First off. Hi. I just wanted to let you all know I've been stalking you for the last week or so while I waited for my account to be activated. Just putting that out there now to avoid any awkward moments later.

Anyway on to my project.

H/U: JVC KW-AVX810 Not the best not the worst but the detachable face is an invaluable to me as I have no car alarm.

Front Speakers: Sony-XSGTX1640

Rear Speakers: Sony-XSGTX6930 The speakers that started it all. I bought these a little over a month ago and now I have to replace everything else.

Amp: Kicker 08ZX400.1

Sub: Kicker CompVR 12in 4ohm

I'll wire the sub for 2ohm for the 400 watt RMS, Also I picked up the XSVI 2103 harness for 10bucks on eBay.

All in all it comes out to about $750. which isn't bad for such a big upgrade. I was looking into the damplifier but it's something I'm going to have to put on hold for awhile. Got a vacation to myrtle beach at the end of this month and Vegas the month after.

So what do you think?

 

Sounds like you got some work to do! I've never heard the Sony speakers but post pics and let us know how it turns out! Are you doing a custom enclosure for the sub or just a generic box? Also what model Cobalt do you have? I'm assuming it doesnt have the Pioneer system as you said you got the $10 harness?

 

Yeah before I found this site I was just going to by everything from crutchfield the total was ALOT higher.

I've had good experiences with them I had similar ones in my truck a few years back. Not the best but a step up for sure.

I have a prefab box. 1.3 cu ft. Scosche I think.

I have an 05 4dr Sedan base and it's actually the more expensive harness $70 that keeps the RAP so I dont have to run my own power wire.

speaking of this site where were you guys when I spent three hours tryin to figure out how to replace my 6x9s

 

Don't forget the double din dash kit- $20-25 (depending where you get it)
The antenna Adapter $5-10
RCA's--at least $30 (17' should be long enough) anything less will be crap.
Wires-4guage, you can buy a kit but its kind of a waste. Just don't buy that Scosche wire, you only need 6 feet of power and 2 of ground so just go to a local non-big name car stereo shop and get them to cut it off the roll.
Fuse for power wire
RCA Y Jack, that JVC has a single RCA output for the sub out so you need to Y jack it to get it to run L+R RCA's
A few ring terminals, some 14 guage or better speaker wire, the bigger the better IMO

All together your looking at another $100-150 (OH yeah, I'm canadian so the prices might not be reflective of what you will pay for it in the states. Sorry I forget sometimes)

Not trying to be a dick just trying to give you a heads up, all the part numbers for the stuff you need are in the sticky at the top of the section (electronics) that might help

 

It's all good dude. Actually I work midnights and have alot of downtime. So I've read basically every thread in this section before I decided that I would do the work myself. lol. Like I said. ALOT of downtime. I already have the double din harness, antenna adapter and a 4 gauge wiring kit with RCAs from a previous install. I've got a few car stereo installations under my belt and alot of the smaller stuff I had leftover just never did an install on anything as complicated as a Cobalt.

I also had an email conversation with Emperor last week

thanks for lookin out though

This confused me though. Why do I need 2 outputs?

Dual Input Sensitivity Differential RCA Inputs: The ZX400.1 has one pair of RCA inputs which will receive either high or low level signals from your car stereo. The unit has an input level switch that allows you to select a low- or high-level input. A low-level signal from the stereo's preamp output is recommended. If the stereo lacks preamp outputs, you can use the unit's speaker-level outputs by attaching RCA plugs onto the speaker wire, and set the input level switch to "HI".

This is from crutchfield.

 

just make sure everything fits. rcas and wire can easily be reused but the dash kit is cobalt specific

the amp has 2 inputs. if you only use one it will only have half the volume. you need the splitter

 

I bought the Metra 95-3302 dash kit from the faq.

Ok so just to make sure I'm on the right track here. I plug the splitter into the output at the head unit and run 2 sets of rcas to the back? or can I run one set and split it at the amp?

basically can I run the one rca cable from front to back and the use a y adapter and plug that right into the amp?

 

it really doesnt matter. I personally would say put the y splitter behind the deck. so you dont have to worry about it again if you swap decks and its a bit more secure (what we normally do at the shop and sorta makes the most sense)

but in the end it really doesn't matter

 

I really dont think I wanna run 2 sets of RCAs down the length of the car. So if I ran one. and used this Link One for the red one for the white?

 

One more stupid question. What gauge speaker wire should I get?

 

it would be one set regardless... the JVC has a single rca. so your going to have to run a set and use a y splitter. whether or not you do a 1m 2f at the deck or a 1f 2m at the amp its up to you, like i said before its personal preference

for the sub? it shouldn't matter very much. 16g works

 

16/18 gauge on the speaker wire.

As far as sony speakers, they're not the best, but they're an upgrade over the stock paper cone ones. I ran with a sony system in my Grand Am and it was good.

 

i was talking about the sub wire.... although 18 would be fine for the sub too

just use the stock wire for the door speakers. you dont even want to open up that can of worms unless you really have to

 

Yeah I meant the subs, I'm gunna stick with stock wire for the doors

 

Speaker and sub wire are the same thing. Just one kit comes with a low pass filter (For those ghetto amps without a built in LPF) and the other doesnt.

 

I think he's refering to what a PITA it is to rewire the doors