Yes, I said that.
I actually wired an old Audiobahn 1000W monster in series up to 4OHM to see if it was still good, and it vibrated my garage. Currently I'm pushing about 900-1000 RMS to an Eclipse Titanium 10" (SW9102). 750W capacity in theory, but folks ran 750 to each coil back in the day without breaking a sweat. I rarely turn the gain above 1/3 and it's more than plenty. I also run a 6.5" in an OE Coupe box. My whole design was based upon a good sounding stereo with the 10" removed for max cargo space when the need arose.
In my Roadster, it happened to come with the Integral Audio 8" box, so I run an 8" DVC 4OHM (wired to 2OHM) Alpine and run 500W to it. Again, rarely turn the gain up too much, so it's very happy. Good with top down; bliss with hardtop on. PO had installed some very good 6.5" components, and they're finally seeing their potential with the new amp.
I feel you. I can't live without my tunes!
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
Last edited by s8ilver; 12-01-2022 at 02:22 PM.
Nathan in Denver
1999 M Roadster, VFE V3 S/C, Randy Forbes Reinforced, Hardtop, H&R/Bilstein, Apex PS-7, Supersprint
1999 Z3 2.8 Coupe, Headers, 3.46, Manual Swap, H&R/Koni, M Geometry/Brakes, M54B30 Manifold, Style 42
Yesterday I tackled replacing the footwell speakers. As you can see by the pic, the surrounds are completely gone. I will say that getting those kick panels off without breaking them was/is a PITA. Overall I estimated 1.5 hours and that's what it took me to do it. I used sound ordinance 5.25s (component system) so had to trim the mounting holes to be open-ended as others have done. Next step: install the amp including the crossovers for the sound ordinance speakers/tweeters. Then I get to enjoy taking off the door cards and installing the tweeters (and lubing the power window mechanisms).
IMG_4025.jpg
Finished the project today. Here's what I did, what it cost, and how long it took.
- Replaced kick panel speakers w/ 5 1/4" sound ordinance component speakers. Getting those kick panels off was a PITA as I said before. Cost $85. Time 90 minutes.
- Planned on replacing the tweeters but I tried with the stock ones (also 4ohm) and they sound great - so time saved there.
- Replaced back mid-speakers with Kicker 4" units - easy once I figured out they can be accessed by popping off the face plates. Cost $60. Time 45 minutes (including cleaning the foam from the back of the grills and stuffing insulation in the holes to separate the magnets from the steel back there).
- Replaced 2ohm 6.5" Kicker sub with new 6.75" 4ohm kicker sub (if anyone needs a 2ohm version lmk). This took more time than I expected since I had to shave the sides of the speaker to make it fit. Ended up removing quite a bit but it looks good. Also bought cork gasket material and made a gasket. Finally, had to shave some off that plastic protrusion at the back of the box since the speaker back was hitting it. Cost $95. Time 1.5 hours at least (sigh).
- Removed the stock amp and sub amp, and installed a new five channel class D amplifier. Mounted the unit on a finished board and added foam backing to the board; this fit nicely in the indented area in the back of the trunk. That said, it does cause my trunk mat to stick up a bit in the back ... I may look into modifying the mat or developing a custom mat with a step in the back to cover the amp. Nice unit and runs cool. And was half price. Cost $250. Time 2.5 hours including splicing all the wires etc.
- Bought and installed a new VDO Continental head unit and wiring harness adaptor. Cost about $180. Time: 30 minutes.
- Discovered that the Continental does not have a preamp out for the sub, so bought and installed a passive line output converter. Cost $10. Time 30 minutes only because I soldered T-connectors for each lead. Someone here recommended buying a powered LOC, and now I know why. This passive unit is too weak. Ordered a powered unit today.
- Developed a graphical depiction of my wiring diagram (inputs and outputs) based on wiring diagram info online. This was very helpful and a lot more intuitive to use. Cost nothing, took me an hour or so. I've attached it here. Keep in mind this is for the newer HK system and that I used external crossovers for the fronts (woofers and tweeters).
I'm about $700 all-in at 6 - 7 hours of labor. And the only snafu was that I used the wrong pos/neg connections for the sub inside the enclosure. Otherwise all worked as planned.
The system sounds great but I really need more from the sub to be 100% satisfied. The new LOC should help.
Here are some pics. I plan to hide the wires to/from the amp via wire hose covers, but I didn't want to wait on that to share pics. Hope all of this is helpful to someone out there about to do the same!
wiring 1.JPGwiring 2.JPGimage3.jpegimage2.jpeg
Another Kicker sub Replacement. Kicker must love Z3 Owners!
Good work...Enjoy the sound.
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