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Complete high end system install
Build Log by Simplicity in Sound
Sometime i look at the cars that we work on with regularity, and realize that there seems to be some peculiarity with the selection. Namely, there are a lot of very popular platforms that we hardly ever see...cars such as civics, camrys, audis, are few and far in between. The Honda fit, is just such an example..this spacious econohatch runs amok here in norcal, yet we have never ever worked on one before. So it was actually quite exciting for me to book a new, 3rd generation Fit for a full on SQ build. The customer had a previous system installed and he was looking for more, so he gathered up some very high end gear and brought it all to us for the build. Everything other than the Mosconi mini controller was supplied by the customer. goals: 1. achieve a high level of sound quality utilizing customer supplied equipment 2. integrate the midrange and rather large tweeter into the A pillar window 3. integrate the Mosconi AMAS HD BT streaming device and the Mosconi controller into the interior 4. maintain a fully stealth and usable hatch area capable of supporting a lot of weight that the customer will be loading on a daily basis due to work lets get started...first up the car. I kinda dig the third generation fit, kinda sporty looking in a futuristic way, a bit more smooth than the 2nd gen and less boring than the first: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao1.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao2.JPG the previous isntall was completed removed other than some speaker wires and of course the original sound proofing. I performed most of the build while Jesse did the mosconi dsp controller mount. speaking of which, here is the mosconi RC-mini integrated into the pocket behind the shifter. Jesse has really gotten good at doing small detailed fab work like this, and he did imo a great job with this one as well. it puts the controls and preset changing at the finger tips of the customer: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao3.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao4.JPG a coupla build pics of the controller mount, which is 100 percent acrylic. it consists of a top plate that is meticulously sanded, backfilled and shaped to fit the opening, and several pieces of acrylic tabs that are bonded together, they interlock into each other with bolts and inturn bolts into the mosconi controller. the top was painted black to match the interior: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao5.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao6.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao7.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao8.JPG this piece was then secured to the car using more little bolts, and then the entire console was put back into the car: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/FTP/daofit/dao9.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao10.JPG For the front stage, the customer supplied me with a full 3 way set of Audison Thesis component set...naturally, the only place to mount them was the A pillar windows. At first, this seemed like plenty of space, but after taking the pillars off, i realized that with the sheer size of the Thesis tweeter, and the fact that the top of the pillar protrudes out more than the bottom, there was basically only one way to do the speakers that still allow the pods to go into the drivers side dash. (due to the protruding driver side dash AC vents). this isnt the most ideal angle to me, but i was confident i can tune around it. so this is what i ended up with. the 3" thesis mid is back and at the top corner of the window, with the oversized tweeter towards the front of the car and aimed more back. each is recessed and flush mounted, showcasing the trade mark audison grille. the pod itself is finished in graphite vinyl to match the dash, and the out side surface is also vinyled as you will see in later pics so you dont see any raw fiberglass from the outside of the car. if you look at the driver side dash vents, you will see what i mean about doing it this way to ensure that the pods can still fit into the windows and it can all go back into the car...even with this it was quite a struggle :D http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao11.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao12.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao13.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao14.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao15.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao16.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao17.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao18.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao19.JPG here are some build pods. first, the areas of the window were tapped off and 3 layers of fiberglass laid down: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao20.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao21.JPG when they cured, they were popped out, trimmed, and some CLD damper were laid on the inside: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao22.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao23.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao24.JPG then, after literally spending an hour trying to figure out how i can arrange the drivers and still be able to get them into the window, i aimed and secured the mounting rings: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao25.JPG then mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, and then a milkshake of filler and resin was poured into the pods to reinforce them from the inside: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao26.JPG then a few layers of filler and sanding got them to be smooth and ready for upholstery: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao27.JPG and finally, they were wrapped in graphite/black vinyl. the backside of the pods were also smoothed out and wrapped in the same vinyl to present a clean surface from the outside of the car: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao28.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao29.JPG these were then secured to the factory a pillar with 6-32 machine screws and nuts: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao30.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao31.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao32.JPG the Thesis mid was then secured, while the tweeter will need to go on after to allow wire routing: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao33.JPG moving onto the Thesis midbass located in the stock lower door location. the door had already been sound proofed from the earlier installation: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao34.JPG we basically added a layer of metra ballstic foam barrier to the entire door to separate the plastic from the CLD: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao35.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao36.JPG and then also covered the door card with more CLD damper: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao37.JPG the same procedure was done to the passenger side: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao38.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao39.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao40.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao41.JPG and that completes the front stage. next are a series of pics that show the new wiring bundle as it travesl down the sides of the to the rear, ziptied and secured every few inches: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao42.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao43.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao44.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao45.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao46.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao47.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao48.