Questions about JL E6450 amp and general installation

Well, after much hemming and hawing, I decided to bite the bullet and put together a decent system for the car. I spent four months making excuses to myself about the quality of the stock system; earlier this week, I just snapped and went on a buying rampage. I think I can live with most of the bits I purchased in this fit of rage:

* JL Cleansweep

* MB Quart 12" PWE-302 sub and 1.25cuft sealed box

* JL E6450 6-channel amp and RBC

* CDT EF61-CF components

There are, however, two things about the amp that worry me. First, will the damn thing fit somewhere in the car that doesn't require a custom amp rack (you know, under the seats, behind the rear seats in the trunk, elsewhere in the trunk). Second, will the bridged 5th and 6th channels be enough juice to run the sub at any reasonable level? (I'll be wiring it for a 4-ohm load; both 2-ohm coils in series.) I'm not a basshead; I just want it to be able to keep up with the mains and not sound strained in the process.

Falling under the general installation question category, where in the car is a convenient place to drop the RBC and Cleansweep knobs and controls, preferably next to each other?

Thanks in advance.

I chose to mount the controls where the seat heater controls were (I live in FL so I don't need them). If that isn't convenient, you could possibly mount them inside the cupholder area with a little custom work to make a nice plate for them.

The amp could be mounted against the back of the rear seat where it will be out of the way. I have a wagon and I mounted my amps under the spare tire cover and vented the cover with some mesh inserts.

PART 1: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10031

PART 2: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10187

PART 3: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11345

PART 4: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11980

PART 5: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11981

Good luck with your system!

Manville Smith

JL Audio, Inc.

Thanks for the reply, Manville. I live on the absolute opposite end of the country from you (in WA), and the seat heaters are becoming mandatory as the air becomes damp and chilly. As awesome as that location looks for the knobs in your install, I think I'll have to look for another spot to drop the controls. Putting them inside of the cupholder area hadn't occurred to me ... I'll play around with that to see if it's convenient.

As for the amp install, I decided to hack up the foam insert in the spare tire well and mount the stuff to that (with a board behind it for rigidity). With a single E6450 pushing four 6.5s and a single 12" sub, will I need to add some sort of vent like you did? Like you, I'm no knucklescraper and like my hearing too much to pound it into oblivion.

gmorris just posted his CleanSweep install and he mounted the Master Volume knob on the shifter trim. Look here: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19767

As for the amp... if it's not shutting down due to thermal protection, don't worry about it. On a longer trip it might be a problem, or it might not depending on your listening habits and music tastes.

gmorris just posted his CleanSweep install and he mounted the Master Volume knob on the shifter trim. Look here: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19767

 

As for the amp... if it's not shutting down due to thermal protection, don't worry about it. On a longer trip it might be a problem, or it might not depending on your listening habits and music tastes.

My 300/4 gets crabby underneath there