yamabob

The HU doesn't care in a sense how the amp is run. What Mark is saying is in order to run active you would need to run a separate channel to each mid-bass and tweeter. In effect that would be L/R front would be used just for the tweets and L/R rear would be the mid-bass . You could only use 60w per speaker this way. Since the tweets don't really need much power but the mid-bass could use more than the 60w you would feed them in active- passive is being recommended. By bridging the channel's you will feed more power to the speaker set( mid-bass plus Tweet). By driver the speakers closer to the rated power you will achieve a fuller richer sound. The passive crossover will take care of sending the power to each speaker set.
As Mark stated-mounting those tweets wrong could make the system far from optimal at worst. I think you would be better going in the factory door location

Michael_D

Awww! !!! That makes perfect sense and what I thought Mark was saying. Thanks to you guys for taking the time to answer my stupid questions. Hopefully I am not the only dumbass that is learning things.

So that settles what I am going to do with the speakers. Bridge the amp to run more giddy-up to the fronts that will be ran passive with the Morel X-overs and keep the tweeter in the doors. This HU does have network and a 13 band EQ, so I probably have enough control to confuse me for months. ......

yamabob

Mark always gives great advice!
Just change one thing at a time when you do. Remember or write down the previous setting and go from there. Listen to various songs you know well to "hear" the nuances.

markcz

Yeah, what Bob said

The HU doesn't care what the amp and speakers are doing. I was basing my recommendations on the physical properties of the speakers and the amp that you have.

That combo would put out the loudest and best sounding tunes if you bridge the amp into the passive crossover. The ratings are pretty much perfect for wiring it up that way

Michael_D

You guys are friggin awesome, thank you for your patience and help! I'll update as I muddle my way through this process.

I am an AV geek with some nice home AV rigs, but this mobile stuff is something I don't know much about.

Michael_D

Well after a few hours over the course of several weekends, traveling, and general lack of motivation, I'm finally getting the car back together. The sound deadening was a royal PITA. Not much room in these cars..... Finished routing wires and am now fighting with carpet and trim. Running all my cables and wires in flex tube was a much better idea prior to now.....grrrrrrr

I decided to add another amp too. A cheap Kenwood 2 channel for the rears (KAC-5206). For a hundred bucks, figured what the hell. Rather do it now than later. I'm leaving some extra wire length in case the amp sucks and I need to replace it.

I have a couple questions.

I've been trying to make sense of this cord orgy going on between the PAC interface and the 892. What a mess o wires....

The PAC has what I think is a Mic plug, and it does fit into the 892 Mic input. But it appears to be stereo, and the Mic that came with the 892 looks to be mono. Do I need to use the supplied Mic? I hope not. I'm tired of running wires.

Also, do I need to use the chime module that came with the PAC kit?

LT1 Z51

If you want to keep your chimes, you need to use the chime kit. The C6 radio handles all the car chimes so when you go aftermarket you need something to play those noises!

I remember when I had the 2008 torn apart, and I didn't do amps or anything super fancy and it was a PITA to get back together! Good luck with the rats nest of cables!

Michael_D

Thanks for the info.

Any idea on the Mic? And why is it called a Bluetooth mic? The Mic an't possibly be the Bluetooth link to the HU???

LT1 Z51

The mic is for the Bluetooth. So when you say commands that's what picks them up. The HU doesn't have a mic on it.

Michael_D

Ya I get that the HU needs a mic plugged into it. What I'm wondering, is if I can use the OEM mic.

I don't get why the HU would need a mic for Bluetooth connection. My laptop has a Bluetooth mouse. No mic.

markcz

The oem mic doesn't play well with aftermarket radios, use the one that came with the new HU.

Michael_D

Figures.....

Any tips for getting the Mic mounted up on the A pillar, without pulling the gauge cluster to route the wire?

markcz

Use a good thick double-sticky tape to mount it next to the oem mic (not the crap that comes on it).

Shove the wire under the top of the pillar trim and flip it around to the outside edge so you can push it under the edge of the trim just enough so it won't come out. Do that all the way down to the bottom edge of the dash, then pull down the cover that's just above your feet and zip tie the wire so it won't fall. On the edge of the dash you can see through to the radio mounting location, just feed the wire up to the radio.

Completely out of sight and shouldn't take 5 minutes to route

Michael_D

That was easier than I thought. Thank you.

