Custom install - Hertz, eD, JL - lots of pics

[sqcomp]

I hear you on the strength of glassed kicks. I've still got my first pair of kicks from 1995 in my storage shed. They could easily be put back into service again...anyone have an extra three way ODR set that I can use?

As for your time alignment, what piece are you going to use for that?

How's the soundstage...better question, WHERE is the soundstage on this?

I'd ask about tonality, ambiance, and imaging but that comes later with some critical listening time put into the car...

You know, this would be a good chance to take a day trip over to South Daytona and visit the IASCA headquarters for you. It'd be the beginning of a vice that you'd never get rid of. NOW I'm jealous! It's take me at least 5 days to get to South Daytona.

[The Spectacle]

Originally Posted by sqcomp

I hear you on the strength of glassed kicks. I've still got my first pair of kicks from 1995 in my storage shed. They could easily be put back into service again...anyone have an extra three way ODR set that I can use?

As for your time alignment, what piece are you going to use for that?

How's the soundstage...better question, WHERE is the soundstage on this?

I'd ask about tonality, ambiance, and imaging but that comes later with some critical listening time put into the car...

You know, this would be a good chance to take a day trip over to South Daytona and visit the IASCA headquarters for you. It'd be the beginning of a vice that you'd never get rid of. NOW I'm jealous! It's take me at least 5 days to get to South Daytona.

I'm about to post up the rest of the finished pics but I want to touch on a few of these questions. First, the soundstage does feel like its coming up from the floor and coming at you from that perspective but it is very "filling" as far as the sound hitting your ears. However, I had a female passenger this past Friday and that definitely affects the soundstage quite a bit. When its just me in the car, it sounds just as I want it.

On that note, with the fader/balance set to favor the front & center at it is now, the stage does tend to lean more to my right. It doesn't feel quite as "centered" as it could. I think tomorrow I'll attempt to play with the balance a little and see if I can get some of the driver side boosted to settle things a little more to my taste. Perhaps a TE module could do the trick, but to be honest I don't believe its worth the trouble at this point. I'll drive around on it for a few weeks and see if it really bothers me that much. If it doesn't, I'll more than likely replace the HU with one that has those features already built in. Eclipse/Alpine/Pioneer all come to mind.

I found out today that my nine.4 is bridged to run the 3way setup. This setup makes tuning via the amp's crossover a little tricky because each you have to get the dials the exact same to ensure everything is the same from left to right. I think we've got it close, but I'm sure there's some more tweaking that can be done. My installer believes the nine.4 doesn't have fine enough octave rolloff/dropoff setttings in its HPF that would make getting this just right that much easier. The EQ and filters settings in the JVC HU are rudimentary at best. But, as I've said before, right now it sounds PHENOMENAL. Compared to the stock speakers, its downright colossal in terms of sheer volume.

Sorry, no trips to Daytona for me. I'm not quite into it like that lol.

[The Spectacle]

Please excuse the sun.

So here's what I started with (this picture I actually took today) as far as what the hatch area looks like:



Nothing to see right? WRONG!!!

Cover removed:








The stock rug cover CANNOT stay on without some type of modification being done (I'm going to leave it off). Its a pretty thick pile with rubber backing that sounds like absolute crap when the W6 is doing its thug dizzle.

Some better shots of the HU with iPod interface installed:





iPod is stashed in the glovebox for now. Hertz xovers are hidden under the carpet under the seats and are virtually invisible. The carpeting on the door sills that connect to the kickpanels was left alone...my installer had to sand down those areas to get the carpet to stick and when the carpet was removed it looked worse than just leaving it the way it was.

I'm surprised no one asked this yet so I'll answer it ahead of time...total price for all this out the door was just north of 4k. Not cheap, but it doesn't sound that way either.

- The Spectacle