# Having fun with car audio...



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

You would think getting on up into the middle aged bracket that a man would eventually grow out of some of the things 
that excited him so much in his teens and twenties. Obviously not in my case... nearing 50 and still having fun with this 
ever changing car audio hobby. I got started in car stereo before I was out of high school. In 1977 I was excited to have 
an old hand me down eight track tape player to play my 2 or 3 eight track tapes in my 1972 Gran Torino. In 1980 my dad 
let me inherit the $106 payments on his 1979 Datsun 310 Hatchback. I finally had a cassette tape deck and added an IDI 
EQ/Booster with a pair of Jensen 6 X 9's in custom made boxes. Later I upgraded the headunit to a Kraco. I was jammin'. 
I remember in 1984 I installed an Alpine cassette deck, a 15 inch sub on a piece of plywood mounted behind the rear seat, 
a JVC amp, and a pair of ribbon tweeters from Radio Shack on the dash... all in a 1984 Cavalier. Now I really had some 
thump then.

The years to follow would have me getting rather serious about car stereo and even eventually competing in car stereo 
contest. In 1985 I met a fellow by the name of Walter Barno, a good friend who I stay in contact with to this day. In 1985 
he completely customized a 1984 Chevy Van for us (from just a hull) with a nice customization package along with an 
awesome Nakamichi/Zapco system. He also got us started with our first home stereo system in 1985 with a complete NAD 
system. Walter and CKR are mentioned in our Stereo Review "Systems" article from the August 1996 issue. Walter has been 
with *CKR Automotive* for several years now and works in their Montgomery, Alabama store. We installed an 18 inch 
Kicker competition sub underneath our home in the mid 90's... that thing shook our entire house. Walter and I have worked 
together on our vehicles for a number of years. I managed to place 1st and "Best of Show" in one competition (1988 Nissan 
King Cab in 1988) and placed in several others over the years. Eventually I had to quit the competing as it was getting a 
little on the ridiculous side monetarily. The motorized this and that phase was getting popular and people begin to spend 
upwards of 10 grand on car stereo just to win a few hundred bucks and a plaque or trophy... too much for my blood. Far the 
last 18+ years or so it has been much smaller systems, but always good sound quality and plenty loud enough for me. I 
would say we have put together over a dozen systems in various vehicles throughout the years. 

For the last several years I have done more of the do it yourself installs with help from Rodny Alvarez, also of CKR in 
Montgomery. Rodny does a great job on the more tidious areas that have to be so precisely finished... not to mention he is 
just plain out the brains when it comes to ideas. 

My most recent install is in my Hyundai Sonata. Factory headunits are getting rather advanced these days and the car 
manufacturers are not making it any easier on the diy'er to swap out headunits. I happened to get a navigation unit in this 
Sonata because it was all they had available in the silver four cylinder. It was not until after I purchased the car that I 
realized the headunit was a DVD player as well. Fortunately, car audio manufacturers are coming out with some very 
sophisticated processors that will connect to the factory system and allow the addition of aftermarket amps and speakers. 
I chose the Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.2 so that I could keep my factory headunit and factory look. This headunit has everything 
a man could need anyway... AM/FM and XM Satellite Radio... DVD and CD player along with USB connections for and iPod or 
similar storage device. The large display is really nice and much more that I was expecting initially. 


The ride... an 09 Hyundai Sonata Limited... 









The aftermarket equipment for this install:

Rockford Fosgate 3sixy.2 Processor controlled by a Palm TX Handheld via Bluetooth.
Phoenix Gold Xenon 200.4 (200 watts RMS x 4) actively powering the front stage composed of Dynaudio MW162GT 6.5's for midbass and MD102's for the highs.
Phoenix Gold Xenon 1200.1 (1200 watts RMS x 1) powering a pair of Infinity Kappa Perfect 12VQ 12" subs ported and tuned to 25Hz.

First things first... rip out the insides and prepare for Dynamat Extreme deadening. 

Here is the before...










And the after...










Another before... Taking out the seats, carpet and center console has gotten rather tricky on 
some of these new cars, but a few hidden screws and unexpected snaps later, it all comes out.










And another after... Tedious work to say the least... and very time consuming. I spend a few 
hours here and there over a couple of weeks to get all of this done.










