2014 Chevy Sonic RS Stereo Install

[dkurtz42]

Hi all,

New to the forum. I have had my Sonic a few weeks but only 500 miles so far with the Holidays. It is mostly a commuter and I'll be in the car about 2 hours a day. I like the Mylink, but not sure I can tolerate the stock stereo. My first real project for this car will be a new stereo. I just purchased components last night online and will be waiting for everything to ship. Here is what I will be working with.

- Stock HU
- Alpine PDX-V9 5-channel amp for power (100W RMS x 4 + 500W RMS X 1)
- Alpine SPR-60C 6.5" front speakers 110W RMS
- Alpine SPR-60 6.5" rear speakers 100W RMS
- JL Audio CS110LG-TW3 subwoofer 400W RMS
Originally, I was going to go all Alpine and use a SWR-10D4 but after measuring the box, I didn't want to eat up all of my hatch storage. The JL at 4.5" mounting depth had great reviews and will fit nicely into my subfloor. Paid a little more, but I think I'll be happy with the saved space.
- Alpine RUX-KNOB
- KnuKonceptz KCA 4 gauge amp install kit

My plan will be to splice everything into the wires running out of the back of the HU as speaker level inputs, replace the stock tweeters with no modification, reuse the stock 6.5" speaker housings, place the amp and sub in the subfloor of the hatch and run wires through door harnesses and under trim to hide. Based on the 4.5" box for the sub I may end up cutting out a hole for the top of my sub to pop through the hatch floor. This would still allow me to use the area for storage, but doesn't give as stealth of an appearance. I'll have to come up with a plan when I get the box. I performed a similar install a few years back on a 2012 Honda Civic with similar components and only had a few hiccups. I'm by no means a pro so if I run into trouble hopefully I'll find some good advice. Reading over several other stereo installs gives me the confidence it can be done without too much headache. I'll post pics of each step along the way in case others will have similar installs.

Hopefully I'll be back in about a week once everything arrives!

Anything I'm missing or need to purchase before the install starts?

 

[dkurtz42]

Minor Tweaks

So I added 2 more things to the buy list. A friend talked me into getting the Scosche mounting brackets saying for $10 it would make things much easier and faster.

Then as I was reading about my PDX-V9 I realized there are not speaker level inputs in the amp like my last Alpine amp. I spent some time researching Line Output Converters and settled on the following:

- Audiocontrol lc6i

I even called Alpine and they recommended the Scosche slc4 that you can get from Walmart. Obviously a bargain compared to the Audiocontrol, but the reviews and install issues were so 50 / 50 that I figured it would be worth going with quality given I'm already spending quite a bit on what I feel are quality components. I am tracking packages all over the country on the way to my house now. In the meantime, I'll start tearing things apart. I didn't see a lot of step by step instructions in the forum (maybe didn't look hard enough) but I'll post pics and detail my progress for someone who might need step by step.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Front Left Pillar and Tweeter

Here are some step by step instructions with pics on removing the front left pillar.

1. Pull down hard at the very top of the pillar, against the windows. It is a tight fit for your fingers, but you can do it. You'll have to pull pretty hard, but not recklessly. There is a sensor you need to disconnect. Pull just enough to start to see the pillar separate from the window.

2. Move your hand down underneath and get your fingers between the rubber seal and the pillar. Pull hard again. Not jerk, but hard enough to pull away. It should be even with the top and you can get a better grip and pull away about 2-3 inches.

3. The airbag will be unaffected. Unless you rip the sensor completely off, I don't think you will affect the airbag. Now squeeze the bottom of the sensor and slide it off of the pillar. It is a little bit hard to get started, but then slides right off. The sensor will remain hanging.

4. If the grommet in the center did not release, give the whole pillar one more tug to separate. At this point, the only thing still connected will be the wiring harness connected to the tweeter. The sides of the pillar are tucked beside the dash. Instead of pulling away from the side of the car, pull the whole thing gently towards the back of the car to get the pillar skirt out of the dash.

5. Now you'll have enough room to lay the pillar on its front and get at the tweeter. Squeeze one side of the tab and the wiring will disconnect from the pillar. The tweeter will still be in the pillar and it will be free.

Repeat exactly for the opposite side. Everything is the same.

See pics for some detail. Next, I'll show how I was able to remove the tweeter from the mounting bracket to hopefully reuse.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Tweeter from Mounting Bracket

Here are some step by step instructions to remove the tweeter from the tweeter mounting bracket and still keep things intact to reuse.

