# The best sounding 350z I have built so far :)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

well, after a coupla years of building dozens of 350zs that sounded great in an everyday sense, i finally had the privilige of working with a customer who had the desire and budget to do a system in his Z that dived a littled into the true Sound Quality side of mobile audio 

After it was all said and done, I am happy to report that this Z, is definetly the best sounding one i have personally done...


goals: 

1.superb sound quality 
2.full stealth hatch area with zero space sacrifice
3.clean and classy


lets get started:

The signal starts with the alpine iwa-205 double din dvd headunit, and processing power for the entire car is provided by the optional H701 multichannel processor. An Ai-net and optical cable links the headunit and the rear mounted processor. The 701 provides us with full control on individual channels interms of equalization, time alignment, xover, and phase.

note the ipod cable in the upper cubby:










for the front stage, a pair of Seas Lotus reference 6.5" two way components were used. the midbass is flush mounted into a pair of off axis kicks as usual:



















here are some build up pics of the kicks...























































and of the Seas driver itself:



















the Seas tweeters are located on dash corner pods...originally, i was going to mold them in the A pillars, facing each other, about 1/3 of the way up...but due to the rake of hte windshield, this would put them quite a bit closer to the listener than i wanted, so, to maximize path difference, i located them to the far forward edge of hte A pillar, right where the windshield meets the dsah:



















again, a few build up pics of these little pods, which were quite a pain due to their small size and difficult location...to mold 




























so thats about it for the interior:










moving on towards the trunk...so...as promised, the trunk is totally stealth, here is the view with the carpet on, the entire floor was raised only 1/2" total 










once you remve the carpet, you see a full vinyl floor, with two removable covers  note raied 350z logo on the front cover:




























once you lift off the two covers, the equipment reveals itself to you. two of the New DLS reference RW SQ 10" subwoofers reside in a flush mounted white suede trim panel, and what appears to be a DLS ultimate amp sits under plexi in the front rack:














































if you look closely, you can notice that what appears to be a single DLS A-5 three channel amp, is acutally two amps, an DLS ultimtae A3 dual mono amp sits below it, the top amp is raised up by a platform in the back and two copper tubes in the front...its hardly noticable in this pic though










so here are some build up pics of the hatc harea:

dampening of hte floor:










the wires, distribution blocks, ran and loomed:










the start of hte amp rack:



















bottom amp (A3) mounted:










amp rack installed in the hatch and wires ran and organized for hte A3:










now the second amp is added, and wires ran and organized, also the H701 is installed on its own rack on the driver side:




























so here ist he brand new sound quality sub from DLS, very efficient, and very musical, and not too expensive. 



















now here is a neat feature i like baout the sub, when you are space limited and dont need the cosmetic magnet cover, you can remove it and gain more than 1" of clerance










so here is the subbox, about 1.1 cubic feet sealed, a smidgeon smaller than recommended but the biggest i can fit. note the high capacity crossflow fan on the front to circulate air in and out of the amp rack










here ist he subbox installed in the hatch, note that even though its full of gear, one can reach all the adjustments on the amp and reach the h701 without removing anyhting





































and finally mock ups of hte fake floor when it was being built:




















overall, it sounds excellent, of course the interior of hte Z, presents some challenges for achieving the best possible SQ...but this car sounds really great. midbass response is awesome, you really feel the drum beats on your chest, imaging is spot on dead center, and stage is about half way up the windshield. tonally, its extremyl even, and smooth, very laid back and natural, a very ease to listen to kind of system. and the subs blend in with the front stage perfectly 

anyway, thats about it...i really hope in the future, i get to do more of these in the Z hehe, i had a few freinds and former customers come and listen to the car, and all of them were quite amazed...

special thanks goes out to Dingaling for helping to tune the car...and cant wait to see it in Peter_euro's install hall of shame


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## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

Looks good...


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## moosejuice (Oct 5, 2007)

Another great install!!!

B-


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## atsaubrey (Jan 10, 2007)

Wow, beautiful work. i love how you use the KISS concept and acheive incrediable results.


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## Weightless (May 5, 2005)

Excellent install yet again!

What is the blue material that was used to wrap around the mid ring? It looks like you used it on the tweeter pods also...

Justin


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## jerzxdevil (Jul 9, 2007)

Once again, another nice install. I like the tweeter pods and the whole components set up. Very clean install, overall.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

My friend will like this!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thanks guys, the blue stuff is low temp plastic, used to make the flush mount


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## Robert (Jul 23, 2006)

atsaubrey said:


> Wow, beautiful work. i love how you use the KISS concept and acheive incrediable results.


That about says it all.


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## Weightless (May 5, 2005)

simplicityinsound said:


> thanks guys, the blue stuff is low temp plastic, used to make the flush mount


Does resin stick well to it?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

not quite sure i understand what you mean, resin will stick to it as well as any plastics...but its not really for molding a shape


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## cvjoint (Mar 10, 2006)

Are the kicks sealed then? What volume did you manage to get inside?

I like your installs. There is a lot of craftsmanship to be learned form. I wish I drove a truck so I can install all sorts of false floors and beauty panels. My Honda can only pull so much


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## ///Audience (Jan 31, 2007)

cvjoint said:


> I wish I drove a truck so I can install all sorts of false floors and beauty panels. My Honda can only pull so much


Cars with hatches/trunks are much better for beauty panels than trucks.. i wish there was a cool way to incorporate one in my install...

* O and Bing, your installs are always my favorite! i learn something new everytime i see a build up


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

cvjoint said:


> Are the kicks sealed then? What volume did you manage to get inside?
> 
> I like your installs. There is a lot of craftsmanship to be learned form. I wish I drove a truck so I can install all sorts of false floors and beauty panels. My Honda can only pull so much



they are fullyopen backed, and vents to the area behind the kick, if you look at hte kick build up pics, you see the rather large hole cut into the panel that the kick molds off of


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## cvjoint (Mar 10, 2006)

Oh...that's the actual Z kick with deadening on it. Now it makes sense. I plan on venting my kicks when I have some time. Did you ever mounted the driver in the actual kick metal? It would be the ultimate stealth statement.

I see how paneling would work best with trunks true. I guess we are talking about a truck engine and a car chassis...hmm Impala?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

cvjoint said:


> Oh...that's the actual Z kick with deadening on it. Now it makes sense. I plan on venting my kicks when I have some time. Did you ever mounted the driver in the actual kick metal? It would be the ultimate stealth statement.
> 
> I see how paneling would work best with trunks true. I guess we are talking about a truck engine and a car chassis...hmm Impala?


yeah, well acutrally first three layers of mat went on the stock kick to make it rigid, then the dampening 

doing the metal thing requires a ton of work, relocating al the stock modules and harnesses, using a plasma cutter to cut out the front metal...its prolly beyond the budget of most of my customers but i never say never haha

b


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## cvjoint (Mar 10, 2006)

simplicityinsound said:


> y
> doing the metal thing requires a ton of work, relocating al the stock modules and harnesses, using a plasma cutter to cut out the front metal...its prolly beyond the budget of most of my customers but i never say never haha
> 
> b


You bring that plasma cutter to my garage and I bring beer? OK? Oh wait...drunk guy with a plasma cutter

I'd guess there is a law against cutting metal like that...which I don't really care much about...but is it safe?


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## unpredictableacts (Aug 16, 2006)

Where can i pick up a couple fo those fans from?


Nice work just curious why the door location was not used for the midbass?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the 350z stock door location, imho is one of hte worst around...for several reasons:

1. the stock "grille:" is onlyopen on the bottom 2/3, the top one just have a pattern and not open

2. window cuts down into the area directly behind the speaker opening, menaing to get any speaker to fit, you need a spacer, however, anything harger than a 1/2" spacer, and you can come dangerously to the aforementioned grille thats not really open

3. midbass response for some reason is just horrible in that location, regardless of dampeing etc etc

4. the entire door buzzes and vibrates like crazy.

i sometimes build door pods, but prefer kicks from a sonic standpoint 

b


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## Guest (Feb 4, 2008)

Very nice install, like the work in process pictures!


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## doitor (Aug 16, 2007)

Very nice install.
I love the hatch area.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the fans just google crossflow fan, you should come up with various sources, i believe stinger also sells them

b


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## kiko (Feb 1, 2008)

very very well done. nice doing it stealth. like the amp rack and the finish of the kicks. just curious, whats the volume of the kicks...?? seems to me they're too small, but you tell me...


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## bdubs767 (Apr 4, 2006)

Thats liek my car right now...well the speakers, but w/ seas neo AL tweet and Seas w18nx


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

your wiring looks as bad as mine 

this drives me crazy actually, and yet when I think about how it could be done better I cant think of a solution. I wonder if it CAN be done better. has to be a way.

gotta say also bing, id be looking for a source for featureless 6.5" grilles. looks good now, could be better.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

you prolly have a lot higher stnadards than me when it comes to wiring neatness, i personally think that wiring job is fine up to my standards...if i spent so much time wiring to make it look like perfect, i would never get nay cars done haha

as for the grilles, yeah the Seas grilles are kinda hard to work with...


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## Beau (Oct 8, 2005)

Bravo.

I hope my G35 turns out 1/2 as nice!


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Nice work Bing! What other subs would you compare those DLS subs to? I bet that car sounds amazing!


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## ssmith100 (Jun 28, 2007)

Bing,

Great looking install. I don't think the wiring looks bad.....but..........wire loom can look a little tacky at times. Any reason you didn't just go without any and just be able to see wire colors ???

Shane


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

to me, looming everyhting looks cleaner and protects the wire against cuts, whcih in tight confined installs, thihngs are almost always rubbing against one another, the worst thign you can happen is if a wire is slowly rubing against a grounded surface and gets cut, then you get a short...chances of it is very rare, but i try to be overly anal about it


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## Arc (Aug 25, 2006)

unpredictableacts said:


> Where can i pick up a couple fo those fans from?
> 
> 
> Nice work just curious why the door location was not used for the midbass?


Stinger makes a cross flow fan. Also called a squirrel cage fan.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/STINGER-12V-CRO...ryZ50552QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

I also prefer loomed everything. Manufacturing industry tends to loom the way Bing did here which I prefer over the way the automotive industry looms.

Anyone ever see NASA loom standards? Now that is pretty amazing.


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## OldOneEye (Jun 16, 2005)

Whiterabbit said:


> I also prefer loomed everything. Manufacturing industry tends to loom the way Bing did here which I prefer over the way the automotive industry looms.
> 
> Anyone ever see NASA loom standards? Now that is pretty amazing.


Not to nit pic, but aren't half the wires in the car not loomed at all? I know in my nissan most of the wires that head into the trunk are taped up here and there and then attached occasionally. Much more than necessary (and a car doesn't have 5 g's like a plane, or vibrate or...... Ditto for a plane. You would be surprised what the wiring in a plane looks like (hey, a couple extra pounds (or hundreds of pounds) of sheathing adds up to several thousand dollars of extra fuel every year. 

I thought it was like FAA, which is more like this (hard to tell, but its tied up like a rump roast, with some sort of string).


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

or just taped up. I dont like it. Means I have to tape up my wires if I want "an OEM look". I agree completely.

Or live with overloomed wire for the auto environment.

I've got the document that explains the knotting method for that way to organize cables. its pretty slick.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

all this talk of wiring is making my head dizzy haha...you guys are hardcore


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## jayhawkblk (May 29, 2007)

simplicityinsound said:


> all this talk of wiring is making my head dizzy haha...you guys are hardcore


I think that is cuz a lot of us are competitors or where once competitors that is why we are so anal about the wiring.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

for sure...its unfortuante though...that there is a reason that a lot of awesome fabricators of sq comp cars (those who do it exclusively almost) have a hard time staying in business hehe

b


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## cvjoint (Mar 10, 2006)

Isn't that what the insulation on the cables is there for? Then the fuses will take care of that 1 in a million chance of rubbin' it to death.


