Ken Blake's Toyota MR2

Items installed:

Kenwood eXcelon KDC-PS909 in-dash CD receiver
MTX Blue Thunder Pro504 and Alpine V12 MRV1000 amps
two Boston Acoustics 6-1/2" midrange speakers
two Polk dB Series 3000 tweeters, two Boston Acoustics CX3 3-1/2" coaxial speakers
Rockford Fosgate Punch Series 10" Dual Voice Coil (DVC) subwoofer
Q-Logic wedge-style subwoofer enclosure
Kenwood Dual Amplifier Connection Kit
StreetWires Zero Noise 2.0 Dual Jacket Interconnects

The system in Blake's modified, 325 horsepower MR2 starts with the Kenwood eXcelon KDC-PS909 in-dash CD receiver, featuring a CD signal-to-noise ratio of 105 dB and MASK rotating face security.

Ken uses two channels of the MTX Blue Thunder Pro504, tested at 80 watts over four channels, to power his 6-1/2" Boston Acoustics midranges (crossed over at 100 Hz), and his Polk dB 3000 tweeters with inline crossovers set to 5,000 Hz. The other two channels boost his rear-fill speakers, the 3.5-inch Boston Acoustics CX3 coaxials.

His second amp, the Alpine V12 MRV1000, rated at 150 watts over 2 channels and crossed over at 80 Hz, drives the 10" Rockford Fosgate Punch DVC sub, mounted in a wedge-style truck box behind the passenger seat.

To eliminate noise, Ken used Kenwood's heavily insulated Dual Amplifier Connection Kit, as well as StreetWires Zero Noise 2.0 dual-jacket interconnects. He also installed two layers of Dynamat Super in each door, and a single layer on his floor and firewall. Finally, he solved a feedback problem caused by an electrical power steering pump by covering it with two layers of aluminum foil.

Ken's future plans include adding a Kenwood CD or MiniDisc changer, using another two-channel amplifier specifically for the tweeters, getting a custom sub enclosure to take advantage of the MR2's original sub housing behind the passenger seat, and integrating a head unit remote control in the steering wheel's original cruise control location.