# Lots o' gear in a GT-R - SQ Build with GZ, Mosconi, Illusion Audio and Sony Mobile ES



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Hey guys,

been a while since our last build log...in between Joey and I had to work on a few projects that did not involve a vehicle, but it was nice to be able to build a SQ system in this 2014 GT-R Track Edition at the same time.

We learned a lot of things from the previous GT-R project and a lot of similar techniques have been applied to this one.

The goals though, were slightly different this time around:

1. achieve a nice level of sound quality utilizing customer supplied front stage
2. obtain a high level of bass output
3. Cleanly fit 5 amplifiers and 2 12" subwoofers in the trunk while still maintain a bit of usable trunk space

so obviously, part 3 was the most difficult goal to obtain. the GT-R, while not having a tiny trunk, is certainly not cavernous. the customer had four very cool old school sony mobile ES amps that will power the front stage while a single big mosconi sub amp will run the subs. on paper, i thought it should be okay, it wasnt until i started laying it out in the trunk when i thought to my self, good lord its gonna be tight haha.

but anyway, lets get started 

lets first take a look at this unique track edition beast in all her glory, with a nice two tone black and white finish. the other key change is that there are no rear seats in the car, instead, two quited covers sit in the place for weight savings.



















like Lunchbox's GTR, this one is able to be charged via a stinger power supply built into the vehicle. just like that car, the extension cord is located in the fuel filler door. Simply unplug the plug cap and plug the car in 



















basically a hole was carefully drilled on the side of the inner fender panel, a grommet installed, and the extension cord passed through and fished out from the interior:




























Moving to the front and underhood, with all the amps the car is running, we ran two 0 gauge power cables back, this involved a similar metal bracket as the other GTR, housing a dual 0 ga in dual 0 ga out fuse block:










here is the metal mounting brack joey fabricated for the car:



















and here are two quick shots of the wiring bundle as it enters the battery compartment and is neatly organized:



















moving onto the signal source. Like the other GT-R, the owner wanted an unadulterated signal sources to head his sq system. so we performed the same surgery as the othe car, and built a custom black acrylic fascia housing a Pioneer 80PRS headunit and the Mosconi DSP controller that takes the place of the stock headunit:




























the first step of this process is the complete disassembly and sectioning of the oem headunit. the only piece that was kept essentially was the brain, with the removal of the cd transport and the sat radio module, this essentially reduced the size of the unit in half, which was then housed in a custom built abs box, plugged back into the car and tucked away under the new headunit/dsp mounting:
































































using a template we had before, joey created the two piece mounting system for the headunit and the dsp controller. the unit is bolted via the stock bracket, the rear section secured in place, and the cosmetic front trim magnatizes onto it to form a seamless yet easily servicable mounting system 









































































moving onto the front stage, which consists of a set of Ground Zero Plutonium 3 way system. The midbass was installed into the stock lower door location. 

first, new speaker wires were run into the door:










next, the outter door panel received 18 blackhole tiles each:










the opening was then covered with focal BAM XXL, while customer supplied dynamat ultra went on the area around the speaker mounting:










a pair of speaker adapter baffles was fabricated and i coated them with several layers truck bedliner to protect them from the elements:










these was then bolted to the door using oem hardware and mounting points:










and the ground zero plutonium midbass installed:



















the GZ midbass was of the beefier midbasses i have seen with quite a large phase plug, and its kinda cool having it peer out through the semi transparent oem grille:










finally, the outter door card was smothered with a lot of customer supplied dynamat:










the same procedure went for the passenger door:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the 3" midrange and tweeter was molded into custom fiberglass A pillars. As per the customers request, we sent them off to one of the best upholstery shops in the bay area and had them stitched and wrapped in black alcantra, i have to say they did a super job  the tricky part about this pillar is that the driver side dash is several inches higher than the passenger, not leaving a whole lot of molding room, i aimed the speakers on axis with the opposite listener. 









































































a coupla build pics of the pillars, i forgot a few pictures as it was quite late on a friday as i was finishing them. 

but first, here are the stock pillars before and after i removed the leather and ground everything down to bare plastic:



















then i cut a long slot into the pillars and aimed and attached the midrange rings:



















then i pulled cloth over the shape, applied resin, allowed it to cure and then reinforced it from the backside via resin/filler mixture:










then i forgot to snap the pictures as i once again cut open the mold i just made and attached and aimed the tweeter rings to the pillar, pulled cloth once again to form the secondary shape of the tweeter pod. but here is a picture of them when they had cured and reinforced once again from the backside:










the next step was basically applying filler and sanding smooth, which took quite some time, and once again, i apologize for not snapping a picture...

