# Wife's 2005 Civic LX Sedan - Basic Install



## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

So, I finally started on the wife’s install. 
The car is a 2005 Civic LX Sedan “Special Edition”. I have no idea what the special edition really means, other than the fact that it had a special OEM headunit that was kind of sweet but stuck out like a sore thumb (picture below). 
The car features a passive setup in the doors and the OEM locations were used. 

*The purpose of this build* is to get my wife a decent little system on a tight budget. Also, the #1 goal is to keep the install stock looking. No build outs in the pillars, no kicks, no fancy amp racks, no sub box, etc, etc. Just trying to make it look like nothing was done. 
Eventually, I would like to expand to a 2-way active setup and a single 5 channel amp like the JL HD. But the budget is WAY tight on this build and thus, the install and gear is also budget conscious. I’m going to wire up the car like I’m going for 3-way active and also running 3 sets of RCAs as well as an ai-net cable just so I’ve covered my bases in case I go all out in the future. Speaker wire is cheap. 


I must first give major thanks to the following:
Jason – Thanks for the help in general. You know. 

Mark Brooks of H-Audio for hooking me up with a way to afford the Ebony drivers on my budget. Ever since hearing them in Ryan’s car at my last GTG I had been wanting an excuse to try them out. So, the wife’s car was just that excuse. Thanks Mark for helping me out on this!

Don (6spdcoupe) for working out a great favor for me via Dyn. Without his help I would still be tweeter shopping. Thanks VERY MUCH, Don. Don managed to work out a warranty issue I thought for sure wouldn't be resolved. I really appreciate all the help you’ve given me in the past and once again you’ve managed to help me out when I thought I was hosed. Thanks! 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:




So, with that, here’s what the equipment is looking like:
*Headunit-* Alpine w200
*Processing –* None currently. Probably many months ahead before I go active. Right now I’m passive via a set of Focal passives.
*Mids –* H-Audio Ebony 6.5". 
*Tweeters –* Dynaudio md 102.
*Subs – *2 Peerless SLS 8” (830667) running IB off the rear deck.
*Amps –* not 100%. Likely a PPI 6 channel and a blaupunkt t-class 4 channel.

-----------------------------

Starting with the w200 headunit… I bought this last year for my wife so she would have some nice ipod integration. Found a good deal on the forum so I picked it up. Ultimately, I’d like to tap in an h701 to this so I’m going to go ahead and run an ai-net cable for it just in case.

The original:









The w200 replacing it:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I also went ahead and upgraded the stock negative battery wire to 4 gauge and relocated it. A decent 5 minute project for possibly future proofing myself. Might do the ‘big 3’ later, but doubt it.

Original









New:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Woofer Install:*

The doors have a stock 6.5” woofer and also a 1” tweeter stock. 
The H-audio Ebony drivers wouldn’t fit the door without a bit of work. No big. Cut a speaker ring, attach to door, draw inner diameter, and cut. About ¼” was trimmed off one side of the stock hole, while the other side of the same hole only need a small bit trimmed off. After doing this, the driver was mounted to a ring, which also included Don’s (from sounddeadenershowdown.com) butyl rope to help make a tight bond to the door and also seal the ring up. I also used some silicone to go around the edge of the mids so that they were sealed up well to the door and speaker ring. No clay or additional gasketing. 

The doors were treated with some pieces of Don’s CLD and also some of Ant’s damplifier pro; both of which I had left over from previous installs. As of now the large access holes are not covered, but that’s because I need access to the passive crossovers which are installed inside the doors (yea, yea, whatever). 





















(yes, I realize I have 2 pieces of CLD stacked on each other in the pictures below. Let’s just say that I wasn’t paying attention to the size I cut, and put it back down… I didn’t pay attention to where I sat it down either. Lol)


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Tweeter Install:*
The door panels have a built in grille. With some help from Jason, we found that the Dyn grilles fit right into place here. We were both pretty pumped on that. So, some light work and 15 minutes later, the dyn grilles were placed into the door. They fit snugly and are held in place via the tweeter body, as they both just press fit together. Pretty sweet!

Dyn together, then apart…




















Original door panel vs. Modded panel:










Installed:











Door panels put back on:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Subs:*
The peerless drivers were based simply on “heck, I’ll try it”. Jason had a set he’s letting me try out for this install. Though we both are unsure of just how they’ll sound, we figured it’s worth a shot. I didn’t have time to measure these in box programs and truthfully think it’s more important to try than to spend days researching it. 

The benefit is simply that I can attach them to the rear deck. Being that they’re 8” subs, I figure I’ll try it. He let me bring them back home with me, so last Sunday I worked on putting them in. Let me just say how much of a PITA this is when you can’t cut the rear deck and you don’t have an extra set of hands to hold the woofer in place while you measure and then try to attach them. My wife was woken up by the sound of me cussing out my jigsaw at one point Sunday. That day was a blur. LOL! (ps: I need a new jigsaw). 


