I just posted a new video showing a product you need! You can now watch TH-cam and many others on Apple CarPlay with this new device! Watch the video here: th-cam.com/video/sL9cKZ9h6-o/w-d-xo.html
Awesome install. Quick tip for anyone installing a new head unit, always get everything wired up and make sure the thing turns on before fastening things down and making it look pretty. It sucks when you spend extra time getting everything neat and organized to find that you missed a step and need to pull everything out again lol
yup, better to check everything works, than to try to trouble shoot everything, tear wiring apart, to find out you have a dead headunit. Make sure everything works then proceed...
Wire grommets for the holes drilled in the metal would have been a good idea. Cars move and shake, so the wires will rub the metal over time and possibly short to the body.
Id have my ass raped if I ran wires through steal without grommets. seen a few returned "faulty" products returned with blatant wire shorts from this exact issue
@@toddjohnson1518 16g is fine for that tiny little amp and "sub", 330 watts at 4 ohms, with that short distance run under 2'. The xmax is only like 6.5. This thing doesn't flex, it twitches.
Would've loved to see the tweeters on the A pillars, or the sails on the door.. you need them as close to ear level as possible for proper stereo imaging. Fantastic build though!
Actually, with the tweeters in the lower position the distance from the drivers head to the two tweeters is closer to being the same. So, the sound arrives to your ears somewhat in phase. It IS better to have them up top if you're running an active system and can delay them to be in phase with DSP. But, they're running passive crossovers and aren't able to do that. So, my man in the video there knows exactly what he's doing. :-)
@@MitchellWilsonII that’s what I was thinking. First I was like why are they so low then I noticed passive crossovers. They are clean and that’s what matters.
As a current stereo installer myself, I thought this was a very satisfying and clean install. Props to you both for your excellent work! Excited to see this project progress!
@@masterk5066 Kenwood DMX7706S I’m also a stereo installer. This radio is by far better than the Sony. The interface is better for use and has more features. As well if you were to use a 4ch amp the pre outs have about 4.5 - 5v so the sound quality is there.
@@tomijorg I didn't see under the hood side anywhere in the video, but I'd assume they have a fuse by the battery too. I've always done fuses at the amplifier as well using distribution blocks, especially when there are multiple amplifiers. It is how I was taught and what I see in a majority of multi-amp videos I have watched.
The engineer in me is always satisfied seeing people using crimps, proper soldering technique, heat shrink, and zip ties in their projects. It ain't OCD to go the extra mile and ensure with 100% confidence that you made a proper connection, splice, or what have you. I can't tell you how many times I saw wiring harnesses fail in my aerospace class, taught by an accomplished electrical engineer, due to poor quality connections. Go that extra mile, it pays off in spades
Dude you and Randle are ONE hell of a team. Keep up the grind. Love watching all your content. But like you kept telling us stuff is coming up just wait. You have taken you videos to the next level. Continue to stay humble.
About a year ago I installed my own stereo system. Like your own, I covered all bases on front, rear, and a 10-inch sub. Everything your saying is spot on. Every day I get in my car, it's a good day
@@johnstaker6706 when he cut the factory harness. The way he ran the wires in the door. Nothing between the speaker and the metal on the door. Yes all of it is subjective but
I thought there was no way I’m going to watch half an hour of this guys car audio video… 33 minutes later I don’t even know what happened, that was mesmerizing.
Please check out the *5 Star Car Stereo* TH-cam channel featuring hundreds of full install videos in all types of vehicles. I think you'll dig it. ;) They also have short specific topic installation videos on their *Dean and Fernando's Car Stereo Clips* TH-cam channel. Highly recommended.
@@neilmeschke Agreed, though acrylic is very brittle and not as easy to cut & drill without it fracturing or cracking. I typically use HDPE, Sintra (expanded/blown PVC), "King Starboard", and ABS plastic.
I have no car, nor would I be interested in having an upgraded sound system in it if I had one. However, this video is mesmerizing. It's especially satisfying to watch Randall going the extra mile with organizing cables, making connections extra safe / rigid by using heatshrinks, cable organizers, zip-ties etc. A true work of art.
It’s smarter to just get the factory harness adapter for the 10-15$ saves anyone else who would have to ever work on it trouble and usually it matches up to the colors of the radios wires
@@davey6024 but why wouldn't you just get the appropriate harness adapter instead of permanently cutting the factory harness?... It just doesn't really make sense not to, regardless of whose money it is. It's more work AND less optimal to splice into the vehicle harness.
@@DC-bc9pe no its 1 *less* harness. I wanted them to use an additional harness that could unplug from a factory plug and remove the radio cleanly. Instead they cut the wires individually. It's just not as clean of an install to do it that way and makes removing it later annoying af.
Good to see Sony still makes nice looking in-car gear. That Sony big screen looks magic. Your install looks great too. I'm wondering how you justify sticking a tweeter near your feet since they are extremely directional unlike woofers?
