









Kenwood Excelon KDC-997
JBL MS-8
JL Audio HD 600/4
JL Audio HD 1200/1
Morel Hybrid 602 (Running active)
Morel Ultimo 124 (Sealed box designed by Dave the Box Guy)
NVX Terminals, Fuse Holders, Distribution Block
KnuKonceptz Kolosuss Power Cable, Karma Speaker Wire (Yet to order)
RCA's by WestCo (Yet to order)

This build will take me a while, being that I work two jobs, go to school, and have a family that keeps me busy. However, as I keep moving forward, I will do my best to post pics and discuss my progress.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

My first official task for the build was a very minor one...to paint the disgusting green grills on the Hybrids. For the life of me, I can't figure out why Morel chose to make these grills a military fatigue green. 

I picked up some Rustoleum satin black in the higher end product with the fancy nozzle and primer already in it. I gave the grills several light coats and even hit the Ultimo grill just so they'd match. The Ultimo was black, but it was more of a dull, flat black.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Looks very good, and I will be following and looking forward to seeing this progress.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

I've tried to do my homework and bring myself up to date with current technology and techniques. The biggest difference today from years ago is the focus on DSP. Amazing stuff out there. I chose the MS-8 because of it's simplicity and user friendliness. I've read a lot of posts on here in the MS-8 forum, and Andy is a friggin Jedi! I'm looking forward to setting up my system with this amazing product. I'm going to try and cover all the bases, from the Big 3 upgrade to proper sound deadening. 

I truly value the resource this website has been. There is literally nobody in my life who I can talk car audio with. When you bring up this topic with most people, it's like you're speaking another language. To me, the automotive environment is a unique place, where you have so much control over the minute details of acoustics, and so much ability to tailor your audio experience just the way you want it. I'm so excited to finally be getting moving on this build!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Started working on my subwoofer enclosure...design by Dave the Box Guy. Pictures to follow, including the ugliest circle jig you've ever seen!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Hit Lowes on my last day off and had some 3/4" MDF cut. Great service they offer. Had my cut list with me, and he knocked 'em out in about 5 minutes. These are the pieces for the box, including internal braces and an extra piece for the double baffle. The final sealed enclosure volume is 1.5cf (including displacements). I'll hopefully be getting started on assembly tomorrow.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

You're lucky. In my neck of the woods, a lot of the Big Box Home Improvement stores won't cut wood for sub boxes. They're kinda a-holes about it.

Jay


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

Wow did the Lowes there cut the inside rectangles and circles too??


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

I'm sorry. I should have pointed out that I did the routing for the holes and the braces. They just cut the primary pieces. Still saved me a lot of work. That would be pretty awesome if they did all the holes to!


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## Jumbo Jet (May 31, 2008)

Yeah, you're lucky. Our HD won't cut anything anymore. I guess their giant verticle saw is just for lookin at now a days. 

Looking forward to your build


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## Lorin (May 5, 2011)

They will still cut in my area. If doing lots of cuts (like above), I'll give the guy cutting a cash tip. They always appreciate it, usually 5-10 dollars


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

that's a great idea/service, it's hard to manage a 4x8 sheet of mdf on my tiny table saw lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Great component list. This should be a good all around system!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Ok...making some more progress on the sub enclosure:

This is how I got those perfect circle cuts...a badass custom jig!



A few other essentials...





Progress shots of the main enclosure...

















A few thoughts:

I did pre-drill all my holes, but I still had some minor splitting. I probably could have used a slightly bigger bit. The one I used was a 3/32 bit. No worries though...I just smeared a little more Titebond on those spots. After it dries, and I do some sanding, filler, and more sanding, I'll be attaching the additional baffle to the front. My plan after that is to caulk all the inside seams, then use a curved router bit to round the edges of the enclosure and the outer baffle. I'm planning on Duratex coating and some gold binding posts from Parts Express to finish it off.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I like your circle jig!!!! Hell yes!!!! Lol


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

Nice DIY stuff!! and great progress there!!!


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## brump3 (Jan 15, 2008)

very nice box


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

It's actually pretty ugly right now, but it should look pretty sweet once it's done...


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## Sine Swept (Sep 3, 2010)

Palm sander and some carpet, forget about it.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Double Baffle glued, screwed, and clamped.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Finally had a few hours this afternoon...

Finished initial rough sanding to even out all the joints. My inexperience yielded some pretty dramatic overlap/underlap of edges. Used a palm sander and some 40 grit to even everything up, then some 60 grit just to smooth it out a little bit. I will be hitting the whole enclosure with some vinyl spackle on my next day off...followed by final sanding. 

As I said before, I plan on using black Duratex roller-grade coating on this box. The manufacturer recommends the vinyl spackle for use with his product, so that was an easy choice.

As you can also see in these shots, I hit the outer baffle with a rounded bit. 

This thing is starting to look like a subwoofer box!