So, the install method here was straightforward. Make an adapter ring, use some t-nuts and screws to attach the ring to the deck, then screw the drivers into the rings. Simple concept, but it friggin’ took me 3 hours before I was done. I used Don’s butyl rope again. 

I did not and will not be going through the trouble of building a wall behind the seat. I don’t care to, and the purpose of me using the 8’s in the rear deck is to keep the trunk useful. I did use some foam on the rear deck and also pillars in hopes that it will make a good rattle barrier. But there’s definitely need for more structural support. CLD tile ain’t going to cut it alone, so I’m considering a couple stock bars of steel to help brace the rear deck. I’ll burn that bridge after the install is wrapped up and I’ve got amp power to them. I used some pieces of CLD to cover certain holes. I have about 5 cans of Great Stuff (on sale at Lowe's this week ) that might see it's way into the trunk but I'll worry about that later.

I do plan to make a simple beauty panel, probably of just carpet mdf attached to the rear deck via l-brackets...just something quick and easy to hide the subs.

I did put some temp power on them via some different amps so I can get a feel for how much power I need for them. Now, I’ll quickly say some things I’ve noticed about these. 
#1. They are power hungry. I have 200w @ 4ohm each on them and they take it like champs. No where near reaching xmax. That kind of sucks because that means I need more power. 
#2. They are stout little monsters and make the rear deck move like a wavepool. 

Comparison of the stock 6.5’s vs the SLS 8’s:





















And some install pictures in no certain order ranging from the removal of the rear seat/deck and install of the drivers:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

*Trunk Install:*


Right now I’m not 100% on what I’m going to use. I gutted the trunk earlier and toyed around with ideas and think I have a good plan to go forward. 

The spare tire well is quite large, to my surprise, which is great! I can fit the 6 channel ppi in there snugly, with all wires attached. I can then stack the blaupunkt 4 channel on top of it and have nearly ¾” clearance from the top of the blau to even with floor height. 
The distro blocks I have will actually go underneath the PPI due to the floor’s countour, and not touch the amp at all.
So, after a couple spacers, I should have the blau almost dead even with the underside of the spare tire cover with the distro blocks under the PPI. Pretty sweet.

The power wire will come down the right side, follow the edge of the trunk and come up to the distro block from the most outer portion of the trunk’s center. RCAs will do the same but on the opposite. From quick fit checks, I think this is going to work out pretty well. But, who knows… I’m sure I’ll run into some weird things along the way. 

The great thing is that means I don’t have to build a false floor, and I also won’t have lumps of wire running through the trunk. So, a simple install without building anything extra. Way cool. :thumbsup:

Here’s some pictures of the trunk and some test fittings:


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

So, that's where I'm at right now. I'm waiting on my amp kit to come in and then will move forward with the install. If it happens to come in tomorrow I'm hoping to finished with the install by the weekend. Right now my wife is driving my car and I'm dealing with road noise. Gotta love it.


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## mattyjman (Aug 6, 2009)

looking good so far, you are totally right about the stock HU being fugly. Ugghh... What did you use to cut the door panels with? 

I am going to need to do that too so I am wondering if I have the right tools. 

keep up the good work.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Tin snips. My friend has them. I was doing the door install at his house and he had those. I'm glad... otherwise I would have used a dremel and that sucks. Tin snips make it muuuuuch easier. I need to buy a set for myself, actually.


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

Great work so Erin. No problem on the help, it was our pleasure. 

Oh and if you think tin snips made it much easier, try an airsaw.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

No problem on the hook up, any time and any thing i can do. Install is looking great sir! I can't wait to hear what you think of the SLS 8 IB.


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## MaXaZoR (Apr 1, 2007)

Can't wait to see what this system is replaced with after two months  J/K Erin, glad your keeping it clean and simple


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Thanks, Josh. 

Right now I’m thinking that there will be an h701 going in now. I could’ve sworn that there was a built in front/sub crossover, but there’s not. That sucks. 
I’m certain that I’ll be going 2-way active eventually, so I think I’m going to go ahead and footprint out an h701 in this install and wire it up as if I were putting it in.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

6spdcoupe said:


> Oh and if you think tin snips made it much easier, try an airsaw.


Christmas present!!! I’ll have to look into that. 



H-Audio - AKA - Here-I-Come said:


> I can't wait to hear what you think of the SLS 8 IB.



Me, too! Lol. I’m a bit worried, but at the same time I’m hopeful.


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

Hey, Lookin good. What size spacer did you use? 3/4? I got a Canadian SI so same as an EX in the US. I used a 3/4 MDF spacer and I found the surround of my 6.5" was really really close to the door panel, I even had to trim off that ring on the inside of the door panel to get it to fit. How was yours lookin?

P.S. I got my amps in the same great place


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Actually, it's 1" ring. I have no problems with my door panel going back on. All I had to do was center up the ring, mark where the excess metal needed to be cut, cut it out, then attach the ring and driver.


