Best
For the all-out system, the stock head unit would finally come out of the dash. "We'd put in an Eclipse AVN6610 double-DIN all-in-one head unit that has the whole nine yards - a DVD drive for navigation and another for music or video, a 7-inch touchscreen, dual-zone capability and it's HD Radio-ready," Cavanaugh says. "We'd add an iPod interface and Sirius satellite radio to this one too. Changing the head unit would also require all the interfaces and the associated labor with it," he adds. This would include a Soundgate CANPulse2 CAN-bus interface for the navigation system and a PAC SWI-ECL steering wheel control interface and PAC SWI-CAN CAN bus steering wheel-control interface.
"We'd put some really high-end speakers in this system and we'd Dynamat the doors and rear deck entirely," Cavanaugh adds. Both the front doors and rear deck would get a Focal 165 K2P component set that includes pairs of 6.5" mids and 1" tweeters. "We would build something to convert the speakers in the rear deck to coaxials," Cavanaugh says. For this system, he'd also step up to a custom subwoofer enclosure: a 0.6ft3 sealed box for a pair of JL Audio 10W6v2-D4 10" subs firing toward the back of the car.
"We'd also go with two high-end amps with lots of power," Cavanaugh notes. A Zapco C2K4.0X (100 watts x 4 into 4 ohms) and a Zapco C2K6.0X (150 x 2 into 4 ohms) fill the bill. "The sub amp bridges to about 1,200 watts," he adds. An amprack would be integrated into the top of the box. "We'd build a cover panel with trim around it that finishing around the sub box and contours around the trunk," Cavanaugh says. "There would still be lots of trunk room and it keeps the spare tire. Like most woofers these days, the JL subs work in a very small enclosure, so you lose just a little bit of trunk space.
"We also added an Alumapro The C.A.P. 5-farad capacitor, because it would cushion the electrical system and help prevent the lights from dimming," Cavanaugh adds. "And it tightens up the bass response." Install parts and accessories include Zapco's SymbiLink preamp cables, 4-gauge power cable and a fuse holder and fuse, 12- and 16-gauge speaker cable and various connectors.
"This is pretty much a high-end system," Cavanaugh says. "You could go crazy and add more subs, but this is more real world. This is something most people with this car could do. For Manny Ramirez's 300C, we did two JL 13W7s subwoofers, but he has about 2,500 watts on them."
So unless you're a pro baller and making serious coin, this system and the others at lower price levels should do just fine for your 300C.
Best System
Eclipse AVN6610
Soundgate CANPulse2
PAC SWI-ECL
PAC SWI-CAN
Dynamat
Focal 165 K2P
JL Audio 10W6v2-D4
Zapco C2K4.0X
Zapco C2K6.0X
Alumapro C.A.P.
Zapco's SymbiLink accessories
Equipment$8,220
Materials $1,600
Labor (40-60 hrs)$3,560 - $5,040
Total$13,380