[jithudigitised]

Firstly some introduction

i was always very font of the DIY and going through all the other threads in the DIY section made me pull more into the DIY.
So without more blah blah ,now the DIY circus starts

My previous setup
HU : Pioneer 4850
Comps : Illusion Electra 6.1 (from B&T ofcouse,who else)
Coaxials : JBL 937
Amp : Kenwood 2 channel 5303 powering the fronts (Takes 1 RCA
input and Speaker level input)
Power wires : Boss 10 awg wires (they say) with 40A and fuse holder
RCA : Same Boss stuff
Speaker Wires : Illusion 16awg wires (special thanks to B&T)
Damping : 20 sqft noise kill (a previous DIY) for front 2 doors

How connection was previously done

Since my HU only has a Rear Speaker/Sub RCA output (one at a time),the front left and front right connections were given to my rear speakers. Thus i was able to use the RCA outputs to the amp to power up the front components.
But the problem was, if the fader was set to F15(front),i could hear only the sound from the back speakers and when fader was set to R15(rear),i could hear sounds from the front components. Weird Na ..
This was done by the installer who installed front components. That was the only possible solution which was suggested by me to him coz,i wanted to use the RCA output to front comps.
Talking about the front comps installation, there is a funny incident i must share with you all. This I have already told in another thread.That goes like this.

I reached there to just inquire about the spacer rings for my swift. But seing the hertz components there, i thought why not install it there as i will not have time to DIY my new illusions in swift(yep some new work came at office) for a month. So i asked them if they could install it and they said,"Sure,Why not?".
The owner called a guy(who speaks hindi only) and asked him to install it. But since he was already working in someone else car,he instructed another guy to install it and second guy started installing it.
But when the time came to connect the amp out to speakers,he tried to connect to directly to the mid,then i instructed him to use the crossover and then connect the mid outs of the crossover to my mid and the treble out to the tweeters. So he started doing it that way.
Now comes our hero of the story(the hindi speaking installer).He asked him why are you connecting the tweeters to crossover since the out was from the amp. Now the second guy followed his instructions and was going to undo the installation of crossover.
At this time i interfered and told the first guy in my half-english-half-hindi (remember the scene in the movie kilukkam with jagathy) that i wanted more control over the music and i want to seperate the mids and highs. I don't know whether he understood it or not,but he went away. I instructed the first guy to do the install as i already said. And he finished job with good precision without the interference of first guy.
Thus my installation finishes. I thank the guy who installed it.(I must say he did good installation with me instructing him) and i pay them the installation charge of Rs 250 and also purchased a floor mat for the car and left for my home.
So after the above funny incident,i realized that,i would be better off with a DIY than from a installer in TVM. Or else i have to go to Cochin which i think will be on a costlier side if going for just the installation and i don't know whether they will just do the installation only.

Now the update : It was needed badly.

Power wires : Havells 16sqmm (7 metres) cable with 40A boss fuse
and fuse holder - ~1000 Rs
Sub : Illusion Electra Prototype 12' 4 ohm DVC sub +enclosure
+ shipping - 7000 Rs.(from B&T. I must say the packing was
superb for a 15Kg courier)
Amp : JVC KS-AX3002 2 channel amp : gifted by my uncle.

First i was opting for a mono and i almost finalized on the Infinity 1600a mono amp. Asked about this with my cousin on USA and he agreed to buy and carry it for me. But the problem was his date of arrival was postponed for 3 months and he will be arriving here on next Feb only. Hmm
So now what, as i already transferred the money to B&T and the shipment was send by the B&T. Then mom tells me that my younger uncle will be coming soon from Dubai. So i called him and asks about this mono amp. He agrees to bring it. After two days he arrives, and i went to see him (or to get the amp. hehe).Now i am eagerly waiting to see the infinity amp,instead he gives me the JVC 2 channel amp. I was like .
He explains that the sales guy told him that i won't need a 900 w amp since its for my small swift. Instead he suggested him this amp and my uncle bought it without even asking me.
So i was stuck with the 2 channel amp. Now what ?

