[mentalcase]

Well amazon quickly shipped out my parts and when I got home around 9pm I couldn't contain my self. I soldered up my harness and went to install my radio which I missed so much. I used the Pac C2R-FRD1 and it worked out great. Didn't need one of the harness connectors, so I cut it out to reduce some of the mess.

It took me a while to uninstall the stock radio. I didn't think Ford would have tied down the radio to prevent it from being stolen. What a mess that was. I still have to install the rearview cam and the sirius adapter should be installed tomorrow. Heres some pics:

 

[defran07]

Wow! Lookin good. :thumb:

 

[Jeff M]

Which Kenwood is that, and how much was it?

 

[mentalcase]

Its the DNX-8120. I bought it October 2008 for 1100 with the sirius and ipod adapter. Gps and bluetooth are built in. It's a sick unit. Now I am contemplating on if I should do a whole system or not.

 

[fourthmeal]

Its the DNX-8120. I bought it October 2008 for 1100 with the sirius and ipod adapter. Gps and bluetooth are built in. It's a sick unit. Now I am contemplating on if I should do a whole system or not.

<cracks knuckles>

Ready to help if you want to go that route my man.

 

[US MARINER 1]

Nice, It looks great

 

[rehctelf]

Nice clean install. Looks like it was meant to be there.
Trade you for a slightly used Mach300 deck! :lol: :thumb:

 

[sinister mob]

Very cool. Gives me a nice perspective of what mine will look like. Was yours the base HU or the premium? You mentioned one harness was not needed. Just wondering which one. Also are your RAP features still intact? I can't wait for my stuff to come in....

 

[mentalcase]

So I just came back inside from installing my sirius. The good news is I was able to use the antenna from the sirius by just taking off the plastic housing around the connector. The bad news of the day is my unit is broken. I was driving around today and I started hearing weird noises from the left side of my car. I though that i may have blew the speakers already, but once my unit was back in the ipod stopped sending sound to the head unit. I plugged in a straight aux cable into the iphone input and it still didn't work. Looks like the unit is shot. Luckily any kenwood excelon product is covered by a 2 year warranty and I have six months left. Just have to drive it about an hour away (20 minutes from my office) to get serviced. Maybe they will not be able to fix it and will replace it with a 9140. Maybe im just dreaming.

Sinister: Yea the RAP still works and I had the base sound system since I will likely end up doing my own system. I dont know what head unit you went with or if your still deciding, but I love my kenwood. I will never use pioneer again after what happened with my last unit.

Fouthmeal: I have left over amps from my old car (infinity 475a and kicker kx400.1) which ill probably install once it gets warmer. In the $300 dollar range whats the best bargain when replacing my door speakers. I would like to go component up front to improve staging but for real fill any decent 5x7s will do.

 

[fourthmeal]

So I just came back inside from installing my sirius. The good news is I was able to use the antenna from the sirius by just taking off the plastic housing around the connector. The bad news of the day is my unit is broken. I was driving around today and I started hearing weird noises from the left side of my car. I though that i may have blew the speakers already, but once my unit was back in the ipod stopped sending sound to the head unit. I plugged in a straight aux cable into the iphone input and it still didn't work. Looks like the unit is shot. Luckily any kenwood excelon product is covered by a 2 year warranty and I have six months left. Just have to drive it about an hour away (20 minutes from my office) to get serviced. Maybe they will not be able to fix it and will replace it with a 9140. Maybe im just dreaming.

Sinister: Yea the RAP still works and I had the base sound system since I will likely end up doing my own system. I dont know what head unit you went with or if your still deciding, but I love my kenwood. I will never use pioneer again after what happened with my last unit.

Fouthmeal: I have left over amps from my old car (infinity 475a and kicker kx400.1) which ill probably install once it gets warmer. In the $300 dollar range whats the best bargain when replacing my door speakers. I would like to go component up front to improve staging but for real fill any decent 5x7s will do.

I'd spend 100-150 in sounddeadenershowdown deadener/mlv/CCF and first see how you like the sound stock.

