Need feedback on BA stereo upgrade plan

[KingSmono]

I'm looking to upgrade my BA stereo. My goals are to improve overall sound plus add the lacking low end, and retain as much usable trunk space as possible. My budget is $1,000 - $1,500.

After doing some reading up on what others have done - my initial thoughts are:

FARK $129.00
Alpine PDX-V9 900/5 $452.99
JL 12W6v3-D4 $492.32
Remote Bass Control $26.94
******** Stealthbox Enclosure $165.00
Amp Mount Board $15.00
Total $1,281.25
(Plus any shipping costs and whatever RCAs / Amp Wiring Kit I will need.)

From what I've read in other threads, this amp will mount in the factory amp position (with the amp mounting board), and this would give me 400 watts to the factory BA speakers, and 500 watts to the sub (RMS 200 - 600).

Please let me know your thoughts, opinions on this setup. Thanks!

[Chevy9534]

I just did the fark harness with the jl xd400 amp. Was a good improvement for the sound quality but it still lacked bass. Last night i installed a jl amp and sub and that was what it needed. If i did it again i would do the sub and amp first.

[KingSmono]

Originally Posted by Chevy9534

I just did the fark harness with the jl xd400 amp. Was a good improvement for the sound quality but it still lacked bass. Last night i installed a jl amp and sub and that was what it needed. If i did it again i would do the sub and amp first.

I know if I just do the FARK + amp now, I'm still going to want add a sub plus another amp eventually... so I was thinking if I do both now, I could do it with 1 amp in the factory location vs 2 amps.

Which JL sub / amp did you install?

[BigPopa71]

Nice set up. That amp is the best for power, size, stability and price. I love mine

[KingSmono]

Originally Posted by BigPopa71

Nice set up. That amp is the best for power, dize, stability and price. I love mine

Thanks! It was your install that led me to the Alpine amp... thanks for posting the pics! Have you had any issues with it? You have a 12W3 right? I'm still going back and forth between the 12W3 and the 12W6. I am going for SQ, not SPL... and I've read that the 12W6 is amazing for SQ. But how is the 12W3 in the sealed ******** box?

I'm also considering the IDQ12v4 but am concerned that the 1.2 cubic feet box may be too big. It says here that the optimum sealed box is 0.9 cubic feet... and would it be under-powered at 500 watts? RMS is 750 watts.

[Chevy9534]

In place of the BA amp i did the jl xd400, for the sub i used the jl 500/1d with jl sub

[StealthZL1]

*Viper SmartStart GPS/Remote Start alarm
*Scosche GM5201B dash kit/AC controls
*Pioneer AVIC Z150BH DVD/Navigation/BT
*Pioneer CD-IH202 iPhone 5 interface
*JL Audio HD900/5 amp in enclosure
*JL Audio C5650 component speakers (doors)
*JL Audio C2690TX coax speakers (rear deck)
*two JL Audio 12W3V3 subs
*Sirius/XM satellite radio
*back up camera

•••• It screams and thumps ••••

[BigPopa71]

Originally Posted by KingSmono

Thanks! It was your install that led me to the Alpine amp... thanks for posting the pics! Have you had any issues with it? You have a 12W3 right? I'm still going back and forth between the 12W3 and the 12W6. I am going for SQ, not SPL... and I've read that the 12W6 is amazing for SQ. But how is the 12W3 in the sealed ******** box?

I'm also considering the IDQ12v4 but am concerned that the 1.2 cubic feet box may be too big. It says here that the optimum sealed box is 0.9 cubic feet... and would it be under-powered at 500 watts? RMS is 750 watts.

That amp is awesome. I've run it for hours at high volume and it has never shut down and its mounted in the factory location. It powers all my speakers and gives the 12W3 all it can handle. Sound quality is number 1 for me as well and I'm perfectly happy with the W3. Its an awesome woofer. I had to remove mine from my ******** box although it fit in my 2011 it would'nt fit the 2013. The 13 has a small hump in the trunk that prevents the box from going in the corner. It sounded good in my 2011 but I only had 300 watts on it. The box its in now is the same size as my ********, 1.2 cubic ft and its awesome.. I would get the 12W3 and use the rest of that money on some high end speakers. I have Polk audios all around and the sound quality and volume is phenomenal. They make the Bostons sound more like Boss!

[KingSmono]

Originally Posted by BigPopa71

That amp is awesome. I've run it for hours at high volume and it has never shut down and its mounted in the factory location. It powers all my speakers and gives the 12W3 all it can handle. Sound quality is number 1 for me as well and I'm perfectly happy with the W3. Its an awesome woofer. I had to remove mine from my ******** box although it fit in my 2011 it would'nt fit the 2013. The 13 has a small hump in the trunk that prevents the box from going in the corner. It sounded good in my 2011 but I only had 300 watts on it. The box its in now is the same size as my ********, 1.2 cubic ft and its awesome.. I would get the 12W3 and use the rest of that money on some high end speakers. I have Polk audios all around and the sound quality and volume is phenomenal. They make the Bostons sound more like Boss!

I really want to leave the front speakers for now, and see how they sound with a new amp and with a sub. I can replace them down the road if needed.

I pulled the trigger on the 12W6v3 and PDX-V9. I also ordered the ******** factory amp mount board, stealthbox, and FARK.

How did you get signal to the sub? Did you use a Y-connector coming off of one of the FARK RCAs to the sub input on the amp? Or did you use the amp's combined Ch 1, 2, 3, 4 signal? I ordered a Y-connector before I knew the amp had a switch to just use the signal from the other 4 channels... but are there advantages or disadvantages to either option?

[KingSmono]

Well over the weekend I placed my order for everything... So far I've received shipping notices for everything except for my items from ********.

