# 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee SQ build



## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Thought I would start a thread about the build that is currently going on. After attending Finals in Louisville this year and meeting some great guys that I know from here and other forums for the first time; listening to some amazing cars; and simply having a great time interacting with guys who share the same passion, I decided that I would trade my 2016 Wrangler and get an SUV well suited for a SQ build. After looking at everything on the market, including all of the luxury brands, I settled on a new Grand Cherokee. Part of the decision was based on my opinion of the Jeep and how it suits me as nice low-key everyday driver, the other part was based on being able to do everything I want from an audio standpoint and still have 100% usability as my everyday car. 

First off a couple of pics of the Jeep:

First night at home, meeting brother 911GTS and sister Panamera Hybrid.


Here is the hatch area. GC hasn't changed much in recent years. Guys that have done builds know that under the floor in the hatch is a lot of room if you don't mind giving up the spare tire. Here is a shot with the factory floor cover in place: 



And here is a shot with the floor panel lifted:



Shot with the spare tire and surrounding plastic panels removed. You can see the air canister for the air suspension near the rear seats.



Decent amount of space to be had when removing the factory subwoofer. This is the Summit model which has the 19 speaker HK surround system. For a factory system it does some things pretty well, but we are going to kick it up a notch or two. The driver side panel has a decent amount of space as well. Depending on how things lay out, we might use this space for power supply, batteries, processor, etc. 



Nice big A-pillar panel and flat spot on the dash for some mid and tweeter enclosures if a guy was thinking about doing something like that 





Steve Cook and the crew at Audio X in Florence, AL are handling the installation duties. As much as I've always dreamed of putting a system like this together on my own, I know that Audio-X can do it better than I can and by giving them the keys I will be enjoying tunes a lot sooner than if I tried to do it myself. Steve and crew did a great sounding system and second-to-none installation in my 911 for me this summer and I 100% trust their ability to put together a competitive system in the Jeep. 

So much trust, I let them do this: 



List of equipment so far, but this could change over time:

Factory HU tapped by a PAC unit to extract the Fiber signal.
Helix DSP Pro Mk II Processor with HEC USB module for Hi-Res playback
Helix Director
Tributaries interconnects and speaker wire
Zapco AP Amps: 150.6 on the front stage; 150.2 on rear fill; 400.2 on subs
Dynaudio Esotar 2 Midbass, Midrange and Tweets
JL Audio 12W6 subs
Audiofrog GB 25 rear fill
Several XS power batteries
Stinger 120V 40A power supply


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

Oh neat......


Please stay out of modified class. K, Thanks.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

LOL! Your Jeep install helped me see the potential in the GC. I think I will end up in either Modex or Extreme. Depends on some testing of the mids and tweets up front to see what works. Obviously no way the Esotar tweet is going on the sail panel.


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

rockinridgeline said:


> LOL! Your Jeep install helped me see the potential in the GC. I think I will end up in either Modex or Extreme. Depends on some testing of the mids and tweets up front to see what works. Obviously no way the Esotar tweet is going on the sail panel.




Yea, even outside of audio, they are really great vehicles. 

I should be competing at finals this year. I was there this year, just not competing. Ive heard some of The vehicles Steve’s put out so I know you’re in great hands, I look forward to seeing this thing in Louisville.


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## WilliamS (Oct 1, 2016)

Man I couldnt cut out a floor on a nice car like a Grand Cherokee. A scion no problem, ford explorer sure, GC nope can not do that.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Cut out the floor of a Scion and you are probably causing structural damage, but with the GC body on frame construction, it really isn't a big deal. After welding in a steel enclosure to extend the floor down a few inches it will be just as solid as factory. When I get rid of it years from now, someone will be getting some extra storage space for free!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Glassing dash pods


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Funny that I am looking at the forum and see a pic of my Jeep that I hadn’t seen in someone else’s thread! So here it is lol. Steve posted it on his FB page. Great pic Steve!











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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Cool. Excited to see how it turns out. 

Ps, cutting the floor isnt as crazy as people think. Worse comes to worst, just weld in a new piece of sheet metal. Easy peasy.

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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

steve will make that thing sing with the Esotars. your gts sounded pretty nice as well

good luck


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

Lol... I saw this in FB but didn’t even notice it was a jeep. I think I also saw the baffles for your mid and tweet. I’m excited for you.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Just a brief update with some progress pics

Steel enclosure fabricated and painted. 










