Full Car Audio Install (56k go for lunch)

**WhiteStripes** · 07-06-2008, 02:41 AM

So this weekend I decided to take on the installation of my stereo in my Tiburon with the help of a friend who did install for Best Buy for the better half of a year. His help was greatly appreciated, and I couldn't have done all this without him. Over all it took 2 days in our extremely messy garage. I'm convinced had it been clean it'd have been a much shorter job.

Anyhow onto the parts list:
Alpine CDA-9857 Head Unit
Alpine MRV-545 Amplifier
Alpine 6 1/2" Component Front Speakers
Alpine 6 1/2" Coaxial Rear Speakers
Fullspeed iPod Cable
Terk XMD-1000 Satellite Tuner
Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad Capacitor
Scosche Wire Harness, Mounting Kit, 6x9 to 6 1/2" Speaker Adapters and Amp Kit
Monster RCA Cables

So that about does it for what I was putting in it.

Let's start with the head unit. Pretty straight forward, no real big snags on the install. The XM tuner is behind the deck zip-tied to various cross bars back there. My Uncle was an authorized dealer for Monster cables around the time I originally bought this stuff so I managed to get a 4 way cable for the F/R speakers and a standard 2 way for the sub (which will be added later) for 15 bucks. They are pretty insane and seem like they'll rip the jacks out of whatever you plug them into if you aren't careful.

The iPod Fullspeed cable runs through to the glove box as so:

Next were the front speakers. The components I have are too small for the factory hole, and too deep for it as well. A quick trip to the local Home Depot to pick up some 1/2" MDF remedied that problem after a little carpentry done by yours truly :3_wink:

So those allowed the Alpine's to fit into the door and I was able to move on to the tweeter. Oh, and sorry but I don't have any pics of the speaker mounted in the spacer. Also the Crossover is double sided taped to the inside of the door.

The tweeter was relatively easy. It is a 1" silk dome, so it was quite larger than the stocker.

Sorry for the blurry pic.

After Dremeling out the stock mount to make the new one fit this is what I was left with.

Now that my Alpine tweeter fit, the final mounting took place, and scared the crap out of me. It hadn't occurred to me that the original one was so close to the A-pillar, and that put the new tweeter within a hair of hitting it. But alas it clears it and looks quite impressive at the same time.

Moving onto the rear was pretty simple despite having to remove the seats. I'd say the hardest part was honestly widening the hole in the "universal" 6x9 to 6 1/2 adapter. All in all though I made it work.

While I had the rear panel off I ran the XM antenna inside from the hatch under the weather stripping and behind the panel. Here's a bad pic of it, but it gives the general idea.

The first time I installed a car stereo I had my amp just chilling in the trunk, the second time, I ordered a pre-made amp rack which cleaned a lot of things up but still left a little cable clutter. This time I really wanted everything to look neat so I decided to make one myself. it would hold the Amp, Capacitor, and Distribution block for the ground cables. I drilled holes for pretty much everywhere there would be cables. Here it is bare.

Sorry, yet again kind of a bad pic.

Next I threw some carpet on it. Which in retrospect and advised by my friend I should have gotten some black vinyl to match the interior, but I still think it looks pretty good.

The power cable was mounted on the little tree thing off the main + post. It runs through the hole by the intake, and into the fender to go through the grommet for the wire harness. I cut a little slot in the cover for it to fit as so.

Finally the cables were all run to the Amp rack and it was mounted and hooked up.

Overall I was really happy with the way the rack turned out. I managed to make it look almost exactly as I wanted it to minus two little things that aren't a big deal anyway.

The whole set-up sounds amazing, and is ten times louder than in my Trans Am. If I ever take the door panels off again the crossover will be set to negative 6 instead of 3 because with the tweeters up top now they are super loud. All in all though I'm glad I didn't just sell it, because even though I liked the Infinity stuff, it can't compare to the Alpine setup. The only thing I think I'll be adding extra is a sub, but that'll be down the road.

Hope you enjoyed the post.

Paul

**dommo_g** · 07-06-2008, 03:11 PM

nice man. I like the amp off to the side and out of the way. What kind of car is this in?

**RickJamesBish** · 07-06-2008, 03:32 PM

Looks clean.

**WhiteStripes** · 07-06-2008, 05:15 PM

2006 Hyundai Tiburon GT

**Vissionary** · 07-06-2008, 05:27 PM

kick ass setup d00d.

**RickJamesBish** · 07-06-2008, 06:17 PM

How much did you pay for the whole setup? I'm definitely getting a new deck soon, and I'm likely to get new speakers since my side is slightly blown.

**lunchbox660** · 07-06-2008, 06:50 PM

i really like what youve done with the amp rack. i think to give it a more "finished" look you might want to try getting some grommets to seat at the base of all your wires where the y come out of the carpeting so they dont look like they are just poked thru a hole. it looks great how it is now, but it would look spectacular if it was 100% finished

shouldnt cost you more than $5 for what you need

**WhiteStripes** · 07-07-2008, 06:09 AM

Um, I got mostly everything from onlinecarstereo.com I think it was just under a grand, because the component speakers were a Christmas gift. The grommets on the amp rack would be cool yeah, I never thought of that.

