I had already put in a set of JL Audio component(mid range plus tweeter) speakers in the front a year ago but decided it's time for some new speakers in the back doors and subs. My old subs reached their 10th birthday last year and the box I built for them took up the entire trunk, and I'm too old for 12" subs now. So I was also forced to buy a new sub amp and an amp to power the door speakers. I built the sub box with 3/4" MDF with a partition in the middle and cut all the wood on a C&C router with respect to the air space required by subs. The great thing about C&C equipment is that the box is accurate down the the .001".

List of parts:

Pioneer AVIC-D3 Nav Unit with iPod Cable
XM Nav Traffic Unit
Pioneer Bluetooth Interface
Pioneer Backup Camera
JL Audio 10" Subs in the trunk
JL Audio for the front doors
Pioneer D-Series in the back doors
MTX Thunder Elite 400w amp for door speakers
MTX 600w Thunder Amp for the subs
Relay for amp triggers
Stinger 4AWG/8AWG Power Terminal Block and 150AMP Fuse

now for a few pics

My baby, you can see the backup camera right above the license plate

Sub Amp is in the little storage area under the carpet in the trunk

Modified by Empty V at 11:24 PM 2/17/2008

Modified by Empty V at 7:13 PM 2/18/2008

Modified by Empty V at 1:18 PM 2/19/2008

Audio Modifications on my 01 QX4
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/314727

Everyone keeps asking me "why do you keep putting money into your car?" and the only explanation I have is "because it's not worth anything" I don't get it either!

Power Terminal Block

Amp controls are easy to access through the vent with a small screwdriver

What it looks like through the vents

Subs

AVIC-D3 Deck
The knob on the bottom left is the sub gain control

Thanks for taking the time to check out my QX4!

Billy

Modified by Empty V at 11:29 PM 2/17/2008

Modified by Empty V at 11:41 PM 2/17/2008

Modified by Empty V at 4:47 PM 2/18/2008

What JL's are you running in the doors? I'm running the XR650 components and they seem to do a pretty good job.

I'm really happy with the way it sounds. I've got the VR650's in the front. BTW having the sub gain in the front is pretty slick, especially without that crappy looking metal case it came in with the overly bright LED.

Billy

Billy

Quote, originally posted by audtatious »

I have my sub amp directly off the headunits sub-out and do not adjust the gain during normal operation (tho I could if I bought the kit for the amp). Instead I have an in-dash PPI PAR-225 pre-amp for the front speakers and can simply turn down the gain of the front speakers for more bass. I'm only running a Kicker C10a right now anyway since my old JL 12w6v1 finally bit the big one.....

Breakdown, and some of this stuff I got at dealer cost so if you don't have access to a wholesale distributor it would be a little more expensive.

AVIC-D3X Package (AVIC-D3, bluetooth unit, remote and iPod Cable) - $699 +$200 mail in rebate
GEX-P10XMT XM Nav Traffic Tuner - $153
NDBC2 Pioneer Backup Camera - $179
SPK5241R Wiring Kit with 150amp Fuse - $47
Power Connecting Block - $7
TE-404 MTX Thunder Elite 4 Channel Amplifier - 207.00
TSD-1602R Pioneer D-Series Speakers - $86
600XD MTX Thunder Series 600w Subwoofer Amplifier - 180.00
JL Audio 10w1V2.8 woofers - $200
Sub Box materials - $45
JL Audio Component Door Speakers - $300
2 x 6meter Paired RCA's $38.00

Total ------------------- $1,943(rebate included)

Labor hours - 17

There's no way I would have spent this much money on my car audio video, so I sold my old system for about $700 in order to offset the cost. The majority of these products were purchased at cost so if it would be almost twice as much if I would have bought everything at retail, damn that's a lot of money, what a ripoff!

Billy

Billy

Quote, originally posted by fueler »

Nice JL's!! You have the older (97-99) 16" QX4 rims on your 2001

Billy

2001+ come from the factory with 17" wheels like this

97-00 qx4's came with slightly smaller 16",

Billy

Actually, I can't see it. Which is a good thing.

How did you run the wiring for your backup camera? Did you have to drill any holes, or was there a hole for you to use? I have one and I need to install it sometime, but the last time I checked, there was no way to easily get the wiring inside. Keep in mind, I have a Pathfinder, but I doubt there'd be much difference.

Also, the install looks really good.

Hope this helps!

Billy

Quote, originally posted by ubpsanity »

Actually, I can't see it. Which is a good thing. How did you run the wiring for your backup camera? Did you have to drill any holes, or was there a hole for you to use? I have one and I need to install it sometime, but the last time I checked, there was no way to easily get the wiring inside. Keep in mind, I have a Pathfinder, but I doubt there'd be much difference. Also, the install looks really good.

I was looking to get mine set up with a pretty good one too for a while... Never came to fruition now I gotta sell the Pathy, lol.

