New car hi-fi build!

[fatmarley]

Nice one. Have a play and see how it goes... Make sure you document the project and take some pics when you get cracking with it, as I'd be interested to see how you get on

Here's a 'moody' glowing pic of the bad-ass B2 in situ (with JBL amps in the background):


Marco.

I'll try to remember to take pics but I usually forget

I'm still undecided about what subwoofer to use and i'm wondering if a hifi subwoofer/midbass driver would be better for what I want to do. The 12" Peerless 830669 looks to model quite flat in a small, fully stuffed, sealed box when you add the cabin gain and boundary reinforcement of a car. Problem is, i'm only guessing the figures when modelling. What I don't want is the horrible deep bass rumble without any midbass punch that you often get with car subwoofers. Somethnig tells me the light coned Peerless would be better suited to crossing to standard, unamped door speakers.

Do you use any eq for your subwoofer?

[goraman]

That's a long old thread.

Marco,
I never thought of you as a JBL guy!
My impression would be a JL Audio Deck with Audison Theseus amps And Speakers, Audison Saunos 10 awg. wire.

https://www.audison.eu/product_lines/thesis/

https://www.audison.eu/products/th-k2-ii-p-coro/

[Audio Al]

That's a long old thread.

Marco,
I never thought of you as a JBL guy!
My impression would be a JL Audio Deck with Audison Theseus amps And Speakers, Audison Saunos 10 awg. wire.

https://www.audison.eu/product_lines/thesis/

https://www.audison.eu/products/th-k2-ii-p-coro/

I think Marco's next thread may be about screen wash

[goraman]

I think Marco's next thread may be about screen wash

Yep, There is a dealer/installer a block away from my house. He is the U.S. custom installer for Porsche , I have seen $60,000 dollar installs.
The results are stunning. Both visually and sonicly .
I never knew car audio could ever sound that good.
They can strip the whole interior out,dampen every panel and part, no road noise, the whole car is deadened , plastics are lined to prevent squeaks and everything is mapped to be refitted with amps, speakers disappearing motorized screens, serious alarm systems, security window films. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyKlP2trTrc
I have even seen pepper spray ports fitted that can be triggered by your cell phone if your car is stolen. Imagen driving away in a car you just stole, suddenly the shatter proof windows roll up and the doors lock by them selves, the engine then stops, the car alarm begins to sound and you are trapped then suddenly pepper spray fills the inside of the car. Then the doors unlock. A voice from the car is telling you the police are on the way.
Then use the tracking app to go get your car, bring a wet towel to clean the crap off the seat.
A experience like that ends car theft, for most people.

[struth]

Lol.

[Marco]

I'll try to remember to take pics but I usually forget

I'm still undecided about what subwoofer to use and i'm wondering if a hifi subwoofer/midbass driver would be better for what I want to do. The 12" Peerless 830669 looks to model quite flat in a small, fully stuffed, sealed box when you add the cabin gain and boundary reinforcement of a car. Problem is, i'm only guessing the figures when modelling. What I don't want is the horrible deep bass rumble without any midbass punch that you often get with car subwoofers. Somethnig tells me the light coned Peerless would be better suited to crossing to standard, unamped door speakers.

Do you use any eq for your subwoofer?

Not currently, as it's still running in, so everything is set wide open and flat, with the amps running on low power. Need to put at least 30 hours on it, before I can fully 'unleash the beast'... And based on what I'm hearing so far, that should be quite something!

Marco.

[Marco]

That's a long old thread.

Marco,
I never thought of you as a JBL guy!
My impression would be a JL Audio Deck with Audison Theseus amps And Speakers, Audison Saunos 10 awg. wire.

https://www.audison.eu/product_lines/thesis/

https://www.audison.eu/products/th-k2-ii-p-coro/

Haha - baby steps, dude, baby steps... Just getting into this car audio malarkey, and learning as I go along. I love big JBL hi-fi speakers, but that wasn't really the reason I went JBL for the car.

I had a gut feeling [and my gut feelings usually pay off] that it would give me a lot of BANG for my buck [high SPPV] and it's certainly proved that way, as is sounds astonishingly good for the relatively small outlay (less than £600) for all the amps and speakers, although of course the new B2 sub was rather more expensive than the JBL it replaced.

