GT350 9 Speaker Upgrade

[thill444]

I’m a bit concerned that you have the power wire going through bare metal holes. Are you planning on adding any protection for the wires in these spots to prevent the wire from having it’s casing rubbed/cut through and grounding out? Also, do you have a fuse on the power wire within 18” of the battery just in case of a short? Other than that, it’s looking good!

Yes! Good catch and thanks for the feedback. I do have a protective plastic sleeve, it got delayed from Amazon but I will install it from near the battery through the metal. I also will use zipties where appropriate to keep the wires from moving around.

I am planning to attach the fuse holder on the outside of the plastic battery box. I estimate about a 10-12” connection want to keep it closer to 10”.

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[thill444]

I was able to get both the a-pillar tweeters installed. Just a little Dremelimg needed. Added some silicone and the tweeters are locked in place. I also was able to remove the rear deck speakers and am about 70% done sound deadening the rear deck area. Tomorrow I will finish sound deadening the trunk area and start putting together the amp rack and wiring it up. Work has been busier than ever so finding time is scarce.

Not complaining though, I am grateful to stay busy.

 

[thill444]

More work done. I got my speed wire and other wires all connected to the Maestro harnesses. I soldered and wrapped all the connections. Also wired up both the a-pillars and soldered and heat shrinked those.

Have the dual 6.5” subs ready to go. I used Metra adapters and harnesses so no splicing and a perfect fit. Zip tied and wrapped the connectors in Tessa tape. Have all the sound deadening installed and the amp rack is cut and painted.

Tomorrow I will get my amp rack layed out and get everything hooked up Saturday. Have watched a few videos of the DSR1 and have my high pass, band passes, and low pass filters all figured out. Will just need to setup time delays and then tweak.

Getting excited. It will be nice to put the car back together and drive it!

Just a few pictures

 

[StangTime]

Following along. Looking forward to see your progress. Really curious how these 6.5 subs are going to work on the rear deck. Hoping they don't rattle it.

 

[thill444]

Following along. Looking forward to see your progress. Really curious how these 6.5 subs are going to work on the rear deck. Hoping they don't rattle it.

Me too. I did find a number of people who have done this and said they did not have issues. But one or two said they did have rattles. This is why I am using zipties and Tessa tape. I don't expect any plastic to metal contract on anything in the trunk, and I did use sound deadening liberally on the rear deck and trunk area.

If there is too much rattle, I will just pull them out and buy an integrated sub box and call it a day. But I am not a huge bass head for my car, I want some, but am hoping the new Morel speakers really improve the mid range and midbass.

Thanks for following! It's actually nice to have a hobby during this lockdown. It's keeping me focused and busy.

 

[thill444]

Installed the subs in the rear deck and started on the amp board. I found a good location. All the harnesses and wires are ready, so tomorrow the target goal is to get everything installed, and dialed in. Then put the car back together.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Installed the subs in the rear deck and started on the amp board. I found a good location. All the harnesses and wires are ready, so tomorrow the target goal is to get everything installed, and dialed in. Then put the car back together.

Wow, those amps are small! Where did you find them? Are they amps used for motorcycles?

 

[thill444]

Wow, those amps are small! Where did you find them? Are they amps used for motorcycles?

Amazon they are pretty popular, and yes they are small but were measured by an independent party and put out a solid 65watts RMS 4ohm and 100 watts RMS 2ohm, Bridged you can get over 200 watts RMS x 2.

I have everything just about hooked up but ran out of time to setup the DSP and set the gains. Then I have to tidy up and put the interior back together.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Amazon they are pretty popular, and yes they are small but were measured by an independent party and put out a solid 65watts RMS 4ohm and 100 watts RMS 2ohm, Bridged you can get over 200 watts RMS x 2.

I have everything just about hooked up but ran out of time to setup the DSP and set the gains. Then I have to tidy up and put the interior back together.

Wow, just looked up those exact units... seen them as low as $25.00! So since I’ve near heard of the brand, how is the sound from them for the price point - clean, no hiss?

 

[thill444]

Wow, just looked up those exact units... seen them as low as $25.00! So since I’ve near heard of the brand, how is the sound from them for the price point - clean, no hiss?

I will let you know soon. I paid $70 each but if you can find them for $25 that’s crazy good.

 

[thill444]

I got everything hooked up yesterday and spent some time later afternoon programming the DSP and making adjustments. I have more to do (I have about 80% of the car put back together but need to finish cleaning up the wiring to the DSP and I need to put the trunk back together and tidy up wiring there too).

Wow. Wow, Wow.

It is night and day better than the stock system and I am using cheap $8 midrange drivers right now. I have the Morel's coming this week and I can only imagine the sound will improve even more. I also have not dialed in the time delay yet, so it's pretty amazing to me how good this all sounds right now. I am just listening to music from my iPhone via Carplay but it is literally night and day better. The Morel's are the right component system for me, they are not too bright but have really good midbass.

The good:
The DSR1 performed flawless for me so far. I had some issues updating it using an ancient Windows laptop I owned, but once that was done and I plugged everything in, Bluetooth has worked great using the app on my iPad. I am super happy with the DSR1. It is pretty intuitive and very responsive to changes. I set my crossovers and adjusted trim levels and will but out REW this week and take some measurements as well as set time delay. It's been 3 years since I have used REW so need to shake off the cobwebs. But it will at least give me some measurements and baselines so I can use EQ to dial it all in.