View from underneath










Working out the dash pods
























































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## Huckleberry Sound (Jan 17, 2009)

NICE!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

beautiful summit, glad to see yet another wk2 build on here! i wanted to do the steel enclosure extension in my 2011 but my body shop talked me out of it. i mentioned the reason he gave me in another thread, but long story short, he said it would interfere with the way the jeep was designed to absorb rear impact. however, i really don't think it will be that detrimental. even though i'm leasing now, im still considering this myself. how much is the shop charging you for that specific area of fabrication? i called a handful of locations here in north scottsdale, and nobody wanted to touch it.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Not sure about what the breakout for the steel fabrication is since it was rolled up into the overall cost for installation. I think that is a good point about impact absorption. Without some sophisticated CAD analysis or crash testing there is no way of really knowing if it is better or worse. Obviously I've accepted the outcome if an accident happens. This is an ambitious build and the realization of something that I've wanted to do for 30 years, so I made the call to cut steel!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

The enclosure in the Jeep. That is vibraflex on the floor of the Jeep and bottom of the enclosure. 











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## Chris12 (Sep 20, 2018)

Subbed.

Is that your CNC machine? Oh how I’d love to have one of those.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

CNC is at Audio X. They are making some cool parts like these. 




















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## tonynca (Dec 4, 2009)

Wow!


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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

steve is the best of the best, he has done 3 very highend builds for me and a nice basic one as well, 4 total. we are about to do another highend build in my suv as well


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

The guys at Audio X are cranking away in this build. Got a plastic panel
made to mount the power supply and DSP where the factory sub used to reside. 










The factory traction control switches will get relocated to the console. They needed to make room for the Helix controller. This has to be close at hand to allow volume control when going Hires direct into the DSP. 










Yeah those are
My hideous plaid pajamas in the pic LOL. 




















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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Total side note: sitting here watching Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn on “in session”. I am literally moved to tears. If you like the Blues in the least and you haven’t heard this performance you are missing out on one of the greatest Blues performances in history. Albert King was a huge influence on SRV, not to mention Hendrix, Clapton and countless others. The performance is priceless. I believe it originally aired on PBS and is available on YouTube. The album is stunning in Hires. Check it out!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

When it was recorded SRV had just released his first album. Albert King literally played until his fingers bled to keep up with SRV. It is one if the legendary bluesman King’s final recordings and the preamble to the legend of SRV. A piece of
Music history. 


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

One of my favorite albums


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

bradknob said:


> One of my favorite albums




YES. Great minds think alike. I wish I could play like that for just a moment in time. 


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Pods for the Dyn mids and tweets coming along nicely. 





























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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Pods needed something to look like factory trim. 





























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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

looking good


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Porsche said:


> looking good




Thanks Chris. I love what the guys at Audio x are doing so far. Great details to make the aftermarket look like factory. Check out how the shape of the aluminum trim on the pods mimics the shape of the gauge panel. 











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## thornygravy (May 28, 2016)

sick


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

thornygravy said:


> sick




Thanks!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Getting a feel for what the pods will look like with drivers installed










A little progression on the controller install. 

This is where it started:










Thought about putting the controller in the sunglasses holder overhead but that is clumsy and maybe dangerous while driving. Since the drive and traction control is rarely used it was decided to relocate that into the console and put the controller on its place. 










CNC aluminum tray. That is a black wood grain trim ring in the background to match the trim in the dash. 








































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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

Looking incredible. Any thought of wrapping the pods in the saddle brown leather instead of black?


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

mrichard89 said:


> Looking incredible. Any thought of wrapping the pods in the saddle brown leather instead of black?




Steve made the choice on that. We didn’t discuss. My guess would be that the aftermarket saddle brown material is not a perfect match to the oem dash material. In that case it would be better to go black rather than have two very slightly different materials in contact with each other. 


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

rockinridgeline said:


> Steve made the choice on that. We didn’t discuss. My guess would be that the aftermarket saddle brown material is not a perfect match to the oem dash material. In that case it would be better to go black rather than have two very slightly different materials in contact with each other.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Awesome, that's what I figured. Looking great and I'm sure it will sound phenomenal once he's done.


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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

i think it looks better in black than the brown. looking good


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Couple shots with the grilles in place 





























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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

That's kick ass!!!!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

lashlee said:


> That's kick ass!!!!




