My new audio set up

[catacaustic]

Well, after a few months of planning, buying and actually finding the itme to do the work, I finally have my audio system installed!

I've gone for sound quality over pressure levels as I'm very much on the wrong side of 20, and in all seriousness, you won't ever get a SPL winning system in a S2000, so there's no point in bothering.

i've included pics of the boot, because that's the only place that you can see anything different. The head unit is hidden by the standard factory radio door, and the speakers fit behind the standard door trims without any mods.

What I have... Well, I did go for quality, so please, no flames for "you could go louder if you had _____". Loud is good, but when you have to suffer through speakers distorting it ruins the experience. For me at least. As a daily driver, I wouldn't want anything that I couldn't listen to all day every day.

Equipment list:

Alpine X-305 I do love Alpine for head units. I haven't seen anything affordable that comes close, and I wanted something good that had iPod/iPhone integration, so this was a natural choice.

Modifry pulg-and-play harness. Seriously, if you don't have this, then you are a LOOSER. This is pretty much the best ever accessory for a new head unit in a S2000. They do a lot more then just Alpine, and as they say on the sire, every unit is tested before leaving the "factory". I've also bought the GPS (and more) mounting bracket from there, and everything's always been simple and easy. Can't say enough good about that place.

Amps... I had the amps match the speakers. Both are Rockford Fosgate. I have a T-600.2 and a T1500-1bdCP. I bought these from my last amp. I have had a very old-school (now) Rockford amp that's lasted close to 15 years now without a problem, and the two new ones that I got just thump! When I get everything settled in and get the gaines turned up properly it will be huge!

Speakers. Boston Acoustics. I have got a set of SPZ-60 in the front doors. These are great from the one day that I've had them in so far.

Sub. Boston (yes, again). It's a SPG-555. This is an amazing speaker. 1000 watts RMS, and looks great. I haven't seem anything that's close to it on the market at the moment. That's my opinion only, and I know that looks are subjective.

So, here's some pics... Lets see how they go!174021740317404

I made my own fibreglass box for the sub, ran all the wires, which is pretty hard to do when you've got to run 0-gauge from the battery back, and got it all installed myself. I am far from a pro installer so please don't knock the job that I did, unless it's constructive. I'm proud of the effort that I put in, and the system sounds graet, and once it's run in, it should sound even better.

So, what does everyone think? is this something that's good for my S2000??? Hopefully it is, because it's way to late for me to take it all out now!

[GaDgeT-CRX]

top work bro, big ups for DIY!! running the x305s and boston sub myself, SQ awesomeness! Well done with the build, time to get jiggy with tuning ;p

Consider getting a grille or brackets over the sub face, dont want your luggage punching a hole in the cone..

[ncmx5]

nice equipment. are you just gunna dump luggage on top of your amp and sub?

[yellows2k]

bostons are excellent speakers. running a set for teh past 7 years. no issues. clean clear sound

[euromandeluxe]

nice work! props to anyone who does the DIY work :D

[arverson]

kudos on the effort *thumbs up*

maybe do a false floor with the amps countersunk/sitting flush and to hide all the wiring & nuts on the subbox

havnt heard any SPG-555's in action but if its anything like the G5 then it should be a sweet sounding woofer :)

any build-up/finished pics of the spz-60's?

[catacaustic]

I don't have any pics of the SPZ60's... They fit into the standard holes with a good 16mm MDF spacer, so I didn't do much documentation on that. They are a very snug fit.. both for teh speaker cone, and the big bracket for the tweeter. If I was a little more concered I'd have done a flush mount on the tweeters in the doors, but I just couldn't bring myself to drill holes in my door panels!!

I actualyl did build a cover the the sub... I have the same feelings as everyone else here. There's no point getting a sub like that, and dumping a bag or groceries on top of it. I did make it removable easily so I just didn't have it in for the pics. Purely asthetic. I might go for a false floor one day but I'm not sure that my skills are up to something like that yet. I might just get a bit adventerous one day though. Thats how we all learn how to do these things, isn't it?

The sound from the sub is pretty damned good. It's clean, clear and does pump hard with the roof down, and I haven't been able to turn it all the way up yet. As I said, I chose this combo of speakers and sub to get the best quality that I could without ripping huge holes in everything, and I think that I've done pretty good so far. I'll give it a couple more weeks for things to bed in a bit more and then I'll get into adjusting the gains on the amps and the crossover point for the sub to see what extra sound I can get out of it. I'm also very happy with the SPZ's. These things are sounding better and better as they break in more. My only "issue" with them is that with the tweeter in the axial position on the woofer, it's easy to over-tighten the mounting screw, and break the circuit for the tweeter, so one side sounds like it's lost a lot of quality. The fix is easy... just back off a few turns on the positioning screw. Without the tweeter, the woofer of these sounds pretty shocking. When the tweeter is added into it again, it goes back to the level that you'd expect.