BigTDogg's Audio Install Build Thread

So I decided to start a build thread for my (relatively basic) audio system install. It'll be slow going at first, but my goal is to be done by Easter weekend for my 3 hour drive to my parent's place.

 

The goal: Decent sound with Aux in capability, MP3 reading and HD radio. Additionally, a reduction in road noise and cabin resonance/rattling.

 

Below is a list of the major items I'm using in the system

 

 

I've got everything but the MLV and Deflex pads in house now. I just picked up the AUX bucket on Tuesday from a local junkyard. 15 minutes of cleaning later and I have what looks like a brand new AUX bin for $30:

 

 

Last night I modeled up the DIN brackets used to secure the radio to the dash. I may be making some custom ones to fit the JVC HD unit and the Alpine amplifier. At the very least I'll be adding a bracket which attaches to the HU mounting points to secure the extra stuff. If I do make modified brackets and they come out nice, I may end up selling them.

 

 

Next up I need to make the harness for the AUX and get the wiring for the Alpine all straightened out.

Why wouldn't you just get the double din kit? With a new h/u?

Why wouldn't you just get the double din kit? With a new h/u?

 

Because I would have spent at least this much with just the double DIN kit and HU. Then I'd have to paint/vinyl trim the trim pieces. And while the OEM P-204 lacks the SQ and features of other aftermarket HUs, it does have the OEM look and finish.

Lol I did mine all for 500 bucks.

Lol I did mine all for 500 bucks.

 

Link to thread? Don't really see how that's possible, unless you found a JDM car in a junkyard.

Lol I did mine all for 500 bucks.

 

Ummm. What are you sporting a JDM double din with a sony Xplod?????

So stuff is starting to come together.

 

 

Got the speakers mounted to phenryiv1's brackets/adapters. Perfect fit, guy makes great stuff.

 

 

Unfortunately for me, the Polk quality assurance leaves something to be desired:

 

 

Not very easy to fit a spade terminal over that connection with the cap right there. They're not all like that, but 3 of the 4 I got were. Here's one with good spacing:

 

 

So I'm going to contact them and see if they care.

 

Last night I installed my P-204UH and found out I was on crack thinking the Alpine would fit behind the HU. Not a lot of space there, so I'm investigating other places to put it. May just stick it to the bottom of the HU. I'll figure it out eventually.

 

Tonight I'm soldering up all my harnesses so I can plug and play when I get to installing everything.

How are you wiring up the amplifier?

How are you wiring up the amplifier?

 

I'm connecting it to a combination forward/reverse harness I got from SVXdc. It then plugs into the factory harness and draws power off the HU circuit.

I'm still unclear on that. The inputs on the amp are preamp RCAs....are you cutting them off and giving them a line level input?

Per the KTP-445U owner's manual, the unit can be connected to the radio circuit if the system uses a 15 amp or greater fuse, which the LGT does.

 

For input, you can use RCAs (attached) or speaker level (cut off the RCAs). The RCAs use standard stranded wire, not the typical coaxial wire found on RCAs. There are dip switches on the bottom of the amp for:

 

2 vs 4 channel

High Pass Filter (HPF) for front and rear channels separately

RCA vs Speaker level input.

 

I have mine set to:

 

4 channel,

All HPF off

Speaker level

 

So this is the harness as it sits now:

 

 

 

I just need to figure out how and where to mount the Alpine. I was thinking of velcroing to the airbag box, but a fellow RF engineer coworker said that might not be the best idea . So I'm still contemplating where and how to mount it.

 

Did the AUX harness as well, man 1/8" minijack wires are TINY. Shown here attached to SVXdc's i85 harness:

 

 

Tonight I'm soldering up the Bluetooth module and hope to do a plug and play testing out either tomorrow or this weekend.

ah, that makes sense. I didn't realize that amp had a speaker level setting, that is where I was confused. Thanks.

 

I am now immensely interested in adding this amp to my system.

