2003 Mazda PROTEGE Instal worklog *CLARION DRZ9255 ARC KS series CDT Audio*

[Kidam!]

Hi to all of you reading this little work log

this started of 1 year ago and I decided to share this work with you mainly to get some feedback and also to contribute a little to the audio community

things to know: I come from QC canada and we speak french! this = me sometimes having trouble with the writting! please keep that in mind


sooo here it is first a little presentation.

I am a 22 years old student working part time (36 hours a week lol ...) as a manager in a sport store. This is my first install and my first break in audio.

- Now lets go back in time with the first ... lets call it cheap system


first the car: a typical and usual Mazda PROTEGE ES 2.0 liters 2003





now the gear at first I went for that little setup because it was cheap and easy for me to get :

HU: Alpine CDA-9857
Speaker: CDT euro sport ES-620
Sub: ES SQ-120 by CDT
rear fill: CL-69 also by CDT

amps by kicker



wire from my local Maddison electronics

since my mazda was with a 2 DIN radio I had to get a dash kit or something else. I went for a MAZDA SPEED DOOR 1 din with the little metal bracket from the dealer !

[Kidam!]

installation was about to begin and every thing was going well ... until I got to the garage to get the car in :S

the father car was still there and he was gone for 2 weeks ... told him to move the car but ... anyways familly issues lol (I am not suppose to touch neither drive the dam car .. but for that I did please myself and took a ride not only to move the dam car but to piss a little my still wonderfull dad )



here is some picture of the installation just to do a little fast foward



40 square foot of B-quiet ULTIMATE for the doors and the deck






stock door




stock deck



stock dash





first door done


second with MDF ring and speakers (painted to prevent humidity)






deck is finish



and I also did the door of the trunk 3 layers

[Kidam!]

and now a Little wiring shots I went for some 0 gauge from the battery to the amps and 4 gauge from block to amps



Power with the remote



ground


cheap RCA in



cheap RCA out


AMPS bolted on the rear seat



now thats for the first part of the install ... now the little problems :


got the radio used and ... RCA outs were not working I got screwed I got the radio repaired and sold it since i didnt have any confidence in that radio !

next post the upgrade !

[Kidam!]

Ok, with the Alpine defective accident I decided that an upgrade would have been great so I went with a couple of bad but still educationnal choices and got myself a IDA-X001




overall review :

GREAT ipod integration GREAT look

CRAPPY sound and noooo T.A no EQ nothing nada niet

but came in 2 colors ! great isnt it ?

since that I did learn alot and the noob that needed some boum boum in tha car became some random SQ lover that needed a better sound

[Kidam!]

And then the sickness turned in
lol kidding aside I went for something a little better and got myself my last radio ever :









simply a GREAT and SOOO sexy unit god I love that unit


still reading? nice hang on its time for some better SQ and some other goodies

[Kidam!]

To all of you reading I really have a great respect for that site ... I must say that the knowledge I got here is really something I respect and I assure you that I dont consider myself no where near an expert or a pro in audio. I listen alot to what people say but at that point Im just some noob that got the good comments from the right people! thank god I did read on the net and had some crazy audiophile friend because of that I didnt go straight to future shop!


now we are somewhere near may or June since that I got myself

custom RCA
went fully ACTIVE
swapped the DRT-25 for some DRT-26 SILK

and sold the kickers for something else (see later post)

today I got some nice goodies to install soon

during the last summer I got some other Bquiet ultimate around 30 s/f and added a little to the doors and the trunk door


today I got 50 S/f of Bquiet extreme for the trunk and the rear seat

and a nice DCZ626 6 CD charger from CLARION

thanks for the refurb ebay deal that I did found here !




by the way If you look at the first picture you will see 2 things:

I love exclusivity and I cannot stand that someone can pick up the same thing at the store next corner ... Im like that lol

1 first you can see : sennheiser hd595 Magic Red 60 years anniversary cans (special edition sold only in Europe) I must say there are GREAT headphones

yep the sickness spreads in the house now


also this is pointless but the oakley are a Signature series FLying tiger gascan

anyway! ...


for the install ... I ran out of Bquiet ... I would have love 20 more s/f ... but a man must do with what he has :S

some picture of the installation !










next post ... the soon to come upgrades!

[Kidam!]

ok next week new amps are coming in:

I went for Arc audio

KS125.2 mini
KS300.2
KS1000.1

and Im also planning on a stealth install in the trunk and fiberglassing with a mate my A-pillars with the DRT-26 still in

also working on a way to change the aligment of the main in the door !


feel free to post anything that comes to your mind!

happy posting !

[azngotskills]

Good work man...glad to see you working and trying things out for yourself instead of just asking redundant trivial questions!!! Hope you enjoy future upgrade because this is just the beginning LOL

[Kidam!]

Originally Posted by azngotskills

Good work man...glad to see you working and trying things out for yourself instead of just asking redundant trivial questions!!! Hope you enjoy future upgrade because this is just the beginning LOL

lets hope not ... for this year I am done

[captainobvious]

Great work you have done thus far. Oh, and your english is good too. I like the upgrades you've made, how are you enjoying them? Have you gotten the sub installed yet ? Didnt see any pics of that.

Id also make a recommendation or two. I would cut a baffle for those rear 6X9's so that there isnt an air space there between the deck and the speaker, and also to give them a more solid, resonant free mounting surface. Also, the other thing is I would mount the crossover outside of the door. With all of the door slamming, they're likely to break down over time, not to mention they are exposed to the elements being in the door.

Other than that though, your doing a terrific job!

[Kidam!]

Originally Posted by captainobvious

Great work you have done thus far. Oh, and your english is good too. I like the upgrades you've made, how are you enjoying them? Have you gotten the sub installed yet ? Didnt see any pics of that.

Id also make a recommendation or two. I would cut a baffle for those rear 6X9's so that there isnt an air space there between the deck and the speaker, and also to give them a more solid, resonant free mounting surface. Also, the other thing is I would mount the crossover outside of the door. With all of the door slamming, they're likely to break down over time, not to mention they are exposed to the elements being in the door.

Other than that though, your doing a terrific job!

since staging is now my main goal I did sold the 6x9 a while ago and the crossovers with the addition of the DRZ are also gone ! god bless ACTIVE system

anything else

[Kidam!]

I did run the system all winter long with the 3 kicker amps over all GREAT sound but I was missing some minor things and the amp were not realable so I got rid of them