[fhpchris]

Originally Posted by Snoman

What made you choose the FI BTL N2 and DD-M1d's ?

I wanted something that was lighter weight and cheaper than using two JL 10w7s. The Neo BTL packs a huge punch for 42 lbs!

I was going to only run 1 M1d, but decided that I could strap a pair of them and they would run a ton more efficiently at 2 ohms per amp instead of 1. At the time I was just looking to run any korean amp (sundown, DC Audio, etc) and decided upon DD because they seemed to be of decent quality and cheap on ebay used. My alternative was to run a T2500... I could have gotten one brand new for 899-999ish, but my friends have personally seen a few with major issues -- they changed my opinion to run the korean amps for now. It might have cost less to just use JL XD 1000/1s (ebay or on sale). I didn't really think of that until tonight.

Originally Posted by SWRocket

I fully support this initiative, especially since I plan to do the exact same thing
Two of the things I most concerned about tackling are the headliner removal and reinstall and the door speakers (tweeters)
Any tips you can provide on the headliner?
I assume you're going full active, do you plan to run new wires into the doors?
Any pics and tips are greatly appreciated

I ran the older Focal KRX2 tweeters and they perfectly fit in the tweeter pods. We used a soft spacer behind them inside the housing to keep them tight. (you would need something like foam). Extremely perfect fit!

The headliner was not difficult after you remove everything else.... I guess it just takes time. I think you are fine as long as you budget a few days. My roof still flexes, so I would recommend spending some time here and I think you will see real gains.

I am running full active. Both of these amps have a ton of power. Way too much in fact. ( with a 3.4db gain overlap the mids were loud on volume 6!). We had to turn down the gains heavily because the speakers were getting over powered, but we have tons of clean headroom! We ran new wires to the doors and used the stock wires into the doors to run the 8ohm tweeters. We drilled new holes (door-side) and used the existing holes (removing the rubber caps in the car-side under the molex) to run wiring for the mids. The molex was just so small we didn't think our over-sized 14ga was going to fit.

We used the ******** 6.5 door kit because it was less hassle/cheaper than doing it ourself. We had to trim the bottom a little for door panel clearance, but otherwise they were fine once we painted them.

Originally Posted by Snoman

PM'd pics, though I didn't deaden the headliner.

Door speakers and tweeters are stupid easy, just be sure to purchase a 6.5" door speaker kit from Metra or build your own.

Pro 16awg twisted jacketed wire isn't going through the Harness, you'll need to drill the door if you go passive like most do. If you go full active, I believe you'll need to drill the body of the car as well as the grommet in the body only allows 1 wire through. fhpchris hopefully has photos of the door wire runs he did with his active set up.

I posted clear pictures of our door wiring. We heatshrinked the wiring loom in place at the ends ( ends are hidden in the car/door) so that it looks really clean and ran it through a grommet at the door.

Originally Posted by SWRocket

Thanks again Snowman.
As I do plan to go full active, I guess drilling is it.
I have to wait now for the spring to start, it's too cold already here in Toronto. I'll start a thread when i do.
Meanwhile, I will follow this thread with great interest.

I bought two B-stock packs from Second Skin and had some left over. I think doing the sound deadening is extremely important to get the most out of your install.

What sub were you planning to use? Hopefully all the information here helps you decide on a box and a whole setup. There is enough room in my box dimensions to build a decent 4th order.... that is something to consider. We are going to build one for a 12w6v3 using a similar sized box to mine.

A DC Audio XL 12 would probably fit in this box really nicely. It would be about the same weight as my BTL and fit really well in a 1.80 net cubic feet box.
Two mid-size 10s might fit well here (FI Q 10)
The new Rockford T2 13 might also fit well here.