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

wow, hmm. I maybe i didn't have my centered right, nice to know. Those Ebonys you used are about 68mm deep, mine are only 51mm. I'm lookin at doing a DIY active install in the next little while and i'm rly interested in the Seas CA18RNX, there 78mm deep, Think its possible to get them in there?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

you'll need a good sized ring. I think I have about 1/2" of space behind the driver to the window. The 10mm difference between what I'm using and the Seas is nearly 1/2" right there.
You might be fine, though.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

nice job,man. i wish the 8th gens had all that space, behind the spare tire, to hide amplifiers in.


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

Thanks so much, Its nice to have someone else to relate to on the same car, gives me some perspective on were i would like to take my install.
Looks great keep it up. I would love to hear those SLS.

Ps, Any DIY tweeter recommendation for me? (a-pillar mounted)


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

The seas neo tweeters are a favorite here. Cheap, too.
I've never used them so can't comment on them directly. But, I know they're often recommended. Might want to look into them as an option.


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

I've noticed that too about the neos, its one of the reasons why i'm interested in the 18rnx's. 

Thanks for your wisdom once again and good luck, I'm jealous of your wifes civic now...


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

Snips are great. I work with sheet metal as a job so I have several pairs. Just to let anybody who is going to try snips to cut a door...make sure you get ones made to cut curves. Many snips are only made to cut straight. 

Ive seen so many new people come to my work get frustrated and hack the hell outa something because they think the red, or green handle means it will cut a curve. Not true. Offset snips are great. I have a pair of "greens" that I cut towards the left (curving right) and my offset "reds" for going towards the right (curing to the left). 

So if anyone goes to home depot or lowes, make sure you get the right snips. The job will be done fast and wont leave nasty snags.

Great job...love those 8's in the rear.


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## BowDown (Sep 24, 2009)

Very cool info on the tin snips. Didn't realize there was a difference.

BTW: Install is looking damn good. Clean.


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## SRim23 (May 24, 2007)

If i recall "Special Edition" includes the cd changer, leather steering wheel, and wheels, instead of hub caps. 


honestly, id consider moving those crossovers. i know my civic doors get ALOT of moisture in them. one night i left the door panels off and it rained. so much water got into the panel there was actually some water on my seat and floor board. depending how big they are, there is some room behind those kick panels.


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

Nice work Erin! Keep it up!!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

crossovers are covered up. 

The next step is an active setup. Car has been put on hold until the new year due to Holiday spending.


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

whoa, I had no idea the dyn came apart like that! I am such a NEWB


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

I hear the holiday spending song!! I'm in the same boat!!!


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## bikerider (Dec 28, 2008)

If you already ran enough speaker wires to run active in the future, why don't you put the crossovers in the trunk? Less vibration from slamming doors and more protection from moisture.

I wish the spare tire well in my Altima looked like that. I am about to install 2 DLS 8's IB and am struggling where to relocate the amp. Right now it is suspended on a shelf hung from the rear deck but not sure there will be enough room up there with a full-width baffle board bolted to the underside of the rear deck and I want to keep it off of the back of the seats. It is a large 4 channel (11"x13") - perhaps I can figure out a way to get it concealed and not steal any trunk space.

Nice install - especially like how the car looks more stock up front than when you started.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

The speaker wires are not already ran, otherwise I'd do that. 

The trunk well is HUGE. I had no idea. I'm pretty jealous.
Speaking of space in a trunk... ever seen an Honda Odyssey (minivan)? Holy mother, do those things have tons of hidden space!


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## bikerider (Dec 28, 2008)

bikinpunk said:


> The speaker wires are not already ran, otherwise I'd do that.
> 
> The trunk well is HUGE. I had no idea. I'm pretty jealous.
> Speaking of space in a trunk... ever seen an Honda Odyssey (minivan)? Holy mother, do those things have tons of hidden space!


My wife has an '04 Pilot (which she won't let me touch as far as sound) - there is a full-width finished compartment with a hinged lid behind the 3rd row seat in the floor. It is to store the 3rd seat headrests in but everytime I look at it I see space for lots of audio gear...

But I will take my Altima front doors anyday. I was in there yesterday to install some of Don's CLD and butyl rope on my existing install and the inner door is completely sealed, no large access holes.


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## Thumper26 (Sep 23, 2005)

soooo much butyl around that door mid...it skurrs me.

tweeter install looks golden. nice use of the factory bracket too!

deaden and seal that rear deck for mo bass. also look into the 1" foam padding they sell at walmart to help with vibrations, or just spray glue a ton of polyfill to the rear deck and then clip it back down.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

The butyl looks thicker in the pictures than it is. It's actually about penny sized in diameter.

Rear deck has some deadener. 1/2" foam all over it. Think the pictures show that. 

Hey, how's your car coming? lol.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

update time....

Picked up a pdx-5 on DIY. I can deal with the hiss. 
Birthsheet shows 108w for the 4 channels and 470 for the sub channel. 
Rated @ 14.4v, 4 ohms of course. 

Going to hook it up to a 701 and run 2-way up front for now.
Eventually I want to pick up the SI BM3 and put it somewhere hidden. Maybe mold it into the spare tire or box it up in the side of the trunk behind the trunk liner. 

