'06 Vert Stereo Install Walkthrough

[hobbesy]

Just got my new convertible and I love it, but couldn't believe how bad the stock stereo was. Especially when the top was down. So after reading the forums as much as possible looking for advice I decided to try and tackle it myself. Ended up spending about $400 total and I think it sounds REALLY good. I'd honestly be happy with it if I had spent $1500 on it. Thought I'd post in case anyone could use any of the info. Material list at the end of the post.

Didn't start taking pictures until after I heard the first dry run and couldn't believe how fantastic it sounded. Mounted the amp in the trunk against the rear seats. Ran the power cable through the rubber boot above the brake pedal using a short coat hanger with the cable taped to one end. All power run down the driver side with the RCA and speaker cable down the passenger and under the center console. I used velcro tape to mount the line level converter just under the head unit. I don't know if it's a decent head unit to begin with or if the David Navone converter made a difference, but I don't have any plans to switch out the head unit now that I've heard it. Speaker install is what I think made the biggest difference though and that's what I have pictures of.

Started by carefully pulling the plastic on the doors back to reveal the holes. The rubber gasket material stayed sticky and went right back in place. Maybe the hardest part of the entire install was feeding the Dynamat through the small holes, getting the backing off, and moving it into position with almost no room to work in. Patience, patience, patience. I had mounted both speakers temporarily to test tweeter location before doing all the work below so I got to hear the difference between just mounting and going through all this and it made a noticeable difference.





Ran a heavy bead of a heat resistant adhesive caulk around all the openings and put a foil backed foam in between the doors and plastic to try to keep the plastic from buzzing as much as possible. And it did buzz pretty badly at reasonable volume.





Ran a heavy bead of clear silicone around the speaker opening before mounting the trim ring that came with the speakers. I just used self tapping screws. Made a template so I was sure that I kept the speaker as close as possible to the center of the hole so I wouldn't run into problems with the door hitting the cones later.







At first I put the doors on and the sound was just awful compared to the naked speaker so I knew I had to do something. Used some heavy batting to try to deaden the doors as much as possible and cut out and enlarged the speaker baffle on the door. Ended up having to use a grinder to take about 1/4" off the cone on the back side of the door to get it to just hit the outer edge of the speaker.













For the tweeters I ended up really liking the sound in the dash so I centered the flush mount kit in the the original speaker location. Used the same foil backed foam that I used in the doors to cover the grills as much as possible.









Mounted the speaker crossovers to a board I covered with gray carpet under the passenger seat. They were HUGE.



Breaking down the car was really easy. Took out the passenger seat to make it easier to work in.

Polk MMC6500 component speakers NIB on Ebay $150
[url "http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/products/mmc6500/"]http://www.polkaudio.com/...io/products/mmc6500/[/url]

Infinity Kappa 102a 2x100watt 2 channel amp - used on Ebay $100 (only real gamble but it's incredibly clean)
[url "http://manuals.harman.com/INF/CAR/Owner's%20Manual/Kappa%20KA102a%20OM.pdf"]http://manuals.harman.com/...pa%20KA102a%20OM.pdf[/url]

David Navone line level convertor NE-777 $30
David Navone - Adaptor Products - Car Audio Engineering

Dynamat Extreme wedge kit $20
[url "http://www.amazon.com/Dynamat-10425-Xtreme-Wedge-Sheet/dp/B00020CAVA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/002-8567839-7085632?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1185589242&sr=8-4"]http://www.am azon.com/Dynamat-10425-Xtreme-Wedge-Sheet/dp/B00020CAVA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/002-8567839-7085632?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1185589242&sr=8-4[/url]

Knuconceptz amp install kit $30
[url "http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KOL-AK8"]http://www.knukonceptz.com/...l.cfm?prodID=KOL-AK8[/url]

Speaker grills $15
Browsing Store - SG-M6 <I>6.5" Steel Mesh Grill with Mounting Ring </I>

[rte662006]

HI nice install.Any tips on removing the dash pad?