thanks for the tips guys...

i picked up some 1/2" MDF and cut it to size for my trunk floor...now everything is sitting level.

i'll be constructing the pressure fitted board in the next few weeks with the remainder of MDF i purchased.

anybody know where i can find some black carpet to wrap it in?

 

if you have a Michaels craft store I would go there.
if not, eBay might be your best bet if you can wait a few days.

 

I believe Home Depot has it...

 

Hahah thanks for the shout out. One thing I would change with my panel is that I would maybe spend more time finding a carpet to better match the stock panelling. That picture makes it seem much more contrasted than it really is but it still annoys me.

 

PS the easiest way to make the panel is to take a piece of chalk and mark where its going to be resting. Then use cardboard to find the shapes of each corner. Thats going to be the most time consuming but then just take the MDF for the panel and make that first cut. A scroll saw/ jigsaw would do the trick. A dremel is also going to be helpful the get the exact shape. If anything, make it bigger than its supposed to be because you can always just push it in more and that will help keep it sturdy.

 

I still have a bunch from my sub box wrapping adventure.

 

thanks

thanks

good ideas, thank you for the advice. i'll be starting this pretty soon.

you the man dave! it'll be a fairly large area, pretty much the same as that picture i posted on page 2...think you have enough to spare?

 

Ahh, I brings back memories of my system build. Here's a tip to get a good pattern of those pesky curved edges and corners.

I cut a bunch of cardboard slats (cereal box any thin cardboard will do) then used a larger piece of thicker cardboard for the main surface area. Cut and place the bigger piece close or as close to the edges, then align the slats evenly along the curved area. Tape or hot glue the slats in place. You can use this method to do the trunk floor, false wall. When you finish doing it you'll have an exact pattern. Take it trace it on the MDF take a jig saw and go to town. I snapped a few pics of what I'm talking about.


You'll take your time and align it better than I did for this pic. I used a small hot glue gun to secure the slats and make my pattern.


For larger straight edges I used bigger pieces.


Sometimes you just need to shave off a little area. Get one of these (half rounded rasp wood file) if you don't already have one. It will make short work of the MDF.

Have fun.

 

thank you! pictures really do help me a lot...now i have an idea on how to get this thing rollin'

select. copy. print selected area. check

 

I'll check it tonight, but its a pretty large piece. Besides, you only need to do one side, right?

 

^yeah just the one side...good point.

i want to incorporate some CF dinoc in there too somewhere...

 

You can do something along the lines of how I have it with the J and the L from their logos on the panel but instead of using speaker mesh, get a piece of plexi glass for the cut outs and wrap it in the CF. You can even get creative by leaving some plexi glass exposed and wiring up an LED in a color of your choosing back there. Tap into the trunk light so it turns on when you open it and you're good to go!

 

^great ideas!

alright guys, another question...the age old question...

which way should i face the subwoofer? towards the rear of the car or towards the front?

right now i have it facing towards the front and i like it...but just wanted some input from others as to why it should/shouldn't be facing a particular direction.

thanks!

 

Haha this question was covered not too long ago on DIYMA. There's a web-page out there somewhere where the guy figured out that the box close to the trunk lid and facing the rear of the car worked best but I dunno about that. Personally I'm not sure if it makes a large difference but I can tell a slight difference in punchiness. I have mine facing the cabin with the ski-pass open (I still locate the subs most of the time though). When I turned them around and faced the trunk lid and closed the ski-pass, they were harder to locate but I lost that hard punch for rock and felt like the overall db's went down in the cabin. If I want to use the trunk for stuff, I'd rather have them facing away from potential hazards (aka facing cabin)


Hows the system coming along??

 

^good deal. i like it facing the cabin (me). i like looking back there when the ski pass is opening and seeing it BOOM

everything is coming along nicely. i'll be doing the front components/2nd amp/wiring this sunday and afterwards will be constructing the pressure fitted wall. picked up some MDF and now i just need to trim everything down to size and wrap it up in something. either black carpet/CF cloth/whatever.

looking forward to this weekend

 

If sealed... then, I like them facing forward if up by the rear seats... sideways if it is in the rear corner. If I point them backwards, then they sound like they are in 2 boxes to me and the box keeps a fair amount of the sound from getting into the cabin.

