Decided to Upgrade My Stereo and Build a Sub Box!

Hi Everyone. So after having my Prius liftback model 2 for a little over a month, I couldnt stop thinking about upgrading performance of the stock stereo. I wanted to keep the factory HU, but replace all the speakers, amp them up, deaden the doors, and add a sub.

For the speakers, I decided to go with Hertz ECX690 6x9's for the fronts, and disconnect the dash speakers. Rear doors are getting Hertz ECX165 6.5's. Both doors are getting a solid treatment of "hushmat"...omg, who knew that this stuff was so expensive and labor intensive to install. For the low end, I went with a JL 10w1v3. All powered by JL's XD700/5...75W RMS going to each door at 4 ohms, and 300W RMS going to the 2 ohm sub.

I still can't believe that there is no company that makes stealth sub enclosures for the Prius. The right rear cubby is the PERFECT spot - such a deep little recess of wasted space. Below are some pics of the process of building the stealth enclosure. I dropped my car off at the stereo place earlier this morning to get everything installed. I can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Anyways, here are the pics of the enclosure being built:

The perfect location:


masking took a little longer than I thought...here it is about halfway done:


Getting there:


I put some tinfoil down on the bottom to prevent any leaks and also to make the mold easier to pull out once the first layer of fiberglass is dry:


Ready to start the glass work:


First layer of glass and mat:


It took some tugging, but finally got the mold removed from the car:


Another pic of the mold after removing from the car:


Starting to cut off the edges:


Test fit...looks good:


Now to make the rings:


Recessed ring:


I used some small clamps to hold the ring in place so that I could brace it:


Braced with 1/4" dowel rods:



Another test fit:


Polyester fleece stretched and secured with dabs of hot glue on the back of the enclosure:


Lots of glass resin being soaked up by the fleece:


2 more layers of mat and resin and trimmed flange:


Carpeted and ready for the install:




I should get the car back from the shop later this afternoon. I'll let you all know how it sounds.

 

I just got the car back and I must say that I am very happy with the results. VERY clean and crisp sound. The installer left the factory dash speakers hooked up and said to come back after some listening if i still wanted to have them disconnected. So far, i don't see any need to disconnect them. They sound pretty nice and i don't notice any distortion coming from the dash - even when the volume is cranked. When I first started the car and listened, I was a little put off by the amount of white noise coming from the speakers at a volume of zero. The installer had set the input sensitivity on the amp to about the 1 o'clock position. Once I dialed it back to an appropriate level, it was much better.

My sub enclosure is nowhere NEAR a half inch thick, but it is performing AWESOME. Even the installer commented on how good the box sounded. On the edges where I could measure, it was about a quarter of an inch. I am sure it's thicker in some places and thinner in others, but regardless, it's very substantial and seems to be doing the job.


I also had a volume knob installed so that I can control the level of the sub. Most aftermarket radios have this built in, but this knob is really cool for my factory HU.



And finally, the sub installed in the box

 

Well, I finally got around to reading the manual for my amp and made some tweaks. It's sounding NICE now. How is it that stereo installers are so good at "installing" but so terrible at "configuring"? It blows my mind. I mean the dude at the stereo shop sold me on putting 6x9s in the front doors and installing hushmat because of how much better the bass response would be in the front soundstage...but then he sets the high pass for the 6x9s to 80 Hz...these 6x9s are rated down to 40 Hz...what a wasteful setting he chose. Anyways, I've now got them x'ed at 60 Hz. Rear doors at 80Hz and the LP for the sub around 80 as well. Gain is at tge lowest setting for all door speakers and at around 11 oclock for the sub. Sounds very smooth. Here's a pic of my settings in case anyone has any suggestions. I'll try anything.

 

Common or not, I think the system sounds way better with the fronts crossed over at 60 instead of 80. I have not heard any distortion whatsoever - even when listening at high volume.

 

Awesome! Glad it worked out for you. Got any pics? I'm so happy with my setup.

 

I got rid of my Prius today so I am selling the enclosure highlighted in this thread. $300 shipped to anywhere in the continental US. PM me if you are interested.

 

Bump. $300 shipped. This box sounds fantastic. I can ship it tomorrow. Message me if you are interested.

 

Just the enclosure. I'm building a new box for the speaker in my new Subaru Outback.

 

price reduced to $275 shipped. I also added a thread in the "for sale" section: Custom Fiberglass 10" Sub Enclosure for 2013 Prius | PriusChat

 

About $130 in materials (granted I had some leftovers)

About 12-15 hours labor

 

Bump. $260...make me an offer of $250 and it's yours. This is a NICE box and it sounds fantastic.