Thanks! 


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

those looks nice, well executed. they're a little large for my taste, but they're integrated nicely. any listening impressions yet?


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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

Those look great and Steve works fast!


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## Chris12 (Sep 20, 2018)

rockinridgeline said:


> Couple shots with the grilles in place
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautifully played off the gauge cluster surround. 

Bet that speaker positioning will produce a great sound stage.


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## preston (Dec 10, 2007)

I don't find them too large except for if they block visibility. It seems like that dash slopes fairly low to the driver though so these probably work pretty well although its hard to say from the photos. I'm sensitive to this because I spent an inordinate amount of time fitting 4" mids into my truck pillars without blocking visibility. I mis-heard on a you tube video I though the EMMA rule was 14mm (its actually 40mm) so I was also using that as a guideline.

Anyway, if my pods looked as good as that I could live with some reduced visibility !


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## vietjdmboi (Jan 3, 2015)

WOW! love all the work and the director location!


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## Iamsecond (Jan 3, 2017)

Man they ought to sell those as a blank pod for jgc owners. I would buy a pair for my 15 jgc limited just as they sit without the trim rings. I have a black dash. Man those look awesome.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Iamsecond said:


> Man they ought to sell those as a blank pod for jgc owners. I would buy a pair for my 15 jgc limited just as they sit without the trim rings. I have a black dash. Man those look awesome.


If you wanted to use the same drivers Audio X already has the CNC program and it would be much easier than doing it for the first time. 

Steve said they spent a full day laying out the CNC for the Dynaudio speakers by painstakingly measuring all of the details. All of those little mounting tabs made it tedious. With these pods being the first of their kind I paid for the "R&D" so to speak of working out all of the dimensions for the CNC work. 

Give him a call! Steve's rates are very reasonable considering the quality of work.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

I'm not usually a fan of the "bookshelf-speakers-on-the-dash" look, but that is super clean! 

Great build!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

DavidRam said:


> I'm not usually a fan of the "bookshelf-speakers-on-the-dash" look, but that is super clean!
> 
> Great build!


Thanks. I agree with your comment about bookshelf speakers on the dash. There are always trade-offs in car audio right? The size of the tweeters preclude mounting in the factory locations and make it difficult to integrate them into the pillars like you normally would without a huge bump that doesn't flow with the interior or doesn't locate the drivers in the best manner for good response in the car. In addition, we wanted a properly sized acoustically dead enclosure for the midrange drivers. I am very pleased with what Steve came up with. With the viewing angle from the driver's seat they won't really cause visibility issues that I would be concerned about. Again, small trade-offs to get to the end goal of a competitive sound system with fit and finish that echo the OEM design and materials. So far we are on track I think.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

rockinridgeline said:


> Thanks. I agree with your comment about bookshelf speakers on the dash. There are always trade-offs in car audio right? The size of the tweeters preclude mounting in the factory locations and make it difficult to integrate them into the pillars like you normally would without a huge bump that doesn't flow with the interior or doesn't locate the drivers in the best manner for good response in the car. In addition, we wanted a properly sized acoustically dead enclosure for the midrange drivers. I am very pleased with what Steve came up with. With the viewing angle from the driver's seat they won't really cause visibility issues that I would be concerned about. Again, small trade-offs to get to the end goal of a competitive sound system with fit and finish that echo the OEM design and materials. So far we are on track I think.


"On track" is an understatement... You guys are killing it


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## GreatLaBroski (Jan 20, 2018)

Very impressive work. This is being done right.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Looks good! I look forward to hearing it.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Thanks guys. Erin I will give you a heads up when it’s finished to see if you can swing by. 

I am trying not to be the annoying guy that brags on his install when he had nothing to do with it. I am not capable of this kind of work and I want to be sure to give Audio X the deserved credit. I just gave Steve some basic but somewhat specific expectations and cut them loose. We talk along the way and I certainly have input, but this is their work. 

He just sent me a picture that surprised me. Yesterday I was looking at this picture:










I said to myself “man I wish the top and bottom edge of the controller wasn’t rounded. It doesn’t look quite right when flushed and it will collect dirt. “

I didn’t say anything to Steve about it and just accepted it. Then tonight he texts me this:










Man I love the level of commitment to make it look its best and attention to detail. 


