My Custom Audio Build

[ForTehNguyen]

realized i never posted the final pic of the amp and equipment, not super clean but its compact

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[lowatts]

Very nice install, and perfect fit in that spot.

 

[5ABI VT]

Very nicely done ? The size of those magnets though :eyebulge:

 

[zero7]

That's a really nice set-up, in the UK I have used the Seas Lotus Reference range, they are stunning speakers and I preferred them to Morel. A 3 way set-up can be very hard to get tuned correctly and also requires a extra amount of amplification.

Can I ask why you went 3-way as opposed to a more conventional 2-Way install.

 

[Noobtastic14]

subs and tweeter wiring terminated on both ends, all wiring is run. My woofers arrive monday, wish it was here for the weekend. MiniDC control circuit is working. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a delay circuit that is controlled by the remote in. It sends power to the minidsp first then 3 seconds later it sends a remote signal to the amp so things start up in the right order without strange noises.

Dayton Midrange vs Factory Midrange :headbonk: The midrange is by far the tightest fitting speaker. Literally have 1/8" on each side of the magnet for the mounting hole

Just to clarify the speakers here- The factory speaker uses NRT (Neo-radial technology) from the looks of it. This speaker uses a very strong Neo magnet instead of the traditional iron ferrite material found on the Dayton. The advantages being: Flat BL curve (great SQ), smaller, lighter, and equally as powerful as a larger ferrite motor. The cons of the Neo motor setup would be heat dissipation under high power levels and a weakening of the motor strength when heat cycled over 180*F.

Now, the Dayton looks to be a great speaker that will take much more power and sound great compared to the OEM. The investment looks hands down worth it but I don't want the average petrol head to think that size of the two motors should be compared- because they are completely different.

This falls in line with people complaining about overall vehicle weight. Weight savings happens when a lot of little things add up. Converting all the speakers to NRT probably saved a fair bit of weight which amongst other things really adds up without hurting sq.

-Drew

 

[zero7]

Just to clarify the speakers here- The factory speaker uses NRT (Neo-radial technology) from the looks of it. This speaker uses a very strong Neo magnet instead of the traditional iron ferrite material found on the Dayton. The advantages being: Flat BL curve (great SQ), smaller, lighter, and equally as powerful as a larger ferrite motor. The cons of the Neo motor setup would be heat dissipation under high power levels and a weakening of the motor strength when heat cycled over 180*F.

Now, the Dayton looks to be a great speaker that will take much more power and sound great compared to the OEM. The investment looks hands down worth it but I don't want the average petrol head to think that size of the two motors should be compared- because they are completely different.

This falls in line with people complaining about overall vehicle weight. Weight savings happens when a lot of little things add up. Converting all the speakers to NRT probably saved a fair bit of weight which amongst other things really adds up without hurting sq.

-Drew

Great information...The issues I havewith OEM systems, and I include BMW's individual in that too, is that they throw masses of speakers at it, if they stuck with a simple 2-way front end and a sub amp'd correctly it will blow away the 12-15 speakers some of these manufacturers are throwing into their cars and probably be lighter too.

 

[Noobtastic14]

That gets into sales territory, people want to feel like they're getting more for their money. The average buyer wants more more more and increasing the speaker count does that. BTW my neo subwoofers are about 28lbs each and they are about as strong as a 70lb iron ferrite subwoofer.
-Drew

 

[zero7]

That gets into sales territory, people want to feel like they're getting more for their money. The average buyer wants more more more and increasing the speaker count does that. BTW my neo subwoofers are about 28lbs each and they are about as strong as a 70lb iron ferrite subwoofer.
-Drew

Agreed, it's a marketing ploy, i must say, the Individual audio I had in my M3 was pretty good but nowhere near like a proper custom installation. What subs are you using?

 

[Noobtastic14]

They started life as TC Sounds 5100 18s. They were designed for stadium or home theater use and rated for 800w. After testing the motor a bit I changed all the soft parts out. Stiffer progressive spiders, larger leads, high roll foam surround, etc. Then a added a liquid cooling system for the summer months. They see around 1800w each daily and around 2500w each in bursts. The car is my daily and also does about 154db at shows.
-Drew

 

[bigred90gt]

I heard this system last night, and can attest to the quality of the build. The bass isn't overwhelming, and as a whole it sounds very well balanced and very crisp and clear. Well done!

 

[mumbles]

OP, how loud can you play those Daytons... it doesn't look like they handle much power?

