Finally, after a couple of months of sitting in my trunk in the box I finally got my Dynamat installed. Also the tired JL 8W0 was changed to kicker Comp8 sub which is powered by a stock amp. Besides I got a nice Kenwood 4 ch amp for my front infiniti reference speakers. Everything was installed and calibrated in 7 hours. Let me tell you, whoever thinks that ML sucks, install dynamat and feel the difference - it's an amazing transformation plus more volume and much more base. All doors and rear deck were done.
Pix now:

 

Nice project. Nice sturdy looking sub.

 

Nice! The bass is definitely lacking in such a high end sound system, my only criticism so far of the 430. Curious to see the end result

 

That kicker 8 is not on an aftermarket amp....? Just the LS430 stock unit?

 

wow very nice i just order the same sub for my car how does it sound with the stock ML amp?

 

Sub is on the stock amp because it's 8ohms and kenwood amp is 2 and 4ohm capable. Also because I want just lows for the sub and not full range.

Sub sounds really good and because rear deck is dynamatted the base is nice and deep. Don't forget it's just 8", don't expect it to blow you away. Dynamatt makes a huge difference - base is deep and thick, all sound stays in the cabin.

 

Looking good Yuri!

 

oh very nice im not a big fan of loud bass either so this will be perfect thanks

 

Yuri -

How do the Infinity speakers perform relative to the OEM ML setup? Did you have to use a line out converter to hook them to the OEM system or are there line level outputs available from the Navi head unit.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

i did the dynamat when i first got the car with great results too. didn't change out the sub. i notice that is this funny noise when i turn up the bass. turn out it is the foam underneath the interior rear deck piece is not glue well together from factory. once i glue it sound even better

 

Infiniti's were first hooked up to the stock amp and an old jl sub was hooked up to mono amp. Sounded ok, with some distortion on moderate vol level and alot of distortion on high volume.
Now Infiniti speakers in front are hooked up to the kenwood 4 channel amp with 60w rms per channel @4ohms and they sound amazing.
As my installer told me, he took the signal from rear speakers to get full range for the front.

 

Got it. Your installer must be using a LOC (line output converter) to get from speaker level outputs to line level outputs from the rear channel to drive your amp. I wonder if there is some way to grab the line out directly from the HU, thereby avoiding the LOC, and keeping the fader active?

Glad to know the setup is working for you. I have a couple of old Soundstream amps (a 4 channel Rubicon for the front and a 2 channel bridgeable for the sub) from one of my older cars I'd consider wiring in if I thought it would be worth the effort.

Andrew

 

Your gonna get very dirty signal unless you can get a line out feed. If that was the only choice, I'd prefer to replace bogus the OEM amp and go with a totally new custom system.

 

^^^
Agreed. Line out is always going to be dirty,as you're amplifying the noise produced by the factory system.
if you can connect direct to the signal out from the head unit and send that to the input of your aftermarket amp,it'll be much sweeter.

Justin...

 

I had my whole car done with similar material (raam mat) and it made an amazing difference. I did the floor, roof, door, trunk and rear deck (multiple layers in some places, and covered every metal surface at least once). It made a tremendous difference. Car was probably 3-5 db quieter (imagine that...considering how quiet a stock 04 UL is already) and stereo sounded drastically better, since none of the panels resonated anymore. I upgraded the stock sub to a JL Audio 10W6 free-air with some slight cutting of the rear deck. It barely cleared the rear A/C unit. I will post some pics when I get around to it.