Tunez Upgrade....

[ZsSSR]

At first I was just going to add tweeters and subwoofers to the factory (Bose) head unit. From the beginning I felt the Bose lacked a bit on the high end. And of course I always like a clean bass response. At a minimum the factory system needs something on the high end and Dynamat in the doors to supplement the subs mounted there and reduce the rattles..

My main concern with replacing the Bose head unit was maintaining the use of the steering wheel controls, keeping the door open-radio (RAP) off feature, and finally the data bus interface for door/warning chimes. I finally got happy with using the aftermarket solutions to this and replaced the entire system.

This install was done by Soundwerks (www.soundwerks.com) in Scottsdale and I think they did a very good job. This is the 4th shop I have had install sound equipment in a vehicle and so far the only one I would recommend to someone else. Usually I have had to go through and re-route wiring or re-do connections that are of poor quality...NOT in this case.

Main Component Details:
Head Unit: Alpine IVA-W200 Multi-Media Controller
Sound Processor: Alpine PXA-H701
CD Changer: Alpine CHA-5604 (Older Unit I had from Previous Vehicle)
Satellite Radio Tuner: SIR-ALP1
Pillar Tweeters: JL Audio VR075-CT
Door Speakers: JL Audio XR650-CSI
SubWoofers: JL Audio 8W0-8
Amplifier: JL Audio 500/5 (5 Channel Amp)
Door Chime/Class 2 Bus Interface/RAP: Peripheral GMCO
Steering Wheel Control Interface: Peripheral PESWIX
Alpine Video Control: Peripheral PTR7 (So I don't have to Stop and put on parking brake to view Video and Adjust Equalizer)

The subs were mounted behind the seats (1 on each side) in custom built fiberglass enclosures. There was no real loss of seat space as the limiting factor for my comfort level has always been the factory bumper where the windscreen is mounted. That is still the case with the subs installed. The Tire Kit was moved to the trunk.

The Amplifier was mounted on the front wall of the trunk/bed area.

The Sirius Tuner and Alpine Sound Processor were mounted in the Dash and out of site. The Sirius antenna was painted to match the truck and mounted just above the rear view mirror.

Dynamat was used in the doors and I can say even without the stereo system on it made an improvement...less road noize getting through.

The system sounds really good and accomplished just what I wanted...something that sounds really clean accross the entire sound spectrum.

I have attached photos... Sorry no in-process photos since I didn't do the install...
I am also limited by my OLD camera... I doesn't do well with black...

Photos are:
1. Amplifier
2. CD Changer in the Center Console
3. View of the Dash with IVA-W200
4. Second View of the Dash
5. Sirius Satellite Radio Antenna

I have a few more photos and will post those below...

This install is similar in many ways to LarryAnchor's install as he described in the following posts.
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?

/

[ZsSSR]

A few more pix of the Tunez upgrade....

Oh, and I didn't mention in the first post that the small stock speakers behind the seats were connected to the amplifier rear-fill channels and they actually put out a little sound now. With the stock system they seemed totally useless..at least at any level you could hear.

Photos are:

1. Driver's Side Sub-Woofer
2. Passenger Side Sub-Woofer
3. Passenger Side Tweeter
4. Driver's Side Tweeter
5. Another view of the Driver's Side Sub-Woofer.

[Larryanchor]

Looks Great nice install

I think I am going to move my amps in the back cargo area like yours and add the second sub.

Enjoy the sound

Larry

[Silver Wolf]

When they installed the subwoofer housing did they have to cut into the back wall or did they just built the houseing against the back wall? If they did not cut it than I will have to see if someone here in Vegas that will do mine the same.

[Larryanchor]

Originally Posted by Silver Wolf

When they installed the subwoofer housing did they have to cut into the back wall or did they just built the houseing against the back wall? If they did not cut it than I will have to see if someone here in Vegas that will do mine the same.

I did not want to cut thru the wall and still use a 10" sub, my enclosure is angled with the seat and still leaves plenty of leg room.

http://www.ssrfanatic.com/forum/show...8&postcount=11


ZsSSr did you cut through the wall or did the 8" subs fit ? I like the streamlined look of your sub boxes.

[ZsSSR]

Larryanchor: Thanks for the comments! I probably should have said I was inspired by your install as that is where I got some of the ideas...THANKS.

Silver Wolf: They did not cut through the wall (more on this below). They fabricated fiberglass enclosures to fit the area where they are installed.

