D22 Audio Upgrade

[Gagzila]

Hey Guys,

So going of what I've learnt from my thread HERE and other threads on the matter, below is what I've come up with to upgrade the audio in my D22 Nav without replacing the factory head unit:

Front Speakers: http://www.fusionelectronics.co.nz/car/products/speakers-cp-series/pf-fr6030 - AU$89 RRP
Rear Speakers: http://www.fusionelectronics.co.nz/car/products/speakers-cp-series/pf-fr5220 - Price not listed
High to Low Level Converter: http://www.fusionelectronics.co.nz/car/products/marine-cables/hl-02 - AU$8.95 RRP
Subwoofer: http://www.fusionelectronics.co.nz/...es-cp-series/cp-8-Super-Slim-Active-Subwoofer - AU$299 RRP

So obviously I've gone all Fusion gear, it seems cheap enough that if I don't get the result I want at least it's a proof of concept that doesn't cost me a bucket load and can then replace with much higher quality gear if I want to. The idea is to install new front 3 way 6" speakers to provide some better range and quality over the stockies, new rear door 2 way 5.25" speakers to help fill in the rest of the cabin for a fuller sound, splice the high to low range converter onto the rear speaker wires at the head unit and then run the usual RCA lead behind the rear seat where I will mount the 8" super slim active subwoofer for some good punchy bass (I'm a metal head at heart, not a dub step junkie ). If I find it performs well but could use some help, I will purchase a second one and daisy chain it off the first one (they're specifically designed to allow this) for extra punch and bass.

Will be pulling the Nav apart a bit this weekend to double check everything will fit and work as I have planned it out, any further advice or tips on the matter are welcome. I'll also be putting up a few pics and details along the way to help any others that come after me and are wanting to do the same.

Cheers,

Craig

 

[ant]

Will be really interested to see your thoughts on the sub. Ive never actually measured, but how much space is there between the rear wall of the cab and the back seat?

 

[Gagzila]

Haven't measure myself yet Ant but I am confident it will fit. Below are the dimensions of the sub unit if you want to check for yourself with your setup.

http://www.fusionelectronics.co.nz/content/product_downloads/CP-AS1080_Product_Dimensions1.pdf

Cheers,

Craig

 

[Hodge]

Sounds like it will be a good set-up mate. Once you hook it all up, then let Maiden rip it up. Can send one of those stickers your way if you wish. Forgot to throw them in when you picked the car up lol.

 

[mad possum]

these fit behind the back seats and work nicely:
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=CS2286&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=1027#4
the wiring is already thru to the back doors so makes the job much easier. good luck and post some photos when you do

 

[OneMofo]

i have fusion in the forn and in the rear doors as well, the front are 6.5" and in the rear doors i have 6x9`s, works quite nice though ill end up getting a sub at some point. Good luck with the install its all relativly easy.

 

[bods]

Well if you want to save some money forget the high - low converters and just use the high level inputs on the sub for the input.

 

[Gagzila]

Hodge, that would be awesome if you had an extra sticker you could shoot my way and yeah will definitely be pumping the IM!

Thanks Mad Possum but I like the higher RMS of the Fusion unit and trying to stay all the same brand if I can.

Thanks for the feedback Onemofo. This should be something like my 20th car audio install over the years so not fazed at all

Bods, I've read the high levels are more prone to feedback, interference and quality loss...plus for $8.95 I'm not really saving much

Didn't get a chance to do anything more over the weekend so will see how we go over the next week or so.

Cheers,

Craig

 

[Ben54b]

Really keen to see what you think of the results with the fusion converters. was debating
using these or adjustable gain units like jaycars. your thread now has me geed up to get
my install underway. gotta dust off all my old gear and make sure it still works. ben

 

[bods]

Maybe, can't say I've ever had an issue with it using them, but maybe there are issues... I wrote that before I looked at the pricing actually, lol. I just looked at the specs for the sub and saw it had them.

 

[Gagzila]

Hey Guys,

Just a quick update - ordered and installed all the Fusion gear I listed in my OP, sounds great, will post up details and photos of the install soon! Went on a week long ski trip to Perisher straight after installing it all and it performed very well!

Cheers,

Craig

 

[baggs]

nice i got a 10 inch kicker behind back seat and amp under drivers seat put a set of 6 inch in the doors i think is a waste of time due to the spacer needed to install the speaker when door is shut the speaker is hard up against the back seat and muffles sound will be adding a set of 6x9 or 7x10 next to sub behind back seat i think but have really good sound and not to much doof doof

 

[Gagzila]

Audio upgrade installation

Alright Guys, sorry for the wait...just been a bit busy...and slack in getting round to posting up, this post itself may be a bit brief as well so if you have any questions about any of it just fire away and I'll get back to you when I can.

