Followed the trail of Noize and went with the Focals to be different (MB Quart's are my norm)

Installed Focals and tested audio. The audio sounded weak and I had to increase the volume on the stock head unit from a normal 22 to 30. I couldn't live with the sound, so I installed my JL Audio 4 channel amp. After many hours of trying to understand the wiring of the stereo system, I finally have a content setup. Now that the focals are getting real power, they are finally worth the money spent on them. The additional power was key to the aftermarket component set. Picture of amp placement attached.

I would not suggest changing out your stock speakers for aftermarket until you are ready to supply power. Although the Focal's had the highest sensitivity out of almost all components sets, the difference in ohms was too great.



* * * UPDATE * * *

Relocated amp to rear deck and replaced subwoofer with JL 10W1.

 

Interesting amp location. Do you have a board mounted behind your amp, or is it just screwed to the plastic at the top? I'm assuming it's pretty stable. Was the amp to big to fit under the driver's seat, where the Rockford amp would have gone?

PS. mmm, I see mountain dew...

 

What Focal set did you end up using?
From the picture above, it look like you have 2 screws going to the Amp mounting location,The only thing Im worried about is, after alot of hard conering, The screw will become loose,The metal frame you bolt the amp to is fairly thin. Its look like the amp you are using is a JL300/4
that should fit behind the backseat behind the plastic cover there.. The new Alpine PDX-4 150 or PDX-4 100 is very clean and fits perfectly under the drivers seat, Just something to consider since they are price about the same.

 

How did you get your audio signals to hook up to your amp?

 

The amp is secured to a piece of mdf which is securely fastened. Its the illusion of a floating amp.

The fosgate system remains in order to power rear fill and the subwoofer. The control of the channels in the system is handled by the amplifier so it was left in place.

There is a decent amount of space under the seat, but no amp I would currently consider would fit there. I like clean and loud music, which normally leads to chunkier amps. Plus I am a JL fanboy.

I am using the rear amp signal to power the front since it is the only full range signal coming from the amplifier. The front woofer is the signal for the rear fill. Works out good since the high frequencies are filtered out. The JL amp accepts hi voltage input so I attached an RCA cable directly to the amplifier output.

I attempted to use the L/R channel from the radio, but was unable to share the signal with the stock amplifier. Eventually the factory amplifier will be eliminated, and I will have exclusive use of the radio outputs.

I am taking baby steps for now. We'll see how this evolves.

 

Focal 165 V1 @ $219 from Woofersetc.com. They shipped very fast BTW.

 

I have listen to them before, They sound great, no other Component in the same price range can touch it.

 

it would be great it you could figure which wires are for the rl front, rl rear and subwoffer signal out puts off the stock cd player.

BTW do you have the navi?

 

From the head unit to the amp there are only two pair of wires supplying audio signal.

 

how big (size wise) is your amp? was that the best place that you could think of to put it, to still be able to utilize your trunk?

 

Wow. Only two pairs of wires supplying audio signals. I thought there would be more. thanks!

 

The amp is 13.40 in. x 9.25 in. x 2.36 in. in size and generates 75 WRMS X 4. A better place for the amplifier is to mount upside down underneath the rear deck. Since the X uses gas shocks for the trunk, this should work. Where the amp is now doesn't take up much room, unless one is scared of actually touching the amp. Another place is either in spare tire well or behind the battery/washer reservoir liner. Both locations are not as ideal due to ventilation. JL has a newer class D full range amp coming out later this year that may fit under seat easier.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=239

 

^ thanks... that amp is tiny compared to mine: Clarion DPX11500 (800 WRMS x 4) 21 1/4" × 12" × 2 7/8"

Does your amp have internal fans?

 

The new JL looks good, I wish they are out now.
The only bad thing is there is only 2 amp model, The 4 channel 150x4
will be be a prefect match to maximize the your Focal set.

 

The JL amps do not have fans. Fans are not common on amplifiers anymore. I had a set of Phoenix Gold ZX serias amps that utilized fans. They had killer looks but weren't nearly as efficient as the JLs. This new breed of amps utilizing Class D for low power draw and small sizing is great for weight and space savings. Previously Class D was only clean enough for subwoofer applications. this is exciting for me to say the least. I hope to replace the sub and add my mono block JL in the next few weeks.