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How do people actually mount the amp behind the back of the passenger seat?
Some people glue a wood board there and mount to the board. You could cut notches into the raised beads and install a slip stud. I can't remember if that piece is metal or PVD but you could weld nuts in place to mount to, I chose to go under the passenger seat.
LOL I almost never drive with a radio on... I took the radio out of my C4. However the convenience of routing my cell phone thru the radio really helps.. With that said... who cares if you listen to the radio or not? Its YOUR car do what you want with it... That's the best thing about these cars and the aftermarket... you can truly build what ever it is you want to make the car your own....
some folks love audio...and there is nothing wrong at all with that... i certainly don't understand adding hundreds of Lbs to a Z06 after all the work that went into them to reduce that weight... but... in the end, its not MY car... Perhaps some of these audiophile guys can eventually design a system that weighs less than the original.... yet sounds better.... then perhaps I can understand the Fiancée better as she rattles off a grocery list that I will probably get wrong when I get to the store..
LOL I almost never drive with a radio on... I took the radio out of my C4. However the convenience of routing my cell phone thru the radio really helps.. With that said... who cares if you listen to the radio or not? Its YOUR car do what you want with it... That's the best thing about these cars and the aftermarket... you can truly build what ever it is you want to make the car your own....
some folks love audio...and there is nothing wrong at all with that... i certainly don't understand adding hundreds of Lbs to a Z06 after all the work that went into them to reduce that weight... but... in the end, its not MY car... Perhaps some of these audiophile guys can eventually design a system that weighs less than the original.... yet sounds better.... then perhaps I can understand the Fiancée better as she rattles off a grocery list that I will probably get wrong when I get to the store..
Hundreds of pounds for a stereo? Please, any good system will add 50lbs or less. An amp weights 5lbs, not 100
Hundreds of pounds for a stereo? Please, any good system will add 50lbs or less. An amp weights 5lbs, not 100
osb fiberglass, body filler ect...for boxes.... heavy sound mat material.(my kid just put in dynamat into his Honda that stuff felt pretty heavy to me... amps..... big sub magnet's crossovers.... all under 50 lbs? but then again ....like I said Its not my cup of tea..... My passion has been different than an audiophile... and that is what makes this "hobby" so great. so many different ways to personalize a car.... I came into this thread to learn something... perhaps I should re-phrase my question.... could a decent sound system sound better than the original yet weigh less? if so then I may have to change my "tune"
osb fiberglass, body filler ect...for boxes.... heavy sound mat material.(my kid just put in dynamat into his Honda that stuff felt pretty heavy to me... amps..... big sub magnet's crossovers.... all under 50 lbs? but then again ....like I said Its not my cup of tea..... My passion has been different than an audiophile... and that is what makes this "hobby" so great. so many different ways to personalize a car.... I came into this thread to learn something... perhaps I should re-phrase my question.... could a decent sound system sound better than the original yet weigh less? if so then I may have to change my "tune"
My RE 10 weighs 21lbs, box is less than 10, door speakers are for sure lighter than the Blows stuff. Amp is 2.1 kilos, not hundreds of pounds, not even a hundred. You can simply say "I don't like stereos" instead of nonsense like that.
Honestly the only real weight issue comes with the sub, box, and yes the dynamat is kinda heavy.. but that’s really only an issue if you fully cover the interior.. I plan on using it sparingly for the most critical areas.. like said, to each their own.. I love it all- loud exhaust, relaxing cruises, ripping through the gears, & loud music .. these cars can be an extension of our own individual personalities
Last edited by OleStraightStick; 02-16-2018 at 04:50 AM.
My RE 10 weighs 21lbs, box is less than 10, door speakers are for sure lighter than the Blows stuff. Amp is 2.1 kilos, not hundreds of pounds, not even a hundred. You can simply say "I don't like stereos" instead of nonsense like that.
I've also decided to upgrade a little. I'm keeping the stock bose head unit and front speakers for now. I'm adding one of those cheap $70 sub boxes that takes a 12" woofer, doing the Ipod jack mod, adding an amp, doing the Ipac-vet1 mod and replacing the rear speakers with some Alpines I've had for a long time in my garage. I actually already have everything from previous vehicles (amp, woofer & speakers). I'll see how this works out. I just want a little bass and more sound.
