Self powered subs?

[Skrapbob]

I have a Infinity Basslink sub in my hatch. I got a great deal on it through Crutchfield. $180 shipped with amp wiring kit included (on sale). I would buy an under seat unit next time though. It's impossible to haul my golf clubs in the hatch without folding the rear seat.
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I went with 4 inch all around. Be careful of tweeters that extend beyond the mounting surface very far. I mounted Infinity Reference ($40)in the dash (must be mounted from the rear to clear grill over the tweeter). Boston Acoustics ($40) in the rear with slim spacers to clear the tweeters. The Boston's have slimmer tweeters than the Infinity's do. Bass blockers all around. Soldering the factory plugs to the new speakers makes a clean install.
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A cheap pair of Clarion tweeters in the doors really brings the music to life up front. ($30)These Make a huge difference up front. They were component speakers, I just didn't use the speakers that came with them.
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Topped off with a Ebay refurbed Pioneer deck with HD radio, USB and AUX inputs. ($70 shipped) No mounting kit used
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Everything was bought used on Ebay minus the sub. Under $400 spent including the adapter plugs for the radio. It's stealthy and sounds great. P

[Skrapbob]

The ashtray seems to be a popular place to mount the remote. Huh DriverOne?

[jjk1224]

I went with some kenwood 3 way speakers at bestbuy for 30$ a pair, they fit perfectly inside the grills without having to mound them in the back. They sound good, but there is hardly any low as to be expected. Im thinking I am probably going to go with the kicker sub, its very reasonably priced in store and from what I have read they seem to be perfect for what I want. For those of you with subs, has anyone ran the power cable through the A/C grommets? it seems like they would be prefect if I could find a way to route the wire from there to the battery.

[crazyrog17]

That's exactly how I ran mine. I've got a 8" sub in a truck box in the hatch, easily the best investment I've made to the car.

Ran the positive cable along the pinch seam on the firewall and down to the AC plug. Along the center console and under the passengers seat to the back.

[NovaSS]

no one should spend over $75 on a stereo system in a festiva.

[Charlie1717]

no one should spend over $75 on a stereo system in a festiva.

woops. ha

I disagree. Listening to music in my car is one of my favorite things to do so I do have a decent stereo/speaker/sub. Not outrageous but much more than $75. Although I do lock my doors and have tinted glass, which helps theft prevention.

[crazyrog17]

A $12 junkyard head unit that was like new with pre outs and harness connector, a free 500W amplifier, $10 amp wiring kit and an $80 sub in a box. Didn't break the bank.

[Skrapbob]

no one should spend over $75 on a stereo system in a festiva.

I doubled the value of my car :-)

[DriverOne]

I'm not afraid of spending several hundred dollars on the system in any of my cars. The singular exception has been my '02 Saturn SL1. It has a decent system in it for stock, and since it rattles when you drive it, there is no subwoofer. The key is to make it look stock, so at a quick glance (if they even look at the car) nothing looks aftermarket.

[bhazard]

My car is way too noisy to have any sort of enjoyable sound system. I even mounted 5x7's in my cargo cover, didnt really do much since they arent enclosed in any way. 5.25's in the doors are way better than 4's in the dash though.

[jjk1224]

I got a SUPER deal today on that Kicker sub today at bestbuy. They had one left in stock, open box and the sticker read $179. I knew that they had it advertised on their website for $129 so I told the sales associate and she hooked me up with 110$ out the door (MSRP $250). On top of that, I got $40 back from the wire and dash kit that I didnt end up using so I basically left spending only $80. I am extremely happy with the quality of the unit, it provided me with exactly what I was looking for and more bass than I will ever need. The only gripe I have is the box didnt mention that I needed to buy an adapter for the headunit, a $13 wire that simply splices the speaker wires into RCA ends...

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_17680_Kicker-ZISL-09ZISL.html

I dont know why they couldnt have just included it in the package considering it comes with the rest of the wires needed. Bestbuy doesnt even stock the part so I just ended up making one myself from old VCR cables, at least it was free.

PICS!!!!!

[DriverOne]

Self powered subs?

That IS an awesome deal! Your setup looks great! Maybe you could make a rear deck using grille cloth stretched over an MDF frame to hide the sub but not the sound! I'll send you a template to use if you like. Just send me a PM. By the way, how are you powering the sub?

[jjk1224]

Well, the amp on this unit is not wired like a traditional amp. Instead it comes with its own little harness with the power wire, ground, and signal wires. At first I was skeptical because the power wire is very small but I guess the unit is only 100w and t works perfectly fine without heating up. For the same reason, I decided to run all of the wires down one side instead of splitting the power from the signal wires. There isnt much current so I figured interference would be minimum. It also would have been difficult with the way the harness is to split the wires up. You can kinda see some of the wires in the last pic (sorry about the quality it was my phone and it was dark out).

[DriverOne]

That's cool. At 100w, you won't even draw a bunch from the alternator. By the way, I'm a Detroit-area native myself. I lived in Ferndale off of 9-mile & Beaufield. 1709 I believe.

[jjk1224]

Ahh I know that area a little, I currently live in Shelby Township around 21mile and Van Dyke. Sent you a PM.