My stereo build thread

[KAOS_3.0]

ok, so just wanted to stuff all these pics in one thread:

old school pioneer 2-way door speakers

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

ford take outs are interesting looking

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

omega book

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

tweeter mounts made from a shaved down paint roller and bondo

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-20

 

[KAOS_3.0]

next 10:

.047MFD/100v caps to block mid's on tweets

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

installed

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

din cage mod (eliminates trimming dash)

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

bunch of stuff

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

wanted to face subs at floor, so needed 2" feet. used kool-aid lids, wraped in non-slip mat, screwed over 2x4 blocks

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

 

[KAOS_3.0]

next 10:

hookin things up with the batt charger

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22
Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

this would have been nice when doing my hightowers, figures

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

hole saw+firewall=free washer

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

big enough ground? (thank you ranger charging system)

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

installed

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

 

[KAOS_3.0]

next 10:

sound deadening

this is one of the biggest rattlers in the trunk, wrapped with woven wire shield from taurus harness and electrical tape

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

don't know why the trunk needs to breath, but these flap like crazy

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

anti static foam super77'd to back of tag

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

DB readings before batt chager fails to supply enough juice for head unit

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

LED lighting

underside of trunk lid

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

driver foot well

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

trunk (jacked up to show)

Shot with Canon PowerShot SD400 at 2008-11-22

so thats it for now, it's just stuff I already had laying around, but it's a hge improvement.

 

[CarpePoon]

wait wait wait,,,, Your refered to alot of the veterans in a previous post that they/we were "children talking idiocy"? And then you post this??

1) Your car needs vent genius. Just wait until you turn on the heat or a/c with your window up with your air vents plugged, you'll see why.
2) Cage mod?? I have never heard of anybody having to cut their dash to fit in a single din radio. Its a single din opening!
3) I thought you said you had a "competition" stereo.
4) NO, your ground is not big enough! You are only using 8ga power wire! and judging from the photos where the ground is running next to the power wire it looks like 10ga. You need to run the same gauge or larger for your ground.

 

[KAOS_3.0]

I was refering to posts like this:

Oh yeah tweeters are one of the best investments to me especially if you have subs and amps and all the goods. It makes the sound alot clearer. Thats how mine are at the top of both the driver and passenger side of the hard plastic. But only mine are spliced with the back speakers because my front two sound like crap. (they arent blown though) so i put most of the sound to the rear to turn the front ones down but i still have sound in the front do to the tweeters. But before you put them in make sure the have crossovers in them that's very improtant. Good Luck:laugh:
__________________

yah buddy, better be puttin dem cross overz in them tweeterz so all the goodz from your back channelz can getz up tada frontz yo!!!

and like IO said, this is a bunch of stuff I had laying around. not a competition stereo. the stuff... is hand me downs from bass off cars. I've also said before, when I say "competition" I mean cheap and loud, like you find at a local bass off, not a sema car for planet audio.

I didn't have a cd player to start with, don't know if that makes a difference or not. but pioneer head units have failed to fit in this car as well as two early rangers. this is a different pioneer HU than the one in the rangers as well, so IDK why this is. in the rngers I shaved down the opening a little. here i figured WTH, lets not tear up the dash.

that is definately bigger than 8g wire, it's the primary ground wire for the whole ranger. that splice connector, is so big you have to use bolt cutters to crush it down.

the hot wire is 8g, from lowes.

what would you suggest for the vents? they are removed, they flap horribly. I plan to cover the openings, but right now they are just open holes. I need a way to direct water from the tire away from the trunk.

 

[SoundQ SVT]

1. Cutting the cage to make it fit? um, no. No need to do that at all in our cars.

2. How is your enclosure mounted to the vehicle? yes I see it is on non-skid feet... but it is expecting the trunk carpet to not skid on the metal too? plus that will do nothing if you get in a wreck and the enclosure becomes a big heavy projectile.

3. How much time did you spend listening to the tweeters in the sail panel to get the angle right? Perhaps a different angle would be better?

4. Yes you need the trunk vents. Especially if anyone you know likes to slam the doors or trunk closed. They also allow the HVAC to work effectively.

5. Also, if you knew anything about competition spl testing, you'd know the measurements are taken "unweighted". Using the C-weighting, the meter is adjusting to more closely resemble human hearing which is less sensitive to lower frequencies and results in a lower measured reading.

Also, how close are you to the speakers when measuring? Get closer than 1 meter (3+ feet) and you could be in a "port wars" situation where the number is stupid high and means absolutely nothing for actual spl output.

6. power and ground should be the same size, bigger is not only better, sometimes it is necessary.

 

[KAOS_3.0]

well this isn't the first time I've had the din cage not fit. at any rate, it works fine now.

the enclosure is currently just sitting there. I intend to panel it off so only the stainless plate with the amp on it is showing. (car is currently just sitting)

I spent about a half hour messing with the tweet angle, that was the best cross firing I could get with a simple angle cut piece of tubing. they sound good, not perfect, but better than just stuck on there.

thanks for the pointer about weighting. I bought this DB meter a long time ago and the weighting has been a mystery to me. I always went with the most conservative number for safety of not claiming outrageous numbers. I do know about the foot distance thing. most bass off's I've been to judge based on an occupant position, so the first reading at 114 is in the driver seat, facing the HU. the 116 is in the trunk, with it open, just to see the difference. it appears most of the bass is transmitting correctly with the speakers faced down.