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## nirschl (Apr 30, 2009)

Beautiful work by Steve. All the work I’ve seen on here and FB from his shop is always impressive. Your going to be all smiles once your rolling. Look forward to hearing your impressions. Congrats


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## WilliamS (Oct 1, 2016)

Where are the Air ride and 4x4 controls going?


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

WilliamS said:


> Where are the Air ride and 4x4 controls going?


relocated to the center console storage area


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

rockincherokee*


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## AVIDEDTR (Sep 11, 2008)

Nice Work as always Steve Cook and the crew at the X


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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

Steve's work is always impressive!!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

ErinH said:


> rockincherokee*


Yeah man, I should have thought a little harder about the screen name -Ridgeline was like 5 vehicles ago, LOL. But you know what that is like, don't you "Bikinpunk" ?


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Some work completed on the sub enclosure last night











































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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

rockinridgeline said:


> LOL! Your Jeep install helped me see the potential in the GC. I think I will end up in either Modex or Extreme. Depends on some testing of the mids and tweets up front to see what works. Obviously no way the Esotar tweet is going on the sail panel.





Yup, floor cutout puts it in ModEx at the lowest.


Looking forward to seeing more of this!!


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

SkizeR said:


> Cool. Excited to see how it turns out.
> 
> Ps, cutting the floor isnt as crazy as people think. Worse comes to worst, just weld in a new piece of sheet metal. Easy peasy.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk







Sounds good. I'll bring the van up. Get your air saw ready!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

rockinridgeline said:


> Yeah man, I should have thought a little harder about the screen name -Ridgeline was like 5 vehicles ago, LOL. But you know what that is like, don't you "Bikinpunk" ?


No idea what you mean.  


I really am impressed at the craftsmanship here. Steve's acquisition of the CNC has really, really stepped up their game.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

rockinridgeline said:


> Steve made the choice on that. We didn’t discuss. My guess would be that the aftermarket saddle brown material is not a perfect match to the oem dash material. In that case it would be better to go black rather than have two very slightly different materials in contact with each other.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Black on those will be much less visually distracting as well and it will help the pods (which are large simply due to the driver sizes) seem smaller. It's a smart move on his part.


Looking fantastic.


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## GreatLaBroski (Jan 20, 2018)

captainobvious said:


> Black on those will be much less visually distracting as well and it will help the pods (which are large simply due to the driver sizes) seem smaller. It's a smart move on his part.
> 
> 
> Looking fantastic.


Also decreases glare, which is a plus.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Cut out the floor of a Scion and you are probably causing structural damage, but with the GC body on frame construction, it really isn't a big deal. After welding in a steel enclosure to extend the floor down a few inches it will be just as solid as factory. When I get rid of it years from now, someone will be getting some extra storage space for free!


The Grand Cherokee has always been a unibody, not body-on-frame. I think you'll be fine for rigidity, but it's definitely a unibody. I'll be following for ideas on my GC SRT when I get back from my deployment.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

quality_sound said:


> The Grand Cherokee has always been a unibody, not body-on-frame. I think you'll be fine for rigidity, but it's definitely a unibody. I'll be following for ideas on my GC SRT when I get back from my deployment.


Yep you are correct. I realized about a day after I made that statement that I was thinking about my JKU and confusing it with the GC. Staring at the big hole in the floor and realizing that you made an incorrect assumption begets a moment of "oops!" followed by a moment of acceptance, :laugh:


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Yep you are correct. I realized about a day after I made that statement that I was thinking about my JKU and confusing it with the GC. Staring at the big hole in the floor and realizing that you made an incorrect assumption begets a moment of "oops!" followed by a moment of acceptance, :laugh:


I can't even tell you how many times I've done the EXACT same thing. On the plus side, you replace sheetmetal with a steel box. I think rigidity will not be an issue. :laugh:

I've been following the build on Steve's FB page. Any shots of the controller relocation? I don't use mine a ton, but enough that I'd like it to be handy since I need to access it for launch control, sport, and track modes.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

not that i disagree with any of those statements, and may still end up doing something similar to mine, there may actually be too much rigidity. as it was explained to me, sometimes vehicles are designed to be less rigid in areas so as to absorb impact. the body shop owner told me that, at one point, they were using a body panel adhesive that was actually too strong and that it didn't break upon impact, so they were forced to use something that was weaker, but in reality it was compliant. so, the extra metal may indeed make it more rigid, but it might inhibit it's rear crash absorption. just putting that out there, not that it will deter this build, or even myself from doing this very same thing.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

quality_sound said:


> I'll be following for ideas on my GC SRT when I get back from my deployment.


