02 Mounty complete sound system... smooth install!

[fusseli]

this is what i did this weekend wanted to stay as clean as possible and keep the third row of seats still usable. the plan worked, and my 3rd gen mounty sounds amazing. this was a smooth and easy install, zero issues.

ran the 4ga down the drivers side, went through a grommet above-right behind the gas pedal. control wire, rca's, and speaker wire all went down the passenger side. used the factory wire channel wherever possible, then everything comes up beneath the 3rd row of seats where the carpet ends. fed the usb cord into the glovebox where my Zune can sit peacefully. left the stock sub unhooked.

deck:
Kenwood KIV-700 - the first car stereo to offically support the Zune (for thsoe that dont like apple/ipod). every tunable feature you could possibly imagine, the number of settings rivals modern hometheater systems. got a firmware update off of kenwood's website which helped sort out some glitchiness with the zune interface.

steering wheel control adapter:
Axxess brand, was incredibly simply to put in. tapped into keyed 12v, ground, and the single yellow wire off a big empty harness that came of the stock stereo, then the adapter programmed itself after recognizing the car.

amps:
4ch Kenwood kac-6404, 40Wrms x4 @ 4ohms (speakers)
2ch Kenwood kac-7202, 460Wrms x1 @ 4ohm bridged (sub)

wiring:
Rockford Fosgate 4ga kit + 3 sets of rcas
4 pairs of speaker wire from the 4ch amp to the harness behind the deck, to make life simple

sub:
JL 8W7 (rated up to 500W of thermal power) in JL spec 1.0cuft box tuned @ 32Hz + JL grill

speakers:
Alpine Type-S 6x8 components in the back
stock front components, for now...

all wiring hiding beneath the 3rd row of seats, which is still usable.

i amy replace the sub carpet to match the car. or just get the cargo area cover... want to keep as much as possible out of sight.

wire ready to go in. had no problems getting the ring terminal onto the factory positive battery terminal

 

[Jothcra]

Very nice! Question, though: when you put the third row up, does the sub then fire upwards? It appears as though you attached it to the back of the third row seat. If that's what you did, then that is awesome.

 

[fusseli]

Very nice! Question, though: when you put the third row up, does the sub then fire upwards? It appears as though you attached it to the back of the third row seat. If that's what you did, then that is awesome.

ah. no it's not mounted, i don't think that'd go too well. the sub weighs about 50lbs. it's just sitting there for now. i may add a steel cable going to a cargo hook for safety's sake though.

you were partially right, the sub box is just too deep to fit laying flat witht he 3rd row up so it does indeed lay on it's back and fire up with the seat up.

 

[joshdoster]

I'm working on an install now on my 02 Mountaineer with the Third row seat still intact(i need the seat).
I think I'm going to run 4 pioneer 10" shallow mounts and bolt the box to the third row, That way when I drop the seat i still have cargo space. I figured that I have about 1.7 cubic feet of usable airspace behind the seat when it's up and the hatch is closed. I have at least 46" of mountable space, which means it'll be tight but it should fit. The plan is as follows...

4 Pioneer 10" shallow (4ohm single voice coil 1100W max/each, wired to 1ohm)
Digital audio DCH1604 amp(4800Wx1 @ 1ohm)
4 Pioneer 3-way 6x8(doors)
2 Pioneer 80mm 3-ways(wherever they fit, powered by the head unit)
Audiobahn A6000T 150Wx4(to the 6"x8")
Pioneer DEH-7200HD Head unit(don't want video or Navi)
5 farad Cap
Optima Yellow top

This is what i want, but i'm looking for suggestions or thoughts.

 

[fusseli]

I'm working on an install now on my 02 Mountaineer with the Third row seat still intact(i need the seat).
I think I'm going to run 4 pioneer 10" shallow mounts and bolt the box to the third row, That way when I drop the seat i still have cargo space. I figured that I have about 1.7 cubic feet of usable airspace behind the seat when it's up and the hatch is closed. I have at least 46" of mountable space, which means it'll be tight but it should fit. The plan is as follows...

4 Pioneer 10" shallow (4ohm single voice coil 1100W max/each, wired to 1ohm)
Digital audio DCH1604 amp(4800Wx1 @ 1ohm)
4 Pioneer 3-way 6x8(doors)
2 Pioneer 80mm 3-ways(wherever they fit, powered by the head unit)
Audiobahn A6000T 150Wx4(to the 6"x8")
Pioneer DEH-7200HD Head unit(don't want video or Navi)
5 farad Cap
Optima Yellow top

This is what i want, but i'm looking for suggestions or thoughts.

