# HOT9DOG'S VW CC Build



## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Good evening everyone,
This is my first build log on this forum so be gentle with me.

The Ride: 2012 VW CC. Have been looking for one for awhile and ran across one with 11,000 miles on it!!- threw the cash at the dealer and I hauled ass down the road laughing my head off. This is the last year with this body style- Im not a big fan of the new body style.


The Plan: This is my daily driver... sound quailty is the foundation of this build but I want a "fun live sound" (loud and accurate).
Active 3 way front stage- 2 way seperate rear fill (passive)- single 12" ported- stealth install exept for trunk.
Straight forward install with high level of quality.

Componets I have so far-

Alpine X008U head unit


I was looking at getting a car pc, but decided to go this route.
I will give a detailed review once I have it installed. According to alot of people- this unit WILL NOT fit into the CC opening (hahahahha we will see)

PAC TR7

Anybody who has installed the new Alpine NAV units knows what a pain it is to bypass the parking break, this will solve this. I have used these before with good results on clients cars.

Phoenix Gold TI1600.5 & Phoenix Gold TI800.4


I love this series of amps. Class A/B, Triple Darlington, great internal componets, over built design. I really like the looks and sound of these amps.
The 5 channel is a hybrid class A/B, class D. It will handle front stage tweeters and front stage mids and sub channel will handle... well the sub (duh) 
The 4 channel is all class A/B. it will handle front stage midbass and rear fill.

Phoenix Gold Elite 12 (2 ohm)



This is a beast of a sub. A family member of mine has this sub installed in their car and I was blown away! Very detailed and massive low end extension.
I will give a detailed review of this sub as soon as I build the box and get it installed. Im drawing up the plans in Soid Works right now- 3 cu ft tuned in the 29hz range. I want the sub and port to fire thru the center arm rest in the back seat. This should be an interesting box.

I will post more tommorow after work, its getting late for this goof ball.
Look for pictures of the DSP and the first stages of the box design tommorow.
Night everyone...


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

is the ti series of amp a current product for phoenix gold or is it an older design


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

its an older line, the first series produced after the AAMP buy out (correct me if im wrong). They are overbuilt tanks!!! Alot of people were not very impressed with them, not me. I love this series.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Can't wait to see the next step as far as purchases.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ok lets continue with this thread....

up next is the DSP for this build.

Soundstream Synthesis

I had a Synthesis in my last build in my GTI and had great results with it so I figured it would be incorporated into this build. Its a MINDSP design- it has a low noise floor, the software is very easy to use, its reliable and not too expensive. Is it the best DSP out there...? no. Is it pretty damn good...? yes. I would love to have a ARC AUDIO PS8- but this fits the bill for right now. 

The front stage goals:

The car did NOT come with the Dynaudio option. In stock form the front stage is a 2way setup. But...... the door panel has the opening where the Dynaudio midrange would be for this 3way option. From reliable sources in the "VW circles" its rumored that Dynaudio had their hands in the designing stages of this car as far as speaker placement, tweeter angle and door reinforcement. So at first I will use the stock locations for the drivers, I will evaluate the situation after the install to see if they stay there.
Tweeters I will use will be the new Phoenix Gold Elite tweeters. The specs look good and I have heard some reviews... we will see. I have them on order and will be here any day now. I plan to remove them from the aluminum housings they come in so I can use the stock locations.
Midrange..... Im still on the fence with this one. I know I want a dome midrange (non-metal)... this would fit in the stock loaction just above the midbass and maybe angled slighty up towards the driver and passenger- following the angle of the door panel already.
Midbass.... im on the fence with this one also. I will pick a midbass AFTER I pick a midrange so I know I have frequency coverage between the two drivers. I want it to be an 8 inch driver, doesnt need to dig too low but should play loud and have great impact.

So now I move onto the first step of this install...
Mounting the Alpine head unit.
I have a generic aftermarket VW install kit that I will be hacking up to fit the 8 inch screen into the dash. I dont want the radio to sit flush with the dash, I want it to be slightly recessed and to have some kind of contoured design on the sides of the trim pieces... ( I know Im asking alot here) lol
So I came home from work today and started to carve up the install kit... Im realizing that ive got my work cut out for me (many puns intended). After doing some measurments with my calipers and doing some quick lay-outs with tape as my guides- I start the cutting process.


Even with being outdoors in a tranquil setting by the pool- frustrastion sets in. lol
Im keeping my eye out for the pizza delivery... maybe he will help me with calming my anger.
Im a confident this head unit install will look great when done, body filler and patience always helps.
Thats all I got for the day. Pizza will be here soon.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Brass knuckles and Jack... what could go wrong? 

I love the car man. I just bought a 2010 Passat 2.0T Komfort with 37k miles, basically identical in color and trim to yours. I have some crafty plans for those front doors- your panels are virtually the same as mine except I have a bit more of an opening where the map pocket is.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey mikey7182- I see that you will be going to the Phoenix GTG this saturday, I look forward to seeing you there. I plan on having the Alpine head unit installed by then. Also looking forward how you will do your doors on your new Passat (compare notes) lol


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> Hey mikey7182- I see that you will be going to the Phoenix GTG this saturday, I look forward to seeing you there. I plan on having the Alpine head unit installed by then. Also looking forward how you will do your doors on your new Passat (compare notes) lol


I hope to make it... I just had a son last night, so this week is kind of hectic! You're brave tearing into the dash on that thing.  What was your factory HU? The Premium 8 (RCD-510) with the 6 disc changer and BT audio? If you're ditching the factory stuff, and your car came with the BT audio module (should be 9W7 code), I would be interested in buying it from you or trading you for something if you aren't going to keep it. My car was the last year that came with the non-audio capable BT. Lame. :mean: The deck I have is the same one I mentioned, and it is compatible with the newer BT modules, so BT Audio shows up as a source even though my car doesn't come with the option, and it threw me for a loop!

My doors will most likely be custom FG enclosures replacing the lower half of the panel (basically everything under the door handle where the soft leather ends) for some ported 10" pro audio midbass. :rockon:


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Congrats on the birth of your son!!! A PM has been sent your way.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looks nice a nice start. I'll stay tuned to see the outcome. I have tried every angle at keeping the factory head unit or even one of those Chinese factory replacements, nothing works like getting a real aftermarket head unit.

Feel free to bounce ideas off me, I'm struggled with my CC install now for over a year. There are a few interesting hurdles that I've had to overcome.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey vwdave , 
I too was looking at the china factory replacements, i actually found one that had a 10" screen and was made specific for the CC/PASSAT. The mixed reviews out there made me kinda worried, even though some of them play LOSSLESS formats. I pulled the stock radio out last night to see whats behind it to get an idea what im getting myself into.... it doesnt look too bad. Some hurdles with clearance... but not too bad.


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## l a r r y (Jan 25, 2012)

What will you be running in the midbass area, 6.5" or 8"?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I want to run 8's. I like the sound of a robust 8. Plus i like the bragging rights associated with saying that i have 8's in my doors. Lololol. It just rolls off the tongue nicely.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

But on serious note.... i know i am going to run into issues with having 8's in the doors, i will squash those issues as they pop up. The Dynaudio option for this car had 8's in this location, so i know they will fit.. its just a matter of door resonances and finding what and where in the door is coloring the sound.


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## sunshinefc3s (Jun 23, 2010)

hot9dog said:


> Tweeters I will use will be the new Phoenix Gold Elite tweeters. The specs look good and I have heard some reviews... we will see. I have them on order and will be here any day now. I plan to remove them from the aluminum housings they come in so I can use the stock locations.


Good news: the PG elite tweeters are really, really good. 

Bad news: They do not come out of the aluminum housing. At least mine don't. There is a rumor that the design might have changed in the production run, but I cant confirm it. Post a pic of what yours look like when they arrive. 

Nice build so far!

-a


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ive heard the same thing about the tweeters. Im kinda curious about which revision i will recieve. I ordered them thru my local PG here on town, its taken quite some time for them to come in so its a good chance i will not receive the 1st revision. I will post up pics when they come in.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm a fan of the CC and VW in general. I look forward to seeing what you do with the build.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks for everyone giving compliments on this build so far! I plan on taking pictures of the car around certain key landmarks of Tucson, theres some interesting quirky spots around town. Give everyone something to look at as this build develops . I was using the Solid Works program at work to develop the box i want to build, i will be transferring the drawing over to Sketchup tonight so i can work on it at home, i will try and post the preliminary drawing tonight.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

So i have done some quick tranfering of my first drawings in Solid Works to Sketchup, some details have not been finalized but the overall dimensions are there- 



In the drawings I left the top of the box off so the internal details can be seen.
As you can see the sub and port will fire into the common opening which will fire thru the arm rest opening in the back seat. I still have to do some more work on how the opening of the box will mate up with the opening of the back seat (i have a plan in my head how this will happen) ..... I need to move the mounting of the sub slighty closer to the edge of the box so I wont have any clearance problems with the sub and the angle where the two boards meet. Other than that I should be ready to start cutting wood before Halloween. With the dimensions of the box currently, it yields an internal volume of 3 cu ft. tuned to around 29hz. 
During lunch today at work, I worked on the trim piece for the Alpine head unit install- its coming along very nice. It should be ready for paint tomorrow during lunch at work.
I want to have the Alpine installed by the time I drive to work Friday morning. Lets see if I can get that done by then.
Thats all I got for tonight, got to get my daughter ready for bed. Later-


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

BTW- I apologize for my spelling... its all over the place. I work in an aeropspace engineering enviroment and EVERYTHING is highly critical and ALL must be perfect. So in my home enviroment i like to be alittle "loosey goosey" with things... plus im kinda eccentric. Thats my disclaimer.... lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

just wanted to post a head unit picture real fast. took this pic with my phone. 

The trim bezel truned out waaay better than I expected. It only has one coat of paint on it as of right now. I will leave it that way for now till I move further on with this build.
The PAC TR7 was a bit tricky to program- they are supposed to be pre programed for Alpine units.... This one wasnt. It took about 15 minutes to program it so no harm- no foul.
Look for a detailed review of the X008U Alpine unit in the near future.


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## damonryoung (Mar 23, 2012)

That's looking pretty damn sweet!! Looking forward to the rest of your build!


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Dude, that Alpine turned out SWEET!! Great job!! So much for it being 'nigh unto impossible' to install there huh?  

The enclosure looks awesome as well, although I'm curious how the woofer will clear that narrow passage and/or whether that opening will have some unwanted bandpass effects. Which leads me to my suggestion: Have you considered building a sealed bandpass enclosure instead of a vented enclosure? Basically a fully enclosed sub, with a sealed rear chamber and a ported front chamber? That would give you a lot of flexibility on internal configuration for the sub mounting, and give you ample space to fire just the port through the ski pass. If your ski pass is the same size as my Passat's, you only have about 11" or so across. A 4" or 6" diameter Precision Port firing through there would be sweet, and you may avoid some unwanted rattles/vibrations by not having the sub exposed, and channeling all the energy through the vent into the ski pass. Just a thought (I'm doing something very similar in my Passat with a W12GTi).


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Yeah... about the box: theres going to be alot activity going thru that small area between the seats. Im the experimental type, so im going to build the box and see what happens. Its either going to be good or bad. Lol. We will see. Im going to be removing the whole arm rest and the unfolding mechanism that goes with it in an attempt to give as much breathing room as possible. I have a feeiling that this box is going to pressurize the crap out of the cabin of the car....... (i hope) lets build it and see if it will fly


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

The phase changes on the air coming out of the port the further away from tuning. I have a feeling you're going to get a peaky box and the port may partially cancel the sub at the higher freqs. Also with cabin gain you may want to tune a bit higher ~33-34. Bandpass may be a better option as Mikey stated, or maybe IB if you're really wanting to use that passthrough.

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Everything youve mentioned Josh i totally agree with and was in the back of my mind as i was drawing this box up . I know bandpass enclosures get no love within certain groups. Ive built 2 different bandpass boxes for people before, both of them were 1 note wonders. The clients loved them because of the high level of output, but my ears hated them. But on the flip side of things, i have heard a bandpass that was done correctly and it did amazing things! Im at a crossroads with this part of the build.
Any input or advice from anybody would be greatly be appreciated and taken into consideration. I try to be opened minded about these things, but as soon as i turn on the table saw- im steering a course for better or for worse.( said in a pirate tone of voice... arrrrr)


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

If you really want to do a ported box, can you run the port through the deck someplace?


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Oh, and is there a reason you have to have it go through the passthrough. Is there metal backing behind the seats? Bass should pass mostly intact through soft seats.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

I built a 6th order in my S10 (now Grayson's S10) using designs from PWK that were originally made for Jim (BigRed) and it sounds fantastic. If your plan is to do 8s up front, I wouldn't worry about the passband being too narrow or "one note wonder" since you'll be able to blend the fronts in at a lower Fs. The general rule on a bandpass is a 2:1 ratio (1cf sealed:2cf vented). If you wanted to do a 6th order (ported rear chamber into ported front chamber), use the same ratio. Your two tuning frequencies are essentially going to be your roll off points, so tune the rear chamber low like you would a vented enclosure (~30hz) and tune the front vent higher (~65hz). It worked really well in my application. If you're nervous about it, it might be worth the $60 to have PWK Designs draw something up for you. Just tell him your car, woofer, available dimensions and goal and he'll make it awesome.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

mikey7182 said:


> If you're nervous about it, it might be worth the $60 to have PWK Designs draw something up for you. Just tell him your car, woofer, available dimensions and goal and he'll make it awesome.


Except, I believe ol' Petey is getting out of the direct to consumer enclosure design business. He recently joined the team at AD Designs and will be working exclusively with their drivers as I understand it.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Interesting...I didn't know that.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

My first idea for the box was to have a port fire thru rear deck as you mentioned, but i knda didnt want to cut into the rear deck. If i ever did change course with the build, then i would have to deal with the opening I created.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> My first idea for the box was to have a port fire thru rear deck as you mentioned, but i knda didnt want to cut into the rear deck. If i ever did change course with the build, then i would have to deal with the opening I created.


That's actually exactly what I am going to do. Going to try and pick a spot that already has a hole or two and just expand around it to fit a 6" precision port through.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

good morning,
my Phoenix Gold Elite tweeters have come in from my local dealer.
There was some concern about which revision of these tweeters I would get- this is what I recieved. They look REALLY nice!





The fit and finish of these are amazing. Like all new Phoenix Gold products, they come in the silk bags. The machined aluminum is very well done, the screw on mount ring is well done also. Anodized finish is uniform in color and looks to have good penetration. Since I cannot remove the tweeter assembly from the housing, I will mount them so they can be seen and not BEHIND the stock location. After looking at these im not complaining, they look great! They need to be seen, the color and finish will match well with my interior.
I did some quick measurments...its going to be tight fit with where I want to put them.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ok, after some research... I decided to change the box slightly.
This is what I have come up with so far.
First the specs: 2.7 cubes tuned to slightly over 31hz



There was some debate over the last box design with the port and driver possibly cancelling each other out within a certain bandwidth due to being fired directly at each other. After talking with my enclosure "guru", he had the same concern.... but even he admitted it might possibly work. So him and I had a meeting of the minds and this design was its love child. The driver and port still fire thru the skipass between the rear seats, just now the orientation of the driver and port have been moved. This might provide some "loading" effect to the driver being fired into the divider and help out with the overall sound... 
The angles on the face of the box were added to mimic the angle of the back seat, and will have some sort of mechanical rubber seal on them in an attempt to make sure all acoustic energy is directed thru the skipass and not lost into the trunk. The box itself will be pushed against the back seat and will be physically locked into place to help out with the sealing. Im buying wood this weekend.... lets build it and see if it will fly.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Sweet! Looking forward to the results! Are you going to rear mount the sub? Or can you squeeze it between that divider and the baffle? What's the mounting depth?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

rear mount the sub... 7 1/8" is the mounting depth. I have 9" available in the box. (LOLOLLOL.... i like the sound of that last sentance)


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

How are you going to fit the sub into that box? It looks like you'll have to mount the sub before finishing the box, which obviously won't be very good in the even you need to replace it or trouble shoot issues.

Too slow, apparently.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

the top of the box will be the point of entry if there is a problem with the driver. The driver will be installed prior to sealing the top panel.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That looks like it may work a lot better. Looking forward to hearing that!

Josh


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm not sure how much you care about aesthetics, but it might be cool to add a piece of metal mesh at the ski pass opening. Just something to help hide the offset port, etc.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I want to build a frame that goes into the opening and stretch black speaker grill material. The frame would match the contours of the back seat and the black cloth would match the black leather.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Sounds nice. I look forward to the build.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Alot aspects to this build i want to either be stealthy or look natural to the car..for example- i dont want any wires showing under the hood. Even with 0 gauge wire, big 3 being done and performance battery, nothing to be visible ....i even want my vw dealer to be fooled. My vw dealer knows me and knows i like to modify my cars, so its not a problem if they see any of my work. I just want the challenge of making it stealthy as possible. ... just as a study in design and engineering in installing aftermarket equipment. The trunk will be a different story. The amps will be nicely displayed on the back of the box with multiple layers to reveal the stages of components and the install. First layer will be a frame surrounding the amps, then the layer that the amps will be mounted to, then the layer with the layout of wires and interconnects. Like layers of an onion. All color matched materials with whats already in the trunk.. clean


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Alot aspects to this build i want to either be stealthy or look natural to the car..for example- i dont want any wires showing under the hood. Even with 0 gauge wire, big 3 being done and performance battery, nothing to be visible ....i even want my vw dealer to be fooled. My vw dealer knows me and knows i like to modify my cars, so its not a problem if they see any of my work. I just want the challenge of making it stealthy as possible. ... just as a study in design and engineering in installing aftermarket equipment. The trunk will be a different story. The amps will be nicely displayed on the back of the box with multiple layers to reveal the stages of components and the install. First layer will be a frame surrounding the amps, then the layer that the amps will be mounted to, then the layer with the layout of wires and interconnects. Like layers of an onion. All color matched materials with whats already in the trunk.. clean


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Sorry for double post, my phone has the hiccups


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

So I had some free time today... lets start building the box. I wanted to start building the box by Halloween, so im not too far from my timeline.

I got the bottom, back and sides done today. Its not a huge start.... but im happy with what i got done.


On any given Sunday.......


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Have been sick for the past couple of days, so its been a slow boat with this build.
I have already gone thru 2 different versions of port design this week with the box design and am happy with the latest revision- so lets mash the "go pedal" on this project!!!
Today I built the main baffle for the box- my router took a crapper last week so I built the baffle with just my jig-saw. Its kinda rough- but the dimensions are spot on and the finished product is solid.

Installed the barbed nuts to the back of baffle

Tuesday after work I will do some clean-up work to the baffle and will work start work on the port assembly. I want to finish the box by the end of next weekend.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

here at the house were in the midst of a kitchen re-model and putting stone veneer on the front of the house... so finding time for the VW CC build is getting hard- but im getting creative with finding time. 
So I thought this morning I would take a few minutes and do a AMP GUT photo shoot.
EVERYONE LOVES AMP GUTS!!!!!! lol so here we go:
Up first is the Phoenix Gold Ti1600.5
RMS Power @ 14.4V <1%thd
90 x 4 @ 4ohm stereo
120 x 4 @ 2ohm stereo
240 x 2 @ 4ohm bridged
SUB Channel-
RMS @ 14.4v 
550 x 1 @ 2ohm
800 x 1 @ 1ohm


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I had this 5 channel installed into my last car and it made GOOD power and sounded clean and detailed. I was really impressed with this, so much so that its making its way into the new build. I got this amp here on DIYMA from BDUB- great seller!
Lets move onto the next amp.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Up next is the Phoenix Gold Ti800.4
My local PG dealer had this amp on his display board and NOBODY wanted it!! IDIOTS!! lol
This amp is a KILLER amp! power and sound quality.
After some wheeling and dealing I got a smoking deal on this amp... heck yeah!!
RMS is
115 x 4 @ 4ohm stereo
150 x 4 @ 2ohm stereo
300 x 2 @ 4ohm bridged
All ratings are @ 14.4v


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

[email protected] message on the board!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

these amps are tanks. The cast aluminum end caps are gigantic and have alot of detail to them. When the 5 channel was mounted in my last ride, I would beat on that amp on a daily basis, it never got hot, never shut down or never sounded stressed. I had the sub channel hooked up to an older MB Quart PWE 352 15"before and it pushed it HARD!
Im kinda curious how it will sound hooked up to the Elite 12.. I know the elite can take ALOT more power... its all based on how efficient my setup is going to be now.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I should be done with the box by tonight, I need to get some odds and ends and the hardware store later today and then i should be ready for sealing the top of the box.
I got my 0 gauge in the other day, this week I will be pulling door sills and running it thru the car.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ok some teaser pics..... lol
put the box in trunk to get a quick fitament view and see how everything lines up.
Have not put the seals on the opening of the box yet where it meets up with the ski pass opening, and the did just a quick coat of black paint on the port and driver opening.
I want to put black suede in this area later.
Im happy with it so far.
Look for more pics after I install the seal.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Cool. How does it look from the trunk side? Are you planning to build trim panels in the trunk once you are happy with the enclosure?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Im not showing the trunk just quite yet..lol i put 10-32 studs on the back of the box and the amp rack will mount to that. I want to make like a frame to surround the amp that will have a slightly taller height than the amps, so that way any groceries or bags wont touch the amps. Simple but clean, with contrasting colors of materials.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I actually like the look from the back of the trunk so far, wil still have room to access the spare tire and room for bags or whatever!


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Looks like you beat me to it!. More pics!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Let me do some clean up to the box before i post more pic. Lol i did a quick rattle can paint job to the opening and it shows!!! Rough! Lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I need everyone on this forum to a favor, if i EVER want to make a complex box again... please come to my house and round house kick me in the head! This box kicked my ass!!! I long for the simple days of doing simple pvc pipe port boxes.... im turning 44 next month and im starting to show my age! I was rough on my body as a young man and now im paying for it. Lol im glad this Frankenstein box is in the trunk now!!! I need a drink and some pills!!!


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

You didn't really say how it sounded, is it not hooked up yet? If not, I may beat you yet on that part....


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Have not hooked it up yet, still have to run power, rca's and amp rack. Im quite far from being hooked up, but youve been giving me some good motivation on moving this build forward.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Love the amp selection. Those ti series have nice parts selection too. Looking forward to the reveal!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ripping out kitchen counter-tops today and doing lay out work for building the forms for concrete counter-tops....but i managed to squeeze some CC time in.
I wanted to do a quick rough-in with the amp rack today- take some quick dimensions.
Then I got a wild hair and grabbed some scrap wood and did a quick "mock up"...
thats when I ran into a problem..... (oh crap)

I wanted to have the amps mounted with the smaller one on top and the larger one on the bottom.... I need an minimum height of 23" for that to happen. I have 20" available!!!
AAARRRRRGGHHHHHHHH lolololo
so I cant mount them how I wanted- so I went forward and got a center loacation figured out for the 5 channel and did a quick mount to see how it would look.


So this is what I came up with: I want to mount the 4 channel on the deck lid- so that way both amps still are mounted on the same center line of the rear of the car and would add some wow factor when popping the trunk.

I held the amp up there with one hand while snapping the pic with the other... lol
I have never mounted an amp on a trunk lid before. Ive seen it done... but never did one myself.
Im not a big fan of going this direction....(alot of extra work) but the finished product i feel will be worth all the extra work.

The projects are starting to pile up around the house..... lol time to get moving!!!
If anybody has any input about mounting the 4 channel to the trunk lid- Im all ears.
Time for a drink.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

It'll definitely look cool, but 2 things I'd worry about:

Weight. What will you have to do to make sure the trunk lid will still open and close normally (as well as stay up when it's open)? Wouldn't want that coming down on you while you put groceries in the trunk or something.

Scratches. Again, with groceries (or other things put in the trunk) might scratch the amp when the lid is closed if it's not protected somehow.

Not that familiar with the CC's trunk mechanism, so not sure how much help I can offer as far as suggestions. 

Jay


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

What about staggering them so they overlap a bit? So do one up as high as it can go, then put the other one below and underneath it so that the top 3-4" of the bottom amp is covered by the bottom 3-4" of the amp above?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I thought about staggering them as you mentioned also about mounting them on an angle..... im on the fence about this one. as soon as i held the amp on the trunk lid- it was like as if it was meant to be. If you look at the trunk lid- you see there is a recess already there.... the amp fits PERFECTLY in the recess!!!! oh crap- now I HAVE to mount it there (what I was thinking in my head at the time) lol
The raise mechanism for the trunk is a coiled flat spring hidden in the side of the trunk- now will it have enough UMPHH to lift it when the amp is mounted to it..??? good question??? If I can mount it there, it will look bad ass!!! Im going to some weight testing on the trunk to see if it will lift without any problems tomorrow. 
I always paint myself into the corner with ALL my projects... I always find a way out.
its a life long pattern
lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

jumped on the lathe this morning and busted out some aluminum washer for the build. Both flat and beveled- beveled for flush mount fasteners. It adds a nice finishing touch to the build.



Started to gear up for mounting the fountation panel on the trunk lid for the 4 channel amp.





so far so good. I like the placement and the look. Next step is to make up another foundation panel for the bottom half of the amp.
When I closed the trunk with the amp mounted... you can feel and hear a big change. It sounds sooo much heavier and solid when you shut the trunk!! I like it! 
The only issue that I have now is that the extra weight on the trunk wont let the trunk stay open. The spring doesnt have enough strength with the extra weight. I will have to do some homework to try and find a helper spring.
Thats all I got for today. Im getting ready to go on vacation.... Enjoy the holidays everyone!!


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

I missed your earlier post, always kinda sucks when you don't have quite the room you wanted. I didn't realize how monstrous those amps were! I know this is kinda late, but had you considered V-ing the amp rack so you could still do one above the other? 

If you do push ahead mounting that on the trunk lid, I'm interested in seeing how you run the power cable up there.

Also interested in pics info for the concrete counters!

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Yeah im pushing forward with mounting on the trunk. I got half of the mounting structure done today, did a quick mounting of the amp to see how it looks and i think it looks good on the trunk lid! As far as runnng wires.... thats going to be an easy one! The two arms that the trunk is mounted too and pivots up are hollow tubes. There is already two wires running on one side for the rear tail lights that are on the trunk. I reached my finger thru the back side of the tubes today and there is more than enough room for all of the wires! Power and ground thru the left tube and RCA's & speaker wire thru the left tube. Its going to look super clean and simple. The only hurtle is locating and installing a helper spring to help hold the trunk open. Im going to go thru a spring vendor at my work to help me out.
As far the kitchen counter tops.... i currently have the old ones ripped off and have layed down a laminate board to act as a flat mounting structure. We had a concrete artist come in and make templates of the dimensions needed. He is making the forms at his work shop and will be pouring them there. Charcoal gray in color. After casting he will release them from the molds and then do multiple passes with different grits of sanding to make them smooth as glass. All edges will be squared off and give an industrial look to things. We just got the shipment of all mosaic glass tiles for the back splash and our undermount stainless farm sink just got in also. I will post pictures when he gets the molds poured. Were doing alot of work around the house, i cant wait till its all done


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I re read that last post, its riddled with errors! Lol just back from dinner and drinks...lol.
Power and ground wires will be run thru the left tube and rca's with speaker wires thru the right tube. Sorry its been a long and crazy holiday!!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ok, came back from vacation today and noticed that the UPS man brought me my door speakers while I was away.

My Dayton 2" dome midrange drivers and my Dayton reference series 8" woofers.
Lets have a look at them...


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Im very familiar with this dome midrange and woofer combo. Did the same setup is some one elses car with great results.
The VW CC door is a huge door and sealed pretty good from the factory. After I get done doing some mild treatments to the door- it will get even better. I expect this 8" to hit hard. I wont ask it to go too low, so it should be very happy.
Both of these drivers paired with the Phoenix Gold Elite tweeter- I have a feeling this is going to be the nicest 3 way ive done so far. 
Im excited and cant wait to start ripping door panels off!!
Im going back to work for a couple of days, then I have a week off for Christmas. The wife and daughter will be heading into California to visit family and I will be all by myself for several days!!!! Im going to be challenging myself to see how much of this build I can get done while they are away.... coffee, coffee, coffee and more coffee!! I haven't been on a multi-day binge install spree in a long time.... this should get interesting !! lololol
Hold tight for updates leading up to the carnage!


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Nice speakers. I'm I for the finale. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That looks promising. Looking fwd to hearing it!


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## windedv6 (May 19, 2011)

You could possibly do an electric actuator to open and close the trunk lid. Its been done many times before and probably look cooler than a couple of gas shocks.

John


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I actually already have looked into actuators. I might go that route. I have a spring vendor at my work that I deal with, I gave him the specs of the springs that are on the trunk now.. he his sending my a set of springs that have a more progressive rate. I think if I did actuators, it would give a clean look and would add a wow factor. I already figured how I would tie into the stock electrical so I could use the remote/key to trigger the actuators. Im going to give the springs a try at first since they are being shipped to me for free (its good to have friends in sales and distribution) lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Im by myself for several days- lets see how much I can get done with this build!! yesterday it was raining for most of the day here in Tucson, so I spent most of the day gathering supplies and to hit-up all the local pawn shops for buried treasures (pawn shops are FLOODED with amazing rare stuff right before the holidays, ripe for me to plunder!!) anyways, back to the subject at hand. Woke this morning and installed the more aggressive springs in the trunk- when I re-mount the amp we will see if its enough to hold up the trunk with the extra weight.

This was the trunk prior with only one mounting strip for the amp. The bottom mounting area posed some problems with there being very little structure to create a point of attachment
So this is what I fabbed up the morning... GOOOO COFFEE!!!!

Some thick gauge aluminum plates that I sheared up, bent an angle on the bottom and rolled a small bead in the center to give it some strength. These will be my point of attachment for the 2 bottom feet of the amp.



Here we see them mounted. The wood foundation for the 2 top feet of the amp, and the aluminum foundation for the 2 bottom feet of the amp.
I will drill and tap into the aluminum once I get the amp up there so I can find the center point where to drill and tap.

Running the 4 gauge thru the trunk arms (they are hollow).


the neighbor thinks im crazy... he is a very smart man.

Last night I sat in the car and mounted the tweeters in several locations and angles with double-sided tape and ran tones thru them and this is the angle I came up with.


I hope to fiberglass them tonight....
Im hungry- lunch break. will pick this up later this afternoon.
Look for more updates as this non-stop install session continues for the next several days.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Thought you wanted to try to keep the stuff hidden in the doors?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The doors I will keep stock, I wanted the use the tweeter in the same mounting cup as the stock ones- behind the plastic... but these elite tweeters are bigger and wont fit in the same stock location. Plus the tweeters are amazing looking and need to be shown off in a classy way..the colors and the overall look of them matches well with the interior. So I did some placement auditions last night with tone samples and ran across an angle and axis that sounded VERY nice! The angle is slightly tilted down and aimed at the passengers chest and visa-versa... and at the same time the slight tilt makes them look very much at home and not "in your face", as if was an actual option with the car visually.
I wanted to get more done on the car today but I had carne-asada tacos for lunch at Los Betos and they made me sleepy and I took a nap..... lolol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WANAMAKERS IN TUCSON!!!
HERES TO THOSE THAT ARE NO LONGER WITH US, MY DAD, MY FATHER-IN-LAW...
WE CARRY ON AND HOLD THE TORCH THAT YOU HAVE PASSED ONTO US.
ENJOY THE DAY.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Awesome hat! My GF's niece loves minions...we're always on the lookout for minion apparel. haha

Did you run ground for the amp through the trunk "rods" or are you going to ground it to the trunk lid, and then ground the trunk supports or something?

Jay


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I ran the ground down thru the rods also. I didn't want to ground the amp to the trunk, wasn't too sure how good of a ground I would get. I already scouted out a common ground location for the amps that is within close range to both amps. I ran the speaker wires thru the other rod and next will be the RCA's. I have a whole complete set of RCA's for this build but the other day I saw the new Maxkore series of RCA's from DBLINK....
yes, I said DBLINK!! lol I know, I know, I know..... but I aw them in person and am VERY impressed with the way they look and the build quality! Good price too. I will post pics when they come in.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Honestly, the shop I work at, our lower end RCA's are DbLink. And they are head and shoulders about the IXOS 300 series ones we used to carry (that failed all the time). They're foil shielded and twisted pair, something even JL's Blue series of RCA's can't say. When you figure they can be had on Amazon for around $3-4 for the 17ft ones, that seems like a bargain.

Jay


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

well that's good to hear. Some of the DBLINK's rca selection looks actually pretty good, I know looks can be deceiving, but quality often stands out visually. The Maxkore line from DB looks damn good.... this weekend im going to be ordering them so I will post pics and post resistance values when they come in. 
Drive safe everyone today, were headed out the door to a early dinner and the mother-in laws house. CHEERS!!!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

had a malfunction with my laptop so there has been a delay with posting updates... at least I got a new laptop out of the ordeal! lol
on with the show..
removed door panel to start the mock-up and fabrication process. this is the stock speaker, as you can see up above it in the blank space- this is where the midrange would go if my car had the DYNAUDIO option.


Removed the speaker plate to get a sense of placement for the 8" driver. Made up some MDF speaker rings to start the process.


Started to rough-in the mounting plate that the ring will mount to. Started with just copying the shape of the stock one and making relief cuts to clear the basket of the 8".


Drilled the mounting holes and cut off the top of the mounting plate to start to make room for the dome mid.


Started to trim away at the aluminum mounting ring of the mid.... slowly cutting to mimic the radius of the top of the 8"


Here we see the first mock-up of the drivers door...

I still have a lot of work to do to get where I want to be. After looking at the mounting of the mid, Im thinking to mount it WITHOUT the aluminum face plate. This would allow me to recess it more within the hole and angle it towards the driver and passenger. I will work more on this later in the week.



I was about to fiberglass the tweeter pods then I noticed the tight tolerance's between it and the contours of the door panel and the side window. I was afraid if I used fiberglass, I wouldn't be able to hold those tolerance's due to the matting material building up. So after I covered the pod in speaker grill material, I coated the stretched material with CA GLUE. It stiffened up the material quite nicely- since im not relying on the stretched material for structure, the using of CA Glue is acceptable. I did a light coat of filler and started to do some quick coats of gloss black. The final color will be a matte black but the gloss black is a great way to see variations and problems during sanding.
I hope to have the drivers pod done by tomorrow .

I got 8 spools of PG speaker wire the other day, Im starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with this build.
Once I get the drivers door done, the passenger door will get done fast since Ive done all the hard work of figuring things out with the drivers door.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Your install is looking great. It's like déjà vu. You have been dealing with all of the concerns that I had with my CC.


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## ndm (Jul 5, 2007)

hot9dog said:


> MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE WANAMAKERS IN TUCSON!!!
> HERES TO THOSE THAT ARE NO LONGER WITH US, MY DAD, MY FATHER-IN-LAW...
> WE CARRY ON AND HOLD THE TORCH THAT YOU HAVE PASSED ONTO US.
> ENJOY THE DAY.


I wish I lived in Tuscon. I could work on my audio all year long without freezing my stones off. Current temp 28 degrees and dropping. 17 degrees for tomorrows low. Looks like it will be 71 degrees in Tuscon tomorrow.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Winter is the time to be in AZ. Summers suck though... There's a trade off. That's probably why snowbirding is so popular.

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I've lived all over this country, and I LOVE living in southern Arizona.
Before living here I was living in Ozaukee county in Wisconsin right on lake Michigan. Insane winters!!!! never again.
The summers here are hotter than hell- but its only 2.5 months out of the year that are bad. The rest of the year is swweeeetttt.......


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

had some free time today and the sun was out- wanted to try and finish the drivers door.
First thing to do was to run the 3 sets of speaker thru the door jam and into the door.

It was a tight fit but they all fit thru the factory rubber loom.


I wanted to mark the wires for which speaker they ran to- I couldn't find my label maker so I came up with a quick way to mark them.
One zip tie for the tweeter, two zip ties for midrange and no zip ties for midwoofer.

Next step was to mount the foundation adaptor.


Then mounted the speaker ring to the foundation piece.

I then cut and formed some filler pieces that will fill the void and give structure to the area between the woofer and the mid



I used 2 piece epoxy to secure the cut and formed pieces to the door after I mounted the drivers. During the first trial fitting of the drivers I didn't like how the midrange was angled and decided to mount it with the face plate removed. It allowed the mid to be mounted deeper into the door and allowed me to angle it some.




Removing the front plate of the mid worked out quite well- except that now the mid did not have the protective mesh screen over the dome. The door panel will cover all of this up and it will not be an issue- so I thought..............
As I was installing the mid in the door today, I got dizzy. The heart medication that I take often makes me dizzy and its ALWAYS at the wrong time.
As I got dizzy I instinctively put my hand in front of me and my hand went right onto the midrange and made a mess out of the dome. 

OOOUUUCCCHHH!!!!!! UGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
So I had to use the driver that I has set aside for the passenger door.
I will have to order another midrange.
I used a heat gun to release the glue that holds the mesh screen to the front plate and removed it.
I used my hotglue gun to secure it to the mid so there wont be a next time of crushing the dome.
CRAP! 
I am laughing about it now.
That's all I got for today.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Oh no, sorry to see what happened to the mid. Does it still sound the same? I know that tweeters can take some damage so entires without being effected.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I don't know how it sounds, I don't want to find out. I had it mounted and was about to start applying the deadener. And that's when it happened, I got pissed off and yanked it from the mount. I almost gave up for the day but then calmed down and installed the passenger's mid into the drivers door. I will order another mid this week..... getting old sucks- but im still alive. Im not done "kicking up dust"


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Damn man... Sorry to hear about that. Looks like you mangled it pretty good. At least you can get a new one. It's going to sound awesome when you're done though!

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

yeah I crushed the crap out of it! lollolollolol when I mess things up, I mess them up good.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

first day back to work after a long holiday vacation... im tired but still managed to finish up the drivers side A-Pillar pod tonight. so far so good


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Finish looks really good, how'd you do it?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

after doing a quick layer of filler and sanding- I did multiple thick layers gloss black, but no sanding. after about the 5th layer of heavy gloss I did some light sanding, then another heavy layer of gloss. Then I airbrushed several layer of matte black- about 4 light coats. Then I airbrushed a final coat of a tinted pearl that I got at the hobby shop. The final product looks identical to several panel on the inside of the car but catches the light at different angles.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looks fantastic.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Had some free time this afternoon (a rarity) - so I started to run the 0 gauge thru the firewall.
Removed the battery to gain access to the area where I wanted to feed the wire thru. made things a lot easier without the battery there.


I want the engine bay to be very stock looking, so I did some quick planning on routing and placement.



This is after the battery was put back in. Now I plan to have a lot of stuff to hide ( big 3, big battery post mounts etc..) so I think its a good start, its only the wire tucked away so far and not hooked up- but I have a idea how to make it all look invisible.

I had some clearance issues with the dome midrange and the door panel. First, the buttons for the trunk/gas door were in the way of the woofer and then the dome needed some "elbow room".
so this is what I came up with.

The angle I cut into the door panel matches the angle of the end of the dash when the door is closed. So the new grill that I will make will fit nice and clean with the dash when the door is closed.

This is the stock grill, as you can see from the backside- this is where the switches were mounted. I will cut this stock piece up and use it as the starting point for my new grill.

I will add fab up a new grill that will cover this whole area up and then cover it in black speaker grill cloth.

This is the dismantled switch that I will relocate into a new area.

And this is where it will go.
I will make up a support plate for it and it will blend in very well. 




So now I basically have the drivers door done as far speaker placement and wiring.
Now I have to move onto the passenger door and mimic what I did to the drivers door.
I will work on the door grill later this week.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Wonder if that edge partially infront of the dome will cause early reflections or funky dispersions.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Nice job. You are doing way more work than I was willing to do on my CC. Sucks that you had to open the door panel up a bit more. One of the things that I liked about the door panel is e provisions for 3 way components. It's a bit of a sacrifice to have the mid down so far, but the factory look made it worth it to me. 

Do you regret having it down there now that you will have to do custom work anyway?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I kinda had a feeling i would have to do some sort of mod to the door, but i wanted to wait and see to what extent. When i fab up the new grill it should blend in with the car quite well. The lower position of the mid was a concern of mine, and thats one of the main reasons i pick the dayton, the off axis response of this driver is VERY nice and i really didnt want a big departure from the stock look of the car. I should have a good balance of overall performance and stock aesthetics. I dont feel the small angle of material in front of the dome will be a make-or break situation . I plan on using a RTA to see what variations i get with the sound, i dont see it being too much of a problem.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Its been slow with the build, work has been crazy and long days have been the norm.
This is what the mail man delivered today:
DB LINK MK17 RCA cable.
These will be the main RCA'S running from the head unit -to the processor in the trunk.




These are very well made RCA'S. The end units are machined/anodized aluminum, gold plated terminals and a very clean looking and tight fitting woven cover.
This is what the box had printed on it for features and highlights:
* OFC twisted center conductors
* Quad shield protection
* Laminated wrap foil barrier shield
* High strand count copper conductor

Now we all know about marketing promises and how often they fail to live up to the "magic".... so we will see how these cables perform. They look like they mean business as far as build quality.
I will be installing them tomorrow as I have the day off.
I promised Mikey that I would retrieve the stock blue-tooth harness from the car so that will be done also. I have a long way to go with this build- but im getting ants in my pants with moving forward on getting things hooked up. Ive had the sub box in the trunk for over a month now and it just sits there not being hooked up. So I want to get a quick hook up going with the sub channel on the 5 channel amp and get some sound out of the sub box and finally see how the box sounds. I need bass in my car!!! lolol
I will give a detailed report back on how the box sounds and how the RCA cables sound also.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Those look pretty nice. Nicer, in fact, that the RCA's I spent almost $100 on for 3 3' and a 1.5'. Hope they work out for you.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I only paid $27.00 for the 17 ft length, and that was with free shipping...... the proof is in the pudding, so we will see how good they are.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Tucson sunset


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## silence (Dec 20, 2014)

Looks great- sure you don't want to cut more for that tweeter?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

That's my dome midrange, not my tweeter. As it stood in the pictures, there is roughly 75% of the radiating surface of the dome exposed. I have already done some more minor cutting to the angle furthest away from the dash. With the minor cutting im at roughly 80% of dome exposed. That's good enough for me. The main driving force behind this build was not to make the "ultimate soundstage" but to have a balance between stock aesthetics and high performance sound. I have a feeling that my front soundstage will be MORE than adequate in clarity and depth. I just woke up and am drinking coffee and whiskey and planning my plan on attack for the build today. I have the day off today and it felt good to sleep in. I will take more pics as the day unfolds.
CHEERS.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

kinda of a slow start this morning- but I plan to go into the evening with some parts of the build today.
Pulled the Alpine out of the dash and fished thru the new RCA'S and the remote turn-on lead. 


While I had the radio out, I identified the blue-tooth harness that ran into the back of the stock radio and followed it till it started to run under the carpet. The harness is for Mikey and his build- When I run the new RCA'S thru the carpet to the back tonight, I will pull the rest of the blue-tooth harness out.

Before I put the radio back in, I did some clean up to the trim bezel that I fabbed up prior and did a finish coat of paint with the air-brush so it would match color tones with the tweeter mounts that I did.
Going to pick up my daughter from day-care right now. 
Will get back to the install this evening.


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## sunshinefc3s (Jun 23, 2010)

Build looks awesome. Love the PG logo! I was never brave enough to advertise the goodies I had behind the tinted glass. 
-a


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

On those rca cables, how far apart can the "Y" ends reach?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

sorry for the delay getting back to you Josh, its been crazy over here. lol

It looks like its in the 4 1/2 inch range for the ends spread out.

After lunch today im going to start making up the new grill for the drivers door.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

often I only have a small window of down time in my day to work on my car. With only 15 minutes available today- I didn't want to start a project only to leave it half done. So I did a "mini-project" today.

In the trunk there is a small access panel on a side panel. I want to build a "shadow" box behind this panel to mount the main fuse/distribution for the amps. So the first step is to build a polycarbonate window.


Removed the stock panel and grabbed some makrol poly from the supply in the shed.

cut it to shape and did a test fit.




drilled some holes for the fasteners and painted a black border on the inside of the poly.


That's it for today.
Will start to plan out the shadow box later on.
I have been looking for a fuse/distribution for the amps and cannot find anything that I like. So I think I will make my own..... Ive got copper bars in the shed- will be doing mock-ups soon for machining of the copper. I want it to look big and beefy and unique.
Good evening everyone!


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Nice, what did you use to cut that plexy? Also thanks for measuring the rca for me.

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The benefits with working makrolon (lexan) is that its easy to cut. I just used my jig saw with a high speed small tooth blade. It cuts clean and easy with no melt off or cracking of any kind. I like working with the makrolon brand material, it has a very strong anti scratch finish and is resistant to uv rays. We use it at my shop to build guards and work shields. Cutting fluids and oils dont effect it and provides a great saftey barrier. 
I started doing some layout work late last night for the shadow box and the copper distribution/ fuse system. So i will show the drawings for those soon


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Looking forward to seeing the distro block!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I had my head in the trunk of the car... and then I looked up and this is what I saw.
Good stuff-


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## The Dude (Mar 24, 2007)

Great pics!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

another "mini-project" tackled today. Im starting to like these quick 20 minute projects! lol






It still needs a touch of work done to it, but its basically all there- my ski pass subwoofer grill cover. 
On to the next task....


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Nice! You could do some perferated metal (grill material) behind the cloth if you wanted some structural strength at the face. Looks great!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Its been raining here in southern Arizona for the past 3 days, which doesn't lead to much install time.
So I wanted to an indoor project today.
I wanted to make a custom machined distro/fuse system for my car out of some copper stock that I have in the supply shed. I started to do some rough cuts on the mill and got very frustrated very fast. I wanted the copper to have a finish cut that was a very fine mill spec so it would reflect a lot of light. The chipping grade of copper that I have did not allow to have that kind of final finish- so I had an idea.
Lets make a "punk rock" distro system.

This is what I got from my friend Jason at his shop.



So hold tight and follow me on this one-



On the back of these unit- you see the plastic plugs that cover up the mounting hardware.
I drilled these out.

Underneath the plugs are some flush-mount phillips.

I took everything apart and re-oriented the lay out to how I need it to be.


I grabbed some thick lexan that it will be mounted to


Look for more after I grab some new fasteners to mount everything.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

^ nicely done!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

so I drilled into the lexan and mounted the components with 7mm flush mounted fasteners. Laid out the orientation and put fuses into the locations.



I put in some scrap 0 gauge into the input and the output so I can get an overall view of how it will look.
0 gauge goes into the main block and then goes back out to a 150 amp fuse for the 5 channel. The 2 bottom outputs are 8 gauge and are for the 4 channel and for the processor.
I put in fuses so I can make sure fitment of them is not an issue. I will not being these particular fuses. XSCORPIAN makes a mini fuse that has a small blue LED in the middle of the fuse, I will being these fuses when they come in the mail.
I will be cutting down the lexan base to make it smaller to fit inside the shadow box, then I will paint the backside of the lexan with a grey paint. The trunk color scheme will be grey and black and this will match well and the blue leds in the fuses will match the blue triangle leds on the PG amps.
Time to get the fireplace burning and call it an evening.
Good evening and happy super bowl weekend everyone!!


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Good idea moving that around to fit neater/better. Are you going to cover that /w something to prevent a dropped screwdriver from arcing, or just that piece a few posts up?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The fused distro will be mounted behind the lexan panel that i fabbed up that is in the trunk. Im going to build a shadow box that will be behind the lexan panel and the fuse system will be then mounted in that box. That way it will be all protected and the only way to access the fuses will be by removing the lexan panel with the allen bolts. All will be visible and all will be protected. Nice and clean.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looking good. Your shadow bow will be where I had my 12" sub. There's a decent amount of space back there. I can't wait to see what you end up doing. Are you going to have the metal pieces copper plated?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Its funny you should ask about copper plating .....lol we have a plating line at work. I have thought about doing this, but Im going to leave them the way they are. I kinda like the satin finish and I think it would match well with the color scheme of the trunk. I ordered the XSCORPION fuses tonight ( the ones with the small blue LED in the center)- 
I cant wait to see how they will look complementing the blue LED'S on the amps.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Are those the ones with the LED displays or just an indicator of whether it's blown?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I wanted to get the ball rolling on my fuse/distro install, so I did some quick mock-ups to see how everything looks and what modifications to the original design needed to be done.



Rough build of the box with aluminum mounting tabs cut and drilled. The shadow box is kinda odd shaped, the tail light housing is in this area and space is at a premium.



Its in there.... some placement and cosmetic issues will have to be dealt with.
The camera picks up everything on the lexan cover, dirt, reflections, etc..



I wanted to use some fuses that are made by XSCORPION, they have a blue led in the center of the fuse- but now Ive found out that led does not shine under normal conditions, only when the fuse has been blown. So now I am going a different route.
I want to make an led circuit of my own, I want it to look like the led triangle on the amps and to give status of the fuse circuit. Top led will be for the 5 channel, the ones on the bottom will be for the 4 channel and then for the processor. 
This week I want to some clean up to the fuse/disrto box and to build the led circuit.
Enjoy the evening!
Also thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement about by fuse design/layout.
It gives me motivation.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That came out pretty spiffy looking!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

thanks Josh! It still needs alot of clean up work, i was in the workshop tonight working on the led circuit. Look for more pics this weekend of the cleaned up version.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looking great so far, I'm curious what else you have in store for the shadow box.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

its been flat out NUTS at work lately with it being close to the end of the month, so that means little time for the build. I have been making little advances on it the past couple of days- but we will get to that later.......
Im almost done with the 4 channel amp install on the trunk lid and I wanted a really nice set of RCA's to go to the amp from the processor- the RCA's will be in line of sight so I wanted "bling" effect...... I got in over my head real fast.
I talked to my friend Jason at my local install shop and he told me of the new 9000 series from stinger.... I pulled the trigger and this is what came in today.
WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE CONSIDERED RCA PORN:








These are fricken amazing!!! 
solid silver conductors, rhodium plated machined copper ends, carbon fiber barrels, spin and lock ends....
ohhhhhhh my head is spinning. lol
I need to sit down now.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Ooooh... new Stinger goodies!


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Omg those are nice looking RCAs. Where did you find them, I wonder how short that come, I need some that are under 3 feet.

I can't wait to see an install update with those RCAs being used.

EDIT: holy cow, I just saw the price on the 1.5ft ones...you must have spent a crap load. They are nowhere near cheap. Lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Yeah they were not cheap, way too much more than i wanted to spend. I needed a single 4 channel to run thru a tight area to the trunk lid, but they dont make a single 4 channel in this series- only 2 channel. So i had to get 2 of them.... which complicates things now due to both of these rca's are too big to run thru that tight area together. One step forward, two steps back - seems to be the motto with this build. 
I have a solution in my head, i just have to see how it looks after i do some mock ups.


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

I need a shower after seeing those


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

awesome distro block looks like a flux capacitor from back to the future.i dig it


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## ballistic1350 (Jan 16, 2015)

Diggin your custom distro block! Keep up the good work


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## plushterry (Jan 22, 2015)

Some sick work here. Nicely done, keep it up!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I finished up the led circuit .




The top led is for the 5 channel amp, the lower left led is for the 4 channel amp, and the lower right led is for the processor.

Im happy with the result! on to the next project in this build.
Im ready for a drink...........


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

1.21……..GIGAWATTS!!!!!!! awesome work


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

lolololololololol.... more margaritas !!!! the blender has to hit a certain speed in the delorean for it to work!!!!


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

hahaha right,keep up whatever it is your doing bud.ttyl


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

did some work to the 5 channel mount.
some light mock-up work to see how it might look completed and to see what needs to be changed from the original plan/idea.
made up the mounting board and trim frame, went to the fabric store and picked out some fabrics.




its rough and some things need to be figured out.
Im not sure if I like the grey fabric, it has a cobalt blue tint to it- my target color was a grey color... it looked more grey in the store.
The holes in the mounting board for the wires need a solution- Im thinking of taking some black O-rings that have the same inside diameter of the hole and glueing them in place. this would make an aesthetic approach to the wires passing thru this area.
Then some neo-magnets attached to the trim frame to mount to the structure.
Then some clean up to the fabric and or change out the grey color.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

quick update before I head out for the day:

The last posting I showed the 5 channel mounted, I hated the color of the fabric that was behind the amp- I wanted a more grey color. Went to the fabric store this morning and found a much better color, and this fabric has a slight texture to it.
Pulled off the old fabric and put on the new one.

Its not a drastic change, but its enough of a change to where it was worth to effort.
Im happy with the end result.

So now lets move on to the trunk lid mounting of the amp.
The last big hurtle with this stage of the build was running the Stinger RCA cables up to the trunk from the processor.

The RCA's will be running up to the trunk lid on this side, along with the speaker wires.
There is not enough room in the trunk lid support tube for the two RCA's-
So follow me on this one:

Picked up some black tinted pvc tubing from the aquarium store.

This is were it will go and hold the RCA cable. There will be two of them. Once mounted, they will blend well into the trunk and probably will not be noticed unless pointed out.

First thing to do was to slit the tube open along the outside apex of the curve, then put the cable in the tube and then glue the slit shut.

As you can see, both have been inserted and glued, curing on the back of some chairs so the natural curve of the tube wont be disturbed.
I held the cured tube up to the support of the trunk with zip ties and then glued the tube to the support. After the blue cured, I cut the zip ties.

You can slightly see the cables thru the tinted pvc....
Im very happy with the results!!!
Tomorrow I will try to finish up the trunk lid install.
Good evening and good weekend to all.
later-


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

Sweet. It's all about ingenuity.

Those are some FAT patch cables


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

running late tonight, me and my son tagged teamed the trunk and put a big dent in the project. The sun was going down so I took some quick pictures. Look for more detailed pics and more behind the scene problems with the trunk lid install tomorrow .
This has been a slow build, but its picking up momentum.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Holy cow that looks great. I love what you did with the RCAs. I also love the mounts. At first with the amp in the trunk lid I was not sure, but now you've sold me on it. That could have gone terribly bad, not the case here. Congrats on a job well done so far.

My only constructive criticism is I hope you can find a better way to run the wires to the trunk lid amp. Those beautiful cables don't seem to be displayed but rather tightly contorted to work. I'm sure you have some better plans for those.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The whole trunk lid install has been a huge set of commitments and compromises. When i chose to put itoon the trunk lid, i knew i was going down a rabbit hole with no guarantee of how it would all end. The mounting of the amp, placement and wheight adjustment on the opening mechanism were the biggest hurtles. Next was the separation of power cables and signal cables for noise reduction and then lastly was the actual running of the cables. This was all was a huge set back to my timeline for this build, but i went forward. The rca cables were the unseen icing to the cake (literally) . The running of them on the back side of the support was a giant "hail mary", but it turned out quite nice. They are protected, slightly visible and blend well with the aesthetics of the car. I will route them slightly different were they meet up with the amp inputs, but thats basically it. Im never going to mount another amp on a trunk lid again! Lol this stage of the build has drained me. More tequila! !! Lololol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

just got home from work and took some better pictures.
Next on the list for this build is the BIG 3. I have some battery terminals coming in from Toolmaker and have the extra 0 gauge already. As soon as the terminals get here, I will get that going.
Im heading out the door to go to Bisbee for the evening.
Later!


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm liking the way this is turning out. Keep up the great work.


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## damonryoung (Mar 23, 2012)

As already stated, great job John! Looking forward to seeing this sometime soon!


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## vietjdmboi (Jan 3, 2015)

man this looks awesome!


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## casey (Dec 4, 2006)

love how that looks


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I never throw anything out, especially raw material. Raw material from projects from the past and/or raw material overages from side jobs.... it gets stashed. I have a whole shed full of materials.
So I looked thru the shed and found some old sheet aluminum, scribed the cut dimensions and got ready for the project for the evening.
I want to remove the ash tray from the car and put a RMD (remote monitor display) in its place so I can monitor voltage at the amps.





I got the rough dimensions cut and then sanded the edges to a tight fitment.
Cut the opening for the RMD and then wrapped it in the fabric that I used on the 5 channel mount.
Later I will run the cable from display to the amps.


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## Offroader5 (Apr 8, 2011)

Nice fit in there. Don't you just love hiding things.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

hot9dog said:


> its been flat out NUTS at work lately with it being close to the end of the month, so that means little time for the build. I have been making little advances on it the past couple of days- but we will get to that later.......
> Im almost done with the 4 channel amp install on the trunk lid and I wanted a really nice set of RCA's to go to the amp from the processor- the RCA's will be in line of sight so I wanted "bling" effect...... I got in over my head real fast.
> I talked to my friend Jason at my local install shop and he told me of the new 9000 series from stinger.... I pulled the trigger and this is what came in today.
> WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE CONSIDERED RCA PORN:
> ...


RCA's porn or Eye Candy? Wow very nice! Are those connectors really carbon fiber material or just the visual texture carbon fiber perception?

Nice work on the dist block placement and display also ! Was that a custom made dist block or brand purchased? Only fused power? Or ground also? I could not notice where you ground cables were


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Those are actual real carbon fiber barrels on the ends and at the split. The fused distro was a brand purchase that i dismantled and reconfigured, it can be seen in detail on the prior pages of this build. I have pics of the ground junction that i did in the trunk. I will post those as soon as i get some coffee brewing in this house. Lol 
Thanks for the nice comments everyone!


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

For the price of those RCAs I'd hope it's real carbon fiber. Lol

Well I will say it again, the amp in the trunk lid works. To the naked eye it's like magic...a working amp up there. I don't think I have enough patience to do all of the work that you did. Again, great job.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

And dont forget the rodium plating on all exposed metal pieces of the rca's, the barrels, the locks and at the split. Its like fricken jewelry! ! Lol. Yeah i will never do another trunk lid instal EVER again..... that was a big pain in the ass. Im tired just thinking about it. Hahahaaaaha


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I found the pics of my ground junction that I did in the trunk of the car.
There is a grounding lug in the drivers rear quarter panel of most new vw/audi cars- so I used it as the main point of attachment for the junction. I used an industrial grounding lug and a Audiopipe 0 gauge splitter. After I tighten everything down, I coated the area in Plasti Dip.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Dude. My C800 is going where your Stinger voltmeter is!  Isn't that a great little cubby? And where is that ground lug?! I'm just about to mount my IB wall and wiring is next!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Its where the drivers side rear quarter panel meets the trunk floor panel- on the floor panel.
The lug is a bolt that has a flat shoulder formed one piece under the threads of the bolt.
The nut that was on it has a thick flat also, so your sure to get a nice clamping space between the bolt and the nut. I sanded both the flats on the blot and nut. Its almost as if someone in the engineering department in Germany was looking out for us! lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Actually, I think its for the cars that have the VR6 motor option. I think the battery is mounted in this location... I might be wrong.... either way, its a KILLER grounding point!


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

No clue what those cost, the carbon fiber will reduce the weight of the connectors by almost double compared to aluminum while being as strong if not stronger 

Thanks for posting the extra dist block and GND pics. :thumbsup:


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## SO20thCentury (Sep 18, 2014)

Very nice! That amp on the trunk lid sure is trick! But no plexi display of the RCAs?


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## gotgixers (Feb 19, 2015)

This is sweet. I drive a 2014 VR6 Executive 4motion CC with the Dynaudio system in it. It is not too bad a factory system really ....But it will have to be upgraded one day....

I have a 2014 Sportwagen TDI also.... It will be 1st for a system upgrade.


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## MetricMuscle (Sep 16, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> I talked to my friend Jason at my local install shop and he told me of the new 9000 series from stinger.... I pulled the trigger and this is what came in today.
> WARNING THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE CONSIDERED RCA PORN:
> 
> 
> ...


Did they come with the matching ring for your finger too?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ahhhh someone has a keen eye!!!!! lolololo 
that's my wedding ring, that came before the rca's..... tungsten carbide and carbon fiber.
I think you should get some sort of prize for that observation. lol
(I always try to put hidden gems in the background of my pictures)


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That trunk is looking pretty good. What did you use for the finish on that volt meter plate?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

hey josh,
For the volt meter, I covered the mounting plate with the same fabric that I used on the 5 channel mount in the trunk. Its a polyester blend, it has a slight stretch to it and has a great textured thread look to it. I liked that fabric so much that I went back to the fabric store and bought the whole bolt of it (what was left of it).


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That's a pretty good idea. Hadn't thought about using fabric over a piece of aluminum.


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## BassBrat (Mar 26, 2009)

hot9dog said:


> Last night I sat in the car and mounted the tweeters in several locations and angles with double-sided tape and ran tones thru them and this is the angle I came up with.
> 
> 
> I hope to fiberglass them tonight....
> ...


Hey Hot9Dog
I know you posted about this A while back but could you explain your process of installing your tweeters in the sail panels a bit more. How did you make such nice mdf rings? What type of fabric did you use to stretch over them and how did you attach the fabric to the sail panels? They look fabulous! I would just like to make something similar in my car and I have never done custom work like that before. 

Also what program did you use to design your boxes, is that solidworks?

Thanks


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey BassBrat,
Ok heres the low down on the tweeter mounts. The rings i used for this one are made from masonite, and i cut them with my jig saw and then sanded them to the final dimensions with my belt sander. Then i used some speaker grill material to stretch over the form, i used a gel super glue to secure them to the stock plastic piece. Now the next step is dependen on how you are positioning the tweeter ring onto the stock piece. If you cut away at the stock piece to create the angle and position for the tweeter then you are going to be fiberglassing the speaker grill material- this will give the mount the structure that it needs.

For this one that i did, i did NOT fiberglass. If you see from the pics, the ring has 4 points of attachment to the stock piece and provides a very solid structure, so for this job- the use of fiberglass was not needed. The form of the stretched material is not providing the strength, it is just there to give it a stock aesthetic. So i used a gel super glue on the fabric, after the material is stretched- i applied the glue all over the fabric and once hardened. .. the material is quite strong. Now a word of caution when applying that much super glue at a time, it will GAS OUT a strong vapor! The vapor is caused by the material being melted and formed.... do this outside and watch out for your nose and eyes..... this is a strong vapor... also take caution after it has cured and when you go to sand it, the sanded material is will gas out also. But on the upside: it is quite easy to do and the end result turns out good. Try to do multiple layers of paint on the tweeter pod, and use the layers of paint to sand and get the final finish vs sanding the glued fabric.
For the cad software i use Sketchup, i use solidworks at work, but at home i use Sketchup. Its free and very easy to use. There is alot of tutorials on line on how to use it. I know CAF has a quick video on youtube on how to use Sketchup for designing sub boxes.
Tackle your tweeter mounts head on! Good results are achievable. 
If you have any questions, you can always PM me.
Later! 
John-


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## BassBrat (Mar 26, 2009)

Hey John,
That is great advise, I can't wait to give it a try myself!
And I'll have to design my next box on Sketchup!

Mario


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Started this morning getting the car ready to do the electrical under the hood.

Removed the battery, the battery tray and the air box assembly.
Wanted to have a clear space to route wires properly and to gain access to the transmission mount- this is where I will be running the secondary ground wire.


I used an industrial ground lug, unbolted one of the transmission mount bolts and used it as a point of attachment, and then torqued the bolt back into place.
The wire from this point will be run to the "stock" grounding point and then ran to the negative battery post.



The "stock" grounding point with the secondary ground wire and the wire going to the battery.


This is the stock positive battery terminal, both wires run to the stock fuse block.
This will have to be cut off...


0 gauge connector combining the 2 stock wires to the new 0 gauge- this will run to the positive of the battery.

Heat shrink of course..... safety is always a concern with the routing and fastening of wires under the hood- its hot and oily. Especially with a turbo charged motor.


The mount for the main fuse for the wire running to the amps.

The fuse mounted and wires attached. As you can see there is no fuse in there yet, will put the fuse in there when its time to fire up the system.



The battery terminals that I will be using.
They are from CNF Distribution... they are very inexpensive and give me lots of options when the system grows later on down the road.



That's all for today.
I will modify the battery cover later this weekend.
I didn't take pictures of the routing of the positive wire that I ran to the alternator, 
I will take pics of that later this weekend.
Its lunch time!!!!


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Sexy!! Love those terminals.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Big thanks to #1BIGMIKE, bought the Brax Matrix 2.1 dome mids off of him.
This purchase changes things up a bit. I was planning on using the Dayton dome mids- now in mid build I have to make a change, but this should be all worth it (including the purchase of a new drivers door panel- since I modified it for the Dayton).


This is what came in (super fast shipping!!) the grills have a slight ripple to them, have some rub marks that have marked the black paint on the grills and the aluminum mounting ring has some blemishes. All of this is mild cosmetics... this can be fixed and modified ( I cant leave things alone.... I have to teak everything! lol)



First thing was to clean up the beveled mount rings. Took some scotchbrite and cleaned off all the contaminates and put an even finish on them.

I wanted to black anodize them, but the person who I have stuff anodized for me is on vacation, so im going a different route.


Ive used this paint before an got good results. Its made for chrome, but it works good for polished or machined aluminum also.


The first coat goes on.


Then the clear goes on.



Finished product.
Opened up a hole on the stock speaker grill and placed the driver into place.
Not too bad.... And I LOVE the angle and placement of the driver.
Im getting excited about the direction of the front stage.
This week I will fix the ripples on these mids and hopefully get the drivers door panel soon so I can do the same thing to it.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

That looks so cool man. For having just basically taken a midrange and bolted it to your door panel, it looks like it's totally supposed to go there. I love our cars. Lol. I dig it!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Normally im not the one to take the path of least resistance. ... everything is usually planned out to the fullest extent and the smallest details are all worked out. This notion has slowly unraveled over the past couple of years. These midrange drivers are much like a flash bulb image of how things have bern going lately.... i have let go, and let things happen. These mids are mounted in very Flintstone manner, but it works.... i know im rambling, but im going someplace with this: this forum is a form of therapy to me, a therapy i didnt know i need. 
Thank you gentlemen for listening to me..... and for making me feel like i belong to a tribe.
A tribe of sick ****ers who wreck perfectly good cars in the pursuance of audio nirvana.
Lololololoolol


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## fordriver1 (Jul 11, 2012)

subbed... very nice build- i like how it doesnt look 'forced'.


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Oh wow those mids look fantastic! The paint you did on them came out really good along with the placement. Did you get a chance to fire them up? Stellar build going on here. I am in for this one as well.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Up to this point of of the build, i havent put power to the sub that is in the trunk YET.
That changed today. I put power to the 5 channel and got the Elite 12" moving. Holy crap!!!!
This sub/ box combo sounds so fricken strong! Its only one 12 and im only giving it 800 watts at the most and it sounds like a tight 18"!! Im soooo damn happy!!!! Im not going thru my processor with the signal yet. I was just using the x-over on the amp, so it can only get better with the dsp. 
This box is compressing the air in this car in an aggressive manner.
Big smile on my face!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Have been busy with work and the remodel of our house, but have been working late evenings on the VW CC..... trying to get ready for the get-together on the 25th in the Phoenix area. Its a mad dash , last big push to get the car finished. Im doing the final work to the new door panels that came in, making up the panel mounts for the brax midrange. Ive tried to snap some pictures as i went along, im running in circles so its hard to stop and snap pictures. I will post some pictures tonight. Ive got coffe in hand and am standing in the middle of the work shop, lets make some noise this afternoon!


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## damonryoung (Mar 23, 2012)

hot9dog said:


> Have been busy with work and the remodel of our house, but have been working late evenings on the VW CC..... trying to get ready for the get-together on the 25th in the Phoenix area. Its a mad dash , last big push to get the car finished. Im doing the final work to the new door panels that came in, making up the panel mounts for the brax midrange. Ive tried to snap some pictures as i went along, im running in circles so its hard to stop and snap pictures. I will post some pictures tonight. Ive got coffe in hand and am standing in the middle of the work shop, lets make some noise this afternoon!



I feel the same way. Trying to get it all back in by next weekend. 


Beware of autocorrect...


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

okay, haven't posted anything in awhile... so this is where im at with the build.
Door panels are done and have been tuning the system, critical listening on the way home from work- getting home and making adjustments and them referencing those adjustments on the drive into work. This is what im running into: overall tone is amazing, plenty of headroom and plenty loud! Ive got a pretty good soundstage, but nothing amazing. Im having a hard time bringing the center image into focus. No matter what I do- it stays about 6 inches to the left of where I feel center should be. Im pretty sure im getting some nasty reflections from the dome mids against the underside of the dash. Which makes me sad because these Brax dome mids are very detailed! So im going to re-do the door panel top section and install some 4" cone mids and they will be angled towards the driver and passenger. I bought some Dayton rs-100's....they should be here this week.
I also have a new processor coming in...Alpine PXA H800 with the RUX controller... should be here this week also. Nothing bad with my current processor (Soundstream Synthesis) I just want to run optical from the head unit to the processor so I can get the best signal as possible to the amps.
And then Im going to replace the sub and the 5 channel amp.....








Nothing wrong with my current Elite sub, this one is newest revision of the series that just came out... and it is a HEART BREAKER.... oh my!!!
So now I have to design and build a new box  

Nothing wrong with my current 5 channel amp, I ran across this Elite.5 and couldn't pass it up, Its a battle axe of an amp..... oh my!!!
lol
So now I have to design and build a new amp mount 

Going to start cutting some wood tonight, probably will only have about 20 minutes of work time available tonight for the box tonight. I might have a drink... I might cut wood...
hmmmmmmmmmmm


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

HOLY SUB!!!

Looking good brother.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey Mike. .. dont worry i haven't forgotten about you and your project! I think ive got a killer solution! Will PM you tonight!


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

epper::beerchug:



hot9dog said:


> Hey Mike. .. dont worry i haven't forgotten about you and your project! I think ive got a killer solution! Will PM you tonight!


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Elite.5 oh my!!!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Sweet installation man, real good attention to detail and aesthetics. That is some nice looking hardware. Well done on the distributor and fuses!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Kazuhiro said:


> Sweet installation man, real good attention to detail and aesthetics. That is some nice looking hardware. Well done on the distributor and fuses!


Thank you sir! I was going to start cutting wood for the box the other night, but then i had a few drinks and then i went to bed. Lol. My design for this box is going to be a little different than my other one. I will try to post some CAD drawings of it tonight.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

so this is what I came up with for my box design:
2.0 cu ft tuned to 35hz.
The sub and port will still fire thru the rear seat ski pass but this time I went for a more direct approach. The last box was a complicated to build, oversized *****... lol
The angled pieces that you see on the face of the box will be pushed against the rear seat and will have some sort of seal to them- so all of the acoustic energy will be focused thru the ski pass and not be lost into the trunk.
After modeling several boxes for this sub, this is the volume and frequency I will go after.
Now all I need is some free time to cut wood........


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Nice bro.


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Elite.5 smaller than your current amp yes?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

yeah the elite.5 is slightly smaller than the "surfboard", but what is funny... the elite.5 is like twice the weight as the TI1600.5. This Elite amp is a giant mass of bad-ass.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Went to work on the table saw this morning and cut the wood for the new box. On the back patio starting to assemble it.




As you can see, the side walls for the slot port are along the floor of the box and the back wall. I always like to incorporate structure into the design of my boxes and the port will give me that. I often see people adding bracing and all kinds of pieces to give strength, I don't like to go that route. The bracing shouldn't be an "after thought"... it should be worked into the layout of the box.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

On any given Sunday part II.....
Its 102 degrees outside in Tucson today- that's all Im going to do today on the box.
Jump in the pool and get the grill going.
Enjoy the day!!!!!


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Looking good, as usual. Glad to see you going with the latest elite stuff.


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> yeah the elite.5 is slightly smaller than the "surfboard", but what is funny... the elite.5 is like twice the weight as the TI1600.5. This Elite amp is a giant mass of bad-ass.


Yeh ive heard about the weight mad dense heatsink! I am thinking about getting one of these aswel! Got the baby version ti21600.5


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## plcrides (Mar 21, 2014)

dude,nice work as always,but whats with all the orbs floating around in your car ? haha ghost's or just dust on the lens. Booo!!!!!!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The orbs are the physical manifestations of my constant use of psychedelics. ... they are always hovering around my house. My favorites are Teddy and Stephanie. Lololol. But seriously, thank you sir for your kind words!!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Got the port done today, took a dremel and a set of files and smoothed the mouths of the port. Shot a quick coat of lacquer black and called it quits for the day. I have tomorrow off from work, so I want to finish up the box and figure out how/where to mount the rux controller for the PXA h800.


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## theothermike (Dec 20, 2006)

just bought a cc myself hot9dog. I love the box concept. definitely taking notes on all of this and will keep it for later this year when i through something together. im thinking 3 way trying to utilize stock locations at first. 2012 cc redline 2.0t but idk what i will end up doing. awesome build.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

the CC is an amazing platform for car audio.... stock 3 way locations, big double din opening, easy passage ways for cables to run, stout stock alternator, quiet cabin.... it goes on and on- plus the look of the car is SUUUPPPEERRRRR smooth. lol


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Yea I loved my '13 cc r-line for the same reason. I just could never get the audio to sound right. I was making bad choices though with my source unit/dsp.

That port is looking really nice.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Got the front panel done, installed the threaded inserts for mounting the sub and built up the angled pieces that will seal against the back seat. Quick coat of black paint applied- will get the top panel cut tomorrow and then the box is DONE!!!!!!! This box so much smaller than my last box for this car- im very happy with it so far.






Got the RUX controller mounted for the PXA H800. Originally I wanted to mount the RUX inside of the ash tray, but after looking at the finished product- I didn't like how I had to reach into the ash tray to adjust the volume, it just seemed awkward and not very ergonomic. So I took the door off of the ashtray, drilled 2 hole thru it and used small bolts to attach the RUX (the RUX has 2 threaded inserts on the back of it for mounting). I then mounted the door with the RUX attached to the panel that held the ash tray. That accomplished 2 things: it prevented someone from trying to open the ash tray with the controller on top (might scratch the brushed metal finish on dash panels) and it recessed the whole assembly lower than the surrounding dash panels- I like the way that this looks as I feel it frames the controller aesthetically. The wire runs down a blank switch panel that I took off. Later I will take my dremel and notch the blank panel so the wire looks clean as it passes into the column.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I wanted to do a form of sealing on the angled face of the box , as it will be pushed against the back of the seat and direct sound into the cabin. I was at Home Depot today and this is what I ran across.


Its a black rubber matting used for kitchen drawers, its soft and when doubled up on each other, absorbs a lot.




So I cut the rubber to the dimensions of the front panel - I cut 4 pieces per side.
I used a spray adhesive to sandwich all of them together.
I like the way that it turned out.
I cut the top panel to the box and put it all together.
Its very rough looking- the black rubber needs to be trimmed better against the panels and the box needs to be sanded and a final coat of black applied. I was rushed this evening to get the box done... silicone smeared all over the sides of the box... lol
I moved the box on the back patio and its a dense, solid box... YEAH!!!


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Looking great, John!

Hope it sounds good...


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

XSIV SPL said:


> Looking great, John!
> 
> Hope it sounds good...


Hey Chet! The box is in a really rough state right now, but its super solid. Plus you wont be able to see either side of the box when its installed. My local Phoenix Gold dealer has this same new revision of Elite 12 in his mini cooper, i designed the box, he built it... and it is hands down THE best sub ive ever heard. No joke! And im not just saying that because im a PG nuthugger. ... this sub moves a crazy amount of air in a very controlled way. I cant wait to get this in the car and put power to it!!


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> Hey Chet! The box is in a really rough state right now, but its super solid. Plus you wont be able to see either side of the box when its installed. My local Phoenix Gold dealer has this same new revision of Elite 12 in his mini cooper, i designed the box, he built it... and it is hands down THE best sub ive ever heard. No joke! And im not just saying that because im a PG nuthugger. ... this sub moves a crazy amount of air in a very controlled way. I cant wait to get this in the car and put power to it!!


But, in all actuality, you ARE a PG nuthugger  

Honestly though... I can't wait to hear it!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I never said i wasn't a PG nuthugger. .....lol. what tipped you off??? Was it my pg bandit pajamas, or my Morgan West bobble head in the kitchen?? Lol


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> I never said i wasn't a PG nuthugger. .....lol. what tipped you off??? Was it my pg bandit pajamas, or my Morgan West bobble head in the kitchen?? Lol


Umm... all of the above? 

Get this thing done and let me sit in it!!!

If I know you at all, which I do, it will not disappoint... I KNOW it's going to be amazing!

Honestly, I believe the setbacks you've experienced (like smashing the Brax and changing course, rebuilding your box a few times, etc.) are just fate's way of helping you to build a great sounding system


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Its the whole evolution of the a project. I typically go thru this with all of my projects, not just car audio. I do a quick rough build- live with it for awhile, find its faults, improve upon them and then do a final smoothed product. The problem with this process, is the time involved to get to the final revision. 
Plus i get bored real fast with things so i tend to smash **** and them light the remains on fire... FIRE!!!
Lolol


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

hot9dog said:


> Its the whole evolution of the a project. I typically go thru this with all of my projects, not just car audio. I do a quick rough build- live with it for awhile, find its faults, improve upon them and then do a final smoothed product. The problem with this process, is the time involved to get to the final revision.
> Plus i get bored real fast with things so i tend to smash **** and them light the remains on fire... FIRE!!!
> Lolol



you, sir, have just described that 4 years of my life


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

got the box done, it was a ***** putting it in the trunk with the angle pieces on the face of the box. The next step is to build the amp mount. 






From the pictures it looks like the sub is not centered in the opening. The sub and box are mounted in the center line of the car, its just that the ski pass opening is not centered, the opening is offset towards the passenger side.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

How much trunk is left now - compared to before?

Josh


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey Josh, i actually gained about 14 inches of trunk space with this new box! Im super happy with gaining more space. That last box was just way too big and took up alot of real estate.... the last box took some time to eq it right, but it went crazy low, alittle too low maybe because i lost some output volume wise in the 57hz-68hz range. It make some styles of music sound sterile, it still sounded great. ... but i dont feel it was worth all the effort. This new sub was easy to get good results when i modeled it, i went for a more "lively" sound on the port tune this time. Lolol. Havent put power to it yet, hopefully soon after i build up the new amp mount.


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Looking good brother! That is a might nice sub and box.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Looks sweet!! I'm thinking it's going to play nice n big in the CC  I look forward to hearing your thoughts once it's powered up


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## TexasGator (Mar 3, 2015)

Incredible build man. I love your attention to detail and taste. I've always loved those Phoenix Gold subwoofers with the glowing triangle. So elegant. So clean. High design.

I especially like your box design and all your wiring efforts. In particular the side-trunk mounted distro. Very nice.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks TexasGator!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

This is how my doors look right now, with the Brax dome mids installed. (don't mind the crap on the carpet... I need to vacuum lol)



The domes were reflecting into the underside of the dash and not letting me create a strong center image... so im going a different direction with the doors.



This is the passenger door, this is the door that I will do the development work to first.
I removed the stock midrange panel and this is the opening that Im working with.



I will be using the Dayton RS100-4 for midrange duties.



First I did a quick mock up on the stock plastic piece. I got the angle that I wanted (pointing towards the driver and passenger). I didn't like how the plastic piece is... there is very little structural support for the driver to be mounted to , so I went in this direction.


Made up my own foundation and created a new mounting ring. This is MUCH better!!!
Added supports to give the ring strength... triangles, triangles and more triangles.
Triangles are the ultimate balance between weight and strength. 



I will clean these up and then stretch fabric and dope them up soon.
Im happy with the angle and look they will have.


But these will be just TEMPORARY... I cant leave **** alone.....




Once I get this contraption up and running, these midrange mounts will be the first thing I print out. Look for preliminary drawings in the next couple of weeks. 
This Delta style printer will be an interesting "tool" to have ... lololol


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Looks like a real good mounting option, but why are you bringing in the daytons?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

This is why im choosing the daytons..... i can cross them over at a lower frequency then Brax units, they are more "point source" then the domes and they are inexpensive. I tend to feed alot of power to my components, i need a driver that i can blow up on a regular basis and not be crying in the drive way. I have ran these drivers before in my last vw gti that i had... and im comfortable with them and they have a good sound signature.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

They are great value speakers, do you plan on keeping them for the long run?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I dont see why not keeping them for the long run. There are better mids out there than the daytons, but i have a feeling , as soon as i get power coming out of the elite.5 amp, im going to be playing this system loud..... i dont have a problem spending money on replacement drivers when they blow..... but im thinking that the midrange is going to take the brunt of front stage power, or at least be the weakest link in power handling. So i plan on having lots of spares ready. Lol


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Keep a few pairs in the glove box eh haha


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Lol exactly !!!!! The daytons are good mids, i have no problem blowing them up!!


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Dude you are nuts lol!!! As usual, things are looking good. Hope all is well my friend.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

All is going good over here mike, other than were in the deep midst of summer over here in southern Arizon. ... hot!! I got my stepper motors on my 3d printer working with my Honeywell driver board last night. Im trying to get this printer as fast as i can, patients will be needed on my part.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

We'll send you the solidworks and you'll send us the pods from now on alright haha


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Kazuhiro said:


> We'll send you the solidworks and you'll send us the pods from now on alright haha


Thats the actual game plan. The learning curve with this style of printer will take some time.
But with the mods ive already done to it, it should produce really high resolution pieces.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Looks like these 3D printers are becoming a nice little trend here on DIYMA. I've had my eye on a couple different models myself.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

rton20s said:


> Looks like these 3D printers are becoming a nice little trend here on DIYMA. I've had my eye on a couple different models myself.


If your looking at 3d printers... do lots of homework. There are some really great turn key models out there...... then there are some WAAYYYY overpriced ones. Majority of the overpriced models dont offer anything special vs. Lower priced models. How much are you willing to tinker with it, build volume, speed, resolution, and extruded material adaptability should be topics of evaluation when shopping. The style that im building (delta) is not for everyone... they take a long time to dial in, but once dialed in and modified. .. the speed and resolution is off the charts. Its definitely not plug and play..... but the visual look of a delta style when printing gets alot of attention. The damn thing looks bad ass even when not plugged in! Lolol


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

Dutch guy over here with VW Passat Variant 2009. 
Also 3 way setup with Alpine HU and H800 + rux. 
Front I have an Morel Supremo with Morel CDM880 and Elate 6. 

I have the mid also placed in the door, but recently had an accident with this mid, so I started to move around with a brand new playing mid in my hand. And found out that if its placed in the A pillar and pointed a bit to the C pillars, it was drasticaly better. 

But I saw you have placed your mid on top of your door, how does that work out for you?

I have placed my amps in the floor, Genesis DMX, DM and SA50 and for the sub an alpine 11000. 

I did notice that the passat has a weak ground, so an extra ground cable to the back is not a bad idea. Specialy cause I had some trouble, for example the DSG did not shift nicely. And after I placed a thick ground cable to the DSG and to the back, the trouble was gone.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

As far as grounding.... this body style has some issues. The way that this body is welded together, its hard to get a good ground path to flow thru it. But the engineers did a good job of realizing this, so they created a ground path from the front to the back of the vehicle. The stock grounding lug under the hood has a great path to the rear of the car to the grounding lug in the rear quarter panel area in the trunk. The rear lug is for the vr6 motor option on this car, in this option the battery is mounted in the trunk. These are the 2 points of attachment for my ground path. I did one better by running a secondary ground to the transmission mount. So far so good with current flow with this setup.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

lets make some head way on this project!!



Got the basic shape stretched and "locked in" certain curves and flat areas with some CA glue. About 20 minutes worth of work.... will dope the fabric over the next couple of days and do some light filler work. Not too bad.


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

Flat in the doorpanel between door handle and dash also works great with a softdome mid. 

I also pointed the mid the same way you did to the c pillar and that worked great. 

But placing in a style was really great, but perhaps this works out wel with a cone speaker.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The original plan was to do a very small amount of work to the door panels, hence why i was going with a dome mid. The off axis mounting position i needed a dome, a domes off axis responce is better than most other drivers..... this is why i chose this dome. I wanted a clean semi stock look to the doors, but thw domes did such a good job at off axis response, i think to the point where i couldnt get a good soundstage....... i have a feeling with them aimed at the underside of the dash, it wouldnt allow me to get the image i was looking for. I now hope that since the new drivers will be aimed more direct, my image will improve. Plus im now able to cross my new mids at a lower frequency, this should raise my soundstage also. If this doesnt work... then i will go in another direction....set my car on fire and get the insurance money to start over with a different car and setup. FIRE!!!!


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

Lets build up the heat then.........before it catches fire.....ohw wait, thats something else....make it sexy!

Yes, that was my same idea with a middome that the off ax response is that well. But in meantime I love the collor of the tone of a middome, so I won't go so fast to a cone, but I do miss that a dome can not go that low. Nevertheless the off ax looks good in the specs, I did notice that the sound was building up around the steering colum if the dome is installed in the oem location. 

But I did like if the dome is on-ax, I hear so much more details. But I guess you are also looking for in someway a stock look and also have much SQ as possible. I did found a picture of someone who made really nice A pillars, I think its a superb, but I do thing these pillars are the same as passat.


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

Going All the 3-Way!


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Ive got the elite.65cs comps. How you liking the tweeter on axis? My civic will place them in the same place


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I played around with tweeter angles when i first got the elite tweeters, for me and my setup this sounded the best. They are facing me and then tilted slightly down. When i had them on axis and straight at me... they sounded nice at lower volumes but seemed kinda "hot" when volume increased. The next step was to tilt them slightly up, that sounded better.... but when i tilted them down... it really sounded nice. Im sure a lot of this has to do with fabrics and angles of things in the car and etc..... i really like these tweeters, they are my new favorites. My 2nd in line for favorites were the a/d/s tweeters. I would get some double sided tape or some sort of temporary holding device... and play with placement. On axis would be a great starting point! Are you using these in an active setup or using the passives? The passives that come with the set are a really good.


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Thanks for reply, i am going to run active but i have thought about bridging my amp (hd900/5) and using the passives but with mid being in stock low position and tweeter high up im not sure


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok....have been away for awhile. Been busy fixing up the house and then went on a vacation- so lets get back with this build!!!!
I am almost done with the doors, had a slight problem with the midrange pods and the fitment, so I had to build another set to correct the issues.
But I wanted to leave you this evening with some "teaser" pics of my new amp rack.
Amp rack is made out of aluminum, and showcases my new Elite amps very well!!
It will be mounted to the back panel of the box and this is how it will look when you open the trunk....





Elite.4 and Elite.5
Look for more pics over the next couple of days on how I fabricated the amp rack and how the new midrange pods look.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Hmm... When I saw the CC in Tempe in March, I figured you'd make a few tweaks, but John, it's totally changed now! LOL

I can't say it's bad at all, and in fact I really love how it's shaping up! . Everything looks meticulous, and if it sounds nearly as good as it looks, it will be a joy to listen to, and I for one can hardly wait to see and hear the finished product! You're doing a fabulous job on this!

Previously pondered, but now undeniable... you're a PG Nut-Hugger, for sure! 

Get busy and bring this thing out!

Great work, and thanks for sharing...


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks Chet!!! You and your car have been a strong source of inspiration over the past couple of months! Today after work, i plan on fabricating the mount that this amp rack will get attached to, at that time i will post pics of how i built the amp rack and detail some of the hurtles with style of mounting. Im almost there..... driving around with no music SUCKS!!!!!! I want to have the car done and tuned for the MECA event on the 29th of next month.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

so lets go over the amp rack and the components used to build it....



3/4 aluminum square tubing... light weight and stronger than what most people think.



3/4 inch aluminum angle



1/4-20 shoulder bolts, these give great strength and support.



Ny-Lok nuts, never have to worry about anything vibrating loose.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

new rear panel built and studs inserted for mounting the rack.
Its kinda dirty in the trunk, needs to be vacuumed - but I wanted to snap a few quick pics so you can get an idea how it will turn out.


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

That looks gooooodddd.... Great fab skills sir!


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

Looking from a distance they would resemble Flatscreen TV's,just awesomeness


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> Thanks Chet!!! You and your car have been a strong source of inspiration over the past couple of months! Today after work, i plan on fabricating the mount that this amp rack will get attached to, at that time i will post pics of how i built the amp rack and detail some of the hurtles with style of mounting. Im almost there..... driving around with no music SUCKS!!!!!! I want to have the car done and tuned for the MECA event on the 29th of next month.


Thanks John, but I've raised the bar in my car recently after losing a few SPL pts for BOBOS in AZ  I actually threw about 10k more into it. It's now sitting at approx 7000 watts as an SQ car now (with a sealed box) with a documented 148dB SPL and an 86 SQ most recently in the July Extreme Autofest event in Anaheim)

I'd love to sit around with you and a few cocktails and jam until the woofers stink... 

But back to the CC... I'm REALLY wanting to hear this thing! Someday!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Are you planning on painting the rack?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Not sure if im going to paint the rack... i have to pull it back out to do some wire runnng. At that time i want to "scotch-bright" it , to give it a dull uniform look. If I dont like the look of it after that. .... then i will paint it. Probably do a thinned black coat so the black doesnt contrast too much with colors i have in the trunk already.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

This is the finished midrange pods..... a lot of work.






26.jpg[/IMG][/URL]


I scotch bighted the aluminum amp rack but didn't like how it looked, so I painted them a crinkle finish black. It matches the texture of the amps and continues the black/grey color scheme.




next up is to finish up all the connections to the amps and start the tuning process with the H800.
I am building a black frame that will cover all wires and create a contrast point with the amp wall and the rest of the trunk. Its coming together...


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Wow those look awesome.
How is the 3d printer coming along?


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Damn that is coming along nicely. Beautiful pods and sail panels. Amp rack looks spot on perfect for those amps.

Driving with no music sucks. That's what motivated me to make more progress today.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Kazuhiro said:


> Wow those look awesome.
> How is the 3d printer coming along?


The 3d printer is completely built and running, but i was having problems calibrating the Z axis, so im designing a new Z axis probe- it will built into the extruder head with a pivot point and micro switch, the Z axis calibration process is the make or break condition to a quality print so im over engineering it.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

vwdave said:


> Damn that is coming along nicely. Beautiful pods and sail panels. Amp rack looks spot on perfect for those amps.
> 
> Driving with no music sucks. That's what motivated me to make more progress today.


Thanks Dave.... your build is looking good also! Im a big fan of it. Yeah it sucks big time driving around with no music.... but its a good motivator! !! Not only do i have no music in the car, but im also re-doing my home theater in the house..... im going thru withdrawls! ! Lolo. ARGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Wow, John... I'm impressed!

I'd love to sit in on the tuning of this setup- I have a few ideas on dialing in the time-alignment already.... This looks like it could be awesome!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

XSIV SPL said:


> Wow, John... I'm impressed!
> 
> I'd love to sit in on the tuning of this setup- I have a few ideas on dialing in the time-alignment already.... This looks like it could be awesome!


Im really anxious to get going with the tuning, i still have ALOT of loose ends to tie up with this install..... my goal is to have it ready for the MECA event on the 29th in Avondale. ... but if its not ready by then, im not going to beat myself up over it. Ive been pushing myself alittle too hard the past couple of months with working on the house etc.... my health is taking a hit, ****n heart medication SUCKS!! Lolol. I got my mics ready for tuning the car and have a game plan in my head for what needs to be done. Im going to focus on my home theater for the next couple of days, my new SWANS speakers are supposed to be delivered today! !! BIG STINKING GRIN ON MY FACE! Its time to slow things down a bit and enjoy life, CHEERS EVERYONE!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

XSIV SPL said:


> Wow, John... I'm impressed!
> 
> I'd love to sit in on the tuning of this setup- I have a few ideas on dialing in the time-alignment already.... This looks like it could be awesome!


You've peaked my curiosity - let's hear those ideas

Also dog, I'm sure the aiming choice of the Dayton's was influenced by its magnet size am I right? Putting these things at a 45 degree angle to its surface requires a large volume pod


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

When i first got the daytons, i put them in round tupperware plastic food containers and put them in the car at different angles while playing music thru them, i found an angle that i really liked- and of course it was the hardest angle to build a pod for.... lolol the large magnet was a challenge to fit. On the back side of the pod on the flat panel, there is actually a small cut out that the magnet pops thru, i later glassed that over to seal the pod. These were a pain in the ass to make. The first set i made, i made a mistake on my measurements and had to make a 2nd set. Im really happy with how they turned out and the placement of the driver.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Mine are aimed at the centre shoulder of the person in front of them, I am going to try dome light aiming next if they allow me, will let you know of the change in performance.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

John, if you're up for it I'll drive to Tucson to lend a hand when this beast is boxed and ready for presentation... Better serve cocktails though... 

BTW, you're a nerd, but I love 'ya man...


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

XSIV SPL said:


> John, if you're up for it I'll drive to Tucson to lend a hand when this beast is boxed and ready for presentation... Better serve cocktails though...
> 
> BTW, you're a nerd, but I love 'ya man...


You should be careful what you ask for Chet... we make some pretty strong drinks around our house. Lolo. We currently have someone staying acouple of months in our guest house, when we have a vacancy its game on! A matter of fact..... if anybody on this forum ever wants to vacation in Tucson.... just let me know. We have a guest house... im being serious. But a word of warning, the drinks are strong and the paranormal vortex at the end of our culdesac is fricken strong. ....... hahahhahaahhhahh


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Looks awesome John! Those midrange pods turned out awesome, and I love the amp rack. We should get together soon! I'm taking the Passat in for a few performance and suspension mods in a few weeks. Hope things are well with you guys!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

mikey7182 said:


> Looks awesome John! Those midrange pods turned out awesome, and I love the amp rack. We should get together soon! I'm taking the Passat in for a few performance and suspension mods in a few weeks. Hope things are well with you guys!


Hey mike! Havent heard from you in awhile... all is good over here! Hope all is good over in your neck of the woods. What mods do you plan on doing to your car??? The 2.0t motor comes alive pretty easily with a small amount of modifications. I still have some goodies left over from my GTI.... catch can etc.... did you ever do the altenator on the passat?


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

I'm doing great! Summer nursing classes have kept me crazy busy and they finally finished last week. Block 2 starts next Tuesday so I'm buckling up again! Ha. 

I'm doing the Stage II GIAC ECU tune, a 3" downpipe and cold air intake to start. He said I should see around 75-80HP/90-100TQ off that which is insane. Been awhile since I've modded a forced induction car but from what I remember, they respond very well to minimal mods. Probably doing a set of ST coilovers as well. If all goes well, I may take the plunge and do the K04 turbo upgrade around New Years. Baby steps... Lol. 

I'm also doing the HO alternator which I didn't end up doing and wish I had. I bought a second Stinger battery and isolator which I have yet to install, but this summer heat absolutely taxes my factory alt. I'm gonna hit up Ohio Gen and see what the ETA is on building one again. What's a catch can? What else do you have laying araround? Anything I could use?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I wouldnt go past a stage 2 with your car. You have the DSG transmission, and they dont react well past a certain point. In my opinion, the DSG is hands down the best trans ever made- so be nice to it. Lol. I had the K04 swap in my GTI and the stock rods have a hard time holding together with that turbo. The torque delivery isnt in a linear path, it ramps up real fast and torsional rigidity will be the keyword for rods snapping. .... i found that out. Hahaha. If you do a stage 2, you should look into getting a better intercooler soon there after, at least before the next summer rolls around... heat soak is your enemy here in Arizona. Let me look thru the back sheds to see what goodies i might still have for your performance upgrade


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Haha. Well if I did the turbo upgrade I would likely make all the supporting mods needed to have it be reliable, which gets pricey. I wouldn't just swap the turbo. So I'm on the fence about it. Besides, a ~40% HP gain for under $1000 is pretty ridiculous, and the car is plenty quick (for me) already. I love the DSG as well. The intercooler was my next upgrade, so I may just do that with the Stage 2 and be done with it. I didn't see a lot in the way of gains with exhaust, at least past the downpipe, so not sure that's worth the grand hat most cat back systems are running.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok, update time. System has been fully operational for the past 2 days...am knee deep in the tuning process, make small changes- commute back and forth evaluating those changes and taking notes as to what to do next. This is my first time using the alpine pxa h800, small learning at first... its getting easier for me now. Full optical to the processor sounds amazing, the dayton mids are amazing also- i havent overpowered them nor do i need to, with how i have them placed...they get plenty loud. 
This what alot of people at work have said including my wife "its not as loud as your last system".... and the funny thing is... i agree with them- it gets PLENTY loud inside the cabin but i barely have it turned up. This is a wierd scenario for me. The sounds doesnt creep outside of the car, even with the windows rolled down, but as soon as you get in and close the door and roll up the windows... then you get the sensation of it being loud. The sub still is breaking in, i haven't touched the eq for the sub, it sounds SUPER detailed but doesnt have much umphh, im going to focus on sub tuning today. Ive got a strong center image already with the front stage, now im working on crossover overlap and slopes.
Happy Saturday everyone.


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

Nice work! I always enjoyed to improve my passat but unfortunatly sold the car, but now I can start over with a golf 6 variant. Minor isue is that the kickwoofer is placed in the back of the doorpanel. But the mid is above the doorhandle, so I need a mid that plays well i guess from 200 hz. I have a morel cdm 880 but that doesn;t go lower as 700 hz

I was wondering what Dayton did you use for your mid? And does it play well from 200 hz?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I am using the Dayton rs100, i currently have them crossed over 220hz and they handle it pretty good, great detail and a great value.


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

hot9dog said:


> I am using the Dayton rs100, i currently have them crossed over 220hz and they handle it pretty good, great detail and a great value.


How do you describe the differences with the middome you have used before?
And how does it do off ax? 

I was also thinking of a light weighted paper cone, but now I read your experiences so I;m thinking of using the same.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

gamma_ed said:


> How do you describe the differences with the middome you have used before?
> And how does it do off ax?
> 
> I was also thinking of a light weighted paper cone, but now I read your experiences so I;m thinking of using the same.


Ive been a home speaker builder hobbyist for a long time, ive had amazing results with high quality dome mids in all of my speaker builds- so at the time it was a no-brainer to use dome mids when I was starting this build. But unfortunately my door mounting location caused too many problems with using them- getting all kinds of goofy reflections and etc with them radiating into the underside of my dash. 
When I decided to go with the Daytons, I knew they would needed to be aimed in a more direct fashion. The Daytons have a relatively low power handling but have great sensitivity, direct aiming would be important.
So far im really impressed with the sound, a very relaxed unstressed sound is what im hearing. The best part..... they are dirt cheap and look great!!!
I would try to place them as close as possible to on axis as you can


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## gamma_ed (Jul 30, 2009)

I have also this one in mind, cause I can get them second hand and would fit in the door without making any pods. What do you think of this one? 

http://www.exactaudio.de/pdf/MG10-6.pdf


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Let's get together soon John! I want to hear it! Maybe I can grab Jon's RTA for a weekend again and we can have a legit tuning session, now that your PPI/Soundstream/whatever that was processor won't reset on us mid-sesh!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

gamma_ed said:


> I have also this one in mind, cause I can get them second hand and would fit in the door without making any pods. What do you think of this one?
> 
> http://www.exactaudio.de/pdf/MG10-6.pdf


It looks just like the scanspeak discovery 4", why dont you get those?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

that driver has some good specs, id give it a try!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

mikey7182 said:


> Let's get together soon John! I want to hear it! Maybe I can grab Jon's RTA for a weekend again and we can have a legit tuning session, now that your PPI/Soundstream/whatever that was processor won't reset on us mid-sesh!


Anytime Mike!!! I have my mic also, REW software on my laptop also.... but I did like using the AudioControl RTA.... using it was like going back in time- when I was a younger man..... lololo


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## mailalan (Mar 28, 2015)

Wow, this is a _really_ beautiful install. Very impressive. I particularly like the stealthiness of the head unit.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

thanks mailalan! this build has been going on for a year so far, its been a long process. I have a feeling it will go thru many more changes before this year is thru, Im an eccentric engineer.... my mind has some serious screws missing from it. lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Im thinking about toying around with a 4th order bandpass for my car and for my PG Elite 12. Im looking for a GOOD 4th order designer, or if you have/know someone you can recommend... send me a PM. Cash is king.... designing services will be compensated for..... but- you have to know your ****. Im not a 4th order expert, have built several when I was a younger lad- but I dont want to go thru several revisions to get it right.
Cash is king.


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## Arizilla (Aug 26, 2015)

Really clean build!! I'm from Tucson and will never be done with my cars systems but I sure am going to steal that amp rack idea!! Haha I love the way that came out it's functional and good looking!! Anyway great build and also about that 4th order I just pulled my 4th that had two sundown sa 8's to put my new ssa Zcon 12 in but I know a lil bit and could lend a hand text me if you want. 520 6644817 nice build keep up the good work!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok , so everyone knows im a big phoenix gold fan, but i would like to give a first hand impression of my Elite amps..... HELL YES!!!! The standout here is the Elite.4 i have my PG Elite tweeter and my Dayton mids hooked up to it........ i knew the the midrange would be the corner stone to this build and the midrange sounds friken amazing!!!!! This amp blows all others out of the water! Now i know there is a huge debate going on with amp sound quality on this forum. .... i dont care if i get flamed over this comment: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. The detail quality of this amp is god damn mind blowing. .. i dont even have it fully dialed in yet. I love my amps. End of story. ...... im writing this as im sitting in the casino, buzzed and looking for the drink girl..... good evening


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## AccordUno (Aug 7, 2009)

hot9dog said:


> Ok , so everyone knows im a big phoenix gold fan, but i would like to give a first hand impression of my Elite amps..... HELL YES!!!! The standout here is the Elite.4 i have my PG Elite tweeter and my Dayton mids hooked up to it........ i knew the the midrange would be the corner stone to this build and the midrange sounds friken amazing!!!!! This amp blows all others out of the water! Now i know there is a huge debate going on with amp sound quality on this forum. .... i dont care if i get flamed over this comment: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. The detail quality of this amp is god damn mind blowing. .. i dont even have it fully dialed in yet. I love my amps. End of story. ...... im writing this as im sitting in the casino, buzzed and looking for the drink girl..... good evening


Had a conversation about PG amps a few years ago with someone in the know. seems you have just reinforced what the told me..


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Update time. Pulled the old box out... amazing detail in the sub stage but I need more output... and I KNOW this sub can throw a lot of air. So I built ANOTHER box for this sub! Typically I document everything with pics, this time I'm flying under the radar. Pics will be posted but only after it is all done. The new box is 2.8 cu.ft. tuned to 32 hz.... I oriented the port differently this time. NO MORE SLOT PORTS!!! Im old fashioned and stuck in my ways. .. I hate slot ports. This time for this box I made a port out of 4" pvc and flared the ends using a stainless steel mixing bowl and a heat gun. The new box is installed and port is installed, I cut a hole thru the rear deck and the port comes from the top of the box thru the rear deck panel and will use the rear glass as a horn affect. Tomorrow I will install the PG ELITE 12 into the box and start putting the amp wall back together. I am going to the MECA Arizona state finals this weekend, so it's a mad dash rush to try to get it all put back together and then re-tune. Last minute hail mary.... this new box should KILL! I will post pics when it's all done. Cheers everyone! ! A special cheers goes out to all the brothers standing over table saws , adjusting 
end stops and breathing in MDF dust... "the saw is family"


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## Staffordshire (Oct 1, 2011)

this is some serious build!! now i got some ideas for my cc. but probably my balls will be smaller,i will wuss out from cutting panels lol.
could you tell me can your HU be controller over the steering wheel?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey staffordshire, my steering wheel controls are not connected to my head unit. The IDATALINK MAESTRO unit is the controller that is the best for VW. it ties into the VW CAN BUS system and gives you full steering wheel control and will send info about your car to the head unit (tire pressure, oil pressure, turbo boot, air conditioning and more) it's compatible with most double din Kenwood and Alpines. It's very plug and play!


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## Staffordshire (Oct 1, 2011)

i will probably be trying one of the android units. i will try to run some tests tomorrow on my setup and i will decide then. also christmas is not far away so i probably will know what i`ll ask santa to bring me.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

lets finalize this box build with some pics and a re-cap.



this has been a HOT summer here in southern Arizona!!!! The car had no tint and led to some issues (we will get to those in a bit).
So I went and had the whole car limo tinted... That helped out ALOT!



At work the car is left outside to bake in the elements, no shade...and the inside cabin temps went thru the HELL and we had a casualty with the drivers side PG Elite tweeter.
Several times I would get in the car after work and the inside temps would be in the 130 degree range!!! I remember several times touching the aluminum housing ring of the tweeter and I would burn my finger on it... so I knew this day would come.
The drivers side tweeter is making a whispering/buzzing noise within a certain frequency range..... this is bumming me out. I really loved these tweeters!!



I waited too long into the summer to tint the windows.
So I know what your thinking, "why not replace the tweeter???" well lets put this nicely...
I had a "falling out" with my local PG dealer- I wont be going back to that shop anymore.
I wont smear dirt or talk ****... lets just leave it at it is.
So I am on the look out for the "new hotness" in tweeters.

I got the new box done and installed.....





The box is 2.8 cu ft tuned to 30hz... with a 4" port going thru the rear deck. OHHHHHH HELL YES!!!! I wanted more SPL, but I didn't get more SPL.... but what I did get was AMAZING extension! You can feel it move thru the seat of your pants, thru your stomach and push and pull on your chest.... Im a very happy boy. The Phantagram CD just rips my car apart.
But were not done with this setup... I still want more SPL- but I don't want to ad more amps, So im looking at putting a 18" in my trunk- sealed. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

That's all I got for now. So im shopping for new tweeters and looking at 18" drivers.
Enjoy the afternoon!


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## Staffordshire (Oct 1, 2011)

i am jealous of you skills. the fuse box looks really good, well everything looks really good lots of attention was put in everywhere.

i just wanted to ask a few questions, sorry if i am annoying you in advance. but you paid for your radio like 1k $ or more so why don`t you add another 100$ for idatalink maestro? and why top amp is not bridged?


i would advice you if you are going to keep all the chrome, get some chrome surrounds for your fog lights, they are like 20$ but they will make your car look much better


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

hey Staffordshire!!
Those are good questions! I really wanted to go with the IDATALINK unit, but I really didn't see the need to. The main reason is volume control... with my Alpine head unit I wanted to go full optical to the DSP, and when you do this- it moves the volume control from the head unit to the RUX controller. The Maestro would not be able to link up with the RUX controller. In my mind, it then seemed unnecessary to get the Maestro unit.

The top amp is the Elite.5, I have the Dayton 8's running off of this amp. I originally had them bridged off of this amp, that meant that they had nearly 300 watts running to each of the 8's!! that's a lot of power, and I blew the passenger side 8. Luckily Mickey had a spare Dayton 8 that he gave me (got to love the Arizona boys!). So now I don't have them bridged, They show much better control now and I was able to cross them over a little bit lower now, in this case less power was better. Plus I have a plan now for those spare channels....but I wont get that into that yet. lololol


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Always keep an eye on this build love pg. out of curiosity what frequency do you hav your tweets crossed at? Im using a 2 way but just curious.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I have crossed over at 2.2khz @ 18db


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Oh ok quite lower than i would have thought in a 3way. Good to know the tweets can handle that low of a frequency! Mine are at 4k 12db slope time to experiment.


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## craiggus365 (Apr 5, 2009)

I read the whole thread, but if you have a second to answer, was the ported through the deck the best of the 3 enclosures?
I'm currently waiting for my MAG v3's to come and I can do some experiments, but time is an issue. I've been through a couple of orientations with my current sub, firing to the passenger side sounded loudest and emphasized lows but lacked highs. Facing back is flatter but really limits the low end gain.
Nice build, and enjoyable read.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The current enclosure is the best one so far. It's the most musical and goes the lowest. I really like the sound of a ported box, but not all drivers sound the best ported. I think the best sub I've ever had was an older MbQuart PXE 15" SEALED. I still have that driver in the storage... it's there to remind me to never stop looking for perfection.


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## craiggus365 (Apr 5, 2009)

I'm def a ported guy, I have my back deck cut out just waiting for 12's and the MAG sale fleeced my wallet so to speak. I have an enclosure I can re-purpose to try out different configs and I think ported through the deck will be the 1st attempt, thx to you!
I was amazed how rotating the enclosure a 1/4 turn changed the sound so drastically, but with a single 15 my options were limited. The wife likes to haul/store junk in the trunk


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

This has given me many ideas of what I want to do with mine! I just bought a 2010 Passat Komfort!


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> This is the finished midrange pods..... a lot of work.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How do you like the midrange down low? I really wanted to do pillars, but don't want to fool with the messing up the vents in the pillars.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The mids down low.... I did not like it. It was a pain in the ass to tune and get a proper soundstage. The dayton drivers sounded great- but with the driver and passenger legs getting in the way,I never was happy with it. Visually, it was great! People would step into my car and their eyes would go straight towards the mids and compliments would flow, even before I would turn on the system. 
I'm currently auditioning drivers for my new front stage. My new target is to use a 3" mid and mount it on the dash between the a-pillar and the windshield. The current tweeter position is in the a-pillar, I want to move this position to next to the mid on the dash (much like how Gary Summers has his Mercedes). I've already gone thru 4 different mids so far during this audition process and 3 different tweeters. I've narrowed the choices down and I think im ready to start the fabrication. I'm building a new sub box right now (today), for sub duties; im going back to a tried and true driver. I'm going to be using the MB Quart PWE 352 15". I had this sub installed in my last GTI and fell in love with it, so much so that I bought 3 extra ones and stashed them in the shop. This sub was built by Rockford Fosgate during the short period that they owned MB Quart, in my opinion it still stands as one of the best SQ 15" ever made. It will be installed into 1.8 cu ft with about a pound of polyfill.


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> had a malfunction with my laptop so there has been a delay with posting updates... at least I got a new laptop out of the ordeal! lol
> on with the show..
> removed door panel to start the mock-up and fabrication process. this is the stock speaker, as you can see up above it in the blank space- this is where the midrange would go if my car had the DYNAUDIO option.
> 
> ...


What about in the original location next to the 8in? Did you like them there?


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> The mids down low.... I did not like it. It was a pain in the ass to tune and get a proper soundstage. The dayton drivers sounded great- but with the driver and passenger legs getting in the way,I never was happy with it. Visually, it was great! People would step into my car and their eyes would go straight towards the mids and compliments would flow, even before I would turn on the system.
> I'm currently auditioning drivers for my new front stage. My new target is to use a 3" mid and mount it on the dash between the a-pillar and the windshield. The current tweeter position is in the a-pillar, I want to move this position to next to the mid on the dash (much like how Gary Summers has his Mercedes). I've already gone thru 4 different mids so far during this audition process and 3 different tweeters. I've narrowed the choices down and I think im ready to start the fabrication. I'm building a new sub box right now (today), for sub duties; im going back to a tried and true driver. I'm going to be using the MB Quart PWE 352 15". I had this sub installed in my last GTI and fell in love with it, so much so that I bought 3 extra ones and stashed them in the shop. This sub was built by Rockford Fosgate during the short period that they owned MB Quart, in my opinion it still stands as one of the best SQ 15" ever made. It will be installed into 1.8 cu ft with about a pound of polyfill.


Looking at it, I thought legs in the way could be a potential issue.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I did not lIke the dome mids where they were placed originally, right above the 8's. They sounded nice and loud placed there, but I feel they were encountering alot of reflections. I started this install with the idea of minimalist style of speaker placement, but as I moved forward with the install I felt that this was a mistake, I was comprising sound for simplicity. I only have 30k miles on my car and truly feel that this car will become a permanent fixture in our household, I don't think I will ever get rid of it. So with that mindset, I've decided to go full throttle with the things that will be done to the car. I've got a killer head unit, killer processing and drool worthy amps.... the front stage is the final destination, I want it to kick ass.
After the audio is done, the next step is to build a motor... I have a bare block and rods for it already. 
This car will stay in the family and will never stop evolving.


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## BlackHHR (May 12, 2013)

Nice build thread.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Which 3s have you auditioned and what were your impressions? What location(s) did you try them in? To


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> I did not lIke the dome mids where they were placed originally, right above the 8's. They sounded nice and loud placed there, but I feel they were encountering alot of reflections. I started this install with the idea of minimalist style of speaker placement, but as I moved forward with the install I felt that this was a mistake, I was comprising sound for simplicity. I only have 30k miles on my car and truly feel that this car will become a permanent fixture in our household, I don't think I will ever get rid of it. So with that mindset, I've decided to go full throttle with the things that will be done to the car. I've got a killer head unit, killer processing and drool worthy amps.... the front stage is the final destination, I want it to kick ass.
> After the audio is done, the next step is to build a motor... I have a bare block and rods for it already.
> This car will stay in the family and will never stop evolving.


Told 'ya... ?

This thing is never going back stock or being traded... 

Do your thing, brother!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

work has been CRAZY (a good thing and a bad thing) which leaves no time for the VW...
Ive been gathering parts and ideas- now is the time to act upon them.
This is whats going on so far....




I picked up a SMOKING deal on this Morel Elate 903 set, I have auditioned the Morel CDM 880 dome midrange before, its one of my favorites, so when this set fell into my lap, I knew that was going to be the new direction with the car.



Huge 9" midbass, 3" voice coil...it has low sensitivity but that's ok because im going to be giving them about 300 watts each.





The CDM 880 dome midrange has great detail and can take a lot of power.
Finding the sweet spot for x-over will take some time, I have done a lot of research and have a good starting point in mind for the x-over point.

the MT 23 tweeter has been around for awhile in the Morel lineup, it has proven its self to be a well rounded driver.



I did some quick mock ups with cardboard on my dash to get a good starting point for placement and angle.
I then transferred them to wood.... Its a work in process




I will post more tomorrow , I have the day off and will do more work to the car.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Mmmmm... Morel


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Nice set. I'm not a fan of dome mids, but those are nice. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

This is the 15" Mb Quart PWE 352 that I had in my last car (VW GTI), it has very low hours on it... I liked it so much that I bought 2 extra ones for back up. The sub is for sealed enclosures only, takes a good amount of power and goes really low. I LOVE this sub!! In my last car I had it in 1.7 cu ft, this time around it will sit in a 2.0 cu ft enclosure.
While I have the trunk of the car torn apart, I will be redesigning the amp rack and plan on putting cedar planks over the spare tire, to add a decorative splash to the trunk.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Daaaannnnggggg... this is turning out to be awesome!


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

So where do you figure the high pass for the dome mid will be? 500-600ish?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The starting point for the dome mids will be 580 hz @12db. Once I get a sense of where on the volume knob is the loudest averaged listening level- then I will bring down the high pass in increments and get more aggressive in dB slope, doing critical listening along the way. I've read about people using crazy low cross over points on these dome mids... I will not be going lower than 450 hz with these. Even at 450 hz, that's pushing it big time!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Agreed. I've enjoyed them the most crossing from 450Hz up to 1250Hz. Some of my favorite midranges yet for sure.


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## Staffordshire (Oct 1, 2011)

i took apart my cc setup a few days ago, will redo boot,not sure what i will do but something very simple and cheap. i would like to do doors properly though. 

as for your mid/tweet placement i would not put them there because cc has thick pillars and roof is quite low so you do not have much visibility in the first place,and blocking that little bit extra.... i don`t know, is it worth it? 

anyway whatever you decide on doing i`m sure it will be epic as always


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> The starting point for the dome mids will be 580 hz @12db. Once I get a sense of where on the volume knob is the loudest averaged listening level- then I will bring down the high pass in increments and get more aggressive in dB slope, doing critical listening along the way. I've read about people using crazy low cross over points on these dome mids... I will not be going lower than 450 hz with these. Even at 450 hz, that's pushing it big time!


If I were you and you were me, which will obviously never happen, I would never consider this dome midrange option coming in around 580hz.

You will not be happy.

Put a real midrange in the same space.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The decision to use the CDM 880 was after auditioning many drivers (I will post my audition experiences soon), I have been building home speaker systems as a hobby for 25 years now and have always gone back to the sound signature of a dome mid as my favorite (even with its pitfalls and limitations ). I firmly stand behind my "starting point " of 580 hz for a cross over, I might go up in range, I might go down- this conclusion will come from critical listening....not from playing "arm chair quarterback ". Lololo


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

I wasn't playing armchair quarterback there, John  - I actually had a set of dyn domes in my car before the current setup, starting at 600hz. They sounded ok, but the main reason they're gone is because I found it near impossible with a high pass of 600hz to get them to couple with a midbass (playing well into the midrange region) with was located significantly lower in the car, while maintaining a crossover slope which I was comfortable using with the domes. So basically they were playing too high frequency to convincingly couple and lift the midbass (and a good share of the midrange for that matter) into the preferred stage height, so they had to go. It may well have been the particular distances in my setup which made it not work out, and your results may differ greatly from my own, but I'm a firm believer that the lower you can play your mids, the easier it will be to pull the low frequencies up into the stage, making for a more coherent presentation of sound.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

have made small advances with the car:



Got the rough shape done



Got a pack of flexible cutting boards, these are great. They are a thin mil and inexpensive.

Cut a general shape.





Glued the material to the top baffle, will cut the over hang to be flush with baffle.



Cut and trimmed and into place.



Almost done with the Birch box for the 15"



Next step is to fab up the new amp rack and fab up the new mounts for the 9" that will go into the doors.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Excellent fabrication, and good idea on that cutting board material. Really watching your build, as I'm also using Morel with a similar configuration.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks for the kind words man!! I will show tomorrow my thoughts on how I will mount these "pods". I don't want to cut anything on this car because im constantly making changes to it, I think I came up with a simple but effective solution for mounting.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Yeah no doubt. You're doing great! Can see a little bit of inspiration provided by a certain Mercedes C230 in those pillar pods


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## vwguy383 (Dec 4, 2008)

Almost done with the Birch box for the 15"



Next step is to fab up the new amp rack and fab up the new mounts for the 9" that will go into the doors.[/QUOTE]

What are you using to built the box? Wood glue and nails? Or screws? 
Awesome build man! That sub is huge!

Thanks
Justind


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

hey vwguy383!
For the box I use screws and liquid nails. When using screws with Birch you have to be careful... make sure your pilot holes are large enough, countersink the screws and make sure you don't over tighten the screws (use the clutch on your drill/driver), if you over tighten the fasteners you will cause the laminates to come undone and cause a weak point.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Will you ever stop changing this build long enough to enjoy it a bit before changing it again?

I love 'ya man, but lately it seems you're changing out gear without ever hearing it...


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> hey vwguy383!
> For the box I use screws and liquid nails. When using screws with Birch you have to be careful... make sure your pilot holes are large enough, countersink the screws and make sure you don't over tighten the screws (use the clutch on your drill/driver), if you over tighten the fasteners you will cause the laminates to come undone and cause a weak point.


Have you ever tried spax mdf/hardwood screws? They are designed to be used with mdf and don't require you to pre drill holes. They go in without splitting the wood. They cost a bit more, but save time. If you're only building one box you may not notice a big improvement in speed, but they are much more convenient. I used them with an impact driver. It takes them just below the surface perfectly every time.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I've used the Spax style of screws on a project before with great results! The serrations on the screw lead in make it great for MDF, not so good with Birch though. The serrations cause large bits of material to break off between the fastener and the pilot hole.... that material won't compress like MDF will, causing splitting of the wood. I never have any luck using any type of screws with void free birch.... but I like the clamping effect of a good screw. (Lololo) the only way that I had success this time with using screws on birch was to pay extra attention to the pilot hole. Use a drill bit that is about .008 smaller than the O.D. of the screw that you will be using, you don't want too much thread penetration into the material, just enough to get that clamping effect. Attention needs to be given not to drive the screw too hard once it bottoms out or stripping will occur, this is where your drill/driver clutch setting comes into play. But for MDF, the Spax style of fastener is golden! I need more coffee over here!!!! Lol


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Given all the double entendre, I think you need something other than another cup of coffee. 

Oh, and nice use of the cutting boards. I'm interested in seeing how you finish out the pods.


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## vwguy383 (Dec 4, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> hey vwguy383!
> For the box I use screws and liquid nails. When using screws with Birch you have to be careful... make sure your pilot holes are large enough, countersink the screws and make sure you don't over tighten the screws (use the clutch on your drill/driver), if you over tighten the fasteners you will cause the laminates to come undone and cause a weak point.



Thanks for the tips! Hope that box is going to get some reinforcements built in it. Is there any concern using the liquid nails on the box building and any off gazes from it harming the subwoofer? I know there is some sealers that can off gas and harm the subs?

I usually use MDF for box building and may have to check out those SPAX screws you are talking about. Is there a big difference in using birch over MDF? I have seen some people use birch.

Can that sub you are using be IB? That box your building seems big.

Thanks
Justind


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

One of my all time fav builds because it never ends!! Just keeps getting better and better


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Once dried and cured, liquid nails is no problem. I've got some ideas for bracing on the face of the box. Birch is simular to MDF as far structurally. ...birch is slightly stronger and MUCH lighter. The box will be 2 cu ft, manufacturers recommendation is 1.5 that's an amazingly small box for a high power 15". This sub was designed for sealed only, not sure for IB, I modeled it before a ported box and my software recommended a 4.5 cu ft box! Ouch, and the output didn't look too good.


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> Had some free time this afternoon (a rarity) - so I started to run the 0 gauge thru the firewall.
> Removed the battery to gain access to the area where I wanted to feed the wire thru. made things a lot easier without the battery there.
> 
> 
> ...


I'm running my power cable this weekend. Do you have pics of the battery terminal connected to the battery? I just want to see how you got the terminals connected and got the battery box back on. I'll post a build log of my Passat as well!

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> had a malfunction with my laptop so there has been a delay with posting updates... at least I got a new laptop out of the ordeal! lol
> on with the show..
> removed door panel to start the mock-up and fabrication process. this is the stock speaker, as you can see up above it in the blank space- this is where the midrange would go if my car had the DYNAUDIO option.
> 
> ...


I'm stealing this idea of using ca glue for my tweeters! Brilliant!

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

hot9dog said:


> Started this morning getting the car ready to do the electrical under the hood.
> 
> Removed the battery, the battery tray and the air box assembly.
> Wanted to have a clear space to route wires properly and to gain access to the transmission mount- this is where I will be running the secondary ground wire.
> ...


This is how I did my battery terminals. I currently don't have the cover on my battery , I'm shopping for a new battery right now


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## vwguy383 (Dec 4, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> Once dried and cured, liquid nails is no problem. I've got some ideas for bracing on the face of the box. Birch is simular to MDF as far structurally. ...birch is slightly stronger and MUCH lighter. The box will be 2 cu ft, manufacturers recommendation is 1.5 that's an amazingly small box for a high power 15". This sub was designed for sealed only, not sure for IB, I modeled it before a ported box and my software recommended a 4.5 cu ft box! Ouch, and the output didn't look too good.


I'm surprised birch would be lighter then MDF. How far apart do you space your screws?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Just a teaser


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

I know it's not "finished" yet, but it looks promising... Was there a calculated decision in placing the mids wider than the tweeters?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

The only way for me to get the drivers as far forward as possible was to place the mids to the outside and the tweeters inward... and also to maintain the the desired angle of the driver plane.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Cool... Hook 'em up! I expect a review, and to see you in Riverside


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

I have read through this entire thread while traveling today. Love it! Awesome job - relentless pursuit of your goals - changing equipment, but giving the explanations. I'm hoping to get out to AZ some time soon to give it a listen. Fantastic job John!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Bertholomey, thanks for the kind words! 
That made my day and gave me motivation to finish my sub box tonight. It's hard to find free moments in the day for this project, some times it takes someone to give you a push in the right direction to get things moving. Thanks man!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Add me to that list of hopefuls to hear it someday!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

hot9dog said:


> Bertholomey, thanks for the kind words!
> That made my day and gave me motivation to finish my sub box tonight. It's hard to find free moments in the day for this project, some times it takes someone to give you a push in the right direction to get things moving. Thanks man!



Motivation can come from the strangest of places  I'm glad I could help in some teeny way! Looking forward to seeing more 




chithead said:


> Add me to that list of hopefuls to hear it someday!



.......Now, if we could just teleport his car to NC in April......a goodly portion of the sub'd list would get that opportunity


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

Those dash pods don't look all that dissimilar from Gary Summers setup.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

JoshHefnerX said:


> Those dash pods don't look all that dissimilar from Gary Summers setup.


Hey Josh!
Yeah im not ashamed to admit that im basically forming this rebuild on Gary's car, putting my own spin on it of course. lol
Several areas I will be deviating from Gary's car
* No center channel
* No rear speakers
* Will not be building an enclosure in the doors

Now im not saying that it will stay this way, I might evolve this build in this direction that Gary went.... It might go in another direction.
The winds of fate will decide.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

getting to work on the doors today.....



Grabbed white cutting boards to build the base of the door mounts for the Morel 9" midbass.



Copied the original speaker mount for the door.

Cut a Birch speaker ring. The part that mates up to the door will be the cutting board material, the mating surface for the speaker will be birch. I will weather treat the Burch pieces.



This is the piece that will go between the speaker ring and the door mount. It still needs the outer edge cut and shaped.






That's basically how it will be assembled.

I want to do something different now.......
So far in this build I have only used 3 basic tools, these tools are essential and can be acquired on the open market very cheaply. You can do ALOT with this basic setup.



My beat up table saw, the fence suck, the bearing on the motor are getting old.. but I get some damn accurate cuts off of this piece of ****. This table saw has been with me thru a lot of phases in my life.



My Delta belt/disc sander.... This is a MUST HAVE!!! its built like a tank and has done a great job at fine detail work. This has saved my ass many of times.



My ROTOZIP Rebel... this is basically a hand held router. Gets into tight spaces, makes complex shapes and BLOWS AWAY an jig saw. This is my 2nd one. They only last about 2 years (the bearings inside go out) I have a lot of attachments for it.... Its a killing machine- no doubt about it..... this thing will **** you up if not using it right. lol
But it will cut thru 3/4 inch Birch like a mutha!!! 
This is my favorite "do all" tool.... just have to respect it. lolol



The "DEAD MANS BOX"..... every body needs one, its a great hiding place for poisonous spiders and large lizards.... lololol grab scraps of wood with care.

That's all for today...... see you tomorrow 
Thanks everyone for the support.... This forum kicks ass.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Today I pulled everything out of the trunk today, amp rack with amps, old box etc...
it took a lot of time and energy!!! while I had it all out, I laid down some more deadener in a couple of areas. I then proceeded to install the new box..... HOLY **** I am gaining a lot of real estate in the trunk with this new setup!! I will post pics once I get it all installed.
Im calling it quits today, my heart medication is kicking my ass today- so its nap time.
But I will leave you with this....


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

/\ /\ knowing what we now know about Mr. Cosby. .... I'm not sure if that last GIF is a good thing or a bad thing! Hahaha


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Judging from his face I bet his pudding pop is getting dipped in jello


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

It's not the wood I wanted to use for the trunk floor, I had this wood in the shed.... wanted to cut it and see how it looks. I will use this as the template when I get the Cedar that I want. Going to finish up the wiring and the doors this weekend.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

As you can see, I gained alot of trunk space with the new box!


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

hot9dog said:


>



Wow man, that looks damn good! Very cool. The wood takes it to a whole new level.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Just wait till I get the Cedar to replace it, will look 100 times better and plus when you open the trunk the strong smell of Cedar will hit you.... lol


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> Just wait till I get the Cedar to replace it, will look 100 times better and plus when you open the trunk the strong smell of Cedar will hit you.... lol


As an added benefit, the moths won't dare chew on that woofer!


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

hot9dog said:


>



I did the Amos in my brother's Rabbit almost exactly the same. Looks good. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

hot9dog said:


> My Delta belt/disc sander.... This is a MUST HAVE!!! its built like a tank and has done a great job at fine detail work. This has saved my ass many of times.


I don't know about MUST HAVE, but certainly handy. Before I'd spend money on this I'd pick up a decent router. Used properly, it will save you tons of clean up effort you'd likely use the sander for. Had one at an old shop I worked at and didn't use it much, but for those times I needed it, it was nice to have.



hot9dog said:


> My ROTOZIP Rebel... this is basically a hand held router. Gets into tight spaces, makes complex shapes and BLOWS AWAY an jig saw. This is my 2nd one. They only last about 2 years (the bearings inside go out) I have a lot of attachments for it.... Its a killing machine- no doubt about it..... this thing will **** you up if not using it right. lol
> But it will cut thru 3/4 inch Birch like a mutha!!!
> This is my favorite "do all" tool.... just have to respect it. lolol


I never liked mine. Only thing I liked it for was cutting holes in drywall for light fixtures and outlet boxes. 