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Looks really good, keep going!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Just ordered some sweet binding posts and a quart of Duratex from PE.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

So the box is in it's end stages. I'm doing some final sanding today, and hopefully will be applying my Duratex today or tomorrow. I'm a bit intimidated, but it looks pretty straight forward. Here's a video from Acrytech showing the application process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuav56tGIE4

He makes it look pretty easy. I ordered a quart, and it came with the little 3 inch roller you see in the video. I may run to Lowes and see if they have a 4 inch textured roller that's a little more well made. I didn't order one from Acrytech, and the 3 incher seems pretty cheap. We'll see how it goes. Pics to follow...


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Well done so far sir, and looking forward to seeing more progress photos..


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Me to! Just got our tax refund back! Be getting the Soul in the next couple weeks! Then the real work begins...


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Ok...so here's some pics of my spackle work, final sanding, and Duratex application. 

Some thoughts:

I went with the DAP Vinyl Spackle simply because it was recommended in the Duratex video. I guess it's supposed to be a little more flexible and less prone to flaking or chipping. No complaints. It went on easy, dried pretty fast, and sanded very easily and smoothly. I did have to hit the screw holes a second time and let them dry overnight. Other than that, it worked well.

The Duratex was awesome. If you watched the video, you have the nuts and bolts of the application process...and it was pretty much that simple. I ended up using the small 3" roller they supplied because I liked the texture it produced on a scrap piece of MDF. I also tried a 3/8 nap standard roller, but I didn't care for that. I also felt the more textured roller would help hide any minor imperfections that were still present on the box. 

The Duratex dries pretty quickly, I'd say to the touch in about an hour. So I hit the box with 3 coats. Once you get the Duratex on the box and spread out, multiple rapid, very light passes with the roller produces a very nice texture. I also used a small paint brush in conjunction with the roller on the cut-out. In certain bright light angles, I can see some subtle imperfections in the surface, but those are due to my inexperience with the Duratex, and some mild uneven spots along some of the box edges. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Badass that box looks great !


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

An additional observation about the Duratex...

Make sure you have the texture you want, evenly coated. Look at it from different angles before moving on, because in a very short time it starts to get tacky, and if you try and correct any uneven spots at that point, you'll end up with an inconsistent finish.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Just dropped the Ultimo in it's future home to see how it looked. Final mounting will have to wait until I figure out how I'm going to mount the box. I also haven't drilled/mounted the binding posts yet for the same reason. Should be getting the Soul in the next couple weeks.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

I just couldn't stop myself. I ended up putting 5 coats of Duratex on the box. Used up a whole quart. Didn't want it to go to waste...


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## galacticmonkey (Apr 28, 2010)

Looks like a great start. What part of Florida are you in? We have huge audio communities in pockets around the state.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Dunedin. Just across the bay from you


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The grill, the box and the sub are all black but different shades and textures that catch and reflect light in nice ways. It looks good, will look even better once it gets mounted.


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## galacticmonkey (Apr 28, 2010)

Ive since moved to St Pete. When this is completed, Id love to take a listen.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

You bet


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

The blank canvas is now in my possession! 2014 Kia Soul + model. I wanted the Alien II green, but I got a good deal on a new 2014 in white. Now to plan out my strategy....


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Congratulations on the new ride! Looks good in white.


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

Kia has come a long way! that Soul looks awesome! love the white too


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

After doing some additional reading/research...I believe I'm going to be adding a High Output alternator to the mix. The Kia stock alt is 110A, and I think I'll be asking to much of it with 1800W RMS.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Ok...time for some tweeter work!

One of my goals for this build was to utilize the stock speaker locations. The stock tweeter location in the Soul is on top of left and right air vents, mounted in a silver disc, aiming straight up into the angle of the windshield and A post. A bit off axis to say the least. I proceeded to take the assembly apart to see what my options were:








My intention was to utilize one of the Morel's mounting cups. My broad plan was to attach the Morel cups to the silver piece, build up a pod around it, and remount the pod to the original location. I decided to go with an epoxy product since I needed it to bond strongly to the OEM plastic. I just went with off-the-shelf Gorilla Epoxy, and applied it twice with a brush. I stretched some thick t-shirt fabric over the cup/disc assembly, and then secured the outer part of the cup with a zip tie, tightening all the ties to achieve a firm surface for the epoxy. Each coat was given 24 hrs to cure. I then trimmed the underside with a Dremel cutting bit, and injected Great Stuff into the pod for extra support. 
























Next up will be some sanding and epoxy paste, more sanding, and final paint!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

And ice cold Dos Equis always makes tweeter pods better! Lol. Cant wait to see them finished.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

I don't always drink beer when I work on my tweeters, but when I do...


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Change of plan on the HO alternator. I've done some searching and eventually exchanged some emails with Mike Singer. After doing some checking, he stated that the stock alt on the new Souls comes high amp stock with up to 180A. No reason to doubt the alt guru, and it explains why I could only find units for 2013 and older.

On with the build...


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Still working on the tweeter pods. Lots of sanding/priming/sanding/priming...

I just hit them with a few coats of the satin Rustoleum black that I used on my grills. When it had dried to touch, I positioned them in the car and realized that the satin is far more glossier than the rest of the A/C assembly on which they sit. So....I'm going to let them dry completely, and then I'm going to sand out a few final spots and hit them with a few coats of the same Rustoleum, but in a flat black. That should match nicely with the stock interior, and hopefully I'll be able to call job done on the tweets! 

