TheTodd’s 2008 Malibu (re)build thread

I got a little more progress made over the last week. They’re beginning to take shape...

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I have to coach my kid’s baseball team in a tournament next weekend so the previously mentioned glass/detail weekend will be 4/3. Until then I’ll make some slow progress on getting the new head unit in. The only dash kits available for my car are black or silver. Unfortunately my dash is more gray. I managed to find paint that’s a VERY close match when I put my current unit in so I ordered the black kit from Crutchfield along with the deck and did a little paint work. It probably won’t even be visible with the floating 10” display but I’ll know so it got painted anyway.

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Hopefully I can get some wiring done this week and with some luck get it in before too long. It’s really not helping much that I’m revamping the install in my Corvette too. Ugh! Too much stuff to do and so little time.
 
Aaaand.....

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It’s IN!! All I can say is WOW! It’s a BIG improvement over my previous Excelon. I don’t know whether it’s the difference in Excelon to Excelon Reference or the 3 or 4 year difference in production but sonically it’s on a whole new level. I had a few apprehensions with dropping $1200 but it was WELL worth it. Now I just need to get the new pillars done. The other plus would be the load time of my USB drive. I have about 3000 songs or so and the 395 would take about 30-45 seconds to start playing at turn on and this thing loads & plays almost instantly.
 
Beautiful weather today so I got some work done. I had been running the OEM woofers in the doors before because the PPI drivers were a tad too deep and were hitting the window. After some more careful measurements and some new, taller mounting brackets I could make them fit especially if I used a couple layers of Kilmat to help seal & space them. So I started the attack...

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I tore the crap out of my hands as you can see the blood all over the speaker bracket. While I was in there I put a layer of Kilmat on the exterior door skin even though they never really seemed to need it. The inside got done as well as the inside surface of the door panel.

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Of course it can’t ALL go smoothly... apparently the PPI drivers are THAT much bigger than the OEMs that the long-ass trunk release button won’t go all the way back in the door panel.

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So now the search is on for a new switch that’ll actually fit. The search is also on for some new amps... I managed to find some Series VIiI Hifonics amps that I’ve always wanted and after hearing one in my Corvette I’m trying to find a few more to put in this car. So far I have a Gemini (50x4) and next week I’m picking up a Thor (400x1 bridged for the sub). So now I’m on the hunt for either an Odin (75x2) or another Thor (125x2) for the woofers. This should get interesting. Until next time...
 
I got the first layer of fiberglass done today, then decided to work on my corvette a bit while that dried. Then, while in the middle of THAT, our washer broke so today’s activities came to a halt so I can buy a new washer. A pic of what I got done... aka not much:

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Another small update... My new trunk release button came. It was oddly difficult to find a momentary switch with the dimensions to fit and NOT be chrome. So chrome it is. It’s not hideous but I’m not thrilled with it... but it DOES work so there’s that.

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Now the dilemma on what to cover the pillars with... the same headliner material as my previous ones or maybe a dark brown suede... 🤔
 
All done and in...

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They’re a HUGE improvement sonically over the last ones. Cosmetically, well, I’m not going to win any installer of the year awards but I’m ok with how they look. It bothers my OCD a bit that they’re not symmetrical but these were the angles that sounded best and they’re really not THAT different. Now it just needs a good thorough tuning session and she’ll be all done.
 
I’m baaaaack. I’ve been casually window shopping for some new amps lately. Not that I NEED new ones but if anyone else understands this particular situation it would be you guys. So I was looking at possibly some JL XDs… a 600/6 for the fronts and a 600/1 for the sub or possibly the Alpine 6ch R series with their matching mono. Then I started thinking about a set of JL HDs (900/5 & 600/4) but even used they’re bringing some crazy money. The difficult part of my setup is that the sub is D2 and with it being IB I didn’t want much more than about 500w. I have about 450 on it now and it’s perfect, so finding an amp to do 450-500 @ 4ohms is somewhat limited. Luckily Ian (naiku) just managed to get some new SI amps and I quite literally pounced on his dual Alpine setup. So we struck a deal and I now have what I think are perfect amps for a very reasonable price. I will run the PDX-F4 at 100x4 to the mids & tweeters and the PDX-V9 will run 200x2 & 500x1 to the sub. My current setup is roughly 140x6 to the fronts and 450 to the sub so powerwise it’s not too far off but I’m betting on the quality of the Alpines to be better than the current Soundstreams.