The most expensive part of the system was the custom install itself (£3k), which I went to town on, in order to get the sound as good as possible, and the Kenwood head unit, which was just shy of £2k. The amps are the best part of the JBL kit, which really do punch well above their weight, and why I'll be hanging onto them for a while yet.

The next thing to upgrade will be the JBL door speakers, which will be replaced with some from Gladen. The current ones are 5.5", and the existing door apertures can take 8", so that's what will be fitted, front and back.

I'm not in a hurry to do that yet though, as the sound is fantastic as it is: crystal-clear and expressively lucid with vocals, such that you can hear every musical nuance in the mix. The overall presentation is wide-open and sweet sounding, very detailed, but not harsh in any way, and the bass has massive weight and extension, coupled with gut-wrenching, sledgehammer punch!!

As I said, I haven't run in the new sub yet, which is a different animal to the previous JBL, but even with that one, and the amps turned up to just under clipping point, I was getting SPLs of just under 130db! and which was enough to blow your hair about (what little I have left, lol) and flex the car windows!!

And there's ZERO bass boom or that 'wallowy rumble', you often get from car subs, as the car itself had been very well damped with Dynamat (Mercs are also solid cars to start with), and the install designed to allow everything fitted, from amps to speakers, to 'breathe' and release its full potential.

I shudder to think what the B2 sub will do, as it's considerably more powerful and efficient, especially now that the amps are also producing more power! Fun times ahead, man....

Marco.

[Jac Hawk]

So let's get things straight, you have put a competition sub in yer boot, the boot from what i can see is full of lights (no idea why you would put lights somewhere you can't see or don't look) the boot is also unusable to carry anything as the sub has been cleverly put in the floor...hmmmmmm



MID LIFE CRISIS OR WHAT!!!!!!!!!!

You'll be hanging out at the local Sainsburys car park next with yer boot wide open pumpin out the toonz to the pimped up Corsa possie , make sure you pull yer undies up to your navel and your jeans (which must be at least 2 sizes too big) pull them right down so you're barely wearing them

[fatmarley]

Interesting that you mention 130db because that's the kind of potential spl that I'm modelling in the software, so my Sims can't be far out. Stick the same subwoofer in a normal sized room and you wouldn't get anywhere near those kind of spls.

Around 25 years ago I had a JL 10w6 subwoofer in my car and that would cause pain in one of my ears at high volume, so I'll have to be mindful of that. Don't want to damage my hearing.

[Marco]

So let's get things straight, you have put a competition sub in yer boot, the boot from what i can see is full of lights (no idea why you would put lights somewhere you can't see or don't look) the boot is also unusable to carry anything as the sub has been cleverly put in the floor...hmmmmmm



MID LIFE CRISIS OR WHAT!!!!!!!!!!

You'll be hanging out at the local Sainsburys car park next with yer boot wide open pumpin out the toonz to the pimped up Corsa possie , make sure you pull yer undies up to your navel and your jeans (which must be at least 2 sizes too big) pull them right down so you're barely wearing them

Hahahaha... You're a hoot!!

We've been here before, daftee, so you know the score with the boot. It's got nothing to do with a mid-life crisis either, any more than owning and driving a fast car has... I just like top-notch sounds when I'm out and about, as much as I do with the system in the house, and it takes what I've done to achieve the type of sound I want (and one that would satisfy me)

I'm certainly not interested in entering competitions, although I'd like to demo the car system sometime at one of the hi-fi shows (which is why the lights were fitted, as it looks cool, for display purposes, with the boot open). That would be fun, and likely also get Sean (the installer) some more business, because he's a good guy and top-notch at his job!

Trust me, you'd love how it sounds - it's a total RIOT! I like an adrenaline rush... And so there's nothing more fun than taking the Brabster out on the (near empty) country lanes of North Wales, throwing it round corners, with Metallica pumping out a levels that almost stop your heart from beating!!

Having FUN mate, and enjoying yourself, is what life's all about. Plenty of time for pipes and slippers later (you can give me some recommendations)

Marco.