That sounds like a pretty crazy setup. you sure you need 4800w for the shallow mounts? i'd be happy to help you with some legit box modelling on that, from the experience i've had with shallow subs i bet you'll only need a third of that power.

your guess on the volume with the 3rd row up is pretty accurate, my W7's box fits when standed on it's back and takes up almost all the space. it's 1.0cuft and 3/4" mdf.

where are you putting the additional set of speakers?

 

[joshdoster]

The amp is a lot more power than I need, but I'd hate to get rid of it. It's a $1100.00 amp that I got for $250.00 brand new. The amp specs are all RMS, which makes it even more scary! I used it for my Audiobahn AW1206Ts, and only needed to tweak the gain a bit. The Pioneer 10" will(according to Pioneer) handle 1100w peak, which means the amp can and will be turned down most of the way(which is how I like it, I'd rather have too much power than not enough). I want to run 4 so that I can drop the ohm load. The 10s are 4ohm single voice coil.

I'm not sure where I'm going to mount the 80mm. I thought of the headliner between the front and middle seats, but I don't think I'll have enough depth. I also thought about using the "B piller", but I'm not sure about the measurements. I just bought this truck on 6-23-2010. Two hours after I got it, the door panels had all already been off... and the 6"x8" Pioneers are 4-ways(Got confused because the last car had 3-ways)

 

[fusseli]

You can pretty much ignore the peak power rating on about any sub or speaker, it's near meaningless. Actual RMS power handling ability varies greatly for different types of subs as well as the same sub across different enclosures, based upon excursion limits. Power ratings on subs are 99% of the time thermal power dissipation ability, not max power you can supply without crazy distortion and/or destroying itself.

Gimme your model number on your sub and I'll try to get into WinISD sometime later this week to see what one will handle with .3-.4 cuft.

 

[joshdoster]

The subs I'm hoping to throw in are TS-SW2501S2. I need to find somewhere to pull a little more airspace from, but that shouldn't be a big deal. when I measured, the floor(above the jack) was still in and taking that out and conforming the box will give me the extra 0.2 cubic I need.

 

[joshdoster]

The subs I'm hoping to throw in are TS-SW2501S2. I need to find somewhere to pull a little more airspace from, but that shouldn't be a big deal. when I measured, the floor(above the jack) was still in and taking that out and conforming the box will give me the extra 0.2 cubic I need.

From what I first measured, I had 1.7cubic(actual without sub displacement). I figured that I can squeeze that other 0.2 out of the hatch area(I can even go up with the box). That would give me the 1.8 cubic that I want. I'll run the subs with 0.4-0.45 cubic a piece, which is what Pioneer suggests. I know they won't handle as much power as they would with a smaller box, but that shouldn't matter too much(Pioneer states that 0.35cubic is the minimum). I don't have the room to run much more airspace. As far as the amp goes, I'm not 100% sure that I'll be using my Digital Audio. I seem to be having a hard time finding somewhere to mount it. None of the seats have enough space under them, The box is going to be mounted to the Back of the third row seat, and I doubt that I'll be able to stuff it in. I really want to use it, it's a monster. The problem is that I have a lot of stuff to mount(Capacitor,ground blocks, fuse block, 4 channel Audionbahn amp, etc.) and not a lot of "usable" space. I can hide most of it. It'll be a challenge. My Magnum was easy. Plenty of room, battery in the trunk, hidden compartments everywhere. This will test me a bit.

 

[NRA4ever]

Its hard to hide a big system. I built a small but very loud & clean system in my Ranger. I'm using the space behind the drivers side jump seat to house my 4 channel amp. I just removed the seat back. I will use the other jump seat to house my EQ. I don't have a place to hide my sub amp but I may build a place for it in my next sub box. I have a sealed 1 cubic ft now but I plan to build a 1.5 cubic ported box tuned to 30 hz. Your box design really counts on a sub. Elemental Designs testing shows a 3 to 4 db gain with a ported box. Its loud now for a single 12 so I have to try it ported.
I install stealth systems for my friends. Most want good sound without the system taking up interior space. Its not hard now with subs working in .35 cubic ft boxes.

 

[fusseli]

Looks like this sub is best suitted for sealed boxes. This is good for you since space is at a premium.

here are 4 of the shallow 10's in 0.35cuft/ea (orange), 0.40cuft/ea, and 0.45cuft/ea. (all with 3rd order LPF @ 70Hz) In the 0.45cuft, they will only handle about 200Wrms each before overexcursion. The 0.35cuft config would probably handly 300W/ea safely.

