Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com - Write up of my amp, speaker and sub upgrade. Pics included.

I just finished upgrading the stock BA amp and speakers and adding a sub in my 2014 1LE, here is my review of the install with a few pics, complete material listing and my thoughts and ramblings about the whole setup.

***********I added more pics today 04/08/14*************

So I start out my plan by the job into a few separate steps:
1) Sound deaden trunk area
2) Install and wire JL Amp amp, install ******** stealth box and JL 12" sub woofer and see how it sounds at this point, if I want better sound I do steps 3 & 4.
3) Order and install door speakers, sound deaden inside of doors
4) Order and install rear speakers, sound deaden rear deck, sides and wheel wells and tune/set amp

Installing the trunk sound deadening was quite easy and enjoyable if you can call it that.

I setup a work area close behind the trunk with 2 good saw horses and a 4' x 6' piece of plywood to use to stage my tools and cut the 'Dynamat' pieces you need to install in the trunk area. Removed all of the soft goods from the trunk and went at it.

It took a good 4+ hours to do the job as I was coming down with the flu and moving slowly. I found the build sticker in the trunk and left that uncovered (pic below). I covered most everything I could get to, nearly 90 percent. The Stinger trunk kit (20 Sq ft) wasn't enough material so I had to break out the Fatmat Rattletrap XXX kit I ordered to finish the job. I estimate 30 sq feet would do the trick. I wanted this to be as tight as possible so I cover it up good.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psa6410cfc.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...pscfb57a71.jpg

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Next up was the amp, subwoofer and stealth box.

Since I was now home with a bad case of influenza, I was able to mount the JL Audio 12" sub in the Stealthbox and JL Audio amp to the amp mounting board, wire up part of the FARK kit, doing all of this in my bathrobe while sweating out a fever and thinking I was going to die at any moment. Next year I am getting a flu shot.

Once I felt up to it, I went and removed the BA amp, installed the amp wiring, mounted the amp in the factory location, installed the FARK kit and installed the stealth box. You have to make 2 cuts to the left side carpet panel to get the Stealth box to fit, no big deal to do.

The NVX 4 gauge amp wiring kit I bought came with very high quality pliable wire and recommend it.

******MORE PICS ADDED 04/08/14*******

Here are some pics of the amp wiring, fuse and the subwoofer box.

Pic showing positive wire from battery, and the fuse block which was secured with 3M double sided tape.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psf42eaf97.jpg

Pic showing the ground wire.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps0feae9a3.jpg

Zoomed out pic showing amp wiring.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc74c6636.jpg

12" JL Audio Sub woofer pics in the Stealth box showing a nice fit and good looks, thanks Steve for a great product..

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psffaab528.jpg

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Nice tight fit and excellent quality and strong cover from JL Audio.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps71e165bf.jpg

This step took about and hour and a half including removing all the soft good

At this point the system sounded pretty good with the new amp and sub woofer installed. The system now has punch to it and the bass from the sub is incredible. Happy with the results so far, but wanting much better sound I ordered the JL Audio 6.5's for all 4 corners.

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Next up is the front door install. I did the doors one at a time.

Started up by spray coating Plasti Dip on all 4 of the ******** speaker adapters to seal them up against water damage, let them dry while I started to take the drivers door apart.

I follow one of the DIY's posted here by Darth Martel. Thanks Darth.

The removal of the door panels was very easy following Darth's DIY.

Before I removed the inner rubber liner to get access to the inner working of the door I took a sharpie and drew an outline of the liner for reference for the Fatmat install.

Sound proofed the inside of the door, I didn't do a full 100% cover up here as it isn't necessary to get the results I wanted. Some pros talk about 25% coverage is sufficient. I did much more than that.

Pic of passenger door:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps2b9f0a63.jpg

Next step was to start to close up the inner side of the door with the Fatmat. Working my way from the back of the door to the front.

Halfway through, I sized the wires, crimped the appropriate crimp ends and mounted the crossover to the Fatmat with 3M heavy duty double sided tape.

Drivers door:
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psb3d0f39f.jpg

Next I installed the speaker adapter using the 3M double sided tape, the one factory screw and 2 self tapping screws that Subhump supplies.

I used the doubled sided tape to ensure there would be zero vibration between the door and the adapter.

Mounted the speaker and mounted the tweeter into the stock tweeter housing. The stock tweeter fits better than the new JL tweeter. I used some fatmat to take up some space and secure the tweeter it keep it from moving about.

Drivers door:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...pscda654bf.jpg

Finished up the the Fatmat making sure to not cover any of the mounting holes. Tie wrap all of the wiring nice and neat. I used more Fatmat and put a nice thick strip over the wiring from the crossover to secure it to the door nicely. I had the readjust the door cable to give it more slack for the re-installation of the door panel. Fatmatted a few areas to insure 100% seal and reinstalled the door panel.

Remember to start with the cable first and then plug in all of the appropriate plugs and connect the tweeter. You will have a spare connector that went to the stock tweeter.

Moved on the the passenger side and did the same as above, this side took much less time as I learned from the first door.

This part of the install took about 5-6 hours with setup and clean up.

********Pics added 04/08/14***********

Pics of the stock BA speakers. Paper cones and puny magnets!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc37b17e9.jpg

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The next day was the rear speakers. Big job ahead. I followed the DIY posted by meschwenk and it was a huge help. Thanks mesch!

It's tight getting in and out of the back seat and trunk area and this part has many more pieces to remove/put back.