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao49.JPG moving onto the hatch area. as mentioned, the goal was to be simple, stealthy, and most importantly, to be sturdy and support a lot of weight. so here is the view with everything covered up and the cargo mat in place, for a 100 percent oem look: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao50.JPG take off the cargo mat and you see a new floor panel that covers most of the space over the spare tire well. with a center large cutout: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao51.JPG pop off the breathable grille from the cutout and you see a simple layout showing a Thesis 10" subwoofer and a Audison Voce 5.1k. all trimmed int he same graphite vinyl as the pods. again, nothing fancy but functional and clean: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao52.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao53.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao54.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao55.JPG now some of you may wonder why the sub is recessed so much. well actually, it is barely recessed enough :) i wanted to maintain the cosmetic look of the audison grilles from the front stage, so i made sure the sub grille is in place. what is deceiving is just how far the center of the sub grille rises. here you can see it is barely even 1/4" below the opening of the cutout :) http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao56.JPG so lets go on to the build pics. again, spare tire well was already fully sound proofed from the previous install. so i tapped off the area i wanted the sub enclosure to be, and laid down 5 layers of fiberglass mat: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao57.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao58.JPG when that cured, i popped the mold out, trimmed it, and molded in a front and top board to form the enclosure. i then attached a spacer board over where the sub will be. as i needed the depth around the sub to mount other things: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao59.JPG i then installed a single 1/4" rivet nut to the floor of the well, and after wiring the subbox and painting the top baffle black so no raw wood would show through, i bolted the enclosure to the floor with a 1/4- 20 bolt: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao60.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao61.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao62.JPG by now, astute readers will realize that a single audison AV5.1k is not enough to drive the entire system fully active. thats where the customer supplied mosconi zero 3 came in. it is located in its own rack,secured to the subbox and the side walls using bolts and rivetnuts. to ensure that everything is very strong and can withstand a lot of weight, all the supports in this car were done with double 3/4" supports. here is the zero3 in its rack, pre-wired: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao63.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao64.JPG the amprack was then secured to the well and wired up: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao65.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao66.JPG this is the top rack that houses the AV5.1k, the dsp and various other gadgets, before it is secured to the car: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao67.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao68.JPG and finally, after about 6 hours of wiring. everything is now fully secured and hooked up. the mosconi 6to8v8 dsp, loaded with the AMAS BT streaming hardware is on the passenger side, while all the distribution and barrier strips is to the left of the sub. the customer supplied me with a cross flow fan, which i wired in to the left of the 5.1K as well. pretty darn crowded if you ask me :) http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao69.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao70.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao71.JPG and to ensure that i can access the gain control on the zero 3, i had a slot cutout above it that is reachable with a longer screw driver without having to disturb the 5.1k above it: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao72.JPG here is the main trim panel before and after vinyl, note the tall flush mount walls around the sub to clear the grille: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao73.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao74.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao75.JPG and here it is secured to the car: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao76.JPG here are the top two pieces, before and after carpet, and i also dyed them slightly to better match the oem honda carpet: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao77.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao78.JPG http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao79.JPG so thats it...lets talk about how it sounds. but before that. a quick gander at the oem signal that i was working with. so here is the stock oem signal, unprocessed. you can see it is fairly flat, but the major thing to note is what appears to be a filter at the bottom end of the frequency below 45-50hz range. this i am fairly sure is a highpass, as boosting those frequencies with the mosconi input eq did virtually nothing to the signal. so i think maybe a bass restoration circuit of some type will help with that: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao80.JPG here is the same signal at hi, mid, and low volumes kn the stock headunit, and as you can see, not a whole ton of dynamic equalization: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao81.JPG and here is the signal after i went through it with the mosconi input eq. didnt take a whole lot of work, but again, couldnt do much about the high passed filter: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao82.JPG so...how does it sound. i have to say i am very impressed with the entire thesis setup. the relatively odd mounting position of the front stage require me to do play with the left and right gains of the tweeter a bit to get a solid center image. surprisingly, tonality wasnt too bad on the left side both with rta measurements and by ear. once i got the center imaging for the tweeter dialed in, it was very solid and anchored. stage width is pillar to pillar, with good depth and height. the thesis tweeter and midrange was able to convey a lot of detail without being harsh, and created a very airy feeling when listening, especially with the AMAS. a lot of great resolution yet it was never offensive, even at high volumes. but the thesis midbass REALLY impressed me. going off a recomendation by an audison expert, they were high passed fairly low at around 55hz. they were able to dish out a ton of clean impactful midbass without any hint of distortion. they also naturally extended down with any struggle. truly impressive for sure...and could be one of the most impressive 6.5" midbasses i have ever heard. bravo! the sub also is very excellent. it is very transparent and just dissapeared into the music. and unlike some other sq specific subs, it was also to dish out a lot of output and extension when pushed. again, i would characterize the entire thesis set as very refined yet muscular...they can do the delicate stuff very well but if you just get up and push them, they seem to be able to absorb a lot of power with virtually no distortion. easily the most impressive audison/hertz speakers i have ever heard...and its shame they are no longer available for sale. on AMAS compared to the stock source, everything just sounds a bit more open and airy, but by far the biggest difference in sound is on the sub. as mentioned above, the stock signal seems to have a drastic high pass below 45hz, this translated to plenty of upper range bass but a definite depreciation in the ultra low stuff. hwere as the AMAS signal is flat all the way down, and truly allowed the sub to do its thing. the difference is very noticible on songs with big, low bass notes...and it is perhaps even more dramatic on the rta, playing the same pink noise, sub channel on only: http://simplicityinsound.com/images/...ofit/dao83.JPG on a lot of songs, this difference isnt audible, but yeah on big bass notes, the amas really shines. :) so thats it for this...just happy that the customer got a car that he is really happy with to listen to on a daily basis, and opened my eyes to some high end equipment that i normally dont get to play with. Cheers, Bing |
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Over the weekend I removed the black grill from the subwoofer which made it look much higher end =)
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/576/2...51759848_c.jpg |
Very nice. I'd think where the speakers are placed make for a huge blind spot.
