Subwoofer install on a budget

[chicagoslick]

An incorrectly set gain control can absolutely cause a amp to distort. But that kicker has dirty sounding amps, I'm not a fan of kicker just disagree with the assessment of you and your friends on that brand of amp. I think it is more likely in the past the gains have not been set correctly on the kicker amps you were using and thus an assumption was made. And it's ok 99% of the people who install after market amps don't have the first clue how to properly setup the gain on an amp. And if you tried to do it without a volt meter you definitely didn't do it correctly. If send enough signal voltage to the amp you can turn the gain completely off then you don't have to worry about it. ??????

I'm guessing you meant MTX and not Kicker as you stated above, right!?!

 

[antarctica24]

It doesn't matter same story different amp, kicker, mtx, pioneer, Kenwood are the small thing with 1% of each other. Audio is broken down into tiers for retailers. Level a is your Walmarts, level b is you best buy level c are you car audio and home chains as best buy is a level b/c but their magnolia stores are level d. The top of the food chain.

Level c is your upper end car audio and home audio retailers. Like car toys and Freeman's and the like. Level d is reserved for speciality. A majority of the different lines use a lot of the same components but remove features to meet price points. An amp is nothing more than a device that amplifies a signal. Several test have been done to show when they are setup correctly humans cannot tell the difference. Richard Clark and audio engineer out of Burlington NC did that test. He offer a 10,000 reward for anyone who could come and while blindfolded distinguish between the amps. Over 100 people came to take that challenge including some friends of mine who I have judged with for better than 10 years and no one ever collected that money.

So if that's the case why have focal, Alpine, audison, dls, zapco, jlaudio? Amplifing signal is not enough. These amps focus on power outout, and clean throughput. Someone also mentions their amp was cea rated so it was better. The cea standard came about to reel in amp manufactures that were making stupid power claims. Like a 2 channel 5000 watt amp for $150.00. the standard requires your amps to be tested and show their actual output per channel at 12v and at 14.4 volts. The major players came up with cea to help better sell their stuff.

You'll like this, most speakers, cost less than $25.00 to make each. Yep the same ones that you can find at madisound that their selling for 300.00 each. Those 770.00 focal drivers 25.00 each or less. Electronics industry is one of the biggest scams on the market today. Furniture is number 2 at a 300% markup and jewelry is 500% is number 1.

I've been in this industry over 25 years and 7 of them was owning a shop and selling all of the brands mentioned and then some. Why? Because of people like you and your friends who go around telling people certain brands are noisy. Everybody is different. Everybody has their own personal taste. But the best part about selling a specific brand is that if one guy buys it and you set it up right he lays waste to everyone of his friends and they all came running to get what he had, except for the one you pointed in a different direction and you start this war between them on which one is better, cleaner, louder, hits harder. Their all the same. I can take any setup you want give me, anything, and if I pick the processor, I can beat the sound quality of anything you want to bring to the table. Everytime. The only difference is what I start with and how far I have to go to get to the end. You go right ahead and keep thinking kicker or mtx is distored or muddy or not a sclean as that pioneer. Some car audio shop is laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[chicagoslick]

It doesn't matter same story different amp, kicker, mtx, pioneer, Kenwood are the small thing with 1% of each other. Audio is broken down into tiers for retailers. Level a is your Walmarts, level b is you best buy level c are you car audio and home chains as best buy is a level b/c but their magnolia stores are level d. The top of the food chain.

Level c is your upper end car audio and home audio retailers. Like car toys and Freeman's and the like. Level d is reserved for speciality. A majority of the different lines use a lot of the same components but remove features to meet price points. An amp is nothing more than a device that amplifies a signal. Several test have been done to show when they are setup correctly humans cannot tell the difference. Richard Clark and audio engineer out of Burlington NC did that test. He offer a 10,000 reward for anyone who could come and while blindfolded distinguish between the amps. Over 100 people came to take that challenge including some friends of mine who I have judged with for better than 10 years and no one ever collected that money.

So if that's the case why have focal, Alpine, audison, dls, zapco, jlaudio? Amplifing signal is not enough. These amps focus on power outout, and clean throughput. Someone also mentions their amp was cea rated so it was better. The cea standard came about to reel in amp manufactures that were making stupid power claims. Like a 2 channel 5000 watt amp for $150.00. the standard requires your amps to be tested and show their actual output per channel at 12v and at 14.4 volts. The major players came up with cea to help better sell their stuff.

