Here are the pics of my new system that was installed at MotorMusic Inc. When I dropped off the car, I only told them that I would like the sub to sit between the rear seats firing into the cabin and my existing Neo MP3 player installed in place of the ashtray. They recommended the Alpine MRV-F450 5-channel amplifier which then I supplied - this drives all my Focal speakers (already there) plus the subwoofer. I never thought of trying to mimic the shiny black stock surface of the radio bezel or molding the Neo's wired remote into the ashtray - this was their idea.

And now about the details:

The sub box is a custom creation with a Diamond Audio D308D4 8" woofer in a small sealed enclosure. The enclosure itself is made of wood, carpeted, and takes up very little trunk space.
The faceplate is made of fiberglass and was modeled directly from the front of the pass-through box. The surface is sanded smooth and is painted with automotive high-gloss black paint that is polished to give the shiny look. The ring around the speaker is wood, and it is painted silver to follow the theme of the trim rings on the front vents and the silver ring on the radio.

 

This is how the trunk looks now, with the Alpine amp sitting in an amp rack so now the trunk floor is flat. Tuning is possible by opening the top cover.

 

On the left hand side, the Neo's hard drive unit was attached to a carpeted board. In the middle, you can see how small the sub box actually is.

 

These shots show how the wired remote of the Neo was integrated into the ashtray. When I asked the installers to do this, I was simply thinking of cutting out the ashtray and mount the small box in there - instead, they did this fiberglass faceplate and molded the front of the unit to be totally part of the ashtray. The surface is also smoothed out and painted the same way like the subwoofer faceplate.
The ashtray cover can certainly be still closed and so the remote is completely hidden if so desired.

 

Here are some pics of the Neo remote in action - as a "personal touch", I had to do a little customizing myself

 

Finally, since the ashtray was eliminated, that required the power outlet to be relocated. I definitely wanted to keep this since it is often needed to power something. I wanted the outlet to go to the hole that's next to the glove box.
The installers didn't do this part, so just went ahead and did the relocation myself. Used a round file and carefully shaped the hole. It wasn't too bad and the result looks decent IMO (apart from the lame plug I had handy - need to find a better looking one). It still lights up with the dashboard just like before. It stays in place really firmly too - so much so, that I'd have a hard time now to take it out again - not that I'd really want to

 

BEAUTIFUL !
That looks awesome ! What did the box run you ?

 

Very nice Tamas!!

I think they did better on yours than mine!! ARGGH!!!

I'm jealous now!!! damn you!!! That's cool!!!

 

Nice job. How much was the labor to fabricate and install everything?
________
Herbalaire

 

Dont be jealous stevie, we're not even done with yours yet..:D
Tamas, thanks for the write up! your camera is way better than mine. As for the fabrication, Tamas has the break down on each item. The gloss black/silver accents and moded Mp3 controls were not initially in the price quote but my installers felt that it would look way better if those two pieces were done that way instead of the standard install. We threw those touches in there for free. As for the rest of the install, we have modes and specs on the same type of box if anyone is interested and would gladly make the same thing for anyone that asks. The amp rack is pretty typical, with the only diffrence being we decided to leave the control cover free to be opened instead of leaving it flushed and having to undo the amp every time you want to adjust it. Here are a few more pictures for you guys.

 

WOW, really nice!

Nagyon pipec lett, gratulalok! Azt hiszem en is ezt fogom mintaul valasztani! Remelem itthon is meg tudjak csinalhi hasonloan szepen es igenyesen.

 

Tamas,

Awsome install. Looks great.

I always thought the other "hole" by the glove box was for a right hand drive keyless start?

 

Nice install Tamas, you must be proud.

I've got the Focal 165 V Slims in my car (not an 8) i tried the normal V2's but they wouldn't fit!

1 question tho - was it a conciouse descision to not put sound deadening in your doors? These speakers perform noticably better with the enclosure this would effectivly create. do the doors already have this in them?

Cheers, and well done again - it's good to see people spending money on good products (did you know your speakers won the EISA award for best in catagory?)

 

Thanks... actually, I'm rather happy to have this - can't really be PROUD since I didn't do the work myself

Sound deadening? Do you mean something like Dynamat in the doors or more like speaker baffles?
No, I don't have either. I'm seriously considering to pull the door panels again and install some speaker baffles - however that's more to protect the speakers agains rain and moisture in general than for sound deadening. I'm not even sure if these will affect the sound too much. These can not be really considered as 'enclosures' although they are more like them than foam baffles.
Autotoys carry those hard plastic baffles I was thinking of.

No, I didn't know that, but it's certainly nice to hear. They sound really well to my ears.
Actually, these speakers were not THAT expensive (bought them online, so I paid a lot less than list price). Certainly more expensive than, say, mainstream Infinity speakers or the like though.

 

looks nice....i actually made a setup just like this one for my 8 i love it...nice and stealth looking and u still keep ur trunk space

 

does any1 have the oem part that goes between the seats... if so how much can i get it for? if so pm me plz

 

good work man, i was making me a custom sub box for my car when i crash i sort of stop all my projects now am just getting back in to it. my setup will be two 8inch rockford subs in the center consol