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Originally Posted by Desmond Lamar MacRae
(Post 1316876)
Very nice. I'd think where the speakers are placed make for a huge blind spot.
I totally agree with you on this one but with the speaker option I gave to the installer this was the best they can do. So far Ive been adjusting to the change and Ive been moving my body to see the blind spots with no problems. The trade off is well worth it. |
Originally Posted by payluder
(Post 1316877)
I totally agree with you on this one but with the speaker option I gave to the installer this was the best they can do. So far Ive been adjusting to the change and Ive been moving my body to see the blind spots with no problems. The trade off is well worth it.
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Nice build. I never thought of using the A pillar windows as a mounting location but good place for them. I honestly don't think I even look out of those windows anyway.
So I assume you had to sacrifice your spare tire? Better carry a can of fix o flat with you then. You never really know when you'll get a flat. I once got a huge gash in my rear tire going down a country road one day, probably something that fell off a piece of farming equipment. Went flat in seconds. That's why I never go anywhere without my spare. However I have thought about creating a raised false floor on top of the spare tire floor level to where it can be lifted and held up so as to access the spare tire itself but realistically it's probably easier to just mount an amp to a sub box and merely shove it out of the way or pull it out if space is needed. I created a quick release box log in an older thread. Worked out really well but was heavy as sin. |
Originally Posted by NightScreams
(Post 1317329)
Nice build. I never thought of using the A pillar windows as a mounting location but good place for them. I honestly don't think I even look out of those windows anyway.
So I assume you had to sacrifice your spare tire? Better carry a can of fix o flat with you then. You never really know when you'll get a flat. I once got a huge gash in my rear tire going down a country road one day, probably something that fell off a piece of farming equipment. Went flat in seconds. That's why I never go anywhere without my spare. However I have thought about creating a raised false floor on top of the spare tire floor level to where it can be lifted and held up so as to access the spare tire itself but realistically it's probably easier to just mount an amp to a sub box and merely shove it out of the way or pull it out if space is needed. I created a quick release box log in an older thread. Worked out really well but was heavy as sin. Thank you for your comments. I cant relay 100% of those windows so I just force myself to move around more to check the blind spots anyways. For the flat tire problem if I ever go on a long road trip I can just throw my spare tire in the trunk but besides that I can always call AAA for a tow and fix. Funny thing is before this build one shop actually put the amp on the floor and made a rise platform so the spare tire sits over the amp. and I was able to retain the spare but I wasn't comfortable with that and wasn't sure if it can withstand heavy weight overtime. |
Hey payluder, curious as to how much the labor cost is for this and custom work. PM me please.
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Dude that is amazing.
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Not an audiophile, but work looks very high quality!
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Damnnnnn!!!!!
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Very nice set up. Putting in a SQ system in my Fit too.
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Originally Posted by Sqeclipse
(Post 1321896)
Very nice set up. Putting in a SQ system mine Fit too.
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Originally Posted by Sqeclipse
(Post 1321896)
Very nice set up. Putting in a SQ system mine Fit too.
Please share your system Im glad there is other as crazy as I am in the fit forum. |
I am putting in a Full Alpine F1 Status system. Currently making a fiberglass
speaker box in the rear driver side of the trunk for 10"JL audio TW5. Also tweeter pot in the front window, but just the tweeter as they are 3" pods already. I wanted to still see through it. I angled toward the passenger head rest. I'll post some pictures once complete. |
Originally Posted by Sqeclipse
(Post 1321946)
I am putting in a Full Alpine F1 Status system. Currently making a fiberglass
speaker box in the rear driver side of the trunk for 10"JL audio TW5. Also tweeter pot in the front window, but just the tweeter as they are 3" pods already. I wanted to still see through it. I angled toward the passenger head rest. I'll post some pictures once complete. |
Here is the link to my box I had before this system
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ml#post1289259 |
Originally Posted by payluder
(Post 1321955)
Here is the link to my box I had before this system
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ml#post1289259 |
Originally Posted by Sqeclipse
(Post 1321970)
That is a good looking sub enclosure. I went with a different approach, I wanted to still access the spare. I drag the box forward near the rear wheel and the back seat. why I needed the thin JL sub. Only got a couple of inches for the sub clearance. Might need to add in another ring just to allow the sub to fit. Still waiting for the sub to arrive. last weekend, Got the 7" speakers in the door, and the mid bass was very nice during testing. Had to chop up the door a little to fit.
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