Also when I originally installed this setup I (shamefully) cheaped out and used CCA power & ground wire. Even though it’s going to be a MAJOR pain (the firewall is a HUGE hassle to navigate in this car) I decided it was in my best interest to also redo that with new OFC wire. So… while I was spending money I figured I’d get a new distro block and a crap load of flex loom as well.

Pic for fun…
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So as soon as temps get a little warmer I’ll get started rebuilding a new amp rack. I also can’t decide on whether I want to wait until after Jason’s meet or not. I want the new stuff in but I REALLY want to get some input on my current setup to see if I’m on the right track being that I tuned it myself completely by ear. I think I’m close.

I also have a buddy of mine trying to see if he can get me a TWQ-88 from JL. He used to work there so he’s trying to see if he can score me a deal. If he can that’ll be one more thing to add in so I don’t want to go building things and then have to redo things for THAT. So it’ll be a little bit yet before any progress is made but I thought I’d provide the update as I’m kinda excited for some new toys.
 
TheTodd said:
Not that I NEED new ones but if anyone else understands this particular situation it would be you guys.
Click to expand...

Yes. Haha. I did not need new amps, but here we are!! Have fun running new power wire, as I said when I dropped the amps off, I hated every second of doing that in the Volvo, if you have some spare time before Jason's meet and want to get together, shoot me a text, but also, get the new stuff installed :-D
 
Got a little work done today. Couldn’t get too into it since the temps didn’t get above 45 until noon-ish and it’s date night so I needed something I could get done in minimal time. Yet one more thing that should’ve been done from the get-go but I got lazy and all was good so I never bothered.

I’ll call it the big 2. I didn’t see a need to upgrade the battery to the engine as it was already substantial from the factory… it looks like 4ga so I left that one out. This was also my first time working with the braided loom so THAT was a learning experience.

Battery to chassis
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Battery to the alternator
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It kind of boogered up the loom a bit but I managed to squeeze it into the OEM boot
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And she’s all buttoned back up
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I’ll be redoing the mount for the circuit breaker next and make an attempt to run the new power cable. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70s so hopefully the rain will hold off long enough I can get more done. As previously stated the power wire is gonna be a PAIN as the firewall is actually 2 different layers. From the passenger compartment there’s a 13/16” hole, then about a 1 to 1-1/2” gap then another hole but the second hole is slightly offset from the other. I’m planning on attaching my 3’ zip tie to the end of the current power wire, pulling it through but not all the way, then taping it to my new wire and pulling it back through. And, of course, everything ALWAYS goes according to plan.

I now have a design in mind for the new amp rack so if the rain holds off I’ll get some new pieces cut. Until next time…
 
It doesn’t really seem like much but I managed to get the new power wire run (I already mentioned how much of a PITA it is) so that took me most of the day. I also redid the mount for the circuit breaker. Because of the way it was mounted before, the in/out were basically on the wrong sides which meant a bit of a cluster as the wire was doubled back on itself on both sides. While I like the fact that it sort of disappeared the way it was I like the more direct wire routing more and if the car ever needs serviced it’s a little more obvious to anyone that it should be disconnected.

I’m a little angry, though, that once I removed the old power wire I noticed it was in fact OFC. So it didn’t REALLY need replaced. Meh… too late now. I’m definitely NOT doing THAT again.

New mount/wiring

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I also got the mounting plates cut for the amps. They’re just a smidge smaller than the amps themselves as I’m planning to make floating mounts back-lit with LEDs. As long as temps stay up I should get more done next weekend.

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Well, temps got into the 50s this but it rained all weekend so I got very little done… again. I did manage to mount the remote for the TWK today in a small storage pocket to the left of the steering wheel.

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Not sure why they’re posting sideways. I even rotated them and tried again and they still come up sideways. Anywho… you get the idea.
 
I should be getting all the new gear installed Monday. I’m meeting up with an old friend who’s a decent at fab work and utilizing his garage & skills.

