plac

iTrader: (4)

Well, in my previous thread I installed The Pioneer 2900 and a sirius tuner. Along with Alpine Type-S coax in front doors. I've now decided I will be adding Alpine PDX amps for the small footprint, so I had to rethink my setup.

I bought an Alpine 9887 deck today, with ipod cable included. I needed a higher end deck with more options since I will be running amps. I also located a Alpine sirius add-on tuner which isnt really made anymore. (there are a few on ebay). I got the deck locally for $300 cash out-the-door. If anyone needs an Alpine hookup he's in San Jose and beats the lowest ebay price I could find since ebay would charge tax and shipping. He will be getting my PDX amps next, but I need a couple weeks before I blow more money.

I am installing the alpine deck now, and swapping sirius tuners. Then Assuming the used satellite tuner works, I will be selling my Pioneer deck and mint sirius tuner.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Warning to PDX buyers on ebay. Mine didnt come with a serial number or birth sheet. But for whoelsale prices I don't care. I have heard of that before.

The PDX amp is a killer fit on the rack, and two are going to fit perfect.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Audio Integrations Hideaway amp rack installation

This unit came packed well and looked very nice out of box. The paint is powdercoated and it looked very thick and sturdy. I saw attention to detail with all the bolt bags and instruction sheets carefully attached to the package. It even came with one extra "nut-sert" in case I ruin one I guess. This item was $170 shipped and I had no hesitation. I have built my own amp racks out of MDF for 10 years, and I wanted something very easy and clean this time.

The kit comes with a acrylic template you see in this pic. You just push two of the included bolts into the stock holes to hold it up. The duct tape helps hold it flush while you mark your whole. You can see the tiny hole on the left side of the template. That is the new hole you make.



You then take your "step drill bit" (Sears, $43 including tax ) and you drill out the right most hole in template, and the left most hole. You don't touch the middle template hole. This drill bit was the best tool I've ever experienced. It cut like butter, and has markings in each step so you know the hole size. You can also measure as you go. DO NOT make the hole too big or you are screwed. The drill bit also has a cleanup design, so the hole is super smooth when you're done.



For the new tiny hole on left, you start with small bits and work your way up until The step bit will fit. Once you have drilled out both holes carefully, you then have the two 1/2" holes seen here:



You then place a rubber nutsert into each 1/2" hole. There is a little rubber flange on it so it only goes in one way. It should be a perfect fit if you drilled the right size hole. Then you set up your bolt into the amp rack tab before screwing it in. Bolt, lock washer, metal washer, rubber washer, <amp rack tab>, another rubber washer. Then hold up the rack and very lightly screw the bolt into that rubber insert. Do same for both sides. DO NOT overtighten these rubber inserts. they are mushroom style, and if the nut slips you might be in trouble. I just did them finger tight as this is just a mock up.



You then lift the rack up and mark your next two holes, which hole the other side. It is all the same style with the 1/2" holes needed. Do one hole first, get the rubber in the hole before you mark the 2nd hole. Then, you can attach the nuts completely to the rack to test fit your holes.





I then held up my rack to show that all the holes lined up perfectly.



I took about 30-40 minutes to install this. I took my time and was very careful. If you rush you might drill a bad hole and then you're in trouble. I love the install and the rack, but the hard part will be attaching my amps to the rack and checking all my clearance before I bolt them down. I wanted to put my two distribution blocks on this rack also, but I don't know if I'll have room. That way, I will only need one 4 gauge input for the amp rack instead of two. I won't have my other amp until Saturday.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Well my 2nd amp didn't arrive so I couldn't build my rack today. In the meantime I evaluated where I will run my 4 gauge power wire. I made a video documenting the plan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oEhmTe0oco

plac

iTrader: (4)

Today, I did more preparation work which will save time later. I attached my 4 gauge distribution blocks and ran my remote amp turn on lead from my deck back to my trunk.

I spent an hour thinking out locations of my distribution blocks. I had the rear seat out and one of the back panels off. I figured the only way they will be useful is if they are on the rack itself. Otherwise I'll have 4 huge 4 gauge wires going to the amp rack. With the blocks on the rack itself, I can assemble before putting it in the car, and only jhave one hookup into each block.

I eventually decided to put them under the amp rack. There is not many places and they are huge. So I staged them here:



Then I got out my 3M double sided tape to attach them. I could not use screws, they would hit the amp.



You think tape won't be strong enough? I lifted the entire rack by it right after I applied it. And those PDX amps are heavy, way heavier than they look.



I then ran my remote turn on all the way down drivers side, that is where my 4 gauge power wire will go also. I tie wrapped every 6 inches for cleanliness. No pics of that, but I can make a video if someone really wants.

Now I wait for my 4 gauge wiring which is supposed to arrive today. If it does, I run my power wire today also. I don't think my other PDX amp will arrive today, it seems to have got delayed.

plac

iTrader: (4)

My wire sets arrived. All Stinger merchandise. 4 gauge power and ground, 12 gauge for the sub speaker wire, and 16 gauge for the door speaker wire.



