hOhOhO!!!...whatsup? I thought I'd introduce myself and the reason why I'm browsing these forums. I'm putting together a new install...here's what I have for hardware:


Processing
Head Unit: Alpine CDA-9887
EQ: Audiocontrol DQS


Speakers
Front: a/d/s/ 346is
Rear: a/d/s/ 325is mids (difference of sums L+R aka Hafler network)
Sub: DIYMA R12 (37lbs)


Amplifiers
Sundown Audio SAX-100.4
Cadence TXA-750D
Cadence TXA-3002


I'd like to run active on the fronts and push about 600 to the subwoofer. My over all agenda is Sound Quality.

To be honest, since the audio system isn't in yet I'm still unsure of the setup I'd like to accomplish hardware wise. Ideally, I'd like to have an active setup vs. using passive cross overs. I would also like to set the 325 rear mids to a band pass approximately between 250hz and 3000hz. However, if I were to make that happen then I would effectively be using all 6 channels just between tweets and mids. That proposes an issue because my 9887 can only maintain T/A for 6 channels. That sub makes #7. However, my thought was that I could in turn place the sub under one of the rear speakers and duplicate that same channel to the amplifier powering the sub and maintain T/A for both speakers. If I were to do that I'd have to make sure that cross overs were built into the channels running rear mids and sub.

(sigh). In the end I bet I just run the front set on a passive reducing total channels used to 5 and I keep T/A for all speakers. We'll see what happens and I'll try to upload build pics as I proceed.

Links to read...

Important Technical Threads
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... -list.html

Big 3 and Caps = Worthless....for car audio.
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... l-dim.html

Basic Guide to Passive
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... overs.html

Linkwitz Transform
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... sform.html

Small Drivers:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... sound.html

T/A and Passives:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... es-no.html

Does T/A effect Phase?
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... phase.html

Solid Centered Image:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... image.html

MTM Array: Sails/Panels/pillars
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... -door.html

Rear Fill
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... t-l-r.html
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... weets.html

Subwoofer Boxes
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... ofers.html

Sub Amps -- is A/B better or D? How about a G?
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... -subs.html

Cables
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... ables.html


What I have so far...













I have pictures of a NIB 346cs. They're comparable to the 346is only in looks. The passive definitely looks different between the cs and is versions. With the installation of the 9887 I was able to use the factory XM antenna with an Alpine XM receiver. It's an easy fix; swap out plastic mold jacks between factory harness and Alpine's cables. **BUT DON'T CUT THE CABLE!!** You can't re-use the antenna cable if you cut it. Even if you try soldering it, probably not gonna work.

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11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

sounds excellent! cant wait to see how this works out. always nice to see an audio guy on the forums. welcome to GPONA!

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dang. awful lot of sound.
Welcome! can't wait to hear how it works out too!

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I have a habit of going head first into projects

We'll see how it turns out. My biggest problem will be installation due to lack of tools. I'd like to try my hand at molding; specifically, I'd like to place tweets in the A-pillars with L-tweet facing the passenger's L-ear and the R-tweet facing the driver's R-ear. I think I've changed my installation 3 times over already. I'm having a tough time preventing another change as another GP owner offered me his 8" kick molds. That would allow for a very nice 3-way up front and a mid-bass that could go as low as 40hz.

Any ideas for amp racks to hold all this crap?! :/

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11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

rear seat bolts in and can'r fold down

well in teh 97-03

04+ they fold down

but i have always attached to the rear seat, so you can show off the amps when need be

oh and dude
you need to take alot of pics!

aLSO check out here:
new-members-welcome-center-f4.html

everyone will say welcome and ask for pics of your car

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What the hell is SQ I'm an SPL guy myself, but it's always neat to see setups like this. Good luck with your adventure.. And as far as your midbass goes... I wouldn't recommend 40hz for your mids as it may sound like crap... I use my mids for 60Hz + as thats where I have the cutoff for my sub set at..

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Well if I ever went that route the 40hz would be with Dayton 8" drivers. But I agree with the 6.5". Depending on what happens I'll probably raise it to 70 or 80hz even. I've run into personal issues so I've stopped the buying process for the time being but eventually I need to go through and deaden as best as possible but not every inch

You can get rid of about 90% of resonance by covering approximately 60-70% of the area that resonates. Anyways, my first goal is just to get it in my car. I can deal with speaker locations and resonance as the system grows and matures.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

Another SQ guy! welcome! And don't mind Tyler, Spl has rattled something loose in him years ago I'm afraid.

You going to compete at all?

And if your going to be aiming your tweeters towards your head ever thought about in the door location?

