Stereo Install

[steelcityuk]

Hi All,

I've finally decided to put in some effort and install a proper sound system. Usually after installing it I decide to change the car and have to strip it out again, hopefully not this time...

First job was to strip out some of the interior. The amount of crud in all the nooks crannies wasn't nice. What do people do with their cars. Gaffer tape wrapped around the fingers pulled up the stubborn stuff.



Zippy decided he needed to supervise things as usual


The amount of wiring for a 20 year old car says something about how well spec'd the XM was. The wiring for the towbar was messy and was just crammed into the corner stopping the light cover closing. The amount of scotch locks used was unbelievable, they'd even been used to join wires together instead of crimps. I marked up all the wires with cable tags and stripped it. The intention is to solder splices into the loom that are long enough to allow me to put the relays and buzzer into the 'structure' that supports the boot lip. This should really neaten up the wiring, provide physical protection and make changing tail lights easier. Because the lighting system on the XM uses a bulb detection system the towbar uses a relay bypass system which uses seperate 12v feed and uses the cars wiring loom to provide just switching voltage but I didn't like how the 12v feed was taken off the interior lighting circuit, a new feed has been put in. I've already added extra earthing for the light clusters.


With the power feed, speaker cables, RCAs and remote switching/control cables installed I started rebuilding the interior. The crossovers are going under the seats, the midbass and tweeter are going in stock positions.


Some experimentation with a bass processor that utilises missing fundamental technology suggests that even without the sub in the boot the system should still sound reasonably balanced. The door cards have already been off to oil the window mechanism, check the waterproof membrane and 'rust proof' the channel in the bottom of the doors with fresh engine oil. The electrical connectors were given a squirt if contact cleaner too. Mounting the remote fuse block, amp and processor is still to be done.

Steve.

[Dieselman]

I take it you will be foregoing the steering wheel controls.

[robert_e_smart]

It amazes me how much crud and muck gets under the centre console.

In any of the really dirty cars I have bought, I remove the front seats out and clean the whole thing with a wet/dry upholstery cleaner. It makes such a difference.

The worst car was a smokers 2.5 Estate that I broke, there was a mountain of ash forward of the gear lever under the centre console.

My Cats like cars as well, any excuse they can get to lie up on the parcel shelf or even the dash is pounced upon!


hosting images

I find the sound system in series 2 cars to be better than on series 1 cars. One of my cars has "Infinity" speakers fitted in the front doors, nice sound from them, but not a huge pile different than the stock speakers.

[xmexclusive]

No such thing as stock speakers in Mk2's.
At the front for example:
Exclusives got 40 watts
VSX's got 30 watts
and some SX's 20 watts.
That gave each version of the Phillips radio an different part number.
I would not put it past Citroen to have specified different quality components for each type of radio.

John

[robert_e_smart]

Goodness! Citroen did go to some trouble. Almost all of the Series 2 cars I have had are VSX, didn't notice any differences with the Exclusives! They may well have had VSX speakers retro fitted!

[Duke]

Great picture Robert - even managed to sneak a CX in there too...!

[Dean]

Blimey Franklin you could smell a CX out if it was under lock and key 6 miles away couldnt you

Nice Work Steve, an ice install being done properly is such a nice thing to see, very tidy looking car too.

D

[Dieselman]

Great picture Robert - even managed to sneak a CX in there too...!

I was thinking the same thing.

Xm Series1 and 2, C5 and a Cx all in one. Pretty well a full house.

[steelcityuk]

Nice cat! Nice photo Robert.

The steering wheel controls will be lost but then I've never used them in the XM. The head unit is a cheapie but has a remote control if I want to use it but the bit that I like is that it has Bluetooth with audio streaming and a SD card slot.

I think you misread what I said, I didn't say I was using stock speakers but I will be using the stock positions, midbass in the bottom of the doors and tweeters mounted in the dash top for heads up stereo image. The speakers I'm using are a set of Helix H236 Precisions. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Helix-H015236G- ... B000187IH4

The subwoofer is a Focal 33v2 13" in a enclosure. http://www.focal.com/en/car-audio-sound ... /33-v2.php

The amplifier is a Helix HXA 500 MK2. http://www.hifiweb.net/mod/pildid/hxa500s.jpg

A Precision Power Maxxbass processor will round out the install but could be bypassed or removed if I think it doesn't improve things, less is usually more in these kind of systems. I really ought to use a better head unit but the Kenwood and Sony units I have don't have a SD slot or Bluetooth and the Alpine XDA unit I had I sold because it just wasn't nice to use.

Steve.

[steelcityuk]

The wiring after removing the scotch locks, using bullet connectors, etc. Wrapping in spiral wrap.


It fits in the box section but what I didn't find during planning was a metal protrusion that stops the electronics sliding in from the end cut out.


I'm not happy with the 'loom' sticking out, I need to disconnect the wires and fish them through from the end cut out.


Plenty of additional earthing. One each for the light cluster, electronics, towbar socket and interior light circuit. The paint was sanded from the earthing point first.


Steve.