I've gone out and bought myself a 4 channel amplifier to connect to the front and rear speakers, and a 2 channel amplifier to bridge to a Sub woofer.
I would attempt doing the installation myself, but I'd imagine that it would take me a very long time to do :S
I've been asking around for quotes to install all that and everywhere I look the price is around the $300 mark.

Does anyone know of a good audio installation places around Victoria?
Or has anyone tried installing something similar before that can share their experiences?:)

The installation isn't difficult. If you read a few guides and are ok with your hands you should not have any issues.
Keep in mind that you most likely need additional parts to get it all to work which can cost a bit.
For example fuse holders, wiring, RCA cables etc etc

ive done all my installs, its all pretty basic, and once you understand the fundamentals of the cabling & connections its actually very easy......... in theory.

to do a reasonable job is fairly quick, but to do a tidy job requires alot of time. The biggest hurdle (which can be easier in some cars than others) is to find the best hidden route for the power cable from the battery into the cabin.

ive seen countless installs done by "professionals" which are beyond a joke, and sometimes a fire hazard. But when a customer is looking for absolute cheapest quote, what else is to be expected?

For example fuse holders, wiring, RCA cables etc etc
I forgot to mention that I also have all the wiring for it. Power cables, RCAs etc.


The biggest hurdle (which can be easier in some cars than others) is to find the best hidden route for the power cable from the battery into the cabin.
That's what I've been thinking the whole time. I understand how to wire everything up, but it's tidying everything that makes me a little unsure. How did you go about hiding everything?

Are you going to be keeping the standard Head Unit??

Are you going to be keeping the standard Head Unit??
For the moment, yes

If you are replacing the head unit, consider a parrot asteroid smart. http://www.parrot.com/catalog/products/parrot-asteroid-smart/#top

[QUOTE=Mitsu Miyagi;1583326]

The biggest hurdle (which can be easier in some cars than others) is to find the best hidden route for the power cable from the battery into the cabin.
QUOTE]

The diagram below from the LPG installation instructions provides a 'safe ' option for firewall penetration location

http://imageshack.com/i/jaa1n1j

http://imageshack.com/a/img694/7601/a1n1.jpg

i went through the guard and found an empty hole going into the cabin. Bit of mucking around with removing front wheel, pulling the inner plastic guards off, remove a brace to make more room etc. Not difficult, just takes time.

If you remove the indicator, you jiggy the power cable through, once its pushed through from the inside....
No need to go drilling holes....
Its a great way to introduce early rusting, and spoil that double Gal that the Mitsi's have going for them...

If I had to drill a hole, it would be behind the strut Tower on the left, and pop into the cabin using the grommeted hole near the FL door hinge...
I'd suggest you prime and enamel any holes you make... And of course fit Grommets.

I'm going to have a crack at this some time during the coming week. God knows how long before I throw my tools and give up

good stuff.

any particular info you need just ask, but im sure you already know the basics

the power cable, try fitting the inline fuse within 30-40cm from the battery. I routed the cable into the passenger side guard following the other wiring. Then if you remove the wheel and plastic inner guards youll find a rubber grommet above other wiring that you can use to feed into the cabin. Amp can be mounted under passenger seat, plenty room. Just make sure you remove negative lead on battery first as it can throw up airbag codes when removing seat

good stuff.

any particular info you need just ask, but im sure you already know the basics

the power cable, try fitting the inline fuse within 30-40cm from the battery. I routed the cable into the passenger side guard following the other wiring. Then if you remove the wheel and plastic inner guards youll find a rubber grommet above other wiring that you can use to feed into the cabin. Amp can be mounted under passenger seat, plenty room. Just make sure you remove negative lead on battery first as it can throw up airbag codes when removing seat

Okay, got it! Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it!

I'm starting to become a bit unsure as to whether my amp is going to have enough power for my sub. The sub wants 300W RMS and the amp (when bridged) provides 200W at 4ohms.
Will that be much of a problem? Or is there a way I can change the ohm load for the sub to 2 ohms so that I can have 400W RMS from the amp?

we dont know what amp your using? Is the sub a SVC or DVC?

im using a monoblock amp which is made just for subs, power rating is 2ohm 500wRMS and the sound is only just passable. Id say you might be a little disapointed with 300wrms, but if you use a ported box it might help pickup some sound

we dont know what amp your using? Is the sub a SVC or DVC?
Not too sure. I bought it off someone else who didnt know the model of the sub, so I have no way of finding out unless I take the sub out of its box.

It might be worthwhile just to get something with a bit more guts since your going to all the trouble of fitting it.

500WRMS Kenwood Monoblock Amp & 4 gauge wiring kit........... $218 posted
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Kenwood-KAC-5001PS-500W-RMS-1000W-Mono-Block-Car-Class-D-Amplifier-Amp-Kit-/390604555345

500WRMS Alpine 12" sub........... $178 posted
www.ebay.com.au/itm/Alpine-SWS-12D4-1500W-Type-S-12-Car-Subwoofer-/251285666768

Then get a box made to exact spec. The owners manual for the alpine goes into detail on box & vent specs. In the sealed box the sub will hit 49Hz, but the ideal vented box it'll hit 31Hz. Big difference, but i enjoy the extra boot space with the smaller sealed box.

