Many thanks to everyone that helped me along the way. I finally decided on my system.

12w6v2 in authentic JL wedge enclosure
JL 500/1
JL 300/4
Fronts: DLS 6.5" Iridium
Rears: DLS 6.5" Ultimate Pro UP6
HU: Alpine 7897 (already had)
Metra dash kit
(2) 4G Amp kits
36sq ft Extreme Dynamat (for the doors. I may get more for the trunk/floor later on)

I bought all of the JL stuff from an authorized dealer locally and got 15% off of everything and without tax. Turned out to be almost as cheap as buying it off ebay.

1 thing the JL dealer mentioned, which nobody on this forum has mentioned: He HIGHLY recommends running a seperate power/ground wire for each amp coming from the battery rather than using a distribution block/cap. The JL amp manuals also state this as pretty important. I got both wiring kits for $55 anyways, so i'm going to go ahead and use them both.

I still have to pick up some speaker wire and a few RCA cables, but that should about cover it. Hopefully i'll get started on something this weekend

 

sounds good what kind of car are you putting this in?

 

Why?

Nice selection

 

Awesome bro! Keep us posted!

 

If you are installing the 500/1 with other
amplifiers and wish to use a single main power wire,
use 4 AWG, 2 AWG or 1/0 AWG main power
wire (depending on the overall current demands of
all the amplifiers in the system).This 4 AWG,
2 AWG or 1/0 AWG power wire should terminate
into a distribution block mounted as close to the
amplifiers as possible and should connect to the
500/1 with 8 AWG or 4 AWG power wire...

The ground connection should be made using
the same gauge wire as the power connection
and should be kept as short as possible, while
accessing a solid piece of sheet metal in the vehicle.
The surface of the sheet metal should be sanded at
the contact point to create a clean, metal-to-metal
connection between the chassis and the termination
of the ground wire.The use of a star washer to lock
down the connection is advisable.

I'd say they were blowing smoke up your ass. But you got some great gear. Congrats.

 

I just went to check my 500/1 Manual as well

 

^^ + 1. They were trying to sell you an extra wiring kit.


Sounds like you still got some good prices though. Very nice choice in gear

 

Well my 300/4 manual says this:
If you are installing the 300/4 with other
amplifiers and wish to use a single main power wire,
use 2 AWG or 1/0 AWG main power
wire (depending on the overall current demands of
all the amplifiers in the system).This 2 AWG or 1/0
AWG power wire should terminate
into a distribution block mounted as close to the
amplifiers as possible and should connect to the
300/4 with 8-4 AWG power wire.

And my 500/1 says this...
If you are installing the 500/1 with other
amplifiers and wish to use a single main power wire,
use 4 AWG, 2 AWG or 1/0 AWG main power
wire (depending on the overall current demands of
all the amplifiers in the system).This 4 AWG,
2 AWG or 1/0 AWG power wire should terminate
into a distribution block mounted as close to the
amplifiers as possible and should connect to the
500/1 with 8 AWG or 4 AWG power wire.

Conflicting data rocks

 

?????

 

Doh, forgot to mention...99 TL

 

So stick with just 1 4AWG power wire coming from the battery even with the conflicting JL Audio data?

 

0/1 gauge works best and allow more "flow".

You will LOVE the DLS stuff, that is what i have in my car (Iridium Ultimates).. and it sounds amazing and IS LOUD.

Good luck and post pics when you get a chance.

Ryan

 

Yes, use 0/1 gauge from battery to distribution block in the trunk then from the distro to the amps with 4 gauge. Most distro's will have 1x0/1 & 2x4gauge.

 

Since I have (2) 4AWG kits, how bout a seperate power wire for each amp?

Also, since i'm rewiring everything, do I still need a harness for my HU for things like Illumination, Power, Ground etc or have people spliced into the stock wires for this?

 

People spliced into the stock wires for YEARS.

However, it is preferred to ues a harness, with the caveat that you should run a ground wire back to the amp from the HU location with your RCA's. If you have any noise issues using that wirre to ground the HU with the amps can prevent thm.