Okay well i doubt that you will see this but i jusy wanna say this is the first video ive seen on your channel and i cant stop feeling like you stole my life because this project woukd be my dream car, i feel the exact same way you do about tech and the nostalgic body and everything and i wanna say it looks gorgeous man, if i ever get to do my porject im going to aim for something like what you have. Keep up the good work man!
Cameron, I want to say I’m a huge fan of your channel. I’ve been watching your videos for a very long time and you are going to be my inspiration to building awesome cars for my personal collection.
Great job but never stop learning and getting better.. Bench test if you can.. Make sure Audio/Video cables are split from Power cables.. Always use grommets when running cable through metal (You will learn the hard way if its a power wire that develops a cut in the jacket.....) Lower frequencies are more forgiving on placement, that's why the ear level tweeter recommendations.. But if a stealth look is what you are after, I definitely get it.. Never cut the factory harness, its just bad practice.. Oh, and never rely on double sided tape haha..
Also a quick tip that is “illegal.” To bypass the parking break wire just put it to the ground. I haven’t finished the vid yet but I noticed y’all didn’t do anything with the green parking break wire. You will lose a lot of functionality without that properly installed or bypassed. Also never put the fuses inside the car. Always want them no more than 18 inches away from the battery unless the battery is in the trunk but still only 18 inches away. Other than that great bud bro.
I buildmy widebody type r 4 years ago. I daily drove it to work for 1 year and honestly it starts to wear thin commuting in that thing every day. Every journy i would have people waving and giving me the thumbs up it was great but after getting myself a bmw 530d to drive to work and back i didnt realise how much i was suffering in the subaru haha
You need spacers and some sound mats to got around those speakers there is definitely going to cause interference or static along with rattling. Happened to me redoing all the speakers in my 2003 forester. Love and supporting the build man.
Nice work good clean install, I did cringe a little at the placement of the fuses though, they should be mounted as close to the battery as possible, they're not there to protect the amps they're there to protect your car from catching fire if something ever happens to the wiring (car crash etc) as then you have 1 or two 0 gauge wires with dead shorts coming from a high current battery!
There is a major safety issue in this video. The fuse on the amplifier wire is not to protect the amplifier (as the amp had built in fuses for that). This fuse is to protect the wire in the case of a short to ground. You need that fuse because of how long that wire is. It increases the odds of a short to ground from happening. If the fuse is far away from the battery, you have a longer portion of hot wire that is unprotected. You want the fuse to be as close to the battery as possible, or even on the battery terminal itself if possible. The general rule of thumb is to place the fuse between 6 and 12 inches from the battery. This minimizes the section of the wire that is unprotected. That way you can have a short anywhere on the wire and the fuse will still pop and protect the wire. (Unless the short is before the fuse in which case your effed (Hence why the fuse should be close to the battery)) The other issue is your wiring of the head unit. Ideally, you'd want to use a wiring harness adapter for that. They are cheap, and much simpler to use. They also remove any guesswork from that wiring. But I do not know the full story of this car, so I can forgive this if it was removed prior to you owning the car. Other than the major safety issue, the video was great. There were a lot of best practices that were followed to a "T" and your use of color coding and wire organization was great! I really think you should amend the video to correct the mistake you made, so that others do not make it as well. I have seen car fires happen because of a short to ground on an Amp wire. Hell, my own truck almost caught on fire due to this issue when the previous owner made the same mistake as you. (A rat chewed threw the wire, and me replacing it made me realize the issue)
You're absolutely right that the fuses could/should have been closer to the battery. That said, the battery is in the trunk, so it's not as bad as if the cables ran the entire length of the car.
Very surprised by the limited amount of “modernization” builds out there. I love the idea of a great, comfy, modern daily driver with 80/mo insurance and low taxes🤌🤌
Small tip: butyl rubber around the contact point of the speaker and metal makes a huge difference. Have a 96 L coupe needing some minor TLC, looking to one day do what you have going here.
So having the fuses at the amp side? Interesting.. does that mean if too much current travels through the car before it reaches the safety fuse your cars burnt out? Curious as I have always fused amps close to battery..
yes! Always fuse the wire immediately off the battery. You can additionally fuse it at the amp, but that is not what prevents the power wire from setting the car on fire.
7:21 Not all copper wire is the same. You have access to CCA or OFC which do make massive differences Multistrand vs single core too 7:55 Heatshrink isn't for holding wires in place either, it's for insulating, primarily as well as making the install look more appealing 26:00 you need to fuse closer to the battery, the idea is, if the fuse pops it protects everything after it. Say a wire shorts in all that distance before the fuse, it'll cause an issue. However, if there's only 6cm before the fuse, the chances of any damage happening before that is minimal Perhaps i'm just being pedantic, but should a "noob" reference these minor "issues" it won't be as good of an install as it could be! Not hating, more advising
Just as you started off with audio systems in your old Chevy, I too am beginning my first journey with car audio on my old Chevy. Ripped out the passenger seat and put two 12 inch subs in. Cool coincidence that we both began on our trucks in highschool.