You'll like this, most speakers, cost less than $25.00 to make each. Yep the same ones that you can find at madisound that their selling for 300.00 each. Those 770.00 focal drivers 25.00 each or less. Electronics industry is one of the biggest scams on the market today. Furniture is number 2 at a 300% markup and jewelry is 500% is number 1.

I've been in this industry over 25 years and 7 of them was owning a shop and selling all of the brands mentioned and then some. Why? Because of people like you and your friends who go around telling people certain brands are noisy. Everybody is different. Everybody has their own personal taste. But the best part about selling a specific brand is that if one guy buys it and you set it up right he lays waste to everyone of his friends and they all came running to get what he had, except for the one you pointed in a different direction and you start this war between them on which one is better, cleaner, louder, hits harder. Their all the same. I can take any setup you want give me, anything, and if I pick the processor, I can beat the sound quality of anything you want to bring to the table. Everytime. The only difference is what I start with and how far I have to go to get to the end. You go right ahead and keep thinking kicker or mtx is distored or muddy or not a sclean as that pioneer. Some car audio shop is laughing all the way to the bank.

Ok, so I never attacked you or your opinion or facts in most instances. I too, can Google all of the stuff you wrote above and in many other posts you have made. I was purely stating my opinion having had MTX amps in the past and the experiences I (and some of my friends) had with their amps. One of the main points I was making was to ensure correct setup, which you clearly fail to acknowledge.

Spend more time actually reading and understanding what is written before you attack someone...

 

[chicagoslick]

It doesn't matter same story different amp, kicker, mtx, pioneer, Kenwood are the small thing with 1% of each other. Audio is broken down into tiers for retailers. Level a is your Walmarts, level b is you best buy level c are you car audio and home chains as best buy is a level b/c but their magnolia stores are level d. The top of the food chain.

Level c is your upper end car audio and home audio retailers. Like car toys and Freeman's and the like. Level d is reserved for speciality. A majority of the different lines use a lot of the same components but remove features to meet price points. An amp is nothing more than a device that amplifies a signal. Several test have been done to show when they are setup correctly humans cannot tell the difference. Richard Clark and audio engineer out of Burlington NC did that test. He offer a 10,000 reward for anyone who could come and while blindfolded distinguish between the amps. Over 100 people came to take that challenge including some friends of mine who I have judged with for better than 10 years and no one ever collected that money.

So if that's the case why have focal, Alpine, audison, dls, zapco, jlaudio? Amplifing signal is not enough. These amps focus on power outout, and clean throughput. Someone also mentions their amp was cea rated so it was better. The cea standard came about to reel in amp manufactures that were making stupid power claims. Like a 2 channel 5000 watt amp for $150.00. the standard requires your amps to be tested and show their actual output per channel at 12v and at 14.4 volts. The major players came up with cea to help better sell their stuff.

You'll like this, most speakers, cost less than $25.00 to make each. Yep the same ones that you can find at madisound that their selling for 300.00 each. Those 770.00 focal drivers 25.00 each or less. Electronics industry is one of the biggest scams on the market today. Furniture is number 2 at a 300% markup and jewelry is 500% is number 1.

I've been in this industry over 25 years and 7 of them was owning a shop and selling all of the brands mentioned and then some. Why? Because of people like you and your friends who go around telling people certain brands are noisy. Everybody is different. Everybody has their own personal taste. But the best part about selling a specific brand is that if one guy buys it and you set it up right he lays waste to everyone of his friends and they all came running to get what he had, except for the one you pointed in a different direction and you start this war between them on which one is better, cleaner, louder, hits harder. Their all the same. I can take any setup you want give me, anything, and if I pick the processor, I can beat the sound quality of anything you want to bring to the table. Everytime. The only difference is what I start with and how far I have to go to get to the end. You go right ahead and keep thinking kicker or mtx is distored or muddy or not a sclean as that pioneer. Some car audio shop is laughing all the way to the bank.

Ok, so I never attacked you or your opinion or facts in most instances. I too, can Google all of the stuff you wrote above and in many other posts you have made. I was purely stating my opinion having had MTX amps in the past and the experiences I (and some of my friends) had with their amps. One of the main points I was making was to ensure correct setup, which you clearly fail to acknowledge.

Spend more time actually reading and understanding what is written before you attack someone...

