Well, finally figured out what to install in my 2002 Xterra:

Alpine CDA-7894 Head Unit
Alpine MRV-F340 4-Channel Amp
Alpine TUA-T020XM XM Receiver
Infinity REF605CS 6-1/2" Component System
Infinity REF6953I 6"x9" 3-Way Loud Speaker

I'm interested on any "custom" installs on your Xterra. If you have pics, please show them!

Thanks,
JWP

Do you have pics of your install? How well do the 6.5 Infinitys fit?

www.cmcworld.net <--- mine

That is a SERIOUS install job. How long did all that take? It looks awesome. What's next on the list?

Don't have any pics as of yet. I'm having it installed today. I feel like I must be on "crack"! My original plan was just to have a XM FM Modulated unit installed in the truck. End up walking out the door with $2,000.00+ in stereo equipment (Includes installation and Extended Warranty). If XM goes out of business, I gonna be pissed!

I'm Impressed! Thanks for the great pics! Gives me some ideas to work with...JWP

Circuit City did a great job on the install. Left everything look factory, held up on the amp. Amp was too large to mount under the passenger seat and I didn't want to mount it on the back of the rear passenger seat and lose the cargo room. Still thinking on what other options. The head unit is 60Wx4 and sounds great! JWP

u made a big mistake goin to circuit city. I would never let a kid makin $7 a hour install stereo equipment in my car. I wouldve taken it to a professional shop where they actually care about the work they are doing. and 2000 seems way too much to spend for your stuff. No doubt about it the Alpine unit is very good, but those speakers arent up to par with the alpine. You can prob get both of those sets of speakers combined for about 200. Trust me, I bought those same speakers. Of course the components blew out after a couple months.

heres places u could have purchased your stuff.
http://www.infinitecaraudio.com/cgi-bin/icastore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=CDA7894
http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.asp?Product_ID=MRV-F340
http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=alptuat020xm
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/discountsonline/in60refser12.html
http://www.buyloud.com/product_detail.jsp?pid=679

add it up--(i didnt) but it comes to about 1300? i dont know--somebody do the math

Here's mine...

http://www.sounddomain.com/id/rockout77

I appreciate the info. I went to USaveGelt.com where they had the head unit and amp. Circuit City matched the price of the head unit + shipping and the amp. Got the head unit for $269.00 and would have gotten the amp for $299.99, if I decided to purchase the amp. I decided to hold off on the amp, to figure out where I would want to place it, without doing major cosmetic work and without compromising cargo room. I probably could have done better on the 6-1/2" components but gotten the 6x9 rears for $75.00. As for the install shop at the Circuit City that I had the work done at, I'd say that the average age at this shop was 35 and I was extremely impressed with their work. I had gone to other shops in my area, and seen high school kids doing installs. Would I hesitate in purchasing other items at Circuit City? No. Though there is cheaper out there, the service that I received by my salesman was nothing less than professional, I can't say that I had the same experience from other places.

Thanks for the input!
JWP

Not all Circuit City's are made the same. We have a bunch in my area and there is one I will not go to, but others that provide excellent service. I probably will do any installs myself though, as I am very pickey. I want it the way I want it, not they way they think I should have it.

Though in the past, I would enjoy doing my own installs, as I've done it in the past for other vehicles. It's just a time issue, finding the time to do it yourself. I've seen some radical setups in the past, but since I generally go through vehicles every 2-3 years, I can't justify spending the kind of monies that I've seen people spend on audio. Of course, since everyone has an opinion, if I had spent $25k on a system like some people do, you'll always have someone else coming along saying that they've got a better system. I look at it this way, what I have now is a far cry improvement over stock. Now I got to figure out how to work all the buttons on the head unit!

Thanks for the good words, at this point I'm at around 120 hours or so into it. A couple of days ago I stripped the vinyl off the amp panel and now I'm redesigning it. I'm going to give it similar cosmetic characteristics to the sub eunclosure.

You'll love the 7894 and MRV amp, I have both and they are great!

Speaking from past experience (I initially had both of the Infinity speaker sets installed), you might want to forget about upgrading the 6x9's and use the extra cash on a better 6-1/2" set...

I 2nd that w/mav63! That's a fatanstic job done on your Xterra! I was especially impressed with the Sub and Amp installed flush with the side panels-a very clean look! Your attention to detail was also great!

Thanks for providing pics and giving me ideas for the future! JWP

You will find that the 605 CS will basically install in the stock enclosures in the front doors. The only thing that I had to do was modify the stock tweeter mount to fit the Infinity tweeter.

Like someone else said, go ahead and get a good set of 6.5" speakers, and install them (or have them installed) in the rear doors. The sound/image difference is amazing, and then you have the room in the rear for Sub/amp installation.

Is there holes in the rear doors for speakers? What I had done was to install the 6-1/2" component set in the exising holes in the front doors and "A" pillars, and 6"x9" in the rear cargo area. Are you suggesting that I place 6-1/2" in the rear doors and subs in the rear cargo area? What size do you recommend?

Thanks,
JWP

Here's what I'm running. I had pictures on my website, but I deleted them from the server and haven't had the time to put them back.

Head unit: Alpine 7977
Front doors: 7" Crystal CPe 643t component speakers
Rear doors: 7" Crystal CPe 60t coaxial speakers
Cargo Area: 6"x9" Nakamichi SP-W691
Subwoofer: 10" Alpine SWR-1021D
Amps: MTX 152 & MTX 204

I've thought about adding the XM tuner but I can't really justify the added expense besides the coolness factor. I'll post pictures this evening if interested.

I would be interested in seeing some pics if it isn't too much trouble. I believe that I won't receive the full benefit of the head unit w/o an amp, but would like suggestions in keeping the interior relatively stock looking, w/o compromising cargo room.

Thanks,
JWP

I still think about mounting the amp upside down in the cargo-area.

Affix a 3/4 inch board under the headliner, and run your wires throught he headliner, and then bolt the amp very securely into the wood you don't see the wood, obvioulsy, it would look pretty damn sweet.

it would be totally out of the way, in every sense, pretty much.

and even getting in a wreck, it seems if the board was attached well enough to the sheet metal of the roof, it would never come off, so the amp would have to shear it's screw holes, which makes it no more dangerous than the subwoofer box sitting in the back, or any amp on the seat.

geez i never thought of the danger of the subwoofer box before.. duh duh duh

It's nothing to look at, but I enjoy the way it sounds....

Great Pics! The carpet trim on the rear doors, was that standard or added with the speaker update?

here is mine click me

Mounting an amp upside down is not a good idea the heat has no way of dissipating from the heat sink that way and will cause thermal shut down and possible damage

I'm running the stock 6 disk head unit, JL Audio xr-650cs componets up fornt, Kenwood 6x9's inteh back, a Clarin 600 watt 5 channel amp and 2 JL Audio 10's

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