This is a very easy install, everything you need is in the trunk! I've been installing aftermaket sound systems in cars since I started driving, this might be the easiest install ever. No running wires from the front of the car. If you are quick you can probably get this knocked out in an hour or two. The factory amp is in the right corner under where the subwoofer cutout is for the cars with the bose package. There is a green plug with all the wires you need to tap for your amp inputs (wire colors below). The battery is very close by and there is a nice grounding post right above the factory amp. The factory system does present some tuning challenges however which I am still working on.
In picking out my amp and sub I wanted to not use a ton of space and mount the amp somwhere where it had some air yet be pretty hidden. I saw a couple of installs where people cut out the foam tray to fit an amp,but I didn't want to chop anything up. I lucked out in picking out the JBL GTX-500 amp, one because it was on sale for $99 and two because it just barely fits on top of the factory amp bracket, and it also has auto turn on, negating the need for a remote wire. For my sub, I went with a Pioneer TS-SWX3002, it about as small as you can get for a twelve inch subwoofer.
Like most modern cars, they are meant to be quickly put together but not easily taken apart, this is epsecially true for modern GM cars. The hardest peice for me to remove is the panel that covers the trunk latch area. I broke two clips because I was following Crutchfields instructions and should have removed the battery shroud to get more room and then it looks like you can lift up and slide that cover once you get the bottom clips loose. Additionally I broke both the trunk cover hangars as I removed them, only to find out they don't need to be removed.
Steps to remove the panels covering the factory amp:
1. Fold seats down, remove cargo floor, then pull out three round clips and the tire inflator retainer and lift the foam tray out.
2. Remove the battery shroud. Remove the back storage area panel by removing the latch cover panel first, then there are nine clips that hold the plate. pull up from the bottom and then attempt to slide it out when angled up. The two top clips are very difficult to get out.
3. Remove the passenger side trunk panel. There is one cargo knob (not sure what it is even for) that unscrews and then remove the cargo hook covers. Then pry the panel out. This might give you enough room to work, if you need to get the panel completely out, you'll need to remove the rear pillar cover as well
Getting to the speaker wires is fairly easy, you just have to remove some of the felt tape. The wire pairs are twisted and easy to identify. I used a 9v battery to confirm the rear colors matched. I used some 3m taps as I didn't want to cut the factory wiring. The amp came with some high level RCA adapters and I ran the wires up to those. The amp wedges right into the corner, I used one L bracket to mount the front left corner. The back left corner hole was right above a slot in the amp bracket, one bolt and a washer and that corner was mounted. Not going to win any points for beautiful install, but it is done with minimal damage to the car, only one hole was made in the plastic amp bracket. Running the power wires is super easy, the battery is two feet away and there are several good options for grounding, I used the factory amp grounding post. Running the wire to the sub is also trivial, there are plenty of options, but I went around the back of the battery over to the enclosure.
Overall the sound improvement is good, but I have to admit I'm less than thrilled with the setup. The biggest issue is the way the factory system tunes the output as volume increases. At low volumes there is a considerable "loudness" boost. Once you cross the half way point on the volume knob, bass is removed. Essentially your sub will not get any louder past 50% volume. Once you hit about 65% the bass becomes a bit of a hot mess. This makes tuning very difficult. If you tune if for low volume, you won't get full output when it is turned up loud. If you tune it "normally" for high volume, you'll get annoyingly strong bass at low volumes.
I'm really hoping that I'm not going to need a full on DSP to correct this. I understand the need for manufactures to tune their sound systems for the masses. But when you make the head unit part of the car, for the love of music, please make me able to turn this stuff off or provide line level output. I'm going to grab an Audiocontrol LC2i and see if that will be enough to get things squared away. It has an accubass function that is supposed to address the bass rolloff issue. If that doesn't work, I'll likely get another amp for the factory speakers and operate everything from 0-50%.