When I placed the order, I got an automated "order received" e-mail. But they have not responded to any of my other e-mails (I sent one email asking a few questions prior to ordering, and then another one after ordering)... nor have they answered the phone when I've tried calling.

Is this lack of communication typical from ********? I'm slightly concerned. I can find another sub box and another place to mount the amp (without their amp board) but without the FARK harness, my whole plan is dead in the water.

EDIT: Weird... just after posting this, I received a UPS Ship Notification e-mail. WOO-HOO! Still odd they never responded to any of my e-mails.

[KingSmono]

I installed everything last weekend and am 100% happy with this setup! It is a night-and-day improvement over the stock BA system. I wish there was a way to compare "before" and "after" side-by-side.

I am not an experienced car audio installer, so this was all pretty far out of my comfort zone. I took my time and was extremely methodical about everything. I probably spent around 10 hours over 2 days doing this install. I apologize in advance that I didn't take many pics during my install... but here are a few things I wanted to note, that may help someone else in the future:

1 - Be warned that Steve at ******** has started a new business and is incredibly busy. When he did eventually respond to one of my emails (the 3rd one - the first 2 did not receive a response) he told me that he has very little time right now and only responds to "important" emails. So if you have questions and need an immediate response, you might be better off posting to the forum.

2 - When I received the sub box and the subwoofer, I expected at least one of the two to have mounting instructions / hardware, but neither did. (Again, this may be common knowledge to someone with more experience doing car-audio installs... but it was not to me.) So I did some Googling - and took a trip to Lowes and picked up some 1 5/8" coarse thread drywall screws to mount the sub to the box. Before mounting the sub, I wired up the DVC sub in parallel and measured the load to make sure that it was 2 ohms at the terminals on the outside of the box. Make sure you pre-drill holes because that made the mounting screws go in very easy... but since the box is carpeted, it was difficult to find the pre-drilled holes. I don't really have much advice here, but make sure you take your time, as you want to make sure it's mounted properly, and this was a step that I didn't anticipate would take so much time. I recommend using a sleeved screw-driver bit to help guide the mounting screws in straight, and to help prevent puncturing the subwoofer should your bit slip off of the screw.

3 - I read somewhere that the Alpine VDX-P9 should be mounted to the TOP / LEFT of ********'s amp mount board. I disagree and think it should be mounted to the BOTTOM / LEFT. The reason is, I mounted it pretty high up on the left, but the RCA cables that I'm using (Rockford Fosgate RCAs that I ordered on Amazon) hit the top of the trunk when mounting the amp board in the factory location. So, by mounting the Amp as low as possible on the amp mounting board, you give yourself as much clearance for the RCAs as possible.

4 - I had originally planned on grounding the amp directly to the negative battery terminal. Well the 3 foot grounding cable that came with my amp kit was a tight fit, and prevented the foam donut thing from sitting over the battery properly... so I decided to find a new place to ground the amp. If you are standing behind the Camaro and looking into the trunk, if you look down and to the right, you will see the factory grounding point. Well that's too far for the amp to reach with a 3 foot grounding cable, but if you look to the left, you will see a nearly identical spot that can be converted into a ground. It can be accessed from inside the trunk and from under the car. So I used a dremel to remove the paint on the top and bottom of the hole, then used a bolt / nut / washer to mount my ground there. I did manage to take pictures of this:

Before - http://i.imgur.com/8xv96Eb.jpg

After - http://i.imgur.com/omCXbIG.jpg

5 - Once the amp and sub are all wired up, but BEFORE buttoning everything back up - turn it all on and make sure you everything works. Set your crossovers, gains, etc make sure it all sounds good, because once you mount the amp and put the carpet back in, you have to take everything back apart to make any changes. Something you don't want to have to do too many times.

6 - When I first turned everything on, playing music from my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4) via bluetooth did not work. It would say that it was connected, but there was no sound when playing music. Unpairing / deleting the connection from my phone / then re-pairing seemed to fix the issue. I'm assuming this had something to do with the battery disconnected.

Here's the only pic that I took of the installed Sub. I am sure it could be pushed back a little bit more - but it is so tight that I didn't want to jam it in there 100% yet, in case I have to take everything back out again and make some changes to the amp settings:

http://i.imgur.com/bAkqlLk.jpg

[darkrider01]

Looks good. Congrats!

[SS Joey]

Originally Posted by KingSmono

I'm looking to upgrade my BA stereo. My goals are to improve overall sound plus add the lacking low end, and retain as much usable trunk space as possible. My budget is $1,000 - $1,500.

After doing some reading up on what others have done - my initial thoughts are:

FARK $129.00
Alpine PDX-V9 900/5 $452.99
JL 12W6v3-D4 $492.32
Remote Bass Control $26.94
******** Stealthbox Enclosure $165.00
Amp Mount Board $15.00
Total $1,281.25
(Plus any shipping costs and whatever RCAs / Amp Wiring Kit I will need.)

From what I've read in other threads, this amp will mount in the factory amp position (with the amp mounting board), and this would give me 400 watts to the factory BA speakers, and 500 watts to the sub (RMS 200 - 600).

Please let me know your thoughts, opinions on this setup. Thanks!

I am thinking about doing this same setup...does anyone know if the ******** amp mount and enclosure will fit in a convertible? 2012 vert ss/rs...thanks

[KingSmono]

Originally Posted by darkrider01

Looks good. Congrats!

Thanks! And thanks for your help with some of my questions prior to ordering / installing. I could not be happier with this setup.

Originally Posted by SS Joey

I am thinking about doing this same setup...does anyone know if the ******** amp mount and enclosure will fit in a convertible? 2012 vert ss/rs...thanks

Hmm not sure about that one.