 

[chicagoslick]

The saga continues. I think I'm going to have to build another box for this sub, or at least try it in another box. I know it's still not broken in but I have far more flat spots in the spectrum with the new sub, and while it sounds good at moderate volumes it sounds like there some excursion when I try to push it. Per the specs it should play well in .25 to .5 cubic feet and the box it's in is around .35 so it should be ok but something's not right. The hole for the Boss was slightly larger so I may be leaking air despite being screwed down tight. Maybe it needs to be in .25 for better cone control. On the bright side, a smaller box will fit even better give more clearance above the cone, plus I can make sure the cutout is the right size. On the minus side, I have to build a new box. haha.

Stormy, I was looking at your pictures and have a suggestion on your box build. Do not place the sub on top of the carpet when you screw it down. It will not seal well doing that. Take time to cut the carpet back far enough to allow the sub to seat onto the MDF board. When I install my subs I also use silicon caulk (kitchen and bathroom clear, not window caulk) and spread it thinly around that area letting it dry before I place the sub in place. This will help ensure a tight seal. When building your box make sure you build it to the speaker specifications if you can, which you stated you were going to try and do. I never use less than 3/4" MDF, in my install I actually used 1", reinforcing the corners. Ensure you seal and glue all seams well. There are some really good youtube videos on speaker enclosure builds by some reputable installers. Mark at https://www.youtube.com/user/CarAudioFabrication and Matt at https://www.youtube.com/user/hkoitmtmiye are reputable installers you can trust guidance from.

Best of luck and sorry for having the back and forth with antartica24. I am done with that.

 

[antarctica24]

Ok, so I never attacked you or your opinion or facts in most instances. I too, can Google all of the stuff you wrote above and in many other posts you have made. I was purely stating my opinion having had MTX amps in the past and the experiences I (and some of my friends) had with their amps. One of the main points I was making was to ensure correct setup, which you clearly fail to acknowledge.

Spend more time actually reading and understanding what is written before you attack someone...

So what is it that you think I had to Google? Anything Ive said any manufacturer can explain to you. It is how it's setup. It how the industry had been setup for the last 35 years or more. Back in 99 when I had my first shop we were looking into branding our on line and private labeling our own speakers. Their used to be two companies here I. The us that we're building speakers. They had about 100 different baskets and hundreds of cone configurations. It was about 25.00 to build the prototype. Then in quantities of more than 20 it started to go down from there. Now, almost all of that is done in Singapore, China and Hong Kong. Scott buwalda who owns hybrid goes to China to get his made, Chris dragon from hatmon they get theirs made in China, Andy wheymeyer over at frog audio China, Fred Lynch over at arc audio China. I don't need Google for any of it. And I'm trolling you I'm just telling you like it is. You don't have to be embarrassed it's just the way the industry is setup. Didn't mean hurt your pride. And its ok to be wrong. People are wrong all the time. I was wrong about the fiesta being a maf tuned car. Unfortunately not wrong about the audio stuff. Now you've already said you've made your last post, man up and let it go.

 

[Stormy]

Stormy, I was looking at your pictures and have a suggestion on your box build. Do not place the sub on top of the carpet when you screw it down. It will not seal well doing that. Take time to cut the carpet back far enough to allow the sub to seat onto the MDF board. When I install my subs I also use silicon caulk (kitchen and bathroom clear, not window caulk) and spread it thinly around that area letting it dry before I place the sub in place. This will help ensure a tight seal. When building your box make sure you build it to the speaker specifications if you can, which you stated you were going to try and do. I never use less than 3/4" MDF, in my install I actually used 1", reinforcing the corners. Ensure you seal and glue all seams well. There are some really good youtube videos on speaker enclosure builds by some reputable installers. Mark at https://www.youtube.com/user/CarAudioFabrication and Matt at https://www.youtube.com/user/hkoitmtmiye are reputable installers you can trust guidance from.

Best of luck and sorry for having the back and forth with antartica24. I am done with that.

It's all good. It's nice to have some other folks with experience in here. I know I'm building a cheap setup here but I also have almost 25 years of history with car audio. Back in the mid to late 90's I was an IASCA sound quality judge and competitor, sponsored by Oz Audio and StreetWires. I took some awards in 151-300 class, running Soundstream Class A amps and a lot of AudioControl processors. Used to do fiberglass and plexi work too. Those days are behind me for the most part. I just strive for a balance of "not terrible" and "not annoying the wife by investing too much in gear". Haha. Eventually I'll add an amp or switch to a 4 channel and upgrade the door drivers and relocate the tweeters to A pillar pods or pods in the A pillar window pockets.

I know all too well the markup on most drivers. That's why I was fine to roll the dice on the Boss sub. I knew better on that SSL amp but it was a $25 science experiment.