SRT = BADA$$

Looked at the Trackhawk when I was teeing up the idea of a GC. It had only been 5 months since purchasing a 911 and I didn't think I would get WAF on a Trackhawk!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

brett said:


> not that i disagree with any of those statements, and may still end up doing something similar to mine, there may actually be too much rigidity. as it was explained to me, sometimes vehicles are designed to be less rigid in areas so as to absorb impact. the body shop owner told me that, at one point, they were using a body panel adhesive that was actually too strong and that it didn't break upon impact, so they were forced to use something that was weaker, but in reality it was compliant. so, the extra metal may indeed make it more rigid, but it might inhibit it's rear crash absorption. just putting that out there, not that it will deter this build, or even myself from doing this very same thing.


Totally understand what you are saying. One of the things that comes to mind is crash testing and how that changes when someone simply adds a trailer hitch to a vehicle. I wonder if OEM's take vehicles that would typically have a hitch added to them and do impact testing with and without hitches. I've seen vehicles, SUV''s in particular, that the rear end was just a big piece of plastic clad styrofoam supported by some thin sheet metal and then you add a hitch that spans the rear and the whole rear end is different with regards to impact absorption because of it. I have to imagine with the number of aftermarket hitches etc that the OEM's can't test for every possibility?

I suppose that there is always the possibility in the case of a rear impact that the insurance company could resist paying repair cost if they felt damage was caused because of the cutout and steel enclosure. Doubt that they could actually prove that assertion but they could at least make it a negotiation point. Sigh, as I said earlier, I've moved on to acceptance at this point.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> SRT = BADA$$
> 
> Looked at the Trackhawk when I was teeing up the idea of a GC. It had only been 5 months since purchasing a 911 and I didn't think I would get WAF on a Trackhawk!


If I wasn't so upside down on my Jetta, I'd have done the Trackhawk. On the plus side, I can put a blower on my SRT and make WAY more power than the TH and save about $20K. Score!!!

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. But I've been divorced twice, soooo...


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Totally understand what you are saying. One of the things that comes to mind is crash testing and how that changes when someone simply adds a trailer hitch to a vehicle. I wonder if OEM's take vehicles that would typically have a hitch added to them and do impact testing with and without hitches. I've seen vehicles, SUV''s in particular, that the rear end was just a big piece of plastic clad styrofoam supported by some thin sheet metal and then you add a hitch that spans the rear and the whole rear end is different with regards to impact absorption because of it. I have to imagine with the number of aftermarket hitches etc that the OEM's can't test for every possibility?
> 
> I suppose that there is always the possibility in the case of a rear impact that the insurance company could resist paying repair cost if they felt damage was caused because of the cutout and steel enclosure. Doubt that they could actually prove that assertion but they could at least make it a negotiation point. Sigh, as I said earlier, I've moved on to acceptance at this point.


you know, i didn't even consider the whole hitch aspect. also, i don't believe it would be a point of investigation under most accident circumstances. i think this is where having a trusted shop that works with you comes in handy. and the reality is, i'm still considering doing this myself but the only thing holding me back is now i'm in a lease. jeep really should've considered some sort of extra storage down there anyway as there's a ton of room.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Some pics of progress on the hatch build. 

Couple of days of work drawing to get a precise fit in the spare tire well. 






































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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Some (not so) heavy metal is needed















































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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Some baffles created to seal against the door card and get the midbass output 100% into the car. 





























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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Starting to come together in the rear












































































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## mrichard89 (Sep 29, 2016)

Looking incredible.


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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

killer


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Ooooooo those amps look so sexy in that rack 


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

that rack/box looks incredible! i see you had to trim the plastic piece quite a bit

also, curious why you didn't go bigger midbass or possibly tackle kicks?


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

Well, that’s that.... burning my jeep to the ground.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

bradknob said:


> Well, that’s that.... burning my jeep to the ground.


If you PayPal me enough $$$, I'll drive up to Steve's shop and burn Tony's Jeep to the ground and you can keep yours.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

This build just keeps getting better, and better.


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

ErinH said:


> If you PayPal me enough $$$, I'll drive up to Steve's shop and burn Tony's Jeep to the ground and you can keep yours.




