tech14

After reading about quite a few posts involving stereo installations on 3rd gen TL’s I decided to perform my own. I was hesitant to take apart my beautiful new 08, but your posts have given me guidance and reassurance. I decided to do a complete overhaul of the speaker system with three amplifiers. Here are some pictures detailing my work.

Equipment Installed:
Speakers
Alpine SPR-17S 6.5” component speakers 110 Watts RMS
Kicker KS65.2 6.5” component speakers 75 Watts RMS
Polk Audio DB351 3.5” Coaxial 35 Watts RMS
Pioneer TS-WX100BP 10” enclosed bandpass subwoofer 100 Watts RMS

Amps
Alpine MRP-F600 4 channel amp, 2 channels bridged to 100 watts x 2 (Alpine Speakers), and 300 Watts x 1 (Subwoofer)
Alpine MRV-T300 2 channel amp bridged to 100 Watts x1 RMS (Center Polk Speaker)
Pioneer GM-X334 4 channel amp bridged to 70 Watts x 2 RMS (Rear Kicker Speakers)


Front door stock setup



Dyanamat with Dynaxorb applied



Alpine SPR-17S 6.5” components installed



Tweeters dropped into place nicely, a perfect fit



Stock center speaker



Polk Audio 3.5” coaxial speaker



Ensolite applied in center speaker cavity



Center speaker installed



Rear deck stock setup



Rear deck with Dynamat applied



Rear deck with Dynamat and Ensolite applied in the speaker cavities





Kicker KS65.2 6.5” component speakers that went into rear deck



Rear deck lid with ensolite applied



In order to have the 6.5” components fit with the tweeters attached, I had to cut out the speaker rings that rest on top of the stock speakers. You will notice the black ring missing. The deck lid snapped back into place, with no rattles. Kartboy half-inch speaker spacers worked well for the rear deck application.



1/0 Power cable attached to the battery terminal



All panels back in place





1/0 Power cable laid out in the running boards



Split loom tubing applied



It was tight, but it all came together



Speaker wire run



Split loom tubing applied



Dynamat applied to trunk lid



Amps installed



Subwoofer installed. One thing that saved me a lot of space, was installing the crossovers into the space just below the rear deck in the trunk. There is just enough room for them to fit, and will save you a lot of wiring mess. This is a temporary setup until I construct a false bottom floor.



Done



Ready



To go



I wanted to thank all of those who posted your installs, and answered my many questions. It took three weeks of hard labor, but the sound is well worth it. Please feel free to post any questions you may have if you are in need of assistance. I will try to help you as much as I am able.

Stew4HD

Looks great

I give you about 2 weeks before you start thinking about changing the head unit

After my speaker swap, the sound was improved but still not what I was hoping for... now, after the head unit change and trunk sub, I love it... The improvement in the sound stage is truly night and day difference. That's just what you wanted to hear, isn't it? HEH!

tech14

Haha! Any pics showing your new head unit install?

Stew4HD

But of course... ask and ye shall receive (sometimes )

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184433

1FastVtec

Is that little Alpine a T300? I've still got mine.

tech14

Yeah, I got it in 1995, and it is still running. Abused it for years as a subwoofer amp, and it is now powering the center channel.

Tripnbeats

looks good man.... the only thing that bothers me is the way u ran ur power cable under the battery strap other than that ur golden.... my trunk looks the same damn thing wont lift anymore lmao!

tech14

I know, I am just glad it unlocks! The battery strap is not tight, but you would recommend having it loose on top?

tech14

I notice that using LOC's with the stock head unit creates a subtle hiss in the background. I have adjusted the gains, and I am planning to install a rocker switch. However is there anything more I can do to reduce this hiss? I was curious if the three-sixty or cleansweep devices remove the hiss sound?

tech14

I have also heard that the head unit tones down the subwoofer line when the volume is turned up, in order to prevent damage to the stock speaker. I notice that from 1-10 my sub sounds nice and deep, but this is not the case when I turn it up past that point. Is there anyway I can combat this problem?

Stew4HD

I laid mine over the top. I'll get some pix of my battery connection. RedAggie assisted on the battery connect.

Tripnbeats

well the hiss is supposed to be there its called noise. once frequency is applied the noise disappears. its the state of silence the amp stays in until u turn the volume up (its normal) any system someone builds is going to have noise.....its a good thing....the one thing u should be afraid of having is the alternator whine....thats where probs occur.