Pics to follow...


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

I'm usually not all for the textured boxes, but this one looks good, especially since the grille & woofer have different sheens. I'll be rethinking the finish of my new sub box that's in its design stages. I was going to use all matching carpet, but now I may have to think of way to incorporate this as a two tone.

Those tweeter pods are going to look sweet. I didn't think of using a tweeter cup as the form.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

What you did with tweeters and glue is badass man !!! Gonna look like two big ass alien eyes looking at you!! &#55357;&#56445;


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

firebri said:


> I don't always drink beer when I work on my tweeters, but when I do...


Nice work!! Stay thirsty my friend.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

So the tweeters are done! Wow, that took longer than I thought! The following pics pick up after the initial epoxy/t-shirt stage. I sanded the first layer of epoxy, and then used PC-7 epoxy paste, which I picked up at ACE, to act as filler. After that, repeated sanding and application of the paste got me to where I had a pretty smooth surface to work with. I then applied a Rustoleum sandable primer to even out the finish. Once I was satisfied with the finish, I used the same Rustoleum Ultimate product with built in primer that I used on my grills. Although I ended up with the flat black since it matched the rest of the dash better. 

This may sound like it went smooth, but I definately had some F-ups along the way which I had to recover from. All in all, I'm satisfied with the final result. I think they look pretty friggin sweet. What do you think?





The paste stage!


This is a bit of a jump ahead, after the sanding of multiple apps of paste and primer. This is the final flat black finish.




Mounting on the top vent piece from the car. These just pop into place with multiple clips. They pop off pretty easily as well, so when wiring time comes, it should be pretty easy.


Tweet nestled in it's new spot!


Just used a couple of zip ties to secure it to the vent piece, surprisingly solid, but I may use some adhesive once the final wiring is done.


Hell yeah!


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## ZombieHunter85 (Oct 30, 2012)

That looks sweeeeeeeet! good work.


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## plushterry (Jan 22, 2015)

Yea nice. They look like they'll do the trick nicely.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Digging these! Great job! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Don't get any better than that. Great!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The shape and overall look of the pods fit the look and design of the car. Very nice! Very cool!


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## Elgrosso (Jun 15, 2013)

Nice, very nice!
Can they move freely?
Could be cool to add a little electric motor so they can follow your head movement, or adapt the stage for two persons


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Elgrosso said:


> Nice, very nice!
> Can they move freely?
> Could be cool to add a little electric motor so they can follow your head movement, or adapt the stage for two persons


Adapt the front stage for two person!!!! Hell yes! Lol


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

No...they're fixed. They face inward at identical angles.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

That looks WAY better than the silver piece it replaced.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Here's a side-by-side with the old grill. The original tweeter was sunken well below the visable grill, pointing straight up. Not ideal, to say the least.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Win!


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

Those pods came out sweet. Looks better than OEM. Send a pic to Kia and tell them "you're welcome".


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## slowsedan01 (May 4, 2008)

The pods came out great. It would be interesting to see the same type of procedure done to install some 3" mids on top of those pods in the same fashion.


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

slowsedan01 said:


> The pods came out great. It would be interesting to see the same type of procedure done to install some 3" mids on top of those pods in the same fashion.


I was thinking roughly the same thing. There looks to be so much room up there next to the A pillar, it would be interesting to see a pod that housed both a 3" or 4" along with a tweeter using that OEM location as sort of a "stalk" mount.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Just an update...I've been sidetracked after I've realized my car doesn't have an alarm! The key FOB toots the horn when you press it after the doors are locked, which I thought was a standard factory alarm activating. My wife's Hyundai has one, but my Kia does not. Feel kinda stupid that I didn't know that. So, I purchased a basic Directed Electronics CAN OEM alarm that I can integrate with the factory remotes. I'll probably try and get some pics and share the details after it's all installed, not very interesting...


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Even the factory "alarms," that most cars have are only going to go off if you open the door or hatch. They don't usually have a shock sensor. Not really that helpful, IMO. 

Good move, tho. At least you realized it before someone stole your whole system. Get it done first.

And the tweeter pods look great. The epoxy paste looks remarkably like fiberglass reinforced body filler. lol

Jay


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Thanks. It sanded pretty hard, not sure if the fiberglass fills are easier to sand. I guess I'll find out when I get to the doors. I went with the epoxy because I needed a strong bond to the factory plastic piece.

I'm still formulating my door plan, and mounting the amps/DSP. I'm strongly considering underseat mounting. The Soul has a lot of room under the front seats. If I go that route, I'll be constructing some kind of protective containment structure to keep out the dust and dirt. I've looked at doing something elaborate in the hatch with the amps/DSP, but honestly, I'm not really going for a show presentation. It would also be nice to have shorter runs with my cables. The JL's and the JBL are pretty small, and would fit easily under the seats with lots of clearance.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

The trick with most body fillers is to catch them in the "green" stage. Where they are starting to harden but not quite set. Initial shaping can be done with reinforced filler, shaped with a "Sur-Form" which is like a cheese grater. Then you can use regular lightweight filler (I prefer something gold...Dynatron Dyna_Delite, Rage Gold, etc.) and you can sand it with like 40grit while it's in the green stage and then let it finish hardening and smooth it out with finer paper.

