F2k Install 2010

frosty2k

So I finally got around to doing some unboxing and installing. These are all taken with either my iPhone, my neighbour's or my parents camera, depending how I was feeling. I'm not much of a camera person, but I figured I should document this, since I've never gone this extensive with my install before.

I've also never used a photo hosting site so I might mess this all up.

First a bit of audio ****.

I'm not sure which looked more sinister.


They didn't skimp on stuff.


I didn't realize at first, but they packed the logo with a sticky backing separately, so you can put it on differently, depending on how decide to mount the amp.




I haven't decided if it is more a small amp, or a big crossover.

frosty2k

Some pics of the start of the breakdown.... with a better camera.


Where my glovebox 'used' to be. I was gonna put the PXA-H100 in here.... but it looks like I have to find somewhere else with more room.


I'm going after the factory speaker locations, and feared breaking the door... I didn't break this one... but the driver side was another story


I did NOT expect the vapour barrier to have such a robust ring of bubble gum crap around it.





After about this point I peeled back the vapour barrier and exposed all that white gunky crap. I didn't take any more pics then because it got all over my hands. Nothing that a bit of industrial strength paint thinner and about 3 hours couldn't solve, but it was a huge pain. :mad:

Anyway, more pics of the 5250 mids mounted, and the start of the sound dampener later.

arun1963

frosty2k wrote: »

I haven't decided if it is more a small amp, or a big crossover.

Big, heavy tank of a crossover. Its supposed to be really good, bi-ampable too.

TakeTheTime

Oh yes! Great ones. Congrats on the SR's and a good-lookin' amp from JL. Keep us updated, pictures are welcome...

frosty2k

Two more audio **** shots before I bring you back up to where I am with the install today.


So I've been looking at my girlfriend's sub which I helped her buy a few years back, and since then, she had a water leak in her trunk. I put the sub/amp combo in my car, to see if I could hear anything wrong with it, and I think the box may be cramped so I took it apart. Anyway, I decided to take a few comparison pics. Doesn't look so bad from the top... comparable size, except the SR surround is more robust.


ZOMGWTFROFLMAO.... err I mean that the SR seems a.... bit... larger. I actually had a screwdriver on the bench about half way between the two, and the SR magnet started pulling it over.


I put the new HU in a few weeks back, and its absolutely superb. I moved from an Eclipse CD7100 which had excellent sound, but the software that ran all the features was designed by idiots. If you played an MP3 off a disc, it was ok, but if you did the same file off a USB drive, it crackled and popped like it was playing a record. It even played gappless digital albums by putting a 1 second pause between each song. This new one controls my iPod, or USB, or DVD fantastically. I tried Lord of the Rings on it, and the picture is awesome. I'll post a pic if I reconnect the battery tomorrow. The only facepalm issue it has is that it doesn't seem to understand daylight savings time, so I had to set it to Atlantic time instead of Eastern Standard. I really want to see how tuning the PXA-H100 will be on this.


I hooked them up to the HU/OEM wiring for the time being, as there is a bit of a delay getting my 12g knuknocepts wiring since they're out stock ATM. This also goes for my power line, so in the mean time... sound dampening.


I had to drill into the sheet metal to mount em, then turned the car around to work on the driver door. Thats why this one is in, and the next shot doesn't have one, but has dampener. I actually played with an SR5250 woofer in the passenger door, and stock in the driver door and flipped the balance L/R to see if I could pick up a difference. Verdict was that for the 5 mins I played, the SR was warmer, while the OEM was much harsher, and seemed to play with a higher top end to the frequency range. Seems odd since they were running off the same crossovers.


There is an impact bar inside the door, and I've put dampener in horizontal strips above, and below the bar about 3" wide and 18" long inside under that dampener. I'm going to tackle the remainder of the door by cutting smaller pieces and fitting around all the wires and bits, but covering all the holes, or at least as many as I can do reasonably.

So my mission tomorrow is to finish the driver door, then start and complete the passenger door. If I have time, I'll be removing the interior trim behind the doors, as that is the next place that needs to be damped. If I tap a knuckle on the body, that spot below the window reverberates like a chinese gong.

catch22atplay

Geez that's one big hole there for working inside the door. Covering all them holes should really help midbass and cancellation. Good job so far. And ya there just isn't a comparison between the subs. Lots of engineering went into designing that beast.

TakeTheTime

frosty2k wrote: »

^ Uhh, did you cover the outer wall of the door too?

catch22atplay

Don't look at me.

He did say he used some by the crash bar above and below it. Perhaps a bit economically. That stuff ain't cheap.

frosty2k

DSkip wrote: »

The SR subwoofers are one of the most beautiful, if not the most, subs I have ever seen. The housing and magnet have great and mechanical lines, instead of metal that looks like its just holding the magnet in place because it has to.

I actually spent months trying to figure out a box design that would let me reverse mount it with the magnet out, but it was just not practical. If I did it horizontally, the whole trunk would be full of box, and if I did it vertically, I would have to remove the screen that hides the contents of my trunk.

In the end I'm going with a basic 1.4cuft angled back box made of 3/4 mdf, and mounting it magnet in. I got the JL audio W7 speaker grills to finish it, since they are just clean aluminum bars that stop your duffel bags or whatever from getting too close. I couldn't find any SR specific grills.



My box is just plain, not the JL one above. I'm probably not going to mount the bars on that funny angle though, I'm thinking just vertically like jail bars.

frosty2k

TakeTheTime wrote: »

^ Uhh, did you cover the outer wall of the door too?

Cover? no. I'm using this stuff primarily for panel resonance reduction, not as a sound barrier. I have to use lots on the inner door so I can get it to play the role of the vapor barrier though, and to seal the door.

I cut the remaining piece that was left from the piece you see in the picture, in half, and put one above the side impact beam, and one below. I plan on adding two more pieces to the outer wall, but brought in from the front holes today. It sounds much less resonant if I rap my knuckles along the door, and closing it sounds like it did before I removed all the trim, even though the trim is still off.

I'll have a better idea later, as when I turned the car around in my garage with all the trim off the passenger door, but none off the driver door, it sounded like the engine was inside the car on my right. Should be interesting to see what happens when I turn it around again after the one door is done.

frosty2k

Alright, so I got some more done this weekend and last.



This is how I've finished the door for the time being. I'm still waiting on my two conductor speaker wire to go from the crossovers to the door/dash so I left some of the door open for access. I did both doors similarly to this.



And then I pulled out the back seats, which was a bit scary. The floor is pretty solid vibration wise, so I'm going to skip deadening it for now.



I got the rear quarter panels exposed, and deadened both sides, as well as some on top of the wheel well. This spot played like a drum if you tapped on the outside... but no longer!



Knu 0 gauge oxygen free copper wire was much bigger than I expected. In order to run it properly, I had to go farther than I had planned.



There was a beautiful little wire path here. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't guide it because the space was too small to fit my hands in, so I had to pull the seats.



I had to put out more money and go for a pair of torque wrenches.... I don't want to mess around with my car's safety, because you'll never know until its too late that you under or overtorqued that seat bolt



This is where I got to today. The last of my wire should arrive tomorrow, and I can get the tweets in. I also need some velcro to secure the crossovers. Its finally coming together!

Installer4life

Looking good. let me know what you think of those JL amps. I have the 900/5 but haven't gotten a chance to get it in yet..