The pdx and h701 are going to go under the passenger's seat. 
The amp will have velcro under it to stick to the carpet. A huge piece. That **** is HARD AS HELL to remove off factory carpet so it'll work just fine. Better than drilling holes.
The 701 will be stacked on top and mounted with a piece of velcro too. Industrial strength velcro, to boot! 

All grounds will be common. No distro blocks here. Just going to jumper the pdx's power wire to the h701 (it's fused already) and same for ground. I'm going to run a length of 10gauge wire from the ground off the headunit to the same grounding location as the amp. I'm considering drilling out the firewall and running a ground straight off the battery, but I may just see how things go with the ground at the seat rails first. I'm hopeful that will work just fine.

A couple pictures...

benching the amp:









stacked configuration.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

started gutting the car this afternoon after work.
Got it all ripped up up front. Ready to start running wires now.

The install was going to be basic with no soundeadening, etc but I'm now considering treating the car while I have it gutted with some MLV and some deadener.
There's stock MLV at the firewall, which I was surprised to see. And the car has a fair amount of visco-CLD as well. Though, when I tap on the car I can literally hear it resonate throughout the floor. Yikes!
This is supposed to be a budget conscious install so we'll see. 

when I pulled the floor up I found one of the A/C buttons I lost during the first headunit install. I already replaced it, though. go figure. 
At this point, this is the cleanest this car has ever been. We typically carry the dogs around in our cars so there was dog hair ALL over the floor under the seats and under the carpet. My wife likes that it's so clean right now, lol.

Anyway, here's some pictures of me gutting the car...


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I wanted to run a ground directly from the battery in this install so that I could have common grounds tied directly to it. I've learned quite a bit from re-working my car so many times and this is one of the lessons. 
Wasn't sure it was going to work and thought I may have to drill the firewall or go under the car. 
I HATE running wire through the firewall, so I wasn't looking forward to this, but it wound up working out great. 

I ran a coat hanger through from the inside and taped up the 4g power wire. At the least, I wanted to get that one through and to the battery and if I couldn't get the ground then I'd just ground at the seat rail (which is welded to the car body, btw). 
I lubed the wire up with some Dawn and pulled it right through. No problem at all.
I pushed the wire back through and wrapped the ground wire to the power wire about a 1/2 foot back so that if the power wire made it trhoguh but the ground couldn't fit and possibly fell off I'd already have the ground through the firewall.
Lubed the wires up again, pulled 'em right through. Took a bit of force to get the ground wire to pop through but it did it. Took me 5 minutes to do all the above.
:thumbsup:

Few pictures of the process...


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

bikinpunk said:


> I HATE running wire through the firewall


X2 my least favorite part of an install. I didn't even bother trying to run my 1/0 gauge through my firewall. I just ran it on the underside of my car tucked into my side skirt.  worked beautifully.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I drilled some holes into the seat rails to pass power/ground and speaker wire through. Then added grommets. 




















After thinking over it today while watching some ballgames, I decided to go ahead and use the LLP I have here for the GTG next month. I talked to Ant and I'm ordering a couple sheets to replace the ones I stole. 

The car has OEM treatment, so I used the cld sparingly. However, the rear area of the cabin's floor was highly resonant. I'd tap on it and here it go throughout the car. So, I added more cld to those areas. Probably used a total of 3 sheets for the interior. 
Spent the next 2 hours adding the LLP and trimming as necessary making sure to leave space for the trim pieces to fit back in (I learned my lesson here in my car). 





























Tomorrow I'm running the wires, putting the carpet back in and hooking everything up. I'm hoping to be completely done by tomorrow.

+1 for having the right tools. Made this install and teardown so much easier than it was when I initially did mine. IIRC, it took me an ENTIRE WEEKEND to put deadener down, LLP down, and run wires back when I did my first real build a couple years ago.


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## lycan (Dec 20, 2009)

wow ... the most amazing part of this build log for me is learning that bikin is actually _married_. To a _woman_, right? I mean can you guys believe this shyt?


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

You know, Lycan, when I first started on here, people kept referring to Erin as "BikiniPunk" or "Bikini" and with his name being spelled with an 'E' (traditionally the female spelling) so for the longest time I thought Erin was a girl...

Somewhere along the line I think I saw a pic, or maybe he referred to his wife or something, and realized my mistake.



Jay


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

very funny, guys. veeeeeeeeery funny.


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

Hey how much did you pick up that pdx for? I'm thinking of doing my wifes car, yes I'm married too, when the civic gets done. I was looking for a 5 cannel amp instead of a bunch of other amps.


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## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Very nice install Erin. How does the Alpine compare with the PPI?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I got the pdx from someone here. He asked $250. 

I chose the pdx over the ppi mainly due to size. I couldn't fit that ppi under the seat, lol.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

The 6 channel XD's arrived yesterday...but I don't have pricing info yet.
God they're small. I was joking (kinda) with one of the guys about using the XD600/6 run 2 channels to tweets, and bridge the other channels to midbasses and a XD600/1 for the sub...except we don't have those yet.
Maybe a good setup for the beater. Or an upgrade for the girl's Jeep when they get back.