On the drivers side there was plenty of room because of the area for the Tire Repair Kit.

On the passengers side it was a little tighter fit because there was quite a bit of padding behind the carpet. Going in I told the shop they could remove any and all padding behind the passenger side carpeting in order to free up more room. It appears they did remove some but I couldn't tell you how much. Also, I am not sure they didn't cut the carpet to make it fit right. If they did you can't tell at all. In any case the install looks stock other than the added sub-woofer enclosures. There is a little less space on the passenger side because of the difference...but since I don't ride there...!

The enclosures are secured to the back wall. No screws or bolts of any kind that hold the enclosures are visible as the enclosures were mounted in place and then the subs installed in the enclosure.

In other threads I have seen questions and discussion about cutting the back wall, and it was not recommended... primarily because of the stiffeners included there, indicating it there may be some structural integrity problems if a hole is cut. I definitely would not cut the wall as that is a little extreme for my taste. There was one install where 10" subs were installed in place of the small factory speakers. I couldn't tell exactly how it was done without enlarging the existing holes.

I didn't realize Larry's sub was a 10. I originally considered Earthquake 10's since the Earthquake website indicates they have an extremely narrow sub that will fit in a small enclosure. Don (installer) convinced me I was better to go with the 8 and they could build a sub-enclosure that met actual volume specs. (He also preferred JL Audio) This is more a purist view I guess... and with the right volume you actually get better frequency response..even if it is a smaller sub. Indeed it sounds as good as some 10's I had installed in another car.



-Z

[WOW_FCTR]

I had the 10" subs installed where the factory tweeter/mids were behind the seats. They were free air subs and I didn't have the holes expanded....and they sound good. The amp was placed behind the passenger seat, but if I was to do it again, I'd have it placed in the top compartment.

[OC]

For those of you that want to keep the factory system and have problems finding 2 ohm speakers to replace the rear:The following attachment shows you how to obtain the 2 ohm using (2) 4 ohm speakers. I plan on doing this to the rear to increase the staging . Due to the SSR set up I am not sure this will work, but this will put 4 speakers in the rear area. I have in the past had many High dollar systems that would score high in sound quality. I have improved high end factory systems by a simple replacement of high quality speakers that match the ohms. and using crossovers. If any of you have tried this give me feed back. I find the system that is in my 2005 to have a good sound for factory, other than the rattles of the interior and lack of rear sound.

[ZsSSR]

In my system I kept the OEM rear speakers and they just hooked them up to the rear channel outputs of the JL Audio Amp. The JL Audio Amp can be used for any speaker impedance between 1.5 and 4 Ohms [front/subwoofer Channels] and 2 Ohms [rear Channels] Owners Manual : http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/7208.pdf.

Hooking the OEM SSR rear speakers to the new amp made a big difference. There is actually audible sound from them now. The overall system staging was significantly improved when coupled with the tweeters I had installed in the front pillars. With the Alpine Audio processor I can now use the surround sound function and it is effective.

All of that said, replacing the OEM rear speakers is still a good idea and I may do it later on as well.

-Z

[ZsSSR]

Originally Posted by Silver Wolf

When they installed the subwoofer housing did they have to cut into the back wall or did they just built the houseing against the back wall? If they did not cut it than I will have to see if someone here in Vegas that will do mine the same.

I have a better answer to this question now since I had to remove the passenger side speaker box when installing the lighted Windsuppressr:

The installing shop cut a square area out of the carpet behind the passenger seat in order to remove a bunch of excess padding and allow more space for the speaker box. The back of the speaker box can now but up to the rear wall. The speaker box is fastened to the rear wall using two screws. It is very solid. All of this was exactly as I expected as it seemed to me there was quite a bit of padding under/behind the passenger side seat and between the rear wall.

-Z

[OC]

Called Bose and they seem to think that the rear speakers are 4 ohm. The front are 1.5 ohm. The amp is a separate amp , not on the speakers. Done allot of stereo work in my 52 years and have never worked with a speaker of 1.5 ohm. If the rear is a 4 ohm and the amp is 2 ohm, that stands to reason that the rear is not getting the full power load making it not as loud. By changing the amp like you have done could be why you can hear the rear better. I don't want to go thru all the fun of changing the system out and spending the $$$. Don't get to drive the SSR enough to enjoy a great aftermarket sound, but would like a little rear. True stagging to me is to be able to shut your eyes and have the feeling that the band is on stage in front of you. Bass coming from the rear and all your other in front with some roll over to the rear to create that good true sound. I am lost on this issue of the Bose set up. I would like to keep the factory stuff for latter down the road. I never seem to hang on to the factory stuff after I un-install it. You know how it is. Aftermarket is large bucks spent that you will never get your money back from when you decide to change out. Goes back to HOW DEEP ARE YOUR POCKETS!!!

