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Alpine F450 5 Channel + 8" Sub Installed!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by TimeFor, Oct 23, 2004.

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  1. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    I got this installed Yesterday at Tweeters in Riverside. I was the 4th Prius they have worked on and their 2nd Amp upgrade install.

    My two installers were Jaion and Jason.

    They built me a Custom Fiberglass box to fit between my trunk lid and wheel well. They added an Alpine F450 5 Channel Amp and 8" JL 75w 4ohm Sub.

    They integrated the stock amp with my new one. I didn't lose one feature. My sterio dims when I get a phone call or use voice commands. I can control the fade and balance from the MFD. Everything works just as it did but now sounds a whole lot better.

    They did a great job and it sounds really 100% better than it did.
    An interesting side effect, The beeps made by the MFD when you press a button are now amplified. :| I don't mind it.. But It wasn't expected it.

    Anyways, Here are the photos.

    http://www.priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.....php?pic_id=942

    http://www.priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.....php?pic_id=943

    http://www.priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.....php?pic_id=944

    http://www.priuschat.com/forums/album_pic.....php?pic_id=945

    --- Cost Breakdown ---
    Alpine F450 Amp - $499
    JL 8" 75W 4ohm Sub $65
    Monster 4 Channel RCA's $80
    Monster Fuse Holder 4/8 gauge $25
    Monster Fuse 4 Pack $7
    4 Gauge Monster Blue Power Wire 5ft $10
    8 Gauge Monster Silver Ground Wire 5ft $5.50
    Amp Install Labor $75
    Integrating Nav and Phone Labor $50
    Custom Fiberglass Box $250
    + tax 7.75%

    and I don't think they charged me for that blue box under my seat. ??? I'm not sure. And I thought 250$ for the box was a good deal if you saw what they had to do to make it. One guy worked on it for 5 hours. And they used at least 80,90$ in supplies. It fits perfectly and is just enough space for an 8" sub. They said its just about 1/2 cb ft of space.. Witch is optimum for the 8" sub I got.

    -----Total ----- Aprox $1150

    Not bad. I'm still planning on upgrading the component speakers in the front and rear. And since the stock head unit doesn't have a sub control I want to add a device that will allow me to control one. I wish the carpet would have matched a little better but it was the closest thing they had. I might buy some factory carpet from Toyota and have them fix it when I get the components installed next month.

    So here it is. I've read so much talk about how hard it is to add an Amp in the Prius. I don't think it was hard at all. Mind you I didn't do it. :) So of course it wasn't hard for me. But it can be done and it sounds great when it is. I'm really happy with the job and the system. Most importantly, It looks clean, and sounds balanced.
     
    #1 TimeFor, Oct 23, 2004
  2. IsrAmeriPrius

    IsrAmeriPrius Progressive Member

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    Jayson,

    Did you, by any chance, win the lottery?

    :cool:
     
    #2 IsrAmeriPrius, Oct 23, 2004
  3. eak354

    eak354 Member

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    thanks for the pics! i'm really looking into getting something like that. i'm just wondering.. will it be easy to get to the spare if needed? can the wires/cables be disconnected easily?
     
    #3 eak354, Oct 24, 2004
  4. DanH

    DanH New Member

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    It looks like they did a very nice job. I think I see how they get around that amp issue. It looks like that peripheral interface box is the trick. At first I thought it was emulating the JBL amp, that is it would do the fading and volume control stuff based in info sent to it. But what it looks like they really did was to the box to take the JBL amp's outputs and attenuate them down to line level to drive the Alpine amp.

    I really like where they put the woofer. I thought that could be a nice discrete place for one. How's the bass? I'm looking of good tight bass. And it doesn't have to be so loud you hear it 3 blocks away. I'd much rather give up a few dB's and have it sound good.
     
    #4 DanH, Oct 24, 2004
  5. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    All the wires are installed with quick disconnects so the sub and amp can be removed easily. They also left plenty of slack in the wiring so I don't actually have to disconnect them.

