Installer says the power cable and RCA cables are going to cost me 300 bucks!
Is this legit? JL Audio RD 900/5 Amp and Morel Hybrid 602 in the doors 10w3v3 sub
in a C6Z06. I see 100 ft of 4 gauge wire for for $200 or less from people like Kicker and Rockford Fosgate. I need maybe 5’ ?

 

Crutchfield sells 4 gauge positive or ground wire by the foot. $3/ft

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_007CPW...e-4-gauge.html

They also have a 4 gauge amp kit for $70.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_007CK4...field-CK4.html

What ever you do just make sure you go with oxygen-free copper wire.

Also, RCA cables should run you between $35-50

 

Yes, I did actually see that kit from Crutchfield, which only serves to fuel my fire. I don't wish to try to install this stuff myself. I!ve done it in the past and encountered such noise problems that I actually drove to Crutchfield's facility to get it straightened out. Needed some filter or something. I just have a concern that any discounts in the price of equipment are being recouped by overcharging me for other stuff, like $300 power chords and RCA cables. The amp and of course, the battery, are both in the back! I'll ask about the oxygen free copper, thanks for the info.

 

I would find myself another installer.

 

Installer is trying to take advantage of you

 

Thanks guys. Once I visited this installer in-person, he was all about up selling me. I wanted Morel 602 Hybrid speakers and JL Audio RD 900/5 amp. He felt the speakers would drowned out by the sound in the car so, I would need the Elates. The amp would also need to be upgraded to XD(?) series and 1000/5 . Both of these are about double the cost. The cameras he uses, he would say, " imports", then he installs his own chip in them so, they run $250 each. I'm pretty much giving up on this endeavor. I really never wanted to do a lot of research or running around over this project, now I've done both and found it as, "not fun" as I had feared and significantly more time wasting. How hard can it be to just put a nice sounding car stereo together, at a reasonable price for those who are not audiophiles! I just wanted highs that are not harsh, pretty good thump from the midrange and a subwoofer.
My experience has been: One shop that put together a package with no model numbers, even claimed, "You can't find the equipment we sell on the internet". Another who's up-selling drove the total cost to $6000. The last guy was about 11 years old and knew nothing. This industry is, in my experience... difficult to navigate?
At least I narrowly dodged the DD Mods debacle thanks to the helpful folks on this forum.
John

 

It is not hard at all. I have the JL RD900/5 and it is good amp. It is powering Hertz HSK 165 up front, ECX 130.5 rear fill and the JL stealthbox. I have a love/hate relationship with Class D 5 channel amps. I love the efficiency, low heat, size and cost but loses in the sound quality department when comparing to a similar RMS rated A/B amp. If you know what you want just buy it. And yes, you can find most of everything online.

 

Plantspike, I had a similar situation when I was looking for an installer. I kept getting bloated install pricing and the worst part is that after talking to the installer I had zero confidence that he knew any more than I did about the install. He kept arguing with me about every request I had even when I told him I wanted new speaker wire run and not to use the existing wiring. I ended up doing the install myself, and in hindsight I am happy that I chose that route.

As far as the speakers you had picked out, those are suppose to be some great speakers. Racebum swears by them and they are not cheap either. If any shop tells you they are not enough of a speaker to fill the cabin of a C6, they are full of BS. It seems like you had some nice stuff picked out to make a pretty good sound system. I wouldn't let the shop put doubt in your mind or steer you in a more expensive direction. There is a lot of helpful information on this sight and/or members that can help you out if you need it.

 

Custom chips in cameras that's funny

Where are you located

 

Philadelphia

 

Thanks, I thought they were good choices too! Thanks for the reply. I’m going to take a couple days off from this persuit and paint the house. We’ll see after that.

 

JL is expensive in the wiring dept. it's quality but costly. best bargain brand is stinger. they use ofc copper and quality construction with prices far less than the big brands

that 602 hybrid can sound wonderful if you have quality amps and get the time correction right. it's the entry level to morel's high end made in isreal line

you could bridge the 4ch of that 900/5 into a 3ch in your case. front 4 channels either bridged or bi amps to the hybrids and the sub channel to the 10w3

sonically if you have a dsp bi amp the fronts. allows perfect time correction between the tweeter and mid. if you don't have a dsp bridging turns the power up and you can use the morel passive crossovers. sonically bi amping is best if done right. SPL wise, bridge and crank

also note morel released a 5ch amp that should be better than the rd. i say should as i haven't heard it yet but the a/b front stage and class d sub it's using is often a better design. cost wise it's similar

 

Thanks racebum! I don't have a DSP and the Morel amp sounds like a good alternative to the class D amp. Honestly, some of what you said sailed right over my head. I don't know anything about getting the timing right. I suspect the installer I'm considering will. Ill show him your post. Thanks for the help

 

what shop? fyi there are plenty of installers/shops in this area.

also, why not try yourself?

 

I really want the Morel speakers and to avoid any back and forth between installer and equipment provider in the event of an issue, I sought to have the installer sell the equipment as well. I actually live in PA but very near the Delaware line. There are no Morel dealers in DE so, I ended up driving to Upper Darby, not a pleasant drive by the way. Installing it myself is my last option, maybe tied for last with, leave it as is.

 

Plantspike, if you were a little closer I'd say stop by I could help you do it in my garage. Also what head unit do you have or were you planning on using? Maybe I missed it somewhere. But if you wanted to do a simple sound system upgrade yourself you could try just replacing the head unit. It might be a better option than not doing anything and it will improve the sound quality over the stock unit.

 

Thanks Fred, that's very generous of you but yeah, we're about 2 1/2 hours apart. I like The Kenwood DDX9904s. I don't really care about cd's or DVD's what I like is, the button on the front that would enable me to turn on the front camera quickly and easily. Touch screen, If it didn't have that, It would take me forever to stop touching it. Front and rear cameras and Apple car play. Which brings up a question. Would the receiver work with my iPhone 5S? If I got the 6s, how long might it be, before I get a new phone and it doesn't work with my radio anymore! My very next phone could be the 7 or 8! So, what are the chances a radio I buy today, looses some of it's biggest features because I update my phone? Maybe NAV is more important than I thought?
Replacing just the radio is a possibility but I think that would be more about getting cameras and a little bump in sound quality as a bonus. So, yeah, that's a possibility, just not a really exiting one and yes, I think I could do that myself.

 

Plantspike, here is a craigslist deal close to you if you want to checkout out. I know it's not exactly what you are looking for but this is a pretty good deal considering those KX2's sell for $1300 on Crutchfield. You can get the whole package for $1000 including amp and wiring.

https://southjersey.craigslist.org/p...310259185.html

And those rear PC130 5-1/4 speakers are $330 on crutchfield. Almost seems like this guy bought this system for a corvette.

 

that would be a good combo. 9904s, morel 5ch amp and the hybrid 602

your installer will understand that post and probably can show you how it's done. the 9904s should have 4ch + sub time correction so he could run it either way. the install will be more expensive if you have him bi amp the front stage as he has to run additional wires. bridging + passive crossovers is less labor intensive to do

 

You're right, a really good deal! It adds up to $1700 worth of stuff so, Thanks for the heads up! However, this is what I'm thinking.
The speakers, krx2 are $650 at Amazon
The pc130's I don't really need, I think the fill is unnecessary.
I'll pay $100 more for the morel MPS 5.950 amp $650
The dealer in Philly offered me the Hybrid 602's for $550.
If I bought the same wires I'd be at $1320.
$320 is a good savings but I get a better amp and I guess I really want those Morels so, I'm leaning that way.