that makes a lot of sense, and i had figured that i would pay extra for the install to make up for the lost hardware profit, but i hadn't thought about their attachment to the final sound, since they can always say my components are the issue. i channel the morel site, and there's only one dealer on my side of the sf bay, and fortunately it's a fairly short drive from my work, so I'm gonna open the conversation this week. they also sell jl, so i should be able to have them put a nice system together.

as for the sub, i don't particularly want to take up a huge amount of my trunk space. firstly, it's my daily driver and i like having storage space, plus my dog likes it back there. and given that this is sf, I'd rather not build some huge system that is flashy and noticeable. i have my windows tinted, but still, i don't want to tempt fate.

for the box, I'll talk to the shop about them making it, but the boxes on that site are already made for this car, and aren't super expensive, so maybe they're fine?

 

Nothing wrong with the SubThump boxes or even one of the stealth boxes if it fits your needs. The one in your link seems to be for 2 shallow 8" or 10" subs. It wouldn't be my choice. But like Fauee stated, your best bet is to decide on and talk to your installer first. Although it is fun to throw around different ideas for systems, if you plan on having a shop do your install, they are going to steer you in a different direction then we might suggest, and towards gear and brands they are comfortable with and carry in their shop. Best bet is to bounce some ideas off them and see what they suggest or come up with and then make your decisions from there. Lots of knowledgable guys here on the forum and lots of good advice, but just like which installer you talk to, everyone will give you a slightly different opinion or system build.

 

Lots of good suggestions here. But please, whatever you decide on, don't let anyone talk you into a 6.5" in the door. It is the easiest thing to do, but not the best sounding solution.

 

Vince is my spirit animal. And he is completely correct. It's not even the easiest, you have to make or buy a gigantic bracket to do it, because it should have a MUCH larger speaker in there.

 

oh... don't worry about that. I've read enough different threads stating that, and even on my own i figured out doesn't make sense to downsize so much when there's space for a bigger driver.

i think people do it because it's hard to find 8-9" speakers at most price points people are looking to pay and at most retail locations. maybe that's changing, now, though.

 

I have Focal 6.5"'s in the doors, but I agree with the others, go with a bigger door speaker if you can.

 

lol, well damn, looks like I'm gonna have to postpone this project for a few months. the market isn't cooperating, yet. boo!

and i really would love to do the install myself, as i typically do most of my own mechanical work, but i just don't have the time or experience to do the stereo system. it's my daily driver, and my ear just isn't tuned well enough to properly position and calibrate everything.

grr...

 

All you have to do is start. Mine was a daily driver also. I drove around without door panels for a couple of days. I used the emergency release lever to open my door to get out.

 

I built my own sub box but it took me 3 times to get it right. I'll probably get flamed in this thread because I used cheap equipment, but if you knew how bad my hearing is, you'd probably understand. I listen to mostly classic rock and do not like a ton of bass because it overpowers the treble and mids which are hard to hear for me in the first place. Having said that, here is the box I built and it did two things, first it sacked the rear speakers entirely, second, that doesn't matter because the box also works as a partition making the sound stage in front smaller. That allows me to hear some of the highs, most of the mids, and then the bass fills up the whole car. I used 2 8" subs, but the box was built with a partition in the center that can be opened, or "moved" to adjust the volume inside the box - so if I didn't like the 8's (but I do) I could go to 10's without too much drama. The carpet on it is real factory carpet direct from the manufacturer that made it for GM, and it wasn't cheap, but it looks right and that was more important. I'm running this with my own interface box and the factory head unit - no factory amp, and I still have chimes. I'm pretty happy with it. All speakers were replaced with Skar. The front has 10" NPX 10's and the upper door has a 3.5" coax. All told I probably spent as much on this whole system as some of you guys spend on one speaker, but I hear different, and most of those sounds you enjoy, are outside of my frequency range that I can hear, so lucky me, I can do cheap without effecting the quality of the sound that I "hear."

 

I wouldn't run skar audio great personally... But you at least did the install right. Tbh, it probably sounds better than the guys who put big money 6. 6" speakers in.

The real secret of audio is that the gear you pick is so much less important than the install quality it's absurd.

 

Thanks... I think. Lol, I get it, but let me explain why Skar...

