Having waded through dozens and dozens of SSL and base stereo upgrade threads, I felt like starting my own with a slightly new twist focusing on the sequence of upgrade steps:

For Christmas, my loving wife just gave me an Alpine 9856 head unit which has three RCA preamp outputs (front, rear and sub) and an iPod connector/control cable. I plan to put it in my SSL Evo 9.

Along with the Crutchfield wiring adapter (for the power and ground leads) and Mitah adapter (to connect the Alpine to the under-seat amplifier), I should have a simple plug and play installation. I'm still waiting for the Mitah adapter. I will be interested to hear how it sounds.

My goal is to keep things as simple and clean as possible. I don't want to rip or cut apart the car and I want it to look very stock. If I choose to continue the upgrade path, I would be inclined to follow this sequence of upgrades, in this order, stopping whenever I'm happy with the then-current state of affairs:

• Front speakers (probably 6.5" JL components, with silk-dome tweeters, with some Dynamat).
• Rear speakers (same JLs, or maybe JL 6.5" subs?)
• New subwoofer and a separate subwoofer amp (probably a JL sub in a prefab JL box. Not sure what kind of amp ...?)
• And finally, maybe replace the under-seat amp (but what would fit under there?)

Any comments, criticisms, suggestions? Which amp and sub would you suggest? What amp would fit under the front seat? Would 6.5" subs or coax full-range speakers be better in the parcel shelf? If I put subs in the parcel shelf, would it be bassy enough to avoid adding one to the trunk?

Thanks!

 

Thanks... I was looking for an upgrade for my car and I was torn but now I think I'm going to go with this one. As for the Amp... since you are going with the JL path keep it going I know I'm going too

 

Thanks... I was looking for an upgrade for my car and I was torn but now I think I'm going to go with this one. As for the Amp... since you are going with the JL path keep it going I know I'm going too

 

What I (ssl)

 

SSL is Sun/Sound/Leather package.

If you are putting in the Alpine and want to KEEP the stock sub, I believe there are two harnesses you'll need... one (like you said) is the MITAH which is generic for all Evo head units, the other is specific to the SSL amp so your Alpine can still power it properly.

 

what IS SSL

 

Thanks bro'

 

While I have owned and loved JL subs, I think their other speakers are junk. Maybe the new models are better?

I'd skip rear speakers personally. I like the soundstage up front where it belongs. Just disconnect them and use the money on other things.

My first upgrade would be lots and lots of sound/vibration dampening such as Dynamat.

I haven't heard the system in a SSL so I can't advise you after that.

 

Thanks, all. As for the harnesses, I have the Crutchfield harness for power and Mitah for the sound. I think that will work.

For the fronts I was thinking JL, but maybe MB Quart would be better? I searched MBQs on eBay but there were maybe seven different lines; not sure what's good and what's crap ???

 

I don't think your factory sub will work with a Crutchfield harness. According to Crutchfield.com:

 

Amplifier should always be first in an upgrade sequence. Major improvements in both clearity and volume, when speakers alone might not even be noticeable.

 

Thanks for the observation; I saw that, too. However, Crutchfield appears to be wrong on that point; they do not have specific information for the Evo SSL system, and my search on this Forum has revealed several posts by different people, all finding that their factory subs continued to work after they replaced the head unit and installed the Mitah harness.

I think Crutchfield, which does not carry the Mitah harness, is working from their experience bypassing the factory amp completely and wiring the head unit directly to the speakers. I will update this thread when I try it myself.

 

I can certainly see why that would be; thanks. It's worth considering. I wanted to hold off on the amp because the factory amp might be sufficient for my purposes, but perhaps you're right. I'll think on it.

In this regard, I assume the factory amp under the seat has a switched power lead and a ground wire. I suspect they are relatively narrow gauge. Might they suffice if I installed an aftermarket amplifier under the seat instead?

 

I wanna get that as my deck

BTW, SSL = FTW

 

You NEED to upgrade the power/ground cables..

Where in ca are you?

shoot me a PM..see what i can do.