Toyota Corolla Focal Build

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted on a different forum, but I figured I might as well post up on this forum as well.

Doing this build for a friend of mine. A while back I ran the power wire, RCAs, made a ground in the trunk, and installed the HU in a Honda Accord, but he ended up wrecking it. So he finally got a new car, and ended up with a Corolla. Reinstalled everything, and some new stuff. Still more to do when the sub shows up.

Hes not into car audio, but wanted something that would sound good, stay on a budget, and keep most trunk space. Also wanted everything to stay in stock locations and not really be visible from inside the cabin. First priority was the overall quality of the sound. Just looking for an upgrade in all areas from stock, and so far it sounds pretty good.

Equipment

Radio: Pioneer DEH-P7200HD

Wiring/Interconnects: Knukonceptz

Amplifier: Crescendo 1000C4

Components: Focal Polyglass 165VR

Subwoofer: Focal Polyglass 33 V1

Deadener: AudioTechnix

The car.

Equipment that we already have from the last car.

Working on the radio install.

Got it all tied up. Looks pretty nice.

Started on the component installation. Heres what I saw when I took the panel off. Overall, the door prep and component install was definitely the most time consuming part of the install.

Vapor seal gone and speaker gone. It was riveted to the door, and was all one piece. No way to take it out except for drill the speaker out.

Did the same to the left door. Then started sealing and deadening the door.

Click to read more...

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Needed some adapters since the hole in the door was too big. Also wouldnt hurt to have a little extra depth since the magnet was almost touching the window. Jigsawed some out of some scrap birch.

Quick spray with some black paint so you wouldnt be able to see them behind the stock grill. Used silicone to help adhere/seal to the door, then some self-tappers to hold it in nice and tight.

Super solid mounting point.

Sealed around them with more deadener, just to be sure.

Deadener FTW.

Tweeter needed to go into stock location, in the doors sail panel. It was originally a little .5-.75" crappy OEM Toyota tweeter. So had to hack up the inside of the sail panel to fit the huge 1.25" Focal tweeter. Left all the structural parts in it, along with the holes for the mounting tabs on the grill.

Dremel tore that thing up.

A little creativity to secure it to the metal housing on the door, then luckily the cover fit. Also mounted the 6.5" mid and the crossover. Started wiring everything up.

Drilled a small hole in the door to run the amp output right to the crossover, and to run the mid wire back into the door. Then ran the tweeter wire along the stock wiring, and ziptied it to the stock wires. Since the tweeter wire is secured to the stock wiring, I also secured the other wires to the tweeter wire, so none of them are going anywhere.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

All put back together. Without the bright flash my phones camera uses, you cant see the tweeter in the sail panel, nor can you see that anything was cut/modified. Looks like it does stock.

Mounted the amp temporarily just to get it playing. Ziptied some of the wires up and tried to hide them best I could for now.

Just secured to the back of the seat. Actually has a decent sized trunk for such a small car.

Didnt bother taking any pics of the power wire that I ran, or of the RCAs being run. I can snap a pic or two of the power wire under the hood showing the fuse holder tomorrow most likely since the fuse holder actually looks pretty nice (its the one from the Knu kit).

Sub was ordered yesterday, when I started the install, and should be here the 11th. The speakers are the Polyglass line, so he found a good deal on the Polyglass 33 V1 13" subwoofer and pulled the trigger. I also helped him buy the components from a forum member on here for a great deal. Some of this Focal stuff really isnt that expensive is you look around and wait for a good deal.

So far, I have about the equivalent of a very long day into the build and my friend will have right at $1,000 into it, with everything included, start to finish. Radio, subwoofer, amp, and wiring was all bought new. Only thing used were the components, and they are in mint condition except for one chip on the right tweeter, and even that is only cosmetic.

Did a quick tune in tonight, and had a quick listen. For the radio only having something like a 5-banf equalizer, it sounds pretty good. Deadening and sealing the doors up really makes a huge different in an install like this. The Focals have midbass that vibrates the side mirrors. Definitely still needs more tuning, but for just throwing it in and changing a few quick settings, it sounds great.

Im pretty excited to get the sub in. Never done a build with a Focal sub, and Im not even sure if Ive ever even heard one before. Everywhere Ive read says to run the sub at 1.5-1.7 ported if thats the route you want, or like 1.25 sealed. Does anyone have any firsthand experience with this subwoofer? That seems like a very small enclosure for a 13" subwoofer. I think I might do some testing with a few boxes I have laying around before building anything.

Anyway, once the sub gets in and I figure out how the enclosure is going to work/look, Ill post an update.