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

[megaphone]

Tweeters are in. A substantial improvement to my ears - they are softer, more delicate in their presentation but they have no problems howling on some prog metal. Waiting for sound deadening to get here to do woofers in the doors and it looks like I've got a dance partner for half of his JL Audio 3 1/2 center project, so that should be in along with the subwoofer by the weekend. All told, it'll be less than $600 for everything. These Focal K2 165s are pretty badass, I have to

Install method:
Lots of hot glue, had to figure out how to take the tweets out of their surface mount cups but I was way overthinking it:




Figured out I didn't have enough butt splices of the appropriate size around the house so I just soldered and heatshrunk everything. Took longer, but I'm happy with it being done correctly. I have harness adapters for the woofers so that should be simpler.

How’d you hook up the tweeters to the stock tweeter wires? I cut the stock connector and used butt connectors to attached my tweeters to the stock wires. I have Focal tweeters with inline crossovers and am getting a buzzing noise based on how much I depress the accelerator and it’s driving me INSANE. I’m wondering if the inline crossovers are causing this noise.

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[megaphone]

uh, hopefully not an expensive mechanical pencil

Lol no it wasn’t! The trick didn’t even work, the housing was too big to fit in the hole. I just pushed the wire through very gently and had no problem getting it through! I’m surprised my hand fit in the fender to grab it!

 

[toddrhodes]

How’d you hook up the tweeters to the stock tweeter wires? I cut the stock connector and used butt connectors to attached my tweeters to the stock wires. I have Focal tweeters with inline crossovers and am getting a buzzing noise based on how much I depress the accelerator and it’s driving me INSANE. I’m wondering if the inline crossovers are causing this noise.

No inline crossovers, and soldered the leads together with heat shrink then tape over that. No hum but in my experience from car audio in the past, bad grounds and bare/exposed wires, like sticking out of the end of a crimp caused engine whine, as did poorly shielded components or cables.

 

[scoobysnack]

How’d you hook up the tweeters to the stock tweeter wires? I cut the stock connector and used butt connectors to attached my tweeters to the stock wires. I have Focal tweeters with inline crossovers and am getting a buzzing noise based on how much I depress the accelerator and it’s driving me INSANE. I’m wondering if the inline crossovers are causing this noise.

How’d you hook up the tweeters to the stock tweeter wires? I cut the stock connector and used butt connectors to attached my tweeters to the stock wires. I have Focal tweeters with inline crossovers and am getting a buzzing noise based on how much I depress the accelerator and it’s driving me INSANE. I’m wondering if the inline crossovers are causing this noise.

Yeah, like Todd said, you dont need a Xover connected to the tweeters. I did the tweeter swap with the Hertz tweeters. This post has a link to someone else's post with detailed tweeter-swap info:

https://www.civicx.com/threads/quick-question-on-tweeter-upgrade.21088/

 

[ctrmofo]

for tweeters here's the confirmation: only 0.75" tweeters fit perfectly if not almost perfect with the stock trim rings. 1" tweeters will not.

stock tweeter trim ring is 38.18 mm ID as measured with a caliper and OD at 57.7 mm. that means using a tweeter with 38.18 mm or less cutout and its flush mount adapter will allow for a drop in fitment since the who flush mount housing of the new tweeter will go right into the ID of the trim ring from the top.

therefore, jl c2-075ct or c5-075ct which are 0.75" tweeters with flush mount cutouts required of 38.1 mm so will be a perfect drop in fitment with the stock trim rings. jl c3-100ct which are 1" tweeters with flush mount cutouts required of 47.6 mm so will need the ID of the trim rings enlarged to fit perfectly.

look for 0.75" tweeters (4 ohms) with a cutout diameter of no more than 38.18 mm (including flush mounting adapter) if you want a perfect to near perfect fitment if you use other brands and models.

see pics here:

 

[megaphone]

No inline crossovers, and soldered the leads together with heat shrink then tape over that. No hum but in my experience from car audio in the past, bad grounds and bare/exposed wires, like sticking out of the end of a crimp caused engine whine, as did poorly shielded components or cables.

I’m wondering if the crossover cable isn’t properly sealed where the capacities are shielded. Might try the no crossover route, I read people thought it was harsh without it.

Yeah, like Todd said, you dont need a Xover connected to the tweeters. I did the tweeter swap with the Hertz tweeters. This post has a link to someone else's post with detailed tweeter-swap info:

https://www.civicx.com/threads/quick-question-on-tweeter-upgrade.21088/

I swear I saw people saying the sound was a little harsh until they put in the inline crossovers. I might disconnect the crossover wire and redo the connection this weekend!

 

[megaphone]

for tweeters here's the confirmation: only 0.75" tweeters fit perfectly if not almost perfect with the stock trim rings. 1" tweeters will not.

stock tweeter trim ring is 38.18 mm ID as measured with a caliper and OD at 57.7 mm. that means using a tweeter with 38.18 mm or less cutout and its flush mount adapter will allow for a drop in fitment since the who flush mount housing of the new tweeter will go right into the ID of the trim ring from the top.

therefore, jl c2-075ct or c5-075ct which are 0.75" tweeters with flush mount cutouts required of 38.1 mm so will be a perfect drop in fitment with the stock trim rings. jl c3-100ct which are 1" tweeters with flush mount cutouts required of 47.6 mm so will need the ID of the trim rings enlarged to fit perfectly.

look for 0.75" tweeters (4 ohms) with a cutout diameter of no more than 38.18 mm (including flush mounting adapter) if you want a perfect to near perfect fitment if you use other brands and models.

see pics here:

Great info as always! I just used a dremel with the sandpaper cylinder attachment to increase the diameter of the stock ring. I think it’s worth putting in a little bit more work to fit bigger tweeters in! The sound improvement over stock is crazy!

