Builds Katit's LX470 2001 restoration/maintenance thread (1 Viewer)

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Seatbelts time. Retracted 100%, fixed with zip ties. First soaked in Dawn for 15 minutes. Then, cleaned with detergent and Tornador. You can see picture of driver belt part clean after one path with Tornador. Well, this dirt is pretty stuborn. So, after cleaning, I soaked again for 30 minutes. Another cleaning path with Tornador. Then I still see edges dark on DS belt. Treated with stain remover, waited another 30 minutes. Another pass with a brush.

Once dry it looks pretty good. Belts before and after and during on pics

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Good tip on the zip ties! Need to clean my belts and this is just the ticket.
 
"Proof of concept" or making sure all stereo components work before I do wiring and to make sure any warranty items can be taken care of.
Even "free air" I can tell it's going to be nice! Now need to wire doors, sub and start soundproofing and carpet. Getting closer..

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Those look like Kappa in 3 way mode for front doors? Good choice.

When setting amp gain, the limiting factor will be the 2" driver. Go too far and they'll "sizzle" a bit == blown. It's also easy to accidentally break the 2-3 way switch on the main Xover. It's made really poorly.

Also, the space between 2" speaker and metal of door is quite tight. You may need to get a tad creative with the connectors, and electrically isolating them, to 2" speaker.

Looking forward to install pics in the doors to see how it all comes together for you.
 
Those look like Kappa in 3 way mode for front doors? Good choice.

Yes, those are kappa 60csx and their additional mids. I anticipate some "work" when I will be installing those into doors..

Setting gain is my other questions. I haven't research correct procedure yet, but it needs to be done. I use 2 channels for fronts and I use other 2 channels bridged (bridged 4Ohm) to power D2 sub wired for 4Ohm. Gain for fronts and sub need to be set separately. Any advice/how to how to make it correct? Also, on Kappa x-over there is +3dB button which doesn't seem to do anything.. Also, I noticed that "mid" switch on x-over only removes mid-frequences from main driver. Should I? Or should I run mids for both main and mid speakers?
 
Yes, those are kappa 60csx and their additional mids. I anticipate some "work" when I will be installing those into doors..

Setting gain is my other questions. I haven't research correct procedure yet, but it needs to be done. I use 2 channels for fronts and I use other 2 channels bridged (bridged 4Ohm) to power D2 sub wired for 4Ohm. Gain for fronts and sub need to be set separately. Any advice/how to how to make it correct? Also, on Kappa x-over there is +3dB button which doesn't seem to do anything.. Also, I noticed that "mid" switch on x-over only removes mid-frequences from main driver. Should I? Or should I run mids for both main and mid speakers?
I kept the 3db button off on the Xovers. The tweeters are bright enough for my taste without the extra help. I also kept the 3 way switch in 3 way mode. If you run in 2 way mode, it may sound a bit heavy in the mids. Personal preference once installed should guide you.

To set gain, put headunit at 3/4 volume and amp gain at min. Increase amp gain until you hear distortion with energetic but clean music (Dave Matthew's Band and Hootie are both good sources). Turn the gain back down a scosche and you should be good. I'd also recommend setting EQ before setting gain if you can.

I also found setting front channel Xover between 60-80 Hz with a steep cutoff (18 dB/oct) really keeps the whole bass soundstage squarely up front, even with a good sub. You won't feel it in your chest but it should sound quite solid.
 
To set gain, put headunit at 3/4 volume and amp gain at min. Increase amp gain until you hear distortion with energetic but clean music (Dave Matthew's Band and Hootie are both good sources). Turn the gain back down a scosche and you should be good. I'd also recommend setting EQ before setting gain if you can.
My HU is Android and audio source is BT from Spotify. So it even depends on volume level on iPhone.
It all doesn't matter now since I don't have sub in a box and speakers in doors, but even now I observed couple things..

Depending on song I had to increase gain for rear channels (sub) or decrease for fronts... I wonder if there is some way to measure voltage or something?
 
My HU is Android and audio source is BT from Spotify. So it even depends on volume level on iPhone.
It all doesn't matter now since I don't have sub in a box and speakers in doors, but even now I observed couple things..

Depending on song I had to increase gain for rear channels (sub) or decrease for fronts... I wonder if there is some way to measure voltage or something?

SMD makes a gadget for this.

But there's a Youtube video out there about how to make your own SMD DD (distortion detector) on the cheap.
 
Your amp gains from sub to fronts will probably end up different. Your sub also needs to sit in an enclosure to work probably.

You can tune it until it sounds good to you. You can also reference the truck sound against a good set of reference headphones for tonal balance. As a former bass head, I now really enjoy a strong but balanced midbass presence. Some think it sounds too thick but I enjoy it. It is hard to achieve without sounding muddy.
 
Man, this rear camera drives me crazy now... Fishing wire correctly into the hitch. I got camera with license plate light housing. But this housing is SUX. It doesn't fit tight. I also read it won't point just right. So I left it for now, once all running I will probably put it on silicone in just correct position. Spent like 4hr so far on this stupid cable..

This rubber sleeve come off body and hitch, but to put it back carefully unlock white plastic inserts and put them into rubber first.
Now I got wire in, just need to route it on driver side on a bottom along factory cable. Still need to connect power from reverse light. Started another topic maybe someone knows which wire is correct one. Can't put it in R and test myself..

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Camera works. Now to wiring front door speakers.
1. Remove connectors for door harness
2. Pull whole harness so it's outside. It's not very easy but all connectors come through hole in door jamb just fine.
3. Undo electric tape to open rubber boot.
4. Fish (used welding wire) speaker wire. I use lube to help.
5. Replace electric tape and put rubber sleeve back in same order.

Unfortunately, 20ft of speaker wire that came in KnuKonceptz kit is NOT enough to wire 2 doors :( So I will try to find more 12Ga wire locally tomorrow. Thats a bummer!

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Way overkill on the wire. Nice writeup, was wondering how this would work, thanx!
 
Way overkill on the wire.
Cmon, this sound will flow easier through wires :)
Seriously though - stock wiring is too small.

Let's do some calculations:
I = sqrt(W/R) where W - max RMS, R - speaker impedance
So, I = sqrt(300/2.5) = 10.95

According to this table:

Need ~11ga

Yes, I get it it's Max RMS, etc. But why worry? Not like I will be saving money by using 14Ga cable
 
It's amazing how much effort we put into all the audio components, then we Spotify or play XM radio. :rolleyes:

I actually went back to play some of my CD's and was amazed at how much better it sounded over anything I stream from my iPhone through the car. I still miss my DVD-Audio setup, what a shame that didn't get traction.

Regards,
Recovering Audiophile
 
It's amazing how much effort we put into all the audio components, then we Spotify or play XM radio. :rolleyes:

I actually went back to play some of my CD's and was amazed at how much better it sounded over anything I stream from my iPhone through the car. I still miss my DVD-Audio setup, what a shame that didn't get traction.

Regards,
Recovering Audiophile

I am not even Audiophile.. I just wanted better sounding audio (I have another factory car that sounds way better)
Spotify Premium does 320 kbps which is pretty much as close to CD as possible.
You can always play FLAC from usb drive
 
Shoot, I guess I need to pony up the cash for premium as the free version is 96 kbps.... I'm so cheap sometimes.
 

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