Hi, guys!
As I promised yesterday, I am posting the fruits of my hard work for a week or two (getting work done in small timegaps between all the other commitments.
I have to say that El dude's guide on other site was very informative and extremly helpful in planning stage. Also, I asked him some questions, he replied and I thank him for that! His advices were very helpful and appreciated!
Anyway, after I had bought my silver puma, it was off to a body shop, had it's wheel arches replaced (the guy is using zinc-coated steel thick 1,5 mm; I guess the arches will now outlast the rest of a car . Then a complete respray and the car looks brand new; I just can't get my eyes of her (too good to be true.... :grin:
So, while the interior was apart, I took the opportunity to install my ICE. Having seen the original loudspeakers; they are an insult to listeners inteligence. The HU is not so bad itself, but I replaced it as well. Why? Firstly, it is getting old; mine was struggling to read some of burned CDs I have around. Never had that problem with even older Alpine CDA 7893 that was used in my Mk1 focus (sold now). Secondly, to connect an iPod (have a 250 Gb version, putting on it music in lossless format, it should hold around 400 CDs) I would need a Parrot adapter which is not cheap here. And finally, CD6000 doesn't have preamp outputs, and every decent ICE system has to have a good amp!
So, 6000 out, alpine 117Ri in! I got a very good quote (in a store, a brand new unit) so went for it! Also, fancied the stalk radio controls and got over e-Bay the stalk and wiring and did the modification as explained in how to section here. Not a single problem, tested it on 6000 and worked like a charm. For the alpine unit had to order adapter, it arrived, and despite the scepticism of the very same salesman who sold me the HU when trial fitted worked straight away. So, I am using the stalk controls with an Alpine HU and it is working like a charm!
The rest of a system? I am simply hooked up to the Swedish loudspeaker manufacturer DLS. (http://www.dls.se" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. In focus I was using their 6,5 inch front system UP6a; 11 years later their designation and iteration went to UP6i, but the systen is still being produced. It has silk dome twitter and sounds amazing. A took them out of focus and stored away to be put in puma. They are extremly powerful speakers, but use a hybrid neodime magnet so the mounting depth of 64 mm was not a problem.
In focus I had s 3 channel system with a 10" subwoofer (DLS MW10) in boot in a box made to fit out of GFRP. Since puma has smaller boot, didn't want to lose any of it so ditched that idea and turned my attention to the rear boxes. For them I used dls 1070 ovals. These are, to my knowledge the biggest and most powerful ovals you can buy; 10x7", but the DO fit in 9x6" opening and they did fit to the boxes in the rear, although just!
They are a viable replacement for a 8" subwoofer, have extremly powerful magnet and are quite heavy. That posed a problem of its own as you will see later.
Finally, the power. I went for an old school rockford fosgate punch 400a4 amp. It is nominated as 4x50 Watts, but in reality it pumps out probably double, is extremly durable and failsafe. It is at least 12 years old and in that period of time I have never heard of a single one that had any kind of problem, and trust me, some people were abusing them really hard. Bonus for this amp is that is rather small unit that will fit nicely in the right corner of puma's boot. To go with it is capacitor of 1 farad: steady power supply is must have if you want to avoid any problems with amplifiers.
As you can see, I went for used components rather then new ones. I knew what to look for, found it and now will have fantastic system for a price that would cover just one mass produced average amp!
As I promised yesterday, I am posting the fruits of my hard work for a week or two (getting work done in small timegaps between all the other commitments.
I have to say that El dude's guide on other site was very informative and extremly helpful in planning stage. Also, I asked him some questions, he replied and I thank him for that! His advices were very helpful and appreciated!
Anyway, after I had bought my silver puma, it was off to a body shop, had it's wheel arches replaced (the guy is using zinc-coated steel thick 1,5 mm; I guess the arches will now outlast the rest of a car . Then a complete respray and the car looks brand new; I just can't get my eyes of her (too good to be true.... :grin:
So, while the interior was apart, I took the opportunity to install my ICE. Having seen the original loudspeakers; they are an insult to listeners inteligence. The HU is not so bad itself, but I replaced it as well. Why? Firstly, it is getting old; mine was struggling to read some of burned CDs I have around. Never had that problem with even older Alpine CDA 7893 that was used in my Mk1 focus (sold now). Secondly, to connect an iPod (have a 250 Gb version, putting on it music in lossless format, it should hold around 400 CDs) I would need a Parrot adapter which is not cheap here. And finally, CD6000 doesn't have preamp outputs, and every decent ICE system has to have a good amp!
So, 6000 out, alpine 117Ri in! I got a very good quote (in a store, a brand new unit) so went for it! Also, fancied the stalk radio controls and got over e-Bay the stalk and wiring and did the modification as explained in how to section here. Not a single problem, tested it on 6000 and worked like a charm. For the alpine unit had to order adapter, it arrived, and despite the scepticism of the very same salesman who sold me the HU when trial fitted worked straight away. So, I am using the stalk controls with an Alpine HU and it is working like a charm!
The rest of a system? I am simply hooked up to the Swedish loudspeaker manufacturer DLS. (http://www.dls.se" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. In focus I was using their 6,5 inch front system UP6a; 11 years later their designation and iteration went to UP6i, but the systen is still being produced. It has silk dome twitter and sounds amazing. A took them out of focus and stored away to be put in puma. They are extremly powerful speakers, but use a hybrid neodime magnet so the mounting depth of 64 mm was not a problem.
In focus I had s 3 channel system with a 10" subwoofer (DLS MW10) in boot in a box made to fit out of GFRP. Since puma has smaller boot, didn't want to lose any of it so ditched that idea and turned my attention to the rear boxes. For them I used dls 1070 ovals. These are, to my knowledge the biggest and most powerful ovals you can buy; 10x7", but the DO fit in 9x6" opening and they did fit to the boxes in the rear, although just!
They are a viable replacement for a 8" subwoofer, have extremly powerful magnet and are quite heavy. That posed a problem of its own as you will see later.
Finally, the power. I went for an old school rockford fosgate punch 400a4 amp. It is nominated as 4x50 Watts, but in reality it pumps out probably double, is extremly durable and failsafe. It is at least 12 years old and in that period of time I have never heard of a single one that had any kind of problem, and trust me, some people were abusing them really hard. Bonus for this amp is that is rather small unit that will fit nicely in the right corner of puma's boot. To go with it is capacitor of 1 farad: steady power supply is must have if you want to avoid any problems with amplifiers.
As you can see, I went for used components rather then new ones. I knew what to look for, found it and now will have fantastic system for a price that would cover just one mass produced average amp!