1. Now that you have your pillar and tweeter out of the car, take it somewhere bright because you'll need to be able to see the small tabs. Grab a small flathead screwdriver. There are 2 indented tabs around the outside of the mounting bracket. Stick the screwdriver inside the tab and twist to create separation. Once the tab clears the ring, pull the tweeter away from the bracket far enough that it won't click back together.

2. Repeat on the other side and the tweeter and inside bracket will separate from the pillar.

3. If you look at the side of the tweeter you will see some white spots around the sides. This is glue they used to hold things together. I would start by taking a razor blade and just gently cutting through the glue. It will make removing the bracket easier.

4. Once the glue is all separated, do the screwdriver thing again by sticking it into the 3 tabs that are holding things together. You'll be able to identify where once you see it. Once the screwdriver is inserted, twist enough to allow the tab to release. You'll have to pull pretty hard to get the first tab clear. Once you move to the next tab, it will be a little easier, then the third one is very easy and the mounting bracket will come away clear. There is a chance that some of the glue will still be hanging on, just cut it away with a knife or razor.

I am pretty sure I'll be able to reuse the bracket with my new tweeter and stick it back into the pillar and it will look exactly like stock.

See pics for some detail. Next, I'll show how I removed my driver's side door.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Driver's Side Door (and others) Part 1 of 4

Here are some step by step instructions to remove the driver's side door. It is pretty simple, but if you aren't sure how...

Tools Needed: small flathead screwdriver, large flathead screwdriver or some kind of pry bar, 9mm socket on an extension or just a straight socket wrench.

1. Inside the car, open the door release and notice the small cutout in the bottom left hand side of the small inner panel inside that area. Use your small screwdriver and gently stick it in the corner and pry away. The small panel will pop right out. There will be a 7mm screw behind the panel. Remove the screw and set aside.

2. Just below this, inside the door handle there is small round cutout. Stick your screwdriver into this and pry away. The cutout will not release. it is attached to the door, but opens and gives access to another 7mm screw. Remove the screw.

Set everything aside.

Continues in Part 2.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Driver's Side Door (and others) Part 2 of 4

1. You are going to remove the panel inside the side view mirror. Grab the top with your fingers, or gently with the screwdriver and pop the top away. Try not to rip straight out.

2. Once the top has been removed, grab a hold of the entire thing and pull up. The reason is because there is a grommet inside on the bottom that the panel fits down onto. If you pull straight away, you could break it. If you pull up, the panel will gently pull away. There is nothing to disconnect behind here.

3. You'll notice a small circular tab just below this panel. It looks similar to the one inside the door handle. It is only an access point for something else. There is no screw behind it.

See Part 3.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Driver's Side Door (and others) Part 3 of 4

1. Now you will be ready to pull off the door. Reach underneath the edge of the door and in the middle, you will feel a slight gap. Stick your large screwdriver up the gap and pry gently and add force until one or two grommets pop open. Now you can get your entire hand in there. Give it one or two or three good hard jerks moving your hands to the outside of the door and you'll pull the panel away. The first time you start to hear the popping and force, you will think you are breaking the door, but you are not. They are just very tight.

2. Lift up on the door and pull the top over the door lock knob. There are a few things connecting the panel to the door so don't pull away just yet.

3. Squeeze the tab on the wiring for the door locks and windows and slide them off. They will stay connected to the door.

4. Put your small screwdriver into the gap in between the door handle retainer and separate and slide off. Once this is off, rotate the wire 90 degrees and the metal ball will be able to slide out of position. Now your door is free and you can remove it completely.

5. The 6.5" speaker is exposed. Use your socket and remove one screw. Then using your small screwdriver just gently pry around the outside and the speaker will come off. You just need to disconnect the speaker and you are done.

See Part 4.

 

[dkurtz42]

Remove Driver's Side Door (and others) Part 4 of 4

1. The passenger side door is basically identical. Repeat the previous steps.

2. The rear door has a few slight changes. In the rear, start by removing the triangular window panel. It sets over top the door and once it is gone, will make removing the door much easier. Just grab with both hands and pull firmly.

3. One other change is the speaker will have a grommet holding the speaker wire in place against the speaker mounting bracket. Just pull it out.

Remove the rest of your doors and you are done.