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04GTP GONE! FEB = mid 90's Camaro SS or Z28 with 383 transplant shortly after. Thanks for everything GPONA even though the GP is gone I will still be on!

*******EDIT********

read this: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... ables.html

*******EDIT********

Well...to start I'll be using the stock locations for all speakers and possibly the angled cup for the tweeters. I'll also be using a .5 or 1.0 cubic foot of air space for the subwoofer. I'll keep moving the items around until I think it works best. Then hopefully I'll build the sub into either the walls of the trunk or another location to get that box out of the way for storage. My original idea was to use the location behind the tail lights to create a box for the sub and build it out just a little. Then I would build a wall that sits flush with the speaker box and use that as an amp rack. Whether that happens is another story.

I've also thought about building a mold to hold the tweeters in the air vents. Still, simple at first and I'll make adjustments over the long haul...so stock locations it is That and I have no experience with remolding a-pillars, door panels, etc.

Thanks for the welcomes guys...you're good people. I'll try to keep things updated as I can.


Btw...I'm doing this on the cheap I think I have about $1000 invested so far in equipment that will be installed. Probably another $500 laying around that I'll sell when I'm done. I'm still leaning towards installing without the Audiocontrol right now but that would kill my rear fill implementation since I need balanced inputs to create the Hafler network.

I just grabbed my RCA cables through amazon.


[web 100%,350]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006RVNC/ref=ox_ya_oh_product[/web]
[web 100%,350]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00179DW5S/ref=ox_ya_oh_product[/web]
[web 100%,350]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MQGWM/ref=ox_ya_oh_product[/web]
[web 100%,350]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008IOUE/ref=ox_ya_oh_product[/web]


It worked out well. The Monster was $15 shipped. Kicker ended up being $10 shipped, Acoustic Research was $5 per cable(3 total) and $4 shipped, and the Dayton was as listed through Parts Express. I'm running all the cables I can think of so that future installations don't require ripping anything out to lay more wire.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

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04GTP GONE! FEB = mid 90's Camaro SS or Z28 with 383 transplant shortly after. Thanks for everything GPONA even though the GP is gone I will still be on!

looks clean!

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How does that work with your imaging? It looks pretty nice. I've also been in the hunt for kick panels in case I ever want to go 3 way. *idea* I could possibly use the swivel cups in that location too. It seems like it might be awkward for the passenger side tho. My goal is SQ for the driver...screw everybody else I was thinking around 30 degrees off axis would sit well with the imaging...pointed away from the windshield.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

swivle, tilt and Time alignment was my friend.

Plus its an active setup so I can control w/e they do.

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04GTP GONE! FEB = mid 90's Camaro SS or Z28 with 383 transplant shortly after. Thanks for everything GPONA even though the GP is gone I will still be on!

Actually I'd love to go active. If I can find a small 25x2 amp I'd be set. Then I could use the SAX to be active up front, the 3002 for 600 to the subwoofer and the Hafler on the tiny amp bridged for rear fill.

oh shit!!! You have the W988J...ya bastid. How do you like that DD Kid sitting in your dash? I saw your photo. It looks like my 9887 on 'roids. I'd love to see how that thing stacks up against the 9887. Is it a dead head? Looks like it could carry a beefy amp.

I've been thinking about switching out for a Pioneer 880 PRS but I love how the 9887 matches with the interior lighting. It's also great with the iPod attached via AiNet.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

I love the unit. I have literally spent days just listening and finding new features. If by dead head you mean straight preouts... one of the features you are able to turn off the internal amp for "cleaner sound" It has a switch on the bottom of the unit to switch from 45x4 or 65x4 if you decide to use the internal. The best feature in my oppinion is theres a switch also on the bottom of the unit that has F/R/SW or 3-way. 3-way takes the front RCA and turns them into you tweeter channel and the rear becomes your mid channel. That way you can adjust the level,Eq,Xover and TA of each individual channel. The JL amps xovers are no longer used and the JL XR component xovers are no longer used either.

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04GTP GONE! FEB = mid 90's Camaro SS or Z28 with 383 transplant shortly after. Thanks for everything GPONA even though the GP is gone I will still be on!

I wish i was an audio guy so i knew wtf you all were talkin about, but it sounds MAD epic!

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Welcome, why does your name sound familiar hmm .

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Watch your thoughts; they become words
Watch your words; they become actions
Watch your actions; they become habits
Watch your habits; they become character
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny

i wish i had the money/patience to go active with my front stage lol...

