The premium sound upgrade has been completed.I wanted to keep the system as close to OE as possible which was done using an OE amp and door cards from higher spec cars and the plug and play wiring harness which X-Dave put a lot of time into.Becasue of this I could keep the original head unit which now has the extra features of the Premium System like DSP settings,sub control.The only non OE parts really were the Focal speakers and large Focal 10" subwoofer to try and get even more from the amp than the alpine factory fit ones.
Thanks to all who have made this upgrade possible especially X-Dave, John (the ex XJR owner) and Manjit at Bassmechanix,bigbear,a couple of sellers on ebay for the donor door cards and amp,and anyone else I have forgotten to mention.
This is a selection of pics taken during and after the install:-
Dont want any muck on the seats...

The donor doorcards off ebay for the speaker grills....

X-Daves wiring harness....


The old boot area before the fibre glass sub box install:-


The amp off ebay in place....


LHF step where part of new harness will be placed underneath:-

Back seats out:-

Fusebox under glovebox...

Radio coming out....



Old door speakers...


Start of door mods with MDF spacer for Focal speaker...

1/2 way through removing donor tweeter grills/chrome surround speaker grills...

New Focal crossover box into door:-


New Focal speakers in place....


Meanwhile work starts in the boot for the fibreglass sub-box taking up minimum space...







Manjit and a few of the awards up above...


Work starts on custom front door tweeter grills....





Focal sub behind acoustic cover....






Boot power socket relocated to LH side:-

 

WOW That was nice! I didn't see any speakers though, those cranberry seats were blurring my mind...

 

Man, that's a great custom install! I was really impressed by the fiberglass box in the trunk...very nice looking! The cranberry seats were different, but I like the accents in the doors with it. I don't understand why the radio was pulled...have something to do with the new harness to the new amplifier? That gave you more options on the radio like DSP, etc? What about the amp for the sub...where you get power for that?

Overall, great job! More importantly, how's it sound?

 

I'm pretty sure he added an aftermarket rim but I'm not for sure...

 

I thought the connectors to the radio could be fitted at the LHF step/panel location but they went for the connectors at the back of the radio.The fibre optic cable connects things like CDC changer/ACM/Amp/Cabin harness (radio/speedo I think)in a loop.The one I was supplied has an connector for the CDC/amp/cabin harness as I dont have an ACM.
When the Jag amplifier is connected the radio recognises a new amp (via the new fibre optic link lead which has an additional connector for the amp) and gives the extra settings (DSP,sub-volume)in addition to thebasic systems treble,bass,fade,balance.The sub is powered via the same harness as the Jag premium sound system (either the wiring harness or the fibre optic cable).
The next stage I was told if I was to continue improving the system is a seperate amp powered by a thicker cable straight from the battery which would solely be for that bass amp and at the same time bass blockers to stop the then unneccessary bass signals to thedoor speakers.

 

If you're talking about the spare wheel its one of the 5 I refurbed as per the thread last year in my cold garage[&:]
Not aftermarket but standard Jaguar 17" Sport rims.

 

No I was was typing and thinking about 2 different things! I meant amp! That 10 is low powered enough that you can actually get something out of a stock amp?

 

Aquill, the X type amp powers a pair of Jag subs under the parcelshelf in the premium setup anyway.

 

Yeah but the subs under the parcel shelf are significantly lower wattage than the sub you installed. Now I dont knwo the specs of your amp but I am thinking that that sub is atleast 200 watts. So I hypothisize that after a few months of having your stereo cranked with the load that this new sub will be drawing from the amp, you may end up blowing your amp. But then again nut sure what kind of wattage your new sub is and I do not knwo the wattage of the jag amp. But conscidering you got it done from what looks liek a professional I would assume he already advised you on this or some how the sub and amp are some what compatible. Yeah I know my spelling sucks ***.

 

I love the interior of this car. Question... why do you need to use adaptor rings? what is the loss or gain of using them?BuckMR2 did you use any dynamatting in your doors?

 

Wow Buck...........one of the best write ups I've seen in a long time.......great pics throughout as well.....truly awesome mate
If it sounds even half as good as it looks it'd be worth it.
Overall though Buck I'd have to say 8/10 cos there's no before n after sound clip.....lol


Brillaint mate
Thanks for posting

I really think this needs to be added to the FAQ section to preserve for all to see, especially for those that are thinkin along the same lines
FAQ'd!

Jim

 

He shouldn't damage the amp at all it's just that sub isn't being pushed anywhere near it's limits. If he had a dual 2 ohm voice coil sub and had the stock amp to it, it could possibly be damaged but he should be fine I'm sure that sub is dual 4 ohms.

The adapter rings are generally used to space out the speaker from the door. Many times the stock speaker is very shallow and aftermarket speakers are generally deeper and the magnet is bigger. What ends up happening is the speaker basically sits quite a bit farther in the door and when you do the install your window is generally up. You go to put the window down once the speaker is installed and there is now officially a problem!

 

Buck,

Nice looking install!!! Now I'm officially jealous.

OK...How's it sound? Which model Focal speakers did you use? How did you resolve the error you were getting?

 

For the money those focals catch it better be good that's all I've got to say!

 

Like I said...........we need a before n after sound clip....lol
I'm guessin it might be hard to get a before one done now though


Jim

 

Buck,[/align][/align]Thats some impressive work man. Everything looksso freaking clean![/align][sm=groupwave.gif][/align]

 

The sound is fantastic even turned up to number 35 [sm=icon_rock.gif].I dont have a proper sound recorder and my camera makes everything sound poor even if they dont in reality.
The DSP settings allow the sound to be tailored.
The sound difference is like comparing a new Rolls Royce to an old Nissan Micra.
The Focals used are Access 165 A1 in each of the 4 doors and the Focal sub is called Access 25 A1.
I still havent resolved the error as I may be going tothis yearsX type seminar at the end of the month at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham where they make the new XF.
I believe they are plugging in peoples cars to their diagnostic machine during the seminar.Hopefully they will fix it to show visitors how good they are...then again they may not.
Its £70 for the days seminar inc meals but its a 3.5 hr drive each way.If I go to the dealer it will cost me £50 anyway so this is why Im being swayed towards the seminar.Funny TV car show presenter Jason Dawe will be there again giving tips,advice,etc so should make an interesting day out.

 

Hello BuckMR2 could you give me some clarity of the conversation about the stereo, I have a 03 X with partial premium sound: Nav head unit with cassette and 6 disk changer in back with Nav deck. Two 6.5 stock subs in rear deck and component speakers in all four doors. I do not have the DSP nor the sub control appearing in my head unit. I've installed a 10" sub with amp, about to change stock six subs to aftermarket as well as the all stock speakers in vehicle. I read wher you said that the new amp made the unit see the sub and dsp controls was that ONLY with that stock amp you brought or any aftermarket amp? You mention XDave creating some wire harness, is this custom and will only this wire work? It's been brought to my attention that i'll need a processor to incorporate OEM wires in order to connect stock unit to aftermarket amps, will thess processor do the job, or is it just the stock amp and wire harness?

 

Hi Greenhornet
The premium system pre 2004 has a sub and integrated amp in the rear parcel shel the premium system post 2004 has 2 subs in the parcel shelf and a seperate amp beside the CD changer in the trunk
Maybe from what you are saying the pre 2004 premium system doesnt have DSP which I wouldnt have believed before you mentiomed your sysytem doesnt have it????
Ive sent you a PM

 

Has anyone done a direct drop-in replacement of the stock 6.5" subs? And if so was there a noticeable difference in bass quality? If I could find something that was an easy swap without any additional modification I would be all about it.