Jay


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

Do you have a link for specs on this. Might be a possibly good match for my wifes car.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I actually REALLY wanted to use the xd, but it was a good $150 more I'm willing to bet. However, if I'm wrong, Jay, shoot me a PM. 


I ran speaker wire through the door molex. The driver's side was easy as pie. The passenger's side was a bit tougher due to the A/C equipment being in the way. I tried to pass a coat hanger through to the inside of the car into the door, but had too much trouble. Wound up going from the door side grommet to the interior and go it first try. Taped the wires on, added Dawn (makes passing wires through grommet SO MUCH EASIER!), and pulled them through.
I printed out some labels and applied them via some clear heat shrink. 
Ran the power wire through the grommets in the seat rails. Bout to go back and run the speaker wires through and then the ai-net. I'm also running a set of RCAs and a remote turn on in case I ever decide to change processors in the future. That way I won't have to gut the car again. 
Need to run speaker wire to the trunk and also to the driver's seat in case I add the SI bm3 later. That way I'll have the wires ready to go wherever I put it.

bout to take a pizza break.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

In the JL Audio store the XD600/6 is rated as:

"100W/chX6 at ohms."



I'll have to check into pricing for "good customers," and see what I find out.
They're new and in demand, so I dunno how cheap they'll be, but I'd be interested to see.

Jay


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## lycan (Dec 20, 2009)

Ok i'm gonna say this, because if _somebody_ doesn't say it, then it will come true. That's the way the audio demons work, you know ...

bikinpunk's wife's car is gonna sound better than his.


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

"100W/chX6 at ?ohms."


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

Are you using the brand x wiring kit? If so how did you like working with it. I have the kit too and Im thinking about putting it in my girlfriends car.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Jeff, I hate you.  


Brian, yes, that's the kit I'm using. I like it a lot. It came with a whole lot of speaker wire and the power/ground cables are very flexible. Great set for $40. Wish I had bought a 2nd one. The wires have been left unterminated in my garage for the past few months and have not oxidized. That's cool. The monoprice wires I have did. At some point I'm afraid I'll need to replace the monoprice wires.



And... and update...

So far it's going pretty well.

I just tied (2) 16g speaker wires into the headunit's harness for ground and ran it to where the amp will be. I'm going to tie the h701, headunit, and amp ground all together so there's a single common ground.
Also ran the rca and remote turn on.
Now I just have to run the ai-net cable, check a few things to make sure it's all stable and then I'll throw the carpet in and get to soldering up the grounds together and connect the amp up. Throw the headunit back in and test to make sure everything powers up.
If that goes well, then I'm going to try to seal up the doors, which will require me to re-route the window control wires inside the door. 

Hopefully I'll have it all put back together tonight and be ready to start doing some basic tuning before I put the passenger's seat in to cover the assembly up. 

Pictures to come...


I'm really anxious to see if the addition of the LLP helps like it did in my car. I'm _not_ looking forward to tuning.


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## Jeff Smith (Jun 6, 2006)

Nice build, keep up the good work.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Jeff Smith said:


> Nice build, keep up the good work.


How is it going Jeff, nice chatting with you at SBN


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Finished up...

Wires, wires, wires...































PDX & H701 stacked, and a rat's nest. 






















Engine bay wiring. Sometime this week I"m going to go buy some split flex loom and cover them up to make them all look incospicuous, as the purpose of the install was to keep it stock looking.











Buttoned back up:





















W200 + h701 = happy. Need to find a c701, though, to make tuning easier.

















Overall impressions: Veh-re nice! Seriously, it sounds fantastic for what it is. Needs some tuning love, obviously, but out the gate it sounds pretty dang nice. 

I'll come back tomorrow... just wanted to note this before calling it a night....


Re: SLS 8's hanging off the rear deck:
Welp, I now take back everything I said previously.

I just wrapped up the install in my wife's car (pics can be seen here for those who give a rip). They're not powered off a pdx-5 getting up to 400w @ 4ohm. I'm not sure if the PDX is rated the same at 8ohm or not, so I'll have to check. They're wired to a 4 ohm load, so probably getting about 200w each at that rated power. If that.

I don't know what was different about before that caused such the difference between the "bench testing" with them in the car powered off an amp on the bench, or now, but I do know that I've never been so happy to be wrong about my previous assertions.

The 8's play pretty nice. They have some good bump to them, not major SPL levels, but nice nonetheless. No rattles in the car with minimal treatment (pictures of this are not updated in the build log, but you get the general idea). The wall is not sealed off as mentioned earlier.

I'll try to put them on the RTA tomorrow, since I"ve got to calibrate a couple mics ASAP anyway.

I'll try to add more details later if needed. Just wanted to jump in and add my new findings. I'm very pleased now with the output and integration. Going to have to work to get them not to pull to the rear (even crossed at 50hz/24dB ol' Chesky voice pulls to the subs), but for now I'm happy. My wife hasn't left the car in the past 25 minutes. She's jammin' out to Dave Matthews as I type this.