Define “enough”


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

bradknob said:


> Define “enough”


PM me. We can talk specifics there. Don't wanna clutter up this thread nor incriminate ourselves any further. LOL


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

ErinH said:


> PM me. We can talk specifics there. Don't wanna clutter up this thread nor incriminate ourselves any further. LOL




Ah right... stupid spell check. What I actually typed was, beautiful build you got there. Definitely won’t not be contacting Erin about super sinister meany pants plan to burn it down .


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## preston (Dec 10, 2007)

> also, curious why you didn't go bigger midbass or possibly tackle kicks?


Yeah maybe you just didn't show it but that door doesn't seem like it has much treatment. I mechanically reinforce my doors and add 20 lbs of dynamat and insulation, use large rigid HPD baffles and I'm still not entirely happy !

The box and the pods are beautiful. So nice to see CNC'ed master work vs amateurs with jig saws and hand routers


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

brett said:


> that rack/box looks incredible! i see you had to trim the plastic piece quite a bit
> 
> also, curious why you didn't go bigger midbass or possibly tackle kicks?


Thanks for the compliment.

Steve and I went back and forth on the midbass question actually. I was sold on using the same Morels (SW9 I think) that I have in the 911. We've seen those implemented in several winning builds. 

But the thing is, they can be overkill in some situations. For example in the 911, we had to really dial them back to get the sound where we wanted it. There was so much what I called "bloom" in the MB that it was obscuring detail and actually made it sound like the bottom octave was really lean in the 10" sub. Dialing the MB back, believe it or not, actually makes the system sound so much deeper with the perception of much greater impact and transient response. That is a situation where Steve's experience really pays off. Most people would have just cranked up the bottom octave but Steve understood the problem better. 

In one of my rooms at home I have the Zaph Audio SR71 kit that John Krutke designed. It was my first DIY home speaker build. They use a 7" seas mid and tweet. They are very low distortion, incredibly neutral and detailed and have solid bass down to about 50 or 60 HZ. Coupled with the Goldenear sub that I have them with, they sound outstanding in a fairly large living room. 

I thought about this when Steve Cook told me that he thought we should go with the Dynaudio midbass in the doors instead of the larger MB. He felt like the larger MB would be much harder to integrate and may not sound better. I made the decision based on how easy it would be to install the smaller driver to begin with. We'll tune the system with them and see what we have. If they can't meet expectations we didn't waste a lot of fabrication dollars getting them in and we could look at other options like kicks, etc.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Thanks for the compliment.
> 
> Steve and I went back and forth on the midbass question actually. I was sold on using the same Morels (SW9 I think) that I have in the 911. We've seen those implemented in several winning builds.
> 
> ...




fair enough, at least there was a well thought-out plan to get where you're going anyway, which was never in doubt, i was just curious. my concern is that the plastic door card that these will be mounted to may not be ideal for midbass. that being said, the midbass in the doors of my old wk2 and my current one are quite loud and low. they sound a little 'flubby' though, and i suspect alot of acoustic energy is being siphoned away. i'm sure it will sound great, though.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

preston said:


> Yeah maybe you just didn't show it but that door doesn't seem like it has much treatment. I mechanically reinforce my doors and add 20 lbs of dynamat and insulation, use large rigid HPD baffles and I'm still not entirely happy !
> 
> The box and the pods are beautiful. So nice to see CNC'ed master work vs amateurs with jig saws and hand routers


Steve hasn't really passed many pictures to me of wiring, sound deadening, etc. He knows what it takes to deaden properly. If there is noise he will deal with it. I think I see some vibraflex on the plastic internal door skins. I think that would qualify as the mechanical reinforcement that you are talking about. Steve swears by the stuff. I trust Steve to get it right. Our expectations for the build are the same.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

bradknob said:


> Ah right... stupid spell check. What I actually typed was, beautiful build you got there. Definitely won’t not be contacting Erin about super sinister meany pants plan to burn it down .


And here I thought that I was making friends... :laugh:


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

rockinridgeline said:


> And here I thought that I was making friends... :laugh:




lol... nothing but respect and envy from my end. They’re killing this build. 

