Nice placement of the tweeters, I was wondering how you were gonna mount those.

Nice setup & explination. Thanks for the shoutout in the first section too! Bet it sounds *****in when it's all said & done!

Cheers!

LVleo78

Krunch, way to go on your write-up! As said before, possibly one of the best and well-organized How-to's I've seen as well. As for that newb, (which I am on here as well; but not to the forum community) the best advice I could say to him is if you'd like to flame, take it to ClubRSX where more than 93.6% of the members there haven't reached puberty yet. Not dissing the RSX site as a whole, because there are some good members, (myself included), but I feel as though this forum is for the more mature crowd who offers constructive criticism moreover dissing somebody. Just my .02 on that. But once again excellent write-up and looking forward to more of your work!!

So was I! I really didn't want to cut the door panel directly but wasn't sure if I would have enough mounting depth in those pillars for the large tweeters that came with the Hertz HSK 165XL component set. Fortunately it all worked out. The only complaint I have is that the drivers side door panel has a slight curve in it so it makes it look like the drivers side tweeter is mounted a little lower than the passengers side. Most people wouldn't ever notice it unless I pointed it out to them and the measurements from the top of the panel are the same. But the drivers side panel *is* a little taller so if anybody else uses the mounting position I did, keep that in mind!

Thank you for the illustration on how to get that power wire through! That was probably the thickest grommet I've ever encountered in a car. Crazy!

So far the sound quality of the front stage is absolutely amazing. Those Hertz speakers really rock out. They're so present and clear that you almost don't need rear speakers. Pretty impressive considering how big the Maxima is.

The sub side is pretty weak right now. I've got the rear two channels of my HD600/4 running the Solobaric. It's not nearly enough power for that sub but it's something to listen too. It's decent but you can tell I'm starving it. Oh well, the HD750/1 goes in early next month.

Thanks for the compliment. Your post makes me glad I didn't buy an RSX.

I'm curious why you picked new locations for the tweet's. I was under the impression that mounting them up on the doors made it hard to balance. I must admit though, the thought of pulilng apart the dash scares me.

I'm no expert, far from it, I just remember door mounted tweets in my last car, I had to adjust the balance to the right so it sounded normal to me. But it screwed up the sound for the passenger. Hmmm maybe I'm just deaf on my right side lol.

You are correct. Putting them up high and pointing them straight across can interfere with the staging and make them more apparent from one side. Now here's the catch ... Proper tweeter mounting location is very dependent on the tweeter itself, power used to drive the tweeter, and a few other things. Most tweeters do recommend an ear level mounting setup though. The Hertz tweeters, for example, recommend the location I used as one of the four best. The only thing they recommend is a slight angle towards the center of the car. I didn't have that option unfortunately because of my lack of fiberglass skills. If I were competing, i'd have shipped my tweeters and those pillar panels to AMI and let Mike build me some nice panels that angled the tweeter towards me! Here's a picture from the Hertz manual that shows the optimal mounting locations of my tweeters. For size reference, I have the HT28 tweeters.


Here's another clip from the Hertz manual that shows their idea of properly mounting midbass, midrange, and tweeters. This demonstrates the angle they think you should use for all of the speakers.


As you can see from the illustration, the tweeters should be at ear level, pointing toward the center of the car.

Now, as far as the dash mounting goes. I'd never point tweeters at the windshield unless they were designed to do it that way. Using the windshield does serve to widen the sound field, thus the fact that you can hear both sides a little more. However, sending sound waves upward and bouncing them to your ears creates a whole new problem ... delay! That delay can severely affect your sound stage. So in response to your question of why not mount them in the dash, i'd rather deal with some angling issues to fix front stage than delay that's not really fixable without running separate power for the tweeters and using a time alignment processor. If you're running the door speakers and dash mounted tweeters off of the same amp/crossover, you're going to have a slight delay between when you hear the two speakers.

I mentioned something about power earlier. This does have a lot to do with it as well. I've heard a lot of underpowered components that sounded very directional. Keep in mind that I've got 150w RMS going to each door, so these speakers have plenty of power and really get great output. It's amazing how loud and clean this setup is.

So after all that, all I can say is that yes, you are correct. Doing what I did can be a fatal move for imaging, but it hasn't affected me for whatever reason. I couldn't be happier with my front stage as it is. Like I said, if I were to ever compete, I'd be re-doing this ASAP.

Wow, you really are bashing the OP's hobby with car audio. The Bose system is far from being adequate for millions of audiophile's like myself. There is no need to have a system in your car that can be heard from blocks away, but if you choose to do so, then that is your perrogative. Maturity has nothing to do with having a good sounding system in your car, if that's the case, then people who have surround sound in their homes are immature also.

