Considering new HU

chopin_guy88

Thanks so much -- had seen that thread and looked at those drivers. I will start with just the HU as it has much more complex EQ and time alignment. Perhaps I will be happy with just that. Just don't want to go down the amp road and having to run power line, rcas, trigger, etc...

Hotrodz

Good deal and good luck with your upgrade.

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chopin_guy88

Thanks -- appreciate the feedback. The more time I spend reading and everything, if I'm going to have the dash open in everything -- maybe it makes sense to at least add an amp to the system when doing all this work??

If I do ultimately decide to add an amp, it will still be *without* a sub. Just not going to give up what little cargo space our cars have.

That being said -- if I get a decent 2 channel or 4 channel amp (to run bridged) -- I will be able to get a lot more out of an after market set of components correct??

BoneZ

I didn't loose any cargo room with my sub.

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chopin_guy88

Haha...I was just looking at your build (awesome job BTW). But that's just a bit more involved than I want to get. As much as a would love to run a sub...

Nillaz

Chopin, if I may give a piece of advice....even if you are still undecided on whether or not to install an amp, while you have the dash apart for the HU install be proactive and run the RCA's/remote lead anyway. It's a tiny bit of extra work now to avoid a whole lot of hassle later. Plus, it will limit potential damage to your interior plastics. Our dash pieces were not meant to me ripped apart repeatedly and are prone to scratching/marring. Overall the fewer times you have to disassemble them the better off you will be.

At the end of the day it's your car and by all means you should do whatever you want with it, but you will never regret running those wires even if you ultimately don't use them. On the other hand, if you decide to run an amp at some point in the future you will be kicking yourself for not doing this the first time around.

TarheelGolfer

Nillaz,

Which channel(s) did you run the RCAs off the head unit?

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Nillaz

I always run RCA's for all available outputs, so on my 8000NEX we're talking about 6 channels. In the Z I only use 4 of them...the front l/r and sub l/r. The rear channels are not currently in use, and while I don't anticipate that this will change it doesn't hurt to have options down the road. I put caps on unused connectors and tape them off to prevent shorts.

For this build I was installing my amp from the get go and thus ran my lines to my chosen location (the narrow space in the hatch directly behind the parcel shelf is excellent for amps with a smaller footprint). For those who are unsure if they even want to add an amp or undecided on where to ultimately locate the amp you can leave the connections under the parcel shelf to avoid unsightly wires. It's snug but I found in my first Z that you can tuck a surprising amount of cabling into this space. You can also gain access to this area by prying up the floors of the parcel shelf with a small flat head screwdriver. The floors are held in place with a couple clips that pop right out.

From there you can run the wires to either the hatch or under/behind the seat down the road. Getting the wires to this location from the HU is straightforward when you already have the dash apart the first time...there is ample room to run wires through the center console tunnel. If/when you decide to install an amp at a later date you don't need to rip your dash apart again...all you have to do is run your power cabling, and this can be accomplished without touching the dash.

Hotrodz

You are welcome, yep power is need to make most components perform optimally. You don't need a 4 channel if you aren't going to do tweets, but you can get decent tweeters for cheap as well. I also agree with Nillaz, why not do as much of the work in advance so when do decide to add an amp you don't have to do much more.

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Fast Intentions TT Installed and Tuned by Seb at SpecialtyZ 610whp 560tq:|Fast Intentions 3" TT-TDX|SpecialtyZ/Fast Intentions 72 Row Oil Cooler|SZ 6 Puck Clutch & Flywheel|3GsCustoms|Z1|Wavetrac|Hotchkis|Whiteline |Blitz|Fortune Auto 500|Fujimura|SPL|H&R|TK|TWM|RPM Rollbar|Sparco|Next Level Performance|TrackSpec|AeroFlow Dynamics|Pioneer|

TarheelGolfer

I don't have the tools or the skills of BoneZ either. So for a sub I'm considering a kicker hideaway, or Kenwood ksc-sw11 behind the seat. I'm not expecting the performance of something like what BoneZ did, but it looks to be a fairly easy and inexpensive way to add a little more lows.

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chopin_guy88

So I'm still kicking around ideas on this upgrade and was wondering how much room we have under the passenger seat? Would something like this sub fit underneath there:

Rockford Fosgate PS-8 Punch Series powered 8" subwoofer at Crutchfield.com

Thinking this might be a cool and easy to install solution that wouldn't take up any space to run with the HU??

Mr Pinchy

Pretty tight under the seat. What about behind one of the seats? Or it's small so maybe mount it in the hatch area. Would it fit inside the spare tire?

chopin_guy88

Yeah perhaps inside the spare would be an option, but would loose the spare. That would be the only other option really. It's only about 3.5" tall...

Mr Pinchy

Sorry when I said spare I meant inside the rim itself. I have the sport with the bose system. The subwoofer is located inside the rim. I thought if your rim was open you could mount it to the removable panel under the mat or inside the rim somehow. From your previous posts I read you want to install components without a amp. I have done this before with a new head unit and they sound much better then OEM. True you won't get much bass punch but they are not built for that. Just try to match the stereo RMS with the speakers RMS to get the best output from them. It wouldn't make a difference at this power level to upgrade the speaker wire. You can get a kit to bypass the amp and use factory wires.

TarheelGolfer

The Kenwood Ksc-sw11 is even smaller.

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