Jay


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm digging the pods. And I had the same thought as the others about using that location to mount some 3" mids.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Hey everybody! Sorry for the long pause, but as I said in the beginning...crazy busy life.

Anyway, the following pics are of my hatch prep and final subwoofer install. I'm quite happy with the end results. The only thing to finish it out is getting some industrial quality Velcro to do around the edge of the false floor where it sits on the side braces and sub box, but that won't change the final appearance, so here are the pics:

First pics are of the bare hatch area of the Soul. I removed the styrofoam organizer, the flat tire kit, and had to grind out the spare tire bracket that stuck up from the floor about 3". You can see the outline of the bracket right in the middle. I then removed the plastic panels and put some RAAMAT sound insulation treatment around the hatch area. The Soul is actually a very solid car, and I was surprised at the solid thud when tapping various areas around the hatch. I used the BXT and the Ensolite where I thought it was needed. The BXT is their anti-vibration product, and the Ensolite is the sound insulation. They both have adhesive backing, so that made application pretty straight forward. Just challenging getting in all those nooks and crannys.

I also had to remove the back seats to get at the side panels.














The next pics are the mounting of the sub box in the hatch. The placement is a bit off center in the hatch, because the spare tire well is actually a little bit to the left of center. I positioned the box then I ran four 5/16 bolts through the bottom of the sub enclosure to the underside of the vehicle. I caulked the holes and used large washers top and bottom with additional lock-washers underneath. I then wired and mounted the sub to the box using 10g Knu Karma speaker wire, and tamper proof torx #10 1 1/2" screws.






The top of the subwoofer is actually just level with the floor cover braces around the sides. Very lucky! I cut out a false floor out of 3/4 MDF using the original floor panel as a template. I then cut some foam strips from a knee pad, fit them in around the lip of the subwoofer opening and applied some paint to the top. I pressed the MDF into place and got a nice paint circle to guide my awesome circle jig so I could cut an opening in the new floor. I then used the router to round out the edges of the opening. I bought some heavy black felt from the local fabric store, along with some good spray adhesive, and the rest is history 



















What do you think? In the next few weeks I'll be moving on to the mounting of the amps and the sound processor. I've decided to mount the two HD's stacked under the passenger seat, and the MS-8 under the driver's seat. My plan is to actually fabricate brackets to attach them to the seat frame, instead of the traditional floor mount. My thinking is I'd like to have them elevated a bit to avoid dust and dirt. We'll see how it goes...later


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Time for some amp and DSP pics. Elected to mount the amps and DSP under the front seats. However, I didn't want drill holes in the floor. I decided to fabricate some simple brackets using square aluminum tubing and threaded rods. I drilled holes in the seat tracks, and was able to maintain seat movement forward and back by centering the rod ends in the middle of the track. The HD's were mounted under the passenger seat, which has a little more clearance than the driver's seat, and the MS-8 was mounted under the driver's seat. The HD's are about 4" high (stacked with optional hardware), and the MS-8 is about 2". I cut the rods for the HD's at 6", and 5" for the MS-8. The aluminum tubing was cut at 18" for both sides.

I'm very happy with the final result of these mounts. They are very solid, they allow access to all the connections and controls on both components, and they're only visable when the seats are slid all the way forward. Here are the pics, enjoy:





Passenger seat bottom, with the rear of the seat at bottom of pic:
































Next up...door fabrication. I always like trying things I haven't done before, so fiberglassing is next up on the list!!! More to come....


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

I'm always jealous when I see builds on cars with that much room under the seats 

Between some odd bumps in the floor and the fact they are already low to the floor, it's tough to fit anything under my seats unless it has a very small footprint. I roll those small (12oz ?) water bottles up under my drivers seat and that is about the limit of height available.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

firebri said:


>


Question.. Did you find it really necessary for the great stuff acoustically? I've got some rather large air behind my tweeter "enclosures" but left it open. Mine are SB29 variants made for NVX. I wonder if they can be improved if I stuffed behind the tweeter in their little pods. Or did you fill them for different reason maybe? Such as just some structural support maybe?

Mad skills by the way! Love how this one is shaping up.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

My main reasoning was structural support. I also felt it couldn't hurt for resonance reduction as well.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

super clean trunk install!!!! the colors, the placement of the sub and function... nice mount for the amps also. This is a good build! keep up the work.


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

Very nice ? Well thought out and executed. 

The amps/dsp mounting and sub are awesome.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Haven't stopped...just crazy friggin busy. End of the school year stuff with the kids, and half a dozen other balls in the air. My doors are torn apart and that's how I've been driving it. I get twitchy every time I'm in it. Will get back to it soon!


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## susedan (Aug 11, 2015)

Looks great! Any updates on the build? You're giving me ideas for my '15 Soul!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Had to rethink doors. Original plan didn't work out. Opted for stock panels with Morel mids replacing stock mids. Pics soon.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Done!!!

