Stereo system latest and greatest help. 01 RT/10

[Josrocket]

I need help picking out the latest and greatest stereo equipment that will fit in an 01 rt/10. Please help me pick out everything I will need. Speakers, amps, head unit. Do I have to rewire anything? Do I need a spacer for the sub?

[My98RT10]

Well, cannot help with latest and greatest but definitively interested in what will be recommended here. I dig stereo posts... did a complete replacement myself but nothing actual, all old school gear...

[high flier]

This is a slippery slope!...
In good conscience no one can recommend exact components, all of our ears are different.
There are many more qualified people and websites than us Viper owners when it comes to stereos. Use them! Research till you are too tired to do any more. If not experienced PAY a professional to perform the install.
OPINION, either keep it to a minimum or gut it all and start from scratch. I have installed everything from a $8k+ system to a few hundred dollars in my cars.
In my Viper I did what I considered the MIN.....changed out the Head Unit to one that met my criteria (Cheapest Kenwood Excelon with Bluetooth hands free, USB in front, adjustable illuminant, single CD player for backup) back speakers (GTS) to mono hookup with small self enclosed sub. All using factory wiring/amps etc. and still using factory component speakers up front. Also spent the $$$ to Dynamat the interior for sound and heat. This small upgrade totaled less than $1400 installed. I was fully capable of installing myself but happily chose not to. Overall very happy with it, decent sound when cruising and I am in the mood to listen.
IF you choose the latter route (full audiophile upgrade) really research and try to listen to whatever you can, wherever you can. See if you can meet with and listen to guys cars that have the top end components installed. (NOTE: I said listen to their cars, not necessarily them) Make sure to calibrate, have it done or in some cases the newer technology can do it better than we humans can. Again, I would Dynamat or something similar as a MINIMUM starting requirement. I would recommend brand names but they will vary depending on the component, your needs, your tastes and your wallet to the degree that the potentials could be endless.
I have done the all out more than once in a car over my lifetime and finally came to the conclusion that I would rather spend the extra dollars in my home system vs my car.

[Luisv]

I just went ahead and made the change. I wanted a bit better sound than the stock unit was giving me. I also wanted some more modern creature comforts like a hands free phone and blue tooth. Prior to this setup I had simply put in a hard wired iPod interface.

Now the setup is

Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS
Pioneer GM-D8604 AMP 100W RMS 4- Channel
With the speakers I went with a pair of Kicker 6.5" Coaxial speakers. The Kickers are rated to 300W peak. More than enough. They fit the doors and I can use the stock grills to keep the install clean. In the rear I had replaced the blown rear subs with a pair of Audiopipe 6" subs. The Audiopipes are rated to 100W RMS if I recall.

Sound is leaps and bounds better than stock. I can advance/restart iPod/iPad playback so the head unit controls the device. I have two USB ports to connect the phone device and/or USB stick. Pandora, etc. etc. It works for me.

I used all the stock wiring for the speakers. I had to run RCA cable to the AMP from the head unit. The head unit was wired in to the cars harness.

[RT SERPENT]

Great thread!

I'm finally looking to upgrade mine as well.
I don't need anything super special, but whatever I put in, I'd prefer to use the stock grills
not cut up the centre council,or doors, etc. I know it will never be the best sounding system
but anything has to be better than the original stock crap it sounds like in an RT.
Space and base is a tough relationship in the Roadster, but I'm not interested in hardware that doesn't fit where
it should from the factory. LOL!
I'm open to recommendations. I'm no expert here.

a.) Head unit is a given. I've got two new units collecting dust in my basement for the last 12 months ready to install. I'll just pick one
b.) An AMP to replace the stock Alpine? (drive the Sub, and 6.5 inch components in the doors, take up minimal space/like stock amp.)
c.) 6.5 inch component speakers in the doors (That will fit. Prefer to use stock grills/ no cutting of panels)
d.) Centre council SUB (Is it a 6" or 6.5" ???... and what will fit without cutting the centre council panel?)
e.) Dynamat the council to prevent the rattling.
It would be great not to have to re-wire, but running new wires isn't a killer.
Sure wish the stock harness was easier to work with

[Josrocket]

I can pick out the equipment. I really want to know if you need to install a spacer for the sub on a g2 RT/10? Replace any wiring? What are all the sizes?