The stock stereo is junk. My stock C4 bose gold sounded better than my c5 bose. Although I like listening to the thunder of the LS1, I still like to have some decent tunes on a road trip. I use to be a hardcore audiophile back in the early 90's. Not going hardcore this time, just a little more than stock.
...Now what I can’t seem to find anywhere is installation brackets for new h/u.. can’t find them on Amazon or eBay.. what should I do about that? Are they not required?
...
Originally Posted by C5SCCA
I had to fabricate my own brackets for mounting my head unit. I couldn't find anything off the shelf either.
Originally Posted by OleStraightStick
...Yea I reckon I’ll be heading to Lowes to get stuff to rig something up
I was cheap and mounted the installation cage with self drilling sheet metal screws and some spacers. Can slip it in and out like any other installation now. Also gave the tabs on the top of the console somewhere to "bite" into and fixed the gap at the top.
At some point this year I'll install a system (bezel/hu) from Vettenuts cuz it's cool... but it will still stay OFF 100% of the time because I prefer to hear/feel my engine, tranny, exhaust, etc...if that makes sense.
Well my Metra bezel (as well as everything else) finally showed up at my doorstep and like a previous member mentioned, it appears that it actually does come with brackets thank goodness.. time to get started.. not a dd so no big rush.. hopefully this goes smoothly
Got 95% of what I’ll be installing ordered and on the way.. been trying to learn as much as possible before I tackle this project & tried to keep the budget around $1600’ish..
Here’s what I’m going with.. car is a 2000 coupe:
Sony XAV-AX100 6.4” h/u
Alpine SPR-60C 6.5" Components w/ crossovers mounted to speaker plate & tweeters mounted in door pulls
JL C2 650 coax rears
JL 12W0V3-4 sub
Alpine PDX-V9 5 channel amp to power all speakers and sub
Flush mount sub box
Metra bezel
Natika backup camera
I also ordered 36’ sq ft of dynamat for various insulation, a knukoncepts 4 ga. amp installation kit, a Dewalt angle drill adapter to drill out factory bracket rivets, 50ft of 12 ga. speaker wire, adapter plates for components, an Alpine sub dB control ****, a metal grill to protect the sub, and 2 6.5 speaker spacers (Incase needed for rear coax).. Use the dynamat on the doors, the floorpan is pretty well insulated near the seats. You can staggar patch the hatch area if you prefer. But I would use most of it on the inside of the door.
Now what I can’t seem to find anywhere is installation brackets for new h/u.. can’t find them on Amazon or eBay.. what should I do about that? Are they not required?
Since I’m powering all speakers off the amp, I’m assuming I need to run 3 separate RCA cables to the amp to individually control the fronts, rears, and sub.. that sound correct? Yes. Three channels, three cables. Keep them as far away from the power cables as possible.
And what about connecting the power wire to the battery.. I believe my battery is a Duralast Gold with side posts only.. not sure if additional posts can be added to the top or not.. do y’all have any recommendations or preferred methods to cleanly connect to the battery? I connected mine to the terminal lug on the fuse box.
I plan on mounting the amp vertically to the back wall under the hatch.. seems like a safe place to screw into.. do most folks run the backup camera through that rear wall/carpet area? As I said before, don't do that. I have the same amp and if your passenger seat isn't power it will easily fit underneath.
Lemme know what y’all think so far! All tips and advice are welcomed! I’m hoping this will go as smoothly as possible but like always “hope for the best, expect the worst”
Just make sure you have good shielded RCA cables, real copper wire and not CCA, and you'll be fine.
Would you measure the double DIN opening in the Metra bezel and post it up? I am curious as to how much of a gap there may be between the 4x7" of the head unit face and the opening in the bezel.
Would you measure the double DIN opening in the Metra bezel and post it up? I am curious as to how much of a gap there may be between the 4x7" of the head unit face and the opening in the bezel.