I was looking for...

Pioneer AVIC-D3 w/ Bluetooth, iPod and backup camera options
2x Infiniti Kappa Perfect components
Alpine PLV-7 powered sub enclosure

No, it doesn't help, I was hoping you'd found some magic way of doing it :-)

Looks like that's what I will be doing in the spring. But thanks.. At least it isn't anywhere near a hard job.

Do you have a cargo cover to conceal the subs? It seems like they are very visible and I would be worried about theft.

Those wheels are the standard wheels. According to information I have read, the 17s were an option with the premium package.

Premium Package =
17-inch wheels and tires,
wood/leather steering wheel
driver's memory seat
steering wheel-mounted audio controls

Sport Package =
front and rear heated seats
limited-slip differential

It's actually not as bad as it seems. Once you pop the plastic off that rear door it's pretty easy to fish the wire through. Good luck!

Billy

No cargo cover yet but my tint job is pretty dark, impossible to see through during the day unless you cup the window with your hands. when I bought the car used it didn't have the cover, such a bummer. I have to see if it will even clear the box, probably something I should have thought of before I designed it.

So I guess my cover is blown, now everyone knows I don't have the premium package I do have memory seats though!

Billy

Quote, originally posted by KoukiS14 »

Holy crap. . I'm very impressed. .

Quote, originally posted by WINNIPEGS_MOST_WANTED »

Clean install - Very nice!

Quote, originally posted by pathfinder_top_gear5 »

very nice set up!

Quote, originally posted by mcfizzle »

Very cool set up. I was looking to get mine set up with a pretty good one too for a while... Never came to fruition now I gotta sell the Pathy, lol. I was looking for... Pioneer AVIC-D3 w/ Bluetooth, iPod and backup camera options 2x Infiniti Kappa Perfect components Alpine PLV-7 powered sub enclosure

Quote, originally posted by 99QX4 »

Very nice...i've been trying to check out this post for a few days but the connection where i was at took too long to load all the pics, but now i'm home and finally get to see your work. Again, very nicely done.

Thanks again everyone for the compliments and support, unfortunately I'm still not done though. My next and hopefully last step is to install sound proofing material all throughout the car.

and

The first one will be used for the doors and the 2nd one will be used under the carpet and above the headliner. I'm doing it more for the reason to lower the amount of road noise than to improve the sound system, luckily this will accomplish both.

Billy

As for a cargo cover, I have the exact color scheme as your QX and would gladly sell you the one I never use. Let me know if you're interested.

I'm an mp... uh, well, not anymore.

i had my friends mother make a quilt cover for my sub box ill snap a picture and let you guys and gals see it. its a checkered flag setup. I have some wires to run in from the outside aswell.

I bought a chrome tip for my tailpipe it has 2 sets of LEDs on it blue and red. i plan on hooking the red up to my brake lights and the blue to my reverse lights. just curious if there is a way in the trunk from under the vehicle.

holla back at me

I started the soundproofing a few hours ago. I ended up buying a couple of dynamat bulk packs because that's all my distributor had in stock. So far just to do the tailgate it's taken me about 2 hours but a lot of that is figuring out how to work with the material properly. I've pulled off the driver's side rear door and that looks a heck of a lot easier. It's much more wide open in there so less pieces will be needed. I'm hoping that the front door will be just as easy, I doubt it though. I'll take a few pics with my iPhone and upload them soon.

Thanks!

Billy

Billy

Quote, originally posted by catsnet »

Billy what did you use for the stereo kit (or did you fabricated one yourself)?? everything that I see on the market is single din size. thanks Alex

Modified by Empty V at 10:36 AM 3/1/2008

Billy

Quote, originally posted by slickroger »

very nice install! i had my friends mother make a quilt cover for my sub box ill snap a picture and let you guys and gals see it. its a checkered flag setup. I have some wires to run in from the outside aswell. I bought a chrome tip for my tailpipe it has 2 sets of LEDs on it blue and red. i plan on hooking the red up to my brake lights and the blue to my reverse lights. just curious if there is a way in the trunk from under the vehicle. holla back at me

hey empty v you still want that cargo cover

Sorry for the poor quality, not my normal camera.

Billy

LOL thanks! Looks like I might be down in your area March 15th, I'll find out in the next day or two. I'll send you an email.

Billy

I am dealing with this issue myself - do you know the part numbers for the bracket(s). I called local dealer, he said its two parts a right and left, numbers being 280394w400/280384w400. Does this sound right or was it just one part for your. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Regards

I'm planning on adding a DD radio as well. I'm new to owning a Pathy, but I install car electronics for a living. The brackets usually come in two pieces. When you're installing, even a din sized radio, sometimes you have to remove them from the factory deck and use them. So if I had to bet, I'd say those are the right part numbers.

And BTW... NICE install... I was thinking of doing the same thing with my sub amp as soon as I saw that compartment:)