Amp Mount Space Aft Left Trim Panel?

[technobill]

Greetings,

1) Does anyone have, or know of a post including, a photograph of what is behind the interior trim panel, driver's side, AFT of Left Rear Wheel in a 2005 EscaladeESV?

I would like to consider mounting an amplifier back there. Here is a photo of the area after which I am inquiring:



Again, this is an '05 ESV. Also any trim removal tips or recommended tools would be most appreciated. I don't want to damage or leave stress marks on the trim from my ignorance based removal, and want the reinstallation to be secure and rattle free.

This vehicle is my Canine Road Trip Motor Home! My German Shepherd Dogs and I use it to travel and to camp in.

By contrast, our '02 Escalade, now my wife's, has an SQ multi-amp, Infinity Kappa Perfects, Woofers ('Sub Woofer' is more often than not used erroneously), etc. etc. system I installed myself, but the space behind the second row is halved by audio hardware.

This project is a bit more challenging. First, my career as a Network Engineer is (in Yuppie Weasel Speak) "in transition." In English, that translates to "Up Shit Creek" . The other challenge is that ALL the interior space aft of the FRONT SEATS is used for cargo and passengers. As noted in the photo below, a luxuriously appointed Pet Home (cage) is strapped in immediately aft of the front seats and is where the GSDs ride, both for safety in the event of a collision, and they genuinely enjoy their dedicated 'inner den' while on the road as much as when at home.



The space under the second row seats is all used for specific gear, and as such none is available for audio hardware mounting.

I'll be going about this project incrementally for cash flow reasons and the first step is to determine a mounting location for a big two channel JL or maybe an Alpine V-12 (Have a big 2 channel V-12 in my wife's '02 feeding the Kappa Perfects and love it.). Second step will be a nice pair of 6" separates, probably JL, in the front doors. That should be pretty simple.


2)Does anyone know if there is enough window and interior door mechanicals clearance to move the stock Bose front door speakers UP from their stock position while still being behind the stock grille? I know, I know, "Why would you want to do that Bill?" I don't claim to have any good reason, but I want to leave the stock Bose system basically intact and mount the JL 6" components in the stock front door location.


3)The third step in the process will be to consider how best to incorporate woofers in the sub 70Hz range. Between large amounts of absorptive mass (Dogs; quite acoustically absorptive, clothing, gear, supplies, etc.) immediately proximal to the trim panels in the section of the ESV aft of the front seats, and the paucity of decent sized cavities for woofers in the front row of the ESV, the lower frequency range, done well may prove the most challenging. I haven't given this a lot of thought yet but a self contained system like the Infinity Bass Link or something might be a consideration. I'd much rather have a limited amount of clean, tight, bass, even if the lower cello and organ pedal frequencies don't receive their due, than to listen to my truck resonating because I stuck some 8"s wherever I could make them fit.

So, if anyone recalls where the photos of the left rear panel are posted, or have photos of your own, I'd be mighty thankful.

P.S. LuScola - Ever get around to getting that Music, Sound, & Physics textbook I dug up for you? Hope things are going well with the Benz.

[Back2Basic (B2B)]

Hey TechnoBill,
I have a 05 Escalade ESV as well. Although it's very imaginative, what you are about to do is a looooot of work.
But to answer your first question about how much room is available behind the rear trim panel, you can actually take a look through the spare jack access. The spare jack access is located on top of the same trim panel, remove it and have a look. There has been much write up about this issue elsewhere on this forum. If my memory serves me right, the conclusion was that there wasn't much room for anything back there. Not unless you want to modify it to where some components may stick out of the panel or have a big sub-woofer box sitting in your cargo area. I personally think that may look tacky on my classy lady so never attempted it.
Let us know how it turned out, with some pictures of course, after you have completed all the modifications.

Hope this helps,
B2B

[technobill]

Thanks for the input B2B!

But don't hold your breath for finished results documentation. In 2002 when we bought our first, now my wife's Escalade, all the self appointed 'experts' shared their months of wisdom and experience culled from pooling their ignorance by informing me the stock head unit was junk and the whole stock system had to be ripped out. "Uh... yeah... thanks Baylen . I think that d00d over there wants to buy some distortion generators, ah, I mean "sUbz".

