RexNuts Subaru Forums

Owner: Nick
Car: 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STi Hatch



Source Unit: Pioneer AVIC-F20BT Multimedia Navigation Unit
Front Stage Speakers: DLS Ultimate UP6i 6.5" Splits
Front Stage Amplification: Genesis Profile Four Ultra (4x 100wrms)
Rear Stage Speakers: DLS Performance 225 5.25" 2 Way Coaxials
Rear Stage Amplification: Genesis Profile Four Ultra (4x 100wrms)
Subwoofer: Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" Chrome Subwoofer
Subwoofer Amplification: Genesis Profile Sub Ultra (1x 1000wrms @ 2 ohms)
Cabling And Accessories:
* Stinger Pro Series 0ga and 4ga Power Cabling
* Stinger HPM Series 0ga and 4ga Earth Cabling
* Stinger Pro Series and HPM Series 8ga Subwoofer Wiring
* Stinger HPM Series 1 RCAs
* Stinger Chrome ANL Fuse Holder and Fused Distribution Block
* Custom Aluminum 5 Point Earthing Kit
* Optima D34M Deep Cycle Battery
Other Information:
* Dynamat Extreme in Front and Rear doors
* Dynazorb Speaker Diffusers
* Custom Fibreglass Subwoofer Enclosure/Amp Rack


Nick first came to me in search of advice on what DVD/GPS head unit to choose. After considering a few options, Nick chose Pioneer's flagship AVIC model, the AVIC-F20BT for its countless connectivity options, and playback ability of various music and video formats from a variety of sources. A bonus to this is it's fantastic intuitive user interface and flawless GPS navigation, and Bluetooth hands free capability via an external microphone. USB and an SD memory card slot round out its extensive connectivity list, complementing the standard CD/MP3/DVD and iPod/iPhone compatibility.

Being the brains of the stereo system, it was first to be installed. An OEM adapter harness was used to interface the new Pioneer wiring harness to the existing Subaru wiring.



As per usual, the two harnesses were soldered together and protected appropriately with heat shrink and cable ties.



Upon installation in the car, Stinger HPM Series 1 RCAs were added, and the wiring harness was also interfaced with the car's Vehicle Speed Sensor wiring to display speed information on the head unit display and ensure increased reliability of the GPS navigation.

From left to right, the wiring is as follows: Radio antennae, USB/iPod cable, GPS antennae, Front, Rear and Subwoofer RCAs, Bluetooth microphone, Main wiring harness, and finally the RDS-TMS Tuner wiring harness.



The wired Bluetooth microphone was mounted high up on the drivers side A-pillar.



Once installed, the main unit looks right at home in the Subaru double DIN dash opening. The user friendly interface welcomes you with a choice of 3 usage options.



Selecting the AV Source choice brings you to a whole host of CD or DVD playback options.



After extensive auditioning sessions of a variety of speaker options, Nick eventually decided upon DLS's Ultimate Series UP6i 6.5" splits for his front stage.

Stinger Pro Series 16ga speaker wiring was soldered onto the speaker terminals to ensure the most reliable connection.



And consequently protected with heat shrink.



Custom MDF spacers were then fabricated to align with the factory bolt holes in the door, providing solid mounts for the speakers. They were then given a coat of paint to waterproof them and finished off with foam gaskets to seal solidly to the door skin. The speakers were also gasketed with foam to ensure the consistency of the seal.



Prior to the speakers being installed, Stinger Pro Series 16ga speaker wiring was fed through the door grommets, therefore bypassing the factory thin speaker wiring.



The doors were also treated to a generous helping of Dynamat Extreme on both the inner and outer skins, before the spacers were secured to the factory mounting holes. Dynazorb diffusers take care of diffusing the speaker's back waves, and a Dynamat 'roof' protects the speaker from water.



The DLS Ultimate UP6i 6.5" midbass drivers were then screwed into place.



And the UP1i tweeters were mounted to the factory Subaru tweeter brackets.



The DLS passive crossovers were secured to the inner door skin using custom aluminum brackets that mount to existing bolts on the Subaru door, thus ensuring a solid, rattle free mount, that is protected from potentially harmful elements.