I made this short power cable for the battery end first:



Then I ran all the rest. My next post will be a video showing my wire runs.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Part 2 of the running power wire video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8HEcTzUUZ8

plac

iTrader: (4)

My two Stinger HPM 4 RCA's arrived today. I will be running them down my passenger side along with speaker wire for the passenger side door. My 36 sq ft of Dynamat Extreme also arrived. I have my Type-R coax from a few days ago. So tomorrow I will run some cable. Then I will start on my door jobs with speaker install and dynamatting. Hopefully the type-R will work in those same Kartboy speakers. My sub amp won't arrive for a full week, so I'll have to try out my front stage once its done. Then I'll remove my rack and add the sub amp later. Just today I was thinking my Type-S coaxials are as loud and clear as I would ever need off deck power. Sometimes I wonder if I should have just got a sub amp..

For other people, I might have gone with the 5 channel PDX next time just for ease of wiring.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Now I give you lots of advice from my mistakes on this amp rack.

First set of pics show the amp installed, and all wiring installed:







I swung the rack up to bolt in the rear bolts. I then saw the amp hitting the edge as seen in the pics:





I then drilled a second set of holes backward maybe 1/2" to try again:



I had cleaned up my wiring more each time I took it out:



Unfortunately... the amp STILL hit in the same place when I used the holes that were further back. (Towards front of car). I then had to drill a THIRD set of holes:



Those holes finally worked, and the amp now has plenty of clearance. The instructions did say mount it as far back as possible, but I thought I had test fit it and didnt see any issues eariler.

Got everything complete, and this is the final rack setup. The wires and crap on the bottom isn't nice to look at, but at least everything is out of the way and doesnt take up any trunk space.

plac

iTrader: (4)

I made a video of my dynamat door but that is on hold..

I found out today that Alpine Type-R coax with Kartboy spacers will NOT work in the door. The window hits them just barely and moves the metal panel. Now I'll have to add a 1/4" cutting board which will be easily enough. I tried dynmat on each side of spacer first, didn't make any difference. I'm not putting this back together half assed so now I have to work on this for a while.

Tomorrow I go looking for a 1/4" cutting board, I will need two, one for each door. I wil just trace the Kartboy template and it should be easy to make. I might try Lowes, Target, Safeway, and who knows where else. Doesn't have to be anything special, but I don't want 1/2" thick which most are. I only need like 2mm clearance, so I want to keep it to a 1/2" Kartboy and a 1/4" custom. There will be dynamat between each piece of the setup. Also, I cannot use the cheap plastic screw holes that hold the stock speaker anymore. They are not strong enough to screw tight for all these spacers. So I will buy slightly longer nuts and bolts and attach the template that way. Then I'll hold up the speaker and screw it in.

plac

iTrader: (4)

Finished my passenger door. Used custom 3/4" adapters I made.

BUT... one of my new Stinger RCA from ebay is bad! One channel is dead. Took me forever to figure it out. I think I got them from bagboy on ebay (Darvex), and I threw away the wrappers days ago. Wasted $45 on that RCA and then its broke out of box. I'm gonna buy a $20 RCA now, I don't care anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1EinCUX5ik

plac

iTrader: (4)

I swapped my RCA left/right to use my working side RCA on the new door installation. It sounds amazing, even with only one amplified speaker. (And 3 speakers off deck power). It is crystal clear crossed over at 80Hz HP with a 18dB slope. I tried 60Hz/24dB and didn't like it as much. I heard no buzz or vibration even with my lightly dampened doors. I can't wait to hear double that power once my other door is done. My Alpine amp gain is 1/2 way currently. I might lower it to 2/3 once I get started tuning. The amp speaker is so loud I can barely hear any of the other 3 which has 22Wrms each.

Which brings me to my subwoofer.. After hearing one half of my front stage, I am already deciding against dual 10's. Mostly because I didn't want to use up that much space. I think a 10" Type-R with 600Wrms would fill the voids nicely. If I put a dual 10" box in there 1/2 my trunk is gone. I am eyeballing the Audio Integrations custom box to match my amp rack, but it's a bit pricey. I can't make my final decision until both doors are up and running and I do some tuning.

plac

iTrader: (4)

While waiting for my sub amp I used the rest of my dynamat. FYI, the bulk Dynamat Extreme pack (36 sq ft) will cover 2 front doors and almost all the trunk. At least it did for me..

plac

iTrader: (4)

pics of my two dynamatted doors while I had my panels off today:

plac

iTrader: (4)

Well I put the Type-S back in today and changed back to deck power. I auditioned left speaker Type-R off 150Wrms vs left speaker type-s off 18Wrms. There was NO difference in volume level that I could tell. Putting my head in the middle of my car as a rough test, both seemed exactly the same volume.

Upon remembering all the tuning headaches that come when you start getting into a higher end system, I think I am staying like this now. It was plenty loud enough for me off deck power on the type-S coaxials. I do have stock 4" mids in rear doors which provide a little fill which really helps. (no tweets in rear).

So I think I have a different setup in mind now. I will be using my Alpine amp for my sub running 300Wrms. I will be going from a 10W6 to a 10W3 to better suit my amps power. I prefer a mono amp for subwoofers, but I don't want to lose money selling my PDX 2.150. I have always said I am not into huge crazy systems like I used to be, and I guess I forgot for a few weeks. I prefer a simple, yet nice clear system, which is what I hear now.

For my history and reference, I have had Focal Polyglass, Focal K2P, and two sets of Dynaudio 240GT. I am not a stranger to high quality. I also tried McIntosh, Brax, and TRU TO3 amps in my prime. I spent years on mostly Elite Car Audio and have read it all a thousand times. Still, I do enjoy reading about this stuff and learning from peoples experiences.

The Type-R are now for sale, preferred local pickup.