I've been working on my current system for a few months and have used THE 12 VOLT many times for a source of information on wiring diagrams, relay questions, alarm stuff and a lot more.  Thanks so much to The 12 Volt.com!

My speakers, all Kenwood except the dash speakers, have been replaced already before even putting the amps in.  I just kept finding better.  The head unit alone with the speakers sounds awesome, and is crystal clear with much bass!

But I'm still working on the amp rack.  I plan to run all wires through plastic bushings, when when it's all mounted and finalized, I'll remove it all from the MDF and lay down vynyl instead of felt.  Mush easier to clean and keep the dust off. 

I have (2) 1000watt Kenwood amps, 1 each for front and rear, plus an 1800watt amp for the subs.  All 3 are going to be run through a crossoever mounted next to the them.

I came up with my own idea that no installers I've talked to have heard of anyone doing: I'm going to run seperate distirbution blocks from Power, Ground, and Turn-Ons.  All wires will be run through plastic tie-downs on the back side of the amp rack, which is 3/4" MDF. 

I'll post pictures soon of the current amp rack build, then progress through the entire system.  But I will tell you now that my system consists of almost all Kenwood (deck, subs, 6x9's, door speakers, tweeters, CD changer, and 3 amps.  Most cables and RCA's have been upgraded to Stinger and Stretwires and Monster Cable.

Pics soon, I have a baseball game to watch!

The Head Unit:

Rear Deck Speakers:

Front Door Speakers:

Dash Speakers:

Tweeters:

Front & Rear Amps (2):

Mono Sub Amp:

12" DVC Subs (2):

6-Channel Crossover:

10-Disc CD Changer:

The Battery:

Gauge 1:

Gauge 2:

Misc:

MY BIBLES!:

Just a quick note about my choice of brands, Kenwood.

I've owned a huge assortment of car audio equipment over the past 30+ years, like Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Clarion, Blaupunkt, JVC, JBL, Kicker, Rockford Fosgate, Eclipse, Sound Stream, Jensen, Panasonic, and a bunch more!  Never had a car since I first got my license that I didn't put better stereo stuff into.  Sure, many if not most of these brands are great, some better than others.  And some brands that I have not used are better still (but a bit above my budget).  However, I've based my decision to run as much Kenwood as possible for a few simple reasons: Quality, Affordability, past experience, selection, and more.  I've always had excellent luck with Kenwood car audio, and this time I decided rather than mix and match car audio components, I would try to run as much Kenwood as I could get.  I hated to see that they only made really cheap dual-cone dash speakers.  And I had originally bought their 5-band underdash EQ but decided later to not have anything visible when I was not in the car, so I replaced it with a trunk-mount crossover.  But Kenwood dosen't make a crossover for my application, only dash-mounted, so I went with Clarion due to a good price and past luck with their product.

I've been a member for a very short time in other car audio forums, and got slammed almost hourly for using Kenwood!!  It got old really fast!  Everyone felt a need to slam me and tell me to junk this stuff and "get real equipment".  That's really an unfair suggestion from anyone.  We are all in this for the same reasons: we appreciate music, and like it to sound a little (or a lot) better than our stock systems produce.  Our personal choices of brands will certainly vary from member to member based on our own experience, what we can afford, what we can find, and many other deciding factors.  Heck, some people are happy with just a Roadmaster deck from Wal-Mart and Spark-O-Matic speakers from Goodwill, others choose top of the line stuff.  But to slam anyone because you don't personally like the brands they choose is not fair to anyone, and it only makes yourself look bad and runs you the risk of being banned from a forum for offensive comments.  Some folks, like myself, don't appreciate "haters" telling me how crappy my brands are, and I would feel the same about anyone else's stuff.  I would NEVER talk down about what you use or don't use.  Sure, I'm quick to admit that there ARE brands that are far superior than Kenwood.  But that's no reason to slam Kenwood, nor me, because I decided for one reason or another to use their products.  I know some local guys with systems costing upwards of $50,000!!!  But they NEVER knock me for my choices in gear.  They often make honest suggestions or recommendations, but never call my stuff junk.  I would never, ever slam anyone's brand choice!  So please, pretty please, don't slam mine.