The completed door, on the passenger side. Also note the neatly routed speaker wiring that is secured with existing door wiring, as well as held down with Dynamat strips to prevent potential rattles.



The process was then repeated on the drivers side.



The finished product, with the door trims replaced. Factory appearance is maintained for security purposes.



Moving on to the rear doors, DLS Performance Series 5.25" 2 way coaxials were chosen to add some rear fill to the stereo. Similarly to the front speakers, all connections were soldered securely.



And of course, protected with heat shrink.



Custom MDF spacers take the same shape as the factory speakers and match up to the factory holes in the door. Again, they were painted and had foam applied to seal them to the door.



Stinger Pro Series 16ga speaker wiring was again fed through the door grommets to cater for the aftermarket speakers.



And the rear doors were also generously sound deadened with Dynamat. Passenger side.



And the same treatment applied to the drivers side.



The DLS Performance Series 225 coaxials close up.



And of course the full functionality of the factory door trim is retained to hide and protect the speakers.



With the speaker installation completed, all the necessary wiring was ran to the boot of the car in preparation for the amplifier and subwoofer installation.

A run of Stinger Pro Series 0ga wiring was fed through a factory rubber grommet and appropriately secured down the passenger side of the car, along with the Stinger Pro Series 16ga speaker wiring for the front and rear speakers.



Cable tied and secured under the back seat.



The speaker wiring leads across to the drivers side of the car as that was where the amp rack was destined to go. It was secured along the factory brace that runs underneath the back seat.



On the drivers side, we have the 3 pairs of Stinger HPM1 RCAs, and another two runs of Stinger Pro Series 16ga for the drivers side speakers.

Continuing further back, they are still secured with the factory wiring where possible.



Prior to being installed, the Stinger speaker wiring was prepared for display in the boot. Fork terminals were crimped and soldered onto the wiring allowing easy and secure connection to the amplifier.



And neatened with heatshrink. Note the purposeful positioning of the Stinger logos for display purposes.



Moving on to the boot and the showpiece of the installation, Nick and I discussed at length the various options for keeping his special ordered chrome Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" subwoofer, and two Genesis Profile Ultra amplifiers on display.

Upon opening the boot, we were presented with the following.



Nick had a few requests that also doubled as unique limitations to the design and implementation of the enclosure/amplifier rack;

* The amplifier rack must appropriately display both amplifiers as best as possible.
* The subwoofer must be inverted to display the chrome basket and motor assembly.
* The chrome Stinger fused distribution block must be on display.
* The whole enclosure/amplifier rack must fit underneath the rear Whiteline strut brace.
* It must also be the full width of the boot and fit between the shock towers.
* Spare tyre access must be retained
* As much boot space as possible must still be usable.
* Provide the recommended air volume inside the enclosure to extract best performance from the subwoofer.

Various concept art drawings and options were considered, and after careful consideration, the following design was agreed upon.

It begins with a quick explanation of how the factory floor in the Subaru is designed. Firstly, the floor trim is raised up from the metal floor pan of the car, approximately 75mm on foam blocks, as pictured below, which is not only wasted space, but also provided a severe height restriction of about 280mm of usable height.



It was decided that the rear most piece of foam/floor would be sacrificed in order to give us the additional room needed, and also provide a solid base for the enclosure to sit on, that being the floor pan of the car, rather than a piece of foam.

With that in mind, this piece was removed from the car and the design of the enclosure and amplifier rack began with constructing a base to fit in this area, as well as creating a step that would come forward into the boot area to provide a little extra room. Note that, where possible, the enclosure also contours the the shape of the factory boot trimmings to ensure it blends seamlessly into the rest of the boot.



With the subwoofer mounting ring cut, and amplifier rack constructed, the placement was finalised after much experimenting, careful measuring and positioning to ensure precise fitment. The design of the enclosure also allows it to taper to the angle of the back seat, as well as utilise the air volume underneath and behind the amplifier rack to maximise the usable space and ensure the correct internal air volume for the subwoofer.