There is lots and lots of Dynamat... a little over 5 bulk packs and 100+ pounds.











Moving on in to the workshop... what mess. There you can see the door baffles that I just 
painted for the Dynaudio MW162GT midbass speakers.










Here's a close up of one baffle. These are simply a couple of pieces of 3/4" birch routed the 
proper size to mount the 6.5" midbass speaker so that the door window will not collide with the 
rear of the speaker.










This is where the baffle will mount. You also see Dynaxorb by Dynamax. I really do not know if 
this works as prescribed, but it supposedly diffuses the door speaker backwaves, which generally 
cause issues with door speakers. They are fairly cheap, so I figured why not.










Rodny has the factory tweeter pods performing surgery to accommodate mounting the Dynaudio 
MD102 tweeters. They will look similar to the factory pods when finished... except obviously a 
little larger. 










Can you believe that the Hyundai dealership wanted $200 for EACH one of these pods? When I 
almost choked on my coffee, the parts manager exclaimed, "They come with the tweeters!" How 
comforting to know. Needless to say, I did not purchase an extra set.










Here is some of the equipment... the two Kappa Perfect's and the Dynaudio door speaker kit.










I have always enjoyed building sub boxes. This one ended up being about 2.7ft^3 net volume 
with dual port tuning to 25Hz. The subs will down fire into the trunk... behind the rear fold down 
seats. Here is the box turned up on its back.







 


Here is a close up of the dual ports. 3.75" x 3.75" x 19.625" each. They fire out the side where 
there is the most air space.










This is the back of the box as seen in the trunk. If possible I will mount the X1200.1 sub amp on 
top of the box and design a beauty panel wall to conceal everything. Otherwise, I will mount the 
amp on the back of the box and install a beauty panel to cover all the wires. 










On the front of the box, behind the rear fold down seats, the X200.4 front stage amp will be 
mounted.


----------



## JBravo (Jun 20, 2007)

How much have you spent to do this "little upgrade"?

How much alone on the dynamat?


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I haven't added it up as of yet... not sure I want to.... :spend:

The sub drivers were pretty cheap through Sonic Electronix online. The Xenon amps came from ebay. The Dynaudio kit came from a fellow that sells through various car audio forums on the cheap. The Dynamat would have broke me had it been retail, but it was only 90 bucks a bulk box of 36 sq.ft. + shipping. I have over $500 in Dynamat Extreme, but that helps with more than just the audio. It really does help a good bit with road noise and vibrations.


----------



## slim2fattycake (Aug 21, 2008)

25hz? Sounds like a good car to watch movies at the drive-in.


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Man... the drive-in. You know... I don't think we have one of those in the state of Alabama anymore.

I listen to a lot of Pink Floyd and Yello... my absolute favorites. Then tend to have more info down that low than most other music.

Of course with a DVD player... I am sure I'll watch some of the really good concert DVDs I have as well... David Gilmour, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, etc.


----------



## JBravo (Jun 20, 2007)

Does that dynamat work well?

I've always wondered if you could take an "economy" car and add dynamat and make it sound as good as a luxury car in regards to quietness like a lexus.


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

It helps some, but it will not give a poorly insulated car that luxury quietness. You could probably take a poorly insulated car and add a couple of layers of Dynamat Extreme and it would help a good bit. They claim for a treated car it will quite the car by 5db... but I am not sure how treated that is. I think only a few people are somewhat OCD about adding it like I did.

In my 06 model Sonata, I only did my doors, rear seat and trunk... it was enough to notice a difference.


----------



## Rodny Alvarez (Apr 25, 2006)

more pics!!!:bigsmile:


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yes indeed... I meant to post them last night and got side-tracked.

Compliments of my good friend Rodny who is doing surgery on my tweeter pods...


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Pretty impresive, Sonnie! I guess you changed your mind since you posted this? The stock system in my Buick is wearing thin on me, too, but frankly I've developed a serious distaste for car stereo work - more specifically the contortions it takes crawling around on my back under the dash or in a trunk. Nothing "fun" about it. Plus these days it's hard to figure out how to get dashes apart and door panels off. I don't know if I'll ever get my a/d/s speakers and Soundstream amp installed... 