Randal is honestly the man! Love his attention to detail and how knowledgeable he is! If he started a channel I would be the first to subscribe!!!! Give home my respect! Love his work!
Thanks for the video man, awesome looking screen. When installing speakers I mark the holes, remove the speakers then drill the holes. Its not worth getting all the sharp metal swarf over the new cones and stuck to the magnet. A couple of things I would do different mate. Put rubber grommets in the holes where any cable is passing through, use a wooden spacers for the speakers to screw into and screw the amps onto a wood board instead of into the metal sheet.😀
The cleanest wiring job I've ever seen, amazing job! I love the customization of how the amps were mounted and how you were able to get the rear deck speakers mounted with using that other material (idk what that material is). And the head unit its self is massive! Love what you've done so far to the Subaru and can't wait to see how this build turns out once completed!
You cancel the benefit of a component set with mounting the tweeter same place with the woofer you should mount the tweeter as close to the ear level as possible. If you don't have any place to mount the tweeter than you should use coaxials instead. But clean install overall and beautiful car.
The Front lows would Sound 200% better If you close All the holes in Your doors so it has some air to play with. Did that on my S13, day and night difference
I really appreciate this video, some of the back story especially. I got the feels, it just took me back to high school when me and my brother got into car audio messing around with his 1st car. We were poor so we were experimenting a lot I mean we had the factory radio wire to an amp powering a old heavy house sub somebody put out on the curb for garbage. Eventually over time we saved up money to be able to buy proper equipment but trail & error learning, and your absolutely right the 1st time you hear/feel that bass its something special.
Guys you use sound deadening on the roof and the floor but not one single piece on the doors, you should use at least one layer on the outer sheet and then one layer on the middle sheet and close the big holes. And yes the tweeter should be on ear height, you hear with your ears not with your feet
I remember the old Sony car stereo just being poo, but I've been really impressed by a lot of their new stuff and I wish I could hear through youtube what yours are like. It seems as though for as much care as was taken to wire this up, you'd have shielded the wires in the doors that are resting against sharp metal edges. He soldered the connections to the speakers in the doors, but used an all-weather connector on the sub and didn't solder it. Also, one of the benefits of components is being able to get the listening angle of your highs closer to ear level and yours are put on the same level as the mid-bass, which doesn't really buy you as much benefit over a coaxial speaker placed in the same location. Do these ES amps have DSP built in? This is the first video I've watched on your channel, and I'm not a die-hard Subie guy, but I really dig the car!
Wire is not just wire and all the same. Normal cheap car audio wire is “cca” (copper clad aluminum). If you’re going for a quality install and sound, you need “ofc” (oxygen free copper). Cca wire also corrodes into the insulation, ofc is solid copper and is made to keep the wiring from corroding, it also conducts electricity MUCH better with less resistance. So wire type, and quality make a huge difference.
The only things I noticed that would be good to do would be rubber grommets where wires traveled through raw metal openings. Foam liners on the baskets of the speakers that were installed in the doors. Fuses installed closer to the battery instead of near the amp. That’s a long unprotected run that’s a higher fire hazard done close to the amp like that. A port somewhere in the rear deck to allow the subs sound to be more full sounding in the cab. Lastly, mounting the tweeters higher up on the door pointed in the listening direction. They won’t play to potential pointed at your feet.
As someone who's love for car audio goes back to the 90s.. and was doing home installs in high school, this was highly satisfying. Not even sure how I got here 😂😂😂 Good job. Super clean install. Dynamat everything 😋
All copper wires are not the same. Some are a mix of materials (like copper and tin clad) while others are pure copper. Some are solid, some are stranded. When it comes to car audio, the general rule of thumb is you want pure OFC (oxygen free copper) with as many strands as possible for more surface area. Also, make sure your alternator and battery(s) can keep up.
I started off with 2 12 crappy pioneers and now I have 2 p3 and i know that exact feeling when he said you don’t need a lot of bass when you first start off
Back in 2006 bought a Prelude from a random kid literally just at the mall. 11 years later see an ad for this same Subaru, call him up, start talking cars, turns out it's the same kid. Haha
You shouldn’t use crimps in spring loaded terminals like you did on the subwoofer. Now the wire is connecting only with a few spots of the crimp, because the wire is not flexible anymore what the terminals are designed for. And on the wire in the subwoofer you should use cloth tape, so the wire can’t make a noise, when it shakes around.
All copper wire is not all the same. DC travels on the outside of the strands so more strands means more flow. Gauge changes resistance as well and load capacity. Car looks sweet though! And I also liked that I saw shrink wrap.
O awg wires are overkill for those amps. Especially when only using 16 awg to the sub. Also, I wish the door tweeters weren't so low and facing down towards your feet. It looks clean and slick, but when you have the car stripped I would've put the tweeter near the A piller (top of the door minimum).
