# Mounting Full Size Horns in a Corvette



## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

I'm having some difficulties mounting fullsize ID horns under the dash of my C5. I figured it was going to be challanging and I was right. Lol. Anyway how crucial is it to not put screws through the actual mouth of the horn? I understand you can do pretty much what you want to the flat surfaces on either side of the mouth but if I were to put it screw straight up through the actual mouth for instance would it hinder the performance that much? This is my first endeavor down the path of HLCD's so I'm looking for all the suggestions I can get.


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## Eric Stevens (Dec 29, 2007)

No it won't hurt performance. Try to keep it flushed smoothly but don't worry if you cant.

Eric


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Awesome. Thanks Eric. I was hoping you would see this. Lol.


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

I was going to offer a horn upgrade for my Vette audio systems using full size ID horns (now I would use Eric Stevens horns, not ID) mounted hanging from some honeycomb flat panels to fill the underside of the deck, extending the mounting depth as far as possible, motors up through the bottom, etc...there was room to really move them back far and wide. 

I have scaled back my Vette audio systems as just no time to work on them with my growing business so have not pursued this for some time now but I know it is workable and not hard to do in the least. 

The most difficult was having enough midbass in strongly fortified doors without adding a ton of weight, using the ID X69 like I had in my Duramax with horns. I would have to wait and see if Eric offers a good low weight alternative in the future.

Rick


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Hey Rick I still plan on hitting you up for the deadener and alumalite for the doors here soon. I don't know if you recognize my screen name but its the same on corvetteforum dot com. I messaged you a month or 2 back about pricing. 

So far I have one of the horns mounted up and I'm working on the other. Its just tough for me to find time. I currently have 3 jobs and I found out a few months ago that I'm going to be a daddy. So my free time at the moment is next to nothing. Lol. I will see if I can find a minute or 2 to see if I can post up a pic of the HLCD installed.


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Not the best shots but you get the idea.










Here is a shot pointing up showing how I secured the rear. I have the motor pointed up through the under dash. Honestly that piece of backstrap probably isn't needed. The 3 screws counter sunk in the front of the horn do very well at securing everything in place.


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

I had an issue with the air conditioner condensor leaking in the cab. I have since fixed it but I haven't put the BCM cover back on or the floor mat back in. Like I said I'm a little short on time. Lol.


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## raamaudio (May 4, 2005)

Vettes are one of the better horn cars, plenty of room and great dash design to get really good imaging from them

Looking good, I know all about time, I never have enough!

Rick


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

chevbowtie22 said:


> Not the best shots but you get the idea.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Install's looking good. Where in TN are you?


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks. I'm up around the Kentucky line. Hopefully I'll have my build log started soon.


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## red03vette (Sep 3, 2007)

Any updates? I also have a C5, and I have a set of the aluminum Vertias horns. Been thinking of installing in the Vette, but I did not want add a bunch of extra mounting holes to the car. Would love to see more pics of your install. 
Looks good so far.  also wondering what you're using for head unit, amps and subwoofer. Thanks.


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Well I had a few updates in my build threada while back but right now I'm finally coming out of my busy holiday season at work so hopefully I can get back on it.

Link to build log:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...tte-zuki-excelon-android-hlcd-slow-biuld.html

I will say the VERY first thing on the agenda will be fixing my water leak I seem to have developed. I think its coming from the halo bar weatherstripping. It so far has wet the mdf the amps are mounted to. Thats not good. Thankfully though NONE of the water has come anywhere near the amps or processor.


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## red03vette (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks for the link, looks good!  I was thinking of using an iPad for a head unit, but in all honesty maybe just a decent head unit with built in processing will be a lot easier. Looking forward to the finishing touches to your system. Hope you track down that darn water leak!  (hate those things)


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

I found mine at the upper rear corner of the passengers window. Fixed it by peeling back the weather stripping. Maybe check the upper corners of the windows. 