So going of my OP, as said I wanted to retain the stock blue tooth head unit but get a better, fuller sound out of it by installing some new fronts, new rears and a self contained active subwoofer behind the rear seat. Being a bit of a proof of concept build, I didn't want to spend a real lot of money and so went with the Fusion gear, ordering it all through Super Cheap Auto. All up it set me back pretty close to $400 and I'm really happy with the sound and also the punch the bass has to it as well as how cabin unobtrussive the install is, with the sub making good use of the space behind the rear seats, the fronts simply replacing the stockies behind the stock door card covers and the rears only stick out around 1-1.5cm at the most and doesn't detract at all from rear foot room.

Anyway, without further ado - the goods going in:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1297_zps422d514b.jpg

Installing the rears, I had to cut the plastic and install the speaker mount in this cavity. Even without the doorcards on, the rear of the speaker has no problems clearing the window glass in this location (checkout specs of rear speakers from link in OP if you want to compare depth). The two left mounting screws I made use of existing holes and had to drill a hole for the right bottom one. With 3 mounting points, it was very sturdily secured:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1308_zpsa07afdbc.jpg

I made little spacers from alluminium tubing for (from memory anyway) the bottom left and bottom right mounting screws as the speaker mounting plate couldn't sit flush. Also from memory, the left one was 9mm thick and the right 12mm:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1311_zps8a8dcd4e.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1313_zpsfd6a529f.jpg

Next I had to remove the ash trays from the door cards and cut holes for the speakers. Getting the right position was fun, used the template that came with the speakers to trace the hole. Got it pretty close and had to adjust a little on the car, then flipped it on top of the other to trace and get the same spot of for the other door:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1307_zpsb8470bbb.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1323_zps3d4d1597.jpg

Ran some new speaker wire through the door grommits, back to the behind the head unit. Crimped on some nice cheap connectors :

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1319_zpsbd404baa.jpg

Re-used the plastic that is molded for the ash trays as a water protector for the speakers (left open at the bottom back so it can breathe):

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1324_zps4ed0a054.jpg

And the rears were installed:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1318_zpsab3c5d5f.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1326_zps74e68279.jpg

They really help fill out the cabin more than just having fronts, the guys in the rear for my recent ski trip reckoned it sounded pretty good back there as well:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1329_zps4adcba8c.jpg

Fronts were obviously straight forward - door card off (well hanging rotated 90 degrees actually, couldn't figure out how to disconnect the window switch cables), factory speak out, cut connector, crimp cheapies on, connect new speakers and bolt in, door card back on:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1321_zps1d4b33ab.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1322_zpse717c7f4.jpg

Ran 8 gauge cable from battery through firewall grommit, under carpet on left edge of the car, to behind rear seat. Also ran the remote wire, remote bass control and RCA leads (cheap, quick install remember) all down the same area. Bolted the negative lead to one of the head rest bolts:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1332_zpsb85a2efb.jpg

Zip tied the sub/amp to the rear seat as I've seen / read others do:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1330_zps3656c5df.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1333_zps338d77a6.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a145/Valheru007/Image Host/IMG_1334_zpsc7503ddb.jpg

Thats it for the pics, pretty much just had to cut the head unti rear speaker wires on the adapter wiring (so the original loom is untouched), connect the rear speaker wires and splice in the high level input to low level output converter to the rear speaker wires (left and right, 4 wires all up to splice in), bolt it's negative wire to a ground point and connect the RCA leads. I also mounted the remote bass control under the lower dash, just above where my left knee is for easy access.

Hope that helps anyone else looking to do a similar install, will re-write all of this later as a proper guide but for now that's the basic gist of the isntall

Cheers,

Craig

 

[Jon]

Thanks for that mate good install, I like it. Just a tip though, can you please embed the images into the post would make it much easier to read. just put img in square brackets at the start of the link and /img in square brackets at the end. As simple as that. Cheers

 

[George k]

How bout the remote cable for the amp bud ?

 

[Gagzila]

Hi Jon,

I would embed the images except it only allows you to do this for 4 images, so for the sake of consistency (plus I didn't have time then to make a heap of posts with 4 pics in each one) I decided to leave them all as links.

George, I did mention the remote base control in my post. As said I mounted it just above my left knee on the underside of the dash in the leg / foot well.

Cheers,

Craig

 

[Gagzila]

Sorry George, I think I know what you mean...I just spliced the amp remote wire into the head units red accessory wire in the adapter cabling.

Ill do a proper guide in a few weeks that should be pretty comprehensive.

Cheers,

Craig