Right now my back seat is taken out and I have a box with 2 12's mounted. My dad and I talked about it last night and I think if I'm not going to have a back seat i'm going to make a custom enclosure for the back. I think the route I'm going to take (I really don't want to go through the hassle of putting an aftermarket HU in place of bose) isbasically building a second sound system in my car, Haven't decided exact speakers that will go in the back really but I'll also either replace the door speakers and include them or figure out how to add some speakers with tweeters up front, but also have speakers in the back facing forward and outward a little bit, so they're not blasting straight into my seat but more around the sides of the seat . I'm going to mount a head unit in the enclosure itself, and run all my amps and power from the back (going to go with a separate battery for my audio). I'm going to include a bass **** and an audio jack-either in the cupholder hole in the center console or in the enclosure itself near the head unit. Any opinions, suggestions, or immediate flaws noticed with what I want to do? Please don't comment about opinions regarding building a system in place of your back seat, I've already decided it's what I want (most of this forum doesn't like my taste in things, lol) I just want opinions regarding sound quality and the way to make the most out of this system (btw don't recommend specific brands please I'll be using stuff my dad has laying around for the most part)

 

Where would you mount the new head unit/enclosure and how would you control it?
Would the factory radio just sit there or are you planning on doing something there?

I would say to upgrade the factory set up to an aftermarket. It may cost less than building and running wires to a new head unit

 

Codey, not going to criticize your decision to build a box in the rear but first I want to ask what you're trying to accomplish. To include a bass ****, I'm guessing you're going for SPL and because of the size of the box you need, you're building it to take up the back seat?

 

This sounds like a TON of trouble to avoid doing things right with a new stereo.

 

It's really a lot simpler than it sounds. As for the head unit, I'm going to have the middle of the box come up the center and ramp up to create a face for the head unit, so yeah it's replacing my back seat. My JL amp has a port you can just plug the **** into. I'm planning on completely not using the factory stereo- aside from maybe replacing the door panel speakers. But this work would come out to be a nice custom setup, getting rid of the bs bose, it would be mildly cheap, I can't see why not. I reaaaaaalllyyy don't want to put the effort into doing all the crap involved with AC in our head units, I feel like it would take me like 10 hours just to put in a damn head unit, then I still have to do the other speaker work cause I wouldn't run my stock speakers anymore.

 

The AC controls are an easy swap.

Its as easy as disconnecting a harness and installing a new AC control with the same harness.
JDM or metra dash kit will help you.

I dont think that **** on the JL amp is made for anything but sub control. What model amp are you looking at?

 

it took me 6 hours to do a complete swap in my car... metra kit, avic navigation/dvd, removed the front and back seats, carpet, ran a cable through the firewall from the battery, ran new cables to all four doors from the trunk, installed new fronts and rears, wired two amps, in the trunk, installed subs... it's really not that troublesome if you know what you're doing.

still, I'd like to see your "in progress" thread when you start it

 

Just remember, the factory audio units in these cars break often, so you're going to have to replace it anyway if you're keeping the car, so you might as well do it now.

 

Just installed a Kenwood unit yesterday and it took 3 hours to do everything including the metra kit..

I learned a long time ago to do things right the first time..

 

I'm really not sure what you're trying to do here but if you're going to invest such considerable time and effort into this setup, you could be getting a lot more bang for your buck. Replace the factory components.

 

I like your idea of being different but don’t let that keep you close minded to other options that might make more sense.

Don’t build your whole system around the fact that you’re afraid of replacing the stock Bose unit. If you and your dad are capable of building an elaborate speaker system then you are more than capable of replacing the stock head unit.

If you just go ahead and replace the stock Bose unit you won’t have to worry about building the new setup around a head unit in the box. You can focus on getting the box built and situated in the rear seat area without that restriction. You’ll also be doing away with the trouble of adding another battery and needing to play twister in the driver seat if you want to adjust the head unit.

Is the new box setup going to be MDF or fiberglass??

 

Basically a crude structure out of MDF or plywood or something, mounted down then fiberglass over it. I'm also looking to the future, if I ever want rid of it I can just remove all the components smash down the box and rip it out, and my stock system is readily waiting. As far as "bang for my buck" though this is going to be done pretty cheap. I don't see how I could spend more than I'd spend on getting a double din and the jdm ac control and all that jazz. I really know nothing about it I'd be lost, although my ideas seem complicated, it honestly seems to be the easiest way to me.