It also looks like my LF midbass is leaving this world so I’ll see if I can throw something in there to get me by until after the NC meet. I’m planning to listen to as many different speakers as possible but I guess I need to decide whether to replace just the door woofers or get a whole new front stage. I have a few in mind if I get all new but I’m definitely not rushing into anything and am very open minded to new ideas.
 
Woofer is definitely toast. This is the first time I’ve ever blown up a speaker. I pulled it out and discovered it had some rust on the terminal.

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So I cleaned er all up and it seemed to work just fine. Then on the way to and from work today… nothing. So I disassembled yet again. I figured I’d solder the wires onto the tabs the tinsel leads are soldered to. I tested it again before adding solder and… nothing still. Push on the cone a bit and it plays, release cone… nothing. So it appears I have a dead spot on the coil.

So I broke out a pair of Dayton Classics I’ve had laying around.

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And we’re back up and running until I decide on my new speakers.

If anyone is actually following this and has ANY input as far as possible replacements, these are the sets I’m currently looking further into:

(In order of retail price high to low)
- Focal Flax 3-way - At $1000 this would be a BIG stretch to the budget but doable if worth it
- Stereo Integrity TM65/M3/M25 - $880 I’d rather do these than Flax unless Flax are worth the extra $$
- AudioFrog GS 60/25/10 - $870 and on the top of my budget (just wish I could afford the GB)
- Alpine Type X 2-way set with added 3” mid - $850
- Morel Virtus 603 - $800 I really like the looks of this set
- Focal Performance 3-way set - $550 I’ve heard these are similar to the PolyGlass which I’ve had & liked

If anyone has an option that I haven’t mentioned please fill me in. I’m open to try just about anything, but I’m fairly firm in wanting a 3-way. It’s also tough because I have just under 2.75” for woofer depth in my door so I’m somewhat limited for midbasses. If I replace just the woofers the SI & Audiofrog are the top of my list.

Enough rambling… hopefully my next post will be of my new amp/DSP install.
 
I'm hearing REALLY good things about those Alpine Type-X - considering a possible upgrade for myself to those in the future.
 
So I’m not thrilled with the way they’re mounted but I wanted to at least document that progress is being made…

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The day ran too long and I needed it to be operational for the 1hr drive home so there’s a LOT of temporary in this one photo. More work is scheduled for this weekend. The Twk is just propped up & stuck to the sub magnet so it doesn’t flop around but that will lay flat when done. The wires will need a good tidy-up but that’ll wait for a likely different amp mount. I used heavy duty wall-mount speaker brackets for the amps mostly because of their adjustability. This way I could mount everything and then tilt/swivel to get the look just right… however they definitely weren’t meant for the constant vibration of a car and you can see in the picture they tend to droop down on the right no matter how many times I’ve tightened them.

I ran into another issue, which is why the day ran too long, and that is the amp configuration and sound. The sound of the Alpine/JL combo is fantastic! However, no matter what we did we could not get a solid center like I had with the Soundstream/Dayton. It is VERY left biased. I’m using the 5ch to run the sub + midbasses bridged because it allowed me to run/bridge into 2 channels using the selector switch and not Y cables. Problem… because Ch1 also feeds Ch3, and 2-4, the two midbasses are tied together internally. So I’m trying to delay Ch1 only (1/2 of L woofer signal) and it’s also delaying Ch3 (1/2 of R woofer signal) without delaying 2&4, the OTHER half of each speaker. I believe this is what’s dragging the image to the left, because I can’t truly delay the L woofer. The amp also gets REALLY hot REALLY quickly so new RCA cables are on the way with Y cables.

In addition to changing the mounts we’re going to do a small re-wire. Since they’re essentially the same power output (not counting the sub channel) the 5ch will now run 2 channels to R mid/tweet, one channel bridged to R door woofer and also sub. The 4ch will now do the same 2ch to L mid/tweet & one bridged to door woofer. This should give me true L/R separation.

Here’s hoping this weekend is a productive one. Updates to follow.
 
Oh yeah… also… these Dayton woofers are no joke for a $25 speaker. I may not have good staging/imaging yet but tonally… this car sounds REALLY good. My opinion, but, it IS my car so my opinion counts. :D
 
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