Here are the final pics. When I last posted, I was still depressed over my massive failure regarding the front doors. I overestimated my skills and abilities when I cut the lower part of the doors away to make my own lower portions. Long story short, I ended up having to buy new stock panels and just mounting my Morels on some vehicle specific brackets from Crutchfield. A costly lesson to say the least. The doors on this car are not very mod friendly, I'll just leave it at that. 

The mids mounted easily in the stock spots, and with a little strip of sound insulation foam around the rim, they formed a nice tight seal with the lip on the inside of the door panel. I did have to pull the doors off to drill a hole for my speaker wire. The stock wires from the door run into a multiprong plug that plugs into the main frame of the car. There's no way to incorporate a thick speaker wire into this setup. Pain in the ass, but I did it.

Sorry there's no pic of the inside of the doors, but I was so done with the friggin things by that point I didn't feel like taking pictures. Basically just a Morel mid in place of the stock mid anyway.

The final phase of the build was the final wiring. I've included pictures of my Big Three upgrade, my new XS Power 3400R battery, fuse holders, DSP and phone mic mounts, and a final look at the other components.

A couple comments on the battery and power wiring. This battery was close to the exact dimensions of the stock battery, and the R model has reversed polarity, so the positive and negative terminals also match the stock setup. It's about a 1/2" shorter, so with a little trimming to the bottom of the factory insulation sleeve, it fit like a glove! I did have to do a little cutting on the factory positive terminals to attach them to my aftermarket setup. The brass terminals you see on the battery are actually cheap brass marine terminals I bought at O'Reilly auto parts. I had some fancy KnuKonceptz terminals, but they didn't fit the XS Power posts, and I ended up stripping one of the screws on them trying to tighten them too much. However, after seeing how cool and retro the brass terminals with the wing nuts looked, I decided to keep them. Best $10 I ever spent. Acting on the advice of a JL Audio technician on their FB page, I also ran an additional 4 gauge ground from the negative battery terminal to the JL Audio master ground lug where my amps and DSP are grounded. 

On with the pics!

Boring single DIN head unit.



Big Three, Battery, Fuses. I made sure to sand my ground contact points down to bare metal to get the best contact possible.









Here are some assorted pics of my empty cabin, seats in the living room, and final wiring runs.

















DSP, Phone mic, and badass tweeter...remember those!





Boring door. Nothing to see here.



Final look at the DSP and the HD's. I mounted a little kick bar in front of each to keep peoples feet off them.





The mighty Ultimo.





Final thoughts....

Man that took a long time! Glad it's done.

So how does it sound? Friggin amazing. Once it was all hooked up, setup with the MS8 was a breeze. I did end up bumping up the sub and bass levels a bit after calibrating. I just felt it didn't have enough balls straight out of the gate. I have heard the Ultimo is a "transparent" sub, but I didn't want it invisible. Very tight, very accurate, lots of impact. I love it. It's funny...when you have equipment of this quality, each song you play feels like you're hearing it for the first time. My daily driver has become a place of nirvana!

Some thoughts on the Soul as an audio vehicle. Although the interior locations were not the easiest to work with, I love this car. It is incredibly quiet and well insulated for an economy vehicle. I was continuously impressed with the amount of stock sound treatments all over this vehicle. Although I added quite a bit myself, I can't help but wonder how much of an improvement it ultimately was over stock. Every panel I pulled off, even the smallest ones, had various insulation materials attached. Very impressed with this level of attention. As I mentioned earlier in my thread...When I inquired with Michael Singer of Singer Alternators about upgrading the stock alt in the Soul, he informed me that the stock unit in this vehicle was already overwound, and would put out up to 180A. He recommended a deep cycle battery and the Big Three. Nothing more. I will say I don't see the slightest dimming of my lights when playing music at high volumes, even at idle. I'm also happy to report not the slightest hint of the dreaded mystery vibrations anywhere in the vehicle when the Ultimo does it's work...another testament to the solid build of the Soul. 

In addition to great advice from Mr. Singer, I also had great interactions with XS Power, and JL Audio. Of course...I owe great praise to all my fellow audiophiles out there. Thanks for all the input, advice, and ideas. 

Happy listening.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

looks great dude! i just got a 2015 soul! and I was looking for logs found this, great wok man. really like this install, very minimal. i'm still not sure what i'm doing with my soul the infiniti system in it is accualy quite amazing...the stage is incredibly accuarate center back. center chanel helps  

i wanna ask about those tweeter spots. i wanna retain and use the off axis with the stock apperence with some radial dome NXS 

NVX XSPTW 29mm X-Series Soft Dome Tweeters - Sonic Electronix










sorry if i hyjacked you a little you can respond in private message


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

No prob...what would you like to know?


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

I can vouch for those NVX tweets on-axis but dunno about off axis. With the surface cup mounts though you could mount them into a "pod" like that without much suffering and a smaller footprint. Mine are crossed at 1900 @ 24db and will run you out of the car and remain clean doing it. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

The MS-8 has officially ruined my victory lap. More on that in the MS-8 thread. I've ordered a Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.3 to replace it...so I guess I haven't finished my build. More to come....