Thanks for the box building advice. On subs 10 and larger I will do 3/4" and route an inset for the ring then seal to the wood. For that cheap 8 I had no issues with sealing to carpet. I also used 1/2" mdf because I had it handy and because in order to get the box to fit where it did 3/4" wouldn't quite get me the internal volume/mounting depth I needed. It was glued and braced and solid enough for the Boss. The new box can and will be 3/4" since it'll smaller and I'll mount to the wood.

Oh, and I'm not sure I'd consider car toys or even Magnolia top tier shops. They sell some decent equipment but I've seen a lot of their work and it's typically mediocre. They're second tier generally, unless they happen to have a real good guy in the shop. Most of the really good shops are small, passionate independents.

 

[jmrtsus]

It doesn't matter same story different amp, kicker, mtx, pioneer, Kenwood are the small thing with 1% of each other. Audio is broken down into tiers for retailers. Level a is your Walmarts, level b is you best buy level c are you car audio and home chains as best buy is a level b/c but their magnolia stores are level d. The top of the food chain.

Level c is your upper end car audio and home audio retailers. Like car toys and Freeman's and the like. Level d is reserved for speciality. A majority of the different lines use a lot of the same components but remove features to meet price points. An amp is nothing more than a device that amplifies a signal. Several test have been done to show when they are setup correctly humans cannot tell the difference. Richard Clark and audio engineer out of Burlington NC did that test. He offer a 10,000 reward for anyone who could come and while blindfolded distinguish between the amps. Over 100 people came to take that challenge including some friends of mine who I have judged with for better than 10 years and no one ever collected that money.

So if that's the case why have focal, Alpine, audison, dls, zapco, jlaudio? Amplifing signal is not enough. These amps focus on power outout, and clean throughput. Someone also mentions their amp was cea rated so it was better. The cea standard came about to reel in amp manufactures that were making stupid power claims. Like a 2 channel 5000 watt amp for $150.00. the standard requires your amps to be tested and show their actual output per channel at 12v and at 14.4 volts. The major players came up with cea to help better sell their stuff.

You'll like this, most speakers, cost less than $25.00 to make each. Yep the same ones that you can find at madisound that their selling for 300.00 each. Those 770.00 focal drivers 25.00 each or less. Electronics industry is one of the biggest scams on the market today. Furniture is number 2 at a 300% markup and jewelry is 500% is number 1.

I've been in this industry over 25 years and 7 of them was owning a shop and selling all of the brands mentioned and then some. Why? Because of people like you and your friends who go around telling people certain brands are noisy. Everybody is different. Everybody has their own personal taste. But the best part about selling a specific brand is that if one guy buys it and you set it up right he lays waste to everyone of his friends and they all came running to get what he had, except for the one you pointed in a different direction and you start this war between them on which one is better, cleaner, louder, hits harder. Their all the same. I can take any setup you want give me, anything, and if I pick the processor, I can beat the sound quality of anything you want to bring to the table. Everytime. The only difference is what I start with and how far I have to go to get to the end. You go right ahead and keep thinking kicker or mtx is distored or muddy or not a sclean as that pioneer. Some car audio shop is laughing all the way to the bank.

As a wholesale gem dealer and retired Jewelry store owner the standard markup in the industry is 300%, "triple key" it is called. This is why you see so many 50% off sales in jewelry stores......they still make a 50% profit on a 50% off sale! Custom mounting catalogs show a tiny symbol of three keys so the store knows their cost is 1/3 the listed price printed for the customer. Markup in wholesale colored gemstone can vary much higher for the more rare stuff, up to and over ten times my cost. Diamonds can be had with little markup at the wholesale level.

 

[antarctica24]

Wow you are a multifaceted Individual you taught audio for 30 years and owned your own jewelry wholesale company. So I was off on the markup...REALLY??????? Don't you have something better to do?

 

[chicagoslick]

It's all good. It's nice to have some other folks with experience in here. I know I'm building a cheap setup here but I also have almost 25 years of history with car audio. Back in the mid to late 90's I was an IASCA sound quality judge and competitor, sponsored by Oz Audio and StreetWires. I took some awards in 151-300 class, running Soundstream Class A amps and a lot of AudioControl processors. Used to do fiberglass and plexi work too. Those days are behind me for the most part. I just strive for a balance of "not terrible" and "not annoying the wife by investing too much in gear". Haha. Eventually I'll add an amp or switch to a 4 channel and upgrade the door drivers and relocate the tweeters to A pillar pods or pods in the A pillar window pockets.