Note : One more thing i forget to tell you guys, is that,if my cousin had bought the infinity amp,then i had to pay for that. But now the JVC amp is like a gift since its from ma uncle. So i saved the money for the mono amp which can be used to get me a new HU later.

So now i have two 2 channel amps which gives power almost the same ie
Kenwood : 55W @ 4ohms x 2 channels and 150W @4 ohms
bridged
JVC : 65W @4ohms x 2 channels and 130W @4ohms bridged.
With this power ratings its clear that the JVC can be used to power the fronts and Kenny for the sub.

Amps




Humble HU

[jithudigitised]

Sub Checking at 11pm after 1 day i received the sub.

Since i haven't heard the illusion sub,i decided to connect the already installed kenny amp to the sub and connecting the fronts directly to the HU
The sub can be connected to the amp in 2 ways
1) through the banana connectors
2) through speakon provided.

You can see the two connectors.


Since i didn't know how to connect the wires to the speakon,i choose to use the banana connectors.
I bridged the Kenny 2 channel and connected the wires to the connectors in sub enclosure. Switched on the HU and waited for the beat of the sub. Well there was no sound.
Checked all the connections and it all seemed right. I started worrying that the sub may have get damaged while in its way.
Suddenly i remembered i haven't changed the HU setting of using the RCA outs as sub. So changed that option and and again switched on the HU hoping that this time, sub will fire. Well now also the case was same. No sound from the sub. Now what ?
Then my bro asked me why don't you look inside the enclosure for loose connections. Yeah may be that was the case,i thought.
So removed the sub from the car and placed on the floor to open the enclosure. I carefully removed the screws which were mounted to the sub grill and later the screws which attached the sub to the enclosure. After removing the screws i gently pulled up the sub to see whats the problem inside the enclosure and then there lies the problem.
The banana connectors were not connected to the sub,instead only the speakon adapter were connected to the sub. So that was the problem. So now i can only connect the sub through the speakon only.
But how do i connect a speakon and FYI i am seeing a speakon for first time in my life.
Now back to the home and started searching for how to wire a speakon. Also mailed Ajay regarding this. For some unkown reasons,i didn't think of posting this query in T-BHp.
After some searching i got basic information regarding the speakon.

Speakon


It have +1,-1 and +2,-2 connectors inside the speakon to which i can connect only 2 wires,either to the +1 and +2 if bridged.
Now i am aware of this information,i thought of trying it. I teared the speakon cover and took the same wire that were connected to the banana connectors from the amp and connected it to the speakon and later connected the speakon to the speakon adapter on the enclosure.
Switched on the HU,hoping this time it will fire and again my hopes were in vein.
Then i realized that i hadn't looked inside the speakon adapter inside the enclosure. So looked into the enclosure and there found the solution.
The adapters connection was like this : +1 connected to the +ve of sub and -1 connected to the -ve of the sub.
After realizing this i rewired the speakon using this information and plugged it to the sub and switched on the HU.
Wow,then the sweet and loud thud from the sub came to the air making me wanna dance to the beats. At last and finally the sub was playing.
Now i hear another sound which was very familiar to me and not in the tone of the beats of the subs. I looked around and find my mom standing at the door and staring and shouting at me What was i doing at this late hours and its already 3 a.m and don't u have office tomorrow. So just winded up all the things and went to bed. Just before going to bed, i mailed Ajay that i was able to connect the speakon and listen to the sub.

[jithudigitised]

Am i stupid ?

