RC-PILOT

The sticky above is great, but I start getting lost in all of it. I am ready to upgrade the Pioneer AVIC900??? with 2 amps new door speakers and a sub. The amps and sub are not an issue, but I need some specific answers...

1) Is there a specific "Pre-amp out" harness that I need for the back of the radio? If so, does anyone have the info on it? Or is the harness already set up for pre-amp out?

2) If I need adapters for the door speakers, what adapters are needed for 6 1/2" all around?

3) I am ready to purchase a bunch of parts, I just don't want to have a bunch of parts ready, car torn apart, and still need several obscure parts that will have to be ordered. I just want to be ready if at all possible for a killer weekend of installation.

4) last... where is the best place to purchase quality audio parts at great prices? Other than Crutchfield, the only ones I know about are...

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm
and
http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/

any ideas about these suppliers? any suggestions about some others? or is Crutchfield the way to go for all their assistance? I used them years ago and they helped me out a lot. That is "almost" woth paying the top $$ prices for....but only if I have to.

Going this direction with the set up...

Amps.. One 4ch amp for the doors at 50Watts RMS per ch. One mono sub amp at around 400 ~ 500 watts RMS for the sub box.

Doors... Front 6 /12" components with 50 Watt RMS min. Rear 6 1/2" 50 RMS min all with bass blockers. Any ideas on these?

Sub... either a ported box or maybe the JL Steath box.

Also fair to say that I like clarity, not sound pressure or super volume. Clarity is the key for me.

jaykillz

iTrader: (2)

I would go with dealer cost car audio, some times the shipping takes a wile but you get better prices with them.

XBinRochester

Here is the pin outs diagram for our radios...
Hope it helps you

Slody4Futbol

you do not need to purchase bass blockers.. you should have adjustable HPF on the radio.. as well as the amp

KaneoheKoa

RC, I've been buying from Crutchfield probably as long as you have (back when all they had was a paper catalog!). I like the fact that they are authorized dealers for the brands they sell, as opposed to many of the heavy discounters selling gray market products (store warranty only, not manufacturers). If you're getting the HU from them, they give you the wiring harness gratis. Ditto with the door speakers: they supply space mounts for them, but mine didn't work. You'll need to make your own out of 1/2 ply (easy job with a jigsaw, 20 minutes tops). Get a pair of foam speaker baffles and cut them in half: they'll go over the top of the door speakers for drip protection.

Good customer service will always mean that the item is more expensive, but it's like wearing a life preserver; a pain to wear in the boat but really handy when you're in the water!

Audiomechanic

The pre-amp outputs are already there and yes you will need speaker adapter plates as well.

As long as the parts are Metra, American International or Scosche, you are good on just about wherever you buy them except for the Scosche line that is sold at Wal-Mart.

For sound quality what sounds good to you may not sound good to me, so I recommend going to different car audio shops and take a favorite CD of yours and listen to different speakers.

I prefer sealed boxes, but depends on the sub you buy and the sound you want.

You could cut your cost a little or buy some different products by going with one amp, alot of companies are getting into 5 channel amps.

Just FYI, I have been installing since the late 80's haven't done it professionally in the past 3 years, and I have an xB RS 6.0 so if you have any questions I am free to talk anytime. If you haven's bypassed your f900 I can walk you thru that also.

RC-PILOT

thanks... I know about moving the wire from position 1 to position 8 or whatever, ( I have a scematic for that ) but grounding the parking brake wire? Do you do that at the parking brake or is it at the radio? or what? I'm sure it will make more sence when I pull the radio. Also how do you best pull the radio surround? I really don't want to crack it. Just found out today that the iPOD plug seems to wake up the AV2 port and not the AV1 port that has the iPOD software, so I will have to switch that while I am doing all the other stuff.

Audiomechanic

Hope I didn't come off too arrogant, just new to the forum.