 

[dkurtz42]

Unexpected AMP change

So last night after I finished starting to take some things apart, I got a call from someone in New Jersey (I'm in Ohio) who turned out to be one of the sellers on Amazon I was working with. He apologized and said that there was an error in their inventory system and the Alpine PDX-V9 was not available and would not be for several weeks. I told him that I had all other components in route and didn't want to wait. We talked about starting the refund process and I was disappointed, first because I would have to find and order another Alpine, but also because I had a 12 month interest free financing deal with my order. Getting refunded was sure to mess something up. I went to the sellers Amazon Store and was poking around at other stuff he had. I saw the JL Audio XD700/5. Pretty similar to the Alpine PDX-V9, but lower RMS. Technically, the price for the XD on Amazon was higher, making the Alpine a cheaper amp, but I still wanted the Alpine. I have had Alpine in the past and been happy. Plus, I already ordered the RUX-KNOB and a LOC for the Alpine. After about an hour of research and really not wanting to deal with the refund process, I called the seller and proposed that he give me the JL instead of the Alpine at no extra charge. He agreed to do it. Hopefully it will be shipped out today. We talked a bit and he said I would be very happy with the JL and the wattage would actually fit my components better.

This is where I'm not sure. I got the PDX-V9 because it had the higher output to push and get the most out of my speakers. The seller was insisting that I ran a better chance of blowing my speakers with the higher power, but I insisted that I have always over powered with my amp, but kept gains down low.

Either way, the JL is on the way. I know it is still a quality amp. The good news is I cancelled the order on my Lc6i with no problem. It had not been shipped yet. The JL has a high level / low level adjustment so I can hook RCAs directly into speaker wire. $100+ saved there. Two questions for anyone reading this.

1. Will my RUX-KNOB, made for Alpine work on my JL. It has the same level adjustment output on the amp.

2. Any opinions about if my Alpine 6.5's and JL sub would have sounded better with higher wattage? Will I be disappointed with 25W less for 6.5's and 100W less for sub?

 

[dkurtz42]

Sound proofing

Since I have the door panels off...and I'm waiting on some items from Cali, I have a few days. One knock on the Sonic that I have so far is it does seem to rattle a lot and the metal seems hollow. Especially that back hatch door. When you shut that thing it sounds like the car is going to come apart. I did some quick research on dynamat and quickly heard how overpriced it is. I ended up settling on trying something different.

- U.Seal - Instant Waterproof Repair tape

Read quite a lot of good reviews for using this as a budget dampener and its available locally at Home Depot. I bought 2 - 25 ft. rolls of 6 in. I will be going through the car and blanketing wherever I can. Mainly doors, floor of hatch area, etc. I don't plan on removing the head liner or floor at this time. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[GTAHVIT]

Thanks for documenting this!

 

[hammrdwn510]

Thanks for documenting this!

Sticky worthy?

 

[ScarabEpic22]

I might have missed it, but PULL THE BATTERY CABLE BEFORE starting disassembly, especially since airbag connectors are involved...dont want to see an exploding airbag.

Good to know about that JL amp, probably the same one Im going to go with.

 

[dkurtz42]

U Seal as Sound Proofer

I purchased 2 rolls - 6 in. by 25 ft. of U Seal for roughly $15 each from Home Depot. I have never used Dynamat before, but just looking at the prices I decided to try something else. This was reviewed pretty highly throughout the web. With my doors off, I went ahead and applied the U Seal. I'll skip the instructional. You just use a razor blade or knife and cut the roll to length, peel off the back and apply. They sell rollers to use with dynamat, but the reality is if you take a few seconds and push firmly with your hand and fingers into any cracks, it is applied firmly and smoothly throughout. I found that the U Seal was very easy to use. It was not sticky or messy to apply. I applied it in the garage in about 10 degree weather (torpedo heater running) and it adhered quickly and easily. After 5 minutes, you are not going to get it off without a battle and a mess. If you hold the tar side up to your nose, you can smell an odor, but I have noticed absolutely no discernable smell inside the car.

Will it work? I started with the front doors. I actually applied the U Seal inside the door panel and then on the outside as well. You can access quite a bit of the inside area through the gaps / holes. I figured it wasn't costing a lot so why not. The result is that even with the inside door still removed, there is almost no sound or rattling at all. Even with a hard slam, you hear a nice THUD. It definitely adds a more "premium" feel. Next, I removed the hatch panel and applied U Seal to everything inside and on the hatch. Now if you have the hatch, you know that when you shut the hatch it feels like its going to come off. You can just tell it is a big hollow piece of metal. With the U Seal applied, simliar to the passenger doors, the hatch slams with an echoless THUD. I placed some on the back of my license plate as well just as a buffer for rattling.

