In the last couple weeks the stereo in the 98 has changed a bit... and now I'm pretty happy with it... Still have some tweaking to do, of course, but it's on the way to being where I want it!

First, the old deck came out... only to be replaced with another JVC, this one from their Arsenal line (KD-AR960). This deck, while it doesn't play dvds like the old one did, gives me soo much more flexibility because it has the front, rear, and sub outputs that the previous receiver lacked. It also has an SD card reader and lets me change the display to whatever color I want so it matches the dash. And finally, it lets me turn off the internal amplifier to cut down on heat in the dash since I'm using a 4 channel amplifier anyway. While I had never been a huge JVC fan I've been fairly impressed the latest two that I've gotten. Here is a pic of the deck installed... I can finally read my radio! Those of you with 98s from the same time period understand what I'm talking about... the angled radio is such a pain...



The other finishing touch was the new sub, which completes the Infinity setup. It's a Kappa Perfect 12VQ in a sealed box. It was a used box, so I spent more time sealing it up than I probably would have just building a new one, but it was already pretty solid, and I'm pretty broke right now. I dumped half a tube of caulk around the edges, slapped some Dynamat on the inside walls, and lined it with Poly-Fill and it sounds nice and clean! The sub is powered by an Infinity 611a while an Infinity 7541 powers the four speakers. Those are Infinity 5.25 inch components up front (stock location) and Infinity 6x9s in back (also completely hidden in the stock location). I agree with Brando... I like the stealthy stock look!




I had to put some Dynamat in the trunk to stop the rattles, and it REALLY improved the sound from the sub. It's only on the trunklid so far, and when I add more, it will probably be another brand, but I got a ridiculous deal on it.



Finally, here is a quick shot of the dash... you can see how I've gotten the display on the radio to ALMOST match the rest of the dash lights. I'll keep playing with it to get it right!



Let me know what you guys think and where you see room for improvement!

Are you going to do anything with the amps? I know I've had em laying around in the trunk before, but it truly is safer and looks a lot better to have them mounted...somewhere. Organize the wires a little too....

Looks great though, how's the KAPPA? Hear lots of good reviews on them....
The stereo does match nicely, too bad you can't change the buttons too.


TOC Admin
Brando

The plan at this point is to build some sort of amp rack for them... I'm just not sure how I'm going to go about it yet. I'm hoping possibly elevate them a bit so I can tuck the wires under/behind the rack so they are hidden a little better. I need to buy more ground cable... that's the main reason everything is the way it is, I've just been to cheap/broke/unmotivated to go get any. I've had too many other projects going on. Any suggestions in this area are more than welcome!



The Kappa sounds soo much better than I had expected. I knew I was moving up in the world, but the difference between the Fusion and the Infinity was pretty noticeable. Some of that may have been the better box, but I imagine the majority is the sub itself. The bass is so clean now!



Yeah, that was the one frustration... oh well, it makes for a nice color contrast, I suppose!

Thanks for the input!

-Carl

Looks pretty good. But like what brando said the wires gotta get hidden. That's a great head unit i put one of those in my dads silhouette. It really improved the sound and he's happy with it.
Good luck with the system.