An engineer, David Navonne http://www.davidnavone.com/ , had some nifty widgets and actual knowledge regarding the proper gain structure of the signal path, as well as nuances of how Delco/Bose engineered the acoustics, not merely the electronics, which helped immensely in grafting SQ Amps, Drivers (speakers), etc. into the truck so that the aftermarket hardware took lead presence and the existing Bose hardware actually complemented the Alpines, Kappa Perfects, woofers, etc.

It took time but the end result was a coherent system with consistent, linear response across frequencies and amplitudes. I don't listen to mobile electronics, I listen to music. Takes rather more effort, but the results stand on their own merits. Additionally, the only tell tales of non-stock audio were the interior color painted tweeter grilles of the Kappa Perfects . Stealthy is as Stealthy Does Baby!

This project will be more like restoring an Austin Healey or Chris Craft, rather than buying, installing, and blasting . My goals are modest, my timeline indeterminate at best .

[CEPMAN]

I asked a similar question, and posted pics of what I found back there as far as space

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...questions.html (Newbiw with an ESV - couple questions)

[CEPMAN]

Oh, and so you know, there's only about 2 inches or so of depth behind the 'fake woofer' imprint. That 'box' behind there is the back side of the fuel spout thing where you put gas.

[technobill]

Originally Posted by CEPMAN

I asked a similar question, and posted pics of what I found back there as far as space

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...questions.html (Newbiw with an ESV - couple questions)

THANK YOU CEPMAN!!!
I knew I had seen your photos, but my search-fu was inadequate to the task of locating them! I sincerely appreciate your reply. My day job was as a Network Engineer and I have this Artistic Muse that allows me to seemingly miraculously save high redundancy servers when the "S" hits the fan in astronomically unlikely coincidences of disastrous events by cannibalizing toasters, beta-max video tape players, and A.M. transistor radios. I'm not bragging. It's not even really me, it just sort of flows through me as if I were merely the conduit.

But the physical/mechanical side of stuff is an ever present opportunity for me to fail miserably! I AM NOT EXAGERATING WHEN I SAY I CAN, AND HAVE, SCREWED UP REPLACING A LIGHT BULB! My wife does the basic 'hardware/plumbing' etc. repairs around our house.

From the theoretical trenches of subnetting a publicly assigned I.P. network, subnet mask, and nodes for a corporate DMZ, to jury rigging a SAN to keep performance cranking while waiting for hot swap parts from across town, to installing car stereos (I started out with a Pioneer underdash SuperTuner and a pair of 20oz Jensen Tri-Axials {the ones with two ten ounce magnets stuck together}) I'm definitely more adept than the Average Drunk Hippo, but something as simple as removing those little, apparently self-destroying, trim attachment 'collapsing~expanding' screw~nail type devices leaves me with stress marks visible on the interior trim pieces, rattles, and a sizable percentage of the attachment devices destroyed.

We bought both the 2002 Escalade AWD and the 2005 EscaladeESV AWD brand new, and under my strictures of no more than 20 miles on the odometer at the time of delivery. We buy, we keep, and my vehicle care habits make Adrian Monk look like an anal expulsive slob.

In 2002, in Ohio at least, Escalades were just another big Yuppie truck as the "MTV crowd" (Sorry, I'm an old guy, I don't know the current correct term for what has been referred to previously as 'Rap' 'HipHop' etc.} had not yet embraced them, nor had they been adopted by said demographic as iconic of wealth and cultural status. As I mentioned in the initial post, seeking knowledgeable input on using the existing Bose head unit, steering wheel controls, OnStar, and Cell Phone as the foundation for an integrated audio system upgrade was well nigh fruitless. It took me well over a year, before I was sufficiently confident in the theoretical aspects of my plan, before I began acquiring hardware. My wife's 2002 still sounds phenomenal whether playing a clarinet concerto, sonata for piano and cello, the awesomely demanding organ fugues of J.S. Bach, the ass kicking work of Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson, or the warm fuzzy 'elevator music' of Disturbed . A system that can delicately render the reed of a clarinet yet is INDESTRUCTIBLE! It's a Good Thing .

The project for the 2005 ESV will be dominated by physical challenges, and my plan is to do it well, do it once, without regard for how long that will take.

Thanks for your response.