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## Avernier (Sep 3, 2008)

holy **** theres a ton of room under that seat... i know it sounded pretty good even on HU power....i cant wait to hear it now.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I hope to have it ready to go for the next GTG. Need to do some tuning. It's pretty shouty and a bit too bright. Should be able to tame that down, though.


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## Avernier (Sep 3, 2008)

i designed my sub box and amp rack tonight. its going to be intense. hope its done by then.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Jeff Smith said:


> Nice build, keep up the good work.


Thanks, man. I appreciate that. Especially coming from an installer of the year. 


I don't know if Andrew told you, but on his advice after he saw you using it, I ordered an Axxess ASWC and love that thing. Was having some serious issues with the PAC piece I was using and the axxess piece took care of it all. 

Andrew keeps telling me I need to get some seat time with you. Hopefully I can get some pointers from you sometime soon.

Take care.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

H-Audio - AKA - Here-I-Come said:


> How is it going Jeff, nice chatting with you at SBN


Mark, after putting some power to the ebonys they came to life! Love those friggin' things man. I had them crossed at 56hz, 24dB and they didn't stutter at all. Put them back up to 80hz, since the doors can't take it, lol.

Hopefully I'll have it tuned up for the GTG next month and people can have a chance to hear them.

Thanks again, Mark, for EVERYTHING. Even being there to chat with when I'm bored.


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## stalintc (Dec 6, 2007)

Good clean install that seems to fit your need! I like it. Very clean application of the LLP.

If I may ask, how much of the LLP did you use? I am going to be placing an order and wanted a ball park on how much to get. 

Also, you mentioned calibrating mic*s*, are you using an array to tune with?

Thanks!


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

DAVE MATTHEWS FTMFW!!!! Nice choice of music Ms. Bikinpunk!!! Nice work Erin! Very very nice subtle install! I like it! I'll be sure to show my wife this when I get ready to do her car! She has an 06 Accord EX. Again nice work buddy!!


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## scooter99 (Dec 21, 2008)

Hey Erin did you still need a jigsaw? I've got a couple sitting around. Let me know!


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

bikinpunk said:


> Mark, after putting some power to the ebonys they came to life! Love those friggin' things man. I had them crossed at 56hz, 24dB and they didn't stutter at all. Put them back up to 80hz, since the doors can't take it, lol.
> 
> Hopefully I'll have it tuned up for the GTG next month and people can have a chance to hear them.
> 
> Thanks again, Mark, for EVERYTHING. Even being there to chat with when I'm bored.


Glad you are liking them Erin, Can't wait to hear them with the MD102's. I know they sound great with the Hertz ML28/Space 1 tweeters active or even on the the MLK165 and space passive crossovers.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

stalintc said:


> If I may ask, how much of the LLP did you use? I am going to be placing an order and wanted a ball park on how much to get.
> 
> Also, you mentioned calibrating mic*s*, are you using an array to tune with?


I used 2 full sheets in the cabin. Trim carefully and it should work out well. I used a solid piece on the rear portion, leaving a strip from the full sheet of about 4”x26”, iirc. Then I used another full sheet to cut pieces for the front floorboard. With the remainder, I covered the rear seat bench. After that I had just some very small scraps left from trimming.
I plan to use another sheet in the trunk.

It’s definitely improved the ride noise. It’s quite different. My wife drove it last night over to her Sister’s house and commented that it sounded quieter to her and asked if I ‘deadened it’. I didn’t tell her about the LLP beforehand. 

I’m only calibrating one at a time. I’ve got 2 I need to calibrate, though. 




scooter99 said:


> DAVE MATTHEWS FTMFW!!!! Nice choice of music Ms. Bikinpunk!!! Nice work Erin! Very very nice subtle install! I like it! I'll be sure to show my wife this when I get ready to do her car! She has an 06 Accord EX. Again nice work buddy!!


Thanks. I’m happy with it. I found some definite trouble spots that need attention. I’m going to work on the doors a bit and put some sort of absorption on the inside. Luckily, there are no rattles, though. 

The 8’s are working nice. I can’t crank them up too loud on pop songs because they will bottom out, but crossed between 31hz-63hz, they are a nice supplemental add to the system. Turn them off and you lose a lot of low end. So, they fill in very well. 

I don’t’ know about the jigsaw. Mine’s broken, I believe. I’ve looked at it, and tried to figure out if there’s a way to fix it, but I’m not sure there is. The problem is that it doesn’t hold straight anymore. The head swivels even when it’s supposed to be locked. I’m going to check on a warranty, though.





H-Audio - AKA - Here-I-Come said:


> Can't wait to hear them with the MD102's


When you gonna hear it? 



As said above, I need to do some work to get rid of peaks. There’s a few shouty spots. I’ll have to work on that sometime this week. Right now that’s the only glaring issue. Everything else is more detailed.


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

Looks great Erin, are you going to be in Roanoke on the 11th?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

That's a loooong haul for me. Probably not.


