Here's my setup so far:

Stock HU, Focal Components up front, Focal Coaxials in sail panels all powered by a JL Audio 300/4 amp

My subwoofer took a **** so I yanked it and the amp powering it.

I'm thinking about installing some 6.5 subwoofers in the sail panels and have my 300/4 amp powering them. I am also thinking about finally changing out my HU. I was going to do a double DIN but I am leaning back towards a 1 DIN. The wife says 1 DIN doesn't look too bad (she's the only one I need to impress anyhow right? ).

In my research, I am hearing about something called an "oversize" 1 DIN. But these threads are about three years old and those HUs are discontinued (unless my searching sucks). I think an oversized 1 DIN would fill in the HU area better. Maybe with a kit from Humount?

What I'm asking is: Are there any holes in my theory for upgrading my already upgraded system? I don't need too much bass. I don't need my car shaking apart. As long as it has better bass than the Monsoon system (which I liked until it crapped out on me). Also where can I find a good deal on some oversized 1 DIN HUs? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Bump. I have decided that I want a 1 DIN HU. Going to get a HUMount for it too. It has grown on me provided I find the right looking HU. The Alpine Digital Recievers (with the **** in the center) look awesome. I no longer have an iPod though nor do I plan on getting any. Unless there is a way to connect a hard drive to it.

 

Do you intend to give your 300/4 amp a full range signal for the sail subs? Does the amp come with some kind of band pass?

 

Honestly, I'm not very knowledgable on car stereo systems. I bought the parts and paid to have them installed. I've changed speakers and installed HUs before but a whole system change I'm clueless about so I had it done by people that are in the business. Plus this was done over five years ago so I have forgotten a lot about the system. From what I know/remember, the amp can send 75W to the subwoofers which is within their power range (if I understand things correctly). The amp can power speakers in the 1-4 OHM range. I think my speakers are 4 OHM.

I'm not sure what "band pass" is but I'll take a look after work. I'm sure I have seen a button or **** that has that on it. That was one of the things I was wondering about, if the amp can send low frequencies to the sub instead of the full range like it does to the speakers.

Everything is changed except the HU and I need to look back there and see what wires were cut, etc. And look to see what harnesses and other things I need to do to wire up the HU. The system I have is OK but I think it can be better. I want to install a HU first since it is usually the "best upgrade". Then I will decide later on if I want to remove the coaxials in the sails and install the subwoofers.

 

How much are you looking to spend?

Is the original monsoon external amp gone/destroyed?

Are you saying your sail subs are destroyed, or some other larger external sub in the hatch?

Is anything working in the sail panels right now, and if so, what is driving them?

 

Nothing to break the bank. I would say I won't pay over $300 for an HU. That is the absolute MAX. Even $300 I would be leary of paying. $200 I wouldn't mind at all. When I had the shop work on my system, I had them replace all my speakers (except the hatch speakers, they aren't even plugged in, I don't use them at all) as well as the amp.

It had Focal components in the doors (tweeters in the A-pillars) and Focal coaxials in the sails. I had an Infinity sub in the trunk area. The sub went bad while I was deployed. I can't figure out what is wrong, the amp is getting power but no signal is getting to the sub for some reason. I decided to get rid of the sub when I read about people putting 6.5 subs in the sail area. Since I hardly notice the coaxials that are in there now, I am leaning towards that route.

I tried to look in my trunk yesterday but the wires are on the bottom so I'm going to borrow a mirror from my shop at work and see if I can find if it has a "band pass" or something like that. I did see two sets of four wires going into the amp (they look like speaker wires) and two RCA wires (I believe those are the wires that go to the amp that powered my sub). I will get a good look once the dayshift/bosses leave.

But my amp is powering my front and sail speakers at this moment. All speakers work fine, it's my sub that isn't and is currently removed (was dead weight). I would like some extra bass but not as much as what the sub put out. It was mellow but sometimes it was too much. I think 6.5 subwoofers would be perfect for me. From what I've read, it's not "powerful" but it's better than what the Monsoon system put out which is what I want. As long as it's clean bass too (what I loved about the Infinity subwoofer).

EDIT: Yes, I can decide what frequencies to send to the front and/or rear speakers. I can set it to low or high frequency ranges. However, the RCA cables are from my stock HU and are plugged into the "front channel input" on my amp. I remember the shop guy saying that the stock HU is limited to only one set of RCA cables which is why I can't use the "fade" **** on my stock HU, or something like that. So, I will most likely have to route some RCA cables when I get my new HU installed and plug that into my amp. Or is that a waste of time? I would like to use my "fader" but it's not really THAT necessary.

 

Here's what I'd do, based on my own experience. Obviously your needs and tastes would differ from my own.

I have a Pioneer DEH-6200BT. THere are many good brands and models of HU to choose from. You just need to decide what features you want. Usually it ends up being a choice between XM, IPod, Blu-tooth, HD radio, etc. You usually get one or two of those features integrated at a good price point, and anything beyond that one or two you have get very expensive expansion data bus modules. I had to choose between blue-tooth and HD radio... we don't even have HD stations where I live. I'd say stick with a single DIN, unless you want GPS or a DVD player or something like that. Otherwise you'll have to get a double DIN bezel kit and go down a harder path. Single DIN mounting kits are cheap and easy. Don't bother with 1.5 DIN units, they are old and obsolete for the most part.