First, I completely agree, they aren't even close to high end, but, they are better than what the factory put in for the non Bose systems. But moreover, and you'd have no way of knowing this, I have profound hearing loss (combat loss), so I have to adjust my system for highs, and not so much bass, which explains the small 8" subs and 10" mid drivers.

If the bass overpowers my highs, it is the equivalent of what you would hear if you cranked your bass all the way up, and then completely pulled all high frequencies. Imagine music with nothing higher than say a D note, and that's how I hear. So high end speakers are essentially wasted money on me, and that's the harsh reality of being partially deaf.

 

@Long_AV8R That sucks man. I have partial hearing loss as well...but nothing like that. Feel for ya brother.

@OP... Component selection is a tough nugget to crack without a bit of guidance. The budget you listed is healthy...which is nice because you have more options. But what do you want the system to do? Are you looking for ***** out performance, or just more than stock? You mentioned keeping the hatch area is where the dog occasionally hangs out (very cool BTW ) but that is going to severely diminish the available space for subwoofers. Amplifiers have gone down in size for the most part, so mounting them in tight spaces or hidden from view isn't really a difficult problem anymore. Additionally, make sure about $1K of that budget goes to sound deadening. I can't even explain how much of a difference a deadened car makes to a systems performance. It's absolutely money well spent in a ZO6. Nothing wrong with subthump...I have one of his boxes in my truck and it sounds great. I typically say to buy the best speakers you can afford, but my recent exploits have really changed my mind on paying ridiculous prices for speakers. Once we get passed these questions, we can guide you better.

 

hey everyone! i just wanted to give an update on where I'm going with the car. it's currently in the shop getting everything properly installed, and will be ready for pick up on Wednesday. the guy's been working on it since this past Tuesday, and has been really taking care to do it right, so he just got the main system wired up, today, and was finally able to listen to the doors for the first time. he said it sounds ridiculously amazing, with incredible fidelity even at eardrum shattering volumes. and that's just the doors.

so...

i went with the morel elate 903s for the doors, a regular jl 5.25"for the rear fills, 2 4 channel amps for all of those drivers, and a 1000w amp to drive a pair of jl tw3 10 subs.

i got one of the 4 channel amps along with the subs and 1000w amp from vince, on here. he did sell me a third sub, but we're gonna hold off on using it, as it MIGHT just be overkill with how well it is already producing solid bass.

he's been talking a ton of pictures to document the build, and he did some modifications behind the door panels to allow the mids and tweeters to be installed behind the factory grills for the original mids, so it'll look completely factory (except for the subs, of course)

it's all active, too.

anyway, thought y'all would appreciate some more info, and a big shout out to vince for all of his help and emails, as well as the great deal on the amps and subs.

thank you, also, to everyone else who helped out. I'm REALLY REALLY excited to pick up the car and share my thoughts!

 

I bet Tuesday can't come soon enough!

 

This should sound great. In for pics.

And when it's done please share total cost and install pricing if you don't mind.

 

. It's Tuesday. Getting late here in Texas. Hope you're still picking it up today. Just be careful on the bass setting. That amp is capable of tearing a new one on two subs. Power distribution better on three.

 

still don't have the car. apparently the delay is that they don't have the right carpet for the sub enclosure. i dunno why the guy waited till Tuesday to verify he had the right stuff, but whatever. i told him that I'm taking a long weekend starting Friday through Tuesday and whether or not there's carpet for the sub enclosure, i want my car back, and we can arrange for me to bring it back when he does have it.

I'm pretty frustrated with this, as originally he said 4 days for the whole build, but whatever. i I'd rather him take too long vs rushing through it.

as for the costs, it's about 5k for everything he's doing, including the components, active controller (head unit only has a 3 way and he recommended going with a full controller so that each individual driver can be set properly), the sub enclosure, the other 4 channel amp and the rear 5.25"drivers.

 

Sucks that they didn't plan this correctly. Good thing they aren't making any life saving devices. By full controller, I hope you mean DSP and I hope that they know how to tune it properly. Did they measure your height to make sur e they tune the time alignment for you? Which controller did you get and what other 4 channel amp?
You should do a surprise visit.

 

I hope you wrote down the mileage before you dropped it with them. Make sure they're not joy riding your **** dude. Ask me why I know to verify this.

 

Any updates? How did it go? It's been over 10 days since the last update. Hopefully the installer has it completed by now.