Stew4HD

And where do you filter that whine out? I have it with my system... very low but it's there

Tripnbeats

well here's a list.... but it all has to do with grounding.
1. speaker, wire...to or from the speaker no good.
2. connection for LOC or something wasnt covered correctly.(rca or wiring)
3. ground to the amp ( never ground amps in the same spot make sure each amp has its own ground) separate from the other amps.
4. amp's no good....filter was damaged or never had one.
5. RCA's no good.....aways use shielded or something thick to prevent any kind of distortion passing through.

Trew

iTrader: (1)

Nice Job, Tech...

Can you tell me if you had to modify the center speaker grill or the hole to get that Polk DB351 to fit?

Also, how are you dealing with the 100w output of the Alpine amp going to the 35w Polk center speaker?

Thanks.

RedAggie03

iTrader: (4)

Stew4HD - 3. ground to the amp ( never ground amps in the same spot make sure each amp has its own ground) separate from the other amps.

I think you are sharing grounds huh?

Stew4HD

Thanks,
I do know that trying to track noise issues down can be a long and involved process. I used StreetWires RCA cables from the head unit to the amps.

About the only things I can think of that could be doing this is: I ran the remote trigger wire along with the RCAs along the right passenger side and/or I used a distribution block for grounding where I have 4 AWG from the block to the chassis ground and 8 awg from the block to each amp.

Stew4HD

Hmmm, that would be a fairly easy fix.

tech14

No modifications were necessary to install the polk. You need a screwdriver and a pair of hands. The screw holes lined up perfectly. The speaker was purchased from crutchfield, and the speaker harness was included. No cutting of wires was needed.

I turned the gain down at first, but I was surprised to find that the polk can take quite a bit of power from the Alpine. I have the gain on 75%, and it sounds great. I do have a high pass filter on, with the crossover level adjusted.

tech14

I am encountering a power problem. The voltage on my amps drop suddenly and turn off when they are playing. When I apply a meter to the battery, it reads 12.73 volts. The grounds are good, so I don't understand how my battery can be fully charged, yet my amps will get no voltage. Anybody have any ideas?

DeltaCTU24

i want to do a speaker swap on my 04 tl and replace them with 6.5" in the front and back. I have an Alpine PDX 4x100 amp. My installer at circuit city said he worked on an 08 TL-S and said the guy lost his HFL. Did you encounter that problem? I also should also mention i'm adding an Alpine PDX 1000 amp for my Alpine Type X 12" sub. I also have a 5 farad capacitor if that means anything.

tech14

I tapped into the speaker wires AFTER the stock amp, and did not lose the HFL, or any other functions. All OEM functions are normal.

Stew4HD

tech14,

are you saying you are losing the voltage at the amps? About all I can think of is to check your connection at the battery, any crimped or clamped connections and at the main fuse for your amp feed. It is usually something simple like that. Yours in an odd one and no doubt has you ready to pull your hair out.

DJSlim

Hey tech...do you have a capacitator? 1 or 2 Farads should keep you at a consistent voltage level. Also, when you installed your subs...does your SRS Airbag indicator light come on?

I dont know why but everytime I install a sub the light comes on...This happened to me back in feberary with my first 3rd gen TL purchase. That one got totalled and I purchased an 08 TLS...installed my system into that and the same thing happened. Had to go to the dealership to get a sensor replaced each time. Subs work fine but I have no idea as to why it keeps doing that.

so cal eddie

If you take one of the front seats out that has an airbag built into it and turn the key on you should get an airbag light. It could also be the airbag indicator that is on the panel with the emergency flashers and center vents. You are not supposed to turn the key on unless everything is plugged in. Honda first did this on the 98 accords. If you installed an amp under the seat you had to plug the seat back in before you tuned the amp with the key on. As an installer it took you only 1 time of paying the dealer $90 to reset the light to learn your lesson. From then on I remembered to never turn the key on unless everything was plugged in. I goofed on a new land rover by turning the key on to move the car forward and having the main switch (power windows, door locks, mirrors) unplugged. It threw a service indicator light. The dealer was nice enough not to charge me though.

eggyhustles

all that work to use cheap entry level component sets?