Make sure your HU has RCA pre-outs for sub, front, and back. Run RCA cables all the way to your amp rack, at least 17-20 feet.

Your best option for bass is still a 10" in a cubby enclosure driven by a monoblock class D amp. I use a Kenwood KAC-8105D but it's all personal preference and how much RMS your cone requires. If it's too powerful, the amp may include a remote **** control, and your new HU will have a pre-out level control so you don't have to open the hatch to turn a little control. If you don't get a big sub, you will miss out on some of the lower frequencies, like the 50 Hz type stuff. Smaller midbass cones are okay but they will never be able to go that low. Many HU RCA sub outputs will not offer the full range that these midbass drivers are intended for. That's why I brought up the term "band pass". The old Monsoon amp had all these filters and crossovers integrated internally. If we don't use that old Monsoon amp, then we need an external amp that will offer the same kind of filtering for midbass subs.

I'd get a pair of cheap coaxial or component 4" hatch speakers and put them back in. Make sure they can handle the RMS coming from your old JL 4 channel amp. Use your old 4 channel amp to drive the doors and hatch speakers as originally intended. This will give you the desired fade control with your front/back pre-out RCAs on your new HU.

Remove the 6.5" focals in the sail panels and get Kee's bazookas or CDT midbass drivers. If your old monsoon amp by the spare tire is intact, let it drive them, or you get a cheap two channel amp with a bandpass filter, like an Audiopipe AP-1002 (the bazookas run 39-1.5 kHz). Put the DVCs in parallel (2 ohm). Use a full range L/R RCA split from the JL amp as an input.

I know it sounds crazy to upgrade to as many as 3 separate amps, but that's the path I'm on. Remember the little old monsoon was driving 8 channels (4 on the sail's dual coils), so an upgrade will take a lot of juice to drive them all properly, and the original system never hit lows like a separate sub will.

Just be aware of your amp power wire gauge, and your alternator load.

 

Thanks for the info. I will keep it in mind. I'm really dreading how the speakers were wired into my HU. Either this weekend or the next, I'm going to check it out back there. I'm thinking since I already had all speakers replaced and wired to a new amp, I would only need the power, ignition, remote, ground wires and not speaker wires (since they will be RCA cables to my amp). If that is the case, I'm comfortable with cutting/splicing wires to do that. But then again, the last time I changed out a HU was in an '89 Camaro. Lots of new features in these newer cars.

I hope I can just find a plug and play harness. But I'll worry about it when I go to take a look. I also have to see how my RCA cables are routed. I hope I don't have to tear apart the interior too much.

 

if u have an aftermarket amp, then all u will need to run is the power stuff for the headunit. no need to hook up the speaker connections on the wiring harness

 

That's what I was figuring but I hate working on these newer cars with all this electronic baffoonery...which I like using, just not working on.

EDIT: Really, really, really dumb question. Since I had a sub in the trunk and an amp running it. And have removed that sub (since it won't work). I believe the RCA cables going to the sub's amp are also going to my stock HU. Can I use those same cables and hook them into my "rear input" on my 4 channel amp (going to remove the sub amp as it is no longer in use)? That way, I will already have RCA cables for my front speakers and now for my rear speakers. That way, I won't have to worry about getting more cables and tearing into my interior to route them.

 

Ok, I ordered a HU and mount adapter. I decided to remove some panels to see how my system is wired. Below are some pics I took in my trunk area. It was my understanding that RCA cables go from the HU to the amp. And regular speaker wires go from the amp to the speakers. As I also understand (based on what I'm seeing), the crossovers are installed between the amp and the speakers. Am I wrong in how I am understanding this?

When I opened up the spare tire/trunk area, this is what I found. Is this green box a sort of junction box to adapt the speaker wire from my stock Monsoon HU to RCA cables?

So when I get my new HU, can I get longer RCA cables and connect one end in the HU and the other into the amp? After that, can I remove the green junction box thing as the wires from the amps to the speakers are already wired?

 

Your original HU had no RCA outputs, only 4 amplified channels. The Monsoon amp amplified it again, like a second stage. The green box in your pictures is an attenuation device to knock down the stage 1 amplification of the signal to RCA pre-amp levels that the JL amp is expecting.

What HU did you buy? How many RCA outputs does it have? Hopefully 3 pairs: Front, back, and sub. If you are going to run one RCA from front to back for your new HU to the JL anyways, it is no extra effort to run the other two pairs if you have them. This will ensure you get correct fade control that you are lacking now.

The clear box, as you probably know, is a crossover module. Is there a second one? (hopefully yes) or are the outputs from it spliced so as to load the front and rear (full range speakers in the sails) in parallel? That would explain why you have no fade control now if everything is currently loaded from the JL in a bridged two channel mode.

Hopefully this makes sense.

