# A very simple TL install that sounds pretty good :)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

just finished with the second 4th gen acura TL install...and the car sounds pretty darn good  and not just by my standards, but by our own SQ tuner Dingaling who helped to tune the car 

the goals:

1. cleany and stealthy install/.

2. budget is made mostly for good sq, intead of flashy or showy.

so, lets get started...

before i begin, i want to say a word about tweeter location. The stock tweeter location on the TL is at the far corners of the dash, aiming straight up into the windshield. For the longest time, i would never consider this kind of location due to the window reflections. A few guys have told me that this location, for some reason, works well in the TL, i wasnt convinced...then i had a change to listen to Kirk's TL at the zapco booth at CES, and was quite surprised by what i heard...so i decided to give it a shot.


the stock headunit is retained, as again, its one of those rare occassions where stock works, when you tap the signal before hte stock amp, it is very much flat and clean...this is the reason also that i chose to run Zapco DC reference amps, for their on board tuning ability.

here is hte stock headunit, i ran the ipod adapter and the USB cable for Zapco DC tuning into the upper pocket:










here is the tuning mode when the laptop is plugged in, each individual channel have full EQ, TA, xover and other controls, right at your finger tips 










a set of Seas reference 6.5" two way components make up the front stage. the midbass is located in the stock lower door, with the opening cut bigger to fit the driver via spacer, and the entire door dampened:



















and here are hte tweeters sunk into the stock grille in the stock location:





































usually, what most people do is just to cut a hole in the stock grille and sink the new tweeter in, but i didnt like the fact that you can clearly see this is the fact, meaning the stock grille, full of holes, looks exactly like a grille thts been cut, so i glassed in the holes and painted it with texture coat, so it looks more like a tweeter mount:



















the rear deck sub and speakres were removed and the rear deck dampened:










moving on to the trunk, again, its a very simple install. a new fake center floor section was built, trimmed in carpet, and a wickedcas acura TL box, trimmed in the same carpet is on the driver side. we are waiting for the grille to come so dont fret about that  i made a flush mount ring trimmed in white suede to go around the sub. the entire floor is still usable and nothing can be seen










pull up the top cover and you see the amps, a zapco DC reference 1000.4 sends 100 watts to each mid and tweeter, while a DC 500.1 poewrs the IDQ10v3 with 500 watts...just a very basic amp rack trimmed in white suede:




























so thats it for hte install...and like i said, it exceeded even my own expectations on how it would sound.

here are some random build up pics:

the subbox trimming and ring




























the battery wiring and Circuit breaker










the amp wiring:


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## doitor (Aug 16, 2007)

Very nice.
Extremely clean and simple.
Like it a lot.


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## Bollwerk (Jul 25, 2007)

Nice work. I'm glad I was able to listen to it when I was down there. I look forward to having my Maxima done. =)

I still have a hard time believing how amazing this car sounded. My car sounds vastly inferior now. =/


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Measurements for Seas Neos in same car and location.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12077


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

cool...wish i saw that first ehe
b


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## Thumper26 (Sep 23, 2005)

wow, that install is amazing. i love how simple, clean, and STOCK everything looks. the white suede is a nice accent as well! it looks really good, and makes things look really professional. i would have never thought to try something that contrasting. very nice job!

dammit, now you make me want to put my tweeters in their stock locations on my accord!


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

looks like u lived up to ur name with this install ....nice work


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## Tonyguy (Nov 15, 2007)

damn is this clean. I love it. I wouldn't change a thing.


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## aeon (Oct 11, 2007)

hmm, pics aren't working for me for some reason.


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## GeoffB (Feb 3, 2007)

Thats the type of system i like the look of.


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## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

2 questions...
Would you happened to have a mold of those tweeter rings and secondly what carpet did use, that's an exact match. That car looks exactly how I want mine to look. Very Clean!


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## Fran82 (Jul 30, 2007)

aeon said:


> hmm, pics aren't working for me for some reason.


x2


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## unpredictableacts (Aug 16, 2006)

Fran82 said:


> x2


X3?


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Looking good Bing. Are you coming out to the Bay Area meet at Treasure Island in April? If so, I'd like to pick your brain about a few things there. And get a chance to listen to your Suby hopefully.

Zach


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## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

Pics were there now they're gone???


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## sleepybrown (Jun 23, 2007)

Another very nice install!! 

Yes the stock locations in the Acura TL work very well. Kirk car is absolutely amazing. And is a great car to listen to for all the people that say stock locations don't work!

Two Questions for you.....

Do you have any connection problems with the USB cable with your amp?

If not, how did you secure the computer cable to the amp before you ran it through the car?