I know all too well the markup on most drivers. That's why I was fine to roll the dice on the Boss sub. I knew better on that SSL amp but it was a $25 science experiment.

Thanks for the box building advice. On subs 10 and larger I will do 3/4" and route an inset for the ring then seal to the wood. For that cheap 8 I had no issues with sealing to carpet. I also used 1/2" mdf because I had it handy and because in order to get the box to fit where it did 3/4" wouldn't quite get me the internal volume/mounting depth I needed. It was glued and braced and solid enough for the Boss. The new box can and will be 3/4" since it'll smaller and I'll mount to the wood.

Oh, and I'm not sure I'd consider car toys or even Magnolia top tier shops. They sell some decent equipment but I've seen a lot of their work and it's typically mediocre. They're second tier generally, unless they happen to have a real good guy in the shop. Most of the really good shops are small, passionate independents.

I'm sure it is going to work out well for you. Keep us updated...

 

[Stormy]

Slapped together a new box today. 3/4" MDF, screwed and glued. I was able to toy with the dimensions and ended up with outer specs of 19 x 10.5 x 4.5 for a volume of .27. It made a massive difference. No more overexcursion, smoother curve, higher peak volume. I also have much better clearance below the cargo deck. The cutout for the Boss was 1/4" larger than the RF needed so the new sub probably wasn't sealing well, especially against the carpet, so I'm guessing leakage was the prime issue. The new box is carpet-free so far but I'll cover it tomorrow and then post pics of the whole thing. Th RF seems about on par with the Boss now, output-wise. It's still tighter sounding and doesn't blend in with the doors as well. I think it's a result of the RF being more damped and having twice the magnet. It still doesn't hum as hard as the Boss in some of the same ranges of familiar music but that's to be expected. Heck, differences were pretty noticeable in the RF by itself between the two boxes. According to the specs for this box I am -3db at 49Hz. Not sure where the Boss was. Anyhow, I'm pretty pleased overall but just for grins I think I'm going to drop another Boss in the old box and do an A/B listen to see which box I actually prefer and then sell the other.

 

[chicagoslick]

Slapped together a new box today. 3/4" MDF, screwed and glued. I was able to toy with the dimensions and ended up with outer specs of 19 x 10.5 x 4.5 for a volume of .27. It made a massive difference. No more overexcursion, smoother curve, higher peak volume. I also have much better clearance below the cargo deck. The cutout for the Boss was 1/4" larger than the RF needed so the new sub probably wasn't sealing well, especially against the carpet, so I'm guessing leakage was the prime issue. The new box is carpet-free so far but I'll cover it tomorrow and then post pics of the whole thing. Th RF seems about on par with the Boss now, output-wise. It's still tighter sounding and doesn't blend in with the doors as well. I think it's a result of the RF being more damped and having twice the magnet. It still doesn't hum as hard as the Boss in some of the same ranges of familiar music but that's to be expected. Heck, differences were pretty noticeable in the RF by itself between the two boxes. According to the specs for this box I am -3db at 49Hz. Not sure where the Boss was. Anyhow, I'm pretty pleased overall but just for grins I think I'm going to drop another Boss in the old box and do an A/B listen to see which box I actually prefer and then sell the other.

Great to hear Stormy. Best of luck and keep us posted as your system progresses.

 

[Stormy]

OK, so I carpeted, cleaned up the wiring and gave the box a good stuffing of fiberfill. I forgot to take pictures of the box before carpet. Sorry. I did get a pic of the old box and new box next to each other just for comparison, though.



I spent about 45 minutes in the car tuning the amp and doing a lot of subjective listening through a wider range of music and I am very pleased. It sounded like crap at first but it turns out that I just had phase reversed. Once I switched the leads it came alive, as expected. It blends far better now with a broad range of music. It eats pop and dance alive, very impressive. It does an admirable job of adding depth to rock and metal. Better mid/midbass will be a greater asset in that category. Most hip hop and drum & bass sound good as long as it doesn't dig or sweep too deep. Being an 8 it rolls off pretty hard below 30-35 Hz.



I'm already considering what's next. Time to upgrade components and relocate the tweeters, I think. I mocked up some plates for the a-pillar windows. Gotta get my router back from a friend and then I'll make some proper ones and maybe do some fiberglass work. I did a lot of listening at Car Toys and I'm really feeling the Alpine SPS-610c components. They sounded better than anything until you got up into the top Focal sets. The tweeters were crisp but warm and had good character and the mids rendered nicely and didn't sound boxy or flat. After that, I'm really tempted to get into the JL-Audio Fix and TwK processors. This may become a slippery slope.

