Hello,

I have a 2003 SE and I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on the easiest way to handle component installation in particular the tweeter. I am planning to do components in the front and coax in the back (Infinity Kappas for both). Has anyone use a custom kickpanel?

Thanks,

Mike

 

I installed Kappa components in my car last month, 2K2 Non-Bose. The tweeter is a breeze. Remove the A-pillar trim panel, start at the top and it will pop right out. Remove the factory tweeters, you will notice 2 plastic + (Plus sign)shaped pieces that hold the factory tweeter bracket in place. Turn them slightly so the the edges of the plastic + shaped pieces are pointing to the corners of the bracket holes. You will understand when you see them. Remove the factory bracket and then the tweeter from the bracket. I screwed the mount included with the Kappa tweeters to the top of the factory tweeter bracket using one screw. The factory nissan bracket holder has a raised lip that will help hold the infinity bracket in place when you screw it in which allows you to use just one screw. I then ran new wire down the huge hole you will see when you have the A-pillar trim piece off to the kick panel which is where my crossovers are hidden. Some people simply hot glue their tweeter in the stock location which is probably even easier. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the instructions on the tweeter install.

This may be obvious once I get to the door panel but how did you get from the kickpanel/crossover to the door panel when the 6.5 are mounted.

Just out of curiosity, what are you running the components with?
Do you have a sub in your car or did you find the components' bass to be good enough?
Did you notice a significant different over the factory/non-bose speakers?

Thanks,

Mike.

 

There are a few ways to get speaker wires to the door speakers. You can splice into the factory wires or run your own wires. There is a wiring diagram located in the FAQ sticky at the top of this page that will tell you which wires you need. I ran my own wires from the amp in my trunk. I simply put a slit in the top of the factory connector in the door side. There is room in the rubber on the top and bottom of the connector. I then used a grommet on the car just forward of the other end of the factory black wiring connector. If you open your door all the way and look into the crack of the door jamb from outside the car you will see a round black gromet just forward of the factory connector. Just poke it through into the cabin with a clothes hanger and you will have access into the kick panel area. I then recommend using split black wire loom on you speaker wire and it will look factory stock.
I originally did not have a subwoofer and I felt that the Infinity Kappa's put out great low end bass. However, since I did not dynomat my doors the bass would vibrate too much if I cranked up the base on my amp. I just installed a sub two days ago and was able to turn down the bass on my kappa's.
I am running the sub and front Kappa components and rear 5.25" coax's using a cheap Sony Explod amp I got for free from a friend. It is rated at 60watts RMS X 4 and has bass boost and front and rear gain controls. Believe it or not I am actually impressed with the Sony amp's features and performance especially since they can be purchased on ebay for about $80.00.
I dont think you will benefit from these speakers unless you power them off an amp. If you dont want to use an amp I would recommend the Infinity Reference series since they have a higher efficiency rating and thus require less power.

 

which kappas do you have because im looking at the 60.5's. if you have them, how do you like them? i will be running them off a pioneer 8500 mp h/u for now.

 

I read in this forum that the rear speakers in the 2002 Max were 6 1/2. Is this true or are they smaller speakers?

My headunit puts out 50x4. Is this going to be enough to drive the Kappa components? Is there a significant different between a headunit doing 50x4 and an amp doing 60x4?

Thanks again.

Mike

 

Yes there is a big difference. The head unit has 50w X 4 peak power which is actually about 12 W rms. Almost all headunits use a similar amp in them that is limited by the size of the headunit. My amp has 60W X 4 rms which equates to about 120w peak power X 4. Peak power out numbers used by manufactures is very misleading, check and see what you head unit is actually putting out in RMS, it should be in your owners manual.
In regards to the rear speakers, I installed kappa 5.25" coax's. There was plenty of room to put in 6.5" speakers in the rear. The only reason I didn't is I want the hassle of trying to return them to the ebay store I purchased them from.