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## turbotuli (Jan 30, 2008)

Very nice looking install as usual Bing. I don't think I'll ever get into competition installs, but I do want mine to be stealth and I hope it turns out half as good as yours do!


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## turbotuli (Jan 30, 2008)

Hey, question on the amp rack...Are the copper risers threaded and screwed through the bottom of the MDF on the bottom? Looking to do something similar and that's the only way I can see them being attached...Would Home Depot sell somethign like that?


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## Toxis (Feb 4, 2008)

very nice and clean install! KISS is a great idea. Keep it up!


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## badbowtie1972 (Nov 22, 2006)

Very nice install!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

no, they are just thin copper tubing, cut down to size, a very big screw going down through it, so its a spacer


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## Arc (Aug 25, 2006)

Hey Bing where did you get that low temp plastic? Any brand name to it?

Looking good man!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

got it from select products, i think theyh call it low heat plastic...its hte blue one hehe

b


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## WuNgUn (Feb 9, 2008)

Did you use 1/2" MDF or 3/4" in the floor panels?
And the chamfered openings...a router?

Very clean work!


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## GenPac (Oct 29, 2007)

OldOneEye said:


> I thought it was like FAA, which is more like this (hard to tell, but its tied up like a rump roast, with some sort of string).


A couple years ago my co-workers and I rewired our data center for a new facility power backup system. We used a wax coated string for fixing transmission lines to our cabling tresses.
Our facility inspector explained to me (at the time) why they use the string but I can't recall why...


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## RepsolRR (Jul 30, 2008)

Great job on the install.


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## CulinaryGod (Jun 5, 2008)

Awesome looking install man! This install makes me want to ditch my spair and do a stealth install too, except there's no way I can be without a spair as I get about 2 flats per month guaranteed. Great work though.


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## KennyT (Mar 14, 2008)

nice install man...


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## filtor1 (Apr 24, 2008)

WoW! Great work as usual. Have you ever told us how you get those perfect cuts and matching angles. I couldn't even come anywhere close to matching lines like you do.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

filtor1 said:


> WoW! Great work as usual. Have you ever told us how you get those perfect cuts and matching angles. I couldn't even come anywhere close to matching lines like you do.


there really isnt any trick, the only tols i use to make cutouts is a jigsaw and then sand straight, i am pretty good at cutting straight with a jigsaw, then its sanding, in the end, i think it all comes down to pre-planning, practice, and patience, if something doenst cut right the first time, cut it again, i am the ultimate waster of MDF sometimes lol


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## filtor1 (Apr 24, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> there really isnt any trick, the only tols i use to make cutouts is a jigsaw and then sand straight, i am pretty good at cutting straight with a jigsaw, then its sanding, in the end, i think it all comes down to pre-planning, practice, and patience, if something doenst cut right the first time, cut it again, i am the ultimate waster of MDF sometimes lol


LOL! Awesome. I helped a guy install a set of kicks in a G35 coupe a couple of months ago that you made. jamaica2g on g35driver, great job there as well. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Chris


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

What's powering what? Is the A3 for the mids and A5 for the subs and tweets?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

filtor1 said:


> LOL! Awesome. I helped a guy install a set of kicks in a G35 coupe a couple of months ago that you made. jamaica2g on g35driver, great job there as well. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
> 
> Chris


lol, me and Adrian go way back, back to our volvo days...gosh...like 6 or 7 years ago?  he bought them from another friend of mine, at the time he installed them, they were prolly around 2 years old, glady to hear they are holding up


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

chuyler1 said:


> What's powering what? Is the A3 for the mids and A5 for the subs and tweets?


yup, my favorite go-to combo for price/power/sq interms of tw oway active front and sub systems

b


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Nice. A5 packs plenty of punch. I'm using one for midbass+sub then I have an A8 (Mini 4) for mids+tweets. Granted 85w isn't as sweet as 150w but when you are running 3-way active you can boost the gain on the midbass a little without damaging midrange.


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