Stereo and Speaker install guide

[shaunwil]

You want them both to point to a common point in the middle of the car or the speaker on the opposite side will not sound right.

As for the power and rca cables you want to keep them as far away from each other as possible, you can get interference between the two if you run them side by side.

Some very nice installs, never actually thought about sticking the cross over in the door, mine are behind the seats and the tweeters are reed style ones that are stick to the dash !

I\'ve ended up with 6.5in components all round, made some mdf spacers for the stock positions to get them in and massaged the rear metal work for clearance.

Still need to get my finger out and fit my decent amp in the car (DLS A4 - the big Four) in the spare wheel well !

Really good howto. Always alot of work to get a stereo sorted !

Shaun

[Mave]

Great write up, and gave me the confidence to go off and do mine. A word of warning though; if you\'ve got the full BOSE system, the door speakers are completely different. I hadn\'t looked at mine before buying the same Alpine system used in this write up, and I had to do a cut a large chunk out of the speaker enclosure to get enough depth to mount the speakers. Its still very tight, and I had to cut away some of the fibreglass backing on the door panels to clear the edges of the speakers. Haven\'t sorted out the back yet, but sounds great already!

[trotter]

As Nix and craig have already said, most cars (with a relatively small interior), will give better sound when no rear speakers are used. Buy some decent front ones and a good sub and you will be laughing all the way to your first ASBO! :Laugh

I dont have personal experience of ICE-ing a rex (yet:) ) but the general principles are the same for any car:

1) most importantly THINK about what you are doing/are trying to do.
2) as when playing with engines - ALWAYS, ALWAYS get the right tool for the job (example: dont try mucking about with wires with pliers/scissors/etc, get a proper set of crimpers/strippers - you can get them for a fiver these days!)
3) For a major install, remove as much of the interior (carpets, seats, etc) as possible. There is NOTHING more infuriating than trying to run wires under seats when they are still in place. - Trust me, I know this :Nono!

Follow these 3 points as well as those from Nix and craig and you will find ICE installs a piece of cake. and as most people know, there is nothing more satisfying than getting admiration from others for something that YOU did yourself! :wiggle :wiggle

[NixRX7]

Even with the standard non bose system you still have to cut a chunk out of the door speaker enclosure as illustrated in one of the pictures to get enough mounting depth.

Im glad you went ahead and did your own install, its much more satisfying doing it yourself.

And if you do run into any problems you will almost always find an answer on the forum somewhere

nick

[Mave]

cheers guys, I quite enjoyed it, spent a few evenings and made sure I did a proper job with crimps, heat shield etc.

Haven\'t yet put the back speakers in; on fronts alone it lacks a bit of bass, going to try rear speakers driven by head, with crossover to give bass only. If that doesn\'t work, I may try putting the bass tube back in the boot, but I guess I\'ll need some 4 ohm speakers for it.

Here\'s some photos of the front speaker enclosers, modified using a coping saw and then a pair of 6mm screws to hold the adaptor ring on. When I fitted them in the door panels, the sticky-out bits of the adaptor ring had to come off with a pair of pliers. The inside of the enclosure shows the crossover mounted upside down, so any condensation runs away from it.

[trotter]

that install looks ace...well done that man!

[Mave]

Just thought I\'d post some feedback as I\'ve just finished putting my rear speakers. On a type X, getting at the speaker positions is exactly the same as in Nix\'s write up, except you need to undo the rear seat belt top bolt, and wiggle the panel over the rear seat belt bottom pivot. The screw holes for the speaker bracket are already in position, and the map pockets have an inside shell which pulls away easily. The holes are then exactly the right size for the speaker grills, so its all as easy as you might hope. Took my 3 hours in total, including all the wiring, and pulling out my back seats and carpet as I\'ve discovered I\'ve got a leak Anyway, pleased with the results, after 18 months I\'ve finally got music in the Rex

[Bazza]

My thanks to everyone who has posted something on this one, it helped a great deal. :wiggle  :Ladys-man
       These alpine sps-171 speakers are fantastic and only £80 delivered, the only thing that shocked me about doing this is that the stock (and very s--t speakers) are made by pioneer, shame on you. Next month the rear ones. :cheers