My audio install- Luke box, MS8, 500/5, 10W3v3, and more...

[Schnitzer318is]

I am subbed... I don't get to see that many thorough installs in the e30 community. I got spoiled when I had my e46 over at fanatics.

[airkhin]

that is a serious setup you got going there. good stuff! cant wait to get my luke box all set up... ;)

[Dirtboy]

Looks good! I love how epic my lukebox sounds

One thing though, you shouldnt run speaker wire down the right side because of the battery cables IIRC it can cause unwanted bleed through

Well crap... It's too late now. Besides, I couldn't fit the speaker wires down the left side cuz they're 14ga. I know it's a bit overkill, but I got the wire at a decent price at Parts Express.

I've never heard of interference on speaker level lines, only on pre-amp lines. If it does happen, I'll just have to run the wires up the middle...

[EN318isPDX]

Looks good! I love how epic my lukebox sounds

One thing though, you shouldnt run speaker wire down the right side because of the battery cables IIRC it can cause unwanted bleed through

[Dirtboy]

Ok, I finally got some time and the weather got good enough to start my audio install. Actually, it got started last year while I was working on the interior of the e30. That thread is here: http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=145528
But here are some re-cap pics of that portion of it:

Ran new wires to the kickpanels:



Ran wires to the trunk:



The system is going to be run off a C43 running a Phatbox mp3 player in the trunk.


The rest of the system:

JBL MS-8 dsp
JL 500/5 amp
JL 10W3v3
Luke box
Polk Audio MM521 front speakers
Polk Audio db1001 front tweeters
Polk Audio GX5?? rear speakers (found at junkyard, lol)

So that get us to this week.

Getting Luke box ready for the amp and dsp:




Slap the sub in:



Then it was onto the kickpanels for the front speakers. The tweets were already installed in the sail panels last year. They will be used on the "side" channels of the MS8. The speakers in the kickpanels will be hooked up to the "front" channels on the MS8. Rear speakers to the "rear", you get how this is going...





To deal with cone excursion, I cut the "grill" off the kickpanels and used oem rear grills over the speakers to help keep it looking stock.



I know that the kickpanels aren't the best place to put the speakers, but I'm trying to keep it as stock looking as possible. If I really can't deal with how it sounds after the MS8 does it's thing, I may move the fronts to the door panels. Until then....



...and the glovebox still opens...


Then it was on to the trunk install...

empty:


full:


From inside:



And then the wiring begins:




So that's where I am right now. I had to stop because the rain came back and I'm working outside (the e46 is hogging the garage right now). I still have to get all the wiring in the trunk done, which includes cutting the stock battery clamp off and hooking up to the new battery. Then I have to fab up a rack or something to mount the Phatbox; it's going on the left side of the trunk. Also have to make the cover that's going over the amp and dsp. Not to mention that I still have to get the C43 mounted securely in the dash... Whew... I hope I can get this done in the next week or so...

More updates as the come...