Ok, I'll start by bitching a little...
So, I'm a week into my install and I'm just amazed at how long it's taking me to put my system together. It seems that everything is an engineering challenge with this car. I've had to fabricate everything, Honda just couldn't even throw me a bone on this one. This is my sixth install...the fourth Honda (Accord, Legend, and S2k previously) and I can honestly say that nothing about the TL is condusive to aftermarket audio. Not only does it come with one of the crappiest stereos out there, it's almost as if the Honda Engineers are watching me through candid camera, laughing all the way to the bank.

Anyway, despite my bitching, I'm loving how everything is coming out. I'm nailing every detail on this one. I'm so excited to hear it...I just have to be pacient. So, here's the system:

HU: Clarion VRX755VD
Signal Processor: Clarion DVX-940 5.1 Decoder
Periferals: Clarion CD Changer, Sirius Sat Radio, Clarion IPod adapter
Speaks: Focal K2 Power 6.5" front, Infinity Kappa 62.5i rear, JL TR-350CXI center, Alpine SWS-1242D sub
Amps: JL E6450, JL E2150

Details of the install: Molded fiberglass enclosure in trunk, on driver's side. Molded (resined fabric over MDF skeleton) amp rack in trunk, on passenger's side. Heavily modified stock mounting locations for all woofers...mounting brackets provide a seal between the woofers and the door panel. Focal tweets in the sail panels. Custom fiberglass center channel molded to dash board. Dynamat. Custom double-din HU mount, with Acura graphics.

Goals (in no particular order): dynamics, high sound quality, not too loud, clean look, install couldn't be intrusive or force me to compromise on cargo space or functionality.

So the process has been well documented with pics...I'm thinking of writing a "Lessons Learned" with pics...we'll see if I get time. At any rate, I'll put some pics up later in the week when I finish her off.

Sorry for the long post but I just felt the need to share my experience here...

 

OK, she's all back together and this system far exceedes my expectations. I'm truly impressed with how good it sounds...I really thought I had a modest system put together here.

Pics coming soon...need sleepy after all this work.

 

http://members.cox.net/harrjar/pics.html

Pics of the finished trunk and of the center channel enclosure I'm working on.

What do you guys think? This is the first time I've done anything like this. Working with the fiberglass isn't that bad. It takes a little bit to get used to the feel of the materials.

So the center channels ticking me off...I haven't seen any other examples of what people have done. I got a little warping of the base from the resined cloth curing so it doesn't fit as well as it did. I think I can line the bottom of the thing with black weather stripping that will fill in the gaps. I plan on velcroing it to the dash.

The color you see on it is body filler to make it smooth. I'm going to use rocker panel texture and black satin color coat (SEM). I'm not sold on how it looks. I think it will sound great though, I messed around with the JL 3.5" speakers quite a bit to get just the right positioning...and will definitely look better once painted but should I try another design? It seems a little large on the dash even though it doesn't block the passenger airbag or any of my view of the road. Feedback please...

 

Trunk looks good. Gotta love the clean look.

As for the center channel, I'm gonna go with a resounding

Have you looked to see if there is room under the dashboard to install a small center channel speaker. I swear I think Ron (StreetEffectz) did this on another TL.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm happy with the trunk...clean and saves a lot of storage space.

I'm pertty sure there is space if I wanted to drill an 81mm hole into the dash. The objective was to have something removeable though. The midbase dissapears when firing into the windshield as well...so this thing seems to be best for sound quality but not for looks.

I could make a new one using just one speaker (probably all I need), which would be about half the size. But I really wanted to have the ability to listen to quality 5.1 music...not just use a small speaker for movies. I'm trying to keep the sound stage higher in the cabin...

 

Seems to be the general tradeoff, in general , in car audio, aesthetics vs. functionality. Not having a TL I can't make any specific comment/recommendation, but I appreciate the work that went into that. Post pics when it's finished, sometimes it can be hard to visualize while in-process.

 

Thanks! It took me about five hours to do what you see. Most of that was getting the positioning of the tweeters just right...sanding, curing, etc. I'll have it finished tonight (decided to wrap in vinyl to match the dash instead of paint) and will fully install it. I'll post some pics to see what you guys think of it. I have another design in mind if this doesn't work out .

 

Wow! I love your trunk setup. Very clean, and very practical.

The dash center speaker setup however, is really bad. I'd recommend doing an install similar to the setup in the 3G TL, if possible, of course.