 

does anybody have any input/advice on installing the front components, 2nd amp, and audiocontrol matrix line driver? i know i'll have to deal with the OEM amp at some point.

i'm kind'of going at this blind so if anyone has any words of wisdom it's much appreciated.

 

If the matrix can handle a balanced signal, then skip the stock amp and take the output from the HU. If the amp that you choose can handle a balanced signal, then you don't even need the matrix.

Just leave the stock amp there for the channels left stock (center and rears).

 

ugh...i'm in way over my head.

don't i need to splice the speaker wire for the front components WITH my stock amp/and aftermarket JL 300/2 amp?...or something like that?

i sure hope dave (dwb993) has a clearer head than i do with all this lol...sorry dave! ...we'll figure it out man!

 

The slash amp is good to go.

Take some RCA cables and cut the ends off and prep the wires for splicing/connecting - the center is the + and the outside is the -. Cut the pre-amp wires coming out of the HU just before the amp. Wire those pre-amp wires to the cut off ends of the RCAs. Plug those RCAs into the slash amp. Switch the input mode of the slash amp to "low." Good to go with signal.

Run new wire from the 300/2 to the new speakers - don't use the stock wire. Just unhook the stock speakers and leave the connectors laying there.

I had a 450/4 and 300/4 and this is exactly how I did it. No need for a line driver with the slash amp.

 

I hope you're right. I'm getting ready to change mine up possibly with the sub signal coming from the HU straight to the HD900/5 (bypassing the MS8) and I think it accepts the low level signals just like the Slashes do.

 

wow...interesting. thanks for that informative post.

why the hell did i buy this line driver?

anyway, another question if i may...

i currently have the JL 500/1 and JL 12w6 hooked up. tapped the 12w6 into the factory sub harness and called it a day.

will i need to change that setup once i install the front components and 2nd amp? something about going PRE amp or POST amp?

hope that makes sense...

 

I have anecdotal experiences that the post-amp sub signal falls off like 3-6 db per octave leaving the stock post-amp signal weak in the lower end.

You can leave it just the way that it is - it will work just fine.

However, I think that you might like the low end better if you take the signal pre-amp where it is very flat throughout the signal range. The w6 is beyond capable of hearing the difference. You can use the same technique with the 500/1 that you do with the 300/2 - just direct wire some RCAs and switch the input to low. You are already running wires anyway...

 

^so i SHOULD switch up my sub wiring? i should go pre-amp? how exactly do i do this? <-again, sorry for the 'tard questions...i'm new at all this and i appreciate the help you're giving me.

what would you do?

also, just to confirm...this matrix line driver is of ZERO use to me right? i don't need this for anything? it won't improve anything or make life easier?

 

Yeah I would do pre-amp as the signal wont be crossed first of all (more user friendly for tuning) and it's flatter from what I hear

The matrix can act to make the balanced signal unbalanced, but the JL amp already does that I guess. So the only thing would be to make the signal stronger to keep the level matching/gain down. Not sure how beneficial this would be but it seems like it's be nice to have it lower rather that all the way up due to our .2v pre-amp signal

 

ok so i'll go pre-amp...how do i do this?

right now the jl12w6 is tapped into the OEM sub harness. i need to change this now, correct?

and i should get rid of the matrix?

 

Mission complete?


<3.

 

A good line driver can be of some use. If the amp has a high noise floor, boosting the signal pre-amp and using less gain on the amp can get rid of some noise. I'm using one right now with it barely boosting.

 

^thanks for the input, matt.

i just don't know what to do...i obviously want to utilize everything that i bought if it will in the end, make for a better sounding system.

just a lot of conflicting ideas being thrown around and idk which route to go with.

maybe i'll keep the matrix out of the equation and just install everything as is, if it sounds rough...i'll incorporate the line driver.

how do i go pre-amp tho? i have to change the sub set up i currently have right? it's just connected to the OEM harness right now. quick n dirty.

 

Not conflicting ideas, just whether or not to use the Matrix. It might help..it might not. I say you're on the right track with trying it without and if you're happy...then sell it and use that money for gas. If it's racking your brain that you might get less noise or whatever...then tie it in (should be easy to do later on if you'd want to do this) and see if the difference is big enough to you to keep it



As far as wiring to pre-amp, you'll just wire speaker wire (crimp or solder) and run the FL/FR & Sub+/Sub- to the trunk or wherever your amps will be. I'm not sure how the JL amps are, but I would assume you just wire on RCA's, connect to amp and switch input on the amps to LOW. Color codes for wiring can be found on the site and also in my build thread I think.

