Installing a Car Audio Capacitor

This post will explain how I installed my Maxxlink 1.5 farad capacitor into my car's stereo system.
The capacitor:
http://www.amazon.com/Maxxlink-VDC1-5V1-HYPERcharge-Value-Capacitor/dp/B008PM5WM6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366054717&sr=8-1&keywords=maxxlink+capacitor

To start off you have to charge the capacitor. In order to do this you have to remove the fuse in your power wire. This ensures that the fuse doesn't blow while charging. The capacitor should come with a resistor, attach that onto the positive terminal of your capacitor (set up in the picture above). Make sure to charge the capacitor in the location that you want it, because as soon as you disconnect the ground it starts to drain it's charge. Ground the capacitor to it's own location (not the same as your amp). If your capacitor has a digital display, as soon as you touch your main battery lead to the positive terminal, it will begin to charge. It will digitally display the capacity of the unit. Once it gets up to around 12 volts (if not higher), you can reconnect the fuse and it will start to do its thing! Your main battery lead should go strait to the capacitor, then have a shorter power wire(no longer than 18 inches) going from the capacitor into the amp.

Here's a diagram from Sonic Electronix showing how the installed capacitor should be wired:

Tuning my Subwoofer Amplifier

To start off, my system is a JL Audio W3v3 in a JL High Output wedge enclosure. Powered by a Hifonics Brutus BRX1100.1D amp. My sub is wired at 2 ohms and runs at 500 RMS, while my amp is  capable of 800 RMS @ 2 ohms. So to ensure that I don't blow my sub, I have to set my gain carefully. To do that I followed the directions given by Kyle Duffy at Sonic Electronix:
 http://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com/car-audio-and-video/car-amplifiers/how-to-adjust-amplifier-gains-using-a-digital-multi-meter.html

After setting the Gain your left with; phase, bass EQ, subsonic filter, and low pass filter. When it comes to setting the filters, it depends on the kind of music that you listen to as well as personal preference. The low pass filter acts as a ceiling, and subsonic as a floor for the bass frequencies. Meaning the sub won't hit notes that are above the low pass filter or below the subsonic filter. I listen to mostly Rap and Trap music so I have my filters set around 120Hz and 27Hz. Bass EQ or Bass Boost really just turns up your gain, be careful not to turn that up to high, unless your sub can handle it. I'm not exactly sure what the phase knob does, i've messed with it and it's really hard to notice a difference in the sound of the bass.

Hifonic Brutus BRX1100.1D Install

A couple weeks ago I received my Hifonics Brutus BRX1100 super D class amplifier from Amazon:
 http://www.amazon.com/Hifonics-BRX1100-1D-Vehicle-Subwoofer-Amplifier/dp/B00BHSTTLU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363636067&sr=8-3&keywords=hifonics+brutus+brx

Because I already ran my RCA and power wires for the amp, I'll be showing how I went about mounting , and connecting the amp.

To start off I had to connect the power wire to the positive terminal on my battery. I also had to cut out a section of my positive terminal cover to feed the wire through (below).

(The terminal cover isn't needed, but I chose to keep it)

I decided to mount the amp on my backseat. So I pulled the wires up from under the seat and fed them under the carpet on the back of the seat. To give it a cleaner look I cut holes in carpet on the back of the seat and ran the wires through there and into the amp.

The next and definitely one of the most important steps is connecting the ground wire. The ground wire needs to be connected DIRECTLY to metal. Which means you either need to find a spot on the chassis without any paint, or sand off the paint around a bolt in order to get the best connection. I used the seat mounting bracket in my car.

Here's a photo of the wires coming through the carpet with the amp screwed to the seat (I used self tapping screws).

Since my amp came with a remote bass control, I had to run the cable for that down the middle of my car. In order to remove the center console, there are two screws inside the center console and one more that is accessible only after you remove the E-Brake boot.

(You can see how I ran the wire in this picture)

(2 Screws inside Center Console)

(You can see the wire ran from the middle in this picture)

I'll be following this post up with a post on how I tuned the amp.