You need to recognize how many times you used the letter "I" in your post, and know that WE don't care how you feel about car audio.

Now, the mature side of me is going to tell you to have a nice day.

Excellent write up!

Nice work, BTDT, it's definately a labour of love. For now I am content with the factory system, now my Frontier... that' another story.

My bluetooth module has arrived and is now installed! Thanks to the guys at Rays Electronics for another smokin' deal on product. It's Bluetooth time!

Here's the KCE-400BT ready to go. I put the velcro on it for now.


And here's the wiring behind my head unit right now.


KCE-400BT is ready to be wired. I've temporarily got it attached to the factory pod below the radio.


Everything back in the dash and ready to be tucked away.



All done! Time to reassemble.


Now it's time to replace the factory bluetooth microphone with the Alpine one. Step one. Remove the map light assembly completely from the headliner.


See that thing with the blue and yellow wires going to it? That's the factory bluetooth mic.


And now I've moved the factory mic over to the hole on the other side and put the Alpine in it's place.


All done! Works like a charm but I had to decrease the mic sensitivity on the Alpine mic. It was picking up too much noise. Fortunately for me, that's all adjustable from the head unit so it's an easy fix.

More to come!

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Great job on an incredible build. And aftermarket systems are way better than stock, whether you're mature or not, you don't have to settle for less.

Ekrunch, you are my new inspiration. I'm not going to tear into my Max like you but when I get my project car I am definitely going to throw a nice aftermarket system in it. I miss doing this type of thing. To the folks that can't understand why you are doing this, it is a hobby. Just like people who spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours improving the performance of their car. We all have our hobbies. Keep up the good work, Ekrunch. This is an excellent post.

Awesome work. If you can please include (whenever possible) how to remove the particular panel you are working with. It could come in handy for somethings completely different for somebody. Also, I always wondered whether there were two mics in there. I guess they have two sets of holes just to be symmetrical.

My bad. I forgot to mention that. For the upper panel just grab it at the front (closest to the windshield) and pull straight down on the front lip. It should drop down about an inch, then pull forward toward the windshield and it comes right out. There are 3 wiring harnesses. A small flat head screwdriver will release the clips and the whole panel will be in your hands. To remove the map lights and their switch panel, which you'll have to do to remove the stock mic, use a panel tool with a cloth on it to remove the map light covers themselves (they just pry up) and then pry up the center part. Be patient, but it's pretty easy to do. The stock mic just has a few clips around it, spread them out a bit and it comes right out.

There are indeed two pockets for symmetry, but the empty one doesn't have the opening to allow sound to pass through so that's why I moved the stock mic to it and put my Alpine mic in it's old spot. I didn't post pictures but I did secure both mic's in place with a little electrical tape and some foam padding I had laying around. Also, that orange LED you see at the top of the panel is from the BT mic, you'll need to slap a little electrical tape over that part of the factory mic or you'll get a weird orange glow under your map lights at night.

One piece of advice for anybody who's doing this sort of thing. Get the field service manual! It's a little daunting to navigate at first, but just load up the "fwd.pdf" file, it's an index that links to all of the other PDFs. Most of the things (like in this case, the bluetooth mic) have instructions on how to remove them and links on how to remove the panels and such.

hey ekrunch can you please explain how to take of the back door panels i tried doing it last week end i took out the screw from the lock and i pulled out the panel all the clips were loose but i didnt know what to do after that do i pull the panel up? or towards me?

Being that you said that this is just a hobby to you and that I have read through the thread and that I used to install stereos for a living there are to points I would like to point out. 1. Your fuse from your battery should be no more the 12 inches from the battery. Looking at the pic you can re-route it with no problem. 2. I can't see your grounds to your amps but they should be no more then 3 feet. Other then that your doing a great job.

First things first, a thread with more pictures. Thanks to 22sandup, he describes how to get that panel off. I pretty much followed his directions and the field service manual.
http://forums.maxima.org/7th-generat...ial-sorts.html

Now, here's the full play by play of removing that panel.
1) Pop the light off at the bottom. Just grab it with your hand and pull. Remove the connector from the bulbs with a small screw driver or a panel removal tool.
2) Remove the cover that's in front of the door handle. CAREFUL with this one. It's easy to break. Start from the side that's closest to the handle. I use a panel tool and a piece of cloth. Pops it right out.
3) Remove the screw behind the handle.
4) Grab the top of the armrest, pull up. Remove it completely. Disconnect the rear door power window switches.
5) Remove the rear door finisher screws under the armrest. There are two if I recall correctly.
6) Grab the bottom of the finisher and pull away from the door, the clips should start to come out now. Release them all and then pull up slightly.
7) Once the finisher is off, remove the 3 screws that hold the handle on. I find that easier than disconnecting the handle cables.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Thanks for the advice.