they then went to Finishline Interiors in Santa Clara, and a few days later, they came back looking like this 



















Next comes a series of pic that show the wiring bundle as it travels from the front of the car to the back. The customer also supplied us with two full boxes of dynamat to apply to all the surfaces below the window. Funny thing is one box had black dynamat and the other one silver, hence the mismatch  Our man Jesse did most of the sound proofing on the floor and interior:





















































































































































































the GT-R is odd in that it has a very deep floor pan, but the actual "floor" that the carpet lays on is held up by a series of molded styrofoam pieces. here are the four foam pieces back in place before the carpet went back on:



















if you noticed before, the metal rear deck had its speakers removed, and also covered with dynamic, Jesse then took the rear deck cover and covered the underside with focal BAM XXXL composite damper to further help eliminate rattles:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

then it came time to mount the stinger 40 amp power supply, which was the size best suited to be hidden behind the stock bose sub mounting trim panel. first i made a mdf board, then wrapped it in black vinyl:



















then a piece of blackhole tile was placed under the mounting location to help isolate the board from any metal surfaces, while two rivet nuts was installed on the metal bracket infront:










then the board was bolted in place through those rivet nuts and secured:










then the power supply was secured and wired up:














































the only thing remaining was to remove the oem usb mount and integrate the pioneer's usb cable into it, for an oem appearance and aftermarket integration:



















so, moving onto the main portion of the build, which was the trunk. like I mentioned before, the goal was to be clean, retain some cargo space and fit all the gear in the trunk...in the end, the layout was pretty much dictate by the gear, as in this configuration was almost the only way all this gear was going to fit inside the trunk  but basically a stealthy usable look was the goal here.

here is the normal view with everthing covered up, the floor has been raised by about 3.5", the front wall of the trunk came back by a similar amount, while two fiberglass sideboxes flank the sides:




























pop off the four grilles and here is what you see. and i apologize for the vast array of pics, none of which is able to show off the entire system haha. the GTR has one of those odd trunks in that the opening is very small and high, while the trunk itself is tall and wide 

on the floor, four sony Mobile ES amps power the front stage, two 260s are bridged on each midbass, while two 2100s power the midrange and tweeter. the reason why the covers are not utilized in the build ist hat they had seen better years and was quite scuffed up and the gold mobile es badge dented. a single mosconi zero 3 is at the front facing back and powers two illusion audio c12xls with a total 1800 plus watts 

the main thing i wanted to accomplish was to hide the wires on the sonys and to create somewhat of a continuity in theme between the vastly different apperances of the sonys and the mosconi amps. So what i did was to create a trim panel, cutout around the sony amps to hide all the wiring, with a center window that had a piece of brushed aluminum trim that located a GT-R emblem, this same theme was recreated over the mosconi, except this time, the window frames the mosconi logo. these two trim panels were wrapped in white vinyl to mimic the black/white theme of the exterior:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

moving into the build pics. first the floor was prepped and four rivet nuts installed that will secure the main foundational floor panel:










then the entire floor was sound proofed with dynamat:










then the foundation board was bolted in place and the side carpet trim installed and wires lead into the trunk:










next, i fabricated a sturdy mounting support beam and secured it to the car via threaded inserts and bolts, both at the top and bottom, you can well shake the car with these 



















next two supports was secured in place that will secure the mosconi amp rack to the appropriate height:










with space at a premium, almost every inch of room had to be utlized, this is the mosconi amp rack board, along with a border frame that will secure onto it to frame the amp along the two sides of the amps will be the four distribution blocks that take in the dual 0 gauge and outputs 6 total 4 gauge wires, per side! 