The very next day i had a mail from Ajay that there was a mistake with the wiring of the sub. It was wired in parallel,since i told him i will be having a mono amp instead of a 2 channel amp earlier. He advised me to remove the wires which connected the 2 voice coils which made it parallel and thus power only one voice coil of the sub. He also WARNED me that i may fry the amp if i go on with the 2 ohm load to the 2 channel amp.
So again i pulled out the sub from the enclosure and removed wire. But when i switched on the HU, the sub was not playing.
I checked the kenwood site for the specification of the amp and there it was
Kenwood Corporation | Car Electroics | Power Amplifiers | KAC-5203 : they were 1 ohm stable.
With this valuable(or are they kidding) information in my hands,i pulled out the sub again and rewired the wires making the connection as parallel again and then it was working fine.
Now its wait and watch whether the kenny site is right about this or will i blow up the amp. Hope it doesn't damage the sub. Hmm

[greenhorn]

i would be better off with a DIY than from a installer in TVM. Or else i have to go to Cochin

let me guess. was this hindi speaking dude @ pongumood

they were 1 ohm stable.

I don't think so. not in bridged mode.

http://images.kenwood.eu/files/prod/...3_%28EN%29.pdf

[jithudigitised]

DIY begins (and ends hopefully) on Saturday 17-10-2009

The tools used
1) Star screw drivers
2) One pier
3) One blade
4) Two cello tapes - black
5) one knife
6) A digi cam
7) My teeth (don't know whether it will qualify as a tool.
hehe,but was very helpful while ripping off the small wires)

Now the items that are going in
a) Havells 16 sq mm power wire - 7m
b) Boss fuse holder and 40A fuse
c) Power wire legs : 6 nos.
d) Speaker wire legs : 10 nos.
e) JVC 2 channel amp.
f) Speaker Level Input adapter (SLI adapter) with receiver
right(white),receiver left(grey) and receiver ground wires
(black)
Things to do
1) Reconnecting the output of HU front outs to the fronts
comps through a Speaker Line input to the JVC amp
2) Connecting the legs to the speaker wires
3) Installing the new power wire with the fuse to the Kenny
amp powering the sub.
4) Tuning and checking the installation for proper wiring and
grounds.
5) Making sure i don't blew up my amps,speakers,sub and
finally the CAR. hehe
Tools & things




Illusion electra sub



So now the first thing to connect the speaker level input from the HU to the amp.
Pulled off the HU installed panel and disconnected the wires,RCA wires and radio wire from the HU. Hunted for the front left output and front right output from the HU.
Recognized the front left out as white wires(1 white & other black line in white (ground)) and front right out as a grey wires(1 grey & other black line in grey (ground)).
Since there was already a wire which was going to the rear speakers,i connected the front left wire(white only) to one half of the wire(which was red) and the front right wire (grey only) to the other half of the wire(which was silver).
Then going back to the rear,i connected the red half of the wire to left input of the SLI adapter(white wire) and the silver wire to the right input of the SLI adapter (grey) leaving the black wire (receiver ground) of the SLI adapter not connected.
Connected the SLI adapter to the JVC amp.
Removed the power wire,ground wire and remote lead wire from the Kenwood amp and connected it to the JVC amp.
Also connected the front speaker wires to the output of the amp.
Reconnected all the wires to the HU and switched on the HU to check whether the fronts were playing without starting the car. And they were playing beautifully .So the first thing is done.

Now the second thing.
Removed speaker wire from the JVC amp to connect the legs(literally) to the wires.
Took a wire leg and then passed the wire end inside the hole of the leg and used the plier to press the leg as much as i can to make it hold together.
Repeated the above steps to all the speaker output wires.
Reinstalled the wires to the amp and checked the output and yeas it was working.

[jithudigitised]

Installation of power wire.

First i need to cut the wire into 3 :
1, for connecting from battery to fuse holder and
2, for connecting from fuse holder to amp and
3, for connecting from amp to ground

With a previous experience of going to gym,i used the plier to cut the cables,but then i realized gym was easier. So after 2-3 failed attempts with the plier i used the knife to cut the wire. It wasn't easy,but it did the job. Now am sitting with two pieces of the Havells wire - one a small wire with length of half metres and other 6.5 metres.
Now to attach the power wire leg to the one side of the shorter wire and fuse holder to the other side of the wire, I used the knife to rip off the tip of the wire to attach it to the leg. Gently inserted the nude sorry ripped off part of the wire to the hole inside the leg. Used the plier to bent the legs end so that the wire will sit inside it firmly.
Well that was a very good excercise for the forearms. You should all try it out some times.