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Notice in that thread I stated: "For the first time EVER..." 

heehee.... I suppose it was possibly for the only time.


----------



## kryptonitewhite (Sep 1, 2008)

Very impressive! I'd like to see after the amps are installed


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I have those installed now... still need to tidy up the wiring and then I'll snap some photos.

Here's a before and after of the door speaker branding...

Before:









After:


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

We are almost finished. It is installed and working very well. 

Rodny finished up the tweeter pods and did a splendid job... :T










I'll get a pic of those installed as well.


Front stage amp is installed and actively powering the front door speakers.




















Sub amp installed on top of the sub box along with the 3sixty.2 processor ... all of this will be 
covered with a custom beauty panel. I will snap shots of it later.











And the battery is installed and everything connected...











The front stage is wonderful... very smooth and clean... an extremely wide sound stage with 
excellent imaging. Mid bass is just right.


----------



## Natas (Nov 22, 2008)

Very nice system!! :T


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The sub bass at first was somewhat muddy sounding... like it was growling at me. :yikes: 
I ended up plugging the ports and twa-la... the bass seemed to tighten up and smooth out. 
After some tweaking... we got it sounding very good when I was CKR. Admittedly I knew there was still some tweaking to be done.

Went back and did even more tweaking with REW today... this time I got as picky as I could get and spent some 2+ hours working on it. A parametric eq sure would be nice for that bass response, but I did get it sounding very good. The entire system is very very close right now. The only way to get it any closer would be to add a peq.

Here is the difference between the other day and today...











Here is a closeup of the sub before (unequalized today) and after (equalized today)...











Here's a closeup of the sub + midbass driver before and after...











Here is a full resolution shot of the sealed vs ported...

Green = unequalized
Red = sealed equalized
Gold = ported equalized


----------



## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

Did you leave the ports plugged?


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yup... sounds much mo betta that way.


----------



## Natas (Nov 22, 2008)

sealed > ported :T


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Quite a severe ramp-up on the bottom end. Is that what it needs to sound balanced?

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yeah... it really is. I tried cutting the bass back, took a measurement (did not keep it) with the bass at about where you see the red line...










I could hardly tell the subs were even on. I guess it has to do with the cabin of the car and our perception of sound... (I really do not know... just guessing :huh: ) 

That green line is supposedly what I understand to be ideal for a car. 30Hz should be up about 30db. I had a charted response that a fellow from Cohen's Electronics gave me once. I told Rodny about it and he says that guy still works there. Rodny may have called him... or maybe he spoke with someone at one of the manufacturers, but I think he got the suggested car curve and was going to make a car curve text file for REW. I asked him about it the other day and now I cannot remember what he told me. I will try to get him to chime in.

I know this much... flat in a car would run you out of it. It would be so bright it would hurt your ears.


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Wayne and Rodny... you both will remember sitting where my car is parked. You can see scars of where the home theater room was located.











Here's the installed shot of the tweeters in the custom pods that Rodny built...


----------



## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Sonnie said:


> Yeah... it really is. I tried cutting the bass back, took a measurement (did not keep it) with the bass at about where you see the red line...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Well, your graph is really giving a big support to a couple of my theories from my house curve article: Small rooms need stiff curves, and most systems actully have a full-range house curve. Yours looks like it starts at about 1000 Hz... 



> Wayne and Rodny... you both will remember sitting where my car is parked. You can see scars of where the home theater room was located.


Yup - I'll never forget that awesome bass. And that was before the IB or the bohemouth (sp). I guess it's all in the car now, huh? I guess I'll have to drive out and see that now... 

Regards,
Wayne


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

What are you waiting for... get in your car and come on. We'll take a ride my my car and cruise up to Rodny's house... then you can hear his SLLT's. :hsd:


----------



## BrianAbington (Mar 19, 2008)

looks nice. I'm still pretty heavily involved in car audio.

Were did you get that deal on the dynamat?
could you pm me because I need a bunch for my car.


----------



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Thanks!

I don't mind pointing you right to it... ebay!

I don't see the same guy I got mine from out of Florida. He was charging about $91 + $30 shipping for the first box + $20 shipping for each additional box.


----------

