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I am interested in the way you installed your amp.
The PO of my car got rid of the PCM2 and Hi-FI upgrade option 490 amp to install an aftermarket Kenwood double din GPS/bluetooth/ipod system with a similar amp than yours: JL XD600/6. It is well installed in the frunk, vertical behind the spare tire. I think the speakers are the OEM of the option 490.
The problem I have is that there is a whining noise at low speed coming probably from the alternator (noise following the rpm). There is a fuse wired in the fuse box that I think they used to get 12V either to the double din or the amp.
Where did you get the 12V alimentation for your install?
Try getting better grounds on your amp and/or radio and if that doesn't work put in a ground loop isolator... either of those 'should' clear up your alternator whine.
So phase I of the upgrade was completed yesterday. Installed the amp.
The amp now powers the front dash speakers (previously upgraded) and the door subs, those will be replaced with the JL speakers in the upcoming weeks. I still have to build a sealed sub enclosure and run a wire inside the cabin to it.
The old amp is still powering the rear two speakers.
Here are some pictures:
I have the M490 option for the six speakers and small amp located in the frunk:
It has two connectors, basically the goes in from the head unit and the goes out to the speakers, plus the other required signals/power.
There are only "front" and "rear" inputs into the amp, the sub outputs is derived from those inputs. So I made the choice to keep the "rear" input as-is and have the existing amp continue to power those speakers vs. abandoning them in place.
The amp I used can just take one right/left signal and use it for all five channels. Here is the input to amp from the head unit and the +12 VDC switched power to turn it on:
So I just cut the front speaker wires and connected them to a RCA input:
I tapped into the 12 VDC switched power to turn the new amp on also:
So then I cut the wires at the amp output that run to the front speakers and the door speakers, leaving the rear speaker wires in place:
I used 4 GA wire for power and ground with a 60 amp fuse. There is a ground location in the frunk that is super easy to connect to:
I put the old amp back in place and for now am just using velcro to hold the amp in place. I plan to put two screws in on the inboard side of the amp, but don't know what's below it, so have to research that first.
I just drilled a hole through the existing rubber grommet for power, will seal it once I get the sub wire in also.
Talk about an INCREDIBLE difference in sound already! So much more power! Looking forward to getting the sub in and having a highly upgraded stereo that still has the stock head unit. Look at the post on page 1 if you want more details of equipment.
BTW, when I started the car back up (had the battery disconnected for 4 hours or so) the gas gauge read dead empty with two low level lights on. I thought for sure I did something to the wiring, I thought I had 1/2 a tank or so. The sending unit wiring is under the battery....so I took it to the gas station and filled it up, took 11 gallons and the gauge read full. I'm not going to try and troubleshoot that one....but hopefully it was just an anomaly!
Project Subwoofer this weekend. Took quite a few hours, but I took the seats out and had to clean the carpet on the passenger side from some leak, still not sure where it came from or what it was.
Anyways, took the seats out, took the old sub out that was behind the rear passenger seat, ran the sub wiring and installed the sub.....sounds AWESOME! Subtle but awesome. That's how it should be IMO.
I made a sealed enclosure box to minimize size, made it so it would fit behind the rear seats. Not pretty, but it doesn't have to be.
I ran a 10 ga speaker wire from the frunk to the rear of the car. To pass through the firewall, just unbolt the battery hold down bolts, unbolt the negative wiring from the battery, slide the battery to the passenger side of the car and you'll see a big grommet at the firewall. I removed it, drilled a hole and put the wire through it and sealed it was silicone.
Here is the amp all finished up, just love how small it is.
The box fits like a glove! At some angles in the direct sunlight the carpet looks like different colors at different angles is does not. I had bought a piece of carpet off ebay that was from a cab behind the seats for this piece.
Here it is installed:
And I had a chance to really clean the interior, treat the leather, it's super clean. I love the mods I have done to the interior.
Next step is to replace the door subs with full range speakers, but that's another day. Awesome sounding right now!!!
About to go partway down this road on a 986. Head unit is updated, keeping stock amp for now - but want to replace dash and door speakers. If you were doing this again today would you pick the same speakers in those locations? I won't have a sub.
I think the fuse for the amp located in the firewall compartment next to the battery sits too low, water can accumulate in that area. To elevate I zip tied mine to the black bar that runs diagonally in the same compartment.
So I finished the stereo upgrade the other night. Wow, what a difference! Sounds incredible.
What I did have to do different from what I said above, was to basically disconnect the back panel side speakers because I needed to have fading between the door and dash speakers. I did this by taking the input into the amp and moving it from the old amp to the new amp. You couldn't hear anything from the back speakers anyways with the new amp.
Without doing that, the dash speakers were so BRIGHT and there was no balance.
Anyways.....to put the Polk speakers in the door took minutes. Okay, the first door took hours because I did it the hard way (followed another post here, cut everything up, fiberglassed stuff back in, etc.). The second one I just had to dremel the enclosure out at the 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock position and the speaker would just sit in there. That's how I would do it.
Here is all you do:
Once I got those in, just had to tune it a little, which was really to lower the gain on the front and door speakers, keeping the sub level where it was when I set up the output voltage of the amp in the open circuit condition.
It's got lots of bass, highs and mids, and it gets LOUD. I have to fade to the door speakers (rear channel) to about -2 or -3 to get a balance between them and the dash speakers so they are not so bright.
Highly recommended, and I love that I have the factory deck still in place, I did install bluetooth, so I can stream whatever I want to it.
Nice work! I have a leftover JL sub and JL amp from my last car that I'd like to eventually get into my 996...
Did you end up fixing the gas tank issue? My car's gauge is inaccurate as well. I think it requires filling up the tank completely and then disconnecting the battery. Do a search, lots of folks have had this issue.
Looks good but two things: Plywood is not a good cabinet making material... MDF makes a much better sound... plywood tends to resonate. Fill that box with polyfil if you haven't already and this will help it some. The other thing is you should cut the carpet so that the speaker can seal against the box. The carpet is allowing air to escape and it changes the response of the sub... again just a little but you went to all this trouble you may as well make it as good as you can.
On a side note... if you don't have the box fastened down please put that on your short list of things to do... you're a front end collision away from taking a 40 pound bat to the back of the head... I've seen it and seen the carnage from it.
Otherwise great job... it's amazing how much good a little audio upgrade can do.
I have the 490 Hi-Fi option and while I don't think it's bad, I wouldn't mind a little more base. What do you think would be the best bang for the buck for an incremental upgrade? Door speakers?
I have the 490 Hi-Fi option and while I don't think it's bad, I wouldn't mind a little more base. What do you think would be the best bang for the buck for an incremental upgrade? Door speakers?
The biggest bang for the buck would be to install an amp. Then probably replace the dash and rear speakers.....leave the door subs in. Or at least that's what I'm thinking.
See if the amp I have comes in a six channel version....or potentially just put the two subs in series, they will become a 4 ohm total resistance total.
I kept my car looking completely stock, but sounding completely custom. If you get the right pieces, you don't need to do anything weird to your car, or install anything unsightly. You'll get the sound you're looking for. You can read about what I have in mine here:
02-22-2016, 02:23 PM