But the clarity from these speakers is amazing. So much more depth to the sound and the stock speakers sound so muffled and muted by comparison. I just sat in the car for like 30 minutes in my garage listening to the audio. My wife and oldest daughter came out to listen and now my wife wants me to update the audio system in her car

All in all very happy as you can tell. I was like a kid yesterday and went out for a good 30 minute drive. In the past on my GT350 in Sport mode I could barely hear the radio at all with the windows down going 30-70mph. Yesterday I could hear the radio even over the glorious exhaust note. It's not about louder either, it's about clarity. The more power you give the Morel speakers the better they sound.

The other stuff:
A few things. I did have more hiss coming from the speakers than I would have liked. But I spent about 20 minutes leveling out the gains using test tones and music and found that my amp really needs very little gain set on it to get the desired audio levels I need. Once I dialed the gains back a little on the amps (we are talking just a small tweak on the gain knob) the hiss is all but gone. The only time I can hear it at all is with the engine off and sitting in the car with the radio off and no other sound. Even at idle with no music playing I really don't notice it, and it's similar to my C7 when I had a JL speakers and a JL amp driving it.

If you are a bass head you would never be happy with dual 6.5" subs in the rear deck. I am happy with them combined with the Morel 6.5's. It's just about right for me, but if I am being truthful I think the amp is holding them back a little. I also think a dedicated 10-12" sub would give way more punch than dual 6.5's in the rear deck. On the positive side all the sound deadening, zip ties, and Tessa tape paid off big time. Zero rattles. Even when I tried to push the system to uncomfortable listening levels. Super happy about that. It took me many hours to wrap stuff and ziptie and sound deaden everything. So glad it all paid off. Don't overlook the small things like this stuff.

The amps are what you expect for $70 amps. They definitely put out their advertised power though and for my 3 ways, it is more than enough. I may keep one for the tweeters and mids and send one back and get something more stout for the 6.5 door woofers and rear subs. I don't know because I really like how it sounds now and there is more dialing in to do. Will wait and see.

I will send out some more updates and pictures once fully done.

 

[Cobra Jet]

I will let you know soon. I paid $70 each but if you can find them for $25 that’s crazy good.

Here’s the $25 link if you or anyone needs more of them. The “Wish” link is legit (it’s like https://m.aliexpress.com/):
https://www.wish.com/product/5d65ce9c36af5427021e70be?from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=US&_force_currency_code=USD&pid=googleadwords_int&c={campaignId}&ad_cid=5d65ce9c36af5427021e70be&ad_cc=US&ad_curr=USD&ad_price=35.00&hide_login_modal=true&share=mobileweb

It also seems the company that makes those Amps has others that could be used for sub-specific applications.
https://www.taramps.com.br/en/


Thanks for the lead and your review on those amps!

 

[thill444]

Here’s the $25 link if you or anyone needs more of them. The “Wish” link is legit (it’s like https://m.aliexpress.com/):
https://www.wish.com/product/5d65ce9c36af5427021e70be?from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=US&_force_currency_code=USD&pid=googleadwords_int&c={campaignId}&ad_cid=5d65ce9c36af5427021e70be&ad_cc=US&ad_curr=USD&ad_price=35.00&hide_login_modal=true&share=mobileweb

It also seems the company that makes those Amps has others that could be used for sub-specific applications.
https://www.taramps.com.br/en/


Thanks for the lead and your review on those amps!

I was curious so added one to my cart and it came back with $50 shipping charge. Per amp. If you could get the shipping for free reduced, that's a heck of a deal.

 

[thill444]

Morel CCW254 midrange speakers arrived earlier this week. These things are small. I had to custom fab some plastic templates so I could mount them using the stock spacer/wiring. All I used was a lid to a storage bin and a jigsaw. Will post pics later.

I installed the driver side Morel midrange last night and I want to do some A/B comparisons to the $5 GSR midrange I purchased from Parts Express that is still installed in the passenger side. How does a $70-80 speaker (per speaker cost) compare to a $5 speaker? Let's find out. I have to say I am very impressed with the GSR drivers they were literally drop in replacements for stock and seem to be a much better quality than stock.

The DSP makes this pretty fun and easy to test and tweak.

 

[StangTime]

Morel CCW254 midrange speakers arrived earlier this week. These things are small. I had to custom fab some plastic templates so I could mount them using the stock spacer/wiring. All I used was a lid to a storage bin and a jigsaw. Will post pics later.

I installed the driver side Morel midrange last night and I want to do some A/B comparisons to the $5 GSR midrange I purchased from Parts Express that is still installed in the passenger side. How does a $70-80 speaker (per speaker cost) compare to a $5 speaker? Let's find out. I have to say I am very impressed with the GSR drivers they were literally drop in replacements for stock and seem to be a much better quality than stock.

The DSP makes this pretty fun and easy to test and tweak.

Very cool. I was looking at those $5 GRS drivers too. But chose not to use them because they are only 85db and a complete set specifications are lacking. But for $5 it's worth a shot if you have enough amplifier gain to make up for the lack of efficiency. Let us know what you think of the Morels.

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