Audio Install

RG.net · Postby **RG.net** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:09 pm

took longer then i expected (2 days) but me and my step brother managed to install the following into my mx-5

Alpine SPX 137a Speakers, Crossovers, Tweeters
JVC KD-G735 head unit
Sound deadining and foam in the doors
Oxygen Free Copper wires

first was the sound deadining which was fairly straight forward, then we prepared the wires for the speakers, tweeters and crossovers, which took some time, after that we made some brackets for the speakers to fit into the door.

we both thought that the crossovers would fit under the seats, but we didnt check that if we slide the seat, the crossover wont move. so what we ended up doing was mounting the passenger side crossover behind the glovebox on the little rail underneath it, fits like a glove :lol:

, and with the drivers side we mounted it near the steering colum. this way its fairly easy to ajust everything and keep the car looking stock this consumed the most time due to the brackets being made.

next was the tweeters, they went where the stockies were located, when they sat there, you could see some imperfections, (i.e holes) so what we did was we got some vinyl and covered the stock surrond of where the tweeters sit, this was probably the easiest job to do.

last was the headunit, which we thought would be straight forward, but due to the bodgyness of my old headunit, it proved a little difficult. we started at 11am on saturday, went till 1am, then started at 8am on sunday and finished at 8pm. in the end, i think it was worth it. compared to the jbl's i previously had in the mx these sound really crisp and clear at high levels.

next we will be installing a 5 channel amp and either a 10' or 12' sub to complete the audio side of things on my mx-5

some pictures below:

Tweeters:

Drivers side Crossover:

Passenger side Crossover:

Headunit:

any questions, feel free to ask

Adam

NMX516 · Postby **NMX516** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:32 pm

Cool

One big question! How did you get the speaker cable into the doors?? Through the standard rubber parts?? What guage are the speaker wires? This is the only thing causing me grief on mine at the moment.... I can't access the back of the passenger side rubber part inside the car.... It seems like a real bastard of a job to get the wires into the doors without drilling holes in metal. Any advice and/or pics of this would be greatly appreciated!

Also, where are you thinking you'll put the amp? Just in the boot?

cheers

Gerard

Juffa · Postby **Juffa** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:09 pm

NMX516 wrote:Cool

One big question! How did you get the speaker cable into the doors?? Through the standard rubber parts?? What guage are the speaker wires? This is the only thing causing me grief on mine at the moment.... I can't access the back of the passenger side rubber part inside the car.... It seems like a real bastard of a job to get the wires into the doors without drilling holes in metal. Any advice and/or pics of this would be greatly appreciated!

Also, where are you thinking you'll put the amp? Just in the boot?

cheers

Gerard

I have managed to feed the speaker wires through the original rubber tube running between the car body and the door on all of 3 of my MX-5s. And yes it is a PIA.

The body end of the rubber tube (and the door end) can be gently pulled free of the body. It is held in the hole by the edge rubber tube. I pulled the tube away from the body, leaving the door end attached.
I then pulled the speaker cover off, removing the speaker to gain access to the internals of the door (you may want to remove the door trim to gain more access). I then pushed a heavy duty electrical wire through the hole in the door into the rubber tube and then through the hole in the body which was uncovered when the rubber tube was removed. The hard bit is finding the end of that heavy wire once it has been pushed into the body. Removing the plastic trim in the footwell in the area near the body entry hole may assist, I used a good (and small) torch to spotlight the general area and just kept persisting until I was able to pull the heavy wire into the cockpit. I then attached the speaker wire to the heavy wire and pulled it through from the door into the body. From there it should be easy to hook up to the head-unit/AMP and speakers.

Notes: 1. Removing the door trim does provide more access to the door internals, but keeping the clear plastic waterproof lining out of the way is a PIA due to the thick black gunk used to keep it in place.
2. Start with the passenger door first as it is easier to get the wire through the hole into the cockpi and will give you some practise for the drivers side. The drivers side tends to be harder due to the fuse box and assorted relays getting in the way.
3. Don't forget to re-attach the rubber tube to the body (another PIA)

Hope this helps

J

jules · Postby **jules** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:15 pm

Hey CRoc,

How does the headunit sort through the music on the memory stick?

Jules

deez · Postby **deez** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:20 pm

jules wrote:Hey CRoc,

How does the headunit sort through the music on the memory stick?

Jules

I've recently installed a sim JVC headunit so I think I can tell you

It sorts by name, in alphabetical order. If you have songs in different folders then the folders are sorted alphabetically as well.

RG.net · Postby **RG.net** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:52 pm

NMX516 wrote:Cool

One big question! How did you get the speaker cable into the doors?? Through the standard rubber parts?? What guage are the speaker wires? This is the only thing causing me grief on mine at the moment.... I can't access the back of the passenger side rubber part inside the car.... It seems like a real bastard of a job to get the wires into the doors without drilling holes in metal. Any advice and/or pics of this would be greatly appreciated!

Also, where are you thinking you'll put the amp? Just in the boot?

cheers

Gerard

juffa answered it accordingly

but we found the drivers side was easier to work with, probably because anthony (step brother) had practice with the passengers side and has done a few mx-5's before, once you get those clips off you will notice there isnt much room to feed new wires into, so we made a little hole on the side to fit the wiring through, i wish i had some pictures to show but i didnt have my camera with me during the install :frown:

the amp will be mounted in the middle of the boot on some plywood (like SM's install) and the sub will be mounted behind the drivers seat and behind all the metal from the interior. sounds intresting but he says he has done it before

edit, not sure what guage the speaker wires we used are, but they are quite thick, about 4 times the thickness of the stockies

RG.net · Postby **RG.net** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:55 pm

deez wrote:
jules wrote:Hey CRoc,

How does the headunit sort through the music on the memory stick?

Jules

I've recently installed a sim JVC headunit so I think I can tell you It sorts by name, in alphabetical order. If you have songs in different folders then the folders are sorted alphabetically as well.

yeah thats how mine works as well, its a great think to have, i hate changing cds as it distracts me from driving, with the usb i just push next on the remote and presto, holds alot more songs then a cd too !

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:01 pm

Looking forward to seeing this sub install

Alex · Postby **Alex** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:06 pm

looks great
good to see you finally got around to doing it
I'm going to have a go at moving my speaker wires when I get the chance which probably won't be for a few weeks

can't wait to see the finished product and hear it

I'm thinking about installing some subs now as well as another amp to run them off just waiting till I have some free time as uni's a bitch right now

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:18 pm

Actually, I'm really keen to see/hear both your audio installs. It's only going to give me ideas, but I don't care

RG.net · Postby **RG.net** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:34 am

well somewhere in the near future maybe we could give you a preview, would be intresting to compare to SM's also

RG.net · Postby **RG.net** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:40 am

SM wrote:looks great
good to see you finally got around to doing it
I'm going to have a go at moving my speaker wires when I get the chance which probably won't be for a few weeks

can't wait to see the finished product and hear it

I'm thinking about installing some subs now as well as another amp to run them off just waiting till I have some free time as uni's a bitch right now

yeah i remember you couldnt get them inside the rubber, dazzled me too to see how easy my step bro took them off, but getting the wires (depending how fat they are) can be a challenge. sorta has a stealthy theme, i wanted to go for something like your install but at least i wont have problems saying its a "stock audio install" to the coppers :lol: