# Saab 900 4 way SQ budget build



## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

This has actually been ongoing since mid 2009, back when i got the car. Here it is.

















The primary goal of this install is SQ, but on a shoestring budget. The rule i made was not to hack up the interior or cut/drill any of the bodywork.

This is what i started off with in 2009, mostly kit donated by my dad and a few bits i'd managed to pick up cheaply. This was before the 4 way idea came in.









The Kit there is:
Alpine 7385R headunit - wasn't going to use it as it's tape only (and i found out the preamp is dead too)
Alpine 3552 4 channel amp
Alpine MRP-F356 5 channel amp
Alpine 6052GD 5.25" woofers

The car already had some infinity reference 6x9"s and alpine 3.5" speakers fitted in the stock locations running off the headunit.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

The sub i was planning to use i built back in high school for my home cinema system. I'd been smart enough to design an interchangeable back panel to swap out the amp module to make it active/passive depending on where i wanted to use it.

The cad design. 1.5cu.ft 10" ported tuned to 32Hz.









The plotted frequency response.









The unit as it was before i swapped the rear panel out for terminals.

















Then came to fitting the amps and sorting all the wiring out. Took the baseplate off the 3552 to check all was ok and found this.









Stuck with running off the headunit amp for a while longer i bought a few more bits and pieces. This is when i decided to go 4 way active and bought some tweeters and an active crossover.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I finally picked up a replacement 4 channel amp in the form of an alpine MRV-F400 and set off to fit it all. Was well stumped on how to fit it in the boot without ruining the use of the boot, so made a simple MDF false floor and screwed everything to that with the idea of building a cover for the amps in order to retain the use of the boot.









I got hold of some pins and sockets and fitted the door speaker wiring properly









The amps were linked up to the original saab/clarion stereo via the pre-out din socket, using a home made adaptor cable.









Put the battery back on and the V12 amp went bang, so that got removed and the dash speakers were reconnected to the headunit with the sub, doors and rear fill running off the flex 5 amp. Didn't sound too bad at this point as the door speakers and sub had made a heck of a difference. (but I was comparing it to how it was before, there was a lot of room for improvement)


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## SWINE (Aug 29, 2008)

subscribed


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I ran this for a couple of months whilst keeping my eyes peeled for another amplifier on the cheap. (as nothing in this install had cost me more than about £40 up to this point) I gave up looking at alpine as the prices were staying high, and looked at pioneer. Straight away i managed to score a GM-X404 4 channel amp for almost nothing.









So very quickly got around to fitting it the next day.









The pioneer powered the dash speakers as mids and the separate tweeters which were sat on top of the dash grilles aimed towards the seats. I then spent a few hours trying to set up the crossover points and gain controls for it to sound about right. (that took ages to get it to sound about right)


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I'd been running with the flex 5 and pioneer from autumn 2010 till april 2011. I finally bit the bullet and bought a more expensive amplifier. I got an Alpine 3566 6 channel amp to replace the flex 5, as the lack of a dedicated subwoofer pre-amp input annoyed me. I had to give my door speaker channels 20Hz + and use the amp HP filter to cut it off for the doors and chop the mid off for the sub. Fitted the 3566 and gave the sub its own dedicated channel which is bridged (Ch 5/6), the doors and 6x9's also run off the 6 channel amp. The pioneer was still used for the dash mid range and the tweeters. 9 channels in total each with its own preamp input and individual amp channel.









The dash speakers were not exactly fantastic but better than before


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I got an offer for an alpine 3553 that i couldn't refuse so bought and fitted that.









Also spent some time looking at swapping the mids and tweeters out for something much better than i had but without it costing the earth. Eventually came to the conclusion that the vifa TG9 3.5" full range and the vifa XT25 ring radiator were right for the job. Again no cutting of the dash was required although the tweeters needed to be on axis to perform at their best. The A-pillars need to be built to house them.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I had been looking for a replacement headunit for a while as i was under the impression that i could get something that would improve upon the saab/clarion unit i was using at the time. Due to my love of all things old/ordinary looking i was looking at these units:

1. Alpine 7909, 7906, 7905, 7903

2. Nakamichi CD-45z, CD-400, CD-700

3. Denon DCT-A100, DCT-1, DCT-Z1, DCT-R1, DCT-A1000

Due to the budgetary constraints and a lack of these units on the 2nd hand market i ended up getting an Alpine 7915M off the same guy i got the 3553 from.

















Not as pretty to look at as the 7909 but performance shouldn't be a million miles behind. Much prefer the units they made with analogue volume controls and the integrated click for turning it on and off. Also wanted a 1/2 din equaliser to go with it but gave up on that idea as they were selling for more money than i paid for the headunit and amp put together.

I had also been on the hunt for some Alpine 6062GD 6.5" woofers to replace my 6052 5.25" versions for the door as the low end would be better from the larger speaker. 2 years of hunting finally paid off and i found some on one of the UK forums for a good price.

















At this point i did some videos of the system after getting some crossover/gain advice.


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## GavGT (Sep 5, 2011)

Love the old school kit mate. Also following this on TA 

Gav (Buffdaddy on TA)


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Spent some time with the system as it was but my hankering for an older alpine headunit got the better of me so I ended up buying a 7903 which sadly turned out to be a waste as it wouldn't read cds. Luckily the cd mech was actually in good working condition and i swapped it into the 7915.









This allowed the 7915 to work with cd's a little better than it was, but unfortunately it was still not quite right. It was picking up a lot of noise from within itself not to mention picking up noise from the various motors that operate the climate control, so a proper replacement headunit was on the cards. After a great deal of research i decided to go for a Clarion DRX9255 as it was proper high end with an analogue volume control and best of all a c-bus output to connect it to the old saab/clarion changer (a cdc9250 which had been in the boot since i got the car)









Fitted into the car.

















I also decided to claw back some boot space by moving the amps up onto the back of the seats. The sub in place still means i lose a lot of space though.

















This brings us up to the present as i fitted the clarion last week. This was the last video i did of the system as it stood. I am presently working on sorting out the tuner out to allow it to tune to european frequencies. May also be adding the aux in from a mcintosh MX406 if i can polish up my SMD solder skills. (not actually butchering it from an actual mcintosh before anyone shouts sacrilege, just adding the missing components using the MX406 circuit diagrams & component lists)


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## mr sideways (Nov 9, 2011)

loving the old skool set up!


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## Viggen (May 2, 2011)

Nice job... but I gotta ask.... what mods have your done to your car? With the aftermarket boost guage & all you must of played with the HP a little bit???