While that would probably be a much better location for the tweeters (IF they had used the Active DSP and Network Mode in this head unit!), the Sony Tweeters are BIG in terms of their overall diameter and I highly doubt they would fit in the OEM tweeter locations. The outer housing and grill on these tweeters is a "waveguide" and cannot be removed without compromising the performance of the tweeters.
Wires + bare metal = electrical shorts over time. Also, unwrapped wires will always make noise unless they are cinched down EVERYWHERE. All the metal to metal contact on the larger speakers could have been avoided by using some dynamat around the speaker holes before install. It is most certainly worth taking the panels off and reinstalling the larger speakers and getting some wrap or tape on any place the wires pass through a hole that isn't grommeted.
thank you bro you pushed me to a system i cou;dn't figure out what i wanted and people kept telling me to build 1000w+ systems but this sounds clean and it's sleek and modern and your presentation of it was amazing. I will be coming back to this video to use your affiliate link.
I’ve been talking about this with my friends for the longest times that old school cars should get like a remaster kinda like how video games get remastered. Like they should re release old body Supra and other jdm cars with updated tech
all speakers and subwoofer plus rumble sound, what a paradise! please have the unequal length header on this car, thats what the GC8 should sounds like.
I just posted a new video showing a product you need! You can now watch TH-cam and many others on Apple CarPlay with this new device! Watch the video here: th-cam.com/video/sL9cKZ9h6-o/w-d-xo.html
Link says it's private o.O
are you located in arizona, im currently in the process of shipping my 1996 gc8 from japan and i want a sony surround system so bad
Does tha 02-07 Dash jus bolt in? Ah have an 01 RSTI an was thinking of updating tha dash.
Awesome install. Quick tip for anyone installing a new head unit, always get everything wired up and make sure the thing turns on before fastening things down and making it look pretty. It sucks when you spend extra time getting everything neat and organized to find that you missed a step and need to pull everything out again lol
Spoken like a man who has uninstalled a few head units. 😏 Been there myself. More than once, I’m ashamed to say.
1. Bad ground.
2. Blown fuse.
3. Loose connection.
It’s usually one of those.
AZW
I’ve made that mistake 😂
yup, better to check everything works, than to try to trouble shoot everything, tear wiring apart, to find out you have a dead headunit. Make sure everything works then proceed...
New drinking game, shot when Randall says, "She ain't goin' nowhere".
Damn, gonna get alcohol poisoning at that point
Wears a Cleetus shirt then copies the saying 😂
I took your challenge and now I'm feeling glonky my guy
How did John die?
Wire grommets for the holes drilled in the metal would have been a good idea. Cars move and shake, so the wires will rub the metal over time and possibly short to the body.
Facts
Soo true.
Id have my ass raped if I ran wires through steal without grommets. seen a few returned "faulty" products returned with blatant wire shorts from this exact issue
And must add.. use no smaller then 12 gage wire for subs.. 16 is too small!
@@toddjohnson1518 16g is fine for that tiny little amp and "sub", 330 watts at 4 ohms, with that short distance run under 2'.
The xmax is only like 6.5. This thing doesn't flex, it twitches.
Would've loved to see the tweeters on the A pillars, or the sails on the door.. you need them as close to ear level as possible for proper stereo imaging. Fantastic build though!
I was thinking the same thing... I wonder how well you'll be able to hear those high notes f/the tweeters in that location?? Otherwise very clean!!
Actually, with the tweeters in the lower position the distance from the drivers head to the two tweeters is closer to being the same. So, the sound arrives to your ears somewhat in phase. It IS better to have them up top if you're running an active system and can delay them to be in phase with DSP. But, they're running passive crossovers and aren't able to do that. So, my man in the video there knows exactly what he's doing. :-)
@@MitchellWilsonII welllllll dsp's are great so they should run a dsp😂
@@devinstepp4205 This is true.
@@MitchellWilsonII that’s what I was thinking. First I was like why are they so low then I noticed passive crossovers. They are clean and that’s what matters.
You need shirts that say "Everybody needs a Randle" with a picture of his boots lol.
I back this 100%
Or "she ain't goin no where"
@@mikefitzhenry7535 yeah, I thought the samething after watching the rest of the video hahaha
Haha yeah "she ain't goin nowhere" down the sleeves
@@Neoncollects
Hopefully they print the T-Shirts with his name spelled correctly, LOL. I believe that it is "RANDALL" and not "Randle".
19:35 “or some people call them preferred lifestyle cutters” 😂😂😂
As a current stereo installer myself, I thought this was a very satisfying and clean install. Props to you both for your excellent work! Excited to see this project progress!
You ever did a 370z before? Or what kinda head unit do you install the most
@@masterk5066 Kenwood DMX7706S I’m also a stereo installer. This radio is by far better than the Sony. The interface is better for use and has more features. As well if you were to use a 4ch amp the pre outs have about 4.5 - 5v so the sound quality is there.
Did you put the fuse in the wrong end like these guys? 😅
@@tomijorg I didn't see under the hood side anywhere in the video, but I'd assume they have a fuse by the battery too. I've always done fuses at the amplifier as well using distribution blocks, especially when there are multiple amplifiers. It is how I was taught and what I see in a majority of multi-amp videos I have watched.
@@mikeysousa164 any head units that will decide MQA via Tidal.
This build is insane, also the wire management and how organized y’all are is so satisfying💯
FR
holy crap man, cam really has amazing quality on his videos and his editing has always been top tier it’s crazy
facts
The engineer in me is always satisfied seeing people using crimps, proper soldering technique, heat shrink, and zip ties in their projects. It ain't OCD to go the extra mile and ensure with 100% confidence that you made a proper connection, splice, or what have you. I can't tell you how many times I saw wiring harnesses fail in my aerospace class, taught by an accomplished electrical engineer, due to poor quality connections. Go that extra mile, it pays off in spades
Randall = 🐐. This build is gonna be amazing when everything comes together
Appreciate you!
First time here. Randall looks like the most organized person ever, love it.
Dude you and Randle are ONE hell of a team. Keep up the grind. Love watching all your content. But like you kept telling us stuff is coming up just wait. You have taken you videos to the next level. Continue to stay humble.
About a year ago I installed my own stereo system. Like your own, I covered all bases on front, rear, and a 10-inch sub. Everything your saying is spot on. Every day I get in my car, it's a good day
People that know car audio are screaming right now.
why
@@johnstaker6706 when he cut the factory harness. The way he ran the wires in the door. Nothing between the speaker and the metal on the door.
Yes all of it is subjective but
Agreed. The rear deck just made me sad because there are adapters for that
Got me at the all copper wire is the same… just went down from there in a lot of aspects. Not how I would’ve done things, however not my build.
So many things could have been done so much better 😅
I thought there was no way I’m going to watch half an hour of this guys car audio video… 33 minutes later I don’t even know what happened, that was mesmerizing.
Love the "Preferred Lifestyle Cutters" lol
You're one of the only car TH-camrs I watch that has done an in-depth install video on a sound system... and more need to do it!!
Please check out the *5 Star Car Stereo* TH-cam channel featuring hundreds of full install videos in all types of vehicles. I think you'll dig it. ;) They also have short specific topic installation videos on their *Dean and Fernando's Car Stereo Clips* TH-cam channel. Highly recommended.
Use mdf spacers to mount your speakers and your quality will improve. Mounting directly on metal is just tacky
Acrylic spacers would have been even better. Wont break down over time from condensation.
@@neilmeschke
Agreed, though acrylic is very brittle and not as easy to cut & drill without it fracturing or cracking. I typically use HDPE, Sintra (expanded/blown PVC), "King Starboard", and ABS plastic.
Just LAZY as his the tweeter placements!
I have no car, nor would I be interested in having an upgraded sound system in it if I had one. However, this video is mesmerizing. It's especially satisfying to watch Randall going the extra mile with organizing cables, making connections extra safe / rigid by using heatshrinks, cable organizers, zip-ties etc. A true work of art.
It’s smarter to just get the factory harness adapter for the 10-15$ saves anyone else who would have to ever work on it trouble and usually it matches up to the colors of the radios wires
Dude when u do stuff like this it's for you not the next person. Fuck them it's your money.
@@davey6024 but why wouldn't you just get the appropriate harness adapter instead of permanently cutting the factory harness?...
It just doesn't really make sense not to, regardless of whose money it is. It's more work AND less optimal to splice into the vehicle harness.
True on t hw harness but to me its can help as practice the first jvc tape i did was with no harness, no book on a dakota its not that bad at all
@@SecretSauceyjuice they we wired the whole car 1 more harness wouldnt hurt
@@DC-bc9pe no its 1 *less* harness. I wanted them to use an additional harness that could unplug from a factory plug and remove the radio cleanly. Instead they cut the wires individually.
It's just not as clean of an install to do it that way and makes removing it later annoying af.
Car play is a MUST! I have it in my Raptor and when I got my 13 ZL1, my first upgrade was a new radio with car play.
Good to see Sony still makes nice looking in-car gear. That Sony big screen looks magic. Your install looks great too. I'm wondering how you justify sticking a tweeter near your feet since they are extremely directional unlike woofers?
Okay well i doubt that you will see this but i jusy wanna say this is the first video ive seen on your channel and i cant stop feeling like you stole my life because this project woukd be my dream car, i feel the exact same way you do about tech and the nostalgic body and everything and i wanna say it looks gorgeous man, if i ever get to do my porject im going to aim for something like what you have. Keep up the good work man!
Cameron, I want to say I’m a huge fan of your channel. I’ve been watching your videos for a very long time and you are going to be my inspiration to building awesome cars for my personal collection.
Great job but never stop learning and getting better.. Bench test if you can.. Make sure Audio/Video cables are split from Power cables.. Always use grommets when running cable through metal (You will learn the hard way if its a power wire that develops a cut in the jacket.....) Lower frequencies are more forgiving on placement, that's why the ear level tweeter recommendations.. But if a stealth look is what you are after, I definitely get it.. Never cut the factory harness, its just bad practice.. Oh, and never rely on double sided tape haha..
Also a quick tip that is “illegal.” To bypass the parking break wire just put it to the ground. I haven’t finished the vid yet but I noticed y’all didn’t do anything with the green parking break wire. You will lose a lot of functionality without that properly installed or bypassed. Also never put the fuses inside the car. Always want them no more than 18 inches away from the battery unless the battery is in the trunk but still only 18 inches away. Other than that great bud bro.
Simple. Just ground it. Lol
ya. just run the wire to a relay that you control.
@@zayrsps2631 the just "ground it" unfortunately does not apply to all cars atleast for the nissan frontier had to buy a parkbreak bypass
I buildmy widebody type r 4 years ago. I daily drove it to work for 1 year and honestly it starts to wear thin commuting in that thing every day. Every journy i would have people waving and giving me the thumbs up it was great but after getting myself a bmw 530d to drive to work and back i didnt realise how much i was suffering in the subaru haha
I would add a rubber grommet or plastic wire sleeve where the wires are going through metal panels. They can rub on that sharp metal and short out
Way to finish off the vid bro.
I love being human, I love being alive.
Love it dude.
You need spacers and some sound mats to got around those speakers there is definitely going to cause interference or static along with rattling. Happened to me redoing all the speakers in my 2003 forester.
Love and supporting the build man.
I love being a human! I love being alive! We are blessed!
Nice work good clean install, I did cringe a little at the placement of the fuses though, they should be mounted as close to the battery as possible, they're not there to protect the amps they're there to protect your car from catching fire if something ever happens to the wiring (car crash etc) as then you have 1 or two 0 gauge wires with dead shorts coming from a high current battery!
That radio just sets the car apart, it turns it into like a retrofit type deal where the car is brought into the new Era of technology
There is a major safety issue in this video.
The fuse on the amplifier wire is not to protect the amplifier (as the amp had built in fuses for that). This fuse is to protect the wire in the case of a short to ground. You need that fuse because of how long that wire is. It increases the odds of a short to ground from happening. If the fuse is far away from the battery, you have a longer portion of hot wire that is unprotected.
You want the fuse to be as close to the battery as possible, or even on the battery terminal itself if possible. The general rule of thumb is to place the fuse between 6 and 12 inches from the battery. This minimizes the section of the wire that is unprotected. That way you can have a short anywhere on the wire and the fuse will still pop and protect the wire. (Unless the short is before the fuse in which case your effed (Hence why the fuse should be close to the battery))
The other issue is your wiring of the head unit. Ideally, you'd want to use a wiring harness adapter for that. They are cheap, and much simpler to use. They also remove any guesswork from that wiring. But I do not know the full story of this car, so I can forgive this if it was removed prior to you owning the car.
Other than the major safety issue, the video was great. There were a lot of best practices that were followed to a "T" and your use of color coding and wire organization was great! I really think you should amend the video to correct the mistake you made, so that others do not make it as well. I have seen car fires happen because of a short to ground on an Amp wire. Hell, my own truck almost caught on fire due to this issue when the previous owner made the same mistake as you. (A rat chewed threw the wire, and me replacing it made me realize the issue)
EXCELLENT POST and I agree with all points 110%. *Two Thumbs Up*
You're absolutely right that the fuses could/should have been closer to the battery. That said, the battery is in the trunk, so it's not as bad as if the cables ran the entire length of the car.
I like Randall. Chill guy just doing a clean install. For everyone complaining, y’all gotta remember, shit ain’t going nowhere!
Very surprised by the limited amount of “modernization” builds out there. I love the idea of a great, comfy, modern daily driver with 80/mo insurance and low taxes🤌🤌
Small tip: butyl rubber around the contact point of the speaker and metal makes a huge difference.
Have a 96 L coupe needing some minor TLC, looking to one day do what you have going here.