Looking forward to your updates too. I bought a set of full body horns for mine too. Waiting to finish buying the rest of the stuff before install though.


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## eficalibrator (Aug 25, 2005)

I did a set of minihorn bodies in my C6 once upon a time. Here is the build thread. I have since switched to planar tweeters and a new head unit, but I still have the horns/hangers in storage if someone wants to buy them.


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Inigma said:


> I found mine at the upper rear corner of the passengers window. Fixed it by peeling back the weather stripping. Maybe check the upper corners of the windows.
> 
> Looking forward to your updates too. I bought a set of full body horns for mine too. Waiting to finish buying the rest of the stuff before install though.


Upper rear corner huh? Did you peel the weatherstripping back then just restick it? I'd LOVE to see a pic or two if wouldn't mind. I've been fighting a wind noise issue in that corner from day one with this car. I've adjusted the window as much as possible and I still can't seem to fully get rid of it. Maybe trying your fix might take care of both my wind noise issue and my leaky top.

As of right now I'm waiting on taxes to get here then the $200 halo weatherstripping will be ordered. That's if I can't figure out how to eliminate the water leak before that. As of right now its looking like the whole amp rack will need to be re-done in the back MDF + Water = Crap.


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Sorry, I should have elaborated in my original post. Long story short, I originally thought it was the trunk seal leaking, but found it to be the rear upper corner of the passenger side window, to behind the plastic that hides the seat belt, then to, depending on how level it was parked, either behind the passenger seat or back to the rear well(s).

Father-in-law owns a body shop and has an employee that owned and raced a base model c5 (wife's) and a c5 Z-06 (his). I took it down there to talk to him about the weather stripping and before I knew it he was peeling the corner back and stuffing this black like tacky stuff behind it and working it until he liked how the window seated to it again. I don't know what the black tacky stuff is called, but its a lot like that blue tacky stuff kind of like gum that some people use to hang a poster or something similar of the sort. I hope this helps and its an easy fix for you.


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Haha. Actually that helps a lot. I'm definitely going to give that a shot. If it saves me from having to blow $200+ on a weatherstrip I'll be stoked. Thank You!!


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Any updates?


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Not really. I tried the the little weatherstripping fix you mentioned but since mine isn't the frc and I have the targa top my weather stripping is different. So now I'm waiting on the new piece to get here.


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Sorry to hear that didnt work out. Hopefully you'll get it sorted out soon.


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Any updates?


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

Kind of. I switched out my processor again for a minidsp and I couldn't be happier. The 360.3 was pure garbage and the MS8 worked very well but I'm just can't leave tweaking alone. So the MS8 was moved into my girls 2011 Altima coupe where its doing a phoenominal job.

I need to get the driver side inner door panel back on. Right now my soundstage is rainbowing pretty bad and I honestly believe its because I can see the 8" woofer in the door. At night when I can't see the woofer the soundstage seems to climb up a few inches if that makes any sense. I also need to get a fabric cover for the inside of my targa top. I think reflections are hurting me pretty bad with the acrylic top exposed. As an experiment I held a blanket up there and the stage JUMPED up on the dash. I guess the interior of my car is biggest hurdle to getting everything correct with the horns. 

All in all though I don't EVER see me going back to conventional speakers. The dynamics are UNREAL or maybe EXTREMELY REAL! Haha. Either way I couldn't be happier I took the jump with HLCD's.


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Very cool! I just finished triming and sanding mine to fit in my vet. I've been putting off my install for too long. 

In the mean time I had been using them in my bedroom. I initially was a/bing them against my old klipch pro media 4.1 system off of the built in klipch amp in the sub enclosure, but liked them so much more that I just left them hooked up. So I finally disconnected them and started fitting them today. The driver's side was a bit of a pain, but I think I have them how I want them now and just need to bend up the brackets to mount them. I think I've been putting it of so long because of the tabs on the door card. It seems like every time I pull the door panels off a new tab breaks. 

