In for da boom!
Well. No boom. Except for hopes and dreams going boom. Little setback. Or big one. Depends. Debated on posting this, but what the heck, someone else could learn from it.
Soooo... on a hunch... took it upon myself to try using another form of media for template making:
Definitely helped get way closer to final sizing:
And, bam! Here we go:
Easy peezy! Now we just make a mirror copy, cut two triangles, and a big ole rectangle that should be 12.5" high by 28.5" long
It's not. Now it's only 11" high? What the what? I measured this so many times, why isn't it lining up? Because I was measuring from the trunk.
Let me say it again.
Measuring.
From.
The trunk.
And this baffle, is on the cabin side. NOT, the trunk side.
Ahhh, well. Whatever. Pretty sure it can be salvaged by just moving the baffle back a bit, almost creating a, "Z" like structure. No worries.
Can we fix it, yes we can!!!
Are you not entertained?!?!
Are you now a believer in CAD (cardboard aided design)?
They might say "don't try this at home" but nothing about not trying it at your friend's house.
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Welp. That might have been a complete waste. We shall see.
Decided to head in a completely different direction. Though it is a direction that will have a higher chance of being installed for once!
Equipment list is now:
Kicker Q-Class QS 6375" components
Kicker Q-Class Comp-Q 12" dual 2-ohm Subwoofer
Kicker CX360.4 amplifier
Kicker CX1200.1 amplifier
Planning to wire the sub at 4-ohms to keep the CX1200.1 from pulling a lot of current. Should help it blend better with the component set too. Also wanting to use the passive crossovers, but take advantage of the bi-amp capabilities they offer. The Alpine has a basic EQ, but does offer time alignment on each channel, so can still tune the setup a little bit once installed.
The QSS674 components already arrived, still waiting on everything else:
These some beefy mids:
The tweeters are actually larger than I thought. Hoped to mount in the A-pillars, but may have to go into the upper portion of the door panels near the handles/window switches.
Also grabbed a set of the Metra door adapters to use and modify a bit:
Hopefully some more updates will be arriving soon!
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This was a good decision
Last edited by SublimeZ; 03-29-2023 at 05:02 PM.
Wanted to ask some opinions on a few things if anyone would like to chime in with their advice and experience.
This is the area on the door panels I am thinking of mounting the tweeters. Only the driver's side has a vent in it, the passenger side does not. But it is a very similar shape, with the same angle at the top side near the window:
The location is approximately 10-12 inches below ear height. I measured from the center of my nose, head all the way back against the headrest, and got 31 inches to the driver's side spot, and 49 inches to the passenger side. Mids in the factory locations down bottom would be 36" to the driver's side, 51 inches to the passenger side:
A-pillars, while having a flat spot towards the dash side, also have a defrost vent in them, and still aren't wide enough for these tweeters to mount using the included hardware. Would require some custom fabrication to fit them. The only other flat spot on the pillars is towards the top, and aims towards the windshield.
What about subwoofer spot? Logic is telling me that having it as far back, in that rear well or cubby would offer more distance for better response. But continuing with a baffle to seal up the trunk would reduce interior cabin noise. And there is still room to build and enclosure there on that, "shelf" behind the seats.
Thoughts? I-dears? Oh-pin-yuns?
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So that ^^^ not so great. Can't believe how many Vette owners on the forums recommended that spot and all seem to use it. Some even just mount the tweeters right into the handle, "cup" and fire them through the handle. Pass. That was not an ideal location at all in my opinion.
This is the test rig I used yesterday to play around. Don't judge me! Didn't feel like ripping the dash apart, so I just used some old wiring and the Alpine iDA-X305S that was in the car originally for quick listening:
Moved the tweeters up to the dash, right at the base of the pillars - this was better. But still, "shouty" - not sure the best word to describe it. Just, in your face. Not that great either. Tried moving them up, up higher, up highest to the visor, just all over. Was not getting the sound I'm looking for. Even went back to the doors to compare, and while the shouty went away, they are just super bright near the handle and didn't image as good. Wasn't bad, but had this, "rainbow" arc to them from left to right. And did I mention they were bright? Like, bright bright. Like caught in the deadlights bright. Anyways, back up to the dash, and then I pushed them back to the windshield.
Whoa.
Like, whoa.
Like, lights from heaven raining down and angels in harmony whoa. It was, incredible. I've not heard anything like this, in any of my previous half-azz installs. This was the sweet spot:
Now to make that happen somehow. Oh, this was the test sub - Pioneer Stage 4 TS-W252PRS 10" in a ported enclosure. If anyone has been curious about these, do it. This mamma jamma was IMPRESSIVE:
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So this is where I hoped to mount the amps, one amp, one crossover behind each seat:
Yeah, no. The seats touch them. Crap. Oh well. May have to move those up onto that tray area. They arrived Friday:
Good build quality. Solid, terminals have a nice heft to them. Don't twist or wiggle when you're tightening. The knobs felt solid too when adjusting. Should work good.
Second camera arrived Friday too - now we can have front and rear visibility for more safety:
And guess what arrived yesterday, in the middle of those listening tests:
Kinda plain though:
But, dadgum check out this motor:
Baby got back:
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