    The bass sounds good. I listen to a lot of 80's, Alterative, Jazz... So its not heavy on the bass. The bass control out of the amp is set almost to 0 because I had them try to balance the sub with the rest of the system. You really can't tell there is a sub. You notice a huge different if I turn it off. But when mixed with the stock system its not over powering. I put a rap CD in and turned the bass up to see if anything was going to rattle or something like that.. It still sounded very clean and wasn't a boom box from outside the car.
     
    #5 TimeFor, Oct 24, 2004
  6. Speedracer

    Speedracer New Member

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    It really nicely dune :mrgreen:
     
    #6 Speedracer, Oct 24, 2004
  7. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    Hey TimeFor, is there a port in the sub's enclosure? You wouldn't happen to have pictures of the enclosure, would you?

    Nate
     
    #7 naterprius, Oct 24, 2004
  8. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    There is no Port. I asked them about it and they said it would probably be best to leave one out for what I was looking for. I don't have any photos of the box it self. I'll see if I can't take some tomorrow.
     
    #8 TimeFor, Oct 25, 2004
  9. murzar

    murzar New Member

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    When you get around to taking picts, can you post one on the connection to the 12v battery please?
     
    #9 murzar, Oct 25, 2004
  10. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    #10 TimeFor, Oct 26, 2004
  11. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    Thanks much. Way cool! I'll have to add it to my list of projects.

    Nate
     
    #11 naterprius, Oct 26, 2004
  12. Vernon

    Vernon New Member

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    Hey TimeFor - That's a really nice installation. Looks very clean - like it's from the factory. I also had an amp/sub installed, and the JBL sound has improved 100%. But I have no increase in the volume of the MFD beeps. Your installer should be able to correct that problem.
     
    #12 Vernon, Oct 26, 2004
  13. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    Yep. They did it today. They just changed some of the filter settings on the amp.
     
    #13 TimeFor, Oct 27, 2004
  14. murzar

    murzar New Member

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    Do you have stardard or premium sound system?
     
    #14 murzar, Oct 29, 2004
  15. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    Premium
     
    #15 TimeFor, Oct 29, 2004
  16. Batavier

    Batavier Member

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    Nice sounds system, I listen to the radio mostly (normal FM), lots of people talking and not too much music, so I don't mind the average sound quality.
     
    #16 Batavier, Oct 29, 2004
  17. eak354

    eak354 Member

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    nice pics of the custom box. that's a nice touch they did.. using velcro. that sure makes it easy to remove if needed.
     
    #17 eak354, Oct 29, 2004
  18. murzar

    murzar New Member

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    Do you know how the system is set up? Is the factory amp running the front tweeters/full range and center speakers with the alpine running the rears and sub?
     
    #18 murzar, Oct 29, 2004
  19. TimeFor

    TimeFor New Member

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    No. The Alpine amp is running everything. That’s why I bought a 5 Channel Amp. The inputs are just coming from the stock amp instead of the head unit. That way all the dimming and EQ controls done in the stock amp stay, and the signal is then just forwarded to the Alpine amp. Then to the speakers.

    The stock amp is not powering any speakers
     
    #19 TimeFor, Oct 29, 2004
  20. murzar

    murzar New Member

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    Ahh ok, im just trying to figure out how they attached it. Since the apline is a 5 channel l/r front/rear + sub did they not connect the center speaker? Also the front tweeters connect directly to the stock amp, did they rewire them and put a passive crossover on them like the rear speakers are done?

    Also how did they get around the ohm rating of the stock speakers? The alpine is rated at 50x4 + 200 at 14.4v and 30x4 + 150 at 12.0v at 4 ohms. The prius puts out 14.1v so the alpine would be putting out close to 50x4 + 200w. The front full range and center speaker are rated at 2 ohms and the rear full range is rated at 3 ohm. By running speakers at a lower ohm that the amp is rated is dangerous to both the amp and speakers. Another thing the 8" JL W0 sub is 75w at 4 ohm. The amp sub connection is putting out 200w, which will kill that sub in a short while and JL will not warrenty it because it is being overpowed.

    Im just trying to find out how they got around these things, since i will be adding a sub soon.
     
    #20 murzar, Oct 29, 2004
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