[Rtizzle]

jl audio 6w3v3-4 which is a 6" fit in my console location. Alpine Type-X SPX-17REF fit in my doors which is 6.5". I went with a small kenwood 4 channel digital amp and used the stock alpine amp power source. I ran 2 rca's to work off the deck. In the dash I spliced off the stock alpine power. It took a day to install. The doors sound good but the center mid/sub could be better.

[ViperPete]

Rewire the speakers.

Your wiring is OLD! The speakers you are putting in draw more power than what the wiring was designed for. Old wiring gets brittle, breaks, and can melt.

I have put Infinity kappa speakers in every car I have done speaker swaps in. The sound is crisp and the mids are great. I like Rockford Fosgate subs.

[My98RT10]

Just to share my experience:

Doors:
Most 6.5" woofers won't fit nicely without modifications. This is due to the odd dimensions of the OEM woofer. However, Alpine 6.5" woofers seem to fit without cutting as their woofer baskets are a bit smaller. I have SPX-177r installed (old school set, no longer available). Some brands offer also 6.0" component sets, which should fit without modifications.

Center sub:
Don't expect to get real bass from it, even replacing the woofer won't do much. The "enclosure volume" in that location is just not enough (it's not sealed either) and it is not of the needed rigidity. I tried but finally had to build a footwell sub to get some decent bass.

[Rtizzle]

Just to share my experience:

Doors:
Most 6.5" woofers won't fit nicely without modifications. This is due to the odd dimensions of the OEM woofer. However, Alpine 6.5" woofers seem to fit without cutting as their woofer baskets are a bit smaller. I have SPX-177r installed (old school set, no longer available). Some brands offer also 6.0" component sets, which should fit without modifications.

Center sub:
Don't expect to get real bass from it, even replacing the woofer won't do much. The "enclosure volume" in that location is just not enough (it's not sealed either) and it is not of the needed rigidity. I tried but finally had to build a footwell sub to get some decent bass.

At first I Didn't like the footwell sub idea. But there isn't any room to build a sealed box in the rear console with the seat belts in the way. So I might be building one for the footwell as well.

[Josrocket]

Does anyone have any pictures of the sub in the foot well, or tastefully in the trunk?

[My98RT10]

Does anyone have any pictures of the sub in the foot well, or tastefully in the trunk?

There you go....

http://driveviper.com/forums/threads...light=footwell

[Josrocket]

Im assuming it just sits there. You can easily remove it if you have to for cleaning, tall people etc. Very nice.

[My98RT10]

Im assuming it just sits there. You can easily remove it if you have to for cleaning, tall people etc. Very nice.

Correct.

[SlowPoke McGee]

Correct.

I spoke with my local car audio company about a footwell sub yesterday and the rep from Hertz recommended the 10" sub. He said in his experience it sounded much better than the 8". Also, the way they design it is to carpet right over the sub so it's not obvious that a sub is right at your foot.

One other consideration that I'm curious about is the fiberglass offgassing. With the tremendous heat that Vipers tend to put out, has anyone noticed that unmistakable fiberglass smell on a hot day or after prolonged run time? They said they can add a blueberry odorizer to the fiberglass but depending on heat, it could still be quite smelly on a hot day or with a hot footwell.

[My98RT10]

When I designed my sub, the main objective was to achieve a low cut off frequency (f3) in a sealed enclosure with a given volume of approx 10 litres. I selected the chassis by its Thiele-Small parameters. All the 10" speakers I checked would not play deep enough (f3 too high). I could have gone even lower with a 6.5" but for the sake of a good SPL I went with an 8". In the end, it is always about finding the best compromise for your own taste. Especially in a car like this....

[SlowPoke McGee]

When I designed my sub, the main objective was to achieve a low cut off frequency (f3) in a sealed enclosure with a given volume of approx 10 litres. I selected the chassis by its Thiele-Small parameters. All the 10" speakers I checked would not play deep enough (f3 too high). I could have gone even lower with a 6.5" but for the sake of a good SPL I went with an 8". In the end, it is always about finding the best compromise for your own taste. Especially in a car like this....

Sounds like you've done your homework. I would've thought the 8" would be more than enough for that size of enclosure as well and I think it would allow a couple inches of extra leg room. I do like your idea though of being able to remove the sub to clean and for tall passengers. I hate the thought of hacking up the carpet on a Gen 1 to accommodate something that really should be removable if needed. I've got an appt to get the install done on Wed...think I'll tell them to make the enclosure removable.