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## liljohn30 (Jan 11, 2012)

you'll love the 360.3 ,i have one sending signals to my hd 900/5 and 600/4 in my dodge ram


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## liljohn30 (Jan 11, 2012)

..................................................:laugh:


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Love the understated simplicity of the HD's.


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## liljohn30 (Jan 11, 2012)

n the power


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Don't get me started on DSP issues haha, on my third one this year. Good luck with the Rockford!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Thanks. At least this one's going right in, so if there's any issues I'm in the warranty period.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Got my 360.3! Dimensions are smaller than the MS-8, so I took a piece of quarter inch plexi the dimensions of the MS-8, mounted the 360.3 to it, and drilled holes to match the underseat bracket. Now just need to mount, wire, and calibrate. Will take pics and let you know how it goes....


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Cool beans, and am loving the build so far.


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

A friend purchased one of these yesterday and now has me considering one. I will definitely be following your progress on this. Looks amazing so far.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Looks good! !! Hope to see pics of the new DSP integrated into your system. Keep your head up!!! You'll like the rockford unit.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

It wasn't the DSP, it wasn't the Kenwood...

...it was the amps! Apologies to Andy and JBL.

Have the Rockford up and running, really like it. Switched out my head unit when the problem continued, but the problem continued. Sudden dramatic increase in BASS, problem not consistant, but in/out. Ended up moving up the seat that the amps are mounted under, and when it clicked in place, the bass ramped up. I was then able to reproduce the problem by pushing down on the amps. So, it was the amps. Great...at least I isolated where the problem was...but...I wasn't able to figure out what was causing it. Appeared like something was loose.

Checked all amp connections...power, speakers, RCA's...nothing. I have the two amps stacked and mounted as you can see in my pics. The 1200/1 is on top, and the 600/4 is on the bottom. Only when I jarred the seat forward and back or pushed down on the amps could I get the problem to reappear and go away. 

I disconnected the amps, removed them from the seat, and separated them. I then removed the covering from the 1200/1 to see if I could visualize any loose components. Nothing obvious, but that thing is tightly packed! I put the cover back on and when I went to mount them back in place, I noticed that the mounting feet had snapped on one side, leading me to believe that at some point they had been torqued one way or another. That was the only abnormal finding I observed. I put new feet on that side, widened the holes in the mounting brackets, and remounted them, hooked them back up, and fired up the system. Guess what...Problem gone. I have not been able to reproduce it again, and the system hasn't skipped a beat. 

Not sure what the hell to make of all this. Are the tolerances so tight in those amps that a little torquing of the case would produce such a problem? Anyone got any guesses? Any JL experts out there with thoughts?

Very happy at this point, and now I have a barely used JBL MS-8 that I'll be selling. Will post it up when I get a chance. Hopefully this is the end of the story and my system will live happily ever after. It does sound friggin amazing!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Spoke to JL Audio tech support, and share some exchanges with some others here on the forum, and it would seem that I was experiencing a ground loop problem, and when I added the additional insulation under the feet, I took care of the problem. I will be replacing the aluminum rods with a piece of shelving tomorrow to make sure the problem is taken care of for good. Pics of that, and my DSP to follow.


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## Darkrider (May 11, 2012)

Sub'd, because KIA.

Glad you got your issue sorted out. Through my DSP travels I went from MS-8 to 3Sixty.3 as well, and I don't think I ever missed my MS-8. Once I got my mic and software setup, I had excellent results with the 3Sixty.3. It's software is just so versatile and amazing.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Actually, I narrowed the problem to my 600/4 which I'm sending in for warranty repair/replacement. The MS-8 was not the problem. I'm actually going to be putting it up for sale soon. 

I do really like the 360.3. 

I found that I preferred tuning by ear rather than using an RTA. I tried the mic and RTA, and it pretty much showed a flat response right out of the gate. But when I listened to some well know songs, I ended up breaking out the laptop and tuning by ear while switching between songs. Very happy with the results.

Once I get the amp back, I'll be posting some pics of what I hope will be my final install tweaks.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Amp/DSP remount...more traditional floor mount. Much easier access. I thought the seat mount was pretty creative, but it ended up being a pain in the ass. Cut some pine board, black vinyl with adhesive, bolted to floor, done. You'll also notice I ran a 0 ga ground directly from the battery negative to the amps. Figured it couldn't hurt. Now my amps and DSP are grounded directly to battery negative. 





Seems to be smooth sailing now. I'm still playing with the DSP settings here and there after extended periods of listening to various types of music. I'll post some pics of my final curves from the RF program once I feel like I've found the sweet spot...or close to it


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## Buffboy (Nov 11, 2015)

Great build thread. I'm a big fan of the HD amps and your install. Thanks for sharing.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Some final tune comments. 

I believe I have come to a pretty good tune. I'm sure over time I may decide to tweak it here and there, but what I've got now is far beyond any SQ I have ever had in a vehicle, and I'm very happy.

