C6 Corvette Convertible

JL Audio Stereo System

Well, after months of planning and weeks of work, I'm well underway. I'm going to post this in C6 general and in Audio as I think it will be of interest in both areas.

As I'm now in a holding stage, while I wait for my subs, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show a few pictures of the work done so far. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank a few people, most notably SteveGermany for his excellent advice and excellent organization of the C6 Audio FAQ's, Shopdog for his advice, EVIL C5 for the inspiration for the amp rack, scott fx for misc tips, and others who have contributed to the FAQ's and answered me via threads and pm's.

The stereo will have the following components:

1. Head unit - Bose Nav

2. Signal - PAC AOEM-GM24...this plugs in to the cable that emerges from the back of the head unit and converts the signals to RCA cables. Yes, it does work with the Nav. It provides 4 RCA's - FL, FR, RL and RR. The other thing I considered was using a JL Cleensweep, but I didn't b/c of the cost and the cutting / splicing required.

3. Wiring - I ran a 4 gauge power and a 4 gauge ground from the batter to the rear. I considered using the rear seat bolt for ground, but as the ground has to return to the battery anyway, I thought I'd help it along and ensure that it returned 'unscathed'. I have a 60 amp fuse 6 inches from the battery.

4. Speakers:
a - Front - JL XR 650 CSi's - mounted on 1/4 inch plexiglass (pain to work with, but strong; used a saber saw and a dremmel to cut).

b - Sub - 2 JL 8w3v3's - installed in a custom fiberglass enclosure that will sit behind the seats (convertible) - this is the only part of the installation I will not be doing myself.
c - Rear - Eliminated. As much as I would have liked a rear channel, I felt the benefit of having the subs right behind the seats, and thus not having to travel throught the top mechanism, overwhelmed the benefit of having a rear fill. The subs will be where the rear speakers used to be. below.

5. Remote turn on - I got the signal from the fuse box; I used the heated seat and used the Mini Add-A-Circuit. I'm not sure if I'll stay with this, as it turns off power when you turn off the car, yet the stereo stays on until the door is opened. I may try to find a remote turn on to match this.

6. Amps:
a - Front will be powered by a JL 300/2. I have the front RCA's going right from the PAC, along the floor in front of the driver's seat, and back along the driver's side sill. The speakers have a crossover on the amp rack, and the wires run back along the same path to the doors. Keep in mind the RCA's and Power/Ground are intentionally on opposite sides of the car to avoid noise.

b - Sub will be powered by a JL 250/1 monoblock, ample for the subs I will be using (see below).
7. Amp rack - This part I'm particularly proud of. My father and I constructed the amp rack out of 1/2" plywood, constructed a cover and covered it with automobile carpet. The color is not a perfect match, but it looks pretty good in person. The amp rack is bolted through the floor with a couple of 3" stainless carriage bolt to help reduce the potential for theft. I had to lift the car to install the nuts. The amp rack contains the two amps, two crossovers and power / ground distribution blocks.