Having seen/heard cars that audio x has put together, I wouldn’t think for a second to question any of their decisions. Really hoping I get to see this one in person at some point


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## Bigman79 (Jun 4, 2018)

rockinridgeline said:


> Steve hasn't really passed many pictures to me of wiring, sound deadening, etc. He knows what it takes to deaden properly. If there is noise he will deal with it. I think I see some vibraflex on the plastic internal door skins. I think that would qualify as the mechanical reinforcement that you are talking about. Steve swears by the stuff. I trust Steve to get it right. Our expectations for the build are the same.


This is a really sweet build, Steve is the man! I’m sure it will sound as great as it looks.


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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

that esotar 6.5 will do really well in the door. the mid and tweeter is very fast and dynamic and you need the same with a mid bass that can keep up. i always chuckle when i see people using a 9, 10 or 12" mid bass in the door. if u know what you are doing you can and will get great results with the 650 mb. and as far as deadening and insulating a door with 20lb etc well all i can tell u is you have more problems than you think because thats absurd


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## preston (Dec 10, 2007)

> as far as deadening and insulating a door with 20lb etc well all i can tell u is you have more problems than you think because thats absurd


20 lbs is an exaggeration but I think most of us feel the need to put a great deal of work into doors. Do you find that you don't need extensive door deadening ?


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## rob3980 (Jun 11, 2010)

This build is amazing


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## ndm (Jul 5, 2007)

rockinridgeline said:


> SRT = BADA$$



I agree 100%..... thats why I am on my second one now. Almost paid off.


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## rob3980 (Jun 11, 2010)

What did they charge you for installation and materials for this build ?


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

rob3980 said:


> What did they charge you for installation and materials for this build ?




It wouldn’t be fair to Steve at Audio X to discuss that. I would say that Audio X’s labor cost is much less than what many other fabricators charge for similar or even poorer quality work. 


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## Porsche (Jun 29, 2008)

rob3980 said:


> What did they charge you for installation and materials for this build ?


he's the best in the business and he gives you more than you are expecting, give him a call. Audio X, Florence Alabama. ask for steve


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## rob3980 (Jun 11, 2010)

Porsche said:


> rob3980 said:
> 
> 
> > What did they charge you for installation and materials for this build ?
> ...


I was just curious. I don’t want to bother him knowing I live in Wisconsin and probably won’t ever have a car there. I’m sure the guy gets bothered enough with people just wondering and wasting his time.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Getting close. Update on moving the 4WD / air suspension controller into the console. The pics tell the story. 










































That is an Audioquest Carbon USB cable for direct media player connection to the DSP for HIRES playback. Also have a USB for tuning there. 


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

looks awesome


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## adrianp89 (Oct 14, 2007)

rob3980 said:


> What did they charge you for installation and materials for this build ?


If you have to ask you can't afford it. Builds like these are typically done with no mind to budget. I would be surprised if the total came in under 10k


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## No ConeSS (Aug 26, 2015)

I see the last update has been at least a week ago. I do want to say that I saw some finished pics pop up on Zapco's Facebook page. This install is clean. So much attention to detail!


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## imickey503 (Dec 16, 2015)

What an amazing build thread! I have to say I prefer these to some SEMA shows. Its amazing what really can be done if you put your imagination and creativity into something you enjoy!


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Nice work! Wish I had a CNC machine lol.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Picked up the Jeep this weekend. Been on jury duty all week and then working at night and haven’t had time to post. Will try to get more pics up this weekend along with listening impressions. 

Let me just say that nearly every expectation has been exceeded. Had the first real chance to sit in a quiet place and relax and listen tonight and my face hurts from grinning so much!


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)




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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

****ing chuck norris . Said the fat guy with big ol milk shake boobies


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## No ConeSS (Aug 26, 2015)

optimaprime said:


> ****ing chuck norris . Said the fat guy with big ol milk shake boobies
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

No ConeSS said:


>




There he is!!!


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Please keep the language acceptable guys. There are forum rules.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Picked up the Jeep this weekend. Been on jury duty all week and then working at night and haven’t had time to post. Will try to get more pics up this weekend along with listening impressions.
> 
> Let me just say that nearly every expectation has been exceeded. Had the first real chance to sit in a quiet place and relax and listen tonight and my face hurts from grinning so much!
> 
> ...


"Nearly"?


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

quality_sound said:


> "Nearly"?




LOL. Trying not to over hype it 


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> LOL. Trying not to over hype it
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




 I feel you 


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

rockinridgeline said:


> Please keep the language acceptable guys. There are forum rules.




My apologies sir. 


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Still been slammed with jury duty, work and church commitments. Thought I would at least post up some more pics. 

