So... this is my first time staying with the factory deck in the many cars I have owned. I have always been an aftermarket guy, Alpine and Pioneer mostly. But the mini's integrated nonsense (something most are doing now) had me trying to think in a new way. I ended up going with a fosgate balanced line driver, but then realized, even with a JL XD 500/3 amp, I'd be a bit limited in how much I could control the shape of the sound (something the aftermarket decks are great at). An eq was the obvious solution, and I thought the secret compartment could find its perfect use for me! And thanks to the guys at my local shop, it turned out clean as well!



This is with the door open, of course. It still functions and closes as it should.

 

Very nice!

 

Great setup and clean install!

 

Thanks guys! And just to round out the picture, the front channels of the amp are running Focal polyglass 3-way components (perfect fit!) and the rear channel is running a JL 10w1, soon to be a 10w3, hopefully!

 

Just so you know I just changed out my head unit on my 2013 and the car is having no ill effects. I used all the metra stuff to do it and I have full steering wheel controls and I even get all my beeps. I won't know for sure if I took anything away from the car till I go back to the dealer for my first service.

 

I have seen a few installs... but honestly, I am really digging this right now. Tuning is still easy since the EQ is in the front, and it is 100% clean and stock. I love the look, and the SQ is killer! If the center wasn't filled with such round shapes (eg that absurd and enormous speedo!), I wouldn't mind breaking it up, but I do like the way it looks stock! I miss my USB input sometimes, but I ran an 3.5mm to RCA input directly to the eq and bought a 30gb dedicated mp3 player (zune) so music is always ready to go...

If I had to do it again, I'd buy a balanced output audiocontrol EQ (4.1i, I believe). But this saved me $200 and works very well, though at a lower voltage.