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## chongl (Jan 8, 2008)

Wow...that is a very nice install! When you tapped the factory HU, do you take the high level outputs or do they have RCA outs?


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## unpredictableacts (Aug 16, 2006)

SI there another site that this install was posted by chance? the pics are not showing up for me.


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## d5sc (Aug 14, 2007)

Hey Bing,

That's a very nice and clean install! Leon definitely has a good set of ears and a talent for tuning. I heard the Seas set in his Honda at Marv's BBQ and they sounded really nice.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hey guys, thanks for the kind words 

i am not sure why the pic isnt showing up for some of you, this happens from time to time, where i host my pics for some reason dont show it on certain people's computer, but it usually clears up after a while 

to answer some questions:

1. no mold on the tweeter moutning, i just filled in and sanded the stock tweeter grille and painted it

2. no USB connections, and i ran the cable first, then plugged into the amp. a trick i learned is after the intsall is done, you boot up the computer and try to interface with it, you first need to go back to the amp and unplug and replug the usb cable, works everytime 

3 the carpet i used is called flexform, graphite in color, its not an exact match, in direct sunlight there is a slight contrast, but about as close as it gets, and its unbacked so you can wrap curves with it and use it as a grille cover 

4. i am pretty sure i will be at the meet in april, i have never been to TI in the two and a half years i hve been in the bay area 

5. when you tap before the stock amp, you just use line out converters, i used the zapco BTL so it goes directly into simblink, but, the voltage is VERY low, so you must have a line driver on the lines, i have two SLB-Us for that purpose, one on the front signal one on the sub. its speaker level signal (low level though) going into the amp.


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## Weightless (May 5, 2005)

I don't see the pics either...unless you did an all white speaker install in a white car with a white interior.


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## Fran82 (Jul 30, 2007)

I see them now. Nice clean work. I like how the sub enclosure fits like a glove, and those amps...wow


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## disturbedklownz (Feb 19, 2008)

nice install,very clean


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Not sure why you went through the effort of sanding and priming the entire sub enclosure. Carpet will even hide raw strands of fiberglass.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

chuyler1 said:


> Not sure why you went through the effort of sanding and priming the entire sub enclosure. Carpet will even hide raw strands of fiberglass.


i didnt, it came like that, the box is made by my freinds shop www.wickedcas.com

i think they just pop it out of a mold and make it ready for vinyling as well 

i wouldnt have gone through that, though sinc ei always reinforce boxes from the inside, if i built it it would be almost as smooth as well


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## ChicoOG (Nov 27, 2007)

Bing, very nice...I might need to try those seas as well


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hehe Mike,

directly comparing your car to his, granted i didnt have Leon tune your car so that accounts for a bit...

your car has definetly the headroom over his, more dynamic midbass, as well as across the range.

also obviously more subbass as swell.

his car stages a little higher ,but your car does a lot better in terms of needed less TA, meaning your car sounds better from both seats versus his car just sounds good from the driver seat, a difference in mounting locations of course.

what I do like though, is how hte seas sounds naturally compared to hte zapco/esb stuff, saying this about it comparing the two ars when its just me who did the initial tuning. its not htat the zapco esb isnt a great spekaer, the seas is just a little more towards my own preference thats all 

if you ever down here agian, let me know, i will grab him and we can have a listning test 

b


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Very nice work Bing. 

Are the sub enclosures set up for two different size woofers?


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## ChicoOG (Nov 27, 2007)

I'll be down in a few weeks...I'll let you know


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## capnxtreme (Feb 5, 2008)

Very sweet!!

I'm confused by the fact that you say the factory HU output before the amp is very low voltage, but speaker level? Isn't it balanced and line level?

Why couldn't you simply do what these Bimmer guys are talking about here?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

well, i guess i should say its just line level and low voltage, not sure if its balanced however. but i did use the BTL to access it, and use the SLB-U s to up hte voltage 

i never really bother to check these things, i simply use the info passed to me by other guys who have done it and apply it hehe...i leave the figuring out just what kind of output it is kind of things to guys on this forum 

b


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## capnxtreme (Feb 5, 2008)

Would you happen to know the specific part number of the "BTL"? Was it the SLDIN.BTL-F?

From everything I've read on the Acura boards, the stock pre-amp signal is indeed balanced differential, so you wouldn't want to use a "standard" LOC. If you were, I think this might explain the unexpectedly low signal voltage.

EDIT: from reading the Zapco boards and thinking about it, I think my question is stupid--that's what a BTL is. And it's designed for balanced inputs, like the factory TL's output. So nevermind. Awesome work.


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## BaSiCEvil (Mar 14, 2007)

Damn I love simple installs.

Nice Bing!


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## dmwarner (Aug 19, 2007)

Wow. Nice work!!!


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