With 2 rolls, I actually ran out before finishing the back doors. I am going to go and buy one more roll. I'll have basically every square inch covered for less than $50. Whether it improves my audio quality, I won't know yet, but it has made a HUGE difference in terms of road noise and the general feeling of quality in the doors. I would recommend this to anyone even if you are not interested in better stereo installation.

 

[dkurtz42]

Stereo equipment has arrived

My stereo equipment finally arrived. Ironic that it came from all over the country, Washington, California, Kentucky, New Jersey, but all arrived on the same day via UPS, FEDEX and USPS.

The only change was the JL XD700/5 swap vs. the Alpine PDX-V9. I did enough research to convince myself I'll be happy with the JL and its slightly less power. I'm thrilled not to need a LOC and the JL doesn't need the remote wire either.

A few notes about the Knu Koncepts Amp installation kit. The 20ft of 4 gauge power wire is worth the $28 I paid alone. It is true 4 gauge wire. As thick as my pinky finger. Same goes for the 3ft of 4 gauge ground. Same wire, different color casing. The casing is soft and pliable which will make nice for installation, but you need to be more careful around sharp edges. It also comes with a heavy duty 80amp fuse. Some kits give you a 25 or 40 which can be sketchy with higher wattage systems. It is my own fault for not reading more carefully, but it only comes with 20 ft. total of 14 gauge speaker wire and just enough connections for one set of speakers, as well as 1 set of RCA cables in stead of 2.

I will have to go out today and buy some more speaker wire and speaker connectors. I also want to get a short length of 12 gauge wire for my sub. I had a RCA connector in the house so I'll just use that.

I'll start posting pics of my install. Will take me a few days as I'll be working 12 hour days over the next few days. Only about an hour to two hours per day to work on stereo.

 

[dkurtz42]

Installing the Ground Wire

Working backwards, here is how I installed the ground wire. I will have my amp in the back hatch so I was looking for a location in the spare tire well area. I couldn't find anything down below so I was about to settle on one of the back seat bolts when I decided to pull the side panels and hope for something better.

Here is how to remove those panels.

1. First, pull the panel over the hatch latch. There are 4 pull out style grommets inside. Use a screwdriver to pull them out about 1/4" and then use your fingers to pull the whole thing out. You probably won't break anything. These are sturdy. Once removed, the entire panel lifts straight up.



2. Next, looking back into the hatch, look to the left and pop off the "Airbag" piece of plastic just above the back seat. There is a screw inside that will need removed with a phillips head. Once the screw is gone, just pull the panel off firmly with even pressure on both sides. The seat belt will still go through the panel so just push it forward and on to the back seat to keep out of the way.



3. Now look down and you'll see a latch on the side panel. Remove it with a 10MM socket. Attached is the a pic of the right hand side. Don't get confused...



4. Now the hard part. This panel is very difficult to remove and you will probably break a grommet or two. They are easy to replace so don't worry too much about that. It looks like there are tabs to hide screws and other things, but there isn't. You can check, but there is nothing behind them. Grab a hold of the bottom with two hands (easier said than done, you'll have to pinch your fingers). Lift up with a pretty good amount of force, but not the same jerking force that the doors needed, but rather steady even force with the idea of lifting the panel up off the grommets and then pull back towards you at the same time. You'll see why when you see the grommets. It's going to take quite a bit of pulling. I managed to break only half a tab. The one that is positioned sideways. This only allows you access to see behind the panel. Lo and behold about 18 inches in, just below the top, a factory ground. I didn't even try and get the panel off. I just propped open the panel with a screw driver and went to work.



5. Peel back about 1/4" of the casing on your ground wire, place a rubber cover onto the wire (to be pulled up later) and stick the bare wire into a ring terminal. Collapse the ring terminal using a hammer, pliers, whatever you can and make sure its not going to pull out. Once firmly attached, pull the rubber sleeve up and over to cover the bare area. I like to use some electrical tape to cover as extra protection. Now just remove the nut of the bolt, make sure you have a metal to metal connection, no paint, etc. and put the bolt back down. This is going to give you an excellent chassis ground within 3 feet of your amp.

 

[dkurtz42]

Running Power Wire - Hatch to battery

I will be running my RCA cables on the left hand side of the car and connecting below the kick plate. As a result I am going to route my power wire on the right side of the car. The 4 gauge wire I purchased is 20 feet long so there should be plenty of wire.