The rep also recommended disconnecting the rear speakers as the door mids and tweets would be more than enough mid range frequency. He said having all those speakers would be too much mid/high frequency.

What did you do with the doors and rear speakers?

[My98RT10]

Yes, also for me it was another solution design objective to have a completely removable sub, without cutting into whatever part of the car. Of course, a stealth installation is very appealing also to me, but as said, compromises everywhere lol...

I completely agree to your rep regarding the rear/center console speaker. When I use my sub, the center speaker is disconnected. I did the subwoofer wiring in a way that I can easily "activate" the center speaker when the sub is not in the car.

Although it should be clear I'd like to mention that when you throw in a sub you need to make sure to exclude these frequencies from the door woofers. If not, sound will not be as good as is could be. This measure also increases overall undistorted volume of your system and of course, there is much less rattling/vibration coming from your (stock) door panels.

Please keep us informed how your system is coming along, I am always interested to see how others do their installs ;-)

[SlowPoke McGee]

Good and timely ideas.
I'll post some pics of the install. Stay tuned...

[RTTTTed]

I replaced all my factory (garbage) speakers with Hertz, another Viper got JBL and an extensive system with 800w and 21spk in my TT.

I left the original head unit in my Hertz Viper and fought the stupid 3 strands per wire inside the DIN cable to the amp. Eventually I did get the wires to solder well enough. I had to upgrade the head unit because of sat radio cost going through the roof and the wife preferring her ipod music. New laws also required Blue Tooth phone or no phone use so I upgraded to a USB/ipod/Bluetooth/aux inputs as the Alpine amp and Alpine head unit were decent sounding.

My cars were GTS. (couple How To threads on thevipergarage website). Stock wiring was fine for the stock amp but for the 300watt JBL amp and extra speakers the wires were upgraded and active cross overs etc required extensive rewiring

[My98RT10]

Good and timely ideas.
I'll post some pics of the install. Stay tuned...

Hey, any update on your install?

[Rtizzle]

I replaced all my factory (garbage) speakers with Hertz, another Viper got JBL and an extensive system with 800w and 21spk in my TT.

Do you know what model number the Hertz speakers were? I can't seem to find any 6" hertz that fit in my door.

[SlowPoke McGee]

Hey, any update on your install?

Not unlike a kid in a candy store, I managed to find a way to focus my energy on another area of the car that I really want to improve first: the exhaust. I'm also in the midst of attempting to refurbish my old 1994 aluminum side sills.

Here sit my speakers, sub and mono amp waiting to be installed:

Speakers.jpg

The car came with a decent 300 watt 4 channel amp as seen in pic that I will retain to power the door and front speakers, with a kill switch to the front speakers when sub is on (as per your excellent advice).

Question: What material did you make your footwell sub enclosure out of?

[SlowPoke McGee]

Do you know what model number the Hertz speakers were? I can't seem to find any 6" hertz that fit in my door.

Technically they are 6.5". These are the ones I chose to go with.
https://www.amazon.com/Hertz-DSK-165.../dp/B008B5JPTS

They are not a high end Hertz selection but I think they'll fit the bill for my purposes. Honestly, when I was listening to the different speakers, infact I liked these ones better than the more expensive ones....granted I was listening to speakers on a wall mock up which really doesn't do justice to the actual sound inside the car.

[My98RT10]

Not unlike a kid in a candy store, I managed to find a way to focus my energy on another area of the car that I really want to improve first: the exhaust. I'm also in the midst of attempting to refurbish my old 1994 aluminum side sills.

Here sit my speakers, sub and mono amp waiting to be installed:

Speakers.jpg

The car came with a decent 300 watt 4 channel amp as seen in pic that I will retain to power the door and front speakers, with a kill switch to the front speakers when sub is on (as per your excellent advice).

Question: What material did you make your footwell sub enclosure out of?

Thanks for the update. I used MDF for the sub enclosure.

Just to avoid misunderstanding: I didn't mean to kill the front speakers when the sub is on. I meant to release them from the frequencies the sub is transmitting. This is not to be accomplished by a switch, it is usually done using the crossovers in your amp(s). The disconnection I mentioned was with regards to the speaker between the seats.

Hope this clarifies it a bit more ;-)