Head Unit
The head unit is an Empeg (now called Rio Car) 6GB MP3 player I purchased years ago. They've been discontinued, but you can get them models with much more storage on ebay now for less than $400. These HU's are really sweet. I'll probably never go back to CD's in a car again. The unit pulls out too, for when you want to load it with songs or take it with you to avoid theft.The HU install was a piece of cake. Yank out the old stock Blaupunkt, and slide the new one in. Instead of cutting away all the old wires, I stuffed them down underneath the HU (where the storage tray normally is), so I can restore the system back to stock if I ever (gasp!) decide to get rid of the car. Unfortunately with the wires there I can't put the storage tray back. I'll probably put a few gauges there instead, to clean up that ugly spot.
I ran the RCA outputs down into the driver side area, and the RCA inputs (for connecting a CD player) and serial port down the passenger side area, under the mats.
Ack! You can see my filthy mats!!! How embarrasing!
Front speakers
Some people said they had problems finding 4x6's that aren't too deep for the factory holes. I found a pair of Kenwoods (KFC-X486C) that sound fine and fit perfectly. I'm still looking around for a pair of grilles for the speakers, to restore the "stock" look.
Wiring went from the trunk under the carpet to the footwell areas, and through the rubber section into the door. Pretty straight forward.
Rear speakers
Despite what some web sites say, I was able to change both rear speakers without removing the window. The process took about 20 minutes for each speaker and was pretty easy. Just unscrew the panel under the window, and gently slide it out. I stuck the Crystals back there, but I am considering switching them with the Kenwoods because they sound pretty good. Have to do some experimenting. The speaker wires can be run directly back to the trunk via the cubby holes behind the rear wheels.
Take note the grommits to the rear of the rear speakers. When running the power (passenger side) and RCA outputs from the HU (driver side) into the trunk, you can run them through these holes. The power wires may be a tight squeeze depending on their thickness.
To put everything back in place, just push the vinyl back underneath the door seal:
And underneath the rubber weatherstripping around the rear window:
Finished rear speakers:
Subwoofers
For the subwoofer boxes, I chose to buy instead of build. Scott has a great solution for the 944, as long as you don't mind being restricted to 8 inch subs. The box is approx. .22 cu ft, and fits entirely in the cubbys behind the rear wheels, and under the carpet. Totally stealth. You can't see a thing when the carpet is back down.I stuck a pair of JL 8w0's in there, sealed, and they sound great, considering they are eights and JL's cheaper model.
Amplifiers
I decided to go with two amps. One four channel to power the front and rear 4x6's, and one to power the subs. I already had a JBL 80w4 from a previous install, and it is more than adequate for this install too, so I'm using it to power the fronts and rears.I originally went with a Sony Xplod 4ch amp (XM-1004GX) to power the subs (bridged). The output of this amp was very weak compared to it's advertised capabilities, and in general I was not impressed with the amp. After replacing it with the BP300, I was very pleased. The JBL amp really POUNDS those little eights! I hooked them up in parallel to present the amp with a two ohm load. This configuration may be a bit over powered for those subs so I'm going to keep my eye on them.
I decided to mount the amps inside the spare tire well. The spare that comes with the 944 is tiny and needs to be inflated before use, so it's pretty much usless. Chucked it--I've got AAA. Instead of putting holes all inside the spare tire well, I built a wooden rack for the amps, with a hole matched up so it can be fastened to the body of the car just like the spare tire.
RCA cables from HU connect on the left side, speaker line and power wires from the right. There is very little ventilation under the carpet, so I mounted two 6 inch fans blowing through the amps fins to provide at least a little air flow. Eventually I will be replacing the carpet and at that point I'll put in a vent right above the amps. The rack even uses the same bolt as the spare tire.
The rack can be removed in under 15 minutes. You can see in this picture the relay that runs the fans. After the picture was taken I decided to move the relay to the inside of the rack and shorten the wires a little. I also flipped the one fan back so they both blew across the amps.
Here are some pictures of the whole setup, including the subs. You can see where I ran the ground wires in this picture:
Driver side subwoofer, RCA cables from HU, and driver side speaker wires:
Passenger-side wiring:
Wiring
I ran two seperate power wires (8 gauge) from the battery through the fire wall (about an inch behind the battery) and down the passenger side of the car to the trunk. These hook on to a U-bolt on the amp rack, which is wired to each amp's +12 input. The ground wires are hooked up the same way. I am considering replacing these bolts with a actual (fused) distribution block, but until then I'll keep my eye on the bolts and make sure they are not disintegrating or endangering the system. I did it this way to make it easier to remove the amp rack (no unscrewing).The speaker wires are all connected with banana plugs to binding posts on the amp rack. No screwing or unscrewing required.
Conclusion
Thanks for visiting! I hope you found this description helpful. Since this was basically my first "start to finish" install, I learned alot. Fortunately I didn't short-circuit or burn up anything, and after adjusting the gains with a scope, and tuning the xover frequencies it sounds great! If you have any questions or comments, or suggestions on how I should have done things differently or better, or if you just want to flame me, you can reach me here.Byebye.