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Building a High Fidelity Sound System Build (Attempt)

tshrey

Ready to race!
Location
Lon Gisland
Yeah, I'm okay with using the head unit output. My dsp will flatten the input from the head and then I can do time alignment and eq'ing on the output side. This car isn't quiet enough to consider putting my reference equipment in, just want something I can enjoy as a daily driver - until someone has actually experienced a time-aligned car they just can't comprehend the difference it makes. My only concern is space, when mmdb said that maybe the Fender amp has other functions built in and I would have to keep that in place it made the build much more complicated, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm about half way done forming my passenger side A pillar for the full-ish range speaker I'm putting there. Starting to appreciate how much time OP has put in to forming all these pods. How did you fasten the pillar pods @mmdb? I can put a nutsert in the a pillar just above the pod and make a mounting flange for that but I need something at the base. I think I'm going to have to use another nutsert and just have a hole in the pod that a cap screw can bolt through.

Man, that JL is a seriously beefy looking unit!
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
Yeah, I'm okay with using the head unit output. My dsp will flatten the input from the head and then I can do time alignment and eq'ing on the output side. This car isn't quiet enough to consider putting my reference equipment in, just want something I can enjoy as a daily driver - until someone has actually experienced a time-aligned car they just can't comprehend the difference it makes. My only concern is space, when mmdb said that maybe the Fender amp has other functions built in and I would have to keep that in place it made the build much more complicated, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I'm about half way done forming my passenger side A pillar for the full-ish range speaker I'm putting there. Starting to appreciate how much time OP has put in to forming all these pods. How did you fasten the pillar pods @mmdb? I can put a nutsert in the a pillar just above the pod and make a mounting flange for that but I need something at the base. I think I'm going to have to use another nutsert and just have a hole in the pod that a cap screw can bolt through.

Man, that JL is a seriously beefy looking unit!
Ya hit the easy button and bypass the fender via the mib2. You’ll be much happier you did.
As far as fastening the podI attached the speaker pod to the A pillar using a rivet nut. I made a hole in the pod which then screws into the nut. Trick is to make the hole while you’re glassing the back of the pod. That way it aligns when you fasten the pod.

my car isn’t loud. It has all the bolt ons without an exhaust and it’s pretty quiet. You’ll appreciate the widebands up top on the dash a lot more than stock. You’ll hear all the details you don’t on the stock system. Also you don’t have to turn it up while you drive since you’ll fix a lot of the off axis issues having the mid range firing in your leg. If you go a step further and build mid bass kicks you’ll get a hell of a lot more output than in a door AND no rattles. I wouldn’t do it any other way.

how high do your speakers go? I know some swear by having a tweeter, but I’m completely happy without one, especially if you can get less clutter on the a pillar.

More fun with the sub box. I’m almost there...

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mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
Creating the front shell. Now to strengthen the crap out of innards with 40oz fiberglass class (HERE). I opted to create my shell out of fiberglass rather than fabric to create a more of a custom shape that gave me the most volume.

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mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
Pulled the Fender amp underneath the seat. I didn't know it was made by Alpine. That might've been a better selling point for me. I'll be replacing it with... a Zen V. The signals I pulled from the MIB2 unit in the glove might not be the cleanest signal. I'll find out once I get the Zen V on Friday. I figure the amp aka mib2 unit might be terribly lacking. I wouldn't be surprised if the Zen V, being fed optical, out optical to my DSP is a much cleaner signal. I can't wait.

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tshrey

Ready to race!
Location
Lon Gisland
You're killing me. You said how great the signal was from the head unit. :unsure:

Take pics of the Zen next to the stock unit for size comparison please. If I need to go that route I'll have to find somewhere to stuff the Zen, my DSP is going in the stock amp location.
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
You're killing me. You said how great the signal was from the head unit. :unsure:

Take pics of the Zen next to the stock unit for size comparison please. If I need to go that route I'll have to find somewhere to stuff the Zen, my DSP is going in the stock amp location.
Might be! Still in the works. But it’s hard to beat a toslink. I know the fender outputs clean signal if you pull and sum the signals under the driver seat. Will take pictures soon as it comes in!
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
And wa-lah! The sub box is fastened in with several M6 bolts and the subwoofer is in place ready to be powered up. I'm waiting on the Zen V to reset the amp gains and tune. I'll get around to making the box look nice and flush. I'm just eager to get a break from all the fiberglassing, sanding, etc. Besides the neighbors need a break from all my mayhem too. :) Let me know what you think! Oh and the box is about .75 cubic feet or so. It's a tad over, but if I decide, I can further reinforce the box with resin mixed with chopped mat to lessen the volume. For now, I'm just curious how it'll sound. I'll post up RTA graphs later.

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Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
I dig it, can't wait to see the sub box finished. My setup is fully under the floor, and not nearly as complex but I do wish I had more BASS. Now why is that logo at 10 o'clock? :LOL:
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
Got and installed the zen v. Only 5 connections to hook it up - constant +, negative, remote, MOST and toslink.

unfortunately I broke the ps8 micro usb connector by leaning on it. Doh. Thing is fragile. Once I get that back from warranty I can get to tuning.

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Adurm

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Fl
I'm going to need to see some carpeting or something on these boxes soon please. Asking in the nicest voice possible.
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
^ ya ya. Priority always goes to sq before looks. However, thank the gods for bondo. Sanding comes next and then carpeting. Im going to also add little bit of poly fill for the wideband and kicks. Not sure about the sub as volume is a little bit above the recommended volume.

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