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## stalintc (Dec 6, 2007)

Your answers are much appreciated!!


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## glidn (Apr 21, 2007)

nice install man, mostly simply and very clean.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

just dropped this info in another thread, but in case anyone's watching this and wanting to use 2 SLS 8's off the rear deck in their car...


ran the RTA on the 8's today. Interesting results. Not necessarily because of the sub's ability to stay flat (within reason for 8's), but because of the serious suckout at ~160hz. The mic was positioned pointing straight up, pointing front and center, to the left, to the right and even in the passenger's seat facing up. There's a suckout there no matter what. I even used a mic mate instead of the mobile pre just to check the pre and the results were nearly dead on the same. 

In all cases there's a dip around 45hz, 65hz, 105hz, and 155hz (give or a take a couple hz). 
Resolution sat at 1/12dB to show a more realistic story. 1/3 shows roughly the same but hides a bit of the nasties. 

Car audio is fun.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

wow, four separate phase suckouts. I don't know that I've ever even seen that before.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Erin would the graph be more accurate if you increase the RTA resolution to 1/24 and also increase the averaging to like 1000, yes 1000. That way you would have more _real_ data from the increase resolution and a more accurate average. Might take a little bit for the average to settle at that setting so give it some time before stopping.

Also is there a way to increase the "FFT" setting from 16k to 64k. They recommend you have at least twice the maximum frequency you will be measuring (ie 20kHz). 16k has a frequency resolution of 2.7Hz while 64k is accurate to .67Hz (44k being 1Hz I assume).

Oh and keep the speed "slow" like you have it.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

t3sn4f2 said:


> Erin would the graph be more accurate if you increase the RTA resolution to 1/24 and also increase the averaging to like 1000, yes 1000.


 Same results. I tried. Averaging gives me minor differences. In the end, though, the resolution shows the same trend. How detailed is the only thing that changes. 



t3sn4f2 said:


> Also is there a way to increase the "FFT" setting from 16k to 64k. They recommend you have at least twice the maximum frequency you will be measuring (ie 20kHz). 16k has a frequency resolution of 2.7Hz while 64k is accurate to .67Hz (44k being 1Hz I assume).


Understood. I don’t recall there being an FFT setting in true. I know there is for aRTA. I’ll have to double check.
Since I’m measuring subs, does it matter? At that rate, the highest value I’d need (doubling 200hz) is 400hz. So, 400/16k = 0.025hz. That’s pretty high in resolution. Or is this wrong?

I’m trying to recall from memory how you came up with the above numbers. You did simply divide the sample rate by FFT points, correct?

I should’ve stayed awake in the instrumentation class.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Alright, here’s the skinny…


> TrueRTA uses either 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k or 64k FFTs as the starting point for its RTA displays.


It seems to me that the above resolutions are related to the resolution size you choose (1, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, and 1/24th octave). 
When I did these tests I ran them as pink noise, slow setting (to gather the low end information the best it could) at 1/24th. The output I showed was switched to 1/12th simply because it’s more smooth, while still telling a story. Quite frankly, Frank , I’m not sure if when I switch to the 1/12th after the measurements had been taken at 1/24th, if the information displayed is effected. IOW, if I were to choose to display at anything other than what I measured it at, I have a feeling that the info you see is somehow averaged or whatever, and spit out in the resolution you desire. I don’t know that you really ‘lose’ anything other than some of the detail. 

Averaging, however, is something I have yet to really tool around with. I typically set it to about 50-100, depending on what I’m measuring. I’ve never tried beyond 100. I’ll try 1000 for kicks, though. Bet it’s gonna be some noisy details.


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## HiVi Guy (Jan 16, 2010)

Sweet install man.


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## stalintc (Dec 6, 2007)

I would be interested to see if it is a problem with phase, room mode, or even having a baffle that is moving. That is if you want to go through all of that for a this install...


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## jmontoya21 (Apr 8, 2010)

hey what are you using for ground point on vic,and have you had any issues with it? i was going to run two wires from the battery one pos and neg but i got 0 gauge and those things are massive,so now im thinking of just running the power wire only from the battery,and use seat bolt or something for ground after a big 3 upgrade,any suggestions? i'm curious what are you doing about the eld on your civic

Meet your ELD - Electrical Load Detector.... - Honda Civic Forum


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## TEGBOY (May 4, 2008)

Very very nice. How is the HISSS on the PDX? I am weighing up running 2x PDX4.150 to run my Dyn system 342's actively. The JL HD's aren't all that easy to come by here in Australia.


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## bigguy (Apr 13, 2010)

JayinMI said:


> The 6 channel XD's arrived yesterday...but I don't have pricing info yet.
> God they're small. I was joking (kinda) with one of the guys about using the XD600/6 run 2 channels to tweets, and bridge the other channels to midbasses and a XD600/1 for the sub...except we don't have those yet.
> Maybe a good setup for the beater. Or an upgrade for the girl's Jeep when they get back.
> 
> Jay




I was thinking of doing that with the XD's. 

