hey everyone. thanks for all the input when i was planning my system. its in and sounds great. here are some pics. and thanks to pdqwrx for posting your pics, i showed them to my installer and he designed a similar amp setup with neon behind them.
system specs:

eclipse 5435 nav unit
8 disc changer
sirius receiver
jl 500/1
jl 300/4
jl 10 w 7 in jl box
focal 165v slims 6.5 up front
focal 130 ca 5 1/4 rear doors

the sound quality is fantastic. the tweeters are mounted in the a pillars and covered in grill cloth that matches the factory color of the pillar.

all of the work was done by Imagine Audio in Cherry Hill New Jersey. If anyone in the area is looking for a good install shop, their staff is very proffessional and will treat your ride like its their own.

 

dude your sub box takes up the hole boot

 

yeah, that is a big a$$ box. Everything looks pretty nice though. Where'd you end up mounting the cd changer?

Did you figure out how to re-wire the navi unit so you can watch dvd's?

 

yeah the box does take up most of the trunk but isnt that what trunks are for?? the box is an oem jl box designed for the 10w7. its very heavy but sounds great. its mounted towards the front of the trunk because of the way they mounted the amps. they mounted the cd changer under the passenger seat, it didnt seem to fit right in the glove. yes it plays movies fine i just have to drive with the "parking brake on".

 

that box is huge because it's a jl 10 w 7...from what i've heard, they have a gigantic recoil or whatever, so their boxes are big. my cousin has one in his buick regal (SCRAPER SCRAPER!) and there is only enough room in there for one back pack...

 

I know that box is a JL Audio prefab powerwedge, and for the W7s they don't come any smaller, but you can still run a W7 with a smaller, custom box, which I would have done in order to salvage a lot more trunk space.

I know what its like not to want to mess around and fab up a custom enclosure, I lucked out on a nice, small and efficient enclosure for the 10W3v2 that I had installed in the rear of my STi, it fits right up against the rear of the backseat, with the two amps that I have.

I know that it doesn't put out nearly the thump and deep, low, murderous bass of that W7, but you can definately find some middle ground, be able to fit a W7, still have tons of beat, and have a lot more usable trunkspace.

 

i love that headunit, How is the display when listening to music? and does it take long for a MP3 to start playing?

 

my opinions and experiences so far with the eclipse set up:

overall i am satisfied but not thrilled.

the eclipse unit is good but could be a lot better. the sirius is not working and i have not had time to take it in to see what the problem is. i get a signal and the radio displays the artist and song info but i get no sound. not sure why.

i thought the navigation end of this unit would be superior to the pioneer avic n1 but its not. the pioneer lets you search for a destination by phone number and listed categories or poi's in a list separated by categories. the eclipse only lets you type in the name of a point of interest or place and its tough to find what you are looking for. when you type in an address it brings up multiple routes and is just confusing and takes too long to get to the point... the pioneer has multiple views when you are driving i loved the driver view of the pioneer. the eclipse is pretty plain in its nav display. the pioneer had a memory function so you could enter a destination then take the disc out and put a dvd in. not with the eclipse. the eclipse plays mp3s faster than the pioneer did.

the cd changer works well but going from 12 to 8 discs is a little annyoing.

the sound output with the 5v pre's is good but not a huge diff over the n1

the sirius was good when it was working. the eq works well and is easy to use. the listening position selector is a nice feature and 99% of the time i have it set to front stage. the video display is good and the touch screen works flawlessly.

Over the years i have owned multiple multimedia style head units and if i could combine all the features of each i would make a unit that has the:

spectrum analyzer eq display (you know like moving bars) of the alpine cva 1000
the cool animations of the clarion 925dv
the volume **** and steering wheel remote of the pioneer avic n1
the nav displays and vehicle dynamic displays of the pioneer avic n1
the double din size and general fit and finish of the eclipse
the sound quality of the eclipse

im sure there are some more i cant think of right now. if pioneer offered both sirius and xm i would probably have gotten the d2 instead of the eclipse unit.

 

how is the fitment on the eclipse navi system? How was the installation.

 

the fitment is perfect. its like the unit was made for a suby, the color of the unit blends well with the dash. the installation was done proffessionally but it is very easy to fit the unit into the dash. when i first got it installed the unit they put in was defective, the navi did not work so they put their floor model in until they got a replacement unit in stock and then i stopped in on my way to work and they swapped out the floor model for a fresh one, 15mins done. the wiring is the only part that really takes some time.

 

Equinn-
you can just ground the parking wire, that what I did to my 5435, and I am able to watch movies on the road trips.

 

how much was the eclipse?

 

i got the eclipse for about 1600. you can get it a little cheaper online but eclipse does not honor the warranty unless its bought and i believe also installed by an authorized dealer.

 

my brother lucked out and scored a really good box for his 12W3v2. he is only giving it about 400 watts and it hits way harder than my sub ( 650rms to a 12" type R, sealed). its funny because sometimes people will roll up to his shop with a w7 in a crappy box and his w3 hits harder.
its all about the install.