Been debating on adding a boost guage to my saab... I have a 2000 9-3 Viggen


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cheers guys, know most of you from TA. Love my old school kit, can't help myself around the old alpine kit.

Viggen, its had a fair amount done to it:

Taliaferro poly engine mounts
Maptun Silicone turbo & coolant hoses
Maptun 3" stainless downpipe and race cat
Crossflow intercooler (off a viggen no less)
Forge FMDV006 dump valve
Stage 3 T5 suite remap with T7 APC conversion (self made map)
Knock LED
AEM uego wideband with live datalogging
Taliaferro 22mm rear ARB
Powerflex poly bushes
Eibach 35mm lowering springs
Bilstein B4 shocks
Abbott Racing steering rack clamp/brace
Permanent canusb connection for T5suite live mapping
Post '97 286mm rear brakes

Output
Estimated 270hp 300lb.ft (dyno'd at 240hp 247lb.ft whilst stage 2)

It needs most of this due to the additional weight of the audio system


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've had an amazing stroke of luck lately. Fingers crossed I've secured 2 spare headunits for parts (one addzest and one clarion with US tuner) I will be posting some comparison shots of the JDM tuner next to a US tuner at some point. I also managed to score a CDC1235 12 disc changer on ebay for a stupidly low price. (with 2 magazines too) All I need to find now is a DCA-001 optical cable for a reasonable price. rolleyes: like that's ever going to happen)

Took the car for a drive today (first time since i fitted the DRX) and all the system noise issues i had with the alpine 7915 are gone. There is no high pitched whine (was possibly the alternator, never found out but it was only present with the engine running) and the climate control stepper motors no longer cause screeching & static through the speakers. I noticed that the headunit buzzes in the cage slightly with cabin vibration so I'm going to have to sort that out as it'll drive me crackers.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Very cool! I am liking what you've done thus far


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cheers Daniel, still a WIP, lots of things to finish yet. Those cable tied tweeters don't look too pretty. Definitely need to do some sound deadening as the mid bass is competing with road noise. (and loosing) The car is quite well deadened as standard, but the doors really need some work.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Had another fiddle, seems to be about right now even though the settings aren't greatly different. I get the impression that the aiming of the mids and the lack of deadening in the doors may be hindering me slightly. Difficult to really pinpoint any potential areas for improvement without another set of ears.

These are the current crossover settings. (better to take a pic than try and write down rough guesses)









Done another video, this time i moved the camera around various heights to show how it affects the sound. (recorded by the mic at least, doesn't help that its on the top of the camera rather than the front)


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Finally finished drawing up my system diagram this evening.









Not got power/gnd or remote cables drawn in for the amps yet, not sure if they are necessary.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Clarion CDC1235 arrived yesterday and after a small repair it now works perfectly. Just got to figure out how to mount it as it didn't come with any of the installation hardware. (just 2 magazines and another 5m cable, not too bad considering i paid just shy of $25 for it) The brackets off my old CDC9250 are completely different which put pay to that idea. Got to find a DCA-001 cable as well now.


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## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

Like this!! Very much!

I have a 5903S alpine CD unit i run, a Nak CD45Z too. +1 on the analogue volume knob preference.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Made some mounting brackets up using the casing from an old ATX psu using my 6 disc changer mounts as a template. Not beautiful but perfectly functional.









All fitted in the car and working


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## tyroneshoes (Mar 21, 2006)

This is a cool build to follow.

Like it.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've spent a lot of time working on the DRX to improve and maintain it over the last 2 months, giving it a full set of new electrolytic capacitors and some newer opamps.

























Having lived with it for a while, I found that it was too bright. The sound was sharp and was beginning to get to me, as it could be quite painful when reasonably loud. I'd suspected the opamps may have been oscillating before due to the temperature they were running at. Some advice i was given back when I was wondering about oscillation was to fit some small film caps across the + & - supply pins to the opamps. Took some fiddling to get the one cap in place under the tone pot, but it all came together. I used 68nF wima MKS which seems to have done the job as they sound much smoother now and far better. They still run reasonably warm, but they are a fair bit cooler than before as i didn't manage to burn my fingers. I also tweaked the FM stop pot which solved the radio tuner issues i was having where it was seeking past everything except the strongest signals.

















The CDC1235 ended up having to come back out as it had some fractured solder joints on the c-bus connector causing it to loose its connection with the headunit. Once i'd repaired it I found that there was some serious distortion towards the outer edges of discs which appears to be caused by the laser pickup, so I'm in need of a new QSS-100 laser. (tried cleaning and regreasing all the pickup gears and rails to no avail, along with changing all of the motors) I've put my trusty CDC9250 back in for the time being.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Been a very long time since i updated this. I Have spent some considerable time working on home hi-fi kit and having listened to some harbeth monitor 20's in work i quickly came to the conclusion that my system was excessively bright. Didn't help that my home made Kef chorales were also on the bright side with their new tweeters. (had to fit a -4dB L pad into the crossover for them, and now they sound fantastic) I've been gradually knocking the HF level down. Not 100% certain what its at now but IIRC LF level is 0dB, Mid level is -4dB and HF level is -3dB. Crossover points haven't changed much at all and all channels are in phase. I have been enjoying the system a lot more since making these changes, mainly because i can listen to it at a reasonable volume level without fatigue.

Done another video of it, but i used an iphone this time as i'd never tried one for videos before. The sound certainly isn't as clear as the canon camera, but the video quality is better.


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## coomaster1 (Jul 22, 2010)

Hi, Kei, We have talked a few times before.I was looking for an alpine 3672 crossover to go active and now I have finally found one.I know you to be one of the most knowledgeable when it comes to old school alpine sound quality, and equipment. I have the opportunity to add a parametric 3402 equalizer to my alpine 7909 and alpine 3672 active crossover set up. Will it be a wise choice to add the 3402 Equalizer to the system to gain better sound quality.,or is adding one of those 3402 equalizers, going to degrade the sound quality,since I'm introducing more into the signal chain.I was told they were made to complement each other,and that having an equalizer would allow me to tweak the sound, to achieve the maximum acoustics for my vehicle. Will the alpine 3402 be a benefit for getting maximum sound quality out of my vehicle, or am I looking for trouble adding it to the system.Seems like it would be good to be able to tweak your system to match your car acoustics,but nothing beats talking to some one like yourself that has personal experience,years of experience with the alpine 3672 crossover, and instinct to know if the alpine 3402 will be truly beneficial in achieving the best possible sound quality. Thanks Carey


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Very long overdue on an update to this thread.

