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New SVT stereo - The good and the bad

E

enduro

CEG'er
Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Messages
364
Location
Calgary, AB
I recently bought an SVT and have been working at putting a decent system in it. I was told the stereo simply wasnt working by the previous owner, so I didnt really even take notice of it
. I discovered a few nice surprises and some inspired wiring stupidity in the car.

First the good stuff, The HU actually does work, but was wired wrong somewhere under the dash . The HU a Kenwood EXcelon KVT 817DVD has a built in DVD screen and adjustments galore. FWIW the HU actually retails locally for more than I paid for the entire car !!!
carstereo-1.jpg


The car also has some real nice Alpine Type R 5 x 7's and a newer Optima battery.

There was wiring nastiness everywhere in the car. All the OEM stereo wiring was all cut or hacked into randomly. The speaker wiring was the worst. The rear doors had 3 sets of speaker wires in them, none of which were connected to anything. I also found this mess under the rear seat.

100_0007.jpg


I also pulled out 20 ft of 0 gauge wire, it was put through the firewall with no grommet. I'm replacing it with new 4 gauge wire into a 2 way splitter then feeding an Alpine MRP 500 mono amp and a 4 channel amp (probably an Infinity 7541).

I also removed all the interior carpets and panels and am doing a soundproofing job. First off was the trunk . I used Ramaat BXT 60 and will cover it with a layer of ensolite at a later date. The Rammat sticks really well and was easy to use.

There's nothing in the trunk but bare metal, its no wonder these cars are noisy

100_0856-1.jpg


Almost finished, still needs ensolite

100_0859-1.jpg
 
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Wow you went to town on the trunk! Quick question though. You say the previous install ran through the firewall but where did they run it through?
 
To the op, where did you get that tape, whats its purpose and how much was it?

Right above the pedals there is a rubber neck through the firewall.

I dont know how to explain it, but ill try to go out to the car and look at it.

I got some pics! Hope it helps to the above poster :

http://img402.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=wire1.jpg
 
Finally finished the stereo install . The power wire went thru a grommet between the brake booster and the strut tower. Then thru another grommet under the windshieldwiper cowl . This info been posted a few times but hopefully these pictures can help also

powerwire1.jpg


powerwire3.jpg


Finished the trunk, adding ensolite on top of the Rammat
100_0874.jpg


Deadened the doors
100_0878.jpg
 
... continuing on. The reciever for the HU was installed under the passenger set. Kenwood made this job harder than necessary by making all the connecting cables 20 ft long (no other lengths available)
reciever1.jpg


2 Alpine amps (MRP M 500 and MRP F 300) were attached to the back of the rear seat. Front speakers are Energy 6.5" components, rears are Alpine 5 x 7 type R's. Subwoofer is a 10" Punch in a generic box.

amps2.jpg


The HU has a built in DVD. Who can guess whats playing in this picture
dvdplayer.jpg


I still want to deaden the floors and firewalls of the car but I ran out of material. Used 62.5 square ft of BXT and 3 square yds of ensolite so far.
 
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I believe that is a clip from bowling for Columbine IIRC, Michael Moore..

Like the setup so far, the excelon units are hot! Personally would of hidden the brain behind the glove box if there was room by the old factory amp... I'm guessing your other amp is probably the same as I just did in one of our employees cars, same size alpine amp, one 4 ch, the other mono block. Like the mounting, personally I'd clean the wires up a little more. Sound deadener is always a great add-on too, my trunk has a layer of dynamat from the seats back..
 
Get the end caps on the amps and clean up the wires and it'll look good. How did you mount them to the seatback? Is there wood underneath or did you just screw them into the metal?
 
I just screwed the amps to the seats.The endcaps were left off for easy access till I determine my final settings.

The receiver is too big to fit behind the glovebox, that was were I wanted to put it originally.
The other Alpine amp is a MRP -F300

Yes, the movie playing is Bowling for Columbine.
 
Unfortunately, I threw the wire away awhile ago.

I tried selling it locally for about 2 months. the only people calling were little peckerheads that $20 was way too much money for 20 feet of wire( costs $7 a ft!!! at local stereo stores). Or, they expected me to drive a hour out of the way -- no thanks, not worth my time. Final straw was when one douche said he was coming right over , shows up 2 hours later and decides he doesn't want the wire. Then,he thought he'd do me a big favor by offering me a 1/3 of my firm price on an amp I was also selling. I hung up on the prick before he even finished his sentence and shortly after pitched the wire into a dumpster.
 
I really like the MRP-F300. I was worried when I was hooking it up because my speakers are rated at 100wrms and the amp only does 75wrms but it pushes them with plenty of good. I think it is rated pretty conservative too. Makes my ears ring everyday haha.
 
Trunk looks great! Have you noticed any difference in road noise since adding the deadening? I think the road noise is terrible in my car.
Erick --
 
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