*edit* I've started a new thread titled "System upgrade on a budget" dedicated to the rest of my build.

 

[Stormy]

So I just learned about the factory DSP rolling off the lows so I'm guessing my sub is not reaching full potential. It's only an 8 so I'm probably not losing much depth but I'm sure it's having a noticeable effect. I feel a bit silly.

 

[Stormy]

Just did the Forscan DSP bypass. Had a noticeable effect on the stock speakers and a dramatic effect on the sub. No more obnoxious peaks and dips in the response. Everything is smooth and more alive. Very pleased with the results and I recommend this to anyone adding a sub to their system.

 

[chicagoslick]

Glad to hear stormy. I do have some words of caution with doing this. There are many reasons the stock system has been tuned the way it is. It not only makes the stock speakers work best within the installed location it also does not overdrive them. Additionally, the tune is for allowing the other parts of the system like navigation, phone, and voice commands to operate correctly. Also, power capability of the head unit can be pushed causing the head unit to get hotter than expected. Not saying any of this will happen, just want you to know potential side affects.

Now with all of that stated above, if the primary reason is to send the speaker signals to a DSP or LOC, then supply the signal out from those to an after market amplifier, you will most likely not have issues.

 

[Stormy]

Thanks, Slick. I have given the stock speakers a pretty good pounding and I don't think I'll be blowing them, at least not for the 36 hours or so they'll still be hooked up. I hadn't considered the head unit heat issue, though. Again, should be a non-issue soon enough. Also hadn't thought about the phone, nav, etc. I know that some folks with the FiX units can run into problems with the phone but I've not read anything about people encountering any issues with the override. I don't use the factory nav but I do use Android Auto/Google Maps so I should probably try that. Bluetooth seems to be working fine for audio playback but I should also try making a call. Thanks for the heads-up.

On a side note, overall volume has notably increased without all the nannies. What used to be a 15 on the volume knob is now a 12.

 

[erdna14]

This is great news. I'll have to add this to my Forscan to do list.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chicagoslick]

Thanks, Slick. I have given the stock speakers a pretty good pounding and I don't think I'll be blowing them, at least not for the 36 hours or so they'll still be hooked up. I hadn't considered the head unit heat issue, though. Again, should be a non-issue soon enough. Also hadn't thought about the phone, nav, etc. I know that some folks with the FiX units can run into problems with the phone but I've not read anything about people encountering any issues with the override. I don't use the factory nav but I do use Android Auto/Google Maps so I should probably try that. Bluetooth seems to be working fine for audio playback but I should also try making a call. Thanks for the heads-up.

On a side note, overall volume has notably increased without all the nannies. What used to be a 15 on the volume knob is now a 12.

Stormy,

I know you are pretty good with this stuff, so I figured you were in pretty good shape, but wanted to make sure that others, without this type of knowledge, would be informed.

Glad to hear your system is coming along.

 

[slipcougar]

Thanks, Slick. I have given the stock speakers a pretty good pounding and I don't think I'll be blowing them, at least not for the 36 hours or so they'll still be hooked up. I hadn't considered the head unit heat issue, though. Again, should be a non-issue soon enough. Also hadn't thought about the phone, nav, etc. I know that some folks with the FiX units can run into problems with the phone but I've not read anything about people encountering any issues with the override. I don't use the factory nav but I do use Android Auto/Google Maps so I should probably try that. Bluetooth seems to be working fine for audio playback but I should also try making a call. Thanks for the heads-up.

On a side note, overall volume has notably increased without all the nannies. What used to be a 15 on the volume knob is now a 12.

This is great to hear, your setup is looking great! I just finished my own sub install and am now considering this, as I'm about to Forscan it to finish my rear-camera install. I noticed the bump of the sub (and the range) wasn't quite as intense as when I had this in my WRX with an aftermarket Pioneer headunit, but I had it all EQ'd and obviously there was a separate sub output. In the FiST I'm using an LOC and an LPF, which seem to be working quite well, but I'm intrigued by your post. Do you think it's worth it? I feel like the gain on the LOC and AMP are cranked a bit higher than in the previous setup but I haven't noticed any problems thus far. Could any of this have to do with the fact that I've tapped only the right side speaker wiring? I've used LOC's in the past when tapping an OEM headunit but always wired them to both sides. I hadn't seen anyone complain about using just one side in any of my research so I just left it. Anyone have any thoughts?