Well, finally finished my audio upgrade that has been sitting in the garage for a year (actually, just decided to have it installed as I wasn't finding any time).

I ended up doing the following:

Sony CDX-M8805X Head Unit
JL 500/5 Amp
JL Stealth Box
Focal Polyglass 6.5's
Focal Polyglass 5.25's for s-pods
Wired in the Modifry DCI
Wired in the S-Pods
14 Gauge Speaker Wire (12 Gauge to Sub)
1/2 Farad Cap

My goal was to have decent volume and quality with the top down. This has met that goal. The sub gives enough base and the s-pod's enough fill at speed. I was a little worried that the rear channels wouldn't have enough power for the fill, but it turns out that the gain on the s-pods are set lower than the gain on the doors, so it has plenty juice for the s-pod speakers.

I was debating wiring the s-pods bridged/serial for the fill, but I found that the sound stage wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I do have the tweeters turned way down in the s-pods.


Also, I can't say enough about the Modifry Sony DCI (the main reason I went with a Sony HU). It simply rocks! I also love the VSS when the top is down. I rarely have to touch the volume when stopping at lights, etc.

Only thing I don't like is I'm having some capabitibility issues with my phatbox with the Sony head unit, and the Sony head unit only plays MP3 CD's that aren't VBR encoded. So I'd have to rencode an MP3 CD without VBR...

I wish I did this 4 years ago! FYI, I had an Eclipse two channel amp and 6.5 MB Quarts priort to this that I installed almost immediately after purchasing the car.

 

Very NICE!.. i bought the sony DCI aswell.. haven't installed it and was actully a bit worried about the VSS wire.. but if your saying you get good results then im going to hook that part too..
Is the VSS part only come into play when you have the top down or is it always active?

With the JL and Focal gear i bet your system would sound mad!.. your running the 10' jl sub/box yeah?

 

thats very close to what i'm planning on ordering/doing. How does it sound?

 

i bet it sounds pretty good. what kind of sub? jl?

 

It's always active. Although, even with the top up it seems to work great. The reason I hooked it up was I figured I could simply just cut it if I wasn't happy.
That's correct, I'm using the JL Stealth Box with the 10" sub.
It's sounds fantastic. I'm extremely happy. The amp is "overpowered" for those speakers, but it gives a nice distortion free signals for top down @ 80mph volume. All, and all it's very tight, and I'm extremely happy with the Polyglass. They are very tight at volume. I have the rears setup to be barely noticeable, and just to give more fill to the car. The sub gives reasonable base to keep the balance. If you're looking to vibrate the block you might want to find a 12". For me it was fine as I wanted to keep the bass in balance with the Focals.

I liked the stealth box as I got it used so it wasn't too expensive. But, for new I think you can get a 12" sub and box for the same price as the JL Stealth Box. The reason I picked the JL amp is it's a nice size and fit my needs for 5 channels. I particularly liked that amp as it is front biased as I didn't need much amplification for the rear speakers in the s-pods. I wanted a single amp solution that would fit where the spare tire fits. Right now the entire setup is stealth and you wouldn't even know it was in the car (except for the tweeters in the door).

 

I also have the Sony DCI, and LOVE it.

BTW -- here is a neat trick with the DCI. Find the wire you are supposed to tap into for VSS and push the pin out of the connector. Then connect the VSS wire directly to that wire and leave it out of the connector.

That wire sends a speed signal to the convertable top module. You may have noticed that the convertable top will not move unless you apply the handbrake, AND you are not moving. Disconnecting this wire from the module will allow you to "one-click" the handbrake and raise or lower the top while moving. I have raised it at up to 15MPH without any problems.

 

this is one of the best mods i've done on my S.
i've raised and/or lowered the top as fast as 30+ mph, but wouldn't recommend it at all... it was one of those occassions, where we got hit by a sudden South Louisiana downpour, traffic was thick and rolling quicker than i'd like...
most of the time, i'd say don't exceed the mid 20 mph range for this, as you can feel the top start to billow much faster than that.


all in all, sounds like a great setup!