The DRX had been playing up for the last couple of months. Finally managed to track the problem down to a capacitor in the dac making contact with a screw on the bottom of the CD-mech. (caused the dac to cut out) The radio had also been giving me trouble too which seems to be down to the adjusters being out. I'd been stuck using it with the CD changer only. I still have plans for a line input, using the CD changer cable and an inline switch to bridge pins 5 & 9 on the c-bus connection triggering accessory mode.

Due to a leak in the boot, I took the opportunity to fully rewired the amplifiers so that the cables no longer enter via the luggage hoop holes. Both folding methods now work ok without pulling on the cables or getting caught. Just need to work out where i can hide the crossover so that the boot is clear to use again. The subwoofer has come out and gone back into my home cinema and i'll live without it for now until i can find some P69's. Since repairing the light seals the boot has remained dry. (at long last)

















Clarion DRX9255 still looking tidy in place of the original unit. (and it now stops on radio stations and cd's play properly) The vifa tweeters and gauges are still mounted using cable ties atm, my budget hasn't extended far enough to get proper pillar mounts made yet.









Had to replace the GM battery i the end as the abuse and it's age were making it a tad unreliable. Got a bosch S5 fitted which is looking a bit out of place. Also got the strut brace modified to make it more effective.


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## suzi427 (Oct 6, 2011)

lookin good


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Nice work, love all the old school gear! I've got a 3566 in my wife's car still waiting to be powered up and some speakers to feed!

How do you like the XT25's? I'm about to put some in my '58 dub.


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## SWINE (Aug 29, 2008)

any updates?


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Massive update.

Noticed whilst out the other day that my drivers door speaker had stopped working. Having taken it all apart, I found that the cable the previous owner had soldered onto the speaker had detached itself from the terminal.


I also quickly discovered that the mdf I used as a mounting material is not all that happy with how damp it obviously gets within the door. It got a tad warped over the years, even after I painted the back and sides.


I built some new mounting plates from plywood to replace the knackered mdf ones. These have had two coats of outdoor varnish which should give them a bit more protection.



I decided to replace the alpine 6062's with some new woofers. In the end I chose some Seas L18RNX's. Here is how they compare to my alpine 6062's.







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Speakers trial fitted onto the door to check it all fits ok. Mounting baffles needed some minor shaving to dodge a trim clip but otherwise a good fit.









The doors really needed some deadening to really get the best out of those new speakers. There is a Silent Coat MultiLayer Extra Door Kit and Sound Absorber 35 twin sheet kit plus a single sheet of 2mm.









Deadening on the drivers door half way through.








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Drivers door done. Could do with another sheet so I can finish off around the door handle rod and a little more around the speaker baffle. 2.5 sheets of the thicker multilayer and half a sheet of 2mm. The difference between the two doors is remarkable, I can now understand why some people go nuts on deadening. Just need to finish the door card off tonight and then finish the lot off sunday into monday. Sub is delayed until the tail end of next week at least.









The drivers door card is also well and truly plastered in sound absorber. (only 1 sheet needed) Probably won't go back on nicely now.*:lol:








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Lastly, I've missed my subwoofer ever since I removed it to get my boot space back, so I've decided to make a new one. I came to the conclusion that it needed to be something much smaller than the last but without sacrificing any response. I've gone with a Dayton Audio Reference 10" HO (RSS6645HO-4) sub and going for a cabinet nearly half the size of the last.

Cabinet design for the Dayton 10" HO sub. 0.9 cu.ft, ported, tuned to ~28-29Hz. Will be made from 18mm thick plywood, not sure on bracing as yet. Didn't use any in my last one which was bigger, but that used 25mm thick mdf.








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Top and back panel have been omitted so the innards are visible. Small cut out beneath port is for a neutrik 4 pole speakon socket. (chose 4 pole in case I ever change to a dual voice coil sub, plus I already have two 4 pole plugs)
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This is how the system plots using winisd with the dayton sub in said cabinet, seas L18's in the doors and vifa TG9's in the dash with all the crossovers set.









First bits for the sub arrived yesterday but I'm stuck waiting for europe audio to get the dayton in. Their site says it's expected on wednesday 23rd.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Passenger door is now deadened too.









I've had to prep the driver for surgery. The second bracket on the woofer for terminals is fouling the door panel and is going to need grinding off.









I've redone the signal cabling from the crossover with some BNC terminated coax I had laying around the house. Lengths are almost perfect leaving just enough slack to allow the seats to fold nicely.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Ran some tests on the system this morning and found the fault I was looking for. Channel 3 on the 3566 is not working properly, giving a lower level and crackly output. Sounds like a problem similar to the one I had with the 3553 last year. Will clean the switches and pots and re-flow any iffy looking solder joints.

Tested the alpine 3672 dividing network via REW. I reset the gains to zero for all except the sub.










Measurement of the drivers side only using my ECM8000. No EQ or time alignment available, just crossover points and channel gain.
This is running the rear 6x9" speakers as subs, which they aren't great at TBH.


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## Elgrosso (Jun 15, 2013)

I like your install, you said no TA/EQ, maybe I missed something but you meant you can't or you didn't use them just for the measure?


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

By no TA/EQ I Meant the current install doesn't have the capability to do any of that. (it's all too old) I could get EQ by adding a parametric before the dividing network. I can't even adjust the crossover slopes, I'm stuck with 12dB/oct on the main channels and 18dB/oct on the sub.


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## Elgrosso (Jun 15, 2013)

I see! Maybe a simple minidsp would be a great addition no?


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Decided to check the crossover to make sure it's components were in good shape. (Having had to perform repairs to several amps and headunits of a similar age) I found two capacitors that were in seriously poor shape. The rest look fine but I'm replacing the lot to be sure as it's all the same age.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

The crossover is complete and I put it back together today.








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I've gone as far as I can with the 3566 at present. I've ordered more parts which should be here by the end of the week so that I can finish the job. I've pulled the 3553 out as well, but that looks remarkably clean and tidy by comparison so must be a few years newer.








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This is the pile of capacitors I've changed so far.*Most still seem to be in working order. Being 25 years old and having been through extreme temperature variation over those years, it's probably better to replace them. There were a few that were well past their best and one was so bad the leg fell off when I tried to measure it. Glad I caught these problems before they caused much bigger ones.


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## JohnnyOhh (Feb 19, 2015)

What happens to the capacitors over time that they degrade? Does the insulator between the foil layers dry up or something? The capacitors get shorted or between + and -? How can you tell they are bad or going bad? Your work looks good & your pictures are great.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks. To answer the question, yes the normal process is that the electrolyte dries out which causes the internal resistance to rise and the capacitance value to change. This can have adverse affects on the circuit in which it operates causing problems from full on failure to audible changes in the sound. (full on failure can be from the cap going open circuit or shorting out causing a cascade effect) The rate at which this deterioration occurs depends mainly on temperature and ripple current. I've seen capacitors that are over 40 years old still working well in devices that are well designed and run quite cool.

In my case, channel 3 on the amplifier had gone quiet and was intermittently crackly. (suspected dodgy connection or dry joints) Some of the joints around a few capacitors looked very dull and reacted differently when heated suggesting electrolyte leakage. Since all of the alpine kit I own is from the same period (1992 ish) I just decided to check the lot. Having found a few very near failures and a handful that were out from spec I thought it best to just blanket replace the whole lot. From what I can tell, the 3553 doesn't seem to have a single iffy cap in it but I'm still servicing it anyway.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Parts from mouser turned up this morning but I had to wait until I got home from work this evening before I could resume work on the amps. The 3566 is nearly done now, just the small signal caps left. Three more leaky caps were found too. The large rail filter caps were ruddy difficult to remove as they were glued to the pcb and took a fair bit of force to break them free. The eagle eyed among you will notice the red wima PET film caps the I've used to replace some of the small electrolytic parts. (0.22uF, 0.47uF & 0.68uF) 
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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

New D088 silicone heater matrix hoses, AFS braided fuel hose for PCV system & EVAP system. Got the camcover seal and nipple just in case mine break when trying to make the swap. I've also got a new heavy duty one way valve coming from RS.









Both amplifiers are near enough finished, just need to complete the 3553 signal processing section. I'm pondering replacing the resistors in the switch mode supply (DC-DC converter) on the 3566 as I bought new parts just in case.









Even did the ones hiding under the power terminals on the 3566. (absent on the 3553)


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Heavy duty norgren one way valve with fittings ready for fitting in the PCV system. The white plastic valve in the background is the standard part.









I've finally finished all of the necessary restoration work on both amplifiers. I decided to play it safe and replaced both the resistors and a single ceramic cap in the 3566 as they were looking just a bit tired. The replacement resistors are Dale CPF metal film parts which are a fair bit smaller for the same power rating they are also 1% tolerance vs 5% and their temperature coefficient is probably lower too. (25ppm for the 10ohm and 100ppm for the 1ohm) TBH, I probably could have fitted the 2W versions without any space problems.









The 3553 is also finished. Didn't need to go quite as far as this was in excellent shape with only one cap showing signs of weeping.









Now all that's left is to test and refit everything. I'll probably sort out swapping the old AGU fuse holder for the replacement mini ANL part and replace any sleeves that have perished. The one crimp at the amp end of the power cable could also do with being replaced too. I just hope nothing goes bang after the hours I've just put in.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Norgren one way valve fitted with fuel oil hose.









EVAP to throttle body pipe replaced.

















The old crankcase breather pipe. Nothing snapped either so I have some spares. The engine bay of a working car.









Fitted the mini ANL fuse holder in place of the old AGU one. Probably makes little to no difference but it is supposed to be the safer type of fuse. Cable 2 uses a 30A blade fuse which the car is full of so I'm happy to stick with it.









Tested the audio gear yesterday and today and found that the 3566 had suffered partial failure in the psu with one bank of inverters for channels 5/6 shorted. It cooked three of the new 10ohm resistors slightly on testing. Having replaced the bank of inverters and the toasted resistors, it seems to be working properly. The 3553 and 3672 crossover both worked perfectly.


I've retested the crossover after the capacitor replacement using REW. The crossover points have shifted slightly, the levels are higher and the tone sweep broader so it's not a perfectly set up test but it illustrates a huge difference at the top end.

Before









After









I also finally got a dispatch email from Europe audio this morning so I'm hoping that the dayton subwoofer will be here tomorrow.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

The subwoofer driver and all associated bits is now here. Rather hefty lump for a 10" sub, definitely on par with the seas L26 I used for my home hifi sub. The black fluffy mats are sonofil and the packs contain mounting bolts / screws and one 4 pole neutrik speakon terminal.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

All of the various bits needed to construct the sub are done and ready.
Intertechnik 50mm port inner and outer sections
Neutrik 4 pole speakon socket with sealing grommet and plugs with canford audio HPS cable
8x allen head M5x40 bolts and tee nuts
4x Rubber feet

Just need to get down the shed and look at my collection of 18mm ply and get it cut to size. Then I can crack on and construct the thing. (can't wait as it's been about 5 years running without a sub) On testing the sub, given 75W it's definitely an inefficient beast as it's output is substantially lower than the other speakers, but it's not got a decent enclosure to work in yet and it'd be receiving more than double the power in the car. May have to rethink my amps if it does demand more power.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cut 4 of the panels this afternoon for the sub. Tweaked the design a little to suit the plywood I already had. (600x400mm) It's now 400x300 all round. The end pieces will be 300x300 which will give an internal volume of 27.9L or 0.985cu.ft. Tweaking the port tuning to approximately 27Hz which gives a -3dB point of 26.5Hz


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

After a fair ordeal this last week, I have finally managed to fix one of the amplifiers in my broken pile. It's only taken me 7 years to fix one of them. It is the MRV-1000 two channel amp that was kindly donated to me. Total list of parts needed to fix it:

8x IRFZ44N MOSFETs
1x TL494 IC
4x 3300uF 16V capacitors
4x 470uF 50V capacitors
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I left the MRV-1000 running at quite a loud level for 8 hours straight to give it a thorough testing. It performed brilliantly and barely even got warm. People must really push these amps extremely hard as I read quite a few posts on various forums suggesting these amps run so hot you can fry eggs on them. The muting problem is still present but not significant. I'm working to trace the cause at the minute.
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I spent the rest of the time on Sunday building a circle jig for my router so I could do a decent job of making the cut-out for the subwoofer. Have to say it's the easiest cut out I've done and definitely the closest to perfect. Still got the sides to cut out and some batons to create and will probably dowel the front/back to the top and bottom.








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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Spent some more time working on the subwoofer cabinet today. All the panels are now cut out and most of the batons for bracing the joints. Panels are dowelled to each other for extra strength too. Still a fair way off completing it yet but at least there is minimal cutting left, just a bit of sanding, a lot of gluing and some screws to go in. I'm hoping that the finish will be sufficiently good that I can varnish it and keep the lovely birch ply grain on show.


