If using the matrix, you'll just unplug the RCA's from the amps and take those into the Matrix. Purchase 2 more sets of RCA's to run from the Matrix to the Amps and there ya go. change input on the amp also...

 

I think that's the best route. Install the system without it and use it if you decide you need it.

One reason I kept mine in the system is you can tie speaker wire right into it without having to make up RCAs. While it's not a big deal to make the RCAs, I already had the line driver installed so it was an easy choice.

 

I like that idea---install without and see what you get.
See guys, Aaron has a habit of buying first, then worrying about getting time with Dave to install it. I saw that Matrix and realized I would be cutting all those wires and said, "Oh shit!"
The sub box hits fine----even when we had not disconnected the noise cancelling mic it sounded awesome to me. I think the components he has will be just as awesome sounding, especially on the JL amp.
BTW, I have one of uncald4's new PnP amps coming. I'll post up my results when I get it installed. I think it will make a huge difference, especially if the mini amp idea he has works out to keep my navi.

 

I might have led him onto the Matrix w/o even thinking about the JL amp taking a balanced signal straight into it. So I'll take some of the credit for that. I still say it would help lighten the load but it's up to Aaron.

 

I'm not quite sure I understand the confusion. What is wrong with the LOC? I can assure you it works excellent and passes through a very nice signal. Splicing RCA's straight into your speaker wire will work but why go through the hassle if the LOC isn't holding the system back?

Also, does our ignition wire behind the stock HU feed an underpowered signal? I thought I read about that somewhere. If that's the case then why not tap right into the ignition?

I apologize if I'm missing something, just want to get my learn on. lol

Also, as far as the line driver I would definitely leave that out of the equation initially. If you have trouble getting your sound quality where you want it after everything's settled in then that might be something to think about at that point.

The least amount of confusion and variables FTW.

One last thing, Aaron, if it matters at all I had the LOC tapped into the Volvo AFTER the stock amplifier. The stock amplifier was 50x4 and powered 8 stock speakers FWIW. If I recall the LOC is for ~20 watts? Something close to there....

 

thanks guys. sounds like that's what i'll end up doing FIRST...and then go from there if i run into any problems.

yeah your face was priceless when you saw the matrix. gave me one of those "wtf" looks...



no problem man, i hope that i actually do have a use for it!


idk aaron, something about going pre-amp or post-amp and experiencing hissing/unbalanced loads/etc...

this is all trial and error at this point but i'm looking forward to nailing it down.

come by if you can!

 

alright so dave and i got started on the front components yesterday and hit a brick wall. i'm gonna wait for him to chime in and explain what the problem was...but as i understand it, we had an issue with drilling through the door frame to house the baffles and speakers.

so...we had to push the install back until we get more opinions/tips/advice from you all on how to rectify this.

he'll probably be able to explain it better than i can.

 

Drill a hole in the molex connector in the door. You can get wires into holes in opposite corners once drilled.

 

that's it? that's all there is to do? can you elaborate/humor me a little more?

why didn't we think of that...?

 

Getting the wire(s) up the boot from the door to the dash is the hardest part. Don't use a coathanger or anything that can rip/puncture the existing wires.

Your hands will be soft for weeks with all of the dielectric grease that you will get on them.

 

Basically, I chickened out. I felt like I was way over my head.
So, the MDF rings would not fit the speakers, so I trimmed them down as best I could until the speaker sat flush. I still had clearance issues in the door, so I trimmed some metal out to get the whole thing (MDF + speaker) to fit flush. I went to attach the MDF to the door and I could not make a hole in the metal to save my life. Whats the best screw/drillbit/whatever to use?
As far as the amp, We arent sure of the best place for it---under the front seat? In the trunk? I think Aaron just needs to figure out what he wants to do ultimately. I mean, if he is going for appearance as well as sound, he will want it in the trunk with plexiglass and LEDs and such, right?
Also, wiring the amp---Im still unsure of what to do to pickup a clean signal. Do I cut the wires pre-oem amp and extend them to the new amps? Are there any pre-built harnesses I can use to accomplish this?
As you can tell, I may be way out of my league with what Aaron wants to accomplish.