 

[CarpePoon]

I know that meter, and you do have it weighted on C

 

[KAOS_3.0]

so i want to use it weighted to A? it doesn't have a setting for no weighting.

and how do I set the dh?

it'd be nice to know how to properly use it to get an actual bass off type reading

thanks

 

[pre98zetec]

lol @ this thread and the equipment/install

 

[KAOS_3.0]

lol @ you

 

[pre98zetec]

sorry i have more brains than to run less than 8 guage for power wire


your install has to be one of the most ghetto i've seen. Not to mention from your other posts i have yet to see the competiton quality equipment you spoke of.

 

[KAOS_3.0]

uh, what were you expecting by "competition" equipment?

most local bass offs I've been to have a lot of MA, Boss, American pro, Memphis ect.

cheap stuff can make big SPL's for a short time very effectively.

by no means did I mean SQ comp stuff, though I have a 4ch planet audio amp that would do the trick.

and BTW, that is 8g wire dude, and the ground is bigger, whatever the ground is for a battery terminal. but I suppose it is ghetto, because it's done with stuff I had at the time, rather than dropping 12k at crutchfeild like everybody here does.

so were are these posts of the amazing sema car you made from your old banger? did you get the 13" gold knock offs?

 

[pre98zetec]

'old banger' lol. Sorry, I don't own a contour anymore .

I never claimed to have a sema car. I can sure tell you my install is alot cleaner/safer than yours, though. I, personally would much rather have it safe and look a little sloppy then skimping and just using what I have. Power wire is cheap. You could upgrade to 4g for about 25 bucks. If you would like info you can PM me because i'm not arguing anymore on a open forum.

 

[CarpePoon]

it doesn't have a setting for no weighting.

Look a little closer.

A-weighting takes into account the typical human ear response, reducing the frequency response of the SPL meter to the 500 - 10,000 Hz range, where our ears are mostly sensitive, while the C-weighting measures the whole range from 32 to 10,000 Hz (this is copied from the RadioShack website)

 

[KAOS_3.0]

Look a little closer.

A-weighting takes into account the typical human ear response, reducing the frequency response of the SPL meter to the 500 - 10,000 Hz range, where our ears are mostly sensitive, while the C-weighting measures the whole range from 32 to 10,000 Hz (this is copied from the RadioShack website)

huh, that sounds like the opposite of this:

5. Also, if you knew anything about competition spl testing, you'd know the measurements are taken "unweighted". Using the C-weighting, the meter is adjusting to more closely resemble human hearing which is less sensitive to lower frequencies and results in a lower measured reading.

discuss?

 

[CarpePoon]

huh, that sounds like the opposite of this:

Originally Posted by CarpePoon
Look a little closer.

A-weighting takes into account the typical human ear response, reducing the frequency response of the SPL meter to the 500 - 10,000 Hz range, where our ears are mostly sensitive, while the C-weighting measures the whole range from 32 to 10,000 Hz (this is copied from the RadioShack website)

huh, that sounds like the opposite of this:


Quote:
Originally Posted by SoundQ SVT
5. Also, if you knew anything about competition spl testing, you'd know the measurements are taken "unweighted". Using the C-weighting, the meter is adjusting to more closely resemble human hearing which is less sensitive to lower frequencies and results in a lower measured reading.

discuss?

discuss?

Ok, let me word it differently... As stated before, I just quoted that from Radio Shanty. Weights are supposed to be based on how the human ear hears things at different levels. The A filter is for low levels (20-55dB), the B filter for medium levels (55-85dB) and the C for high levels (more than 85dB). Car subs are also well below 500hz, so C weighting is correct again. Both quotes state that the ear is less sensitive to lower frequencies. So I dont see where you are seeing anything controversial. He is correct all the way around.

 

[SoundQ SVT]

the radio shack meter only measures 32-10kHz? that is sad. You're missing a whole octave on the high end (up to 20kHz) and almost an octave on the low end (down to 20Hz...)

The unweighted measurement ranges from 20-20kHz (or perhaps a little lower and higher, respectively). Depending on the frequency response of the sub in its particular enclosure while inside the vehicle (thats a lot of variables to account for) your peak output could be anywhere from 25Hz up to 70 or 80 or even 100 Hz. The only way to know for sure is to either look at your response on an RTA using pink noise, or run a sine sweep with a specified frequency/time relationship and see where the elapsed time is on the track when you get your highest measured output.

 

[zorrex]

DB readings before batt chager fails to supply enough juice for head unit

...just what are you going for with this build? If you are going for loud, then you haven't quite succeeded. I have a whopping $500 invested into my stereo, including HU, speakers, amp, subs, AND wiring, and I hit over 130. Not saying my system is good, cuz it isn't at ALL, but I'm just inquiring...