We are all in this forum for mostly the same reasons.  The forums, especially the12volt's forum, can be a vast learning grounds for just about any question you might have.  You can learn more than you ever thought there was to learn.  You can get some really awesome advice from what others have tried that worked, and from anywhere from amateurs to all-out IASCA trophy winners here.  But when you begin to knock members for any reason, some take offense to it, and most don't appreciate it.  Let's use this forum to gain valuable knowledge.  Myself, I've been around awhile.  I'm over 50 years old and have had car audio stuff since my first car when I was 17.  I learned most of what I know by visiting forums, talking to other enthusiasts, the MECP Study Guides, the IASCA Competition Manauls, personal experience, and a host of other sources.  I'm always willing to share what I've learned with whoever asks me a question or for my opinion.  I appreciate the same from others.

So please, friends, in advance I would like to thank you for biting your tongue and holding back from any negative comments about the brands I use.

Thank you for reading this.

Sorry about my posting screw ups.  I'm just in so many forums for bikes and photography, now this one, that I often forget to read the fine print.

Anyway, there is an itemized list of almost all of my current system.  All was purchased since the first week of December 2008.  Most was purchased online, some purchased locally.  Yet even with low online prices I found, and not including shipping charges or local tax, I still have almost $2000 invested including the price of the security system and add-ons, plus LoJack.  That may not sound like much, but if you knew the retail prices compared to online prices, you would see that on many components I saved over half of the price in stores!  Many of the items, even though recently purchased, have already been purchased as upgrades to the previous ones!  In fact, all of the items I marked with a "*" have replaced a similar component that I have since sold.

Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X692 deck
Kenwood KAC-9204D mono sub amp
Kenwood KAC-7204 2-channel front amp*
Kenwood KAC-7204 2-channel rear amp*
Kenwood KFC-6982ie rear speakers*
Kenwood KFC-1682ie door speakers*
Kenwood KFC-T207 tweeters*
Kenwood KFC-W3514DVC subs*
Kenwood KDC-C717 cd changer
Clarion SRG-920C dash speakers
Clarion MCD-360 crossover*
AutoMeter digital amp current gauge
AutoMeter digital volt gauge
Dual-12" sub box from Car Toys
Bass Stoppers (2) to dash speakers
Continuous-Duty Solenoid
MonsterCable 4g red, 20 feet*
MonsterCable 8g speaker wire, 8 feet
MonsterCable 3-foot RCA’s (3)*
MonsterCable 6-ch RCA cable*
Street Wires firewall bushing
Stinger 4-way fuse block*
Gold-plated distribution blocks (3)*
Optima Yellow-Top battery
12g speaker wire, 50 feet*
Impulse top mount battery terminal
Red 1g battery cable, 20 feet
Black 1g battery cable, 2 feet
Plastic bushings for amp rack
Gold-Plated distribution blocks (3)
Red 8g power wire*
Blue 8g power wire*

All this, plus a top-of-the-line vehicle security system AND LoJack.

ALL installation has been (and is still being) done by myself.

No comments? I'm bummed.  Although it's mostly Kenwood and many people don't appreciate Kenwood, I've invested a huge chunk of change on it all and it's the best I have.

It's coming along, slowly but surely.  If not for having a new motorcycle and so many nice days, it would have been finished a long time ago.  But hey, I'm one step closer: I got the new holes drilled in the new amp rack, and just got the vinyl to cover it.  Shouldn't be much longer. 

I just figured at least a few people would have something to say about it all.  But no biggie.  I'm betting you'll be a bit more impressed when it's all done.  Just wanted to give you a "sneak peek" as it's being finished.

ROCK ON!

UPDATED PICS: holes drilled on NEW amp rack MDF (after screwing up the first one!).  Here are a few up-to-date pics...

The other update is that I'm selling my Volt Gauge and buying the correct one that matches my Amplifier Current Gauge.