Edit: Also, there are 4 pairs green/white RCA coming out of the green box, but you only show two of them them terminated. What happens to the other two green/white RCA level pairs from the green box?

 

Actually, now that I think about it, the green/white pairs you pictured probably go the JL and the other pair, not shown, goes to old/missing sub amp.

If that's the case, then yeah, you can plug both RCA pairs into the JL and rewire the speaker outputs from it, change it from a bridged 2-channel mode to a 4 channel mode. I forgot you said the cones in the sub sails now are full range co-axial, so I'm assuming the JL is in two channel bridged mode and front and back are in parallel. That will give you your fade control again. You'll need to find where front/back are spliced together and give the sails their own direct path to the JL for this to work.

...or, just wait until you get your new HU in place with some new hatch speakers, and sail subs, since it'll all have to be rewired again then, anyways.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, the green/white pairs you pictured probably go the JL and the other pair, not shown, goes to old/missing sub amp.

If that's the case, then yeah, you can plug both RCA pairs into the JL and rewire the speaker outputs from it, change it from a bridged 2-channel mode to a 4 channel mode. I forgot you said the cones in the sub sails now are full range co-axial, so I'm assuming the JL is in two channel bridged mode and front and back are in parallel. That will give you your fade control again. You'll need to find where front/back are spliced together and give the sails their own direct path to the JL for this to work.

...or, just wait until you get your new HU in place with some new hatch speakers, and sail subs, since it'll all have to be rewired again then, anyways.

 

I got a Kenwood KDC-X994 HU. http://www.crutchfield.com/s_113KDCX...4.html?tp=5684

According to the specs, it has 6 pre amp channels which I assume is three pairs (front, rear, sub). There are two crossovers, one is just taped underneath the other. They are for my fronts.

I think I've got this figured out. I'm going to get two sets of RCA cables long enough to run the length of my car. I will use them for my front and sail panel speakers and plug them into my 4 channel amp. The wiring after the amp to the speakers is aftermarket (there is a set of speaker wires coming from the amp to the front speakers and another set of speaker wires coming out of the amp going to my sail panel speakers, there is only one set of RCA cables going into the speaker). So I'm guessing that is where front/back are spliced together.

I'll also need to get some extra wire when I do some cutting to hook up the ignition, ground and remote wires. I don't want to have too little wire.

 

Do yourself a favor and run all three pairs of RCA cables when you have everything ripped up. It's cheap insurance if you change your mind about a bigger sub with a monoblock amp later on.

It sounds like the JL is not in bridged mode after all, then. It looks like it should have a switch on it for single or dual input. Just change that and you should be golden until you make your other changes. The fader should work after that. If it acts in reverse, just swap the RCA cables around.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/Slash_amps/300_4_MAN.pdf

 

Yes, I'm gradually taking apart my panels and have my HU removed. Going to ride around like that for a while, lol. I'm debating on redoing the speaker wiring as well (since it goes back into the stock harness and to the speakers) but then again, if it ain't broke...

My HU should get here sometime between April 1-18. Which is ok since it takes a while to get a HUMount delivered from what I'm hearing. In the mean time, I'll gradually remove my panels so I can route my RCA cables and have everything ready. Man, I can't wait. I hope it all works out.

 

I'd definitely re-do the speaker wiring while everything is torn up, do home-runs to the amp rack. Check monoprice.com for cheap spools of good speaker wire, or knukonceptz for amp kits. Use at least good 12-16 gauge. 17 ft is right on the edge for length to the amp rack for power and RCA cables. You may want some right angle RCA adapters because the fit for your new HU will be very tight against defrost duct. ...and you'll have to saw a little bit to make the new HU fit. Don't forget a PAC unit if you want steering wheel controls.

I can't figure out why your original installer didn't just split the RCA input to your sub amp and send the JL a 4 channel input. Maybe he had a good reason?

Anyways, I still recommend getting a stealth 10" if you're going this far with everything else. Good luck.

 

Can I get the PAC adapter later or is it something I should do now? Don't know if it requires splicing wires or not. If it does, I'll get it now so I don't have to rip **** apart again. Where are RCA cables usuall routed anyhow? On one side of the car or down the middle? I don't feel like gutting the entire interior.

I'm checking out monoprice and looking at the RCA cables. Should I get the premium or regular? I would get premium but worried that they might be too thick to route them alongside the stock harness (where I plan on routing my cables).

 

You can get the PAC unit later, removing the HU is a 5 minute job. Just pop the bezel (spring clips) and 3 screws and it's out. I believe it just goes into one of the wires on your harness adapter, but never installed one myself.

Also think about an activation wire to hook up to the remote wire on your new HU, if your JL doesn't rely on one already. Some car audio specific RCA cables have a little activation wire molded in.

(non-sponsor link removed)

You should try to use a shielded RCA cable, especially if you route the RCAs next to the power cables. Just unfasten the footboards along the bottom passenger or driver side, I went passenger. Once you hit the sail panel area, you just route behind the plastic hub panels to the hatch area. Make sure you have a T55 bit to unfasten the front seat belt anchors.