# 2013 brz revamp . yeah its that car



## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

So after taken delivery of jasons 2013 brz this week , i have the task of deciding how to integrate my components into the car , amps , tweets ,,ect .
what to keep what to change , i love the install in the car , and i think its one of the best sounding cars i had ever heard , im so excited to start this rebuild , and get it . hopefully sounding as good as jason had it , maybe better ? it wont be an easy task but stay tuned this is going to get fun .. 








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first order of business , extreme sound deadening , from the doors back , the doors are dead as hell , lol but the trunk , back seat , and rear quarters need some love , so thats where im going to start .


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Looking forward to see what you do with this Ian... looking forward to hearing it next spring!


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## dcfis (Sep 9, 2016)

Why do the whole rebuild?


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## naiku (May 28, 2008)

Truthunter said:


> Looking forward to see what you do with this Ian... looking forward to hearing it next spring!


Same here, equally looking forward to what Jason does with the S4. 

Ian, are you planning any mods to the BRZ or keeping the exterior etc stock?


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

audirsfaux said:


> So after taken delivery of jasons 2013 brz this week , i have the task of deciding how to integrate my components into the car , amps , tweets ,,ect .
> what to keep what to change , i love the install in the car , and i think its one of the best sounding cars i had ever heard , im so excited to start this rebuild , and get it . hopefully sounding as good as jason had it , maybe better ? it wont be an easy task but stay tuned this is going to get fun ..
> 
> 
> ...


I LOVE the title of this thread! Too funny!!! And I have no doubt this car will be twice as good (mechanically, aesthetically, and acoustically) as when I had it. 



dcfis said:


> Why do the whole rebuild?


I can answer to some degree.....there were some mechanical issues that I was ignorant to that Ian is getting sorted. The amp rack had to come out to get to the rear shocks....and while he is there.....get the sound deadening to his standard (it wasn't a priority to me at the time....like many things  ). 

I'm looking forward to seeing this car at the NCSQ Spring Meet in early May 2019! And driving it......to experience the car how it should have been


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## Zippy (Jul 21, 2013)

Congrats Ian on the purchase. It really is a great platform for a car stereo system. I also can’t wait to hear it when you are done.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

naiku said:


> Same here, equally looking forward to what Jason does with the S4.
> 
> Ian, are you planning any mods to the BRZ or keeping the exterior etc stock?


lol me STOCK ? what does that mean .. #rocketbunny.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Another quick comment about the gear that stayed and the gear that was taken out - cross referenced from that other thread. 

*Stayed: *

P99 - I didn't need it in the new build.....sure, I could have sold it, but rather wanted it to stay in the car - and it would help Ian out with a source. 

Helix - hook up for the DSP + Director stayed in the car.

Thesis Mid Range - already had a set in the new car.....I love how Mark integrated these in this dash. 

Thesis Mid Bass - Again, Ian has very good drivers in the Audi, and I love how Mark integrated these into the doors. 

SI BM mkV Subwoofer - For now....I think this will partly satisfy Ian to start with.....who knows if it will stay  

*Taken Out:*

Thesis Tweeters - Yep....they are amazing - and Ian has the equally amazing Sinfoni Tempo tweeters

Mosconi Amplifiers - With the custom paint.....they had to go with me. They work with the speaker set up I'm running. 

Helix DSP - took this with me - has the HEC USB card and I'll be adding a new Director. 

I also gave up the pigtail to the Power Supply Unit so he can connect his PSU directly to the Anderson connector in the front grill.


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## naiku (May 28, 2008)

audirsfaux said:


> lol me STOCK ? what does that mean .. #rocketbunny.


Haha figured as much!! Will be great to see what you end up doing with the BRZ, I know there are a ton of mods out there for them.


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## Zippy (Jul 21, 2013)

How far down the rabbit hole are you going? Full on Crawford Performance rebuilt engine for 500+HP?


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Zippy said:


> How far down the rabbit hole are you going? Full on Crawford Performance rebuilt engine for 500+HP?



lol no well not this year at least .. id prob go aig though .


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

the first order of business will be to get all my amps to fit , and try to utilize the rack that jason had because its pretty cool and well its there already , 

im using a new mix of amps this time , a focal fps 4160 , mosconi zero 3 and my zapco 2k sub amp . that may change as well but , who knows . thats the plan for now , also i will have to re-do the pillars for my tempo tweets to fit , and i have few ideas on adding an extra sub if needed , or a pair of bm mk5. it will prob look pretty close to how it was set up when jason owned it , mostly because it just worked .


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

The title had me rolling:laugh:Anxiously waiting to see how far you go with this car Ian.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> The title had me rolling:laugh:Anxiously waiting to see how far you go with this car Ian.


me too chris !!


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## 555nova (Apr 12, 2014)

I thought the brz was getting revelation audio amps from the title.


