Hi all,

Going to be installing my system in the coming weeks. Have a few questions however. I'd like to ask members to keep this on topic so other people can use it down the track.

Ok, so my system will be the following
6.5" splits, 6x9's, amp, and I will be retaining the stock 6 stack headunit with a line out converter. Feeding the speakers will be a constant 50w rms.

So here come the questions:

1. Mounting the amp seems easy enough. I want to mount it on the left side of the boot as the fire extinguisher is mounted on the right side boot floor. I want to mount the amp on an mdf or similar board that is carpeted on a tilted angle. Where can I get a suitable carpeted mdf board from? I will most likely have to cut it to size right?

2. I read somewhere that you need to run the amp wiring down opposite sides of the car. Is this correct? Note I will be using the hole in the firewall in the drivers side footwell to connect to battery.

3. The line out converter I will be using, where would be the best place to mount it? Behind the dash?

4. Mounting the splits into the door, will removing the plastic mount be required? Like, will it rattle like a crazy man or will it be fine with some sound deadener over it? I'm not really good with cutting mdf boards etc.

5. With the inner door trim, I notice there is a plastic sheet covering everything. I see that to sound deaden your doors, you need to tear this off. What exactly is it there for? I'm assuming water proofing. If so, what can I do to substitute for it considering I will be ripping it off?

Sorry for the long post, hope I can get some clarity on these topics.

Cheers,
Chris

2. I read somewhere that you need to run the amp wiring down opposite sides of the car. Is this correct? Note I will be using the hole in the firewall in the drivers side footwell to connect to battery.


you would run the power cables down the drivers side then, and the rca's down the passenger side. this is to prevent electrical interference between the power signals and the music signals :D

Awesome!That's one down :)

I just ripped the waterproofing out, it had started to shrivel anyway

My car is not even two years old lol. Mine's perfect atm.

If you are really worried just re-glue some clear plastic back over the inside of the doors

1. Mounting the amp seems easy enough. I want to mount it on the left side of the boot as the fire extinguisher is mounted on the right side boot floor. I want to mount the amp on an mdf or similar board that is carpeted on a tilted angle. Where can I get a suitable carpeted mdf board from? I will most likely have to cut it to size right?
I doubt you'll find MDF already carpeted, best place to go would be bunnings and buy some MDF, i used 12mm from memory. You can then buy the carpet from most car shops eg. supercheap/autobarn etc. and carpet the board yourself, it's not hard.


2. I read somewhere that you need to run the amp wiring down opposite sides of the car. Is this correct? Note I will be using the hole in the firewall in the drivers side footwell to connect to battery.
Well this is kinda true, if you're using good quality cables it SHOULDN'T matter, but i guess it's always better to be safe then sorry. As said above you'd run your power cable/s down the driver side and the speaker/rca cable down the left hand side.


3. The line out converter I will be using, where would be the best place to mount it? Behind the dash?
I'm assuming that the line out converter will have some sort of equaliser on it? Best place would be somewhere that's neat, but you can easily access it to adjust it. Maybe mounted to the plastic down underneath the steering wheel within arms reach?


4. Mounting the splits into the door, will removing the plastic mount be required? Like, will it rattle like a crazy man or will it be fine with some sound deadener over it? I'm not really good with cutting mdf boards etc.
For 50wrms I don't think so, mount into the plastic and if you're finding you're getting too many rattles, sound deadening should fix that right up.


5. With the inner door trim, I notice there is a plastic sheet covering everything. I see that to sound deaden your doors, you need to tear this off. What exactly is it there for? I'm assuming water proofing. If so, what can I do to substitute for it considering I will be ripping it off?
Yup water proofing. I removed it in my TR and didn't see any bad effects, but i like having it there just in case. I haven't sound deadened my doors so you might have to ask someone who has whether they've retained the waterproofing or even somehow managed to use the sound deadener as a water proofing as well?

1. Mounting the amp seems easy enough. I want to mount it on the left side of the boot as the fire extinguisher is mounted on the right side boot floor. I want to mount the amp on an mdf or similar board that is carpeted on a tilted angle. Where can I get a suitable carpeted mdf board from? I will most likely have to cut it to size right?

there will be no problem mounting your amp on the side of your boot. cause thats where i have mine :D. its a nice clean install and looks great doesnt get in the way of anything. MDF doesnt come carpeted so you'll need to buy some carpet from a vechile retrimmer or audio shop, 12mm minimum would be the best thing to use


2. I read somewhere that you need to run the amp wiring down opposite sides of the car. Is this correct? Note I will be using the hole in the firewall in the drivers side footwell to connect to battery.

this is true it is to stop any signal interferance, why not try the hole in the centre of the firewall just behind the main harness in the centre console?


3. The line out converter I will be using, where would be the best place to mount it? Behind the dash?

somewhere neat and out of the way and also with easy access. behind the dash will be fine.


4. Mounting the splits into the door, will removing the plastic mount be required? Like, will it rattle like a crazy man or will it be fine with some sound deadener over it? I'm not really good with cutting mdf boards etc.

just repace the speaker and all should be ok. but if it still rattles which i dont think it will cause i think the trim pushes it hard up against the door, if your worried about it maybe try and fix the plastic panel to the door somehow eg. shelf tappers but the very small ones.


