When you work at Alpine, under the shadow of some of the best installers in the industry, it might seem almost intimidating to set about executing an install on your own vehicle with Alpine equipment. Tony Boschetti, product application specialist, wasn't about to compete with the company demo vehicle. He took the install in a very different direction with some rather sophisticated design elements to create a surround sound system that looks so good, Nissan should study it as a model for an upgrade package on the new Xterra.Smart Placement
Boschetti decided early on to put the in-dash DVD/nav unit, the IVA-D900, where the factory heater controls were mounted so he would not have to take his eyes off the road for very long when using navigation. Not only did he move the heater controls to the factory radio location, he also modified the radio bezel with 1/2" MDF and fiberglass-reinforced body filler for the center channel (SPS-100A) and the display for the Dolby Digital 5.1 processor, the PXA-H700. The frame around the gauges was also painted to keep with the blue and silver theme throughout the truck.
Also up front on the ceiling is the RUX-4280 amp controller, which is conveniently located for easy subwoofer adjustments on the amplifier. The factory map light housing was completely modified and painted. Boschetti also changed the green lights in the RUX-4280 to white to match the dash lights, and painted it silver to go along with the blue/silver theme.Sub On The Side
The MRD-M300 powers a Type R 10" dual 4-ohm voice coil sub wired in parallel for a 2-ohm load. Behind it is the MRV-F340 that delivers 45 watts x 4 for mids and highs. Hidden behind the MRV-F340 is the brain for the IVA-D900, the TUA-T020XM satellite receiver and the TUE-T011A TV tuner. The amp rack was fabricated out of MDF wood, grille cloth, fiberglass resin, reinforced body filler and body filler.
The subwoofer enclosure, home to the SWR-1041D sub, is constructed mostly out of 3/4" MDF wood, reinforced body filler and body filler. The Alpine logo in the grille is made of 1/8" white and clear acrylic. Boschetti placed an Alpine sticker on the acrylic and basecoated it blue before clear-coating it.
Note: Boschetti primered all of the fabricated panels with Poly Primer and used TransStar clear coat after basecoating the blue panels with DuPont paint.