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## BigAl205 (May 20, 2009)

When you give somebody their first demo, make sure the seat isn't in the child booster seat position. 

#jasontriedtokillme


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

BigAl205 said:


> When you give somebody their first demo, make sure the seat isn't in the child booster seat position.
> 
> #jasontriedtokillme


That's where the seat stayed in my Jeep out of necessity so I could see over the dash:blush:But yeah for demo purposes you want that seat down and back.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

BigAl205 said:


> When you give somebody their first demo, make sure the seat isn't in the child booster seat position.
> 
> #jasontriedtokillme


lol noted


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Are you going to stick with the Thesis midbass and midrange already installed?


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## mumbles (Jul 26, 2010)

audirsfaux said:


> lol me STOCK ? what does that mean .. #rocketbunny.


Truer words were never spoken! My wife just shakes her head...


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

I love the title as well! In for the build. Had lost of good conversations and demos with Jason in it, and I’m sure the same will happen with the Audi. Ready to see your touch on the BRZ.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> Are you going to stick with the Thesis midbass and midrange already installed?



chris , yes as you know i love the thesis 3.0 , thats why they stayed in both cars , easy trade off ,lol and i did not have to pull my windshield again to get them out , also i will keep the thesis mid bass there a very capable driver and marks install is top notch , no reason to change unless i did large kick panel midbass drivers but with the front sub, sounds unlikely. my plan is to first get the rear of the car deadened , some how fit my tweets in , by adapters or making new pillars , install the amp rack with my amps , then tune . if i need more bass there will be a ib SI 12 in the well vented to the outside with a proper manifold , you know a fun little week end project . lol


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Man I can not wait to see the skill set that you add to this both audio wise and suspension wise.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so yesterday was very productive , i had time to do a few things on the car , rear brakes , rear shocks , and started on the re install , 

here is the echo chamber that needed alot of attention 







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i gave it a good cleaning , and added a full coverage of noico 80 mm mat and then to cover all the dead air and keep tire noise down i found a old mattress topper that was 2 inch super dense memory foam to cut up and add as a top layer . and to stuff the cavern . 








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did that on both sides .








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then i installed my helix , and got the old amp rack wired up and installed the zero 3 for midbass duties .. looks like it was supposed to be there .. weird ..lol








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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Wait, do you have to change your screen-name now  

I've heard of using memory foam for sound absorbtion before. It seams logical. How does it compare to some of the other materials used for this purpose? Is there someplace that list apsorbsion coefficients for it?


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Truthunter said:


> Wait, do you have to change your screen-name now
> 
> I've heard of using memory foam for sound absorbtion before. It seams logical. How does it compare to some of the other materials used for this purpose? Is there someplace that list apsorbsion coefficients for it?


i dont know how to change my screen name , 

and the correct answer is , i had i laying around well see how it does ..lol

but considering the weight and mass it has , should be perfect


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

i got some mor work done on the brz , today as well . i had to re-wrap the pillars , and make some adapters to fit my tempos in , and got the trunk back to its former glory ..








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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Man you sure don't let any grass grow behind you when it comes to getting stuff done, lol. Looking good. And yeah, strange how that Zero 3 just dropped right in


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

So this means it’s “finished” and playing again?


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Mashburn said:


> So this means it’s “finished” and playing again?


well its playing again for daily driving , but far from finished . my plans in the near future is , 

1. remove the rear deck and side panels to finish the sound proofing and get rid of a few rattles , 

2. im going to shave the rear deck of the 3rd brake light and relocate it to the lower bumper spot (jdm) placement 

3. make new pillars to cut the size down a bit and try to get the tweeters closer to the mids to achieve a wider stage ,

4. sell some of my current stash equipment to get a mosconi 200.4 for the mids and tweets .


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## mumbles (Jul 26, 2010)

audirsfaux said:


> i dont know how to change my screen name


Just ask a moderator...


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

Sounds good! I used to be a big JDM fan, but I’ve been into Muscle the past few years. Didn’t even know there was much difference in the JDM 86 vs the BRZ/FRS/US86.

Post lots of pics when you tackle that!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so this weekends projects , are , remove the rear deck shave the 3rd brake light and baby seat tie down covers , and re cover and dampen that area , and add the 3rd brake light bulb to the jdm lower location , ill post pics when i start .


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

Take lots of pics! Ready to see the finished product.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so i started be removing the rear deck , to see what i was up against , what was treated what was rattling , and how i was going to shave the deck , turns out the old sound damping treatment was dried up and rattling around in a crusty mess on the deck metal ,
i assume it was an old asphalt based treatment like origanal dynamat , i gave it a layer of cld tile then topped it with a adhesive backed 1/4 inch sound damper , 








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next the rear deck had a bunch of plastic rivets holding the 3rd brake light on and the plastic tubs for the baby seat hooks drilled them out , 








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then i used duct tape to cover the holes front and back 
and filled them with expanding foam to fill the holes 
i used silicone for a couple small bolt holes 
one of the backing plates was also the clip attachment for holding the deck to the car so i used a couple bolts and nuts to hold it on . 