 

Holy shit, that's going to sound great! Two sets of DLS and plenty of power--I think you're going to be very happy. Just don't sell it all when you upgrade the car!!! : ) I might have missed it, but what did you choose for a subwoofer?

 

I hope it will I went with a 12w6v2 in a JL wedge box.

So I started the install yesterday. I have everything except the DLS speakers, which are being shipped, but I went ahead and wired everything. I ended up gutting my interior to make it easier/cleaner to wire. I'm just about to test my results, but so far so good.

I can't emphasize how much of a pain in the ass it is to run new wire for the front doors Literally took me about 2 hours to fish the wire through the gasket. I'm not looking forward to putting my interior back together, I know something won't fit since I have so much wire running under my carpet.

 

Good Job so far, I am dreading doing that when i upgrade my front speakers I'm sure everything will come out alright! keep us posted

 

I finished phase 1 today. It's painful to listen to since i'm still using the stock speakers until my DLS's arrive. I think it actually sounds worse than the stock system, probably since the stock speakers were meant to use the stock EQ. Oh well, a pretty clean install overall.

The only problem I have is a constant buzz only when the radio is on, when the cd player is on, nothing but silence. Any ideas? Two 12 hour days of this has taken a toll on me!

 

Pictures!

 

There's not too much to look at except a clump of wires in the trunk until I clean it up a bit, but maybe i'll take a few snapshots.

 

Great it is interesting to see the car with no interior and where you ran the wires. I am a details freak!

Thanks

 

Well I didn't take pictures during the install, which I wanted to do in the first place, but was so anxious to finish! Maybe i'll tear apart my interior again and take pictures

Here's the semi-finished result. I still have to hide the wires and carpet the amp rack. I found that facing the sub toward the front of the car gave better results. I still have to calibrate the amps as well. I wish my DLS's would get here!

 

wow that looks awesome!

that headunit is hot

 

Well, I'm still waiting for my DLS speakers, the company i'm dealing with doesn't exactly have the best customer service. I'll keep their name anonymous for the time being.

Turns out DLS has discontinued the UP6's, so i'm getting the UR6S's for only $60 more. And the Iridiums have shipped.

Also, I have been positioning the sub around in my trunk and it seems that facing toward the rear gives best results, but I think my ears change from day to day.

Hopefully I get to install my Iridiums this weekend, i'll try to take pictures during the install if I can force myself to.

 

Did you get rid of that buzzing sound? Since it just happens when the radio plays, you might want to check your antenna conection. Or maybe even ground the outer shield.

 

Uh, BTW, DLS has NOT discontinued the UP6. It is possible that the UP6 wasn't in stock for them, but I got a set just a few weeks ago.

As far as the noise goes, don't think I would recommend either of those options yet. You might want to read the first post on this thread (read very far and it just turns into wanking all round, but the first post is good if not physics class).

is that FM AND AM, or only one or the other?

The 500/1 is Class D and Class D amps are known to make FM radio noise. I have never heard about this from the 500/1 before, but try pulling the fuse for the 500/1 and see if the noise goes away. If it does, it's the amp emitting the noise, and it might be a bad amp - hopefully they don't ALL do it...

Keep us posted.

 

I haven't gotten around to the buzzing, i'll mess around with it this weekend. It is both AM and FM.

We'll see about the DLS's, this company isn't giving me a fuzzy feeling.

 

Well, if there's anything this authorized DLS dealer can do to help, just let me know.

Was this an internet retailer?

 

Sorry, I see I copied the link, but I didn't paste the link:

https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/primer-engine-noise-its-causes-283183/

 

Man, it's been a while since I last read a novel

I'll take a gander at it.

And yes, it is an Internet dealer. I guess when you pay so cheap, you should expect a few bumps in the road.

 

It's a ground loop, buy a ground loop isolator, they're like $20 that'll fix your problem, just hook it into your rca's and you should be set.

 

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. A groud loop would affect CD as well.