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New stereo system installed!

10K views 41 replies 21 participants last post by  scooby9 
#1 ·
Special thanks to HiFiWRX (Jeff) for all his hard work, dedication, patience, knowledge, and of course time. This was pretty much all his idea and design. He did an AWESOME job with it and he should get ALL the props for it!

Alpine CDA-7878 headunit with an OEM Subaru Legacy DIN pocket with door:



Xtant 2200ix amp and Diamond Audio 10-inch "Mack Daddy" sub:



Everything all lit up in the cabin:



More pics here: http://www.pbase.com/verdugo/interior_061803
 
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#27 · (Edited)
First off, here are the rest of the pics as promised :D

http://www.pbase.com/hifiwrx/installs

Now to answer your question, Verdugo's setup is built and tuned for a very balanced sound NOT SPL... If you really are shooting for the loudest setup, using these speakers is kind of a waste of a great piece of equiptment! You can get alot louder with other speakers but you WILL lose sound quality. To tell you then truth, SPL to me is a waste of time and money... it gets old QUICK... I speak from experience.

Now, if you are set on doing an "SPL system" and still want to use the Diamond subs, you need to run more like 800-1000 watts EACH to see their true SPL potential. ;) they are high power speakers! With the way I set this system up it is more for a good bass response but still very much a "sound quality" setup.. :D

For reference the MD10 (like Verdugo has here) is the 2002 Diamond Audio "flag ship" woofer. The TDX is their 2003 "flag ship" woofer and is improved slightly with a different magnet design and configuration.

The M6 series is a step up from last years M5 but falls just short of being the same level as the MD10 shown here.. If I were to go with a new Diamond Sub it would probabaly be the M6 due to easy mounting, a lower price tag, and an overall great performing sub woofer!

If you rank the DA subs this would be how they add up...
  • 1. 2003 TDX (better than the MD but NOT MUCH)
    2. 2002 MacDaddy "MD" Hex series
    3. 2003 M6 Motorsport series (Almost as good as the MD... ALMOST ;) )
    4. 2002 M5 Motorsport series (great speaker, aluminum cone comes smooth or ribbed only difference is appearance.)

Hope this helps!
 
#30 ·
Speedstars said:
Can you please tell me what is the part number for the DIN pocket with the door? Did you have to modify anthing to get the pocket to fit? Thanks.
Here's the part number:

66120AE050

Jeff installed it with no modifications, provided you keep your stock bracket. It just screwed right in! :)
 
#31 ·
Verdugo said:
Here's the part number:

66120AE050

Jeff installed it with no modifications, provided you keep your stock bracket. It just screwed right in! :)
This had to be one of the easiest deck installs EVER! :D I swear it only took me probably 15 min to do the deck and the pocket.

The pocket Armin got mounts directly in with NO modification, it is a perfect fit. I would suggest to make it as easy as it was for me , get the "aftermarket deck to Stock plug" harness.. ;) wire that to the deck and then just plug it in! VERY simple.

Hope this helps :D
 
#32 ·
HiFiWRX said:
This had to be one of the easiest deck installs EVER! :D I swear it only took me probably 15 min to do the deck and the pocket.

The pocket Armin got mounts directly in with NO modification, it is a perfect fit. I would suggest to make it as easy as it was for me , get the "aftermarket deck to Stock plug" harness.. ;) wire that to the deck and then just plug it in! VERY simple.

Hope this helps :D
ditti HFW on this.

my circa 1996 sony head started to act flaky. the SOURCE button stopped working correctly. so in the parking lot of McD's i took out the cup holder (2 screws) and then pried out the radio and HVAC front face. took out 6 screws and out pop the head unit and the pocket.

i then connected the wired remote and everything was fine and dandy.

now, the downside... thieves know this as well.

do yourself a favor and find some weird head screws that uses the same pitch as the phillips head screws. that ways, thieves may give up when they see allen head plus a couple more wacky ones... [insert evil smiley]

now, for those decks that has it's own harness that plugs into the back of it, check with CIRCUIT CITY.

they MAY have a harness that goes from the back of the deck, to their harness which then plugs to the car side harness. no more butt connectors.

really slick. downside is that it costs another $16, in addition to the harness for the car. but man, i like that so much...
 
#34 ·
GTiOne said:
Looks really sweet!.

How much do those din cover run ?
About $20-25 if I remember correctly.
 
#36 ·
Thanks for the info on the subs. I am not wanting an "SPL System", I just like for my bass to hit clean and hard. I am just afraid of being disappointed because I am used to a couple of JL 12s running with 1000 watts. Those were not SPL monsters, but could cleanly hit over 140 dB in a sealed box. I just do not want to give up my whole trunk, what little of it there is to the subs. So I am trying to find a good solution that will hit clean and hard and also be compact. I know, perfection in a sub system, the impossible system, small and hard hitting.

Thanks again.

-the_bear
 
#38 ·
hrb93 said:
Verdugo, are the dash dials stock or did you modify the bulbs or a kit.

Looks great.
Those are indiglo gauges I got from Procarparts.com...look ok, but they're a pain to install, and I won't ever get them for any other car I'll have in the future.
 
#40 ·
Sorry, I know this is a super old thread but do you have pictures of the dash with the door flap closed? I am thinking of doing the same thing as you: Alpine head unit, Subaru carbon fiber trim, and the Legacy pocket. I'd like to see how the Legacy pocket looks against the CF trim.

Thanks!
 
#41 ·
scooby9 said:
Sorry, I know this is a super old thread but do you have pictures of the dash with the door flap closed? I am thinking of doing the same thing as you: Alpine head unit, Subaru carbon fiber trim, and the Legacy pocket. I'd like to see how the Legacy pocket looks against the CF trim.

Thanks!
Yep, if you click the link where it says "more pics here" on the first original post, you'll see a couple pics.
 
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