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so then i let it dry over night and then pulled the tape and cut and sanded it all smooth . 








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then i wrapped it in a black foam backed suede 








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it came out clean and looks good , now i can see out the rear window , and hope to have no rattles , 








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then i relocated the third brake light to the jdm position 








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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

Looking good. I like the brake light location.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

What a fantastic job you did on that back deck - that looks so much cleaner......and SO much more functional......now I can't believe I 'put up' with that center light and the rattles for so long. I love all of the simple mods you have done so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new and improved BRZ!!!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh crap, none of the pictures are showing up for me on Tapatalk sadly...


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Coppertone said:


> Oh crap, none of the pictures are showing up for me on Tapatalk sadly...


Not for me either - I had to wait to see these fantastic photos until tonight on the Mac.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so a little more progress on the brz today ,, i noticed that the drivers side window molding was getting pinched when the window went up causing a roll and scratching the tint , leading to wind noise at high speeds as well , i also noticed that the window track was dented for some reason , so ordered some parts from subaru and off i went ,,








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i removed the window trim track and the molding 








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i replaced both pieces with an updated part from subaru 








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i also replaced the brake and clutch fluid from my favorite vendor , motul 








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i hope to have more audio related updates this week just waiting for my new 4 channel amp to show up , for the tweets and mids ..


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Very nice, I always when I get a used vehicle do maintenance just to ensure I know it’s been done. That way it’s peace of mind when I start adding things to it.


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Good deal....I took it to the dealer complaining of that.....They replaced one piece of that rubber stuff.....but that didn't fix it long term :worried:


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

bertholomey said:


> Good deal....I took it to the dealer complaining of that.....They replaced one piece of that rubber stuff.....but that didn't fix it long term :worried:


yeah they have a real fix now the updated parts are very different than the previous version , hope it works .


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

Is anybody else having trouble viewing pictures on the app, or is it just me?


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

^^^. Nope I couldn’t see them either until I went to web view sadly...


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so a couple new car mods , wheels / tires /brakes .








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i need to paint the calipers , next on the audio agenda is , pulling the seats and carpet for more deadning , and removing the headliner , to deaden the roof , i think ill do a suede headliner while its out as well . still waiting for my new amp to arrive .


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

i need to post up some pics , but my as 200.4 arrived and its installed , i started tuning from scratch yesterday , setting gains , and getting familiar with the cabin and its pro's and cons sound wise , its very interesting moving equipment into a new environment and seeing the difference on the rta , all though tuning is a love/hate process i really enjoy the ride , hope to have the brz sounding good soon ,


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

So returning to the quest ! , i have been doing a lot of research lately instead of my usual just buying new gear trying it and stashing it or selling at a loss . as most people that have had this hobby/ disease , i have a very healthy stash of equipment . That i decided to sell or e-bay to make some new purchases for the new wave of trial and error . 

Goals for this segment of re-vamp . 

1. sell a bunch of stuff i wont use or just plain dont need . 
2. replace the headunit in the brz with one that better suits my needs 
3. READ, AND ASK EVERYBODY I KNOW SILLY QUESTIONS UNTIL THEY STOP ANSWERING ME , lol 
4. look through countless build threads and figure out why people did what they did to get great results .
5. evaluate my current system and figure out what i want to change , and make a goal list , 
6. take advice from the masters and , listen to equipment before making any changes in the car . then work on placement and more listening .

Im really excited about this new build of my brz, im lucky in the fact that there are a lot of great mods that were done by the previous owner that are fantastic , the up front sub is great im leaving that alone , the door pods/and mid bass drivers are excellent they will stay , 

the first order of buisness was to change the headunit , the car came with a p99 in it when i took ownership , its a great hu no doubt , but i was only using it for a cd /i-pod source and that seemed like a waste , plus i needed a blue tooth hands free set up for my phone and more than 1 usb input for other sources , i swapped it out for a new prs-p80, great deck has all the features i want and sounds just as good on cd or i/pod . the p99 looks way better but no biggie , as i will be using my dap as my main source i was not to worried about the slight change in sq . 

here is the equipment list that will stay , at least for the next comp season . 

prs-p80 hu
helix dsp pro mk2 /director
mosconi 200.4 
mosconi zero 3
zapco st-2000 mk2
audison thesis 6.0 midbass
stereo integrity bm mk5 sub
fii0 dap


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

My first order of business was to address my tweeter location and choose a new set of tweets that works the best in the location i chose . 

