Install Log Thread/Alpine Imprint full system

I just started a large install today. I have an 07 Legacy Limited. I bought it a year ago, and did speakers, but kept the rest stock. The speakers are Boston Acoustics Z's up front, and Pro's in the rear. Update 5/21, Z's are officially for sale. Installed Image Dynamics XS-65's in my door.

 

As for the current project, here is the parts list

150 sq ft E-Dead V1 (butyl rubber based)

6 yards ensolite

(Alpine PXE-H650) - Sold, taken out, didn't end up using it

(Rockford Type RF X4.C (cover is long lost)) Out of car, for sale

(Kicker ZR-240) out of car, for sale

(Kicker CompVR 10') - Removed, for sale

Eclipse CD8053

JL Audio 500/5 - Just installed - See page 5

Image Dynamics ID8V2 x 2

Image Dynamics XS-65

0.5 Farad cap

 

The goal of this install is to have a very good sounding system, with minimal impact to the car as far as day to day use. My goal at this point is to consume as little space as possible, possibly using the spare tire area to house amps and sub in order to not lose cargo area. Any ideas welcome at this stage, as while i have an idea for how the amps and sub will be laid out, I have not finalized it.

UPDATE 4/21/08 - Going to keep Amps in spare tire well along with spare tire, and mount subs on side corners. Image Dynamics subs take very little space, and a flush mount side sub will look good and not take up useable trunk space.

 

Just completed the first stage of the install, which was trunk work.

 

Here is the e-dead, it's all that was added today.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0133.jpg

 

 

Stripped Trunk, all carpet removed.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0139.jpg

 

 

Here is the trunk lid and the trunk after a few hours of work

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0147.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0150.jpg

 

 

And here is the boring post operation picture

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0153.jpg

 

Ideally, when I'm done, the trunk will look exactly the same. Only time will tell there.

 

The next step is the doors. There is already some insulation in the doors, but they're getting re-done. I'll post pics when that effort concludes. After the doors, the third and final stage is going to be the cabin, where the entire cabin is stripped, wires are run, sound insulation is laid down, sub box is built and amps/box are installed.

Interested to see how it comes out. I have a H650 that I am getting ready to install too. Good luck.

Right on! I just made a huge audio order the other day and one of the things being the PXE-H650. I went with 2.5 rolls of Raamat along with a bunch of ensolite and Infinity 475a amp, 60.7cs components, 62.7i coaxials, and Basslink. Should be a fun install.

 

Let us know how things go with the Alpine processor! From what I've read I might be buying a line driver to get the outputs on the H650 up to where they should be.

Subscribed...

Update on the install.

 

Just did the doors. There was some dynamat extreme in the doors before I started, and as you can see, Tweeter didnt' do such a good job with it.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0180.jpg

 

Here is that same door after adding e-dead

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0204.jpg

 

 

Here is the completed rear right door.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0202.jpg

 

 

 

And finally, a picture of the drivers side door

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0200.jpg

 

 

The doors went back together without a hitch, and now close with nicer thuds. I didn't notice a big difference in road noise, at least the way the car sounded. However, the HVAC fan seemed much louder compared to road nosie.

 

Next week, probably Wednesday, I'll be adding a layer of Ensolite to each door. That weekend, I'll hopefully finish the install, with the e-Dead + ensolite finished in the whole cabin along with the amps, Fiberglass enclosure, and Alpine PXE-H650.

Nice. I am jealous. You have the Z6's models previous to mine and the tweeter plates don't stick out as far so they fit under the panel. Good job with the deadner. The you should notice some reduction in road noise when the ensolite in there.

Friday, we took out the interior. Saturday we added sound deadening and ran wires. We also started reconstruction. Today (Sunday), we have to finish reconstructing the car, and we're going to mount a temporary amp rack.

 

I'm also leaning on using the 8 inch rear deck factory sub hole for a sub. I'm probably going to get an Image Dynamics ID8 V3. Even if the rear deck doesn't pan out, that sub should be good to put somewhere else.

 

Also, for installing the PXE-H650, I did not want to cut the factory wire harness, and I found something odd, my car already had something to allow that! The Factory subwoofer cable is a male to female harness that allows you to tap all wires to redirect what you want, while leaving the rest!! We redirected the speaker outs from the radio to the 9-wire cable for the Alpine, while connecting the speaker wire to the 9-wire to the trunk.

 

Also, thanks to LegacyGT.com and all the forum users' Vacation Pictures. They were awesome!

 

Here's pics!

 

Rear seat back coming out

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0336.jpg

 

 

Floor without seats, from deconstruction on Fridayhttp://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0338.jpg

 

Rear Deck stripped

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0340.jpg

 

Bare metal Cabin. The passenger side has a metal foot guard for some reason.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0343.jpg

 

Close up of the dissasembled dashboard

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0344.jpg

 

Here's a better shot of the stripped rear deck. You can see the 8-inch hole covered up. I beleive that is used for the Mcintosh audio option sadly not offered here in the states.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0347.jpg

 

Here is the pile of stuff we took out of the cabin

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0349.jpg

 

 

Now that was the end of day 1. We started that on Friday around 8pm, and finished around 11PM. Not bad for deconstruction.