I definitely will!
Shaolin, why should I not mount the amp to the rear panel under the hatch & aft of the sub box?
Last edited by OleStraightStick; 02-19-2018 at 02:26 AM.
I had to fabricate my own brackets for mounting my head unit. I couldn't find anything off the shelf either.
When installing the new H/U I used the brackets that I took off of the old head unit. Just drilled new holes for screws and re-positioned them. When installing the new head unit I used 2-sided tape to get the spacing just right (both top-to-bottom and also in-out). The new H/U fits like a charm, doesn't move at all and is cushioned from any road bumps, etc.
There are many stereo-upgrade show-n-tells on this Forum, both in the C5 section and also in the General Corvette Topics audio subsection.
Things you ought to ponder prior to beginning your install:
1. Where should you locate the cross-overs? Mounting them behind the door panels (with the door speakers) is ok, but once you've buttoned up the door panels, you are no longer able to tune your system. Some mount their cross-overs next to their amp; others mount the cross-overs underneath the dash (one on each side) secured with cable ties. In any event its something you need to plan on prior to running your speaker wire.
2. Do you want only a rearview camera, or alternatively both front and rear? While you don't need to decide up front, it does make sense to go ahead and run the wiring for both locations while your interior is gutted. Retrofitting for a front-view camera would be a PITA.
3. Might you want to mount your door tweeters in the A pillars (rather than in the doors). This option really improves the quality of your sound system. You'd need to procure (or make) molded A Pillar trim pieces, but otherwise this is an easy install. But - again - its something you need to decide before you run any speaker wire.
Others can contribute other "things to consider."
As regards the install itself, here's an excellent show-n-tell for our C5s contributed by Forum guru Patches:
In the above C6 show-in-tell, the author (Thrash) mentions the name of an interesting vendor: Sound Deadener Showdown ("SDS"). SDS's website is: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/
SDS is relevant because it provides a detailed explanation of harmonic distortion in our C5s and what to do about it. SDS recommends using polybutylene rope calk at all of the joints and mass-loaded-vinyl ("MLV") spread judiciously around the car's interior. Why? SDS says a bunch of what we think of as road noise is, in fact, harmonic vibration echoing throughout our car's interior. The rope calk and MLV effectively dampen that vibration.
There are actually three things you want to plan for while you are sound-proofing your interior: road noise, harmonic distortion and temperature abatement. You can buy decent noise abatement materials at most audio stores. And SDS (discussed above) is one of the vendors from whom you can buy vibration dampening materials. As for temperature abatement, Home Depot/Lowes, etc. each sells materials that should be adequate to address this issue.
As you've likely already discovered, most of the true "road noise" emanates from the rear wheel wells and transmission tunnel. But be sure you research this issue to your personal satisfaction before launching into the install. Once again, its a PITA to retrofit these materials into a completed install. [I determined that I also wanted to thoroughly address road noise emanating from the doors. So I doubled up on the sound proofing insulation in the doors. It works, and the doors produce a very satisfying "thunk" sound when I close them.]
Just my $0.02 worth.
Whatever you decide do, good luck. After reading the above (and many other Forum posts) I did my own install. Like you, I marshalled all of my parts ahead of time, making the actual install very efficient. Best three days I ever spent: the resulting sound quality is excellent and I know a whole lot more about my C5.
When installing the new H/U I used the brackets that I took off of the old head unit. Just drilled new holes for screws and re-positioned them. When installing the new head unit I used 2-sided tape to get the spacing just right (both top-to-bottom and also in-out). The new H/U fits like a charm, doesn't move at all and is cushioned from any road bumps, etc.
The Lizzard
I am awaiting my Vettenuts bezel but wondering how to determine how deep to mount the head unit. I know I can slide it in loose, trial fit the bezel until it fits, then try to remove the bezel without disturbing the head unit. But if there is a better way I would like to hear about it. I have had C5 bezels off many times over the years but never had to determine just how deep to place the HU in the framework.
Jim
02-15-2018, 03:35 PM
.. these cars can be an extension of our own individual personalities 