Material stretched over the frame to provide shape, and a coat of fibreglass applied.



A total of 8 layers of 750gsm fibreglass matting was applied to the enclosure to ensure maximum strength, resulting in a solid enclosure that can be stood on with no flexing what so ever.



After completing and strength testing the fibreglassing, the back plate was secured to the box with the addition of an internal brace, sealed with a combination of fibreglass resin and urethane, and two layers of bog added to the front to provide a smooth surface to trim with carpet.



The box was then trimmed in black carpet to match the factory boot trim as closely as possible. A foam gasket seals the subwoofer to the enclosure and diffuser panels were fitted to the inside walls. Consequently, wiring up the amplifiers and distribution block began.



Despite being hidden from view, all wiring to the amplifiers was still neatly routed, cable tied and secured with retaining clips.



The additional flaps of carpet hide the side wiring from ever being seen, even though the amplifiers mounted in front do the same thing. The step in the enclosure to cater for the factory floor is also evident and easier to see in this picture.



Spacers on the bottom of the enclosure provide ample clearance for the wiring to pass through safely without the risk of being crushed or damaged, and is again secured with clips and cable ties and routed as neatly as possible.



Behind the subwoofer enclosure, a custom aluminum strap was fabricated to prevent the enclosure from moving, and was secured to a spare bolt underneath the back seat.

The two Genesis Profile Ultra amplifiers were then wired and mounted in place. The Profile Four Ultra powers both the front and rear speakers, providing a healthy 100wrms per speaker. The Profile Sub Ultra is loaded to 2 ohms to provide a monstrous 1000wrms into the single IDMAX 12" Subwoofer.



The chrome Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" subwoofer had its dual 4 ohm voice coils wired in parallel to provide a 2 ohm load to the monoblock amplifier. Stinger Pro Series red and Stinger HPM Series blue 8ga power wire continues the red and blue power wiring scheme and is used as speaker wire for the subwoofer.



A chrome Stinger Pro Series 0ga to 2x 4ga fused distribution block safely splits the 0ga power wiring into two 4ga runs to power the amplifiers. It was mounted on display between the subwoofer and the amplifiers. Also note the placement and direction of the Stinger logos out of the terminals on the subwoofer, and chrome washers utilised to neatly pass the cable through the floor piece.



Overall final shots, without the strut brace fitted.



Left angle.



Close up macro shot of the Genesis amps. Note the blue LEDs behind the fans and Genesis logos that continue the blue theme throughout the car that is also complimented by the blue Stinger HPM1 series RCAs, and Stinger HPM Series earth cabling used.



The Whiteline rear strut brace was then fitted to the car, completing the boot installation.



High right angle.



Low left angle.



Amplifiers powered on again.



Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" close up shot.



Overall long shot from standing height looking into the boot.



And as requested, spare wheel access is completely retained with the removal of the centre floor piece.



With the boot installation completed, it was time to move on to the power supply requirements for the stereo system.

Moving to the engine bay, an Optima D34M deep cycle Blue Top battery replaced the factory item. Chrome Stinger battery terminals also replace the factory items allowing dual 0ga runs to be used for both power and earth duties.

Stinger Pro Series 0ga red was used for power, while Stinger HPM Series 0ga in blue was chosen for earth to keep up the red and blue theme through out the car and engine bay.

Before the installation, a few custom aluminum brackets needed to be fabricated to accommodate the additional accessories.



A chrome Stinger ANL fuse holder and 150A fuse ensure the safety of the stereo's wiring and components, and was mounted firmly on a custom aluminum bracket to avoid drilling any holes in or around the engine bay.

The red 0ga is routed and secured neatly through the engine bay and through a factory rubber grommet as it enters the car, whilst the dual 0ga runs of blue earth wire, run to a buss bar, where they are then split into matching blue Stinger 4ga cable, and fixed to 5 separate earth locations around the engine bay. Again, note the direction of the writing also remains the same coming off the buss bar.



Two of these additional earths continue across the front Whiteline strut brace to the left side of the car.



Earth kit over view.



Battery overview.



Overall engine bay overview.



And as per usual, one last final touch completes the installation.




