full review, writeup, and installation steps: ctr subs, amp, center channel, and door speakers

[JohnnyOHonda]

Could you tell me where you got the spacers? I drive the Pioneer sub mentioned earlier by the OP with Alpine MRV-M500 mono, and while it sounds way better than factory, I am looking for something more.

Here is the wood spacer I used. Some are made of plastic, this one is made of wood. I preferred the wood but you probably have to be careful not to crack it when you drill the holes. I also used a ring of Noico 80mm (like dynamat) to “bond” it to the speaker and to the subwoofer box for good bonding. I think I only needed one for the Alpine Type R subwoofer.

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[JohnnyOHonda]

Some pics

 

[ians]

I didn’t wire it myself but you take the two wires that go to the tweeter as the input and then just take the tweeter output to your JL Audio tweeters. In my case, I preferred using the -3db switch but it’s easy to go from -3 or to 0 or to +2 just by changing the little connection inside the crossover. I didn’t use the woofer output at all. I’ll double check with my installer tomorrow, he’s working on a different car of mine tomorrow.

Thanks

 

[cariboublue]

So went ahead and installed the center speaker and deadened the trunk. Wanted to wait on the sub until I heard what the center speaker does. Well I can say just the center speaker makes a big difference. The vocals on music are much clearer and can get loud without losing that clarity. Much better than stock.

I deadened just the bottom/floor of the trunk and left the sides and it definitely makes a difference in road noise. Its much easier for a passenger to hear me in the back seat, which was a problem before (Though my tires might also be a bigger part of the problem noise wise). The bass is louder too just from that on the stock sub. My wife actually thinks its too loud already haha.

If anyone is interested I have an unused JL C2-350X for the center speaker (they come in pairs) and 2.5 sheets of Noico Left. It took me 1.5 sheets or so to do the trunk so you could do that and have some left for doors. PM if you are interested.

 

[cariboublue]

Some pics

Looks great.

What kind of control knob is that? All the ones I've seen are silver but the black looks better in this interior.

 

[JohnnyOHonda]

The control knob is the one that comes with the Rockford 1 channel sub amplifier.

ians - I confirmed that passive crossover was connected to the tweeter wires and then to the JL Audio tweeter. I set it to -3db, you may want it brighter than that.

Agree with Caribou that matting the trunk helps with road noise. If you added the an amp with the Alpine Type R 8” (or something high quality that needs 0.30 cubic feet in the stock sub area), you’ll get addicted to the improved bass real quick.

 

[cariboublue]

Yeah I will do it at some point. Just wait until I have the time to do install.

Glad the knob is black. When I went to order the rockford kit it was silver on the site so maybe its an old pic.

 

[JohnnyOHonda]

You can see the knob is black in this pic...though it was only $138 when I bought it.

 

[piterek]

Here is the wood spacer I used. Some are made of plastic, this one is made of wood. I preferred the wood but you probably have to be careful not to crack it when you drill the holes. I also used a ring of Noico 80mm (like dynamat) to “bond” it to the speaker and to the subwoofer box for good bonding. I think I only needed one for the Alpine Type R subwoofer.

Thanks for the links and the pics. Very helpful. I might try this speaker before going bananas with a cu$tom enclosure.

 

[ians]

The control knob is the one that comes with the Rockford 1 channel sub amplifier.

ians - I confirmed that passive crossover was connected to the tweeter wires and then to the JL Audio tweeter. I set it to -3db, you may want it brighter than that.

Agree with Caribou that matting the trunk helps with road noise. If you added the an amp with the Alpine Type R 8” (or something high quality that needs 0.30 cubic feet in the stock sub area), you’ll get addicted to the improved bass real quick.

Thanks. So do you know how they secure the crossover? drill it to the door panel? double side tape it? It is kind of heavy

 

[JohnnyOHonda]

Against the Civic Type R 0.30 cubic foot sub enclosure use 8”x 0.75” MDF sub mounting spacer (picture above). I sandwiched it between 2 Noico rings (like Dynamat) which I used an exacto knife to match the spacer to fully seal.

I used the AudioControl 2ci ahead of the amp. Use the rear door speakers, not the sub wires. The sub line isn’t full range. The 2ci will sum both sides, give you a clean signal and also give you flexibility in the sub adjustment. I crossed over around 80 hz.

The Alpine Type-R SWR8D4 is a dual voice coil sub rated at 4 ohms each and being wired in parallel to be a net 2 ohms load. It’s rated RMS at 350 watts and 1,000 watts peak which is a nice match for the Rockford Fosgate T500x1bd amp which is rated for 500 watts at 2 ohms.

The Alpine sub is super high quality. And the grille matches the car (Type R!). Here are some stats from Crutchfield.

• 8" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils
• Kevlar reinforced pulp cone with HAMR Santoprene rubber surround
• frequency response: 30-200 Hz
• power handling: 150-350 watts RMS (175 watts per coil)
• peak power: 1,000 watts
• sensitivity: 83.5 dB
• top-mount depth: 4-1/2"
• sealed box volume: 0.15-0.50 cu. ft.
• ported box volume: 0.25-0.70 cu. ft.
• grille not included
• warranty: 1 year

You might wonder about the frequency response but all I can tell you is that I’m totally happy with the depth and power of the sub. Couple of reference points: I use an SVS 3000 in a medium sized room (12’ x 17’) and so I do enjoy my bass and at an Apple Watch volume of 97db on all types of music, the bass is great and my ears are giving up before I have any interest I turning up the bass more or making it any louder.

Ians - not sure how my installer did it but he put the crossover for the JL C2 650 separates by the passenger footwell for relatively easy access to the box (which allowed me to change the tweeter setting to -3db fairly easy...still had him open it up though).

I just wish I could get this bass into my new Miata which is my current project....very tough with the small space available.

 

[piterek]

I used the AudioControl 2ci ahead of the amp. Use the rear door speakers, not the sub wires. The sub line isn’t full range. The 2ci will sum both sides, give you a clean signal and also give you flexibility in the sub adjustment. I crossed over around 80 hz.

Thanks for the info again. I have front door speakers and the sub signals connected to my Alpine MRV-M500 (500Wrms @ 2 ohms) and also has the remote (handy for tuning). All I need now is a good speaker. If the Alpine works well in this tiny enclosure I will be a happy camper.

 

[piterek]

Here is the wood spacer I used. Some are made of plastic, this one is made of wood. I preferred the wood but you probably have to be careful not to crack it when you drill the holes.

How did you install the speaker on the spacer? Did you align with the holes in the enclosure and mount right through, or did you first mount the spaced to the enclosure and then separately mount the speaker to the ring? Sorry... never had to install a speaker on a spacer before and curious what works best. Thanks.

 

[JohnnyOHonda]

How did you install the speaker on the spacer? Did you align with the holes in the enclosure and mount right through, or did you first mount the spaced to the enclosure and then separately mount the speaker to the ring? Sorry... never had to install a speaker on a spacer before and curious what works best. Thanks.

Sorry to say I don’t know...didn’t install it myself. Here are some close up pics that might give you some clues.

 

[piterek]

Sorry to say I don’t know...didn’t install it myself. Here are some close up pics that might give you some clues.

Thanks for the pics. Found the answer earlier in the thread. OP did this same thing with a 1" spacer.

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