I did change one thing from mesch's DIY and removed the 4 bolts and one nut that holds the fold down back seat bracket to the car body. I didn't have anyone to lend a hand to remove the seat with his method. I also thought that not having the bracket in my way would be a good thing and it was.

Taking out the rear interior wasn't that bad, really it wasn't. Take your time, use the proper tools and it comes out fairly easy.

Rear deck after everything was taken out and the speaker were removed.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...pse5a1b06a.jpg

It was time to start putting the Fatmat on the rear deck and inside the rear quarter panels where the gills are and the tops of the wheel wells. I didn't do 100% cover here but did cover the wheel well tops and maybe 75% of the inside of the front quarter panel behind the B pillar. The top of the deck I did in thin strips of various shapes and maybe covered 60-70% of the deck. It was just enough to keep the rattles down.

Inside of quarter panel (gill area) just behind the B pillar.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psba4b7638.jpg

Next up was the speaker install and wiring of the crossovers.

Again I used 3M double sided tape to install the rear deck speaker adapters along with the one factory screw. The speakers are very secure to the deck and if needed I can use 2 self tappers from underneath later if needed.

3M tape on the bottom of the speaker adapter

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps647ad57a.jpg

Sized the wiring was next, crimping and cutting wires. I was able to mount the crossovers under the read deck with the 3M tape making for a nice clean install. Some 3M tape was exposed on the underside which I was able to take one side of the stock wiring that is wrapped in cloth tape and stick it to the underside keeping it nice and neat.

Crossover mounted

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps3cb0a98c.jpg

*********THESE 2 PICS ADDED 04/08/14***********

Driver side crossover mounted under and in the middle of the read deck. I need to add more mat under here.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc7e7837f.jpg

Passenger side crossover mounted to the far right side of the rear deck.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psa4eec7af.jpg

Rear deck with speaker installed.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps8c699237.jpg

Speaker looking through the rear glass, more Fatmat went in after the pic.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psda276e73.jpg

So at this point the rear speakers are in and tested and I wanted to hook up the JL Sub Level Control so I take apart the left side of the trunk again and run the wire from the amp up to the front console.

I followed the amp power cables back in the area where the battery is and neatly followed the red power cable up thru the left side of the trunk and up into the console tie wrapping every 4-6 inches or where there was a bend in the cable to keep it factory neat looking.

I ended up putting the sub volume control right above and on the left side of the forward cup holder. I saw a pic of that install here and did the same. I'll add a pic and give credit later on.

********ADDED THIS PIC 04/08/14*************

Sub level control knob, nice clean install and look.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...psbfce95fa.jpg

Now it's time to start to re-install the interior, at this point it's been a long day and I'm ready to get it all back together and tune it up.

Everything went back in easily, the side panels (6 of them), the rear seat, and the seat bottom. I had help from my neighbor so I didn't have to get in and out of the back seat to get each piece. Once the panels were in the back seat went in with no issues, pretty quickly.

Next step, adjust the amp. This step was easy as I had done it in other cars, just takes a few back and forths, different type of music, different volume levels to get it right.

Next, reinstall the tire goo pump, spare tire/battery cover, left side carpet panel over the amp, put the large carpet piece in, and then put the Stealth box back in place.

Finished finally!!!!

This part of the install was a good 7 hours to do in total, this included 2 trips to Lowes to get some butt connector and then the T50 Torx head bit I didn't own. It was definitely the hardest of all the steps, I went slowly and methodically and it all came out great.

I ran out of Fatmat, I want to do more of the underside of the rear deck and I am definitely going to cover the entire area under the rear seat. That area is just begging for some sound deadening, its just the steel body with no carpet are anything covering it. So that needs to be ordered.

I've done cars with multiple amps, multiple subs, custom made amp mounting boards, crossovers, loads of wiring, etc.... and this install was relatively simple to do with the exception of the rear speakers. Thanks GM for that great engineering and design.

********s FARK kit, factory mounting board and Stealth box and the fact that the battery is in the trunk and not the engine compartment made for a very easy install. It took time but could've taken much more time without the above.

All in all, the sound system is incredible for a single Class D amp setup with 4 6.5" speakers and one 12" Sub. I am very happy that I chose JL Audio across the board as they have it all matched up perfectly for a very load kick ass sound. I can't get the volume past 30 without my ears starting to hurt real bad!!! Even at 30 with it blasting away is sounds very clean with some heavy duty tight bass that just shakes the car.

Here is a run down of what I used for the install:
1 - JL Audio XD700/5 amp
1 - 12" JL 12W1v3-2 Sub, its a 2 ohm sub getting 300 RMS from the 700/5
2 - sets of C3-650 JL Audio speakers. Front set up as component, the rear as coaxial, they are convertible speakers, comes with crossovers.
1 - ******** FARK kit
1 - ******** Stealth sub enclosure
2 - ******** 6.5 door adapters
2 - ******** 6x9 to 6.5 rear adapters
1 - ******** Factory Fit Amp Mounting Board
1 - NVX XAPK4 amp wiring kit, great wire kit, excellent pliable wire, includes speaker wire too.
2 - Male to Male RCA cables 1.5 foot
1 - JL Audio SGRU-12 Sub Woofer Grill
1 - JL Audio HD-RLC Sub woofer volume/level control
1 - 50 sq ft Fatmat Rattle Trap XXX sound deadening Kit
1 - Stinger RKXTK Roadkill sound deadening trunk kit (20 Sq feet)
1 - Large roll of 3M 20# Doublesided tape
Interior trim removal tool kit, cheap on Amazon
Hand full of Nylon cable ties
Hand full of butt connect crimps
1 - can of black Plasti Dip