Help! Doing a mid spec ICE install, some questions!!!

[arbee]

Doing the headunit, (and 1/2din graphic eq) front speakers, sub and 4 ch amp

Amp will be going in the boot under a existing lift up panel . New speaker wires will be run to a passive crossover for the doors and dash, sub will be in a removable box in the boot.

The questions:

1) Where is the best location to get the power cable threough the bulkhead? Ideally i'd like it to be on the nearside (nr the battery) but i know the best location if often near the pedal box!

2) Any tips for getting new speaker wire into the door/dash? Can I use exisitng rubber grommets or will i need to drill my own? Will I need to remove any part of the dash or door cards?

Any how toos on the subject? I've been doing loads of searches but to no avail!

[rottertron]

Theres a nice grommet on my S70 above the drivers pedals that goes through ther bulkhead. Just need to snip one of the nipples off to allow the cable to pass through.
If you want to get some speaker cable going to the door and are not after super high quality audio, use the existing cable. Run the front speaker cable from the amp towards the head unit but dont connect them to the head unit. Then find the speaker cables that supply the front speakers on the cars loom and connect them up to the amp. This is an easy method of supplying the front speakers and can be done neatly too, although using the cars loom might not give you the best quality.

[t5 stealth]

hi
if your car is an 850 then there is a big grommet with provisions for extra wires on the nearside bulkhead,
right up in the corner above abs pump,

[fraz13]

Theres also a big gromit with nipples on it on the nearside (same as battery) on the S70, just under the Main Fuse box behind the ABS ECU

The door cards on the S70 need to be removed to get into the speakers (dont try and pry off the grill you'll only break it)

Afaik the connection on the door/A pillar can be removed and wired installed in it, Think its just like a big round multi plug but could be wrong

[arbee]

excellent cheers all, will have a look when its a bit lighter. These winter months are really cusing problems with the amount of bits I want to do to the car! The audio install should be a simple is job by the sounds of things, had a look at the route to the boot and the trim seems to unclip nice and easily. Will be good to have the amp out of the way under the floor too, anyone else done this? Now just got to decide if I'm gonna upgrade my headunit whilst I'm at it!

[t5 stealth]

iv done same thing,
i fitted kenwood dvd & the brain & amp for subwoofer are under the false floor,its easy,
all the trims are easy to remove,
all cables fit under rear seat back,no need to remove seats,
changed speakers aswell,
not cut or damaged car in anyway,
all looks like original,& can be put back to original in an hour,
sounds awsem as the volvo build quality helps contain the sound in the vehicle unlike cheaper crappy cars lol

[mulletboy2]

When I get around to running my power cable, it'll be under the car, protected in conduit. Much easier than messing around in the interior. There's almost always somewhere it can come up either in the boot, or under the rear seats.. I haven't checked the 850 yet, but I'd bet money on there being somewhere suitable.

Cheers

Mark

[arbee]

When I get around to running my power cable, it'll be under the car, protected in conduit. Much easier than messing around in the interior. There's almost always somewhere it can come up either in the boot, or under the rear seats.. I haven't checked the 850 yet, but I'd bet money on there being somewhere suitable.

Cheers

Mark

Cheers, been reading some of your posts on talkaudio as have been doing some searches over there on Volvo 850s! seen the big gaping hole you have in your boot floor!

To be honest I think it will be easier routing it in the car once through the bulk head. Seen some convenient grommets with the help of the above posts so reckon i'll use one of them. Just need to source some 5.25" components and I'll be away!

[mulletboy2]

Cheers, been reading some of your posts on talkaudio as have been doing some searches over there on Volvo 850s! seen the big gaping hole you have in your boot floor!
Hehe, yep, that was fun to do :D


To be honest I think it will be easier routing it in the car once through the bulk head.
It's usually easy enough, yeah... just that it usually has to pass lots of bare metal edges/screws/etc.. which should all be covered in order to ensure that you won't snag the cable (which is the point of the grommet in the firewall). In the past I've always gone this route, but having had the odd accident (bolting the front seatbelt anchor through a power cable for example), I've just decided that it's not worth the hassle this time. If you do end up with a short at any point in the future, you have to take your interior apart again in order to find it. Still, go with whatever you're most comfortable with.. neither method is exactly hard :)


Just need to source some 5.25" components and I'll be away!
I'd recommend trying to fit 6.5" components if possible.. ideally the fronts should play down as low as possible, and the sub should start off as low as possible, and go down in frequency from there. This is a lot easier to achieve with larger comps.