[ZsSSR]

One of the reason I had the front speakers removed is because the large ones are just a subwoofer. The amp could have driven them but not with the frequency response I wanted.

Re-reading the JL audio spec, I mis-interpreted the values for the rear channels as 25 x 2 Ohms instead of 25 X 2 channels as I should have. The actual numbers from the spec page (page 28): 25W (RMS) into 2 loads @3-4 Ohms or 50W (RMS) into one 6-8 Ohm load.

I don't know what the power delivery capability of the Bose amp is, but I suspect whatever the capability of the Bose amp used to drive the rear speakers, it is not enough. And in my case the new amp provides more power and subsequently more sound.

The staging you talk about when closing your eyes is definitely there now...and in my case the biggest contributer to making it happen was the tweeters that seemed to help move the 'band' more to the front. The highs and mid-range in the door just didn't seem to do it.

[OC]

Thats what I am talking about. True sound in an auto is just what you have described. By far I am not an expert on this, but I have been where we are taking about. Could not count the $ I have spent to achieve that sound at home and in the autos, not to mention women, alcohol, race cars, race boats and horses and I'm leaving out more. Wouldn't be working now if I had all that $ back. Fun don't come cheap and will not pay the bills.

[OC]

Spent the biggest part of the day on the upgrade of the rear speakers. You sure don't have much area to work with for changes. It also was like working in a confined space. I have yet to work on any thing inside the SSR that I had room to
even breath. Added a 5.25 Polk audio mid with out the tweet. in the place of that great rear Bose. No mod. was needed, just put slits in the factory carpet hole. Then added 4X6 Memphis audio in the slot where the amp is. Wired speakers parallel. I then cut the carpet in the area where I placed the 4x6 and used the factory speaker cover. The factory cover is a bit smaller than a 4x6 but still lets the sound out.The 4x6 was a 2 way speaker with mid and a swivel tweet. Buttoned up the job and now have sound form the rear. Next will be the tweets on the front w/s pillar. Working on these SSR's sure makes a man thirsty.

[SSR03]

Originally Posted by ZsSSR

At first I was just going to add tweeters and subwoofers to the factory (Bose) head unit. From the beginning I felt the Bose lacked a bit on the high end. And of course I always like a clean bass response. At a minimum the factory system needs something on the high end and Dynamat in the doors to supplement the subs mounted there and reduce the rattles..

My main concern with replacing the Bose head unit was maintaining the use of the steering wheel controls, keeping the door open-radio (RAP) off feature, and finally the data bus interface for door/warning chimes. I finally got happy with using the aftermarket solutions to this and replaced the entire system.

This install was done by Soundwerks (www.soundwerks.com) in Scottsdale and I think they did a very good job. This is the 4th shop I have had install sound equipment in a vehicle and so far the only one I would recommend to someone else. Usually I have had to go through and re-route wiring or re-do connections that are of poor quality...NOT in this case.

Main Component Details:
Head Unit: Alpine IVA-W200 Multi-Media Controller
Sound Processor: Alpine PXA-H701
CD Changer: Alpine CHA-5604 (Older Unit I had from Previous Vehicle)
Satellite Radio Tuner: SIR-ALP1
Pillar Tweeters: JL Audio VR075-CT
Door Speakers: JL Audio XR650-CSI
SubWoofers: JL Audio 8W0-8
Amplifier: JL Audio 500/5 (5 Channel Amp)
Door Chime/Class 2 Bus Interface/RAP: Peripheral GMCO
Steering Wheel Control Interface: Peripheral PESWIX
Alpine Video Control: Peripheral PTR7 (So I don't have to Stop and put on parking brake to view Video and Adjust Equalizer)

The subs were mounted behind the seats (1 on each side) in custom built fiberglass enclosures. There was no real loss of seat space as the limiting factor for my comfort level has always been the factory bumper where the windscreen is mounted. That is still the case with the subs installed. The Tire Kit was moved to the trunk.

