RacerX

One of these days I m going to have to write a sticky about how to replace the front speakers in a G van for all you dudes that want to do that for "super sound". I did it over the summer when I bought the van and I have the low-down on how to go from stock 4x6s to a bigger speaker(as I put 6.5"). But later for that...I just finished "finishing" the stereo this afternoon after some long time premeditation and procrastinating.

I used a head unit I pulled from my Mercury Country Squire station wagon before they came to pick it up(times are hard, gotta recycle some stuff). I have a JVC KD(?)-111, 200W(50x4) CD with ins and outs in the rear. JVC mp3 interface cable for the ins and an Audiovox 4 channel 80w pre-amp equalizer for the outs. The EQ is .5 DIN, and the JVC is 1.0. We all know the space is 1.5 DIN, so ok here we go. I didnt have a way to mount the EQ in the space with the brackets they put in the package SO what I did was use the brackets they give you when you buy a new horn(repurpose), a 3" straight piece of metal and drove a mounting bolt through the side of radio and pulled the 2 of the 4 screws from the top cover of the EQ and replaced with 2 of the mounting screws they give you in the package. Perfect fit with a little gap on the right side for the mp3 interface cable to pass through.

I put Blaupunkt 6.5"s in the top deck and Rockford Fosgate 6x8"s in the rear D pillars. The RFs are from the station wagon and the Blaupunkts I bought for the Cadillac but they put BOSE in that car and I like the sound. Well, I didnt like the sound the van had. It was SOOO hard to equalize without distortion so to save time I disconnected the rear deck speakers from the EQ and ran them straight to the head. The front stayed connected to the EQ and I really didnt need to use them if I was listening to XM, a CD or the radio. But damn it if mp3s dont play loud. So I only needed the EQ to use as an amp to boost the sound of the mp3s. But I hated that because the sound was strong in the front, too strong, while absent in the rear because those speakers arent lined in with the EQ. So I m shopping around, PepBoys, BestBuy, etc. for a little subwoofer box I d put under one of the bench seats to give me a strong bass sound from the rear. But I really didnt feel like spending money and then I remembered that I had a whole bunch of speakers sitting in storage.

So what I did was take a set of Technics 3-way 200W house speakers(reused) and lined them up to the EQ. Real great sound. But wait, but wait! I had thought what I would do is run the wires down the doghouse under the rubber carpet and wedge one speaker under one bench seat and the other one under the middle or rear bench with the sound projected up toward the roof. Almost. The speaker box is longer than the legs that brace the bench so I had to slide in under perpendicularlly, with the woofer under the seat and the tweeter and midrange exposed. When its warmer I ll put the other one likewise but closer to the rear doors, as of now I just put in ON the center bench. But when I put in my reggae CD it had a nice sound. I felt the floor vibrate with none of that rattling that ruins presentation. But wait, but wait!!

I went to Lowes to look for electrical wire because if I was going to run it under the carpet I didnt want something that would nick and break easy, so I knew I needed bigger than 8 or 10 gauge, plus being long enough to run from front to rear in a G20 12 seater. Anyway, they had RCA brand speaker wire and the cheapest I saw was $13 for 16 gauge speaker wire in a clear coating. Well, I m cheap. Real cheap....really cheap. I was not going to pay $13 for wire. I can do better than that. So I kept walking around and in the next aisle they have free standing wire on a loom you can buy by the gauge, color and length. Didnt want to do that either, I turned around and there I saw a brown 40 foot outdoor grounded extension cord, 16 gauge for $9. A light went off. At then end of the aisle they had extension cords, all 16 gauge, in varying lengths. Shoot, you see where I m going here? I bought a 15 foot and a 9 foot cord for $1.97 each(repurposed). Got to the van, cut off the head and tail of the cords, exposed the wires and lined it up to the EQ, ran it across the floor, under the bench and into the back of the speakers. Nuff said.

But wait, but wait!!!

The EQ sucks! Dammit! 10-band Audiovox piece of filth, flarn, filth! It has a slide for each band and it goes from -12=0=+12. Now my problem here is the first slide 100Hz(the 1st bass slide). When you go to +12 it sounds perfect, the right thump, but when you let go of the lever the bass floats away. Say what? Yea man, you can get a little of it back when you slide the 250Hz but too much of that and you get low end distortion. But +12 on 100Hz and the bass was deep and rump-tastic. But you cant get it to stay deep without holding the lever. So thanks to Crapiovox Electronics made in Left Donkey Ball, China, I ll have to replace this EQ. Plus as I broke down each channel looking for clarity and sound quality, the EQ doesnt isolate each channel in its own, there was a lot of bleed into F/R and L/R channels. Common ground nonsense. LF->RR<--LR-RF. Man...., so another EQ for me for Xmas?