 

 

EDIT:

 

just to clarify things a bit more for me...sorry if i'm dense;)

 

the forward/reverse harness is what I'd like some clarification on as what I see on his site does not look quite like the one you show (which make sense because yours is a bit custom).

 

In this pic:

 

 

small black top left: speaker level input to the amp

large white at the top center: main harness in the back of the headunit

large white at bottom left/center: main harness on the car side

small black on right: ?

 

Obviously you soldered the amp's speaker inputs in with the harness, I see that. But other than that, did svxdc build the rest? Is that on his site somewhere?

 

 

EDIT, EDIT:

Is it this, just with the car side speaker wires pulled out, and a i85(?) added to the right???: http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7362/14pinampt.jpg

 

 

So the Alpine has ins and outs on opposite ends of the box (pet peeve of mine).

 

Dave (SVXdc) made the FWD/REV harness consisting of the two white connectors. Take the picture you linked to:

 

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7362/14pinampt.jpg

 

And ask him to split out the following wires:

 

-All Speakers

-Switched +12VDC

-Constant +12VDC

-Remote turn on/antenna wire

 

He broke out the speakers and switched +12VDC for me, but I didn't forsee I'd have to cut others. My original plan was to use my old Soundstream amp and run the output of that through the factory speaker wires. The nice thing about the Alpine unit is that it can be truly plug and play with a FWD/REV harness from Dave.

 

The KTP-445U is about 7/16" too wide (enclosure only) to line up perfectly under the HU. The cables protrude more once installed obviously. I have a couple of ideas about installation, but haven't decided yet.

 

I split the power antenna wire as well, and connected it to the switched +12VDC. When selecting CD or AUX, the P-204UH shuts off power to the antenna. This would mean if I used my HD radio interface on AUX, I would have no antenna. So now the antenna is powered whenever the +12VDC is on. I looped the output side on the Alpine harness because I don't have anything I need to switch remotely now, but want to keep the ability to add it in the future.

thanks for the explanation. It looks like need to shoot him an email and get him to build me the same harness save the antenna switch (I dont care if it shuts off).

 

In your searching, have you come up with any other amplifiers like this that will do line level inputs as well (or is there really only this option)? This seems like a fantastic upgrade over the p-204uh's internal amp.

The only thing I've found that's remotely close is the PBR300x4 from Fosgate, but that still requires a traditional amplifier installation (+12VDC direct at the battery).

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-AaX0mRcebll/p_575PBR3004/Rockford-Fosgate-PBR300X4.html

 

I'm sure there are many small amps used by guys with RoadKings or GoldWings, but the fusing requirements is what get you. To do what the Alpine does, it would need a 15A or less fusing requirement. Alpine achieves this characteristic with Class D topology, which is more efficient than Class A or A/B, but the trade-off is reduced sound quality. Additionally, Class D amps traditionally can't produce high frequencies well, as the switching frequency gets close to the signal frequency, all hell breaks loose. So the Class D's usually run sub amps. I'd imagine that Alpine gets around this with a very high switching frequency.

The class A/b to D tradeoff is well worth it for me. The case could be made that an external amp of any kind is over kill for me. The main draw of this thing is the speaker level inputs as I've stated before, with the easy power draw being a big plus.

 

I've already had my super nice/expensive stereos "in another life" (read: younger), and I'm not prepared to go out and buy/fit a 4ft long a/b 5 channel in my car again...podcast, talk radio, with the occasional music just dont need much. This isn't going to win any sound quality comps I'm sure, but it will be a crap ton nicer than the stock headunits power I bet. And for $150 all in, I'm willing to try it out.

 

I'm anxious to hear your after install thoughts.

I've got a couple grand into the audio system in my Z32, so I definitely appreciate the finer aspects of sound reproduction.

 

 

As stated in the first post, the goal here is better-than-factory sound with additional connectivity. I think this will achieve it nicely. To do just the HU, Aux and Alpine would be about $350 including the harnesses and AUX bucket from a scrap yard.