I actually used to sell car audio about 10-12 years ago, but I was never in the bay. I just watched and experimented on my own vehicle back then. The most I ever got to do was a radio install back then.

As far as the fuse up front. I'm replacing that battery in a week or two with an Optima Gel cell and was planning a little dressing up of those cables anyway, so I'll probably shorten up that cable then. I'm not real cozy with it like that either. Having seen a wire melt down in someone's car before, I definitely don't fool around when it comes to fusing!

Grounds in the back go from the amp to the power core. They're only as long as they have to be. I pretty much cut them to length. The main ground was the last thing I connected because it's the shortest and the box has to be almost all the way back for it to reach. It routes directly around the passenger's side of the rear seat and onto the bolt where it's grounded. Shouldn't be more than about 2 ft. I'm like you on this one, the shorter the ground, the better.

thanks ekrunch

this is my system i installed it about 5-6months ago i think im going to upgrade all the speakers now though.

I Also installed lights that go with the beat of the song. under the back seat and front has lights and at the back by the seat

Front:blue
Back Seat:Green
Back:Red

djdavebse,

Man oh man... sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to rip you on that hood work. You really need to drop a fuse under that hood ASAP. You're driving around in a fire hazard. Also, where do you run your power wire through?

The other thing is that amp wiring. Same deal man. You need to get a fuse in front of that amp ASAP (check the amp documentation for what size to use). If it's internally fused then it's less of an issue, but I still swear by an external fuse. It's less about protecting the equipment and more about protecting your vehicle.

The shop I worked in burned down about a year after I left because they took in a car with bad wiring. The system was cutting out because of a wire that was periodically touching ground and had no fuses. They took it in overnight and didn't disconnect the electrical. Sure enough, something jarred it when they locked it up inside of the shop and the thing caught fire inside of the install bay! Having seen a car burn down inside of a shop and take the shop with it, it's no joke! Get a fuse ASAP!

Sorry to rip on you man but I assume you posted your pictures for a little critique. We now return you to your regularly scheduled car audio installation thread.

And speaking of your regularly scheduled car audio thread. I got my rear speaker rings today and mounted them tonight!

Here are some close ups of the speaker ring itself. I'll post some more pictures once the rear speakers are mounted in the doors. I didn't have enough daylight to get it done today after work.

keep it coming

i have a fuse its under the fender you cant really see it i would have to take out the panel by the wheels so you can see it and the amp has 3fuses on it two 20s and a 15 i think. and i ran the wire there if you take out the panel you will see all the wires going through there it took me a while to get it through the fire wall.

Cool. Just double checking. Like I said, I hate to go off on people about their work because mine is far from perfection, but I thought I saw a safety hazard.

lol thanks for the concern i appreciate it. did you make those speaker rings your self? or you got it from somewhere?.

the front speakers and rear speakers are the same size right 6-1/2''?

They are made by SRQ customs out of Florida. I ordered them from here.
http://srqcustoms.3dcartstores.com/N...air41_p_6.html

They come with a 5.5" mounting setup, if you need a wider interior diameter, then just tell them when you order them. I'd recommend calling them if that's the case. I needed 5 7/8" for my Diamond speakers.

As far as speaker sizes, the front speakers are 6x9s. Pretty much any 6x9 -> 6.5 converter panel will do. You can screw a panel right into the factory plastic holder if you want, or remove it and make a more custom mounting if you need to.

The rear speakers are "special" 6.5s. The same as the older Maximas. They use a 3 hole mount instead of a more traditional mount. Also, if you're using oversized 6.5s get ready to have to trim a little bit of metal away from the door panel. There's just a little bit that hangs over and blocks a bigger speaker (like my Diamond 6.5" speakers) from mounting correctly. When I pull my rear door panels off again I'm going to take some pictures to show what has to be trimmed. It's very minor and if my speakers didn't have such huge magnets I probably wouldn't have to trim it any.

On an up note, I just sold my old Diamond Audio 6.5" speakers and am going to replace them with some Hertz HV 165XL mids. The same ones I have in the front doors with no tweeter and crossover. Hopefully they won't need as much trimming, but I have a feeling they'll actually be WORSE.

Scratch that. Pricing just came back on those HV 165XL mids. $500 bucks for the pair! The component set with crossover and tweeter only cost me $575! Hertz has lost their mind on this one! I'll pick up something else soon. I'll probably wait until I get my bass amp though. I'm less concerned about people in the back seat having something to listen too.

i have to order some speakers for my car and 2 new amps. i can see how much money you spend on this project and wow lol i dont think im gonna spend $500 for two mids that's too high. when you complete your car it would be cool if you could run a dB test to see how loud it goes.

edit: i see that site you bought the adapters from has Selenium midbass driver and im a dj i have 2 Selenium drivers on my system the sound is so crisp and clear those are really good speakers

Props to you ekcrunch, Personally, I would've spent all that money on an exhaust and performance enhancements, but this is insane, and the fact that you were able to do all this on your own makes it that much better. Good luck with the rest of the rip and replace!!!