Been working on repairing my MRV-F400 over the last two weeks. I replaced all of the outputs with FJA4213/4313 parts which all tested OK before going in. I also replaced all but the 6800uF 35V capacitors.









Got it working but had some intermittent faults which took some time to trace. Worst of them caused the positive half of the waveform to cut off resulting in lots of distortion. This is supposed to be a nice clean 1KHz sine wave. Turned out to be a dodgy opamp right at the input.









Two new opamps and all good for over 6 hours testing.









Total parts list for repair:
2x LM833N (had spare pulled from another device)
2x 470uF 35V capacitors
2x 3300uF 16V capacitors
4x FJA4213 transistors
4x FJA4313 transistors
6x IRFZ44N mosfets
2x Alps 50K pots


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Nasty waveform there... do you got service manuals on these old amps? I can imagine it takes time to troubleshoot them otherwise. I assume the IRFZ44N is used for the power regulation and the FJA4312/13 are output transistors. Were all of them fried?

Looks good otherwise, I've worked with a couple of Saab 900/9-3 cars and found them to be quite annoying to install in, especially pulling new cables into the doors


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Yes I usually hunt down the service manuals for any amp I obtain so I've got something to look at in the event something does go bang. The IRFZ44's are the inverters which amplify the AC signal from the oscillator (TL494 in this case) that passes through the transformer to create the main +/- rails. The FJA parts are the main amplifier outputs. I'm not 100% sure what the original fault was, but there was a single shorted output transistor which caused two of the fets in the power supply to blow. As the fets run in parallel, it's wiser to replaced the lot for optimum reliability. With the outputs, I chose to replace them all so that it all matched. I've still got the 3566 with excessive current draw and a well toasted 3552 to fix yet. The V12's seemed like the easier fixes.

I can attest to the difficulty in running speaker cabling into the doors. I got some pins/sockets from a breaker and spliced them into mine which makes it look completely stock, but it was no easy task.


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## w00tah (Feb 5, 2006)

Great work man. Same tweeters I have too. I miss my 3552. Such a good amp, when it was working. Got mine for free because it was said to be "blown". Turns out, the remote wire was pulled off the board. A little solder and a piece of wire later, and it worked like a champ. Had it for a couple years, and ended up giving it to a friend to use for his highs when I got a new amp.


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## KrautNotRice (Nov 2, 2015)

Gotta love an oldschool install!


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've now completely finished the repairs on both the MRV-F400 & the MRV-1000 so I can replace the 6 channel 3566 which is still in the repair pile. Turned out to be another grounding issue. If anyone here ever tries to fix a car amp on the bench, make sure to add a second ground linking input shields to the main power ground else you get all sorts of peculiar things happening.









I'll need to run a new power cable in order to fit both of these as the current draw at max RMS output is certainly going to push my two runs of 8AWG beyond 0.5V drop. I've got the choice between running a single 4AWG in place of one of the existing cables or running a third 8AWG cable. (which I already own) Bigger than 4AWG is a no go really as it's too much of a PITA to get through the firewall and route.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've been working on a solution for mounting the V12's in the boot alongside the 3553 and 3672. This is what I've come up with after a few hours of playing with the pieces of the puzzle. I want to minimise the amount of space they take from the boot floor and also protect the amps from getting bashed or any of the exposed terminals from potential shorts. I also need to maintain access to my spare tyre and tool kit under the floor. The 3553 will remain on the nearside back seat. I'm slightly constrained by my existing wiring where all the speaker cables come into the boot on the offside and the power/signal come in via the nearside.










Shelf for the crossover. I've not cut anything yet as I'm not 100% certain on the sizes, hence the long overlap.









This is the power/ground wiring roughly as planned. Fuse values may rise to 120A total. (conforming to emma regs) The left input at the amps is battery, middle is remote and right is ground. (software doesn't allow me to change wire colours) I've got 4 AWG xs power xs flex coming, along with 2x knukonceptz BK-424 fused distribution blocks. I've umm'd and ahh'd about lots of ground distribution blocks and decided as I can't get the stinger SHD21 which would be perfect, it'll be easier to create a large binding post and link them all via that.


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## jb4674 (Jan 29, 2015)

I hate to ask but, why didn't you get a double din head unit that would bring you to the 21st century instead of having that pocket above the single din?


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Those kind folk at saab thought why not fit a non standard radio which is din+3/4 rather than double din. So unless I hack up my dash, it won't actually fit. Other models did get double din spaces later on.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Ordered more bits today for the cabling. Got plenty of copper tube crimps and I went with a phonocar 4 AWG to 8 AWG twin AFS fused distribution block as I don't need 4 AWG outputs for the 3553/3672. I decided to go with a busbar for grounding rather than a distribution block. Unfortunately the earthing bar I ordered won't be here until the 27th based on the email I got from RS. I've also got some high quality BF1/AMI fuses to go in place of the cheap 'n' nasty afs/mini-anl stuff you can normally buy. You can get them from bussmann and littlefuse/pudzin. Cables arrived yesterday, I got some XS Power 4AWG XS flex which is nice and thick and very flexible.









I spent the rest of the afternoon working on finishing the main construction of the subwoofer cabinet. All the batons are now complete, screwed and glued in place as are all of the large panels. I need to go over some of the inner joint edges again tomorrow after it has dried to ensure it seals nicely. The side panels are all that will be left to sort. Hopefully they will "simply" screw on through the batons. I elected not to bother with internal bracing as it's a really dinky cabinet and the wood is extremely solid. I might regret that decision yet, but we shall see. Had no issues with my older much larger sub with no internal bracing, but that used 25mm thick MDF.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Thankless task of replacing the power and earthing cable today. It took about 8 hours in total and I'm still not finished. 5m of cable isn't quite sufficient to do everything, so I've had to use some of the autoleads 4 awg temporarily from the battery terminal to the fuse block. I reckon that "tinning" the ends that will go into screw down terminations might help keep them secure.








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over the rear wheel arch into the boot. Small red cable is remote.








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This is as far as I got with fitting the amps into the car. Gave up just after 10 as working by street light was getting pretty tiresome. Still to finish:
- Screw amps & distribution block in place
- Grounding cables from the amps
- Remote from F400 to 3553 & 3672
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The difference between BF1/AMI fuses (Left) and the cheap mini-anl/afs (Right) fuses you can get.


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## Motortuh (May 14, 2016)

Wow, looking back loving where this build is going! Can't wait to see it completed as I can imagine you as well


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cheers, I will be unbelievably happy when this is finished as it's been a work in progress for too long.

I've decided that the security of the connections on the fuse holder simply isn't good enough so I'm going to replace it with a ltitlefuse midi fuse holder which relies on bolt down crimped connections. I'm also considering bootlace ferrules for the distribution block in the back where it's not so easy to avoid screw down terminations. I also had a good dig through my parts boxes and found all of my speakon plugs. I also picked up a few more neutrik socket grommets from work. I think I've got enough to get the system wired up nicely.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Having now had the opportunity to stick all of the kit in the boot and shift it about and find what works best. This is how it turned out. Heights are obviously random here as I didn't have objects the necessary size but at 100mm gap per shelf, it all stacks up ok with plenty of room to spare. Best of all is I retain quick and easy access to the spare tyre and toolkit under the floor without having to touch the amps.










Cables will still move through the shelves and 80mm fans in the right side are still an option.










Drawn up using cad it looks like so. The end caps/supports for each of the shelves is missing. This is where the 4 speakon sockets and the fans would live.


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## cadaver1 (Oct 12, 2015)

i will say that i like symmetry, however, i am much more in favor of function over form. Good organization with a certain amount of symmetry.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cheers, hopefully it'll turn out well. I've tinkered with the overall appearance of the design to suit the wood that I have already but the end result should look pretty similar.

Some more bits arrived today.

Midi fuse holder with screw down terminations.









Panduit ground busbar. Not certain whether to attempt to cover it or not. Technically the amplifier bodies are uninsulated grounds so it's not essential.









I got on with cutting out the side panels for the amp rack and then cutting out the shelves. In the spirit of this build, all of the wood used here is recycled from old projects from around the house. This ply was a corner desk/shelf hence the curves. The end will be trimmed to be vertical where it will meet the base.









The shelves roughly laid out as the amps etc will be mounted. The intention is still to route slots into the shelves for the cables to run between levels. There are going to be 12 signal cables between the crossover and the other devices plus all the associated power cabling.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Subwoofer end plates are both drilled and I've fitted the one. I've drilled out the speakon socket on the other too, just need to find a hole saw large enough for the port. Once that's done, it's essentially complete and will only need feet, sanding and varnishing.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Things have been a little slow so far this week. I've finished up one side panel with all the batons screwed in place and L brackets to link it to the base. Also going to put screws through the MDF base straight into the ply uprights too in order to add some rigidity to the whole structure. Semi assembled, this is how it looks.








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I've also fitted the neutrik speakon socket into the side panel on the sub, just need to make a 90mm hole for the port and the sub is functionally complete. It needs some attention on the finish like clear matt varnish and sanding of some slight imperfections to the edges. I've been running it as is using a 75W amp effectively sealed and it performs remarkably well considering the -3dB point for sealed according to winISD is 54Hz. (vs 28Hz when ported)


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

What's the planned tuning of the enclosure?

WinISD never gets it right, if you have stuffed the box with wool or polyfill you can easily make the vent 1/3 shorter than WinISD tells you (given that the vent is flanged).


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Port tuning was for 28Hz with a 5cm diameter. I know it's small, but it needed to fit inside the cabinet. I'm hoping that the flaring at either end will minimise noise due to high velocities. It will also have polyfill lining the edges only, not stuffed to the brim.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Vent tuning is a tad low imo, you will have a ton of cabin gain in the lower octaves. If you can, place a 3" vent instead if you can fit it. I think a 2" vent will cause issues. With a 28lit internal volume you can do a 33cm length vent for a ~33-34Hz Fb. That's usually a good number to aim for, you'll have plenty of output down to the high 20's anyway.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

The design can't really change much now as it's built to be 0.9cu.ft/25.5L. I didn't want any bigger as it's already a little larger than I originally intended. A 33cm port length leaves very little room between the port and the opposite end panel. 

Port velocity is not something that has ever bothered me as they are well fluted round ports which seems to do a very good job of minimising noise. My home sub is a 40L cab with a seas L26ROY and a rather dinky trumpet style port that grows from 40mm up to 65mm. Noise from turbulence only becomes apparent at very high output levels and more constant rumble which isn't common in music. Problem is it is markedly difficult to work out tuning frequency for ports of this style. In any case I've got 2m of port tubing to play with so in principal I can experiment with length at my leisure. The ideal tuning frequency for flattest response was somewhere around 30Hz.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I had a look at my router (ELU MOF177) and found it's definitely too big to cut a 90mm circular hole. The smallest it can manage is about 110mm. So I've got no choice but to buy a 90mm hole saw and use the drill. Biggest hole saw I currently have is 86mm.

I drew up the system diagram today. not quite as good as the last diagram I created.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Nice stuff you got there, I've reviewed all of those drivers actually if you're interested.

I recommend one these to make circular holes with your router, they are really awesome!

Jasper 400J Model 400 Router Circle Cutting Jig | eBay

Reviews;

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/member-reviews-product-comparisons/164027-seas-l18-h1224-08-7-midwoofer-measurements.html

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/member-reviews-product-comparisons/170856-vifa-tc9-3-midrange-widebander-review-measurements.html

Vifa XT25


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Nice detailed reviews you've made there. I've been considering replacing the TG9's as the right hand one has gotten slightly cooked when my alpine 3566 started acting up. Seems to have survived ok and I'd not noticed any audible difference, but when I took the grille off, I noticed definite darkening of the cone where the tinsel leads connect to the voice coil. 

I've been considering dayton RS100, RS75 or PS95's but will probably stick with my TG9's for now as they seem to integrate nicely with the current config.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Hole saw ordered for the port cut out. Nowhere local had one in the appropriate size, they were all 86mm which I've already got or 92mm which is a bit too big. I'm hoping that it will arrive tomorrow which will allow me to finish and test it properly. (may do some REW measurements The sunlight gives away my wonky joints which need some sanding.








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Router bit for creating the holes for the neutrik sockets arrived too. Being a trend bit it's superb quality and ought to last. Provided I can keep the router fixed in position it creates a perfect, smooth 24mm hole.


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## PorkCereal (Nov 24, 2009)

What kinda plug is that for wires? 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

On the back of the sub? If so that is a neutrik speakon 4 pole connector. I.e it contains a pair of + & - contacts within one plug so I can run two speakers or two voice coils using a single socket/plug.


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## PorkCereal (Nov 24, 2009)

Cool stuff, never seen them

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


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## MantaOwner (May 15, 2007)

Interesting to see where this install is heading to.

Tõnu


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Hole saw for the port cut out arrived today so I got on with finishing the sub off. With all the remaining holes drilled I got the orbital sander and finishing sanders out. This plywood certainly has a lovely finish once sanded smooth.









One completed subwoofer. I shifted the port tuning to ~30Hz with an approximate port length of 206mm. It certainly drops low now versus sealed. Port noise is evident on high level sine wave in which I expected. Something to tweak further down the road if need be.









All that's left to sort out is a protective finish. I've been considering matt varnish which will essentially be invisible to the eye.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Got a suggestion to try tung oil so after experimenting with an off-cut and liking the finish, I got on with the tung oil application today. Looks pretty good so far, nice golden colour with lovely grain. Sanded the whole thing through all the grades up to 800 wet/dry then started the application. Went over the first coat with 0000 steel wool and have applied a second coat.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Amp rack progress. Rounded the edges of the top shelf and routed the slot for the signal cables to pass through. Annoyingly, the F400 is either going to need a different phono cable as space is very tight or I'll just have to live with the BNC-RCA/90 degree adaptors being irremovable whilst it's mounted.









There are going to be a lot of cables running up the back of this thing. Keeping signal and power separate is going to be a nightmare.









The subwoofer is up to coat number 4 of tung oil and is looking great. Will need to flip it over and do the base next. I made the mistake of not rubbing off the excess properly on the second coat so prep this morning for number 3 was arduous. It's shinier than I was expecting, but I quite like high gloss wood finishes so I don't mind so much. The photo does make it look a little darker than it really is.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've now shortened the port by roughly 2.5" as per Hanatsu's suggestion that it would be longer than necessary. Now that the tung oil finish is complete on all sides I've reassembled it. Output levels seem to have improved a little bit with the shortened port. I'll have to try some measurements to get a better idea of where the port tuning actually is. Doing it indoors results in very bumpy looking plots.

This shows the approximate amount of stuffing wedged into the box.









and once reassembled...









The amp rack needs some minor modifications as there is a part of the boot structure that fouls the left hand upright and a small amount in the corner of the first shelf.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Finished off all of the routing on the amp rack this afternoon after deciding on the cable routes. All slots cut and bevelled. I also sorted the holes for the 4 speakon sockets out. All that is left to sort out now is drilling the pilot holes for securing the shelves, sockets, amps, cable P-clips and the ground busbar. It'll need a good sanding and then I can paint it.









Decided Green for HF, Blue for mid, and as I only have three colours, both midbass & sub will probably be black. I may buy a single red gasket for midbass.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I've now drilled all of the necessary pilot holes for everything and mounted all of the components.

The grounding bar is now located beneath the first shelf on the upright as it allowed the easiest cable routing whilst staying out of the way.









I've also gone through all of my cables and found a nice selection with perfect lengths between the crossover and the amplifiers. I'm a little miffed that I couldn't find a matching cable for the subwoofer in an ideal length. (1" too short or 6" too long)









I've now taken it all to bits again and have sanded everything ready for priming and painting. Once it's all painted I will need to sort out the speaker, power, ground and remote cabling and their terminations.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Looks good!


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I'm most of the way through the painting. I'll admit that by no means will it be a perfect finish as I've never been a fantastic painter but it'll look reasonably good. This is after two coats of primer/undercoat and the first layer of the final colour. The edges and inside the slots needs to be done with a fine brush rather than a roller.









Boot lace ferrules and crimpers arrived from cpc. I also got the red gasket for the mid-bass speakon socket, M4 ring crimps for the small amp terminals and the relay for distributing the remote.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Made some actual progress today after what feels like an eternity painting a million layers.

I've cut most of the main 4awg cable to the V12 amps. Trying to figure out how to do it and minimise cable wastage has been quite time consuming. Bootlace ferrules work fantastically in the distribution blocks making both a very secure connection and also insulating itself too. I'm still waiting on an order for some 4.8x0.5mm spade crimps as the speakon sockets and the remote relay need the thinner blades. I've only got 0.8mm thick ones. I might well solder the speakon sockets yet, but I'd prefer blades on the relay.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

More progress on the amp rack. Bottom layer with all the power cabling is now done. Still pondering whether to use any P clips or not. One ground for the remote relay is absent at the moment.








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Second layer complete with speaker cables in place. They need some sleeving as do the remote cables but I'd left the right size in the house. A small section of bike inner tube cut to cover the amp terminals seems to do a pretty decent job.








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Colour coordinated gaskets for all the speakon sockets. Wanted to get matching caps for the plugs but couldn't find anywhere that sells them. Black = Sub, Red = Midbass, Blue = Midrange & Green = Tweeters








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I also made up a new signal cable for the sub so that it matches the others. Cable type/size at least as I've not got any turquoise cable, only violet.









Both layers above added and all cables cut and fitted. I ran out of speaker cable for the last connection from the 3553. (got some more of the same stuff currently running the subwoofer in the house) In essence, once I connect up the remote relay and sort the cables at the speakon sockets I could fire it up for a test run. I've still got the fuse holder under the bonnet to swap over yet too.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

That turned out nice!


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Thanks Hanatsu, neat and tidy was the intention, it had been scruffy for too long. I didn't get so much done today even though I was out working on it all afternoon. Adding all of the spade crimps to the speaker cables and sleeving them all took ages.

Speakon sockets for the sub and midbass all wired in and insulated. I'm only using 2 poles on the sub connector so two are left disconnected.









I also fitted and ran all of the necessary cables for the relay to deal with remote switching. The 12V supply in blue from the 20A fused line ideally needs another fuse inline as the relay is rated for 10A. Cable is 1.5mm2 which is fine for 20A. Problem is, I know I have a couple of bulgin inline fuse holders and several boxes of glass fuses but I can't find the holders. You can also see the marks to the paint finish where the shelves are quite a tight fit.


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## Hanatsu (Nov 9, 2010)

Yeah, wiring can be really tedious work. Especially if you want it organized and tidy.

I use speakon aswell for my amp rack, they are really great quick connectors.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

3rd shelf completed. Mids and tweeters powered via the 3553.









Whole unit complete. Back.









From the boot.