Again used the knife to rip off the other end of the wire to install into the fuse holder. Took the fuse holder and removed the cover of fuse holder on one end and unscrewed the screw from the fuse holder side using a star screw driver. This is where the power wire have to be inserted.
At first i inserted the wire into the fuse holder and then only to realize that the cover cannot be placed with the wire connected. So had to remove the wire and then inserted the wire inside the cover and then again into the fuse holder side and tightened the screw. Then closed it using the cover.



Used the second wire which is large to make the connection from the amp to the fuse holder. It was very hard to pass it through the firewall in the engine bay.

The hardest part was to routing the wire outside the glove box.

For this you have to remove the glove box to have a good look at where the wire is to be routed.

Removing the glove box was easy,first apply some pressure to one side of the glove box and pull it downwards and repeat this for the other side. Reinserting it is also same with the steps in reverse . Hope you guys got it.

Next task was to remove the panels on the bottom side of the doors.
For the routing of the wires,you have to remove 4 panels starting from the panel which is directly under the glove box.
For the first panel,that is the one which is under left side of the glove box,there is screw on the front side of it,which is a bit hard to see. You need to lie in a way as if you are doing yoga or gymnastics to see the screw and remove it. Just pressing on the middle of the screw with a screw driver will release it.
Second panel can be removed by just applying some force to pull it up.

Third panel,which is inside the seat belts assembly may bruise your hands if don't remove it carefully. It can be removed by just pulling it outside.
Fourth one is also the same as the second one.
So now i connected large wire inside the engine bay (which went thought the firewall) to the fuse holders other side by doing the same method as of the other shorter wire.
I connected the power wires leg to the battery by unscrewing the bolt and later after adding the leg tightening it.

This was a mistake that could have bring me big trouble.

PS : Whenever you do connect the power wires to the battery,either remove the negative connection of the battery or simply don't connect it to the battery until all the connections are made or you could plug the fuse at at last when all the connections have been made.
I learned the above thing in a hard way when i saw the sparks from the power wire when it had came in contact with the metal part of the car.

Now i need the ground wire. So measured the distance from the nearest metal screw to the amp.
Since now i had more experience with cutting the wire with knife,it was a lot easy than before.

Attached the another leg to the ripped off part of the ground wire.Then loosened the nut(not mine,but of cars) and connected the leg in there.

Now another problem arises,the power and ground connectors in amp are very small which cannot connect the wires with a power wire leg.
So had to use some logic to connect the wires to amp.(Don't ask if i have this much logic,why didn't i think of this in first place. hehe).
First placed the ripped off wire in the connecting position and then used screw driver to make a hole on the power wires to which the screws can be placed and tightened.
Well it worked. Since the each connector had a cabin like structure to connect the cable,the two wire won't touch each other also. For more safety i used the cello tape to wrap it up nicely, so that they don't touch each other.

[jithudigitised]

Now comes the remote turn on wire part.

Since i have only a single remote turn on wire, i need to cut it into 3 pieces to make it turn on both the amps. So using the plier i cut the wire into three pieces connected them to the 2 amps by also attaching the legs to them.

Now the JVC amp is powering the Illusion Electra comps with SLI adapter input from the HU.
And the Kenwood amp is powering the Illusion Electra sub (in parallel)with RCA input from HU with the havells 16 sqmm power cable.



So now all the connections are made,now i need to install the amp somewhere. I was also looking at the possibility of making a amp holder as DIY,but it may need more time and also i don't have the drilling machine with me. so dropped that idea and screwed the amp to the surface itself.