the walls and center part of the amp rack was carpted black first:




























after all the dblocks were wired up, this entire contraption was fitted to the car and bolted in place via 6 bolts into threaded inserts located on the support beam. note the mosconi 6ot8v8 DSP with the optional AMAS Bluetooth streaming package installed, tucked under the amp rack. it was really the only free space left in the trunk 










the mosconi zero 3 was then secured and wired up:










this is the main board and wall frame for the sony amps, with the holes pre drilled out, before and after carpet:





































then the four sony amps were mounted and wired up:










and the two wall frames secured in place around the amps:



















here are the two trim panels before and after white vinyl:




























here is the gtr emblem being centrally located on the brushed aluminum trim by joey:



















the two trim panels were then secured to the wall frames:



















here is the front wall panel after carpeting, i forgot to take a before picture, but the edges were backfilled witth fill for a perfect fit to the stock carpeting:










and here are the floor top panels, also backfilled to match the outline of the trunk, before and after carpeting:



















moving onto the subboxes, Jesse did the initial molds on the two sides, when they cured, i took them out and trimmed them down to the desired shape, i then attached two boards at the top that has been cut to mimic the outline of the trunk carpet top opening:










then, using craft sticks, i created a wall that followed the shape of the stock carpet along the top section of the enclosure:



















and then backfilled the entire section with duraglass to created a matching shape:



















after that cured and was sanded down, the two ring baffles (note fiberglass reinfocement on the ring walls) was aimed and attached:










then cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, then the back was cut out of the enclosures and the two boxes reinforced from the inside and then jointed back together:










the box edges were then backfilled and blended to the car and sanded down:



















and then joey jumped in and helped to carpet the enclosures (he also did most of the upholstery):



















once the boxes were in the car, they were bolted in place with two bolts into rivet nuts each side, the interior received some dynamat, and the subs were then ready to go in. note the block of wood in the driver side box that helps reduce the total air volume so that each side is about 1 cubic foot net.



















and finally, two shots of all the grilles after carpeting:



















so thats it...at the start i was quite apprehensive about not being able to fit all the gear in a clean manner, and in the end, i think if any of the components were bigger by half an inch, something more drastic would be needed to fit everything and all the wiring...but it turned out pretty good 

how it sound..well firstly, there is a LOT of bass, the two XLs really shake the car and buzz your hair and can extend down LOW without much effort. the GZ speaker is quite impressive. the midbass can extend down low very smoothly and effortlessly, while producing excellent impact. the tweeter was very very nice. it was very smooth on the rta right out of the box an provided a great deal of detail without being harsh. the midrange also did well fitting in between the two drivers. these sets are able to absorb a lot of power, dishout some SERIOUS output with very low distortion. imaging is quite good giving the relatively short amount of tuning time i had, center is well placed over the stock center speaker grille, about half a foot up the windshield. width is actually really good, comparably to lunchbox's car despite that car having sail panel tweeters. depth is decent as well, and i think with more playing time and tuning, this can do quite well 

So thats it for this eposide, stay tuned for a flurry of logs soon! 

Bing


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## jtaudioacc (Apr 6, 2010)

hmmm, vinyl looks fine to me. lol


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

I may sound like a broken record, but the install looks great as usual! I am glad you liked the component set, and I hope that Scott loves them. I would love to hear the setup and those subs, I bet the bass output is phenomenal. 

Great job guys!


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## Lunchbox12 (Sep 4, 2011)

I think you guys are now the unofficial kings of high-end GTR audio installs now! Fantastic job!!! I am still blown away everyday by how great my system sounds and I know your customer feels the same!


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Awesome build as usual. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Bing, Joey and Jesse! 3 The Hard Way...Half Man - Half Amazin' and all that...Stellar Work!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I love it. Turned out great.

Jay


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## Kevin K (Feb 11, 2013)

great work guys


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

jtaudioacc said:


> hmmm, vinyl looks fine to me. lol


Yeah, looked good when it left. I was the one who wrapped those. If anyone has tried to strip down anything I upholster they would see the level of adhesion I normally get from the glue. I do multiple thin layers and let each layer dry. Those corners were not much of a stretch, so I am not sure what happened. My guess is that there was an issue with the allsport and the backing separated from the vinyl. We use the best glue money can buy, and it was a can we had used, so I don't see the glue being the problem. It is disappointing to learn there was an issue with something I did...


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

I wish the pictures of the acrylic trim around the radio showed up better. I had chamfered a slight 45 on the bottom to correspond with the fold down face. I also added to small cutouts on top and bottom of the knob to give it more room. (don't tell JJ that this plate is fancier than his!! )


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## james2266 (Sep 24, 2009)

Incredible job on this one guys. I am shocked at how the trunk turned out especially after seeing it stripped down with only one of those Sony amps sitting on the floor of the trunk. I think I told Joey or Bing (can't remember who), 'You have to put 4 of those things back there and a Zero and 2 c12xl?!?!'. lol Great job guys. I just wish I could of heard it in person. Hopefully, I will be able to convince Scot to give me a listen when we make our return visit to so. cal (hopefully last week of Jan. 2015). 