07-06-2008, 02:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
WhiteStripes SOT Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: PHX, AZ Posts: 1,781 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 30^th	Full Car Audio Install (56k go for lunch) So this weekend I decided to take on the installation of my stereo in my Tiburon with the help of a friend who did install for Best Buy for the better half of a year. His help was greatly appreciated, and I couldn't have done all this without him. Over all it took 2 days in our extremely messy garage. I'm convinced had it been clean it'd have been a much shorter job. Anyhow onto the parts list: Alpine CDA-9857 Head Unit Alpine MRV-545 Amplifier Alpine 6 1/2" Component Front Speakers Alpine 6 1/2" Coaxial Rear Speakers Fullspeed iPod Cable Terk XMD-1000 Satellite Tuner Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad Capacitor Scosche Wire Harness, Mounting Kit, 6x9 to 6 1/2" Speaker Adapters and Amp Kit Monster RCA Cables So that about does it for what I was putting in it. Let's start with the head unit. Pretty straight forward, no real big snags on the install. The XM tuner is behind the deck zip-tied to various cross bars back there. My Uncle was an authorized dealer for Monster cables around the time I originally bought this stuff so I managed to get a 4 way cable for the F/R speakers and a standard 2 way for the sub (which will be added later) for 15 bucks. They are pretty insane and seem like they'll rip the jacks out of whatever you plug them into if you aren't careful. The iPod Fullspeed cable runs through to the glove box as so: Next were the front speakers. The components I have are too small for the factory hole, and too deep for it as well. A quick trip to the local Home Depot to pick up some 1/2" MDF remedied that problem after a little carpentry done by yours truly :3_wink: So those allowed the Alpine's to fit into the door and I was able to move on to the tweeter. Oh, and sorry but I don't have any pics of the speaker mounted in the spacer. Also the Crossover is double sided taped to the inside of the door. The tweeter was relatively easy. It is a 1" silk dome, so it was quite larger than the stocker. Sorry for the blurry pic. After Dremeling out the stock mount to make the new one fit this is what I was left with. Now that my Alpine tweeter fit, the final mounting took place, and scared the crap out of me. It hadn't occurred to me that the original one was so close to the A-pillar, and that put the new tweeter within a hair of hitting it. But alas it clears it and looks quite impressive at the same time. Moving onto the rear was pretty simple despite having to remove the seats. I'd say the hardest part was honestly widening the hole in the "universal" 6x9 to 6 1/2 adapter. All in all though I made it work. While I had the rear panel off I ran the XM antenna inside from the hatch under the weather stripping and behind the panel. Here's a bad pic of it, but it gives the general idea. The first time I installed a car stereo I had my amp just chilling in the trunk, the second time, I ordered a pre-made amp rack which cleaned a lot of things up but still left a little cable clutter. This time I really wanted everything to look neat so I decided to make one myself. it would hold the Amp, Capacitor, and Distribution block for the ground cables. I drilled holes for pretty much everywhere there would be cables. Here it is bare. Sorry, yet again kind of a bad pic. Next I threw some carpet on it. Which in retrospect and advised by my friend I should have gotten some black vinyl to match the interior, but I still think it looks pretty good. The power cable was mounted on the little tree thing off the main + post. It runs through the hole by the intake, and into the fender to go through the grommet for the wire harness. I cut a little slot in the cover for it to fit as so. Finally the cables were all run to the Amp rack and it was mounted and hooked up. Overall I was really happy with the way the rack turned out. I managed to make it look almost exactly as I wanted it to minus two little things that aren't a big deal anyway. The whole set-up sounds amazing, and is ten times louder than in my Trans Am. If I ever take the door panels off again the crossover will be set to negative 6 instead of 3 because with the tweeters up top now they are super loud. All in all though I'm glad I didn't just sell it, because even though I liked the Infinity stuff, it can't compare to the Alpine setup. The only thing I think I'll be adding extra is a sub, but that'll be down the road. Hope you enjoyed the post. Paul __________________ SOT- Yeah, that just happened. Last edited by WhiteStripes; 07-06-2008 at 05:15 PM.

07-06-2008, 03:11 PM	#2 (permalink)
dommo_g SOT Post Whore Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 2,328 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 53^rd	nice man. I like the amp off to the side and out of the way. What kind of car is this in? __________________

07-06-2008, 03:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
RickJamesBish SOT Post Whore Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Naples Posts: 10,864	Looks clean. __________________ SOT - I'M RICK JAMES BITCH!

07-06-2008, 05:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
WhiteStripes SOT Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: PHX, AZ Posts: 1,781 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 30^th	2006 Hyundai Tiburon GT __________________ SOT- Yeah, that just happened.

07-06-2008, 05:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
Vissionary SOT Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal Posts: 45,287 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 43^rd	kick ass setup d00d. __________________ SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

07-06-2008, 06:17 PM	#6 (permalink)
RickJamesBish SOT Post Whore Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Naples Posts: 10,864	How much did you pay for the whole setup? I'm definitely getting a new deck soon, and I'm likely to get new speakers since my side is slightly blown. __________________ SOT - I'M RICK JAMES BITCH!

07-06-2008, 06:50 PM	#7 (permalink)
lunchbox660 SOT Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,472	i really like what youve done with the amp rack. i think to give it a more "finished" look you might want to try getting some grommets to seat at the base of all your wires where the y come out of the carpeting so they dont look like they are just poked thru a hole. it looks great how it is now, but it would look spectacular if it was 100% finished shouldnt cost you more than $5 for what you need

07-07-2008, 06:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
WhiteStripes SOT Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: PHX, AZ Posts: 1,781 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 30^th	Um, I got mostly everything from onlinecarstereo.com I think it was just under a grand, because the component speakers were a Christmas gift. The grommets on the amp rack would be cool yeah, I never thought of that. __________________ SOT- Yeah, that just happened.

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