The Rockford Fosgate 360.3 seems to be a pretty good DSP, although I'm new to the whole DSP scene. I found it easy to use, and I like using the laptop interface. I have a single pair of preouts feeding the RF from my Kenwood, and five RCA's from the RF to my HD's. The sub channel is a Y-split to the 1200/1, since JL recommends feeding both inputs, even if you're only running one sub. The RF outputs 8V to its outputs, so I have the JL's input sensitivity switches set to High, and the gains all the way down. I have plenty of output, and no noise whatsoever!

The RF settings are as follows:

All crossovers are set to Butterworth, with 24 db slopes.

Sub low pass...80hz and below.

Mid band pass...80-2200hz

Tweeter high pass...2200hz and up.

I have the Punch EQ baseline at +6.0, and its adjustable with one of the remote knobs. The other remote knob controls the overall sub volume.

The Punch EQ produces a smooth hump with a peak at 45hz. I've noticed many don't utilize this feature, but I find I like the result it provides. Perhaps it's my inexperience. I have no other tweaks of the sub frequencies.

My mids are sunk in the factory door locations, and I found that I did have to bump the midbass frequencies quite a bit. I increased the frequencies from 80hz-250hz. 1.5db at 80hz, with .6 Q, 3.0db from 100-200, with .6 Q, and 1.5hz at 250hz, with .6 Q. 

My tweeters are much more up front and on axis, so I found I had to tone them down a little bit. I set a drop of -.5db at 8000hz, and -1.0db from 10khz-20khz, all with .6 Q.

All these numbers are the actual settings on the RF. The resulting curves on the visual representation on the RF interface end up more profound. I don't have RTA readings. I found that I preferred tuning by ear with several favorite recordings. You can listen and make changes on the fly with the laptop interface, it just takes some time. 

It was definately interesting playing with the DSP settings, and observing how small changes made dramatic differences in sound. Especially where the Q setting is concerned. I have two presets saved on the RF...one for my personal listening when I'm by myself, with the delays set to the drivers position, and another setting for when I have others in the vehicle. I set the delays for a spot in space at head level between the two front seats.

It's been a long road to get to this point, and it definately wasn't always smooth sailing! Looking forward to lots of happy listening. I hope you guys have enjoyed this build.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Been listening to some dubstep on the system the last few days. WOW! Nothing like a top-of-the-line sub, in a sealed box, with a ****-ton of power. So clean, so tight, so AWESOME!


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

Hmm I'm getting excited still not sure where I'm gonna put my sub stock I was looking at a nice German maestro 8" it fiber in my own box would be pretty easy in spare tire well since I have so much room but don't wanna waste that stock location hmm


Ohhh and getting a set of jbl 660gti for front stage maybe some hybrid base model coaxs for rears Idk. The zapcos night do nice too and their oretty cheapStill need a center I have tons of sub options. Have a arc black 12 I need to recone and a couple image dynamic 8" sub's. 

Didn't see what you put in rear doors

Sent from my One using Tapatalk


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Nothing in back doors.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

Ohhhh not enough channels ? Idk why they don't put 10 RCA's on procecors the one does tough. And maybe the audison also I forget. I'm running passive **** it than I can add mids if I Want and still have rears

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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Processor would do it. Didn't see the point. Never back there...rarely have back seat passengers.


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## galacticmonkey (Apr 28, 2010)

Looks great, ever in the St Pete area? Id love to give it a listen.


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## StockA4 (Aug 26, 2011)

Great work! Those pods are wonderful! Your build log is an inspiration to recommit to my own build.

Imagine my chagrin when I pulled off the door panel, and all of the bolts on that nasty plastic panel only to find it was still held in place by @#$%^&*! rivets!! I sat looking at that panel for a long time, increasing amounts of frustration and irritation building. I have plenty of Road Kill mat to apply, but covering this rather large piece doesn't sit well with me. So, I put my panel back on and left it for another day. At the time, I wasn't sure how I wanted to tackle that.
So, did you just apply a "ring" around the panel? (I hope I read that part correctly) I'm probably only running a set of the older Pioneer PRS 6.75 comps, (3" tweets) so it's not like I'll have something in there trying to rip my doors apart. 
And I really like how you conquered the stock tweeter location. I have zero fab skills, so my first inclination was to just drop my rather large tweets over where the stock grille used to be. With a little help, they can appear nearly stock. But they would still be sticking straight up. After seeing yours, I think maybe I'll commission someone to assist me with mine.
Anyhow, I know you aren't a fan of the doors, but if you did anything other than the little bit you stated, I'd love to hear it. And again, great build!


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

Yeah...the doors were a *****. I really got ahead of myself cutting them apart. Not to mention cost myself some serious $$$ to buy original door panels to replace the ones I f'd up. Live and learn. Like I said, in the end, I just got some brackets from Crutchfield designed for the Kia. After screwing them in place and then mounting the Morel mids, I just put that strip of thin foam around the rim of the mids. When I pushed the door panel back into place, I could see that the inner rim of the door grill assembly fit flush against that foam strip, providing what I feel is a pretty good seal...no vibrations or anything that I can hear from the doors.

