Stereo work and beige paint that matches....
#1
I'm in the middle of redoing my front speakers. I have a 97 SE with the Bose radio, and I just got another AudioControl EQX crossover/EQ unit that can accept the balanced line signal that the Bose radio sends out. I already have 2 15" woofers in the trunk, and had already replaced the rear speakers with Soundstream SPL 60 speakers. Anyway, I replaced the Bose 6.5" low with an MBQuart low. I had to dremel out 6 of these plastic ridges in the bose pod in order to make the MB's fit. It kinda scared me at first that they wouldnt fit, but after that, it made a perfect fit. I had to cut out a gasket using automotive gasket material that is half cork and half rubber. It worked really well. As for the tweeter, the stock tweeters are these little tiny dudes that are attached to that actual door and the grilles look very small and restrictive. What I did, was pop out the OE tweeter grille. It is an oblong shape, so I enlarged it with a pair of angled nippy cutters. This way, I can put the OE grille back in when I go to sell the car. But now the aftermarket tweeters sit flush on the door panel.
As for coloring, I have a beige interior. The tweeters came with black "cups" and grilles. It would look odd with black tweeters on a completely tan door panel. I went down to the local auto parts store, and found DupliColor Medium Beige for vinyl. This was an almost PERFECT match. So for those of you with gauge pillars, this is the color you can use. You have to prime and use more then one coat with this stuff, but the end result is a very close match.
Now I just gotta wire the passenger side speakers, secure the components down, fine tune the system, and reassemble the car and I should be good to go :-)
As for coloring, I have a beige interior. The tweeters came with black "cups" and grilles. It would look odd with black tweeters on a completely tan door panel. I went down to the local auto parts store, and found DupliColor Medium Beige for vinyl. This was an almost PERFECT match. So for those of you with gauge pillars, this is the color you can use. You have to prime and use more then one coat with this stuff, but the end result is a very close match.
Now I just gotta wire the passenger side speakers, secure the components down, fine tune the system, and reassemble the car and I should be good to go :-)
#5
I got my car all back together today. Next step is to do some fine tuning with my real time analyzer. The fronts need some balancing. I have a Rockford Punch 500AII driving the front speakers. It gets loud enough to the point that the outside of the front doors visibly shake (keep in mind, 90 Hz, 24 dB/oct crossover).
I'm considering beefing up the electrical system some more. Either a Exide SpiralCell battery right next to the largest amp or a cap. One thing I did make a boo boo on, was I powered the front EQX unit with the constant +12 volt coming off the motorized seats. The only problem with this, is that when I move the seats a popping noise goes through the system.
As for how I wired it the Bose system uses +5 volt DC on the + and - side of the balanced signal. There is no audio ground in this setup. What you have to do, is make your own cable. Go down to radio shack, buy twin lead cable (NOT coaxial, as balanced signal use common mode noise rejection and coax will defeat this) and RCA jacks. You have to take the headunit out, and I just used those electrical "tap" connectors to tap the + and - signals from the headunit. I believe the colors are light green, purple, yellow and brown. But facing the hood of the car from inside the car, it'll be the right 4 pins on the left plug of the headunit. For the back speakers, I just tapped off of the speakers. Then, you wire the + (which is the top connector) from the bose to the center pin of the RCA plug. Wire the - to the ring. The audiocontrol can use up to 9 volt DC in a balanced signal, so the bose works perfectly. Once you get the signal to the EQX, you can do pretty much anything from there.
I'll give a brief rundown of my system. Stock Bose headunit sends balanced line signals to 2 AudioControl EQX Series II. Crossover is at 90 Hz. Front EQX is under driver seat, feeds "high" signals to Rockford A500AII amp, which drives MB Quart 6.5" compoent speakers through passive crossovers. Front EQX's "mono low" is sent through a potentiometer (bass ****) mounted next to my dimmer switch. Allows me to "crank" the bass if I feel the instant need to pimp. Bass only singal gets sent to Soundstream Rubicon 1000 watt amplifier which poweres 2 15" Kicker XPL woofers. Rear EQX gets sent balanced signal from Bose headunit. Rear EQX sends "high" signals to Hifonics Mercury amp which feeds 2 Soundstream SPL 60 components in the rear deck.
I shoulda got pics of the install. The car looks 100% bone stock inside. The 3 amps and 2 EQX units and passive crossovers are all completely out of sight. I was worried about system noise and grounding at first, but I had zero problems with ground loops or alternator noise. The only noise problem I have is the aforementioned motorized seat popping.
I'm considering beefing up the electrical system some more. Either a Exide SpiralCell battery right next to the largest amp or a cap. One thing I did make a boo boo on, was I powered the front EQX unit with the constant +12 volt coming off the motorized seats. The only problem with this, is that when I move the seats a popping noise goes through the system.
As for how I wired it the Bose system uses +5 volt DC on the + and - side of the balanced signal. There is no audio ground in this setup. What you have to do, is make your own cable. Go down to radio shack, buy twin lead cable (NOT coaxial, as balanced signal use common mode noise rejection and coax will defeat this) and RCA jacks. You have to take the headunit out, and I just used those electrical "tap" connectors to tap the + and - signals from the headunit. I believe the colors are light green, purple, yellow and brown. But facing the hood of the car from inside the car, it'll be the right 4 pins on the left plug of the headunit. For the back speakers, I just tapped off of the speakers. Then, you wire the + (which is the top connector) from the bose to the center pin of the RCA plug. Wire the - to the ring. The audiocontrol can use up to 9 volt DC in a balanced signal, so the bose works perfectly. Once you get the signal to the EQX, you can do pretty much anything from there.
I'll give a brief rundown of my system. Stock Bose headunit sends balanced line signals to 2 AudioControl EQX Series II. Crossover is at 90 Hz. Front EQX is under driver seat, feeds "high" signals to Rockford A500AII amp, which drives MB Quart 6.5" compoent speakers through passive crossovers. Front EQX's "mono low" is sent through a potentiometer (bass ****) mounted next to my dimmer switch. Allows me to "crank" the bass if I feel the instant need to pimp. Bass only singal gets sent to Soundstream Rubicon 1000 watt amplifier which poweres 2 15" Kicker XPL woofers. Rear EQX gets sent balanced signal from Bose headunit. Rear EQX sends "high" signals to Hifonics Mercury amp which feeds 2 Soundstream SPL 60 components in the rear deck.
I shoulda got pics of the install. The car looks 100% bone stock inside. The 3 amps and 2 EQX units and passive crossovers are all completely out of sight. I was worried about system noise and grounding at first, but I had zero problems with ground loops or alternator noise. The only noise problem I have is the aforementioned motorized seat popping.
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