I think I'm an addict. This time last year I didn't even know what "ice" was.

My quest started when I got a nice Sony MP3 player for Xmas and discovered the convenience of digital music. But I have a base fit with no aux jack. So I looked here and elsewhere for ideas, including adapters from P.I.E., U.S. SPEC, etc. Then I read a post here from Injundon about how the stock HU sucks anyway, so I just decided to go ahead and replace it with something that was MP3 compatible. Then I realized they make decks with USB inputs so I could keep my music in the car on a flash drive instead of worrying about where my Walkman was. No more CDs rattling around!

So I put in a Pioneer DEH P5000-USB deck. Never done that before. It was satisfying. And it made the stock speakers immediately sound better. I also noticed that the USB files produced better sound quality that my MP3 (off the headphone jack into the aux port). Maybe a direct feed from an Ipod would be different, but the USB sounds great anyway.

Then I obviously realized that if a little was good a little more would be better, so I replaced the 4 speakers with some Infinity Reference. They sounded great. You should see the difference in materials and quality between the stock speakers and probably any decent aftermarket speaker.

But ... now I could hear the sound well enough to know that I was lacking the low end. Had to have a subwoofer. I tried a self-powered bazooka but it turned out the one I got from Crutchfield in their scratch and dent section had something wrong with it. If I had paid a few extra $ and got a brand new one in the first place, the story would end here.

To help diagnose the Bazooka (was wondering if it was an install issue since I did it myself) I went down to my local car audio shop. Turned out to be a short in the sub. And I noticed they had some nice amps and I realized I needed one.

So I got a 4 channel amp and installed that myself while I was waiting for a replacement Bazooka from Crutchfield (very good customer service). The shop set me up with all the cables, etc. and said to come back and they'd help me tune it. The speakers really came alive with the amp power.

But when I went back to the shop to have them check my amp install I couldn't help noticing this perfectly sized enclosed JL sub with an 8-inch W-3 driver. I could tell it would look perfect in the Fit. Not surprisingly, I went home with it, pushing it by bridging two channels on the amp and just pushing the front speakers with the other 2 channels. I rewired the rear speakers into the deck, but they don't really do much for me.

Now, with proper power, a tuned system and excellent sound at the low frequency, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that my Infinity speakers were good, but not great. I got some good speaker advice here and on other boards but most importantly I went around and listened to everything my local stores have on their boards.

I ended up back at the same shop (good guys) and fell in love with the JL C5 components. We worked out a deal and I believe, for now, my quest is complete.

I know this is kind of a half-assed way to build up a system and I wasted some time and effort in the process. But I don't really mind, because it was fun, and because I now want to drive at low, gas-saving speeds so I can spend as much time in this incredible envelope of high quality music.

Cheers!

 

Random question, where did you mount the amp? Any pics?

 

Nice story. I am starting the same quest, and I do not receive my Sport until the end of the month. Did you remove front carpet? I want to use Dynamat on the floor for sound deadening.

 

sounds great man, but after several years doing professional car audio installs (not CC or BB mind you), you're not getting out what you could from bridging that 4 channel amp to the sub.

i mean, yes, it's a 8", but JL's suck a lot of power, and 4 channel amps aren't made to run subs, they're made to run mid/high.

just watch it, as the JL will get the amp pretty hot, and may eventually blow the fuse.

but it all comes down to if you are satisfied with the sound. if you are, that's awesome, and stay with it... just keep an eye on the amp.

 

Now that that is out of the way, lets move on to step 2

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