5. With the inner door trim, I notice there is a plastic sheet covering everything. I see that to sound deaden your doors, you need to tear this off. What exactly is it there for? I'm assuming water proofing. If so, what can I do to substitute for it considering I will be ripping it off?

i think its there to absurb the moisture inside the door, you will only need to peel back a small amount of the plastice then when your done just stick it back into place

Great responses. Thanks so much guys!

Oh sorry, forgot to ask another question. The crossovers (i think thats there name) that come with the speakers, where do I mount them for the front splits? They would vibrate like crazy in the doors right? I want them out of the way.

you can either mount them in the dash, thats if you find somewhere to put them or screw them to the door, mine are in the door they are mounted around the centre of the door, on the right hand side of the door handle thats if you looking at the passenger door if would be the on left hand side for the dirvers door. oh and they go on the outside of the door not the inside of the window mechanisem is

1. Mounting the amp seems easy enough. I want to mount it on the left side of the boot as the fire extinguisher is mounted on the right side boot floor. I want to mount the amp on an mdf or similar board that is carpeted on a tilted angle. Where can I get a suitable carpeted mdf board from? I will most likely have to cut it to size right?

That's the same spot as where I've got my amp :D I just bought a piece of MDF (I think it was 6mm or 12mm) and cut it to size. I bought some speaker carpet from Autobarn ($40 for a 2x1m sheet) and cut it to size too. It's not a perfect match for the boot carpet, but it's reasonable enough IMO.


2. I read somewhere that you need to run the amp wiring down opposite sides of the car. Is this correct? Note I will be using the hole in the firewall in the drivers side footwell to connect to battery.

As mentioned previously, the idea is to separate the power cable from the other cables as much as possible. When my mate and I originally set up my sound system, we ran speaker wires/RCAs/power cable all together.... the whine coming from the speakers was unbelievable.


4. Mounting the splits into the door, will removing the plastic mount be required? Like, will it rattle like a crazy man or will it be fine with some sound deadener over it? I'm not really good with cutting mdf boards etc.

From a true audiophile's point of view, the plastic mount probably wouldn't be sufficient, but it should be fine for most. I've got a decent pair of Pioneer Splits (http://www.pioneer.com.au/products/car_entertainment/Speakers/TS_C_Speaker_Range/TSC160R) (powered by a Jaycar 4x 130 amp) mounted in the standard plastic mounts and I've never noticed any rattles.


Oh sorry, forgot to ask another question. The crossovers (i think thats there name) that come with the speakers, where do I mount them for the front splits? They would vibrate like crazy in the doors right? I want them out of the way.

I covered the main service hole in the door with MDF, and mounted the crossovers on there. However we did a bit of a bodge job at it - if you can do it properly, it'd probably work well. I'm redoing my system at the end of the year, and while I haven't really looked into it, I think I'll mount both my crossovers under the passenger seat. The disadvantage to this location is the extra speaker wire required (need to run both speaker and tweeter wires for both speakers to underneath the seat).

Oh sorry, forgot to ask another question. The crossovers (i think thats there name) that come with the speakers, where do I mount them for the front splits? They would vibrate like crazy in the doors right? I want them out of the way.
I've actually mounted my crossovers on the MDF board that has my amp mounted to it. Saved me having to re-wire into the doors :P.

I've actually mounted my crossovers on the MDF board that has my amp mounted to it. Saved me having to re-wire into the doors :P.

this is also a good choice but if you dont want to re-wire into any of the doors mount the crossover in the door and just add any extra wire if needed to the existing wire thats already in the door. then from the main harness use the speaker wires on the harness that is connected to the car not the deck and soilder speaker wire to them then run it to your amp, if your unsure of which wire powers which speaker i'll tell you alittle trick of the trade tip to make it easier for you :D, just use an AA battery and place positive to positive and negative to negative and this will create a signal so you can tell which speaker it is coming from

this is also a good choice but if you dont want to re-wire into any of the doors mount the crossover in the door and just add any extra wire if needed to the existing wire thats already in the door. then from the main harness use the speaker wires on the harness that is connected to the car not the deck and soilder speaker wire to them then run it to your amp, if your unsure of which wire powers which speaker i'll tell you alittle trick of the trade tip to make it easier for you :D, just use an AA battery and place positive to positive and negative to negative and this will create a signal so you can tell which speaker it is coming from
That would only work if my tweeter was in the doors. I have mine mounted where the round things are on top of the dash that pop out. So it was easy just to use the existing speaker wire for the woofers and then run new wire to the boot for the tweeters :).

That would only work if my tweeter was in the doors. I have mine mounted where the round things are on top of the dash that pop out. So it was easy just to use the existing speaker wire for the woofers and then run new wire to the boot for the tweeters :).

ah yeah i forgot that your car doesnt have any tweeter pods on the doors. but you must have run a fair amount of wire if you did it that way, should have just mounted it under the dash and cable tied it somewhere, but hey if it works is good enough :D.

ah yeah i forgot that your car doesnt have any tweeter pods on the doors. but you must have run a fair amount of wire if you did it that way, should have just mounted it under the dash and cable tied it somewhere, but hey if it works is good enough :D.
Yeh could have done that too, and yeh there's a fair bit of wire lol. But it was easier at the time to do it that way :). I was looking for some tweeter pods for ages and then 3 days after i installed them into the round dash plastic someone posted some cheap ones up for sale :(.