Hi, guys!
I also have the photos posted in the W123-forum, but I think it's probably more suited here. There's no way that I'm going to get a proper digital camera in the near future, so I apologise for the poor quality of my cellphone.
This is what I installed in my car so far. I bought most of my equipment online from US stores - South African prices are ridiculous:
Head unit: Kenwood KDC-X889 (bought it online from Woofersetc.com)
Stereo amp: Kenwood KAC-8452 (bought it online on eBay from Indo Audio)
Mono amp: Kenwood KAC-8152D (also from Woofersetc.com)
Front stage: Kenwood KFC-P403 components
Rear stage: Kenwood KFC-6909 (who bothers about rear fill anyway?)
Subwoofer: Two Kenwood KFC-W3009 12" in a 2 cu. ft. sealed enclosure
I used a 1 inch hole cutter to remove the A-pillar trim to fit the tweeter in the opening. What do guys think (apart from cursing me for cutting the trim)? Sound stage is great, by the way! How do your dashboards cope there in the US? The Germans obviously didn't design them to last for eternity in the African sun. Do yours also crack at the passenger side speaker?
Sorry for not being able to see my amps, but I think it's probably a good idea (out of sight, out of mind - is that how the saying goes?).
It's simply coincidence that both amps, next to each other, are exactly the same width as the sub enclosure. As you can see, the thing is huge (there's about a foot's worth of space in front of it). The W123 trunk is really small for such a large car, isn't it? Unfortunately, one sub simply won't penetrate the cabin sufficiently without having to turn the amp gains up.
I built the enclosure myself from 22 mm MDF. Needless to say, the thing weighs a ton, but I think I now have the ideal weight distribution in my car.
It may seem that I'm one of those guys who drive around with my windows down, wanting the world to hear me. It's really not the case. My objective was ultimate sound quality. So, even though I have two subs, the bass in the cabin is just right - tight and clean, with no boominess.
It's really amazing that when all doors and windows are closed, one can barely hear the music from the outside. Obviously one vaguely hears the bass (my rear bumper has a nasty rattle when those subs are pounding), but really not disturbing at all. It really goes to show how insulated and well built our tanks are.
Just want to mention that I did the install all by myself - I don't easily trust anybody to work on my car, especially when it comes to stripping the interior. It was quite an exercise. I had to strip the trunk trim, rear seats (has anybody tried putting that seatback back again?), all carpeting (to route the wires) and both lower dash panels. All audio wiring runs with the existing wiring (none of those cheesy neon RCA and speaker cables, mine is all black).
My car Head unit Front speaker and tweeter Subwoofer enclosure Stereo amplifier Mono amplifier Amplifier wiring
Linear Mode