Bing, I would love your impression of that 3 inch midrange as compared to other 3s you have experience with. ie. Focal w3, AP drivers, etc. How flat of a response did you get before eq was applied? Also, did you champher the backside of the mounting baffle for it?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

james2266 said:


> Incredible job on this one guys. I am shocked at how the trunk turned out especially after seeing it stripped down with only one of those Sony amps sitting on the floor of the trunk. I think I told Joey or Bing (can't remember who), 'You have to put 4 of those things back there and a Zero and 2 c12xl?!?!'. lol Great job guys. I just wish I could of heard it in person. Hopefully, I will be able to convince Scot to give me a listen when we make our return visit to so. cal (hopefully last week of Jan. 2015).
> 
> Bing, I would love your impression of that 3 inch midrange as compared to other 3s you have experience with. ie. Focal w3, AP drivers, etc. How flat of a response did you get before eq was applied? Also, did you champher the backside of the mounting baffle for it?


by rule i dont generally pass out any solid comparison opinion after just one listening and install, besides there are those who have far better ears than me that can truly give an accurate impression  

maybe we will get to play with another set sometime in the future 

b


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## tjswarbrick (Nov 27, 2013)

So. Much. Awesomeness.

The amp racks, the OEM integration, the creative sub enclosure build, tweaking and hiding all the extra electronics. It's like magic.
I wish I had stopped by in time to hear it.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

one thing i really noticed this time around and i sorta forgot, thank goodness most amp manufacturers moved to set screw boxed terminals, having to do spades on all these babies REALLY took up a lot more room than usual


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

jtaudioacc said:


> hmmm, vinyl looks fine to me. lol


sigh, should have done black suede!!...and left it flangeless hahaha  :surprised:


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## rmchevelle (Jul 22, 2008)

Nice job, SIS!


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## UNFORGIVEN (Sep 25, 2010)

Great job guys
Build looks amazing as always!


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## chiragh (Aug 19, 2009)

mind blowing work !!


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## alyks (Oct 24, 2012)

mosconi zero 3 - great amp!


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

Nice....the trunk layout is a piece of genius, not forgetting the awesome A-pillars.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## cerwinvega_fan (Nov 9, 2010)

Man I love those cars. They are nice but evening nicer build!
Great job. Gotta love those old school sony's too. I have " big Red" 4 ch Sony es I'm thinking about listing here.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

Dont forget the radio mounting or the fuse holder bracket and underhood wiring! Or that PRECISION hole for the AC cable! 





reithi said:


> Nice....the trunk layout is a piece of genius, not forgetting the awesome A-pillars.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Hey JOey, if it makes you feel any better, *I* noticed the extra work in the HU trim right away. lol Looks awesome. Subtle, but noticeable.

I was really looking forward to seeing how you guys fit all that gear in the trunk and it looks awesome. Wish my ES amps were in that good of shape.

Out of curiosity, does the factory display show any kind of diagnostic code for the lack of a CD mechanism or Sat radio? 

Jay


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## Thoraudio (Aug 9, 2005)

Awesome craftsmanship and attention to detail, as always.

But I've got a few concerns. 

1st is weight. Usually 'track' editions are lighter on purpose, and and the couple of hundred pounds of extra equipment seems to defeat that. BUT, that's only a concern if he's actually driving it on a track.

2nd is similar. The A pillar pods are right in the line of sight for high speed turns. Again, if he's not tracking it, it may not be a concern. But why get a GTR track edition and not run it 

3rd is the most concerning. A high voltage power connection in the fuel filler door seems like a recipe for disaster. Fuel and spark are a no no.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Thoraudio said:


> Awesome craftsmanship and attention to detail, as always.
> 
> But I've got a few concerns.
> 
> ...


good questions  ironically, initial talk about the project started as a much smaller lighter install, as far as how it evolved into what it is today, I am sure the customer will be able to answer that...as well as how sees weight as a potential issue and how the pillars can affect his vision (though the pillars can be removed in under 1 minute if he chooses to.

but one thing to keep in mind is that the track edition, at 17 lbs lighter than the normal car and still around 2 tons with a driver, is not really a lightweight,and with easily available mega hp increases...it may not be as big of an issue 

as for the plug, similar to the other GT-R that has had this setup now for quite some time, the cable has slack in it and can be pulled out way beyond the opening of the fuel filler door to be plugged in, I just took a picture there so i can get the effect. 

b


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> Dont forget the radio mounting or the fuse holder bracket and underhood wiring! Or that PRECISION hole for the AC cable!



