Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Posting my early results

OK, I have ripped out the center console, I have no glove box and pulled the rear deck off. I am building in stages, so I thought I would give my early result and spark some discussion.

Head unit gone and replaced with Clarion DRX6675Z with a 4 channel Alpine amp. The Clarion deck is an exellent sounding no frills deck with 4V preouts.

The old Head unit is a real ***** to get out. You really do need the factory key to get the deck out. Coat hangers won't do!
(popped open the stock deck cover, parts are made by SONY and the rest from Mexico).


The factory 4 channel amp which is behind the glovebox looks pretty small and feeble.
I tapped in to the speaker wiring that exits the factory amp.

My first impressions at this stage was the sound was a lot better, but the factory speakers distorted a bit.

Then I started on my micro-sub. An ultra compact box using an 8" JL audio sub.(I have posted a seperate topic on the micro sub) I just bought a new amp off EBAY, but I don't have it yet. So I am running the Alpine in 3 channel mode to run the sub. Rear speaker disconnected. Front speakers now on an 80Hz crossover through amp.

I noticed an incredible improvment on the front stock speakers. They sound incredible on acustic guitars. The micro sub which is in prototype form sounded really good as well, in fact I could not believe such a little box (9"wide x25"length x5heigh" (<0.5cubic feet) could shake the car. Still working on the sub part. A lot of saw dust in the garage!

The sub was designed to mount under the deck in the trunk out of the way. If you stand and look into the trunk you cannot see the sub.

I am building an AMP rack under the passenger seat. Initial trials with the amp loose under the seat shows no heat problems. But I am not trying to shake the neiborhood either!

So the stock speakers sound good if they are not playing anything below 80Hz.

I am probally going to change out my stock speakers, they sound pretty good right now. Any recomendations? I was thinking of Inifinity KAPPA two or 3 ways? Any comments.

Also what should I do with the rear speakers? Will upgrading them help on the imaging or sound? Feedback here is apreciated!

Another example that the stock speakers make pretty good mids. Thanks for the post.

Hey jborge,

who did you mount your micro-sub?

is the sub firing through the stock hole, or is it facing down into the trunk? Did you mount it in the center of the rear deck?

I like your idea and was thinking maybe I could get another hole cut out on the other side of the rear deck and get 2 micro-subs and fire them through the rear deck and put a sub amp in between the two enclosures.

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A. Van
98 SVT T-red

I call it the contour microsub!

There are only a hand full of subs out there that can be designed into such a small enclosure.My goal was tight quality bass, won't shake the neighbors or anything just a nice presence in the car.

I will be posting pictures of the project. Right now the sub sounds really good, and I have to keep pinching my self to remind me that the sub is that small and yet sounds several times larger.

I am dealing with several mechnical problems right now. The origional plan was to fire the sub up through the existing cutout. After doing some trials I found had some serious vibration problems. Will need another weekend or two to finalize.

The sub is back on the floor in the trunk until I work things out.

Just a simple tip to anybody who wants to bolt anything to the rear deck. Used bolts that you can use an allen key on. There is no height between the rear glass window and the deck for a screwdriver or socket wrench!

I will be back with more info.