lesmess

I have 04 plate WRX, hated the sound system. My second car a rover 200 costing £7000 has a far better sounding system. I changed the std Kenwood
double din unit for a Clarion DXZ748RMP, listened to several players in that price range. Clarion won the day because you can easily change the colour display to match the car display colour. Under the unit i fitted a pocket assy part no: 66128SA000 matched perfect with the car interior.

I fitted Focal 165-VSlim speakers in the front, they were expensive but they sound fantastic. To complete the set up I fitted an Audison 2 channel amp to drive the fronts.

The diffrence is unbelievable i am chuffed to bits, dash looks good too.

chiark

Excellent stuff - the audison/Focal is a great setup for the money.

Glad you're chuffed. Would you mind posting what you spent on this to help others?

lesmess

Here is a break down of my system costs, well worth the money.
Clarion Head Unit £199 off the net.
Focal Speakers £252 Ray Smith
Audison SRX2 Amp £125 Ray Smith
Dynomat Sound Deadning Stuff £40
Amp Intallation Kit £35
Ray Smith Instalation £160

Fitting the speakers to the doors was the longest part of the job, I'm so chuffed with the quality. PS I was going to spend £260 on a better Audison amp but advised above was a cracker for less than half price. The amp was fitted under the passenger seat, not on the floor but underneath the seat.

I will post a photo once i figure out how to.

chiark

Sounds fair!

One question: how have they installed the amp to the seat? If it's bolted to the seat, I'm guessing it's upside down, which is not a good position to install an amp as the heatsink doesn't work properly... Unless they've managed to alter the laws of thermodynamics

lesmess

Hi Chiark

You got me thinking, went out and had a look. Amp is actually fitted to the floor under the seat. It was still hot to touch (been out the car some twenty
minutes). Was a bit worried about the heat from the two vents, installers say it's not a problem. Pre installation they told me the amp would be fitted under the seat, dont know why they decided against that. Not sure how they have fixed the amp to the floor, checked underneath there are no bolts through the floor pan.

It's guaranteed for two years, run it for three hours today quite hard, never skipped a beat. Amp could have been fitted in the boot, I preffered under the seat option. The transparency of the sound with good produced CD's is just so good, bass is just right for an old foggie like me (47). Went out and had another look, the amp is fitted to the carpet, seems secure? I'm pleased they did not stick bolts through the floor pan. I drive my car quite hard, I will keep checking it for the next couple weeks if it comes loose I will take it right back to the installers.

st3ph3n

Chiark, Would you recommend amp in the boot or under the seat?

chiark

lesmess, that isn't a problem at all the way it's installed. Nothing to worry about from the vents either, although I do normally just carpet tape them up when I put an amp under a seat.

It won't come loose, the installers obviously know what they are doing. I would have been concerned if it had been installed upside down to the base of the seat, as that completely knackers the heat dissipation of the amp and could lead to troubles.

The way you've got it installed is spot on, and is nothing to worry about. It should last for years

Stephen, whatever suits... I install amps under seats when there's space for the amp under there and a lack of possibility of damage from rear passengers.

Should make it clear that I'm not an installer, just a bit of a stereo geek