 

Come hell or PTO from work this will be completed by the 29th. I'll likely post on Monday the 1st with my impressions. Maybe Sunday night.

I've decided you shouldn't wait until the 29th to install this.

 

Villagers demand results now!

Nice! Subscribed.

I've decided you shouldn't wait until the 29th to install this.

 

Villagers demand results now!

 

I'm waiting on the Deflex pads, USB hub and 6' USB extension cable. Finished my Bluetooth receiver last night, need to work through a pairing issue, then I'll test to confirm I did everything right.

 

Also got my KT-HDP1 yesterday, it's bigger than I thought. Probably going to mount it in the pocket above the multidisplay. Have to build a cable for that as well, and run it to the AUX bucket. Might just buy a cable. Yup, just bought a cable.

 

Plan now is to install the HD radio and Aux In bucket on Sunday night. Then once I receive the USB stuff I'll install the hub and bus. Lastly, I'll take Thursday off from work and install the speakers. Then Friday I shall rock out. http://forums.nicoclub.com/images/smilies/badger.gif

CDA-9831

classic unit

you need a KCA-420 by chance?

CDA-9831

classic unit

you need a KCA-420 by chance?

 

Yeah, got it from a friend who used to work at Tweeter back in 2004. Still a technically magnificent piece.

 

Don't need the adapter, thanks. I have a generic AUX 3.5mm plug. Never was an Apple guy

Finally got around to installing the Aux bucket into the center console last night. Cleaned the console and surrounding carpet while it was out as well.

 

 

I've got a template for the bucket pad I'll post up later, I think it's at home right now.

 

Even bigger than getting the Aux for me was FINALLY fixing my console lid. That ****** wouldn't close for anything. Disassembled it and bent the bracket back with some channel locks. Much better:

 

 

If yours won't close, the fix is to remove the cover completely. I think you may be able to do it without removing the center console, but not likely without snapping something. Remove the cover and use channel locks or large pliers to pull the bracket back to flat/flush. If yours won't close, the right side of the hinge above is likely off at a 10° from horizontal. Sorry for the lack of before pics.

 

So if you're adapting a new bucket to an old console, and don't have the harness from the donor car, you'll need to slide the harness toward the cigarette lighter plug. The old cig lighter plug was about an inch and half closer than the bucket with the Aux, so the wires would be too stressed if left alone.

 

 

The black hole beneath the Aux connector is where a pop tie usually goes. I just deleted mine since I didn't slide it before reinstalling everything.

 

I finished my bluetooth receiver module as well. From this:

 

 

to this:

 

 

So that can sit in the bucket plugged into a dual USB adapter and I stream music from my phone to the box, into the Aux in. It only receives, doesn't do speakerphone voice stuff, but I knew that going in. My intent is to play music wirelessly while using my phone as my GPS on the left side of my windshield. For that function, it'll work perfectly.

 

Had to make some mods to my Alpine harness after a test fit, luckily nothing major. Also finished my +5VDC harness for my USB hub project (which I'll merge into this thread when appropriate).

 

 

The plug on the left is +12VDC to power the JVC HD tuner, and the one on the right will power my USB hub.

 

Lastly I think I found a spot for my Alpine KTP.

 

The plan is to 3M tape it to the top of the HU, and then sandwich it with some foam gasketing material (borrowed from work) underneath the frame bar and "radio box" shown above. If everything fits like that I'll make up a bracket to mount it more securely. Though I'm sure with the 3M tape and foam sandwich it ain't goin nowhere.

 

That's all for now. Gonna head out to my car at lunch time and do some sine sweeps to find out what's resonating where so I can attack my sound deading part of the project more efficiently.

think the amp will get enough airflow for cooling in there?

think the amp will get enough airflow for cooling in there?

 

Nope.

 

It's heat-sinked to the extruded AL case, plus it's a Class D switcher, so it's very efficient. I don't expect any issues, but if I have trouble I have a few dozen 12VDC fans laying around so I could fab something up. I sure as shit can't move it anywhere else