 

[ctrmofo]

I’m wondering if the crossover cable isn’t properly sealed where the capacities are shielded. Might try the no crossover route, I read people thought it was harsh without it.

I swear I saw people saying the sound was a little harsh until they put in the inline crossovers. I might disconnect the crossover wire and redo the connection this weekend!

Without inline crossover, there’s a chance you’ll blow the tweeter. It’s because they’re highly sensitive to lowering frequencies than what they’re made for. Check connections and wiring like others said. Also, where you place the wires matter. Move them away from any other wires close by.

 

[toddrhodes]

Front component install. I need to do a lot more listening but just from a quick sound check, this made a significant, positive difference to the stereo. I have a sub I'm going to install soon as well, and will sound dampen the enclosure it's in as well as immediately behind the enclosure. Went with an 8" MB Quart subwoofer, DVC 4-ohm so I can run it at 2-ohm like the factory driver.

I used these adapters and wiring harnesses:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C86HEV2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002BEPJY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I triple-checked and polarity was correct based on wiring specs others have listed on this site.

This is just the woofers, I did the tweeters the other day and you only need basic tools, some hot glue, and half an hour per side to get those done. Virtually a straight swap.

I pulled the vapor barrier from the driver door. I didn't do that on the passenger side. I think this was overkill, frankly.

Tracing the barrier onto the sound deadening for a rough template

Speaker hole and immediately behind it deadened

Doors that "thud"

All I had onhand was some very wide weather stripping foam. It worked, but it looks a bit stupid

I secured the speaker adapter to the door with 4 self-tappers on each door

Passenger door, for comparison:

I also did behind the door handle on both doors.

Stock vs Focal comparison

I suppose the stock woofer could use some super strong neodymium magnet or something but, I doubt it.

All in all it took about two hours, but I probably would have cut out about half an hour of that if I had done both doors the same. I can always treat the passenger door the same as the driver door in the future if I wanted.

Getting the door cards off is simple if you have a trim tool. Just pop the window switch area off, working from front to back. There's only one screw in the door card right under that panel. Then the rest are just panel fasteners, most of which come off with a little pressure from said panel removal tool. Lastly, the door clips to the door handle bracket so you just have to pull straight out once all the other clips are released. Goes back on even easier than it comes off.

 

[ctrmofo]

i have these waiting for my install. you can get them and go back to use them for a cleaner look and more directional focus of the waves vs the weather stripping.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076MM4DJV

 

[ctrmofo]

Yeah! 5 rolls of 11 sq ft each of the awesome SoundSkins sound deadening material from Australia came, along with 2 pairs of JL C2-075ct tweeters for the doors. Waiting for the JL C2-650x mid woofers for the doors to come tomorrow.

At only 6 lbs 13 oz per roll, I’m only adding 34 lbs which is nothing.

PS - I’ve decided to get a 3rd pair of the JL C2-075ct tweeters which I’ll install in the C-pillar panels to replace the stock 3.5” weak speakers. Stock ones perform at tweeter range anyway. It’s how you can change those out since nothing on the market in 3.5” will fit there without major mods.

 

[MonkeyConQueso]

Holy crap. Did the amp and sub install, and let me tell you...

Fuck that grommet. Other than spending 1 hour failing to get the cable through the grommet, then resorting to lube to finally get the power cable through, it was a simple but engaging process all in all.

I'm really sad that now that I'm done (7 hours later) the Rockford Fosgate site is screwed up, and no downloads will work. So I can't tune the amp. I'll likely have to wait until Tuesday if they fix their site before then.

Otherwise, I can't really give a final opinion yet. Once I finally deal with any clipping, I can give my input.

 

[ctrmofo]

Holy crap. Did the amp and sub install, and let me tell you...

Fuck that grommet. Other than spending 1 hour failing to get the cable through the grommet, then resorting to lube to finally get the power cable through, it was a simple but engaging process all in all.

I'm really sad that now that I'm done (7 hours later) the Rockford Fosgate site is screwed up, and no downloads will work. So I can't tune the amp. I'll likely have to wait until Tuesday if they fix their site before then.

Otherwise, I can't really give a final opinion yet. Once I finally deal with any clipping, I can give my input.

LOL warned you about the grommet. Yes trick is a squirt of WD40, swipe of butter, or water and dish soap ;-)

I can help you. PM me your email and will send you the 40 hz tune file ;-)

 

[ctrmofo]

@MonkeyConQueso better yet here you go so you can enjoy your upgrade this long weekend ;-)

40 hz tune file in mp3:

Tuning instructions:

Enjoy!

 

[MonkeyConQueso]

@MonkeyConQueso better yet here you go so you can enjoy your upgrade this long weekend ;-)

40 hz tune file in mp3:

Tuning instructions:

Enjoy!

Looks like I woke up to a fixed RF site and was able to download before I came in here. Thanks for posting those, though!

I won't be able to do anything with it until tomorrow-ish, and I won't be driving the care until Tuesday, so I'll just have to wait patiently to play with the new toy.

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