The civic looks great. Cant wait till i can do my wifes pathfinder.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

jmontoya21 said:


> hey what are you using for ground point on vic,and have you had any issues with it?


If you go back and look at the pictures, you'll see that I ran 4g directly off the battery for my ground. 

Not worried about the ELD. This is my wife's car. Even in my civic with 3 amps, I don't have any issues. 
Class D amps are very efficient. That's a major plus.



TEGBOY said:


> Very very nice. How is the HISSS on the PDX? I am weighing up running 2x PDX4.150 to run my Dyn system 342's actively. The JL HD's aren't all that easy to come by here in Australia.



It's there, but I don't really mind it. Again, it's my wife's car. If it were my car I would be using JL... well, I am using JL HD in my car so.... Not sure if that helps you or not.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Oooooooweeeeeee, I'm telling your wife, You said you can't care about the way her car sounds!!!!


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## dwaynecherokee (Feb 19, 2010)

Man I've been meaning to drop by your garage sometime but I've been busy. This thread needs more pics please.  Change something out, do what you have to do to deliver more pics, let's go!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

lol.

I heard you've got some gear coming and some already there. When do we start? haha. 


I haven't really done anything car audio related lately. I need to try to do a bit of tuning on mine but I've been busy with home audio stuffs and back riding my BMX again.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

managed to get a beat up ms-8 for my wife's car. It's ugly, but it works. 
I was so happy with mine, and I had pretty much decided I didn't really care to put effort into tuning her car like I do mine, so I wanted something to get a good, quick tune. So, the ms-8 was the clear choice after using it in my car. 

First impressions are: very nice. Didn't knock my socks off like mine did in my car, but all the good components are there: good solid center image, good staging, great overall sound. I'm certain the efforts and time I spent on my install are what makes the difference. I'm also pulling the tweeters out of the doors at some point because I can't stand them there. I didn't like them before with the 701 and I don't like them now. I may wind up going with a different tweeter altogether, too, because the overall sound of the dyns just aren't either mine nor her taste. 

Not a whole lot do to. Had to put this one under the driver's seat because it was too tall to stack on the pdx-5. Ran a 6ft male/female 3.5mm cable through the console to hook the ms-8 mics into quickly and hid the display cable under the seat so I can lean down and pull the cable from t here rather than running it somewhere. I'll hardly ever use it, and never keep the display connected so there's no point. 

I drive her car a lot, lately. Sweet thing is that now we can carry the ms-8 to a different car when we get one for her. She's happy with it. I'm happy with it. +1.

Glovebox mic connection:









MS-8 under driver's seat:









PDX-5 under passenger's seat:










Both together:











and, yes, when the seats are at normal position, all the cables and gear are out of range from a foot in the event we have backseat riders. And, since the baby is due soon, it's not too far off that we'll be riding in the backseat ourselves.


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

Looking pretty good. I have been considering the ms8 more and more here lately since I had to send my w200 off to alpine for some repair work and havent been able to use my h701


Also, congrats on the baby. My nephew is 5 months old and I couldnt imagine life with out him. He is great. I could only imagine whats its like having your own child.


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## Afronaut (Apr 27, 2010)

The install looks great and that is a nice use of space in the passenger compartment.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

thanks. 
that's the great thing about small amps; little space needed.


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Well!? What's the skinny? Did it make a difference in her car as well?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Yea. Definately helped things. I had probably put about 3 hours in on her tune just to get t/a and levels lined up. The ms8 made it sound much better than it had before, for sure. 

At some point, I'd still like to get a good 10 or 12" sub in there but I'm strapped so it's a no go. You still need to get these sls8's. 
Did you get my email late last week?


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Hmmm, I guess not. Send it again.

Make a 1/2assed baffle and try that 12". It's a LOT more efficient than the SLS's,


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I'll give it a shot. 

re-sending email


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Only Erin could get a product that has only been out a month in "beat up" condition. 

Jay


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

Did the extra neg battery wire make that big of a difference? I have the same car and never really noticed that much noise


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

which extra one?

you mean the one I ran to the amp? If so, I don't know if it made a difference. I did that very first in the install because after spending countless hours chasing down alt whine/ground loops in other installs I refused to do that in her car. Running a dedicated ground was no trouble so it was an easy decision.

If you're talking about the battery ground, then I don't know. Same thing: do it up front rather than trying to find out if it helps.

No issues with light dimming in her car. Single amp setup, and no need for gobs of power. I ordered a Clarion 1262w to put in the back to replace the sls8's. Should help get some more low end. Hopefully will have the box built this weekend and ready to go for the sub when it gets here.


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## Sulley (Dec 8, 2008)

Yeah, sorry. The Dedicated ground was what I was referring too. Seams like a good idea but I'm not sure if I have enough room to pull 2 runs of 0/1 gauge comfortably. I haven't really looked yet tho.

Excellent install, I can't wait to see the finished sub box. Good luck!


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## mitchyz250f (May 14, 2005)

Erin - How high do the SLS play and still sound OK.


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