Finally I found some time for this. It's not finished yet and the installer said it'll take 3-4 days but I'll update with pics, if I can visit the shop.

Head unit: JVC KD-SX998R
Amps: Alpine MRP-F600 & MRP-M500
Components: Alpine Type-R SPR-17S
Sub: Alpine Type-R SWR-1042d

It's not the best but I think it'll sound good.

Some of the products:



Making the subwoofer box:









I wanted to keep the spare tyre so we had to make sure the box wasn't on the way. But I had to remove the tray/cover on top of the spare tyre and the metal part of the body sticking out (I don't even know why it's there) and the sponges under the boot mat. It's a real tight fit:





Since some parts like door trims are not offered by Mazda anymore and no parts are available in my country anyway so I decided not to leave any permanent holes in A-pillars so we will be installing the tweeters in these pods, there wont be any holes so it's totally reversible:



Btw sub box and tweeter pods will be black leather.

We went there two cars, and the other car has a sound system worth $20-25k, for example just one Brax Matrix amp costs like $4k

 

Looking good. The brax amp is beautiful and the components they make are even better. I had a sinfoni amp a year or two ago that I wish I didn't sell.

 

Nice and clean, should sound pretty sweet

 

I like it. Get the finished pics up too

 

Sub box finished:



Sound deadening material inside the doors. Unfortunately I didn't have time and I had to leave but as I was leaving they were starting to add a layer of thick black spongy material on top of the silver sound deadening material for better sound deadening.



This is what the installer decided to do to fit 6.5" components. He glued or molded with figerglass the Alpine installation brackets onto the oem plastics. This makes the installation quicker and we won't have problem with the back of the components hitting the windows when it's down.

 

OK, I can't hold it in anymore! I don't like the bottom of the sub box

Yesterday we went to a specialist company which only makes sub boxes. There had been a misunderstanding and it was too late by the time I realised. The job was halfway done and they told me they can sand it down a little etc. If I wanted a new box it'd take me another day and another long drive.

I asked them to build a box that curves out (a box with curves which makes sub poke out a little). Basically what I wanted the bottom of the box curve out like the top of the box not one curve after another and it's really bugging me.

What do you guys think? Is it really noticeable if I didn't mention it? Should I not worry about it or fork out and buy another box?

 

Yeah, it almost looks like a black bag with a speaker in it. Wait until your done though to see how it all turns out.

Hey, how did you run new speaker wire to the door speakers? I'm in the middle of my speaker replacement and can't figure out to get the harness loose on the inside of the car at the door. I want the new wire to run through the stock rubber hose going out to the door for a nice clean but dang, I can't get that harness connector loose..

 

It wouldn't look too bad if the bottom wasn't wavy I wanted something plain but something that'll go with the lines of the boot area.

Wiring hasn't been done yet. I think the installer will do it tomorrow or Friday. I will try to find out.

 

These stock Bose door speaker boxes are a pain. Nice design but up-grading to bigger speakers is a challenge I'm finding out. I'm staying with 5.25" in the doors but they are 5.25" Rockford Fostgate Power T152's. Big magnets. Big headache. Stock wires aren't gonna cut it either.

 

As long as the speaker depth is 2.5" or less you can go 6 or 6.5" and you'll be fine.

 

The 5.25" is on the left. Mounting depth is 2.03" however, with this design Fosgate moved the tweeter away from the middle of the speaker which is supposed to give great sound. Overall thickness without a grill is 3.31" which means it's a tight fit between the glass and stock speaker grill.

 

This is 100% correct, I have first hand knowledge of this. 2.7" WILL hit the window.

 

yeah sorry not a fan of the box.... looks kinda sloppy... especially wraped in fabric... IMO.....

 

Im trying to make myself feel better by saying it's in the trunk and not visible but in my head i know there's a stuff up and it's there

 

Insulation with sound deadening material:

 

Yeah I have to agree, I dont like it either. It looks like the fabric isnt holding on to the box on the bottom. Like it was glued on and heat made it come up.

 

I must say it looks worse in photos (due to light effects) and better in real life, I will try to take better pics. Eitherway I have 2 weeks until the system is run in and audio shop does final sound tuning. If it still bugs me then i will get a new box made

 

To each his own I suppose.

 

Ok it bugged me a lot so I had it fixed. This is how it looks now:









The amps:



The installer suggested that we don't drill any holes to fit the tweeters so I can go back to stock but I didn't like the tweeters in the pods so we will be making a custom a pillar pods for them.

As for the sound I'm quite happy. The installer is the distributor for Helix and Brax and his set-ups are always for SQ not SPL. He did a nice job, doesn't matter how much I turn up the volume there is no distortion. However he told me it's only performing at 30% right now. Two reasons, 1- the head unit is not good, 2- he'll do another adjustment in 2-3 weeks once the speakers and sub are run in. So I am changing my head unit to an Alpine head unit and will add an Alpine imprint.

We will also be covering inside the doors with some other material, kind of like something used on making the sub box cause he wasn't happy with the door trim.

We also made some new ground wires:

 

that box turned out legit as hell!!!

 

That is a lot of work....

 

Damn dood. Thats great! I like it.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah this time I'm happy with how the box turned out. Up next is an Alpine head unit along with Alpine Imprint processor. I will have the tweeters molded in A-pillars and have the back of the door trims covered with some sort of hard material to stop squeeks and rattly sounds. I must say even as it is it sound pretty good.

 

looks a lot better, muibubbles approved.

is the top of the box symetrical? in the pics the top ring doesnt look even, is it just distorted in the pics?

 

Yes the top of the box is 95% symetrical however being handmade it's just a touch uneven but really you can't tell unless you're moving around the trunk looking for something to pick on. The curve of the ring on the right side is slightly longer but you can't tell once the tray is on it. The pics here make it look like it's way off but it's cause of the lighting, I will try to take better pics.

Btw I bought an Alpine CDA-9887 head unit but have to wait a week or two to install it. It has lots of features and I"m hoping it'll improve the sound even more, compared to the JVC junk that I have right now. Installer said I don't need an Imprint so I'll give it a miss for now.