Comments/questions/feedback/criticisms/etc are welcome.

Cheers guys,
Rick.

Would like to say an ENORMOUS thank you to Rick for all his hard work. The build has taken approximately 6 months to plan & complete, required near 200 emails, countless text messages and phone calls and has cost me an arm & a leg, but I honestly couldn’t be happier. Rick’s work is second to none & I was kept up to date with build progress, any minor setbacks and questions/ queries as they happened; I never imagined the final product could sound and look so good. I’m stoked to have gotten much more than I was hoping for.

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending him to anyone - If anyone has a question about Rick or his work, please feel free to PM me. His attention to detail is ridiculous and it definitely shows in his work. Hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoy cruising in my car and staring into my boot! Thanks again Rick, you’re a legend mate! May the formAUDIO sticker bring you plenty of business!

I think i know who im going to get to do my audio set up.... when i have the $$ =D

Nice work!

WOW!!! thats pretty much all i can say! that looks amazing Rick!!
Gosh it has inspired me to put some coins away for my stereo and I know who i'll be coming to see!!!

Nick car is HOT as always!!! Hopefully next cruise we all get to hear it too

Congrats Nick the setup looks amazing. Rick well done on getting it looking so damn good!!

Im actually that jelous lol How does she sound?

Looks amazing! Good stuff

Now where is Owen? We need to compare his tuned stock speakers to this setup

Set up looks awesome so neat and tidy. Did you notice and difference in performance with the weight gained from this?

Will do my best here...

Sarah - Thanks..hoping to be going on the go karting cruise in Feb

Paul - Cheers mate, sounds unbelievable! Speakers still haven't loosened up so will only get better!

Mike - Agreed! Owen - Bring it on

rsm87 - Didn't notice any different to be honest, probably would have only added 20 odd kgs of weight to the car. I hadn't driven my car in a month but still don't think there's anything in it. Sounds too good to notice anyway

Mate, it was a pleasure! Thanks so much for the kind words and recommendation. I try to do the best i can, though i'm hoping to start putting some serious hours into my car soon. Hearing all these awesome setups makes me jealous that mine is still in progress! ha!


The best stereos are often those that are built up over time as the budget allows. I always try to encourage this wherever possible. Save up, and 'do it once, do it right', rather than settle for cheaper equipment then it ending up costing you more to replace it.



Thanks guys, appreciate it.


Thanks Paul, you can expect similar results from your setup given that you have the same amp and speakers now I doubt you will be disappointed with the IDQ12 performance either though!


This made me giggle a little bit. Owen's methods also have some merit, so credit where its due, but to me, theres nothing like a good set of aftermarket speakers and some sound deadening to really bring a stereo alive.



Theres a little more than 20kg Nick! I reckon closer to around 50-60kg, possibly more, but put it into perspective. 60kg into a 1435kg car. Thats a 0.041% increase in weight. When you have 253kW at the wheels, do you think you'd notice a difference? Not likely.

Ha, my bad! Although my car actually weighs less than 1435...pretty sure it's around 1350kg Not that you can feel it either way

Awesome install !!

I love it! Good quality gear is only worth it if installed properly so I'm sure this sounds amazing.

Rick - ur a champ, but its good to know ur work is better than your maths (60/1435 = 0.0418 = 4.18%) Just stirring buddy!

4% extra weight is well worth it for the extra enjoyment when blazing your favourite song whilst boosting!

Hahahaha! Crap, i forgot to x100! You all know what i meant anyway!

Thanks Bren for the comments too. You too Flip!

Rick, any chance of changing the main picture on your website to one of my car with the fresh wheels and de-badging? One of the ones I just posted would look the goods if you're cool with it...

Yeah dude, i was thinking that. Want to come down so i can get the pic on my driveway again? haha.

Alternatively, try to get me one that's on the same angle etc as the existing one if you can. You know how pedantic i am about everything being consistent!

How about....?

You know im fussy, so you're probably going to hate me saying no. haha.

But too much afternoon shadow means the pic is too dark and doesn't do your cars colour any justice. Compare the two pics and you'll see what i mean