2002 gts stereo upgrade complete: Pics & write-up

[bdelass]

More pictures to come, but first the details...

My goal with this installation was to create a great sound system upgrade while not leaving much in the way of visible modifications. (i.e. only the trained "Viper eye" could tell that anything had been changed.) I didn't want to fill the hatch with a sub box or amp racks. I don't need to rattle the neighborhood with bass. Just a simple and clean upgrade to the tweeters, mids and lows was all I was looking for.

CRITERIA FOR THE UPGRADE INCLUDED:
1. All speakers needed to fit under factory grills in the factory locations and not require any modifcation to the car.
2. Any upgraded amps needed to be virtually invisible once installed.
3. The new head unit needed to have to have Bluetooth, USB and iPhone attachment.

So after much searching the forums, here are the components I decided to go with...

HEAD UNIT:
ALPINE iDA-X305SBT PACKAGE WITH BLUETOOTH ADAPTER

AMPLIFIERS:
ALPINE MRP-M500 MONO AMPLIFIER (UNDER PASSENGER'S SEAT)
ALPINE MRP-F300 4-CHANNEL AMPLIFIER (UNDER DRIVER'S SEAT)

SPEAKERS:
FRONT DOORS: KICKER RS60.2 COMPONENT SPEAKERS
REAR HATCH: KICKER CVT654 6.5" SUBWOOFERS

* NEW WIRING WAS RUN THROUGHOUT THE CAR AS TO NOT DISTURB THE FACTORY WIRING.

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[bdelass]

A litte prep work to get the car ready...sometimes you've got to make a mess before it all comes together again!

Check out the sweet condition of the rear factory rear speakers when I pulled them out. It's a wonder any sound was coming from them at all!

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[bdelass]

Running wires...

The Kicker Component set for the front doors fits so well that I decided not to re-use the backing plate for the tweeter. I used the plastic lock nut that comes with the Kicker set to tighten the tweeter into place, but removed it because once I snugged into place I couldn't even move it by hand. A primary benefit of doing it this way is that if I would ever need to replace the tweeter, now I just need to pop off three screws from either the main door speaker or the door handle to reach inside the door and pop the tweeter out from the back. No more door panel removal! Just thinking ahead!

I tried to be as stealthy as I could with my power wire too. If I would have run the wire from the back by the battery, it would have been completely concealed. However, easy fuse access is a little more limited in that location. I wrapped the red power wire in electrical tape and ran it right along some other wires and vacuum hoses, underneath the black cowl and just a short piece is visible where I pressed it through the access hole into the cabin.

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[bdelass]

The finished product!

I just realized that I forgot to snap any pictures of the door speakers installed or the rear subs. With the exception of the small "K" on the kicker tweeter, there is virtually no difference visually. All speakers installed with factory screws and under factory grilles without requiring any modification or other changes. The seats fit over the amps without any issue of clearance. All wires were wrapped in electrical tape to keep things organized and to help them "blend in" with the carpet a little better

The 4-channel amp has built-in controls which made mounting the extra cross-overs from Kicker unnecessary. I have it setup so that the tweeters are only getting high pass signals. I don't have the amp's cross over setup on the mids activated at the moment. The 2 subs are connected to the mono amp and only get low pass signal. Like I said, I still need to do quite a bit of tuning but I can already tell that this is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT over stock!!!

I hope this post is useful for someone who is looking for a nice audio upgrade without sacrificing that factory look.

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[CEJ]

Fantastic job! I really like how you maintained the factory look as much as possible.

Does the oem stereo have a crossover that can be reused for the new Kicker component speakers?

 

[DrTaco]

Great job!

 

[Jeebs]

Great job and nice write up. I'm sure some people will use it.
How do the 6.5 subs sound? i was thinking about getting rid of my 12" sub and going with the 2 6.5's for a cleaner set up, but i was told i wouldn't hear them really because of the 6.5's in the doors. I was told the door speakers would cancel them out.

 

[bdelass]

CEJ: I don't know if the head unit has a cross-over (I don't think it does, but I haven't had much time to play with it yet), but the 4-channel amp does and that is what I am going to be using to separate the mids & highs.

Jeebs: So far so good with the 6.5" subs. I definitely like that I don't have to fill the hatch with a sub box or amp rack. If you are used to a 12" sub, then you might not be happy with the sound output however I think they hold their own. When the gain is turned up a bit, I don't think they get drowned out at all. Right now though, If anything, I think the tweeters are drowning out everything because I haven't had a chance to fine tune the system yet.

I will see if I can get a picture of the door speakers up too, so you can see how that looks too....

 

[Jeebs]

Thanks. I've been thinking of re doing my set up. I built a round sub box last year to fit over the spare tire. It looks custom, but i like the clean look like you did. More pis would be great.