Tripnbeats

tech i was losing power too at one point and said ehhh it cant be my grounds....and this was last night.... i just got a jl 1000/1 and jl 300/4 and installed an avic-z1 with a z3 hardrive upgrade so it's a z3...lol anyway i checked n rechecked grounds and went bananas trying to figure out what the problems were (because they would work until i would turn the car on and there was vibration).....it was a ground i grounded to a diff spot on the chassis instead of the floor of the trunk. better off too because id rather not blow these expensive amps because of a ground and everything works now without problems.

tech14

^^Where did you ground yours? Pics?

DeltaCTU24

I'm sorry but i'm not sure what you mean by tapping the speaker wires after the stock amp. I drop the speakers into the doors and rear deck and that shouldn't affect anything, but instead of the lines running to the stock amp they run to the aftermarket amp right? So doesn't that take power away from the stock amp?

tech14

If you are going to keep the aftermarket head unit, and install amplifiers, you have to run the speaker wires to line out converters, then to the amps. However you need to decide whether you want to splice into the speaker lines before, or after the stock amp. It is recommended that you splice into the speaker lines coming out (after) of the stock amp going to the speakers because they are a higher voltage. Also, if you wish to keep your HFL and other OEM features you have to tap into them after the amp.

tech14

Fixed the power problem. It was a faulty fused distribution block made by Streetwires. I replaced it with a simple non-fused distribution block, and it ran fine. I knew it wasn't my grounds...Kinda funny the device I bought to protect my amps wound up wreaking havoc on them.

Stew4HD

I am glad to hear you found your problem and that you didn't replace your battery and all to try and solve the problem. What part of the fuse block was faulty? There aren't many parts there to go bad.

I used a JL Audio amp kit w/fuse block shown here:

tech14

It was a Streetwires fused distribution block. They are so simple! You just put in the wire and screw them down with the appropriate fuse in between. The input read fine on the volt meter, but the outputs were next to nothing. I installed a simple non-fused Rockford Fosgate distribution block, and everything worked perfectly. I even gave the 'ol Streetwires block one more try, and the same exact thing happened. Fortunately I bought it from Crutchfield, It is going back until I can locate one that isn't jinxed. I have been installing systems for quite a while, and have never encountered a problem like this. I am just glad it wasn't the electrical system or the battery. I do believe upgrading the battery wouldn't be a bad idea if I plan on adding more powerful amps.

tech14

Does anybody have scans that show how to remove the lower part of the dash just under the steering wheel? I would like to install a switch next to where the power mirror adjustor is.

CS-SuperchargedTL

Tech... great job on the install, nice and clean but just like "stew" said your going to want to change the factory head unit..... Just makes the install feel complete!! (well for me it did)

Well I'm sure you have seen mine but here is a pic anyways, looks likes "stew" except for a few things....
But again great job!!

tech14

Thanks for the compliments CS...I know, I know the head unit! I just wanted to do everything right with the power wires, and dynamat because I plan on expanding this system as I get more money. I have to take a break for a while. If I ripped into that dash right now, I would probably fry something! Besides I am temporarily poor because of the equipment I bought. I have just enough energy to install a rocker switch to turn off my amps. Your dash setup looks real nice...I have been meaning to come up to North Atlanta during one of your meets, and and see it in person. One of these days!

tech14

Installed my on/off switch for the amps. I tapped into fuse number 31 and ran it to the switch. It looks nice and clean in a slot that was open next to the mirror adjustment controls.

tech14

Does anybody have any recommendations for a four-channel amplifier that will put out 60-100 watts RMS per channel for $300 or under?

Trew

iTrader: (1)

Alpine PDX 4.100
http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...odel=PDX-4.100

OnlineCarStereo.com has it for $391 but I'm sure you can get it for less if you buy from a local audio store. Just make sure they are an authorized Alpine dealer.

Very high quality amps in a small form factor. Also runs extremely cool. The technogy behind these amps are amazing. I think Rodney is using these as well.

DeltaCTU24

You mean i'm going to keep the stock headunit and run the speaker wires to the line out converters, then to the amps. Ok I get it now by splicing the wires so one wire goes into the stock amp and one going to the aftermarket amp. Correct? Sorry for the questions, but the bluetooth is one of my favorite features of the car and something that i do not want to lose. Also, there aren't any dash kits for this car if I decide to go with a head unit like the DNX 8120?