Wow. it looks great...i just cant believe you did this on your own...

I doubt it will do a whole lot from an SPL perspective, it's only 1 12" woofer. I'll probably meter it anyway just for the heck of it. Granted, it's got a good bit of juice on it but it isn't really built to pressure. I'm shooting for "really good sound at really high volume".

Thanks for the compliments.

I'm normally all about performance enhancements too. My last car was an 05 Evo MR with a few little extras to give me an edge. I did change the radio out but other than that the stereo was stock. Who needs a radio when you can go that fast?

I'm actually planning on getting another toy to play with so the Maxima is all about quality ride, quality sound, and some half decent fuel mileage. I'm thinking I'm going to go find a used 350Z and pull the motor out as soon as I get it home. Can you say Supercharger?

Thanks! And it's actually not too difficult if you just have patience, a decent set of tools, and a good friend that can help you pass the wood over the table saw. All jokes aside, thanks to the guys here on the org for all of the informative how to posts, the guys who posted the FSM, and the online Car Audio & Electronics site that has lots of great articles on box building, speaker mounting, etc. Several of the tricks I used came from there. I've been out of the 12v industry for a decade now so it's been nice to have some help catching up!

it feels so good when u do custom mod on your car urself

that's good I can't wait to see the results. from what I have heard the best box to make or buy for a car is a sealed ported box which means the speakers are covered and have a port hole just like my box is

[quote=ekrunch;7755576]



Thanks for the compliments.

I'm normally all about performance enhancements too. My last car was an 05 Evo MR with a few little extras to give me an edge. I did change the radio out but other than that the stereo was stock. Who needs a radio when you can go that fast?

I'm actually planning on getting another toy to play with so the Maxima is all about quality ride, quality sound, and some half decent fuel mileage. I'm thinking I'm going to go find a used 350Z and pull the motor out as soon as I get it home. Can you say Supercharger?



quote]

Thats sounds awesome man, a supercharged 350z, and a maxima. Doesnt get any better than that!!!!!

It really does. I'm enjoying it so much more since I put in the wrench time. I'm sure you're loving your monitor installation project too. The Maxima is finally starting to feel like "my" car.

And besides, I needed a hobby. Working from home gets REALLY boring sometimes!

Ported boxes are generally more efficient than sealed boxes, but there's a frequency response trade off. Ported boxes use the reflected wave from a woofer to get more energy, thus making them louder. Getting a good sounding port can be quite tricky though. Sealed boxes are traditionally considered to be "sound quality" boxes, although I've heard some really well tuned ported boxes that sounded great. I went sealed because it required less airspace and I wanted a 12" woofer. I'll take the 3db hit for the airspace / quality benefits. Just a personal choice.

Except for maybe a supercharged 350z with spray!

yea most peoples car i seen has a ported box for the greater sound like you said. but forget that i think im going to order the 4 selenium mid bass drivers from that site you got the speaker rings from but the size of the speaker is 6''. can they make a ring so that speaker can fit into my door?

what is the dept from where the hole is to the back of the door?

They will make you whatever size you want, just call them. I would imagine if you ordered the drivers at the same time they'd gladly make them an exact fit for you. Just get regular 6x9 adapter plates for the front and the Nissan specific ones that I linked earlier for the rears.

I really have no idea what the depth is, but there's plenty of room in there. I haven't measured it but I had my whole arm shoved through that speaker whole installing sound deadening and the adapter panel raises the speaker off of the door even further.

BTW it looks like those Selenium drivers are 8 ohm. If they don't have them in 4 ohm then you need to get something else. Most car audio amplifiers won't work with an 8 ohm load on them. If they do they generally won't put out enough power to matter.

ok thanks for the info when I order the speakers i will tell them to make it that size.

so if I find a amp that pushes 8ohms will it work or not the amp I have in my car right now I was planning on using for those speakers and get a mono amp for the sub.

That might be a tall order to fill in the car audio world. It's not like Home/Pro audio where 8ohms is a common thing. Most every midrange/tweeter in the car audio world is 4ohms so the amps tend to match that. Subs are a different story, but for midrange drivers, you're just better off getting something else.

There are a lot of great midrange drivers out there, I wouldn't get stuck on a brand. Just go to a few different shops and listen to some. You'll probably want a component set for the front as they generally sound better than coaxial speakers.

ok ill try to find another mid range driver. and for subwoffers the lowest ohmage is the best correct?