I have finally got around to creating this post,
Right ok where to start really -
I brought a 9-3 uneducated to then find out about the appalling audio setup you can actually get with a car such as this,
I had the 4 speaker setup with ICM1 unit up front and nothing else.
The audio upgrade began almost immediately when I brought the car in 2009 and has only been completed about 3 months ago due to time, money and experiments with the setup and this is the only way to do it properly well if you like decent bass.
Upgraded to ICM2
Added Aux in
Amp1 installed with the factory door speakers and centre (I resorted to this because for 1 up front 2 x 3.5" were never ever going to keep up with the rear and secondly to tap off the amp 1 output to give decent bass signals to the sub or subs).
2 x 3.5" replaced with - jl audio c2 350x well worth every penny, clarity is evident not over factory as I cannot even remember those I had JBL ones in the about £30 for the pair and I know they were miles better than factory and the JL's still stand in a league of their own.
Power cable from front to back is zero gauge which runs straight into a 20 Farad Lanzar opticap 200 to feed off to the sub amp
4 gauge front to back for 2 channel amp no power cap on this line as the power is minimal
Amps and Cap have remote on at ignition tapped from the rear fuse box
under the passenger seat
Having problems with embedding images so going to just paste links to the photos.
Cache Cloc+D Line driver/Line out converter is connected under passenger seat tapping the power/remote/neg/audio output from amp1, RCA leads fed under the carpet, under rear seats to the sub (yes this was a pain in the backside to do yet paid off as everything is hidden which was the idea looking in the car everything is standard until you open the boot).
In the rear is as follows -
4" piles of $hite removed and replaced with Vibe black air component tweeters with inline crossovers
Black air 6x9's in rear shelf next to tweeters
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0651.jpg
Vibe Black box 2 2channel amp mounted upside down in the centre of the rear shelf
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0654.jpg
You can see the Boss Line out converter next to the amp which has been soldered to the existing rear out put and fed as a high level input into the amp which powers both the 6x9's and the tweeters.
This is the power cap mounted on the rear seat -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0667.jpg
I took this pic to show what it looks like behind the rear seats and to see the 0 gauge connecting to the cap -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0669.jpg
You can also see the amp on the rear of the sub which is connected to the Cloc+D under Passenger seat and you can also see the Vibe fast plug so the sub can be removed in seconds to give back a full boot should it be needed.
These beauties give a decent amount of bass to say the least -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0650.jpg
Active dual 12 inch subs which also have a remote adjust up front under the drivers side dash to adjust the crossover and gain of the sub which is very handy as some songs require that extra bit of bass.
On the head unit up front bass is set to zero and brought back through the crossover to the sub so none of the speakers distort even on full volume which you couldn't listen to in the car unless you wish to go deaf, I took the car to an event and had the boot open windows down etc and the sound was amazing from the outside I had to even question a friend on where it was coming from stunned to find it being my car.
Please let me know what you think of the install,
Should anyone wish to recruit myself to help with their install PM me bare in mind distance as I am Hertfordshire based.
Right ok where to start really -
I brought a 9-3 uneducated to then find out about the appalling audio setup you can actually get with a car such as this,
I had the 4 speaker setup with ICM1 unit up front and nothing else.
The audio upgrade began almost immediately when I brought the car in 2009 and has only been completed about 3 months ago due to time, money and experiments with the setup and this is the only way to do it properly well if you like decent bass.
Upgraded to ICM2
Added Aux in
Amp1 installed with the factory door speakers and centre (I resorted to this because for 1 up front 2 x 3.5" were never ever going to keep up with the rear and secondly to tap off the amp 1 output to give decent bass signals to the sub or subs).
2 x 3.5" replaced with - jl audio c2 350x well worth every penny, clarity is evident not over factory as I cannot even remember those I had JBL ones in the about £30 for the pair and I know they were miles better than factory and the JL's still stand in a league of their own.
Power cable from front to back is zero gauge which runs straight into a 20 Farad Lanzar opticap 200 to feed off to the sub amp
4 gauge front to back for 2 channel amp no power cap on this line as the power is minimal
Amps and Cap have remote on at ignition tapped from the rear fuse box
under the passenger seat
Having problems with embedding images so going to just paste links to the photos.
Cache Cloc+D Line driver/Line out converter is connected under passenger seat tapping the power/remote/neg/audio output from amp1, RCA leads fed under the carpet, under rear seats to the sub (yes this was a pain in the backside to do yet paid off as everything is hidden which was the idea looking in the car everything is standard until you open the boot).
In the rear is as follows -
4" piles of $hite removed and replaced with Vibe black air component tweeters with inline crossovers
Black air 6x9's in rear shelf next to tweeters
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0651.jpg
Vibe Black box 2 2channel amp mounted upside down in the centre of the rear shelf
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0654.jpg
You can see the Boss Line out converter next to the amp which has been soldered to the existing rear out put and fed as a high level input into the amp which powers both the 6x9's and the tweeters.
This is the power cap mounted on the rear seat -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0667.jpg
I took this pic to show what it looks like behind the rear seats and to see the 0 gauge connecting to the cap -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0669.jpg
You can also see the amp on the rear of the sub which is connected to the Cloc+D under Passenger seat and you can also see the Vibe fast plug so the sub can be removed in seconds to give back a full boot should it be needed.
These beauties give a decent amount of bass to say the least -
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k594/deano93tid/SAAB/IMG_0650.jpg
Active dual 12 inch subs which also have a remote adjust up front under the drivers side dash to adjust the crossover and gain of the sub which is very handy as some songs require that extra bit of bass.
On the head unit up front bass is set to zero and brought back through the crossover to the sub so none of the speakers distort even on full volume which you couldn't listen to in the car unless you wish to go deaf, I took the car to an event and had the boot open windows down etc and the sound was amazing from the outside I had to even question a friend on where it was coming from stunned to find it being my car.
Please let me know what you think of the install,
Should anyone wish to recruit myself to help with their install PM me bare in mind distance as I am Hertfordshire based.