1. First, I removed the floor panels along the passenger side of the car. Starting in the back seat, just pull up hard on the floor panel. Moving to the center column, just pull hard away from the center column and the entire piece floor to ceiling comes off. Next, remove the front passenger floor panel with one caveat. Reach under the glove compartment and unscrew the flat, round plastic piece that is visibale that is holding the panel flat against the carpet. If you don't remove this you might rip it off. Its cheap. Once that is remove just pull hard.

2. Starting in the hatch, I fed the wire under the seat as far right as possible. From the rear passenger side pull the wire forward and just keep routing to the front. In the front route the wire over towards and behind the radio and center column. There is a pretty large opening and it is not hard to push the cable through. Next and here is where you have a few different options. I didn't want the wire anywhere around the gas and brake pedal so I routed it up and over everything I could. There are some sharp areas so just be sure that where the wire rests will not be sharp. You can get the wire pretty far up and secure if you get down in the car (I didn't have to take apart the dash). Now pull it back down and look at the fire wall of the car. There is an oval rubber piece where there are already wires running through. I took a small drill bit and then drilled right beside the currect wiring. (Don't worry, as long as you drill straight through, there is nothing behind it. You can check from the engine compartment.) I repeated this with sequentially larger drills until I got up to the size of the wire. If you haven't done this you are thinking why not just start with the large drill...trust me, this is probably the most annyoing part of the install if you want to keep a small hole and not just cut out a huge hole. Once to size, I took a pen, taped the front of my wire to the back of the pen, shoved the pen through, then went around to the engine compartment and pulled the pen and the wire through the hole. Now you are ready to install the fuse and hook up to the battery.







Inside car


Inside engine compartment

 

[tgoddardgto]

Thanks for documenting this. I'm really interested to see how you install the tweeters in the factory location. also, where are you getting your amp signal. I have always installed amps on aftermarket head units that had an amp wire.

 

[dkurtz42]

Amp Signal

Thanks for documenting this. I'm really interested to see how you install the tweeters in the factory location. also, where are you getting your amp signal. I have always installed amps on aftermarket head units that had an amp wire.

I ran 2 sets of RCA cables, Channels 1 and 2 and Channels 3 and 4 down behind the rear seat and alongside the drivers side of the car. If you have already removed the plastic pieces you will see once you get to the drivers seat, there is a ground wire location and just in front of that, a massive nest of wires. I pulled out the speaker wires...

Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Blue
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Brown/Blue
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Yellow
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Yellow/Black

Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Green
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Green/Black
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): White
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Blue/Black



Sometimes there are multiples of colors and you might get confused. The way you know which are the speaker wires, the two colors are twisted together. I started with the Blue and Brown/Blue, cut it as far back from the kick plate as I could without tearing too much into the loom and then spliced my white (sometimes black depending on type of RCA cable) into the blue and Brown/Blue. If you don't know how to do this, its easy, but takes a little time. Cut off the connector from the RCA. You cannot use wire strippers to remove the outside sheath because the ground wire is just inside. Gently use a razor blade and cut the sheath off making sure not to cut through the wire underneath. Once you get all the sheathing cut, you'll notice it is not a solid wire, but rather wire all around the outside of another inner sheathing. Gather the wire up and twist it together and this is going to be your negative connection. Once twisted and out of the way, you can use wire strippers to remove the inner sheathing and that will leave you with the positive wire connection. Hook the outer wire to the Brown / Blue and the inner wire to the Positive with your favorite type of connector and you are good. If I didn't mention, the wires you just cut...tie into the wires that are leading towards the front of the car, not the back. The wires running towards the back lead to the speakers. You need to tie into the HU. I wasn't sure. Sonic007 helped me with that one. Repeat with channels 2, 3, 4 and you are good. The JL Audio amp has 2 cool features which I already mentioned. First, it has a high/low input sensor, meaning since I don't have an LOC, I turn it to "high" and it converts the high level input of the HU to the low level input of the RCAs. The second feature is it has an auto sensing signal input selection. No remote wire needed. When the amp senses the HU is on, it turns on the amp. There is about a 7-10 second delay from the time you turn the HU on to the time the amp kicks on and starts playing. Very simple and a nice feature. After 30 seconds of no signal and the amp shuts off automatically. That means that your amp won't be running 100% of the time your car is on.

I will tell a little more about the tweeters in the factory location later. It turned out great. I stole the idea of hot glue from someone on another forum and it was an excellent idea.

 

[tgoddardgto]

Awesome! Thank you, I'll be using this information when I start my stereo build here in a month or two.