Picking up on the hatch build where I left off:

Sub trim rings with AudioX logo engraved. 




























Will come back to the hatch. Steve surprised me with a nice touch on the custom Dyn logo on the door grilles:


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Back to the hatch build. 




























































































































































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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Dude, that's such an awesome install. Cook and company have really set the bar here.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

ErinH said:


> Dude, that's such an awesome install. Cook and company have really set the bar here.




Thanks Erin. Steve was a joy to work with on the install and his craftsmanship and attention to detail are fantastic. He incorporated everything I requested into the build and added many of his own touches that perfectly compliment the style and function that I hoped for. 

The system sounds great. I’ve done several SQ builds over the years. With each there was always something that kept me from being content. I am pretty certain that I will be enjoying this system for years. It seems like it is in the same class with some of the best car audio systems I’ve heard. I am excited to get to some competitions and see what everyone else thinks. 


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## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

wow, super clean work, love all the details!!!!
now i have to change underwear


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

This is one of the most gorgeous installs I have ever seen. My inferiority complex is making me nitpick the center console wrap just because. I think that one part might have looked better in black.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

The install is simply fantastic!!! 


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Chaos said:


> This is one of the most gorgeous installs I have ever seen. My inferiority complex is making me nitpick the center console wrap just because. I think that one part might have looked better in black.


Thanks! Couldn't get black vinyl that matched the console plastic so decided to contrast instead. 

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## Ripkon (May 9, 2019)

Such an amazing build!!


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> Thought I would start a thread about the build that is currently going on. After attending Finals in Louisville this year and meeting some great guys that I know from here and other forums for the first time; listening to some amazing cars; and simply having a great time interacting with guys who share the same passion, I decided that I would trade my 2016 Wrangler and get an SUV well suited for a SQ build. *After looking at everything on the market, including all of the luxury brands, I settled on a new Grand Cherokee.* Part of the decision was based on my opinion of the Jeep and how it suits me as nice low-key everyday driver, the other part was based on being able to do everything I want from an audio standpoint and still have 100% usability as my everyday car.



If you don't mind me asking, did you happen to drive an Alfa Romeo Stelvio? I would very much like to drive one of those every day, but the stock stereo system is an unknown that I don't want to get involved with.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

I didn't try the alpha. Felt like it was too new on the market and they had a rep for poor quality in the past. Reviews have been decent on them. 

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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Nice install. 

Looks great. 

Got a lot of work in there.
Them dash pods better be huge in real life, pics tend to make things look tiny 
Every dash pod I’ve ever done rang so bad I had to cut one side out of it and let it vent.
Or had to live with crossovers no lower than 500hz maybe 400 if lucky 

I’m sure Steve has that dialed tho. I haven’t put a dyn in a pod so I can’t say.
I know dyns are some of the most damped speakers made.

Is that Baltic? Very nice...w6s nice nice .......

As usual super clean install. Bad ass work. 

When will it be done or playing audio


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

It has been finished for a while. I've been competing this year and making small changes to the tune along the way. The dash pods are pretty large. They make absolutely zero noise. The walls are very thick and rigid. Steve won a world championship with pods like that in his Avalanche. When he first told me to do it that way I was against. Nice thing about dash pods is a very nice distance to stage.

After SVR competition I will be trying out the minidsp processor with Dirac. I've just been too busy to put it in. Working like a fiend the next two days to get my son's car ready for SVR. We leave Friday morning.


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

rockinridgeline said:


> It has been finished for a while. I've been competing this year and making small changes to the tune along the way. The dash pods are pretty large. They make absolutely zero noise. The walls are very thick and rigid. Steve won a world championship with pods like that in his Avalanche. When he first told me to do it that way I was against. Nice thing about dash pods is a very nice distance to stage.
> 
> After SVR competition I will be trying out the minidsp processor with Dirac. I've just been too busy to put it in. Working like a fiend the next two days to get my son's car ready for SVR. We leave Friday morning.




That’s awesome. Yeah I saw some of Steve’s credentials very impressive plus what he’d done on here is so nice. 
Steve gave me solid advice on my kicks , which was something I was already thinkin about but he pushed me over the edge , I’m so glad too, they sound so good , way better than I expected it would. 


What’s SVR? (Stevie Ray Vaughn ) lol j.k.


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

Steel Valley Regional Competition. 

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