The previous owner of my car installed aftermarket component speakers (Dynaudio Esotec 242) in the doors/dash, and a 10" sub (Image Dynamics ID10) in the hatch. It was a weird kludged together setup where the factory amp was still installed under the passenger seat, but completely bypassed, and the factory head unit was still in place. There were two mini-amps that were located under the driver's seat - one for the sub, and one for the door speakers. It didn't sound great, and I had no way of playing music through my iPod (my device of choice for many years) that sounded good.
I ended up ripping everything apart and installing a small 5-channel amp (Kenwood XR-5S) under the passenger seat and added a single-DIN head unit (Kenwood KIV-701) while I was in there that allowed me to plug in my iPod. That sufficed for many years, I but I did a horrible job on the install, and that always bothered me. When COVID hit, I took some time (like, a lot of time) to pull everything out and redo the entire install tip-to-tail.
What a mess.
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Ew.
Let's clean that up a bit:
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The original aftermarket component speaker install used inline filters (capacitors) to keep the tweeters in the dash happy, but I wanted to try the full-up Dynaudio cross-overs. I wasn't sure where to put them, so I just sat them behind the seats under the waterfall panel:
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They are held in place with industrial strength Velcro. Trust me...they ain't going anywhere.
I also took the time to pull all new wires - 14 gauge to the doors/dash, and 12 gauge to the hatch for the sub. As you can see in the pic above, I used PET expandable braided sleeving on all of the wires for a little added chaffing protection. Bonus: it also makes pulling the wires into the doors WAY easier than without.
A couple years later I finally took the plunge on a Double DIN head unit (full DIY here:
https://www.viperclub.org/vca/threads/gen-3-4-double-din-head-unit-diy.678508/) along with a backup camera (you can see that in action here:
https://youtu.be/aFX4Q_C3WHc).
And last winter, I made my own custom subwoofer box along with a new subwoofer (Hertz CS250) to replace the rather large box that originally came with my car.
Before:
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After:
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It's a utilitarian design (one that I've used in my daily driven truck for years behind my seats), but works quite well. The coating is DuraTex (Parts Express is just down the road from me) - it's water based, but dries to a nice, bed liner-ish waterproof finish that is also quite durable. You can throw stuff on top of it when necessary, and if the need arises, the speaker wires have a quick disconnect that lets you pull the whole thing out in a few seconds (and saves about 25 pounds).
I'm at the point of diminishing returns, so this is as good as it will ever get. It sounds pretty good, but the Viper's cabin just wasn't designed for an optimal listening experience. The best you can hope for is loud and clear, and this system does that admirably. The sub makes the biggest difference. That's a pretty easy thing to add to a coupe...not so much a vert though.
Note: I have quite a few pics of the subwoofer enclosure that I took while I was building it, but I'll spare you the details unless there's interest.
And now I'll see myself out.