Jon has been working in car audio for 13 years and has some experience with high dollar cars like the Ferrari. He says you always pay extra attention and charge a little more just for dealing with the stress!
The Modena's install had to be simple because there isn't a great deal of room in the car. There's no trunk because it's a mid-engine car and the storage space under the hood leaves little room as well. A single slot for a source unit and speakers in the doors are all you get in a factory Modena.
Working inside those parameters, Jon got to work. James and Jon decided on an all Sony system using ES components, in particular the astounding Sony XDP-4000X digital processor.
The dash work was obviously simple. There is only a single DIN slot for the source unit. Yanking the old one and replacing it with a cool new Sony Mobile ES CDX-M650 was a snap. This CD player has Sony's new Black Panel display where it looks like a plain ol' black plastic panel until the unit is turned on. Flip it over and there's another display with the usual buttons. It's also connected to the factory CD changer which just happens to be a Sony supplied unit making this pretty easy.
The CDX-M650 is connected to the Sony XDP-4000X digital crossover-equalizer. This beast converts all signals to digital for digital parametric equalization, time alignment, room effects and super steep crossovers for a 4-way system. Since it's all in the digital domain, there is no noise added and no problems with phase shift. Consider it the ultimate tuning piece.
The XDP-4000X is mounted under the hood along with some of Monster Cable's hot new M-Series power distribution. Also from Monster is a 1-farad stiffening cap to help support Sony's Mobile ES XM-7557 5-channel amp. The amp sends 75 watts to each of the component speakers mounted in the doors with 180 watts left over for a dedicated subwoofer channel.
 Sony's CDX-M650 with the Active...  Sony's CDX-M650 with the Active Black Panel display. The side you see here is the normal side with all the controls. Flip it over when the power is off and it's just a black panel. With the key on, it lights up like Las Vegas. |  It just doesn't seem right,...  It just doesn't seem right, that little shifter in place of the famous gated shifter, but this is as close as you get to a Formula 1 car. |  |