SPL:

cone displacement (red line is Xmax):

I'd really suggest using the smallest recommended box size, it will be easiest to pull off and will handle power the best.

here's my single 1.0cuft vented 8W7 (460Wrms) model for comparison. get low.

Elemental Designs testing shows a 3 to 4 db gain with a ported box. Its loud now for a single 12 so I have to try it ported.

All vented boxes typically offer 3dB of gain over sealed ones, it's physics. Box size, power handling, and a subs EBP are what should be used to decide if it should be sealed or vented in addition to preferred performance (ported boxes add lots of delay).

 

[NRA4ever]

I would like to use my 4 channel amp only on my system. It does 250 RMS bridged at 4 ohms. By using a ported box it should drive the sub. When the sub was new the 4 channel amp didn't drive it well. I added the JL Audio 500/1 but I'd rather just use 1 amp. ED claims good SQ with a properly tuned ported box. I will build one & see which I like best. The sub impressed me. It sounds great with any music I play.

 

[NRA4ever]

ED recommends tuning at 30 hz. This will be my first ported box. I'm building it to see the difference it will make. I have several programs to use in my design. Plus ED has good factory support. I've read several reviews from ED owners that were surprised at how musical & clean their subs are in a ported box. I always built sealed boxes for space requirements. I lost the space behind my seats with the 1 cubic ft box. Going to a 1.5 cubic ft box will not make much difference. Like I said its more of a learning process than anything else. I build custom boxes for my friends so I need to experiment with ported boxes & other designs. I like building systems as much as listening to them. My Ranger may never be finished in the stereo system. Its small size makes proper imaging tough. My 97 F150 was easy to get a full front stage. I used a center channel to make it work right.I won a few SQ competitions in Memphis with the F150. It really sounded like front row center stage.

 

[BigRondo]

deck:
Kenwood KIV-700 - the first car stereo to offically support the Zune (for thsoe that dont like apple/ipod). oh, and, this deck is ****ing awesome. every tunable feature you could possibly imagine, the number of settings rivals modern hometheater systems. got a firmware update off of kenwood's website which helped sort out some glitchiness with the zune interface.

fusseli, System looks awesome, you did a great job installing it. I am excited to find out there is a head unit for the Zune! I have a Zune & an iPod and was disappointed to have control of only the iPod with the Zune plugged into the AUX jack with no control. I am currently shopping for a head unit and have a couple of questions. How does this deck handle the Zune? Can I use both Zune & iPod at the same time or would I have to swap them or will I have to pick only one of them to use? Thanks!

 

[fusseli]

fusseli, System looks awesome, you did a great job installing it. I am excited to find out there is a head unit for the Zune! I have a Zune & an iPod and was disappointed to have control of only the iPod with the Zune plugged into the AUX jack with no control. I am currently shopping for a head unit and have a couple of questions. How does this deck handle the Zune? Can I use both Zune & iPod at the same time or would I have to swap them or will I have to pick only one of them to use? Thanks!

the deck has a single USB plug, but can accept up to 3 devices simultaneously via a USB hub. with multiple connected you have to pick between them in the menu system.

the zune interface works perfect, album art, etc.e etc. is quite nice. my only two complaints:
1) shuffle/random will only apply to an artist and not a whole playlist or genre. I'm hoping for a firmware fix to solve that
2) I have 6500+ songs on my 80gb zune and that takes about 6-7 minutes to index them all each time I change to the zune. To mitigate this I have been using a 4gb flashdrive with a few hundred songs (loads in seconds) for short drives and only connect the zune for longer drives. shuffle/random also works much better with the jumpdrive since there is a setting for all folders random.

 

[BigRondo]

Thanks for the info I am excited about being able to control the Zune in my X!!
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[wbrudi28]

i know you're trying to save space with the box and all, but i want to make sure that when designing a boz with dimensions, you take into account the sub displacement and add that to the total cubes of the enclosure

 

[fusseli]

got some alpine components put in the back and added a pic of the rear seat folded up. edited first post.

 

[loud04explorer]

is running the speak wire from the harness behind the deck to a mids/high amp the easiest way to do it? I've got a amp and all my mids and highs ready to install but trying to figure out the best way to hook the speakers to the amp..

 

[stangpwr]

Great Pics and Install fusseli, can you tell me what/Where did you use to mount the ground for your 2 amps? I looking to do a similar install on my newly aquired 2002 mountaineer. Thanks for any info.