The dash bezel around the radio just unsnaps or pops off, I strongly recommend the use of Plastic Panel Removal Tools. If you do not have any locate you nearest Harbour Freight, I know a lot of there stuff isn't quality, but they have a couple of different sets for $5 - $10 and they are worth it. I also recommend using a large towel or sheet to lay over your center console and glove box and dash as they are very easy to scratch. The main bezel comes off by gently prying on it and popping out the snaps that hold it in, there are four if I remember right, and then there is a little strip below the radio above the A/C controls that unsnaps and comes off, once you are done with that you will see FOUR 10mm bolts that hold the radio in at all four corners. After the bolts are out you can pull the radio and brackets out, carefully unplug all the plugs, you don't really need to mark them as they are all different and will not go into other plugs on the radio. Here is where I am curious, I have only worked on my RS 6.0 with the F900, and want to know what the wiring looks like in yours, mine seemed a little messy.

Have you updated the Firmware of your F900?

Hope this helps. BC

Audiomechanic

If you don't have the tools to take your dash and door panels apart, here are the ones to get. These plastic panel removal tools are great for working on Scion's and other cars that have plastic that is easily damaged or scratched. I have links from The tool Warehouse and Harbour Freight, I know that HF carries different sets in the stores. If you want to work on your car or anybody elses this will be some of the best money spent. I personally own multiple sets of these and others.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=67021

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-36...atic-4505.aspx

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-10...ent-df609.aspx
this set is a little more expensive, but I use it and one other tool quite often, just used it last weekend to install the OEM fog lights on my 09 xB.

Hope this helps.

Also about the front door speakers, the are riveted in so you will need to drill the rivets out to remove and replace the speakers.

RC-PILOT

Lots of good info, thanks. I got my audio stuff in today. Can't get started till middle of next week though. So this is what I ended up with...
Infinity Kappa speakers for the doors 62.9i 75 watts rms rear doors & 60.9cs 90 watts rms front doors, Infinity Reference 475a 75 watts rms x 4 amp.
Kenwood KAC-7205 500 watts x 1 @ 4 ohm amp and the JL Stealthbox 12" 500 rms sub. Plus all the other crap that goes with that stuff.
Also got a 1.2 farad cap and 4 awg wire 2 amp wire kit with red power wire.

I can't beleave I invested what I did, but I think it's gonna sound killer when I get it all in. I can hardly wait. The B is gonna be jammin soon!

RC-PILOT

So I started tonight.... started on the front door tweeters. WOW big difference. Having to do some custom mods right off the bat. Never done this sstuff before, but it can't be that bad. Had to dremel out some room, the a little here and there on the tweeter, but it fits. Very tight, but it fits. I guess I glue it in from here. The mounts are huge! So they went into the trash....

See if you can tell the difference.... INFINITY KAPPA vs Scion OE

buickid

Nice. Do you think you could snap a pic of the inside of the sail panel? Also, whats the diameter of the stock tweeter or the diameter of the stock hole in the sail panel?
Thanks!
-T

RC-PILOT

I intended to do a photo DIY of the whole process, but it turned into a lot more work than expected. You know how it goes.... you get burried into something and everything else just fades into oblivian.

RC-PILOT

Ok, I am about to loose it on this install!!!! How in the heck are you suposed to get new wires to the rear door speakers? The B-Pillar connector seems to be impossible to detach. Even if I can get it detached, what then???

RC-PILOT

Never mind.... I drilled holes in the B-Pillar and the front of the door. Ran speaker wire through the holes and sealed both ends the are visible from the outside. Went from something like 20 gauge to twisted pair 14 gauge. It's gonna soung SWEEEEEEET !!!!

buickid

Better use grommets on that or something. Don't want water going in there, or the wire chafing.

RC-PILOT

^^ I went to the local high-end stereo place and they turned me on to something they called grommett tape? It's kind of like soft sticky black rubber. You run the wire through, the wrap this stuff around the wire and pull it back into the hole. It makes a perfect round grommett and looks great. Then i added wire armour over the wire to make it all look good.

Update.... System sounds AWESOME!! Now I have to get the interior put back together. Looks like that will take about 3 days to get back to it, but then only an hour or so and I can drive it again.

XBinRochester

Did you test the bypass yet? How did it work?

RC-PILOT

HPF on the Pioneer works well. It has a Sub filter that has a high cut freq of 150Hz and the HPF for the fronts has the same freq cutoff. First time I turned it on it was clear as a bell and sounded great. Tonight I have an EXTREME ECHO loop that sounds like crap!! So I am going to re-post a new question to see if I can find out where it is comming from. I hate problems... I will post when I find the problem.