Trepkos 10+ year member
CarAudio.com Elite
Yep, nothing fancy, no rims, no lowering or lift kit, no fancy exhaust. But I kept the truck exceptionally clean for one that is nearly 10 years old.
Well, it's may 23rd and I have purchased over 60% of the current future setup components which currently stand at:
HU: Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X891 - *Bought*
(Kick-Panel)Front Stage: Rainbow SLC 6.5" Components
(Doors)Front Stage: RainbowSLC 5"x7" Components
Front Stage Amp: Profile AP1000 2-Ch Amp - *Bought*
Sub Stage: 15" DVC 2-Ohm Fi Q - *Bought*
Sub Stage Amp: Brutus Bxi1606d Class D Mono Amp - *Bought*
Enclosure: 3.35ft^3 @ 34hz - *Bought*
Deadening: RAAMAT BXT/Ensolite
Wiring/Dis. Blocks: KnuKonceptz Kolossus/Krystal/Karma SS Wiring. - *Bought*
Which is a world of difference from my past setup which was the following:
HU: Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X791
Front Stage: Phoenix Gold RSD Comp Set
Front Stage Amp: Profile AP1000 2-Ch Amp
Sub Stage: 2x Kicker CVT 12" Shallow Mounts
Sub Stage Amp: Hifonics Titan Txi1008d
Enclosure: 2.36ft^3 Sealed
Wiring/Dis. Blocks: KnuKonceptz/JL Audio Dual Amp 4awg Kit
The above setup wasn't built to turn heads as much as it was built to provide a very decent sound solution to my truck. So why did I choose to completely overhaul everything on the setup?
Because of one problem, which was located in the head unit.
To begin you off before I start posting pics and other fun stuff, I'll summarize the past install:
Did I mention I like making everything clean?
The install was kinda rushed from the get-go and was planned to actually be completed in a week or less before college classes began. Unfortunately this planned time length didn't incorporate the time it would take to iron out different problems and difficulties, and being my very first install, there would be a lot of difficulties.
The installation period began at the end of July, July 29th to be exact and it began with the installation of the 4awg wiring and ended with the final installation of the component set in Mid-October. So much for a week huh?
The following problems were encountered:
1 - Hifonics Txi1008d would not output any sound.
- Shipped it to a amplifier repair shop to investigate the problem and they reported that it was indeed working fine even though I hooked up in different setups besides mine with no output coming from it.
2- Extremely odd remote wire defeciency involving the head unit.
- This problem was never really solved, it just kinda went away randomly.
3 - Hifonics Txi1008d not outputting any real amount of power without the bass boost being turned up.
- This problem actually resided in the head unit, but at first I thought it was the amplifier. But i was setting the gains and with all eq settings flat and bass boost at minimum, I was getting 0.4volts from the speaker outputs instead of the calculated 28-31volts but when the bass boost was turned up, the voltage rose according but ofcourse there was alot of distortion as well.
4 - Random CD player cut offs.
- Did some tidying around of the wires behind the unit and this problem was solved.
5 - Random HU USB error when music is too loud.
- This problem is still current on the head unit but doesn't really affect anything, it just kinda occured one day when the head unit restarted itself randomly and resetted all of the settings back to factory.
6 -Alternator whine issue through the front RCA's.
- This issue was discovered when we were installing the component set and it is probably one of the most mysterious issues encountered. Alternator whine was affected the front RCA's heavily, the rear RCA's were unaffected and now the component set is hooked up to them. I did everything to try and fix this problem, grounding the RCA's, grounding the HU on the chassis, distribution block, amplifier grounding point, and even directly to the negative terminal of the battery. I even bought a ground loop isolator which for some reason that knocked out the right channel of sound coming from the HU completely. I even trouble shooted the amplifier with a Y-adapter and an ipod to further pinpoint the problem to the headunit.
7 - Fried my PG RSD 6.5" midbass driver, no idea how I managed to pull that one off but when we first started up the system with the right side of the component set hooked up, the voice coil of the driver was completely fried. I ended up having to order a replacement one from Phoenix Gold directly.
8- Some really bad issues with mounting the component set due to lack of supplies and tools which could have and be affecting the performance of the midbass driver now as we speak.
Those were the major problems that affected the setup but at the end of October, the setup was finally operational.
Not exactly what I expected so I was pretty disappointed but there wasn't much I could do in the middle of school so I just dealt with it and planned for a new setup. The last setup I would put in that truck, hopefully. Distorted subwoofers, lack of any midbass from the component set. I would even say that I heard stock systems in newer vehicles which personally sounded better than my amplified set of PG RSD 6.5" components. I was extremely disappointed.