Literally my dream build… I’m living through this man! Please keep this coming. Drown me in it lmao
HUGE sponsorship congrats my man
So having the fuses at the amp side? Interesting.. does that mean if too much current travels through the car before it reaches the safety fuse your cars burnt out? Curious as I have always fused amps close to battery..
yes! Always fuse the wire immediately off the battery. You can additionally fuse it at the amp, but that is not what prevents the power wire from setting the car on fire.
yeah, fuses need to be near battery.
randall is such a PROFESSIONAL so CLEAN WIRINGS. only few do that meticulous works
7:21
Not all copper wire is the same. You have access to CCA or OFC which do make massive differences
Multistrand vs single core too
7:55
Heatshrink isn't for holding wires in place either, it's for insulating, primarily as well as making the install look more appealing
26:00
you need to fuse closer to the battery, the idea is, if the fuse pops it protects everything after it. Say a wire shorts in all that distance before the fuse, it'll cause an issue. However, if there's only 6cm before the fuse, the chances of any damage happening before that is minimal
Perhaps i'm just being pedantic, but should a "noob" reference these minor "issues" it won't be as good of an install as it could be! Not hating, more advising
Just as you started off with audio systems in your old Chevy, I too am beginning my first journey with car audio on my old Chevy. Ripped out the passenger seat and put two 12 inch subs in. Cool coincidence that we both began on our trucks in highschool.
Those crossovers are so clean! I would want to leave a cutout in the door panel for them as well! Let the engineering be viewed as well!
That dude is a real pro with the electrical. The type of guy I'd let work on my stuff. Most pros wouldn't do half what he does.
The wiring looked super clean,I like where u mounted all the crossovers. All in all it looked amazing
Randal is honestly the man! Love his attention to detail and how knowledgeable he is! If he started a channel I would be the first to subscribe!!!! Give home my respect! Love his work!
Thanks for the video man, awesome looking screen. When installing speakers I mark the holes, remove the speakers then drill the holes. Its not worth getting all the sharp metal swarf over the new cones and stuck to the magnet.
A couple of things I would do different mate. Put rubber grommets in the holes where any cable is passing through, use a wooden spacers for the speakers to screw into and screw the amps onto a wood board instead of into the metal sheet.😀
I must say that the wiring is so clean! shoutout to that dude! I think there's nobody in Sri Lanka capable of doing such a nice wiring! Impressive 🔥
Looks great! Just a heads up, when you install door windows. The bottom of the window will hit the back of the speaker without a ½” spacer.
What a pleasure to see the perfection of the wiring! 🤯
The cleanest wiring job I've ever seen, amazing job! I love the customization of how the amps were mounted and how you were able to get the rear deck speakers mounted with using that other material (idk what that material is). And the head unit its self is massive! Love what you've done so far to the Subaru and can't wait to see how this build turns out once completed!
Check out the *Clean Wire Club* on Facebook Group that was started by Dean & Fernando from the *5 Star Car Stereo* TH-cam channel. ;)
You cancel the benefit of a component set with mounting the tweeter same place with the woofer you should mount the tweeter as close to the ear level as possible. If you don't have any place to mount the tweeter than you should use coaxials instead. But clean install overall and beautiful car.
Rich people activities
The Front lows would Sound 200% better If you close All the holes in Your doors so it has some air to play with.
Did that on my S13, day and night difference
I really appreciate this video, some of the back story especially. I got the feels, it just took me back to high school when me and my brother got into car audio messing around with his 1st car. We were poor so we were experimenting a lot I mean we had the factory radio wire to an amp powering a old heavy house sub somebody put out on the curb for garbage. Eventually over time we saved up money to be able to buy proper equipment but trail & error learning, and your absolutely right the 1st time you hear/feel that bass its something special.
Guys you use sound deadening on the roof and the floor but not one single piece on the doors, you should use at least one layer on the outer sheet and then one layer on the middle sheet and close the big holes.
And yes the tweeter should be on ear height, you hear with your ears not with your feet
I must be the only one that can hear with my feet
I remember the old Sony car stereo just being poo, but I've been really impressed by a lot of their new stuff and I wish I could hear through youtube what yours are like. It seems as though for as much care as was taken to wire this up, you'd have shielded the wires in the doors that are resting against sharp metal edges. He soldered the connections to the speakers in the doors, but used an all-weather connector on the sub and didn't solder it. Also, one of the benefits of components is being able to get the listening angle of your highs closer to ear level and yours are put on the same level as the mid-bass, which doesn't really buy you as much benefit over a coaxial speaker placed in the same location. Do these ES amps have DSP built in? This is the first video I've watched on your channel, and I'm not a die-hard Subie guy, but I really dig the car!
Clean clean work. Another vote for tweeters in sail panels
all those little details is what makes for a solid install with no failures good job Randal.
This is so dope. And man I love it when he says ‘it ain’t going nowhere' lol
Wire is not just wire and all the same. Normal cheap car audio wire is “cca” (copper clad aluminum). If you’re going for a quality install and sound, you need “ofc” (oxygen free copper). Cca wire also corrodes into the insulation, ofc is solid copper and is made to keep the wiring from corroding, it also conducts electricity MUCH better with less resistance. So wire type, and quality make a huge difference.
The only things I noticed that would be good to do would be rubber grommets where wires traveled through raw metal openings. Foam liners on the baskets of the speakers that were installed in the doors. Fuses installed closer to the battery instead of near the amp. That’s a long unprotected run that’s a higher fire hazard done close to the amp like that. A port somewhere in the rear deck to allow the subs sound to be more full sounding in the cab. Lastly, mounting the tweeters higher up on the door pointed in the listening direction. They won’t play to potential pointed at your feet.
