1999 Subaru Forester
Owner: Nick Tanner aka MOSFET on RAC, you can also check out these photos on my own page at:

Component List:

These pictures were taken 6 years ago and my system has changed quite a bit since then.  My MTX subs were stolen about a year ago.  I happened to have a spare dual 15" sealed box so I decided to use this for my new subwoofer system.  I also completely changed my front stage to ALL Alpine Type R.  The Type R series are truly the best sounding speakers I have ever heard in a car.  The quantity of midbass I can get out of them is INCREDIBLE.  I used to think JL ruled when it came to midbass speakers until I heard Alpine's Type R.  They produce incredible amounts of clean midbass.  In fact, I can turn off my subwoofers and people DON'T NOTICE that there is any less bass.  I have NEVER owned a set of midbass drivers this powerful (and I've owned Boston Pro Series, high-end MB Quart seperates and JL seperates).  The only caveat is that these Alpine speakers require TONS of power.  150 watts X 2 RMS would be best.  I have 112.5 X 2 RMS from my vintage RF Punch 225.2, yet these Alpine's can take more.  And keep in mind, I'm JUST talking about the 6.5" midbass drivers (I have a seperate Phoenix Gold amp powering the tweeters).  But they are truly the best I have ever used/heard.

WILL UPDATE PICTURES SOON.

CURRENT SYSTEM:

Alpine 9885 Head Unit

Magnavox 7” portable DVD player mounts perfectly on top of dash in spare storage compartment built into Suburu dash (looks stock and can be easily hidden).

Clarion EQS-750 7 band EQ/6 Volt Line Driver/Pre-amp (replaced all LED's in unit to match Alpine's blue color, they are also MUCH brighter than original Clarion LED's, see picture). This also controls my tweeter and midbass levels up front.

Coustic XM-3 crossover used before tweeter amp, ONLY used for tweeters - crossed over at 3500 Hz at 12dB per octive.

Front Speakers and front amplifiers (separates are bi-amped):

Alpine Type R Series seperates up front, the front 6.5" midbass drivers (they are bi-amped) in the front door is driven by a Fosgate Punch 225.2 (112.5 watts x 2 RMS .05% THD). High passed at 60 Hz 24 dB/octive.

Alpine R Series silk dome tweeters driven (after Coustic X-over crossed at 3500 Hz/12 dB per octive) by Phoenix Gold QX180.2 (50 watts x 2 RMS .05% THD). Tweeters mounted in sail panels (see picture). THESE TWEETS SOUND AMAZING!!!!

Rear-Fill (mounted in rear doors) are Pioneer coaxial and rear-fill amplifier is Jensen, 50 watts X 2 RMS

Subwoofers and subwoofer amplifier:

Two Power Acoustik 15" subwoofers mounted in dual 15" sealed enclosure.

These subs are driven by a single Alpine Class D MRV-850 (850 watts RMS X 1 at 13.5 volts 1% distortion).  They easily put out over 1000 watts without even getting warm.  You can hear me 6 blocks away (I'm not kidding) ;).

I use no passive X-overs in my system. Almost all crossover functions are digital and performed in the Alpine head unit. The exception is the electronic X-over in the Coustic XM-3 for the tweeters (because the HU did not have a x-over high enough).

I use five capacitors (one for each of my four amps and one next to the battery, you can see it in one of the photos) for a total of four farads; Optima Yellow-top battery; Phoenix Gold 200 amp circuit breaker, and PG connectors; 4 gauge power cables used throughout (power cable is both Monster and Phoenix Gold).

Phoenix Gold 16 gauge speaker cable used throughout EXCEPT for subwoofer speaker cable where I used Rockford Fosgate White Wolf 11 gauge cable. RCA’s are ALL Phoenix Gold Zeropoint twisted-pair interconnects.

Dynamat and other sound dampening products used EXTENSIVELY on ALL four doors and rear-hatch.

Mounted fire extinguisher in rear of car for safety.
All installation was done by myself. Special thanks to my wife Tina who has been INFINITELY patient as this Forester is the "family" car. Thank you for reading!!!!

Here is my own site about my Forester