The Amplifier was mounted on the front wall of the trunk/bed area.

The Sirius Tuner and Alpine Sound Processor were mounted in the Dash and out of site. The Sirius antenna was painted to match the truck and mounted just above the rear view mirror.

Dynamat was used in the doors and I can say even without the stereo system on it made an improvement...less road noize getting through.

The system sounds really good and accomplished just what I wanted...something that sounds really clean accross the entire sound spectrum.

I have attached photos... Sorry no in-process photos since I didn't do the install...
I am also limited by my OLD camera... I doesn't do well with black...

Photos are:
1. Amplifier
2. CD Changer in the Center Console
3. View of the Dash with IVA-W200
4. Second View of the Dash
5. Sirius Satellite Radio Antenna

I have a few more photos and will post those below...

This install is similar in many ways to LarryAnchor's install as he described in the following posts.
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?
Non-ugly mounting of GPS?

/

http://www.ssrfanatic.com/forum/atta...5&d=1137716708

[Hoppypar]

When you did your install, did you have any trouble with basic AM/FM reception? I know you probably utilize Sat Radio but I'm trying to solve a problem with the same Alpine Head unit, but disappointed in radio reception. I know the SSR's have had antenna issues, but there has got to be a way to sove it. Can you help?

[ZsSSR]

I have now added navigation to the system described in post #1.

I went with the Alpine Blackbird (Click Here) I thought it was the best choice for my application because with the Docking Unit I could put it under the passenger side seat. It is also the most reasonable price wise of the navigation units from Alpine. All controls and display are through the head unit in the Dash.

Features that I like:
-- Standard MMC/SD Memory Cards (Up to 4 GigBytes each) can be added with numerous MP3/WMA files for an endless music library. Files are up loaded via USB (or any standard SD card loader). It will play music back while navigating with voice prompts integrated into the system via the head unit.
-- The Blackbird includes a built in battery that is maintained while docked. Also allows the unit to be completely removed and used standalone.
-- Windshield mounting/docking station was included. I can remove the unit and move it to any other vehicle and use it.


I am very happy with this GPS receiver. The docking station antenna was mounted under the dash up front. No problem with reception (I've seen it track 10 satellites in the Garage w/door closed). I don't know what the sensitivity (dbm) is as the spec doesn't list it, but it is very good.

Some pictures:
1. Audio display from Blackbird.
2. GPS Satellite display from Blackbird. (Sorry its blurred)
3. Unit in Docking Station under Seat. (Plastic protective cover removed)
4. Blackbird in portable docking station.
5. Blackbird.

[ZsSSR]

Originally Posted by Hoppypar

When you did your install, did you have any trouble with basic AM/FM reception? I know you probably utilize Sat Radio but I'm trying to solve a problem with the same Alpine Head unit, but disappointed in radio reception. I know the SSR's have had antenna issues, but there has got to be a way to sove it. Can you help?

I answered this for Hoppypar in a PM some time ago. Here is what I sent:

The FM radio reception has been acceptable but not ideal. (Some fading) In other words it is not so bad that I want to do anything about it. It does seem a bit weaker and will fade a little more than in my other vehicles in the same area.

Comparing to a Alpine 9814 in my other truck: Scale of 1 to 10 I would put the 9814 at an 8, the W200 at a 6 in terms of actual reception vs expected. Stock in the other truck (Ford F-250) would be a 10. Stock in the SSR would have been 8 on this reception scale.

My opinion without troubleshooting is that improvement could be made by installing some other antenna instead of using the one built into the windshield of the SSR. I say this because with the factory Bose unit the reception even seemed a bit weaker than I would have expected.

I have seen many corvettes with a small dipole style antenna located inside the window right against the pillar. That is what I have thought about using if the problem were to be something I couldn't live with. I have seen these work pretty well.

Now having said all of that I have a comment about Alpine FM performance in general: This is the 4th Alpine head unit I have had in different vehicles. Without exception in the other vehicles (different head units too) , the Alpine has not had as good of FM reception as the stock units. So I guess I have come to expect lesser performance in this area from them. Maybe it is antenna mismatch in every case..I don't know. Each of the others were stock external antennas.

Most of my use has been cassette, CD or Satellite radio on these units and the FM/AM Ok. Overall I enjoy them or wouldn't keep on buying them.