So many crossovers and an DSP in the Head Unit😳
U can probably do everything u Want soundwise
As someone who's love for car audio goes back to the 90s.. and was doing home installs in high school, this was highly satisfying. Not even sure how I got here 😂😂😂 Good job. Super clean install. Dynamat everything 😋
Why no sound deadening on the doors? Would give way more kick base.
Congratulations on sponsorship brother!
All copper wires are not the same.
Some are a mix of materials (like copper and tin clad) while others are pure copper.
Some are solid, some are stranded.
When it comes to car audio, the general rule of thumb is you want pure OFC (oxygen free copper) with as many strands as possible for more surface area.
Also, make sure your alternator and battery(s) can keep up.
He meant they all “taste” the same. The wire coating adds the flavor. Red is cherry flavor. Yellow is lemon and so on. Duh!!
no soundproofing product before the speakers go in? Especially in the front doors will be a very hollow sound
Retrofitting a classic car is oddly satisfying.
Man dudes a beast with the wiring I need friends like him 🤙🏾
I don't normally subscribe to people after watching just one of their videos. But your work was so clean. And you explained things so well. Good job!
I started off with 2 12 crappy pioneers and now I have 2 p3 and i know that exact feeling when he said you don’t need a lot of bass when you first start off
Very clean job but where are the speakers rings ? You went
just straigt to metal 😳
Good to see the proper snips being used @ 10:50 to crop the ties!
10.50 hello, no grommets to protect the wire or sound rings?
Back in 2006 bought a Prelude from a random kid literally just at the mall. 11 years later see an ad for this same Subaru, call him up, start talking cars, turns out it's the same kid. Haha
I’m glad you spoke about bass on a little bass go a long ways.
You shouldn’t use crimps in spring loaded terminals like you did on the subwoofer. Now the wire is connecting only with a few spots of the crimp, because the wire is not flexible anymore what the terminals are designed for. And on the wire in the subwoofer you should use cloth tape, so the wire can’t make a noise, when it shakes around.
All copper wire is not all the same. DC travels on the outside of the strands so more strands means more flow. Gauge changes resistance as well and load capacity.
Car looks sweet though! And I also liked that I saw shrink wrap.
O awg wires are overkill for those amps. Especially when only using 16 awg to the sub. Also, I wish the door tweeters weren't so low and facing down towards your feet. It looks clean and slick, but when you have the car stripped I would've put the tweeter near the A piller (top of the door minimum).
Y didn't u guys dyno mst the doors (just curious)
So uhh why the 0g cable? surely 4g would have been sufficient for what looked to be a total of 300 watt's each amp?
Definitly not professional shop level but crazy amazing for basic amp wiring. Neat job guys.
are you going to add sound dampening to the doors??
The gc8 Imprezas have a tweeter grille near the door handle, not sure why you didn’t put the tweeters there
While that would probably be a much better location for the tweeters (IF they had used the Active DSP and Network Mode in this head unit!), the Sony Tweeters are BIG in terms of their overall diameter and I highly doubt they would fit in the OEM tweeter locations. The outer housing and grill on these tweeters is a "waveguide" and cannot be removed without compromising the performance of the tweeters.
I was planning on getting the 9500es too and installing on the 06 dash. Was it really necessary to cut the dash?
That “preferred life style” line got me 😂😂🤣
You should have installed the tweeters in the a pillars. And if you haven't done this set your speaker timings/distance, makes a real big difference
Wires + bare metal = electrical shorts over time. Also, unwrapped wires will always make noise unless they are cinched down EVERYWHERE. All the metal to metal contact on the larger speakers could have been avoided by using some dynamat around the speaker holes before install. It is most certainly worth taking the panels off and reinstalling the larger speakers and getting some wrap or tape on any place the wires pass through a hole that isn't grommeted.
On your door speakers you might need to put in spacers because they'll hit the glass when the window is rolled down.
As a person with OCD this video was super satisfying lmao
thank you bro you pushed me to a system i cou;dn't figure out what i wanted and people kept telling me to build 1000w+ systems but this sounds clean and it's sleek and modern and your presentation of it was amazing. I will be coming back to this video to use your affiliate link.
if you use crutchfield they make it really easy to know what head unit will fit in your car and adapters you need
I’ve been talking about this with my friends for the longest times that old school cars should get like a remaster kinda like how video games get remastered. Like they should re release old body Supra and other jdm cars with updated tech
all speakers and subwoofer plus rumble sound, what a paradise! please have the unequal length header on this car, thats what the GC8 should sounds like.
16 gauge for a subwoofer it’s small, the recommended wire for a sub, it’s 12 gauge, personally I used 8 gauge for my system
Bro I can’t wait for my first car the things I want to do to that car !!!! Jesus