As far as blowing away a Jigsaw, I suppose it will depend on which Jigsaw. I've had some cheap Skil's and stuff and about 10 years ago I spent the money on a Bosch. Let me tell you, using fresh, proper blades on a saw with enough power will let you make some nice smooth cuts. Some of Bing's early work was done without a router, and it's hard to tell. I recently bought a cordless Milwaukee jig saw (mainly for cutting small things, or cutting chunks off of 4x8' sheets to work with) and it's OK...but then I grabbed my Bosch the other day and I had forgotten how nice that thing cuts.

I bought a Bosch 1617EVS router that came with fixed and plunge bases, and got a Jasper circle jig to go with it. I've used that thing for years. My router table has an adjustable speed Porter Cable 692 in it with a JessEm lift. I can't even tell you how much of a difference having these things has made.

You've done some amazing work on this car and the wood floor will look awesome once it's done. Can't wait to see it. I actually like what you have in there now, as well. 

Jay


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks Jay, I'm about to head out of the house and go on a hunt for cedar .... Let's see what I can find


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## atownmack (Mar 20, 2013)

How did you run your wires through the doors?

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Amazing build.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

atownmack said:


> How did you run your wires through the doors?
> 
> Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


I ran the speaker wires thru the stock plug, there are a couple empty slots, you might have to drill them open to run larger gauge wires. It's not easy but taking your time with the process will pay off.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Have been super sick the past 3 weeks, pneumonia kicking my ass... so I have had WAY too much time to think about things ....lololo. I've come to the conclusion that my speaker pods that I built for my dash don't look good in the car, the aesthetics don't match the stock interior, so I'm going in a different direction now. There was a guy on Facebook that had some machined aluminum pods that were made for morel drivers, but the guy never answered my messages (WTF! TAKE MY MONEY! ).... so that sale didn't pan out. But that got my brain ball spinning. ......I will post pics tomorrow of what my new plans are and the progress I've made in the new direction. I have to admit, I really like it so far..... hold tight for pics.


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## Shapin (Jun 23, 2015)

Thank god you canceld that dash build, the cc is a beauty and deserve a better treatment


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## audiokid1 (Jul 2, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> Just wait till I get the Cedar to replace it, will look 100 times better and plus when you open the trunk the strong smell of Cedar will hit you.... lol


Use Spanish Cedar, drill a hole in the trunk lid for a hygrometer, and store your Cubans in there as well....(edited this part to avoid listening to any whiny politically correct bullsh#t)


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

So here we go..... this is the new direction with my front stage 

I went to my local hardware store and got PVC end caps. I brought my calipers with me and measured the I.D. of each one that they had in stock and decided these would be perfect. I had to cut away about .002 from the inside of each one for a great snug fit with the Midrange and the tweeter.




I took my belt sander and got rid of any lettering or flashing that was on the end caps.

While I was at the store I also got an assortment of "lamp hardware"


This lamp hardware will give me what I need to complete this task.


You can see here how I created both the mounting point and the pass thru for the tweeter wires. All wires will come together out one hole and I will put an oring grommet on the opening to finish off the looks of the wires.


Both cups are sanded and primered ready for paint.


Painted and ready for a test fit.







And there you go.... ghetto tech engineering speaker pods done right! lol
Tomorrow I will go over the mounting technique that I will be using, very simple, straightforward , and effective.
Damn!!!! and I did all of this while I was sicker than ****! lolololo
All together I have about $15 in parts for this project. 
Under budget and under the radar.........


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

hot9dog said:


> Have been super sick the past 3 weeks, pneumonia kicking my ass... so I have had WAY too much time to think about things ....lololo. I've come to the conclusion that my speaker pods that I built for my dash don't look good in the car, the aesthetics don't match the stock interior, so I'm going in a different direction now. There was a guy on Facebook that had some machined aluminum pods that were made for morel drivers, but the guy never answered my messages (WTF! TAKE MY MONEY! ).... so that sale didn't pan out. But that got my brain ball spinning. ......I will post pics tomorrow of what my new plans are and the progress I've made in the new direction. I have to admit, I really like it so far..... hold tight for pics.


I've seen them...

I'm going to keep prodding you, John 

Glad you're finally feeling better!


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## Shapin (Jun 23, 2015)

Can you tell us please the size of the end caps that you bought (my plan is to install the same set (Elate 603)?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Shapin said:


> Can you tell us please the size of the end caps that you bought (my plan is to install the same set (Elate 603)?


Hey Shapin,
For the tweeters I used 1 1/4" and for the mids I used 2 1/2"
I measured the O.D. of the speakers and then looked for end caps that were slightly smaller, these seemed to be the best ones. Had to slightly cut the I.D. of each end cap.... first used my dremel with a sanding drum end to get close to the dimensions and then hand sanded the openings to get a perfect snug fit. For mounting the drivers, I glued them. If I have a driver failure. .... them I will replace the driver/end cap assembly as a unit. Since it only took about an hour to fully fab an assembly, I figured it was worth it.


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## BoostedGerman (Dec 5, 2014)

Great build


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## Shapin (Jun 23, 2015)

Thanks for the detailed answer, the pods looks great!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

BoostedGerman said:


> Great build


Thanks man!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Id like to thank the whole Morel team for putting my car on their website and all social media. ... this company really cares about its customers. Much love for them, and a special thanks to Casey at Morel. Very cool!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Very cool! Just saw it on Facebook this morning!


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

That turned out awesome!
No fiberglass or chip brushes were harmed in the making of these pods. Hehe


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Have been in the tuning stages with this build the last couple of weeks and the past several days have revealed a crossover/time alignment combo that has opened up the sound, Holly ****......I'm actually taken back at how nice it sounds. 
Several observations:
* the 9" in the doors need an enclosure of some sort, they sound amazing but I can tell they would shine if properly done.
* I need to do some sort of rear fill and maybe a center channel. 
* as much as I love the sealed 15" in the back.....I need more, what direction I don't know. I have several subs in the collection to pick from... but I need more impact and it needs to be ported. 
* I need more power in the amplification department, I will stick with the ELITE series of amps, I just need more power. Lol

I have more observations in my head, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Let's take on one project at a time.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok, so my 15" finally gave way...years of hard driving it. It kept up longer than i thought it would. I have 2 back up 15's new in the box for just such an event.... but Im getting bored -so I thought I should change things up, AGAIN. LOLOOL.

Normally I build my trunk setups with aesthetics as being the main goal, this time I went for maximum acoustic impact as the main goal.
After I removed everything the trunk, I put a ported 8" sub in the trunk (it's from my office setup) and placed it in different locations and orientations while I run test tones thru the box. All the while making note of SPL and RTA measurements in an attempt to find the most ideal spot for the new sub.

After several hours of experimentation I came up with the plan to build a ported 12" box for a Phoenix Gold Elite 12 that I have in the "STASH". Driver will be facing the rear bumper on the passenger side about 17" from the rear bumper and the flared port will exit out the side of box and fire into the side trunk panel on the drivers side. Box dimensions I came up with are 2.2 cu.ft tuned to 31hz.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I still need more tuning time with the new box, but already this new orientation is FRICKEN NUTS! The low end extension is by far the best I've experienced in this car. The funny thing I've noticed... the trunk and roof hardly flex, it's the floor pan that flexes! I can feel it under my feet when I sit in the drivers seat. I've never experienced that before, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Lol but I'm claiming a victory on this rebuild. This Elite driver just plain gets down low and nasty. Time for margaritas!


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## #1BigMike (Aug 17, 2014)

Haha that's awesome bro!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Awesome update! And very nice work on the rebuild. Glad you are much happier with this setup.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Like everything in this car, it's in a constant state of flux....as we speak I'm sitting in front of my computer on Solidworks designing a new baffle to go into my car for an IB setup. I'm going to try and fit 2 18's behind my rear seat... lolololol


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Dadgum it, that's where I'm at now too. Whether to go with the all Morel setup, or branch out and do IB 15's with Eton 8" midbass


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

For me, an IB setup would kill 2 birds with 1 stone. It would give me the artistic freedom of unique amp placement and would feed my need for massive cosmic low-end.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

My biggest issue is limited wattage available. Only 350 watts at 4-ohms, or 500 at 2-ohms for the subwoofer(s). A Morel Ultimo 12 is going to laugh at 350 watts. 

Like you said, IB offers multiple solutions. More versatile amplifier placement, Nicki Minaj bottom end, and doesn't require a flux capacitor to power them.


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

Dude, you are ****ing crazy, but that's why I love 'ya!


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## XSIV SPL (Jun 24, 2014)

By the way, I'll be in the PHX area this weekend for my nephew's wedding on Saturday... I don't think we'll be close in proximity, but I'll send a salute to the South...


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

What ever you do I can't wait but the current set up is pretty man ! Love the wood floor and amp lay out


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

optimaprime said:


> What ever you do I can't wait but the current set up is pretty man ! Love the wood floor and amp lay out


Thanks for the words of encouragement!!! It means alot to me.
I'm in the process of designing the baffle and how it will attach to the car for the INFINITE BAFFLE setup. I MIGHT change up the amps and go with a different company (a slight chance, but still a chance ). 
I'm loving my front stage!!! It sounds amazing..... I just got a package from Isreal the other day (Morel).... they gave me some swag ( hat, shirt, stickers and some marquee badges for the speaker grills, )- mixed in with the different small badges were some VERY BAD ASS aluminum badges that have a machined face across the MOREL logo..... I will show pics this week and show how they will be placed .


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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

hot9dog said:


> getting to work on the doors today.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's one way to get some polyethylene. . 
Lookin good tho! Like them speakers !


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## KrautNotRice (Nov 2, 2015)

Any updates on this build?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Life has thrown me several curve balls of lately, some I've hitted out of the park and some has sped past me and made me look like a fool. I'm going through a re-birth in life and my car reflects it. The trunk is completely stripped clean down to bare metal and I've got a game plan for the next phase. I'm selling both of my Phoenix Gold amps and am pulling an old amp out of storage. (I won't give out too much information... but trust me it will be very cool!) The Phoenix Gold 12" will be replaced also... I will tell what is going on with the subwoofer. I recently acquired a Audio System X-series 15" and this sub is a beefy heartbreaker !! Fricken amazing looking sub! This sub is tailored towards a sealed box, the box is about 95% built..... 2.6 cu.ft. is the volume. It will be oriented in the same way that I had the MbQuart 15" awhile back. This weekend im doing the final details to the box and applying the final layers of sound absorption in the trunk. I will post pics of the sub soon. As for the amps...... I'm keeping that one a secret for now.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## carlr (Feb 27, 2011)

That sub does look amazing.


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## JoshHefnerX (Jun 13, 2008)

That looks pretty beefy! You were pretty hardcore on Phoenix Gold... Why you switching it up?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey Josh! I still am pretty hardcore Phoenix Gold, it's just time to change things up. I knew that this car would always be changing and evolving and to be truthful, I thought at one time that the ELITE amplifiers would be the one constant in this build... they are that good. I got a wild hair and am going a different direction now. If this car is to stay true to the evolutionary theme... then nothing is sacred. Lol


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

So I still need to do some finish work to the box, but it's almost there. I did a test fit this afternoon and took notes on what needs to be addressed. So far so good!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Any update on that CC, I seen the whole build and its amazing what you have done to it...

I'm actually going for 2015 CC R version and it has the 2 tone color red with black oh so damn hot looking..

Also I'm skipping the idea of DSG and going with 6 speed manual.

Your build gave me some good idea of what I want to do. I will be pulling stuff out of the TL soon and rebuilding everything in the CC.

Love the build and wondering if you going to do anything else crazy with


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Haven't posted here in awhile, got a new job and have been busy with other things... but I have been working on the CC. Last time I posted, I built and installed the Audio-System X15 15" in a sealed box. I REALLY liked this sub, so much so that I bought another one so I can run both sub in an Infinite Baffle configuration. I'm in the midst of the slow process of building the baffle structure. I'm being very critical of how I attach and seal this baffle. My goal is for it to be structurally integrated into the trunk of the car and so far I'm happy with the results. Originally I had both of my Phoenix Gold ELITE amps for sale but then realized that it would be a big mistake to sell them. So I'm integrating them back into the build, I just built a new amp mounting design and am currently in the design phase of how to mount the DSP and designing a new wiring layout. I will get some pics posted up this afternoon. It's been slow... but it's coming together nicely. Words of encouragement from members of this forum have been instrumental in this project, thanks guys!
Quickaudi07, a manual transmission in a CC would be Fricken awesome! Don't get me wrong, the DSG transmission is one of the best transmissions out there....but a manual has the fun factor that will never be beaten in overall driving experience. I've seen a CC before that had the red/black interior that you spoke of.... it's crazy looking! ( in a good way). Post up some picks if you get that one.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

Nice! hard to keep up with so many changes at the same time, I enjoy seeing them.

My rotozip was like 1st generation, the gray ones, it died after 2 uses, I could not even finish the 2 second use, not even 10 mins of total use.


Hey! those aluminum spacers you are using to mount the amps, are they hollow completely? or what is the material thickness of the space between the bolts's thread and the OD of the the tube? Did you have to drill the amp's mounting holes bigger?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

For the amp mounting, I used 1/4-20 threaded rod. The aluminum tubing has an OD of a 1/2". The wall thickness of the tubing is 1/8". It's very strong and stout! After I slid the tubing over the threads, I installed the top nut (under the top amp) and tightened it down onto the tube to give a clamping force onto the tube. This really gave this structure an amazing amount of strength. All nuts used were ny-lock, so this whole assembly is bulletproof! I took the tubes and spin them on the face of my belt sander to give a machined look to them, prior to assembly.


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## Dumple (Dec 16, 2010)

looks good!!!


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Ok So as i stated, 

I have bought my CC yesterday !! its a 2013 with only 10 miles on it, it has DSG transmission, I was looking for manual but this was a steal of a price and I drive in Chicago, Manual isn't very practical when you have a baby in the back and she always wants something... 
It a Tan color with 2 tone color seating...  I will start on my build soon, just wanted to share my excitement of a CC.. I'm pulling everything out from TL this Sunday... 

I have few questions for you, from what I see, I will have to make a new template like you did, will would 4" long speakers fit in to the doors? sorry for high jacking your thread..


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

I have come out of DIYMA retirement and will be posting new pictures of my beloved CC soon... alot has changed since last posting and I am about to rip apart the whole back half of the car AGAIN...lolololo . Watch for pictures this weekend. Cheers!


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## carlr (Feb 27, 2011)

:snacks:


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## cobb2819 (Jan 13, 2011)

Oh Really?!?


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Yes... really.... Bahahahaaaa (mad scientist voice)


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## cobb2819 (Jan 13, 2011)

hot9dog said:


> Yes... really.... Bahahahaaaa (mad scientist voice)


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)




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## oabeieo (Feb 22, 2015)

Sweet !


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

ok....this is where we are at currently.
Front stage is Morel Elate 903 with the mid and tweeter on the dash in pods, the 9" midbass are in the doors (after a lot of modification).
The sub stage is 2 15" Audio System X-series in an Infinite Baffle orientation.
Amplifiers are: Gladen 1800 running the subs and 2 qty Audio System Twisters F4380's running the front stage (one of them bridged for the midbass).
The processor is the Alpine H800 with the RUX controller.
Head unit is the Alpine X008u running optical to the processor.

After living with this current setup revision for several months these are my conclusions:
The infinite baffle setup is just simply amazing- quick, accurate and easy to tune...but im currently getting a lot of leakage from the baffle (even after severely over engineering the whole structure). So I want to remove this sub orientation and go to a ported sub stage. I will be utilizing one of the X-series 15" in a large (and low ported) enclosure.
So since im going to be ripping everything out....I might as well replace the front stage amps that have more wattage potential (headroom!!)- so out goes my beloved Twisters.

While im at it........ I might as well replace the front stage speakers ALSO...lololol
So the Morels are coming out. I LOVE my Morels... but the Southern Arizona heat and direct sunlight are too much for the pods on the dash... 
I really enjoy spending cash, so I figured I should indulge my spending passion and I bought a whole new front stage speakers and amps.

That gets us up to speed with where we currently are with this constantly evolving build with my VW CC.
I am dismantling everything this weekend and putting the finishing touches on the new enclosure.

This evening I will post pictures of the new speakers and amps.
CHEERS!!!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

this is the new front stage amplifiers:
Gladen XL250c4





241 watts X 4 @4ohm
One of the amps will run the tweeters and midrange, the 2nd amp will be bridged for the midbass. (now I know what your thinking..."that's WAAAYYY too much power for those drivers!) and I agree- the main purpose of choosing these amps was to provide such a high level of headroom, to the extent of overkill. I think that these will succeed in providing this. The XL line of amps from Gladen are known for being very efficient. These amps will be a great match aesthetically with the sub amp that I already have (Gladen 1800). Im working on an idea for the layout of the amps and should have a rough draft done by the end of this week.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Now for the new front stage speakers:
I chose the new FOCAL K2 power 3 way set. ES 165KX3.
Not too long ago I heard this new set installed in a car (passive setup) and was really impressed!! The new tweeter and midrange are way better that the older revision!! I was so impressed that pulled I pulled the trigger and bought this set.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

today Im continuing to dismantle the back of my car- will post more updates as I move forward


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Show off !!!!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Lolololololo


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

This guy has been through my build From day 1 we both have CC's and he helped me out so much... .. either way we became good friends even though he is in Arizona.....

Very beautiful get, can't wait to see the progress... This guy's comes up with some crazy skills, and they are very unique !!!

Btw I got my system playing 

Mario

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Now that is going to be awesome!!! Very excited to see this new rendition unfold!


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Very nice! I look forward to see how you get it all integrated.

And don't lie about why you chose the Focals. We all know you did it to match the X Series cones.


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Hahaha I wonder how they gonna sound.... 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok ok ok ok...yes, I am a big freak about symmetry. Everything must visually balance ,lololol AND having the focals match up with the X- series subs is a nice thing. But that can't take credit for the only reason why I'm changing out my front stage. I was really impressed with the new Focals! I was contemplating on getting the Morel anniversary 3 way set- I'm a big Morel fan, so for me to jump ship... it would take alot. The fact that visually, the all yellow cone theme DOES look killer, is just icing on the acoustical cake. Lolol


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