As all the connections were done,i switched on HU and voila,the two speakers came alive and also the sub. I increased the volume up a bit and it sounding sweet. But it also sounded a very little harsh. But since the tuning haven't done,i thought that it may go away when i finish my tuning.

Now onto reinserting the panels and other stuffs that were pulled off from the car.
Started with the first panel. I had a very hard time reinserting the panel screw under the glove box.
Now the second and fourth was rather easy to fix when comparing the third one.
So all the installing have been done and now its the time for some test driving

Missed pic for the fuse part
Fuse block connected on both ends

[jithudigitised]

Problems : Is it due to my ignorance or my lack of knowledge ?

So i started the car,switched on the HU and pumped up the volume and went outside the road to have a test drive of my new installations. But whatever i do there was a whining sound or some KRrr krr sound from the speakers when i paused the song for a bit. When i accelerated, the sound also increases and i knew the problem was the alternator sound coming inside the speakers. So went back the house and started reviewing my installation,whether i have missed anything. Then suddenly it clicked.

The receiver ground wire of the SLI adapter hasn't been connected. Oh man,that was very dissatisfying to remove all the panels and HU to rectify the problem.

Solution : should have done in the first place.
Removed the HU and disconnected all the wires from the HU.
Looked for the white wire with black stripes and grey wire with black stripes from the HU out. Used another wire to connect the two wires to the ground receiver input wire (black) of the SLI adapter.
Now reconnected all the wires in the HU and started the car and switched on the HU.
Ahaaa now the whining sound have gone.
Attachment 213042

Also i tuned to level where the harshness of the tweeters were gone and they started sounding sweet.
So all the installation have been done and thus my DIY have ended safely (not without some bruises on my hands and whats a DIY without any bruises).

But the feeling you get when you have finished the work and hearing the output of your hard work. Thats more precious than the RING in the Lord Of Rings. hehe.

Some tuning part and cleaning part are still left,that will be continued soon. Bye for now.
Works pending:
1) Arranging the wires neatly.
2) Making the mdf board for holding the amps.

Some random pics
Speakon connected
Attachment 213043
Sub Connectors
Attachment 213044


PS : Very very thanks for reading my long post(also cursing along. hehe) and hope you got the thrill i enjoyed while doing this DIY.

Also very thanks to DIYians in the TBHp, from whom I got inspired and audio gurus,from whom I learned many things and still learning.

Special thanks to B&T aka Ajay for the suggestions and the products.

[abhinav.gupta88]

One fine day, i landed up in Mumbai and heard the electra subs in Ajay's car and it was simply fantastic.

Amey badly wanted one for his ride.
I'll say, lucky you.

Congrats on the setup.

Change the HU soon and get some better amp for the sub.
It deserves around 400-500watts atleast.
And i'm sure you'll really enjoy the experience.

[jithudigitised]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

let me guess. was this hindi speaking dude @ pongumood

you are spot on.

[jithudigitised]

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

Change the HU soon and get some better amp for the sub.
It deserves around 400-500watts atleast.
And i'm sure you'll really enjoy the experience.

Thanks man.

My amp will be coming on dec or jan and also the HU.

[greenhorn]

The impedance of the speakers that are going to be connected should be 2Ohm or greater (for stereo connections), or 4Ohm or greater (for bridged connections). When more than one set of speakers are going to be used, calculate the combined impedance of the speakers and then connect suitable speakers to the amplifier.

from the manual. I have the same amp, and I'm not too sure it can drive 1 Ohm loads

Originally Posted by jithudigitised

you are spot on.

I've been in the same shoes as you, and often ended up as his 'dushman' . Now I head straight to motor plaza for these sort of things. Got my amp reinstalled from there

[pranava999]

Electra sub? When was this launched? Thought the electra range has no sub. Something on the anvil??

[abhinav.gupta88]

Prototype Pranav.
There were only 2 i guess.

[jkdas]

Kudos for the DIY stuff. This is how it all starts
Would love to know which HU and amp you have in mind.

Some would love to drive down and strangle you for the wiring mess.