Sorry to hear about the 360. That must be a huge disappointment, but at least the mini dsp is only about a third of the cost. 

I think they make a nice removable fabric insert for your glass top so you can remove it and enjoy the glass top when you want. A cheap pretty easy temporary fix might be to trim out and wrap a piece of cardboard with fabric to insert up there? Maybe it can pressure fit or if not maybe Velcro.

I'm hoping to get my door panels back off to swap out my midbasses and pull my tweeter wire back out to use for the horns this week if not next. Depends on how hot it gets around here on the weekends.

After listening to them in my room for a while, I think I'm going to really like them in the car!


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## sh.moto.2 (Jul 2, 2010)

are u using a mini dsp for a carpc?


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

No. I broke down and purchased a reciever to use instead of just running off the phone. I picked up the Alpine 149BT to use. The minidsp is running crossover and eq duties for the 18Sounds and the hlcd's. the sub is run directly off of the headunit.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 21, 2012)

chevbowtie22 said:


> No. I broke down and purchased a reciever to use instead of just running off the phone. I picked up the Alpine 149BT to use. The minidsp is running crossover and eq duties for the 18Sounds and the hlcd's. the sub is run directly off of the headunit.


I was wondering what horns you are using, and also what other comparable options there are? I have an '02 C5Z and I've been wanting to put a new front stage in ever since I bought the car. I already have a decent pair of 8s for the doors but haven't settled on a direction for mid/high yet. Thanks!


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## chevbowtie22 (Nov 23, 2008)

I'm running a set of older Image Dynamics cd1Pro's with the full size horn bodies. Image Dynamics no longer has anything to do with horn loaded compression drivers so what you'll need to do is either try to score a used set OR (the better option IMO) is to get a hold of Eric Stevens on here. He will be more than happy to set you up nicely. 

As far as the 8's go you can get away with running a run of the mill set of mid to low efficiency drivers BUT I would try to get a set of high efficiency pa drivers like 18Sound (what I'm running), BMS, Faital Pro, etc. Do a little reading on here regarding driver selection.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks for the info!

The 8's I have are Aura NS8:

http://www.madisound.com/store/manuals/ns8-385-4a.pdf

They're not going to set the world on fire, but they're decent for the application; 40Hz Fs, low Qts and a stiff suspension with ~85db efficiency. I want to be able to run my doors down to 40-50Hz or so with the sub, probably a single 8 or 10, filling in below. This is not going to be an SPL system, just something that can get respectably loud. Most importantly it has to sound good doing it.

Those 18sound drivers are really sweet, but pricey! I'd love to budget $150-$200 per driver but that's not in the cards for me. Most pro sound 8's have their Fs at or well above 60Hz, which doesn't suit my intended application too well... I'd like to use door drivers at or above Fs if possible.

Another reason the NS8 got the nod (besides the $17 ea I paid for them) is they only weigh a shade over 3lbs each. I'm not interested in adding 50 lbs to each door to chase down sonic nirvana, I just want good sound. A simple baffle and a small amount of bracing are all I'm planning to do unless I run into MAJOR issues that only adding weight can solve. This car was pretty light from the factory and I'd like to respect that as much as possible.

Thanks for the info, I'll look into a set of horns for sure.


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

Blue Angel said:


> Thanks for the info!
> 
> The 8's I have are Aura NS8:
> 
> ...


If you want to use an 85dB sensitive driver and cross it low to meet the subwoofer - then I suggest you look for a tweeter... not a horn. 
With a low sensitivity driver like yours, you have to make sure that you have at least 15 times more power to your mid than your horns. 

Kelvin


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## s4k4zulu (Mar 2, 2010)

eficalibrator said:


> I did a set of minihorn bodies in my C6 once upon a time. Here is the build thread. I have since switched to planar tweeters and a new head unit, but I still have the horns/hangers in storage if someone wants to buy them.


U still have horns/hangers for sale?


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