Alright i'm looking at installing an amp or two into my 11' GT/CS with nav. I'm looking at getting the JL Audio clean sweep but do i also need the CL-SES expander?

 

You will love having the amp(s) and some new speakers, the improvement is extreme. But, think long about the Cleansweep. There are forums and posts/reviews out there everywhere that say getting it to work right is not so simple. I would recommend the AudioControl LCQ1. It's a bit of $ but man what a great piece of technology. It kills the bass drop-off, gives you all kinds of EQ ability and a clean signal out for up to 3 channel pairs (front, rear, sub) if you want to amp all of them. Or, you can do what I did and just amp the fronts and the subs using a 4 channel amp connected to the LCQ1.

 

Did you put power to the subs in the doors or just the trunk?

 

No sub in the trunk. I need the trunk space in my Vert! The JL runs the separates and the Kicker subs in the doors. It gets its clean signal from the LCQ1. The LCQ1 is under the pass. seat, the amp is under the driver's seat.

 

Nice! So did you install the LCQ yourself?

 

Nope, had my local Car Audio shop do it. I had a wiring diagram and all, but man that is a lot of work for someone not used to tapping, stripping and running wires. They had the door panels off, the seats out and the sub amp hanging from the driver side kick panel. After all the wiring was in and everything was hooked-up, they had to put the seats back and plug them in before they could power it up to avoid pulling error codes on the ECU for missing airbags, etc. That's when they found they had a bad set of RCAs and had to pull the seats out again to re-run that pair of RCAs from the LCQ1 to the amp. After it was up and running, they spent about 40 min.s setting the AcuBass and tuning the EQ and the amp for my speaker setup. The money spent on install was really worth it in my mind. But, the programming for the LCQ1 was not complicated. It was very straight forward. They bridged the signals from the sub amp and the front speakers inside the LCQ1. They ran the AcuBass to get rid of the bass drop-off first after setting the bridge jumper. Then, they started playing with input levels and the EQ until we could get it to stop clipping at 80%+ volume. The fronts run off of one pair of RCAs to the amp and the subs run off the sub channel from the LCQ1 to the amp.

 

Nice i just ordered the Kicker subs. When you ordered them did they come with factory connectors or did they have to be spliced in? I think i'm going the same route as you. Thanks for all the info. I agree with you about the trunk space...i need what little i have.

 

The Kickers come with home stereo-type push button connectors. You just strip the wires and stick them in while the button is pushed in. You will still use the factory connector for plugging them back into the door when you re-install the door panel. The install instructions for them were well detailed on which wire pair to use on both doors. The stock subs are dual voice coil, so they have 2 pairs of wires to them. You will only use one pair for the Kickers. I did that install myself with the Pioneers on round 1 of audio upgrade. Hardest part there is getting the door panel off and back on, tedious, not so hard really.

 

Ok i just spoke with my local stereo place. Of course he recommended that i go with something more expensive. He tells me i should instead of going with one amp powering the door speakers and the door subs (using an JLAudio XD400/4)....use two JLAudio slash series 300/2...WTF. C'mon man! And they aren't a Audiocontrol dealer....just JL. BTW the slash amps cost $559 per amp vs $400 for the XD400/4.

 

You can get the XD400/4 for $329 shipped from Sonic Electronix. Never ordered from them but have been considering getting a few things from them.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...o-XD400-4.html

 

Nice i may go with them and do this myself...as long as i can find the right wiring diagram. Can anyone explain why i need a amp just for the subs? what i'm being told that if i use the XD400 i will not get left and right distinguished because the amp thinks its a single sub. But if i get a separate amp there will be left and right. I have some car electronic knowledge but the first time i'm dealing with a mustang (or a car with subs in the doors).

 

Bigblue11, I think your shop needs to be sent to the bench and you need to find a new one! Obviously, it would be great to have more power if your speakers (and wallet) can handle that, but that is a lot more money. And, the left/right thing is just wrong! The LCQ1 has left and right outputs for the sub channel. They come from left and right inputs that you or your shop should feed it right from the speaker level lines off your factory sub amp (just above the clutch pedal on the kickpanel). Since there are left and right lines out of the factory amp, fed into the left and right inputs on your LCQ1, output to the left and right sub lines out of the LCQ1 into the left and right (channel 3 and 4) of your JL 400/4, you then run the outputs from channel 3 on your amp to the left sub and channel 4 to your right sub. Left and right subs, no problem! Remember, your factory subs were dual voice coil, requiring 2 pairs of inputs, but your Kickers are not. Each only requires 1 pair of wires (left or right RCA to bare wire) from your amp. Good luck shopping for a better shop and see if you can find the LCQ1 out there, it's a better solution than the Cleansweep.

 

Thanks for the info. So how are your subs handling with power? Are you getting 1 ohm from the subs on the amp since they are single 2 ohm?

 

Nope, they are running at 4 ohms as impendence goes up with less wire, right! The 400/4 does 75 watts/channel into 4 ohms. It took a bit of tuning between the LCQ1 and the JL, but after proper balancing, I do not clip even at near full volume and yet still thump nicely down at low volume. I did put a bass control remote **** (off the amp, not the LCQ1) in the center console so I can turn the subs up or down as needed, mounted it in the lower part of that panel that pops out to adjust the ebrake. Works well for turning it down a bit when it gets too hip-hop on me.

 

Thank you for putting up with all my questions! Do you have a picture of how your wires are inputted into the amp or a drawing? I'm going to go purchase these items from crutchfield since the installer wants $2000 in parts and labor.