Oh, thos eare very nice amps, I was just wondering where you scared them up. They were made here in Portland and I wish they were still around...

I understand what you're saying about installers. I tend to characterize installers into two types: Engine Builders and Mechanics. The Engine Builders can make your stereo look sweet - but they can't troubleshoot, diagnose, or analyze very well, because theory ain't their thang. Mechanics can figure anything out, but aren't neccesarily the ones that can make everything look like it just won a trophy at a car show.

Ideally a shop has at least one of each. For instance, my install manager is more of an engine builder - he knows theory fairly well, but that's really my bag - but he can make things look and work from a mechanical POV much better than I do. But I can troubleshoot or analyze very well. So I make the plan, he executes the plan, and then we tune and tweak together.

I hadn't heard of DLS until about 6 months ago, and I've been in this industry for 19 years. Turns out they win IASCA and EMMA trophies left and right - they make VERY good sounding gear. You can see their web site at www.dls.se . Click on the British flag unless you can read Swedish.

They make amps and speakers - an amazing number of amps and speakers. It's apparent to me that they have a wider range than JL Audio or Rockford. What's surprising to me is that I've really liked every item we've tried of theirs. $150 a pair 6" coaxes - loved them. $350 50-watt times 4 amp - loved it. $159 magnesium-cone subwoofer - loved it. $450 30w x 2 high-end amp - loved it (it's on the board powering a Dynaudio System 240GT component set, with no sub, and sounding great: )

The UP6 are interesting, in that I like their sound more than I like the sound of the speakers above them in the DLS line (there are only 2 series above them) when mounted in a door. (The more expensive speaks seem more optimized for kick panel enclosures - but their tweeter actually has a tuned chamber in it and would sound very good in the X5 dash...)

Their tweeter has a resonant frequency of like 900 Hz. That means it can have meaningful output down to 1800 Hz with no danger of mechanical failure. a/d/s/, Dynaudio, Scan-Speak (the OEMs for the Alpine F#1 Status speakers) and Morel are companies that pioneered low-resonance tweeters.

The mid has a two-inch voice coil - means it can be more accurate when it has enough power to control it precisely - and the magnet is a neodymium hybrid (rare for a midrange, more common in tweeters) that exists mostly inside the 2" voice coil, so it is very accurate but isn't very large and so is easy to fit into various cars. Two-inch voice coils are found more in 10" woofers than in 6" mids. (Morel and Dynaudio are two companies who pioneered large-voice-coil mids back 15-20 years ago.)

So DLS is using these same techniques, but at a sharper price point.

I understand that you aren't trying to do 14 channels... but you need at least 7. There isn't any "front" channel - there's front tweeters, front mids, and front mid-bass. You could sum those three together with the LC6 (and three "Y" adapters) and still not have anything left to address the rear midbass, rear midrange, and the subs. That's my concern.

Be very careful with component location if you are doing this yourself. There are ECUs and grounding brackets in this car that emit EMI radiation like nobody's business - which can be heard when picked up by the interior of a component. Experimentation is crucial.