Like I said somewhere...I did have to bump up my midbass a bit to compensate for the sunken position of the mids within the doors, but I think it worked out in the end. At least it sounds that way. I'm also glad to have the stock door appearance in the end. Makes for a cleaner install. If you didn't know better, you'd think the tweets were stock as well since they blend so well with the rest of the dash. Got some nice compliments from the Kia service guy when I had it in for it's last oil change.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

galacticmonkey said:


> Looks great, ever in the St Pete area? Id love to give it a listen.


I live in Dunedin and work in Largo. So yeah, I'm around. I work for Largo Fire Rescue and Sunstar.


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## susedan (Aug 11, 2015)

StockA4 said:


> Imagine my chagrin when I pulled off the door panel, and all of the bolts on that nasty plastic panel only to find it was still held in place by @#$%^&*! rivets!!



So those damn panels are bolted AND riveted?! I thought my window mech was holding the plastic in place and decided to stop messing with it before I broke something. The Kia service manual was of no use either. 

Perhaps I'll retry in the spring. All I want to do is pop some cld and butyl in there.


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

The panels come off the doors pretty easily. There's a couple screws...one in the arm rest and one in the pull handle. Then you just pop all the panel clips around the edges. There are a couple electrical plugs and the door handle/lock mechanism, but that pops off pretty easily as well. You also have to pop off the plastic cover over the side mirror mount. The thing that makes the panels a pain in the ass is if you intend to modify the panel itself. Not conducive for modification at all.

Here's a great like to the service manual for the second generation Soul. I used this for all my vehicle assembly needs.

Second generation PS (2014-2015)


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## rayray881 (Jul 15, 2013)

Install looks great! Would like to hear it some time in the future as I live in Largo.


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## susedan (Aug 11, 2015)

firebri said:


> The panels come off the doors pretty easily....
> 
> 
> Here's a great like to the service manual for the second generation Soul. I used this for all my vehicle assembly needs.
> ...



Yep, used that manual and got the door panels off no problem. My issue is with the inner plastic piece that is bolted to the car. The window appears to be attached to it and I couldn't figure out how to remove it.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Sounds like you're talking about the regulator. I'll bet there are some grommets you can remove to see the bolts that hold the winds in place that will be visible if you roll the window down a bit. Most companies are doing this now. If that's how it is put together you loosen the bolts, roll the window down most of the way then lift the window out of the track. The you can unbolt the regulator and remove it. 


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## firebri (Mar 14, 2014)

The inner panel is connected to the window mechanism. I loosened all the bolts and worked around it after removing the window. Pretty much just deadend the door sheet metal.


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## susedan (Aug 11, 2015)

firebri said:


> The inner panel is connected to the window mechanism. I loosened all the bolts and worked around it after removing the window. Pretty much just deadend the door sheet metal.



Cool, thanks. I'll give it another try


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Firebri, I had the opportunity to rent a 2015 Soul over this last weekend to got to the MECA event down in Riverside, CA. Coming from a first gen Scion xB, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the second gen Soul. I recalled your build, so I read back through it again today. I was surprised at how high the car staged with the OE stereo. Sure there was rainbowing, it wasn't super focused and there was no sub bass, but not bad at all for a car that starts at $15k. 

I have one question though, have you pulled the dash apart to see what is behind the circular indention in the center of the dash that was designed for an 8" or shallow 10" subwoofer? 

The whole time I had the car, I just kept thinking a set of pods with 3"+ drivers on the stock locations and a sub up on the dash would great start toward a killer setup.


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## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

rton20s said:


> Firebri, I had the opportunity to rent a 2015 Soul over this last weekend to got to the MECA event down in Riverside, CA. Coming from a first gen Scion xB, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the second gen Soul. I recalled your build, so I read back through it again today. I was surprised at how high the car staged with the OE stereo. Sure there was rainbowing, it wasn't super focused and there was no sub bass, but not bad at all for a car that starts at $15k.
> 
> I have one question though, have you pulled the dash apart to see what is behind the circular indention in the center of the dash that was designed for an 8" or shallow 10" subwoofer?
> 
> The whole time I had the car, I just kept thinking a set of pods with 3"+ drivers on the stock locations and a sub up on the dash would great start toward a killer setup.


A sub would be a hard fit in the center. It fits a 4" in the 1st gen I'm not quite sure what the 2nd gen has.


I had those same exact thoughts the first time I drove one of these cars. Perfect sq setup. The only thing is space is small your not really spreading out the drivers. Probably makes creating a larger space with the sound harder. Stock does seem to do it nicley though I love my infinity system! Its ****ing incredible for a stock system. I have a 2015 kia soul exclaim BTW. 

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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

eviling said:


> A sub would be a hard fit in the center. It fits a 4" in the 1st gen I'm not quite sure what the 2nd gen has.
> 
> 
> I had those same exact thoughts the first time I drove one of these cars. Perfect sq setup. The only thing is space is small your not really spreading out the drivers. Probably makes creating a larger space with the sound harder. Stock does seem to do it nicley though I love my infinity system! Its ****ing incredible for a stock system. I have a 2015 kia soul exclaim BTW.
> ...


Thanks for the feedback. I am subscribed to your build as well. I doubt I'll ever end up with a Soul, but if I do I've got some fairly unconventional ideas of what the build would be.


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