 

Here is day 2

 

The rear deck, covered in eDeadhttp://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0352.jpg

 

The rear seat area, also covered in eDead

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0353.jpg

 

Passenger side area

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0354.jpg

 

Drivers side. Haven't run the power wire at this point.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0355.jpg

 

Passenger side close up

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0356.jpg

 

Shot of the center console area

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0357.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the rear cabin area

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0361.jpg

 

We found a very easy hole to use for getting the 4 GA wire into the car. The gas pedal is on the right, and the hole is right above it. A bit of a pain to get to by hand, but out of the way enough to keep power wire invisible.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0358.jpg

 

Better shot of the hole in the firewall.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0359.jpg

 

Here is a shot of the hole under the hood. It's the hole in the exposed metal area, hard to miss.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0360.jpg

 

Here is the hole, with wire running through. I used eDead to re-seal the firewall over the rubber hole on the interior.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0362.jpg

 

I then replaced the foam that covers this hole, and held it in place with a slice of eDead

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0363.jpg

 

Here is the underhood routing.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0369.jpg

 

Continued in Next post

Now for running the power wire. The Legacy has an awesome space for running wire, with clips and everything available. I used that space to run the power wire. It fits under the carpet like a dream, completely invisible.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0370.jpg

 

The power wire, continued.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0371.jpg

 

The power wire part III, it's a trilogy.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0372.jpg

 

Now for the RCAs. These run from under the passenger seat to the trunk. Just like the power wire, there's spare clips on the side to use for extra wires. Here are the RCAs running under the rear right door, they're hard to see, as they blend in so well.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0373.jpg

 

Here are the RCAs running into the trunk.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0374.jpg

 

The harness I mentioned came from the dealer. If anyone wants to do this, I'm sure the factory subwoofer install harness is orderable. It's definetly a useful peice, as we were able to use the wires in it for power and remote turn-on. Here is a shot of the finished harness.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0375.jpg

 

And another shot of the harness.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0376.jpg

 

Here is the end going into the Alpine PXE-H650. I can't wait to fire that thing up.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0377.jpg

 

The lighting didn't come out as I liked in the next few pictures. Anyway, Here is the 9-wire routed down the center console area.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0382.jpg

 

Following that 9-wire, it curves around to follow the countor of the car, so the carpet would lay flat when we are done.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0381.jpg

 

Here is a very dark shot of the 9-wire going across the car.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0380.jpg

 

And next, the 9-wire continues its trip rearward. Again following contour so rear seat will still mount without issue.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0379.jpg

 

And the 9-wire finishes its journey to the trunk here.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0378.jpg

 

Next are three misc shots I took before we started re-assembling the car.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0383.jpg

 

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0384.jpg

 

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0385.jpg

 

Here is the carpet replaced!

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0386.jpg

 

Rear seat going back in.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0387.jpg

 

Rear seat, again

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0388.jpg

 

And success! Rear seat installed.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0389.jpg

 

Contuned in next post

Now, finished with Day 2. We're going to start day 3 as soon as I get picked up. Here are the final shots from the end of day 2.

 

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0390.jpg

 

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0391.jpg

 

 

Ok, hope everyone has enjoyed this so far. I also promised my friend who is helping me that I'd link to his car. It's a Camry Solara, and we're doing the same type of work to it.

http://www.solaraguy.com/viewtopic.php?p=448497

There's repeats of the earlier pics up top.

The edead looks like it forms to the bends really easily. Whats the thickness on it? When I did the same using Raamat I had to cut it into 4 inch wide strips and then smaller strips from there if needed.

 

FYI make sure that you can slide the Alpine PXE-H650 out from under the seat so that you can read the display and make changes to the settings. Once you get it dialed in you're going to love it!

 

Nice install by the way!

Finished for the weekend. Today included Ensolte covered doors, amps, temp sub, and Alpine PXE-H650.

 

 

Here are the doors. All covered in ensolite now.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0393.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0395.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0397.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0399.jpg

 

Wires in my trunk, will be more there soon.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0401.jpg

 

 

Dash going back together

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0412.jpg

 

And the dashboard looking good

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0413.jpg

 

and the interior is back together

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0414.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0415.jpg

 

Here's the Alpine PXE-H650 hiding under the passenger seat

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0416.jpg

 

Here is the temp amp rack along with the temp sub. I'm probably picking up an 8 inch Image Dynamics sub. We're going to make a fiberglass rack for that later.

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0417.jpg

 

 

That's it for today. I calibrated the PXE-H650, and it sounds pretty good. I think i need to tweak some options to make it better. Also have a little alternator whine, need to track that down.

I've been playing with the PXE-H650. I've run into the factory radio's EQ, so the best volume control appears to be the PXE-H650 Remote.

 

So far, the results are pretty good. Once there are dash kits from HCA, I may get an HVAC kit, and install the Eclipse 8053 I have sitting around to get a cleaner output. Then again, Maybe I'll sell that and get a Nav unit instead.