Amplifier Power Wire Routing

Hello everyone, in this post i'll be showing you how I ran the power wire for my amplifier in my 2010 Subaru Impreza. For my wiring kit I used KnuKonceptz 4 gauge amp wiring kit:
http://www.amazon.com/KnuKonceptz-KCA-Complete-Gauge-Installation/dp/B0050I6KII/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1362429873&sr=8-4&keywords=amp+wiring+kit
To start off I had to connect the fuse holder along with a ring terminal for the battery end (shown in the picture above), You should leave at least 12-17 inches of wire between the fuse holder and the battery end of the wire. Also, I used a pair of dikes in order to strip that thick of wire.

After preparing the power wire, I ran it down the driver side of the engine bay and dropped it down into the fender.

Once I the wire was dropped behind the fender I had to remove the clips holding on the inner driver side wheel well. This will then give me access to the boot in the picture below. I did have to drill a hole in the boot in order to get the wire through.

^(Inside, driver side)^

After feeding all my wire into the cabin I had to remove the kick panel, and from there I could take off the floor trim along with the carpet. My car was a pain, considering how my trim and floor was all one piece (as you can see above). In most of the other cars I've dealt with they were two separate pieces (carpet and floor trim) making it a lot easier to pull the carpet back and run the wire. 

Like my RCA cables, for now I just ran all of the wire under my seat until I get my amp and capacitor in a week or so.

Subwoofer Hole Repair

As you can see in the picture above, a friend of mine has two 10" JL W3's, one of which that is wounded pretty badly. Neither of us really knew exactly how to fix it, or how it's SUPPOSED to be fixed, but saw hope in silicone!

We then proceeded to clean off the cone of the subwoofer and apply a layer of silicone that was said to be black (obviously not black), over the punctures. We know it looks like shit so there's no reason to tell us, but the sub now works and sounds A LOT better! However, the sub has less 'travel' than it's brother when it hits (most likely from the silicone), but both sound relatively the same. I would recommend using clear silicone, as well as using as little as possible for anyone looking to repair holes in speakers.

2010 Subaru Impreza Kenwood Install

The day had finally come! All of the necessary components to installing my new stereo had arrived.  Items included; The new 2013 Kenwood DDX470 double din stereo, a double din mounting kit for a 2010 Subaru Impreza, Metra Axxess universal steering wheel control adapter, along with some insulated wire connectors.

Tools included:
Wire stripper/cutter/crimper
Phillips Screwdriver

The first part to my install was removing my dash panel and removing the stock stereo. The dash panel was secured by pins that just pulled right off, you also had 4 screws to take out in order to remove the radio. After that I removed the black wrap around the stock radio harness and began to cut, strip, and reconnect the wires. To figure out the stock wiring colors I simply searched "2010 Subaru Impreza stereo wiring diagram" on Google. I also followed Axxess's instructions to installing their steering wheel adapter on my car. I had already cut off my stock radio harness and ran my rear output USB cable into the little "cubby hole" under the climate control on the dash, in the picture above.

Here's a look at most of the wiring for the head unit. This includes wiring for the radio itself, my steering wheel adapter, bluetooth, and my audio video cords.

After connecting the Kenwood harness I also took the time to run my RCA and remote wires for my amplifier (yet to come)! In the picture above you see the wires coming around the back of the glove box then under the passenger side carpet. The picture below is where I'm storing all the wire, under the rear seat cushion.

I had original plans of not using the bluetooth, but then later decided that I might as well. To run the mic. I just dropped it off the left side of the stereo housing and mounted it on my steering column  As for the bluetooth cable, I also dropped that off the left side, because the instructions say to not put it where it's surrounded by metal.

And then at last here is the final product! All systems are go on this, and now i'm just waiting for an amp and subs next!

CHEAP Touch Screen Security

Upon waiting for my new head unit and such to be delivered I thought to myself, "How in the hell am I suppose to keep my new touchscreen stereo from getting stolen in my Subaru when my windows are clear as day??"
Well after a little bit of research I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Faceplate-Security-Dummy-Panel-Double-Din-In-Car-Stereo-/150701595678