Panda Eyes

well I, like many, have alot on my plate. house, wife, kids, mortgage, business to run. I have too many other things on to put all my eggs in a car audio basket. if money was no object I'd be going with mosconi, focal, mb quart, zapco etc, but unless a rich relative I dont know about dies, im gonna have to be on a budget. my reason for doing a thread on my build is to try to get more info on the table for people to view. many will have more of an idea on car audio than me, and feedback/ criticism is welcome. im open to new ideas, and advice on anyone who wants to give it. in the meantime, if anyone wants to see some really good diy builds, and I mean REALLY good, check out DIYMA.

its more like butyl foam- sort of like the stuff that you see in control joins in brick work.. heres a link. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/250940680109?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_5498wt_906

that's not going to be all for sound deadening, will also be using mlv and ccf if I can find it..

why do you want to wrap me?

continued with the sound deadening today, doors inside and out... also tidied up the factory wiring- cloth tape applied, and sticky cable tie mounts to stop the flapping around... also cloth taping all wiring in doors... the idea is to prevent rattling (obviously) but also to deaden echo and reverberation as much as possible.

this is the first car ive done, so im kinda enjoying it... constantly tapping the panels as I go to see what difference there is...

prol 2- 2.5 m2, but I didnt check to see how much I had left... I bought 10m2 from china for under 200 bucks. branded stuff would have been 1000...

best colour mate... yeah the fg's are a totally different car to the ba/f's. I personally like the look of the ba/f's more than fg's for looking mean/ business, but theres no denying the quality of the newer model.. the wheels realy suited the ute though.. nice black stockies on the fg too. welcome!

started sound insulation today- beginning with vibration dampening: removed everything from inside the car there is already some not bad sound/ heat insulation under the front carpet a good vacuum and the inside is ready. you could prepsol if you want, and I would recommend on any surface that has been polished, but under the carpet hasnt, so all good. the purists would hang me for not getting the old deadener off, but that could well involve 2-3 days of heat and scraper in hand, and tbh I dont think it will hurt any to leave it there. started to add deadening material to boot lid first then the boot itself, and rear quarter panels im going with the new school way of doing it- 25% or so of panel coverage. gone are the days where it was beleived you need to put layer upon layer of the stuff on every square centimetre of the panel. this only adds weight, and cost to the build, for a difference that is not audible to the naked ear. so the results? hard to tell at this early stage, but one thing I have noticed- there is a 'dead' sound to the boot- when I stick my head in and speak, it does not echo at all. excellent for true sound reproduction. also when the boot is slammed shut, there is a nice deep thud, not the usual tinny rattle. tomorrow- the doors will get a dose of sound deadener...

not necessarily 3 amps for front stage, but separate channels for each speaker ie: I will be using a 4 channel amplifier for the tweets and full range 3" or 4" (havent got these yet), and a 2 channel for mid bass driver. so essentially 6 channels of amplification for the front stage.

im now in the market for a 3rd amplifier to accommodate an ACTIVE 3 way front stage. whats the difference between active and passive? PASSIVE systems use a single channel of signal (eg 1 channel from an ampifier) to power a component or 'split' speaker system (splits). it takes the signal from that channel into a 'crossover' that then only sends certain frequencies to the mid bass driver, and other frequencies to the tweeter. the crossover is often set at certain high pass and low pass frequencies that cant be adjusted. eg: AMPLIFIER CHANNEL-------- 20hz- 20,000kh----------> crossover----------> 80hz-5khz-------> woofer \ \----------------> 5kh-20khz------->tweeter note that whatever power is being delivered from the amplifier channel, will be the SAME to both the woofer and the tweeter. ACTIVE systems dont use external crossovers to filter the frequencies being sent to each speaker. they use a dedicated channel from an amplified source to power EACH speaker independently. the frequency filtration comes from the amplifier. why is it better to use an active system over a passive system? quite simply- control. over the amount of power that each speaker receives. over the precise crossover frequencies that filter the signal to each speaker. and over the time delay (alignment) of each speaker. for example, you install a 'split' speaker system in your car- the woofers go low in the doors- the tweeters in the sail panel or on the a pillar. the distance from the woofer and the tweeter, and your ears is different. no matter how much you adjust the crossover points, or amplifier gains (power) to the splits, the woofer and tweeter will adjust the same. there is no way to separate the power/ signal that goes to each. an active system, on the other hand, is infinitely adjustable. so what? you may say. well it doesnt sound like much, to have a foot or so diff in distance between your ears, but when you get into the finer points of sq (sound quality) in a system, where the sound 'meets'- where the sound frequencies reach their 'fulfillment' or final sound- is the difference between a great sq system, or a crap noise. that's where an active system shines. the ability to adjust power to EACH speaker- not a pair of them. the ability to delay sound being played from a particular speaker so it reaches a place in your car at exactly the right moment. the ability to choose exactly which frequencies go to each speaker. listen to a car that has an active system after listening to a passive system, and youll hear what I mean...

speeding fine

only prob I can see with it is the low location- hard to keep an eye on it when its most needed- when the throttle is wide open and your eyes are stuck to the road...

ba's didnt run till 2006.

hey dude, thanks for your input, but tbh a bit of punctuation would help me understand your points a bit better...

this looks like it will be an excellent processor, but at 800us it is a bit on the exy side... remember that these are not just loc's. you can get a basic one for 15 bucks if you just want to convert signal. these take signals from ALL channels of the factory unit, measure the signals, then get a base line on 256 (at least) bandwidths of equalization, then send all those frequencies out FLAT, so you start with an accurate, natural signal for the amps to work with. the benefit of this is that most factory integrated systems have inbuilt 'processes' to enhance (cough cough) the sound. eg: at low volume, the system will increase certain frequencies to make the sound clearer, and at louder volumes it will suppress other ones to reduce distortion. you dont want these to be involved with your aftermarket system. I'll elaborate when I get home from work...

very clean f6 mate. I likey...

looks ok, but definately run a good quality oil cooler if you want it to last...

welcome mate- have a good search through the info on this site and youll be all the wiser in no time regarding all things barra turbo....

high cost doesnt necessarily mean better.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3DFBtJoL8A a bit of 'alpine' this and that propaganda, but the system is killa. its coming from the us, as did/ is alot of fittings/ cables etc. ha ha whats gone from a 500- 600 upgrade has/ will become a 2k build (already had a 4 channel amp, & jvc dvd head unit). my wife is gonna kill me...... oh well I just won a 5 week job..... I can eat for a while at least...

another change in plan- rockford 3sixty and response 820wrms monoblock on ebay were a scam! I was sus about it- generic photos, 0 user rating, so asked a few questions, then asked for his number to check it out, and he went off the radar. checked feedback and there was a - score... glad I held off from paying, some poor bloke got stung for a couple amps etc... soooooooooo....... I ended up with this: would have prefered the 3sixty tbh, but hard to find now, and didnt want an lc6i cause I want time alignment. now to find another amp...

22655 is a little scary...

here is a wiring diagram:

excuse me if im wrong, but how is the xr name is only 10 years old?