 

[5ABI VT]

finished everything up on Monday. Drove it to work on tuesday it sounded pretty unbalanced. After work, friend did crossovers and equalizing tuning and it was WAY WAY better. Still needs some tuning but it cant wait. Main thing I want tuned next is the seating position. Right now it sounds the best if you move your head to the center of the car. Before tuning I had to crank the volume to 80% to be a decent volume, after tuning 40-50% volume is good now. Bass isnt going to kick super hard without an enclosure but I didnt want one hogging trunk space.

Inside you cannot tell that it has been modified. Every wire is hidden. The only way you can tell something was done the SEAS tweeters. Even that closely matches the A pillar texture and color.

Some lessons learned. Using self tapping screws to install the speakers wouldve been a big time saver. I used self tapping on the woofers at the end. Sync works fine

Here's details of how I installed everything:
Amp Power: Bought 4AWG welding cable used for arc welding. Very beefy wire and they did not skimp out on conductors like some "amp wire" companies do. No CCA junk either, 100% copper. Red cable tied to the nut on the battery terminal. Had to drill a hole in the firewall which appears behind the glove box. I ran the power cable with a grommet and hid it undernear the passenger side door sill and rear seat trim to the amp. Negative cable was landed at the bolt in between the rear seats. Scrape off some paint for a good ground.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/351379432138?rmvSB=true

RCA Signal wiring: Used the molex connector that is stated in the sticky only soldering a RCA to speaker wire adapter to pins 3-4 and 7-8 for the front signals. Then used two 15 foot monoprice premium shielded RCA cables to run the signal to the MiniDSPs. Ran those two cables under the drivers side door sill and rear passenger trim and through the rear deck "cable tray" passage to the MiniDSPs. Length was perfect

Speaker Wiring: I used 18AWG 4 conductor cables from monoprice so I only have to do a single run to the woofer and mid in the door. I ran 2 cable runs on each side through the gap below the rear seats in the trunk, behind the rear passenger trim, then up to the headliner all the way to the A pillar. Be sure to tuck the wire behind the airbag. One cable stops at tweeter and the other continues down the A pillar and behind the door hinge. There is a rubber grommet on the door you can drill a hole through to feed the wire to the mids and woofer. This part of the cable that is exposed near the hinge was protected with Tech Flex braiding and heat shrink. Had some extra tech flex leftover and I braided the wiring on the amp side. Another thing was the 18/4 wire only came with a white insulator and it looked bad. The tech flex braiding hides it behind black braiding so it looks much better

Last pic before using all the dynamat before buttoning everything back up. I only used one 18x32" roll to do the rear deck and both doors like the picture below. The dynamat circle that was cutout for the woofers was applied to the panel behind the woofers magnet.

I highlighted my question in your post if you don't mind. I'd like to know where these pins are for both front speakers? I did a self powered sub and am disappointed with the sealed box in an trunk results for bass especially for a 12". I'm going to look into doin a new setup like yours in the spring with 2 8s or 10 shallow mounts or free-air. Fantastic job, great photos and thanks for sharing !!

 

[ForTehNguyen]

I heard this system last night, and can attest to the quality of the build. The bass isn't overwhelming, and as a whole it sounds very well balanced and very crisp and clear. Well done!

Thank you. Hopefully next meet I can demonstrate it a little longer

I highlighted my question in your post if you don't mind. I'd like to know where these pins are for both front speakers? I did a self powered sub and am disappointed with the sealed box in an trunk results for bass especially for a 12". I'm going to look into doin a new setup like yours in the spring with 2 8s or 10 shallow mounts or free-air. Fantastic job, great photos and thanks for sharing !!

in the drivers side near the hood latch is the factory amp if you have the premium model. From there I soldered my speaker wire to RCA connectors to the pins that would be for the front left and right signals.

OP, how loud can you play those Daytons... it doesn't look like they handle much power?

my amp is 75W RMS x 8 @ 4ohm but it can go 100W in 2ohm. I wired the dual 4ohm coil amps in parallel to get 2ohm for the subs. Not sure on an actual dB level but i listen at 50% volume comfortably. The subs are specced up to 250W RMS. Good enough bass for me without letting everyone around me know.

That's a really nice set-up, in the UK I have used the Seas Lotus Reference range, they are stunning speakers and I preferred them to Morel. A 3 way set-up can be very hard to get tuned correctly and also requires a extra amount of amplification.

Can I ask why you went 3-way as opposed to a more conventional 2-Way install.

Premium trimmed models like mine have tweeter, midrange, woofers in the doors. Base models only have tweeter and woofers in the doors.

 

[NotMarc]

Do you have a picture or a little more explanation of how you managed to get the speaker wiring from the body to the door ?


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[BadDreams]

Perhaps I missed it but how did you attach the amp rack? Surely not just screwed into the back of the seat?

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