Next, take a peek at the newly released HAT Imagine components, the Polk MM's, Pioneer TS-C720PRS components (not the TS-D), Image Dynamics CTX, etc. Lots and lots of great components, and if you can run active the sky's the limit for individual speakers.

 

[oskerb]

Hey MENTALCASE I was noticing that your digital cluster reads DVD.?.? Any reason why?

 

[mentalcase]

Yea it reads DVD. Not really sure why, but im sure it has to do with the PAC interface.

Fourthmeal: Do I really need to do the sound deadening? I don't think i have the skill and patience to do all the parts of the car. I looked at the polk Mm6501 and they can be had for $160 online. Seems like a great deal for that set.

 

[sinister mob]

I will throw in my vote for deadening/soundproofing. It made a HUGE difference in mine. I didn't realize that all the deadening would work so well. Obviously it keeps road noise out and good sound in, but the other day I pull into the driveway with the radio fairly loud with a bassy song and get out to check the mail. I stopped and listened. I heard nearly NOTHING standing outside of the vehicle. There were no rattles and barely any sound could be heard. That is tremendous as others can't hear it either when I am driving. Also good to keep thieves from listening and taking notes...

 

[fourthmeal]

Yea it reads DVD. Not really sure why, but im sure it has to do with the PAC interface.

Fourthmeal: Do I really need to do the sound deadening? I don't think i have the skill and patience to do all the parts of the car. I looked at the polk Mm6501 and they can be had for $160 online. Seems like a great deal for that set.

Deadening is easy, just time consuming. Not about skill but all about time. Also it sets the stage for better sound no matter what you use. Sealing that car door up makes ALL the difference as well.

The Polks are good, the HAT Imagines are better and with all things we're just scratching the surface of the myriad of great quality options out there at all price points.

 

[mentalcase]

I used to be crazy into car audio, but my needs have changed drastically since getting engaged. Can't be spending a ton of money on this stuff anymore, but I want to get something that is good atleast. Seems like the polks may fit for my application.

Can i get away with just deadening the doors? I think i could do that.

 

[fourthmeal]

I used to be crazy into car audio, but my needs have changed drastically since getting engaged. Can't be spending a ton of money on this stuff anymore, but I want to get something that is good atleast. Seems like the polks may fit for my application.

Can i get away with just deadening the doors? I think i could do that.

Yeah, just deaden the doors until you get back in the trunk area to do some bass upgrades. You'll be fine. polks are great speakers. Stick with 5x7 to keep things simple, probably stick with coaxials so pathlength differences don't occur. If you have time delay and processing abilities (active control), component sets would make more sense.

 

[mentalcase]

Alright once it warms up here im going to give the deadening a try. I'm going to go with a set of components though because my leg blocks the speaker on the drivers side and it bothers me to all hell.

Thanks for the advice. Now I have plenty of time to look at stealth sub options.

 

[mentalcase]

Need some ideas for deadening. Planning on doing the doors first. What, where, and how much should apply??

 

[sinister mob]

Need some ideas for deadening. Planning on doing the doors first. What, where, and how much should apply??

This is a start: http://www.escape-city.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4734&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=sound

Also: http://www.bcae1.com and http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com

Don is amazing and great to work with. You can do just doors and do more later. I did the whole shebang.

 

[fourthmeal]

Replied to PM on info.

Don's great, and I'm giving Rick at RAAMaudio a shot with his new BXTII product. I used the old BXT back years ago, but it was too messy to work with (asphalt.) I think possibly one of the best solutions to deadening is to use Don's tiles for panel resonance control, and use a more flexible, less massive and less expensive mat to fill holes in here and there. Big holes should be covered via some sheet metal, fiberglass, what-have-you...covered with something like a more basic deadening mat as well. That's what the BXTII should do for me with my other car.

Obviously the standard rules of CCF and MLV product apply on top of that.

For CCF, this stuff http://www.closedcellfoams.com/neoprene.html seems to be a plausible solution. Neoprene has more weight per cubic foot of product and thus it should have more sound-killing properties according to the numbers. Cheap shipping too.

MLV is expensive to ship, so finding it locally is ideal.