Upgraded sound

[jasunderland]

So I got my sonic RS 3 some weeks ago. Going to be my daily driver for my 35 min each way commute and decided to upgrade the sound system.
Left the factory deck but added MTX 6 1/2"s in the rear and MTX component in the front. A Rockford Fosgate 10" sub and a 650w 5 channel Sound stream nano Amp. The RF sub is a shallow sub so I was able to build a bac that fit under the floor but above the spare tire in the rear.

I originally had just a mono amp but the new speakers sounded bad and the amp was cutting out so I upgraded to the 5 channel. Made a world of difference on the cabin speakers and the sub just adds enough punch but not so much it sounds like a high schooler rattling his trunk off (been there before).

Here are some pics.

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[diazmjd]

Looks great! I've been thinking about doing similar. Could you go into more detail about how you used the stock head unit? Did you have a kit or did you become a hard wire pro? Did you run new wires to your doors or tap into the factory ones? If so, where? I have a Kicker 700.5 and a Comp 10 just chillin' in the garage from my old WRX. Thanks!

EDIT: Where did you put your tweeters?

 

[lmilam]

That's awesome! I wished I had the tool and knowledge to build a custom box to replace the donut tire in the trunk. I feel like it would make a world of difference. (I'm a highschool that likes trunk rattling bass LOL). I have a 10in Kicker CompRS in a sealed Metra Enclosure. It hits, but not as hard as I like. I have that, plus 4 6 1/2 JBL Stage 602's in all 4 doors, but thinking about put 5 1/4 up front and putting ~ 2in. tweeters in. All that wired to a 1100 cheap Boss Audio Amp. (Again, highschool budget build.) Trying to decide if I wanna get different JBL's and sell my current ones or get a set of Rocksford's for the front.


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[jasunderland]

Looks great! I've been thinking about doing similar. Could you go into more detail about how you used the stock head unit? Did you have a kit or did you become a hard wire pro? Did you run new wires to your doors or tap into the factory ones? If so, where? I have a Kicker 700.5 and a Comp 10 just chillin' in the garage from my old WRX. Thanks!

EDIT: Where did you put your tweeters?

Thanks man. Here is a great video (it is for a cruze but everything including the wire color code is the same) that explains how to hook up your amp using hi level input (not RCA's pre outs). You have to run wires from your speakers wires back to the amp. I did not run new wires for the speakers.

On the drivers side under the door trim is where all your speaker wires will be. I cut and stripped them. Im using a 5 channel amp so I had to use left front +-, right front +-, Left Rear +- and Right rear +- coming from the dash and spliced them to some 20 gauge wire that runs back to the hi level inputs on the amp. I took the other side of the speaker wires up front and spliced them with speaker wire and ran it back to the output of the amp.

So now I have my hi level input from the head unit and my wires going to my speakers.

I also used his suggestion for an Add a circuit. I used the power sun roof fuse in the panel and it works great.

The hardest part was getting the 4 gauge wire through the firewall.

I also grounded my Amp to the seat bolt.

The video has all you need! Good Luck!


EDIT: I replaced the factory tweeters in the A Pillar.

 

[jasunderland]

Here is a pic of the hi level input. There are pigtails that came with it. If your amp doesn't have it then you can use a line out converter to change from hi level to RCAs.

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[diazmjd]

Thanks man. Here is a great video (it is for a cruze but everything including the wire color code is the same) that explains how to hook up your amp using hi level input (not RCA's pre outs). You have to run wires from your speakers wires back to the amp. I did not run new wires for the speakers.

On the drivers side under the door trim is where all your speaker wires will be. I cut and stripped them. Im using a 5 channel amp so I had to use left front +-, right front +-, Left Rear +- and Right rear +- coming from the dash and spliced them to some 20 gauge wire that runs back to the hi level inputs on the amp. I took the other side of the speaker wires up front and spliced them with speaker wire and ran it back to the output of the amp.

So now I have my hi level input from the head unit and my wires going to my speakers.

I also used his suggestion for an Add a circuit. I used the power sun roof fuse in the panel and it works great.

The hardest part was getting the 4 gauge wire through the firewall.

I also grounded my Amp to the seat bolt.

The video has all you need! Good Luck!


EDIT: I replaced the factory tweeters in the A Pillar.

Holy ****, thanks man! That's an awesome video find. That's gotta be one of the most informative quick DIY vids I've seen. Totally doing this now! I'm gonna trace my false floor and build a full flush mount, I think.

 

[diazmjd]

Since you tapped into the factory wiring where did you put the crossover for you components and how did you wire it?

Normally, it would be in the door but I'm assuming you found room or did you bypass it altogether?

I'm thinking I'm going to splurge and get an AudioControl LC7i LOC

 

[jasunderland]

Since you tapped into the factory wiring where did you put the crossover for you components and how did you wire it?

Normally, it would be in the door but I'm assuming you found room or did you bypass it altogether?

I'm thinking I'm going to splurge and get an AudioControl LC7i LOC

The MTX speakers i got had an inline cross over so there was not external one to mount.

Here is what I got:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_236TERM65/MTX-Terminator65.html?tp=106


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[diazmjd]

The MTX speakers i got had an inline cross over so there was not external one to mount.

Here is what I got:

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_236TERM65/MTX-Terminator65.html?tp=106


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Thank you. One more question and I'll (probably) leave you alone. =)

Are there (4) speakers when wiring or (6) including the tweeters? Meaning, if I splice into the fronts will this also take care of the tweeters for me or will I have to splice into them as well? Thank you.

 

[jasunderland]

Thank you. One more question and I'll (probably) leave you alone. =)



Are there (4) speakers when wiring or (6) including the tweeters? Meaning, if I splice into the fronts will this also take care of the tweeters for me or will I have to splice into them as well? Thank you.

No worries man! Just 4 sets.


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[Thesd45]

That's nice work!

 

[carsNskis]

Great job! I love seeing DIY custom stuff.

 

[carsNskis]

That's awesome! I wished I had the tool and knowledge to build a custom box to replace the donut tire in the trunk. I feel like it would make a world of difference. (I'm a highschool that likes trunk rattling bass LOL). I have a 10in Kicker CompRS in a sealed Metra Enclosure. It hits, but not as hard as I like. I have that, plus 4 6 1/2 JBL Stage 602's in all 4 doors, but thinking about put 5 1/4 up front and putting ~ 2in. tweeters in. All that wired to a 1100 cheap Boss Audio Amp. (Again, highschool budget build.) Trying to decide if I wanna get different JBL's and sell my current ones or get a set of Rocksford's for the front.


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Check YouTube for DIYs on sub box build. I like this channel a lot https://youtu.be/wOEFP2M3K94 you can definitely do it.

I'd say upgrade your amp before making any new speaker choices. Driving clean power will help. Maybe run your Boss amp bridged to the sub and pick up another 4 channel amp for the F/R?

 

[diazmjd]

Hey man check this out http://www.sonicownersforum.com/for...-speaker-wiring-diagram-w-pic.html#post364299

Any words of wisdom? I know you said 4 wires but I just want to double check.