 

I'll be installing a Image Dynamics 8 inch sub in the rear deck as soon as it arrives. I'll post pics when I can.

Thanks for sharing, definitely a labor of love.

 

You put some serious work into that. Very nice.

How much weight did you add ? Definitely your are a serious sound enthusiast...but most of us cringe at the idea of the extra weight added by sound proofing materials. And I personally would not run without a full size spare either.

f1anatic, I didn't add much weight. The sound proofing is maybe 20lb total so far. I'm also pretty light, so compared to most people, no loss there The amps and the sub are heavier, but not that bad.

 

At this point, I'm not looking a spare tire delete. I'm going with a rear deck 8 inch Image Dynamics sub. That sub should only add around 8lb according to UPS.

 

Also, I got frustrated with the Radio’s speaker level out. I was talking to Rich from HCA, and looking into getting RCA outputs out of the factory radio. I'm currently working on my 07 radio to that end. However, I got frustrated, and, well, here's pics of the result

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0430.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l177/ean611/DSCN0431.jpg

 

 

That's my old Eclipse 8053. I'm running just the front RCA outputs from that into the Alpine Imprint, and using the 8053 in non-pro mode. This allows me to have a 13 band EQ to further tune the system with.

 

I'm still working on getting RCA outputs out of the factory radio, as I'd like to run the factory radio into the Eclipse AUX in. Sound quality will be better directly through the Eclipse, but the Eclipse has a CD player and iPod adapter, so I'm not sure what I'll use the factory radio for, but since it's there, I want it hooked up. I also saved the original cubby, so I can take out the Eclipse from there if there ever is a good inexpensive kit from Rich at HCA to remove the factory radio. The current rework Rich does looks phenomenal, it's just I don't want to spend $950 to get it.

 

I used a Metra F150 install kit, got the idea from another forum member. I was able to cut the kit to make everything fit. I'm probably going to make new covers later to clean up the look of the cubby.

Hola ean. What did you find out on those discussed caps? That sucks that AVO kit isnt made anymore. I wonder why...

 

Sound better with the 8053?

 

Rich @ HCA

As it turns out, the op-amps that are in line there are needed to buffer the signal, and produce enough power to drive the amp. So as a result, I don't have RCA outs yet, but I'm still working on it.

Hola ean. What did you find out on those discussed caps? That sucks that AVO kit isnt made anymore. I wonder why...

 

Sound better with the 8053?

 

Rich @ HCA

 

Which AVO Kit are you refering to? Just curious.

Googalash:

 

Good question!

 

I've seen a kit referred to when I search the forum. However, the link is dead. There is also a JDM import kit that you can find if you search the forum, it's $115.

 

I'm going to cut my own plastic to clean up the area, much cheaper, and much more fun!

Update to my system. I think I may be pulling out the PXE-H650 and selling it along with my eclipse CD8053. I'll probably be getting an Eclipse 7200 MKII instead.

 

I also just ordered a second Image Dynamics ID8V2, so I'm going to run twin 8 inch woofers in parallel @ 2 Ohm. I have a truck box with ~.38 cu ft per woofer coming to test all this out, and I think I'm going to mount the woofers in teh sides of the trunk. Those areas are useless anyway. Will update first post with new info.

Update to my system. I think I may be pulling out the PXE-H650 and selling it along with my eclipse CD8053. I'll probably be getting an Eclipse 7200 MKII instead.

 

I also just ordered a second Image Dynamics ID8V2, so I'm going to run twin 8 inch woofers in parallel @ 2 Ohm. I have a truck box with ~.38 cu ft per woofer coming to test all this out, and I think I'm going to mount the woofers in teh sides of the trunk. Those areas are useless anyway. Will update first post with new info.

 

Giving up on the Alpine already?

tomfohr, yeah, I'd like to continue experimenting with the Alpine, but I've already had better results with 25 min of tuning with the Eclipse 8053+ my laptop (Lenovo T61) running RoomEQ Wizard (google it, it's very useful). I still need a good balanced mic for RoomEQ Wizard, but the tone generator + my ears got me very close with the 8053.

 

I'm debating between the 7200 MKII and the Rockford 3Sixty.2. The new Eclipse I-ESERVE stuff looks very decent, but I don't know how good it is.

 

EDIT: Also, one of the side effects of that much sound deadener combined with MSRP$1000 speakers is that you end up with a pretty flat frequency response. I have around 5 or 6 of the Eclipse's PEQ used out of 10.

Hold your idea for just one week..

 

We have an Audi TT that getting the full treatment, and the CD7200 mkII. We will be tuning with the MEI-100 Pro Mic and supposedly, its quite a winner combo.

 

Ill have shots of it on our website when its done, and post our findings here.

 

I figured you would have switched to the 8053. The Imprint wasnt going to offer [you] enough. The RF piece has been said to own as far as adjustable OEM adaptors. We'll see about the Eclipse.

 

Thanks,

 

Rich @ HCA