As an example, most people cross subs over at around 80Hz, and most 5.25" comps won't play that low with any authority, leaving you with a "hole" in the frequency response. Any decent 6.5" driver should do 80Hz with authority.

My sub will be crossed over at around 40Hz, as this is far more ideal than 80Hz (the optimum solution obviously being that you don't need a rear sub atall)... but I'll be running 8" comps up front, which makes this possible.

Cheers, and good luck :)

Mark

[arbee]

Cool, I wanted to keep the front stock looking (and dont think I've got the time, effort or skill to fabricate new door builds!) hence the 5.25s. May have a quick investigation tho just in case! I will be running the HPF at around 100hz so the fronts wont be working too hard to find the bass, I reckon to seal the mids anyway which will mean a very small volume so I doubt theyd play that low anyhow! Have you done any door builds yet on the 850? (or any pics of others?)

The eq I use has a variable crossover for the sub out and parametric eq band for the lowest slider, this gives quite a bit of adjustment to balance things out. Will be using a high quality old skool 4ch JBL amp which pumps out a genuine 75-100WRMS per channel. i've got a (very) old skool PG amp (copes with 0.5 ohm loads!) which may be put to use too - how bout 8"-ers under the seats or in rear footwells!

[mulletboy2]

I've moved bits of your post around to make it read a bit better for my reply...


Cool, I wanted to keep the front stock looking (and dont think I've got the time, effort or skill to fabricate new door builds!) hence the 5.25s. May have a quick investigation tho just in case!
Usually MDF speaker baffles can be made in order to fit 6.5's in where 5.25's originally went, but I haven't had the door cards off to check this possibility in the 850 yet.. however, see a bit further down my reply.. there's a better plan now ;)


Have you done any door builds yet on the 850? (or any pics of others?)
Not yet mate. I pick up my new speakers in Jan, so hopefully Feb will be when this part of the plan falls into place. I have pics of some 8's installed in the front of an 850 in the States... gorgeous job too... but it would cost £300-£500 to get a shop to do it over here.


I will be running the HPF at around 100hz so the fronts wont be working too hard to find the bass, I reckon to seal the mids anyway which will mean a very small volume so I doubt theyd play that low anyhow!

i've got a (very) old skool PG amp (copes with 0.5 ohm loads!) which may be put to use too - how bout 8"-ers under the seats or in rear footwells!
Aha... now here's a plan!

Stick with the 5.25's up front and keep it looking stock. High pass them at 150Hz. Put a single or a pair of stereo 8's in the rear footwells (under the seats is pretty much a no-go), run them from 150Hz down to 50Hz (or lower). Run the sub in the boot, from 50Hz and down. Bear in mind that these aren't exact figures, and you'll want to play around with them. You don't have to have 2 different size speakers meeting eachother on crossover points either, you might find that playing the 8's from 150Hz to 80Hz and the sub from 50Hz and down sounds better...all pretty technical as to why, but just thought I'd give you a heads up on that. There won't necessarily be a "hole" in the sound if you do it.

Doing the above will mean that your 5.25's aren't stretched, nor are your 8's or sub. The general principle is that theoretically, we shouldn't be able to determine the location of a speaker that's playing 150Hz and down.. it doesn't always work out like that, but with 8's in boxes just behind you in an 850, you should be fine. You'll still get the nice low rumble from the main sub. Effectively you'll be running a 3-way setup with 8's, 5's and tweets this way (plus obviously the sub). You might even find htat you can cross the sub over at 40Hz, which is even nicer.

If you go ahead with this plan, you'll probably want help setting it up in order to get the best out of it... feel free to give me a shout :)

HTH

Mark

[arbee]

sounds interesting! 8"-ers could be on the cards but think that would be phase two of the install if at all! they would certainly fill the void between 12" and 5.25" -ers tho! I'm gonna try a 6.5" woofer for size in the factory locations, doubt it will go what with the extra depth needed to poke a 6.5" cone in a 5 inch hole (ooo-er!) but seeing as i have some half decent MB quarts from my old install its worth a go. Cheers for the offer of help too :) i'll let you know how it goes when I get round to it!

[mulletboy2]

Cool mate, good luck :D