Ha ha ha, how could I leave out my favorite piece, the radio "dissection" and mounting ?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## xxx_busa (May 4, 2009)

Great Looking install, I really like the integration of the Sony Amps - Nice Looking GTG, Looking forward to a listen.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Very nice. Definitely an interesting contrast to JJ's build. I'm really hoping to get to hear this one at one of the SoCal GTGs.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

Luckily, no it doesn't... That was something I learned from jj's.




JayinMI said:


> Hey JOey, if it makes you feel any better, *I* noticed the extra work in the HU trim right away. lol Looks awesome. Subtle, but noticeable.
> 
> I was really looking forward to seeing how you guys fit all that gear in the trunk and it looks awesome. Wish my ES amps were in that good of shape.
> 
> ...






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Freedom First (May 17, 2010)

Simply gorgeous install, Guys!! Just don't see that kind of quality and attention to detail very often. Kudos!!


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Freedom First said:


> Simply gorgeous install, Guys!! Just don't see that kind of quality and attention to detail very often. Kudos!!


Sure you do. All the time. If you follow their build threads. lol


Glad to hear no error messages, I would have expected some and been pleasantly surprised when there weren't.

Jay


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> then the four sony amps were mounted and wired up:


Interesting...on the 260's, the Sony logo is in 2 different places. Hadn't noticed that before. All of my ES's have the logo above the LED.

Jay


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

JayinMI said:


> Interesting...on the 260's, the Sony logo is in 2 different places. Hadn't noticed that before. All of my ES's have the logo above the LED.
> 
> Jay


yeah that was kinda interesting


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

He had the limited edition JDM Sony MObile ES left hand logo model. Very sought after!!! 




JayinMI said:


> Interesting...on the 260's, the Sony logo is in 2 different places. Hadn't noticed that before. All of my ES's have the logo above the LED.
> 
> Jay


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

The JDM one probably has more essques. lol


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## colled96 (Feb 2, 2010)

Nice work. Very clean install of the NONE matching amps. Those ES amps are still COOL in my book.


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Nice install!
A question Bing:

When you did the surround for the mosconi and the amps on the main floor, do you use a cardboard template to get the curves and shape perfect?
Can you explain how you do this. I'm doing a similar setup like this with my new build.
Cheers.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

ccapil said:


> Nice install!
> A question Bing:
> 
> When you did the surround for the mosconi and the amps on the main floor, do you use a cardboard template to get the curves and shape perfect?
> ...


on somecars, where there is a stock cargo mat you can use to provide a rough outline, it works great, on cars like this where you have to build the whole thing from scratch, i use cardboard rough cut, and then transfer onto mdf, sometimes i have to transfer again if there are some major gaps, but the goal is to get all the gaps to be good or down below 1/2" or 1/4", then i back fill the gaps with filler, and sand and then it blends pretty well. 

b


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Thanks Bing. You are a true artist. Master of the craft.


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## dm007 (Aug 24, 2009)

Excellent work!

Did protective grille for the midrange speaker came with speaker or did you made it? If you made it what type of mesh did you use and where did you get it from? How did you cut it and bent it to shape?


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## tjswarbrick (Nov 27, 2013)

dm007 said:


> Excellent work!
> 
> Did protective grille for the midrange speaker came with speaker or did you made it? If you made it what type of mesh did you use and where did you get it from? How did you cut it and bent it to shape?


I wasn't there, but the midrange grille matches the tweet and looks just like the one in the "New for 2014 GZ Plutonium SQ" 3-Way. So I've got to assume it came with the set.


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## james2266 (Sep 24, 2009)

dm007 said:


> Excellent work!
> 
> Did protective grille for the midrange speaker came with speaker or did you made it? If you made it what type of mesh did you use and where did you get it from? How did you cut it and bent it to shape?





tjswarbrick said:


> I wasn't there, but the midrange grille matches the tweet and looks just like the one in the "New for 2014 GZ Plutonium SQ" 3-Way. So I've got to assume it came with the set.


I'll answer for Bing/Joey as I held them in my hands They came with the GZ Plutonium set as mentioned above. The only reason I was looking at them over the Eton Symphony drivers. That is before I decided to go AP for my midrange.


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## radiospank (Jan 28, 2013)

Beautiful


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## moparman79 (Jan 31, 2008)

Great job guys, looks killer!


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