In the sealed box the sub will hit 49Hz, but the ideal vented box it'll hit 31Hz. Big difference, but i enjoy the extra boot space with the smaller sealed box.

Not Quite how it works...
I thinks it more like the peak will be 49 Hz in the Sealed, but it will play flatter over all. Ported will peak @ 31, but quite possibly be lower elsewhere over the sealed. Good chance of the ported being louder at the 31 by 3 DB or so, without looking at the specs...
Not taking the car into consideration.

yeah im not 100% sure on the what the Hz specs meant

for ported is says 31Hz, 4.1dB, 36Hz

if you could explain that would be great

As far as I was aware if you had 2 perfectly shaped boxes, one ported and one sealed, that the ported would be louder with a lower frequency response but the sealed would be faster and higher frequency response giving more accurate but less punchy sound reproduction. This would explain why you needed more power before you were satisfied with your sub Miyagi. I always thought with car sound you wanted to avoid sealed boxes until hitting quite high-end equipment.

i hated my new setup because i always use "loud" setting on headunits for chunky bass at low- medium volume. And if i needed to fine tune i would overdrive the bass a little

but this new unit doesnt have any loud setting, so i found you could only hear the bass when headunit volume was maxed out. No "bass" and "treble" settings, rather an equalizer which ive found is tricky to get right so ive just left it on a preset setting. im going off topic though........

I'd find a box that fits in the car well, then find a sub to suit it...

Mind you, I saw a Kicker 12 in the manufacturers box in a Cashies today, for 120, I reckon they'd take a hundred...
And a pair of 12's in the same ported box, just larger for 200...
But if your are prepared to accept better noise, for less volume.. Sealed.. If you want to be the next R&B guy up your street, go ported...

What is the best way of removing the rear seats as to run the cabling to the sub? I've read through the few posts about rear seat removal, but don't really have a clear understanding of how it is done.
Does anyone know the best way to go about this?

just need to remove the base. Easily done by pulling upwards at the front, theres 2 clips one on each side then the seat lifts out. You will be able to feed cable into the boot from there.

as mentioned, i had the amp setup under the passenger seat heaps of room, then just ran the speaker cable for the sub into the boot with some bullet connectors on the end. Along with velcro stapled & glued under the box it makes it a 5 second job to temporarily remove box if i have to and when its sitting in there it doesnt move. Dont underestimate the power of velcro haha

Okay that all seems easy enough.

My sub box actually wedges really well into the back of the boot, but I will be sure to use velcro also.

Where does the grommet that's just behind the battery, lead to? Or is it best just to run the power cable through the guard as mentioned earlier? Which plastic guards need to be removed exactly, and where does the hole enter into the cabin?

I feel so hopeless asking so many questions haha

running it through the guard its completely hidden, and there is no cutting or drilling.

run it from the battery into the passenger side guard......... you will see other taped up wiring running into there from the engine bay. Remove wheel and those annoying scrivets so you can remove the inner plastic lining. Only really need to remove half of it for access. Then look up high and you will see a rubber grommet that you pull out and use the hole for the cabin entry. I left the grommet in there and fed the cable through it to keep it sealed. Also zip tie everything to stop cable jumping around

the only better way to explain it is to just get to work and it'll all seem clear. :)

does this work with 0 awg?

Yes, or two runs of 4g

I've just (last weekend) installed 2 Kicker amps, 12" sub in the spare wheel well, JL Audio speakers and a Pioneer dvd head unit. My advice don't be drilling holes in the car, run the power cables from the battery through the left hand side front wheel arch. It's easy, but fiddly. Cable comes out near the glovebox. I didn't have to drill a single hole and it took me about 20 mins or so to run 2 power cables. I didn't even remove the wheel, just undo some of the screws that hold the inside of the plastic wheel arch on. Ran the cables into the boot where both amps sit. Basic installation but it works a treat for me.

Installed 2 Kicker amps, 12" sub in the spare wheel well

Got any pictures of that setup?

I have a few pics but haven't had time to post any as yet. I'm running a Pioneer AVH 2450 BT headunit, PAC Audio steering wheel controller, Kicker ZX 400.1 and KX 400.4 amps, Orion Cobalt 12" sub in a sealed box (not as loud or "boomy" as the ported ones I used to run) and JL Audio c2-600 6" splits in the doors and tweeters in the dash and JL Audio TR690-TXi 6x9 3 ways in the rear shelf. It's no competition system but I have had the whole 4 12's in the boot when I was younger and wanted boot space this time around. It won't win any awards but I'm happy with it. :)

I have a few pics

Whenever you do find time to post some, I'd really love to see them

Whenever you do find time to post some, I'd really love to see them
If your still interested I just added a couple of quick pics on the photo album under my profile. I don't have photo's of the doors or rear parcel shelf because I left it stock and the JL Audio 6x9's bolted straight into the factory holes with and the doors just needed me to make a backing plate which I did out of wood. Sounds good, no problems at all.