Test run it and it seems to work for the most part but there are a few teething problems. First off is I have switching noise which I didn't have before. I've put an isolation transformer between the head and the crossover and it stopped it completely, so I'm none too sure where that came from. I have also reversed the left/right mids and the left mid bass is not outputting anything. I've not yet tested the subwoofer, so I have a few things to check and fix yet.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Figured the problems out. The left midbass wires had escaped inside the speakon plug so 4 ferrules later and a re-tighten both were working, but sods law says they were out of phase as I'd got 1+ & 1- backwards at the socket. The mids were wired backwards at the amp so had to release the upper shelf and swap them around. Sub fitted and tested great. Sounds pretty darned good with a very full bodied sound now. Going to have to pull the mic and REW measurement kit out again at some point so that I can tweak it a little better.

Noise problem is an odd one. It is definitely not going away without the use of an isolation transformer. Only things different with the system are the two V12 amplifiers and the relay for remote. The 4 gauge cabling is obviously different too but the grounding point is still the same and the supply is coming directly off the battery rather than from the maxi fusebox feed.

Another problem I found is that my original 6 disc clarion CDC9250 changer seems to have given up the ghost.

Also decided to keep the phonocar AFS fuse holder and use the insulated ferrules rather than bare ends which has made the cables much more secure. Measured my voltage drop at ~0.02V as I had 12.20V up front and 12.18V at the back, but that was before I redid the fuse holder.









With the sub fitted in the boot. Not yet anchored so it won't be staying put for now.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wow! That is excellent work! I think the Tung Oil finish turned out great, and the wiring is superb!


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Cheers. If I'm honest, it's too good to put in the boot of the car as it'll take quite a walloping. I'm still thinking of moving on from the DRX to a more modern headunit but struggling to decide what offers the best SQ for the money.

Choices I've narrowed it down to:
Pioneer DEH-80PRS
Clarion CZ703
Alpine CDE-178BT
Alpine CDA-137BTi
used Pioneer P88RS/RS II
used Pioneer P90RS
used Alpine CDA-9887R


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I too am looking at headunits around the same price range. Keen to see what you choose and how you like it. I want a good quality unit, that can browse a usb music collection with ease.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

New speaker cable and more cable ties arrived yesterday. I went with IXOS ultraflex 16/4 which is sufficient for my needs and at 99p a meter was a good bargain. I'm going to replace the speaker cables front to back with 4 core cables which will make things easier with the speakons at the back.









I've been doing plenty of research on the headunit and whilst a pioneer DEX-P90RS looks lovely, it's not great with ipods/usb pens via the IP-bus adaptors and it is quite expensive for that basic functionality. Looks lovely though. 

The clarion HX-D2/DRZ9255 has the same problem, cracking unit let down by poor ipod support and no usb option at all. It would be the logical upgrade from my older clarion DRX9255 though and I adore the look of it too, although I don't think the illumination colour can be changed at all unlike the DRX.

Personally I don't really like the Pioneer 80PRS as it's bit too much high gloss plastic, the wiggle control isn't to my liking and there is no ip bus for external add ons like dab or a cd changer etc. The best unit I've narrowed it down to seems to be the alpine CDA-137BTi which has everything I need, doesn't look too bad and still has Ai-net so I can add other bits if I choose. It's disappointing that the sub illumination is blue or red only though, but compared to some of the problems I have with other units, it's not an issue.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Decided to go with the Alpine CDA-137BTi to replace my ageing DRX9255. Here they are side by side. First thing I've noticed is that it is quite a dust magnet. It's not bad looking though and hopefully I'll be able to keep the lights and flashy bits to an absolute minimum.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Swapped the headunits around today. All went smoothly and the new alpine is working well. I've run the USB cable through the phone cradle cutout in the kick panel for now as I'm not yet certain where I want to run it. You can see the head lining starting to come away by the sun shades, methinks it's going to need a complete re-trim, but I'll save that for the future as the rear arches and door bottoms come first.








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Playback wise, it's great. I hadn't realised how much I had missed having a proper radio tuner with RDS. CD playback is pretty much as it was before with the benefit of having cd text. USB playback is OK, but the banking feature is a little confusing and somewhat slow. It's taken me a while to work out how the heck you playback the contents of a folder. Bluetooth audio seems significantly better than I expected and works tremendously well with my galaxy s3. No idea on phone call quality as I don't tend to make or receive calls all that often so I've not bothered fitting the mic yet.
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Minor annoyances:
1. Fan noise behind the dash when playing CD's, USB or bluetooth. Only noticeable at low volume levels, not a problem when driving around.
2. Can't turn the usb banking feature off and just work by file/folder names (although the options does seem to allow for file name rather than tag name for search)








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The one vifa TG9 mid that evidently got quite warm when the 3566 failed. Yes I realise that I need to make up a decent mdf adaptor ring for the speaker, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to stick with the vifas or get something different like dayton PS95's.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Here's how it looks at night all lit up. That's as dim as I can make it. (level 3) It's no worse than the VFD screen on the DRX. With blackout enabled, all illumination shuts off. I've done some testing regarding the banking feature and I think I've worked out what has a significant effect on how long it takes. My entire music library has a complete ID3 tag system with almost all the extra info embedded including all of the artwork. Purging the usb pen of this using a tool called kid3 seems to have done the trick.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

Spent today replacing the speaker cables front to back with the new 4 core stuff. I fitted colour bands at both ends which identifies the cable (Red/Blue/Green) I've also run the usb cable into the glovebox by slightly enlarging the builtin light cut out to allow the cable to pass through. Once the light is reinstalled it stops the cable from being able to pass back through. I also successfully flatten the battery again as the interior light was on a lot throughout the day which after my testing of the headunit resulted in the battery voltage dropping to 9V.








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The old assortment of cables that were used when I originally installed all the kit in 2009.


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## --Kei-- (Sep 8, 2011)

I took the opportunity to re-route the 4 awg cable and replace the autoleads section from the battery with matching xspower so it's all a consistent core diameter and material.









Gave the cooling system a good flush out, cleaned the expansion tank, replaced the heater matrix hoses with silicone and refilled the cooling system with bmw nitrite free (as I already had a bottle) which is essentially BASF glysantin G-48. It's actually almost a perfect colour match for the car.









I've also done some further tinkering with the alpine and found that it seems happy to play any old AAC. I've tested it with the maximum bit rate of 448kbit/s encoded via winamp and it works perfectly. I've also been tweaking the crossover points and levels a bit as I've been scratching my head as to the cause of a big mid bass gap. After some experimentation it seems that I need the sub to play 180 degrees out of phase else I loose buckets loads of LF to cancellation. It seems a bit odd as I don't remember needing to run the old sub out of phase, but it was different in size and firing direction which may make all the difference.


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