Got the PAC and HU connections about done. Carpet and trim in the car, although I'm not real happy with how it fits now.... Oh well...

For the amp P-control wire, do I connect the wire from the amp to both HU and PAC, or just the HU? I have all three connected right now, but wasn't sure if this is a no-no. The PAC instructions do not really speak to this.

Michael_D

Well, it worked.... Amps turn on, turn off. Didn't have much time to play around with settings yesterday. No tweaking of any speaker/sub setting, and I can already hear a massive improvement over the OEM stuff. This should be fun.

I was doing a little engine work, so can't get the car into reverse to check the backup camera (wired power to the backup lights).

Bought RCA Y-splitters, and got the male/female ends mixed up... So, the 5 channel amp is not bridged right now. The fronts still sound pretty darn good, and louder than I can stand.

The 892 catches the trim plate when it opens and closes. I'm not sure what to do here. The trim kit isn't all that adjustable. It catches the bottom of the screen, when opening / closing.

Seeing how the amps power on, and shut down, I guess it's OK to connect the amp control cables together from both the PAC and HU.

The little chime module has got to be the most irritating, playschool POS sounding thing I've heard. What a POS. Embarrassingly so. I have it turned down all the way.

I'm wondering about the GPS antenna. I just plugged the OEM antenna into the 892. Should I swap it out for the one that came with the 892? I need to pull the HU anyway, and don't want to remove the console again after I get this buttoned up.

LT1 Z51

I had to mount my HU not so flush with the trim kit to get the screen to work right. It still was a bit tight.

Michael_D

When you say "not so flush", do you mean recessed, or out? I'm not sure how much movement I can get. The kit was what DD Mods sent me.

LT1 Z51

Mine stuck out. Since the C6 dash is curved, I made it almost flush in the middle, which meant it sticked out on the sides. It still caught a little in the center, but I think that's unavoidable.

Michael_D

Done, finally..... It's gunna take some time fiddling with the HU to get the system dialed to my liking. The EQ function of the 872 will most likely take me hours to get it where I like it. But, the system sounds way better than the OEM system. No comparison really.

I ended up taking a file the HU trim plate. I could not really move the HU in or out to the trim plate. It opens/closes perfectly now. The OEM GPS antenna did work. The amps turn on and off just fine with the control wire tied to both the PAC and the HU. Guess I got lucky on that one. The rear view camera works too. I am going to change it out with a flush mount camera eventually. I do not like the little bracket. It kinda looks like a big zit hanging above the license plate.

Here's some pics of the install process.....

All carpet and panels removed...





Moved the OnStar module so I can upgrade the passenger seat later. I also ran a 12v wire to the seat connector.



I did a three layer sound proofing. 1) Foil backed butyl 2) Self-adhesive foam 3) MLV

I got the stuff from that big "A" store with free prime shipping. Otherwise, I'd have paid a fortune for shipping. The hatch area I used a different type of product. It has a thin layer of MLV adhered to 3/8" foam. I only put that on the deck over some butyl. The wheel wells I just used butyl and foam.

















Then the doors.... Butyl rope in the corners and between anything that might rattle. Bought some aluminum channel, cut some pieces and stuck them to the doors with 3M tape. Some sound damping between the drivers too. Cut some access covers out of 1/8" hard board and secured them into place with some adhesive and screws. Then installed the speakers. Used foam between the drivers and mounting plate.















Then to the wiring... Had to make a bracket out of 1/8" steel bar stock. Just got it red hot, then bent it to fit where the Bose amp was. This is for the crossovers. Couldn't really find anywhere else to mount them, because I moved the OnStar module above the pass foot area.








HU wiring... Rat's nest of wires. I ran power directly from the battery into a 100 amp fuse that I just stuck to the top of the battery with 3M tape, then up the pass side fender into a splitter for both amps. At least this way, the fuse is accessible.



Amps....








Then the carpet. With all the sound stuff, it was tough getting the carpet to lay right. I may end up doing the hatch again later, probably pull all the carpet pad off the carpet. I'm tired of messing with it right now....










Kenwood installed.





Glad that's done. If anyone needs/wants additional info on anything in particular, just ask. I probably have more pics too.

Thanks to the folks kind enough to offer advice.

LT1 Z51

Man. That's nice looking. Took tons of time I bet!