Amp Speaker Wires - Green Plug
* Left Rear - Green+Green Black
* Right Rear - White+White-Brown (or Dark Grey)
* Left Front - Yellow+Brown Yellow (or Dark Grey)
* Right Front - Blue + Blue Brown (or Dark Grey)
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In picking out my amp and sub I wanted to not use a ton of space and mount the amp somwhere where it had some air yet be pretty hidden. I saw a couple of installs where people cut out the foam tray to fit an amp,but I didn't want to chop anything up. I lucked out in picking out the JBL GTX-500 amp, one because it was on sale for $99 and two because it just barely fits on top of the factory amp bracket, and it also has auto turn on, negating the need for a remote wire. For my sub, I went with a Pioneer TS-SWX3002, it about as small as you can get for a twelve inch subwoofer.
Like most modern cars, they are meant to be quickly put together but not easily taken apart, this is epsecially true for modern GM cars. The hardest peice for me to remove is the panel that covers the trunk latch area. I broke two clips because I was following Crutchfields instructions and should have removed the battery shroud to get more room and then it looks like you can lift up and slide that cover once you get the bottom clips loose. Additionally I broke both the trunk cover hangars as I removed them, only to find out they don't need to be removed.
Steps to remove the panels covering the factory amp:
1. Fold seats down, remove cargo floor, then pull out three round clips and the tire inflator retainer and lift the foam tray out.
2. Remove the battery shroud. Remove the back storage area panel by removing the latch cover panel first, then there are nine clips that hold the plate. pull up from the bottom and then attempt to slide it out when angled up. The two top clips are very difficult to get out.
3. Remove the passenger side trunk panel. There is one cargo knob (not sure what it is even for) that unscrews and then remove the cargo hook covers. Then pry the panel out. This might give you enough room to work, if you need to get the panel completely out, you'll need to remove the rear pillar cover as well
Getting to the speaker wires is fairly easy, you just have to remove some of the felt tape. The wire pairs are twisted and easy to identify. I used a 9v battery to confirm the rear colors matched. I used some 3m taps as I didn't want to cut the factory wiring. The amp came with some high level RCA adapters and I ran the wires up to those. The amp wedges right into the corner, I used one L bracket to mount the front left corner. The back left corner hole was right above a slot in the amp bracket, one bolt and a washer and that corner was mounted. Not going to win any points for beautiful install, but it is done with minimal damage to the car, only one hole was made in the plastic amp bracket. Running the power wires is super easy, the battery is two feet away and there are several good options for grounding, I used the factory amp grounding post. Running the wire to the sub is also trivial, there are plenty of options, but I went around the back of the battery over to the enclosure.
Overall the sound improvement is good, but I have to admit I'm less than thrilled with the setup. The biggest issue is the way the factory system tunes the output as volume increases. At low volumes there is a considerable "loudness" boost. Once you cross the half way point on the volume knob, bass is removed. Essentially your sub will not get any louder past 50% volume. Once you hit about 65% the bass becomes a bit of a hot mess. This makes tuning very difficult. If you tune if for low volume, you won't get full output when it is turned up loud. If you tune it "normally" for high volume, you'll get annoyingly strong bass at low volumes.
I'm really hoping that I'm not going to need a full on DSP to correct this. I understand the need for manufactures to tune their sound systems for the masses. But when you make the head unit part of the car, for the love of music, please make me able to turn this stuff off or provide line level output. I'm going to grab an Audiocontrol LC2i and see if that will be enough to get things squared away. It has an accubass function that is supposed to address the bass rolloff issue. If that doesn't work, I'll likely get another amp for the factory speakers and operate everything from 0-50%.
Amp Speaker Wires - Green Plug
* Left Rear - Green+Green Black
* Right Rear - White+White-Brown (or Dark Grey)
* Left Front - Yellow+Brown Yellow (or Dark Grey)
* Right Front - Blue + Blue Brown (or Dark Grey)