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That's exactly why I bought the unit...flexibility and active tuning I had no idea about the 45w and 65w tho. Are we still talking about the 9887? I have every feature and switch you mention except the 45w and 65w option. You must be talking about your japanese H/U. I'll have to go check on that. The 9887 made my stock speakers sound like brand new aftermarket. I spent a weekend tuning and everybody thought I had placed a subwoofer in my car (specific song) because the mid-bass came alive after some T/A and cross over adjustments. They were asking which components I used up front too.

This thread has me looking for that 2 channel 25 watt amplifier now. I WANNA GO ACTIVE!

So that will leave me with the SAX-100.4, TXA-3002 and I'll try to get rid of the TXA-750D...

It'd be nice to have amps that are all matching, but oh well.




funny :>




After looking at the angles I think I'm shooting for the same position accompanied with the angled cups. I'm pretty excited now. MUCH easier than molding the A-pillars.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

I have a 45x2 Alpine that I was using for center channel if interested. scratched up from being under seat but works fine.



PM if interested

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04GTP GONE! FEB = mid 90's Camaro SS or Z28 with 383 transplant shortly after. Thanks for everything GPONA even though the GP is gone I will still be on!

I found a pretty good deal. I grabbed a JBL GTO 752 for $50

That's a total of 8 channels for the setup so far.

4 up front, 2 for the "fill" and 2 bridged for the woofer.

So here's the application for "fill". Using a BTL or balanced transmission line I will connect L+ and R- for Left channel and R+ plus L- for the right channel to the input of the BTL. This should cancel out any "common" sounds between the L and R channels leaving me with exclusive L and R content. Adding low volumes to the rear speakers receiving this information and supplementing with Time Alignment should add ambiance to the stage. The BTL is between the H/U and Amplifier. I'm still trying to understand the concept with my hardware because I'm not sure of some issues with my Audiocontrol. Over all, I should not need an amp to instigate this theory. I'll probably update after I play with the installation some. In the mean time read this if your interested...I still think I'm confused about the actual setup...


http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... t-l-r.html

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

every time i see "BTL" i think.... wtf i thought this was an sq build lol... but then i realize the BTL youre talking about and the BTL i'm thinking of are entirely different lol

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I was researching more on the theory and T/A seems to resolve whatever issue the summed difference application was designed for. I'm not sure if I'll do rear fill anymore? But nothing is installed so who knows?!

Also, once I create the difference of sums using a BTL are the RCA outs still considered balanced coming out? If they are balanced how could that effect an unbalanced input on my Amp? (sigh)...I think I'll read more over the holiday break unless somebody can throw an answer out at me.

CAPACITORS!!!!! = inept.


What a waste! Well, this is my first SQ install and I found a great price for some wires that included a cap. I figured at the most it could help with ripple or something rather but prior to that never assumed it was necessary. Good amps have PLENTY of caps built in already They also have a stage on the power supply designed to deal with whatever it is I thought the cap could help with...anyways. This thread says it better than I can...

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy ... l-dim.html

Moral of the story...

1) Big 3 is nothing more than a feel good moment. Maybe it helps with engines and possible HP but in relation to car audio...worthless.
2) Caps and extra Batts don't add any real value to everyday listening. They have a place but it happens to be for those odd moments when you're speakers are so loud that trailer parks and BB customers assume you just collected insurance on your burned down "bullet" or the local gas station must have had the winning lotto ticket that week.
3) If you have problems with dimming lights then reconsider the "quality" of your amplifiers or add a new alternator.

****UPDATE*****

So here it is, REAR FILL. Take a BTL(tiny amp even, 25x2?) and recombine the output channels...recombine as L+/R- and R+/L-. Take the output from the BTL and connect to unbalanced or balanced RCA inputs on actual Amp using line output converter. Hook up speakers in stereo(not mono) and add some T/A with a band pass approximately between 250hz and 3000hz (mid-range frequencies).

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

wOOt!!

I've started the installation and finalized the hardware being used

SAX-100.4
- 2 channels to passive x-over for 346is speakers
- 2 channels to rear "fill" utilizing mids from 325is

TXA-3002
- Bridged for 600@4ohms running DIYMA R12 sub

That's going to be the final setup. Obviously this will be supplemented with the Audiocontrol DQS.

Hopefully by week's end I'll have some photos. So far it looks like I'll just be going through a direct lay out on the trunk floor. This will be supplemented with a false floor so that I can maintain the use of my trunk. Subwoofer box will use banana plugs for quick disconnect if I need to pull them out.

One door was finished today. Wire routes have been planned and power was run through on the right side of the vehicle.

_________________

11 is louder than 10!!...innit?
Audio Build Logs: DIYMA and GPONA

I would definitely recommend knukonceptz for RCAs and power wire. But what you got is still nice. I just figured if you want to save money and get quality stuff go to them

Great stuff here. I'm slowly drifting away from SPL.