Apparently buying a brand new motorcycle about the same time I started by all this stereo equipment had a negative affect: I never get anything done in the car audio area because I'm always out riding!  Well, today and maybe tomorrow is an acception: I just did a 700+ mile ride down the Oregon Coast, then East and North up country roads.  After 2 days of riding, my butt is so sore I'm gonna take a break today, even though it's gonna be clear and sunny and over 70. I need to get my freakin amp rack done and installed!  I've waited for a nice day so I can pull the car out of the garage and not be confined by garage walls and stuff.  TODAY is the day!  RCA's will be in today, amp rack will be covered and wired up, battery will most likely be hooked up.  Big 3 already done and out of the way, so I'm good there.  The most difficult task will be running the 12g speaker wire from the trunk to the front door speakers, but shouldn't be much of an issue. Back speakers and subs will be a cake walk (did you notice the 8g Monster Cable wires to the subs?).  Some people have laughed at me and asked me WHY it was that I'm going to run the power to the dash speakers and tweeters off the deck power.  Okay, simple: I have a deck with 50wpc max and it would be a waste to not use that power for something. Besides, each amp has its own task already. I didn't want to buy a 4th amp for the dash fill.  Besides, I barely have enough room for 3 amps as it is!  Not only that, but they are only getting the highs, and the less lows you output from the source the less distortion you get and the less power output you really need.  And since this Excelon deck has all the right built-in crossovers and high & low pass filters it will work out just right. Tweeters running off front stage, 3-1/2's running off rear stage of the deck.  Make sense?  Apparently not too many because the 2 "other forums" everybody slammed me for this idea!

I know I've certainly learned a LOT about the members of 12v here!!!  YOU FOLKS ROCK!  NOT ONCE has anyone slammed me for my brand choice, not my install job, nor my running tweeters and dash speakers off the deck, nor my not running true component speakers, and other stuff the other forums slammed me over!  Even worse was the fact that the moderators ALLOWED all the slamming and making fun of!  I didn't dare post pics of my Dart or Sentra!  THOSE would have caused quite an uproar.  So, yes, I do appreciate all of your NICE, pleasant, caring comments about my former and current systemage.

The two things that make MY system even close to special?

1. I paid for it all out of my own pocket, not out of Gramma's purse!  And for a former Cam Grinder (on temporary leave of absense due to personal family reasons, being the recent loss of BOTH of my parents) who has no regular income, buying what I could afford from the life insurance was certainly an option: sure the PPI sounded tempting, and the MB Quarts caught my attention, and more.  But hey, I'm not cheap but I'm certainly one who takes into consideration that I also have rent, utilities, cell bills, car & bike & renters insurance payments, I have to eat, and need those Coronas to aid my car audio installation frustration levels.  I also consider HOW MUCH of ONE brand I can get!  PPI only makes amps, to my knowledge.  Rockford Fosgate ONLY makes good amps, MB Quart only makes good speakers, Alpine was never famous for great speakers specs, and Kraco went out of business long ago!  So, I had to consider a brand I've had good luck with, that made almost every component I wanted, and at a price I could afford extras with.  But who makes head units, amps, speakers, EQ's, CD changers, and almost everything else?  Let's see... Kenwood worked.  And hey, I still have money for more Corona!

2. I'm almost 51 and should be installing a Craig 8-track and Kraco 5-band booster EQ for my Bach.  But no, instead I'm going to put many of the locals to shame when I roll up in my hoopty and they actually hears HIGHS! (you know, highs, those frequencies that in most stereos blaring around town are what you don't here!).  I get sick of hearing ALL BASS just because someone went to a swap meet and bought a pair of $39 15's and a 2000 watt sub amp for $69, then threw in the trunk.  Amp rack?  What's that?  Tweeters?  Aren't those the members of Twitter?  MDF?  Isn't that short for "McDonalds Fries"?  So, for a guy who might not be around tomorrow, and who has a daughter old enough to make me a grampa several times over, I think I'm doing pretty good in the quest to hear ALL the frequencies the human ear is meant to hear (above 20Hz).  Am I right?

Again, thanks to everyone in this forum for being such awesome people and not making fun of an "old guy's system".  When I find time, I'll post more comments about YOUR systems, which certainly put mine to shame!

THIS FORUM NEEDS AN EDIT FEATURE! Whenever I re-read a post once it's posted, I find words spelled wrong (how about "acception" that should be "exception"?).  I only had a few cups of coffee when I posted the last one, so I have an excuse.  But an Edit Post feature would certainly be appreciated.  Being Mr Gotta B. Perfect, I like to fix any typos.

Just a suggestion. Love the forum either way!