i have 3 sets of tweets for evaluation lucky for me i have worked out the location that works best in my cabin , and all 3 tweets are around the same size and i built a new set of pillars that will accommodate all 3 choices , 

1, audible physics brahma 
2, sinfoni tempo 10
3, scan speak d3004

im trying the brahma's first , im not usually a fan of metal dome tweets but these are excellent . i will be testing these in car first , so far so good .ill move on to the scans and then back to the tempos , because i used them all last year and they are my "reference" for this test . 

my goal and what ended up sounding best were mounting them in the pillars as close to the mids as i could , and as wide out as i could go and as a quasi vertical plane , 








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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Excellent looking pillars in my opinion, and I'm looking forward to your evaluation results of the strengths of each tweeter within your parameters. This will be a fun and informative experiment!


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

That's looking pretty epic! Nice work!

I'll add, I think you're right on track on a good mod there with location. I remember one time, and I raved about it, when John and Jason did some crossover point sorcery and it made the tweeters disappear.. I think location was a slight weak point there because they would localize a bit, so the closer proximity I think will really benefit the tune, or rather at least give you more crossover point flexibility. Hope to hear this soon.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

Babs said:


> That's looking pretty epic! Nice work!
> 
> I'll add, I think you're right on track on a good mod there with location. I remember one time, and I raved about it, when John and Jason did some crossover point sorcery and it made the tweeters disappear.. I think location was a slight weak point there because they would localize a bit, so the closer proximity I think will really benefit the tune, or rather at least give you more crossover point flexibility. Hope to hear this soon.


yes this position lets me run a lower crossover point with pretty much no localization , and leads to a very real and coherent tweet mid integration, def making progress .


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## moodue (Nov 25, 2018)

Loving this build so far! I might steal a few ideas when I start on my 2019 BRZ. The rattling is noticeable even on the stock speakers.


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so i have been changing a few things up lately , i went on my own tweeter test tangent and was very surprised with my results , i was able to wrap my pillars in some nice alcantara 
and finally start dialing in my tune , with the drivers that i will use this season , so def making progress with the build , 

now i have a couple issues i need to iron out to get back on track .
i having a random cut out of signal , i dont know if its from the fiio dap , or my helix or the remote out from the helix , but its driving me crazy , so random and frustrating .
im trying to narrow it down now , 

and there is a noise floor issue im trying to figure out as well . but thats not a huge deal


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

chasingSQ said:


> so i have been changing a few things up lately , i went on my own tweeter test tangent and was very surprised with my results , i was able to wrap my pillars in some nice alcantara
> 
> and finally start dialing in my tune , with the drivers that i will use this season , so def making progress with the build ,
> 
> ...


Now that I think about it, my fiio does the same thing. Rarely though. So which tweeters did you test and which tweeters did you pick and why? 

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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

chasingSQ said:


> i having a random cut out of signal , i dont know if its from the fiio dap , or my helix or the remote out from the helix , but its driving me crazy , so random and frustrating .


How or when does it cut out? I had this same issue in my previous build and it turn out to be the coax cable...


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

DavidRam said:


> How or when does it cut out? I had this same issue in my previous build and it turn out to be the coax cable...


really ? idk its so random , for the longest time i thought it was the remote out from the helix , but now im pretty sure its the fiio , i replaced the coax rca , but it still does it , maybe its the little adapter. ? i cant remember if this happens with other sources , so im testing that now .


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

so its not the fiio , it did the cut out 3 times on the way to work today , with a cd and my ipod source , so its got to be the director or the cable for it , i have swapped out the dsp box already , soooo.... annoying .so i have a director cable coming , in the mean time ill unplug the director and , that should tell me something .


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

well its with regret that this build and the brz has come to an untimely end , thanks to a incompetent dealer tech preforming the valve spring recall . look for my new build thread on my new car .

i have removed all of the custom installation pieces from this car and they are all for sale if anyone with a brz /frs /or 86 wants them pm me .


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

That is a pretty sad post, but a new chapter for you. I know you are going to make the STI incredible! 

Please post a link here when you start the new thread 


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## naiku (May 28, 2008)

chasingSQ said:


> well its with regret that this build and the brz has come to an untimely end , thanks to a incompetent dealer tech preforming the valve spring recall.


Guessing the engine came to an untimely end.... I was just reading about that issue this morning, seem some pictures of engine carnage, one guy posted his car had caught fire after the recall. Pretty crazy the number of engines going bang after having that recall carried out. 

Good luck with the new build.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

chasingSQ said:


> well its with regret that this build and the brz has come to an untimely end , thanks to a incompetent dealer tech preforming the valve spring recall . look for my new build thread on my new car .
> 
> i have removed all of the custom installation pieces from this car and they are all for sale if anyone with a brz /frs /or 86 wants them pm me .


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## moodue (Nov 25, 2018)

That sucks. Looking forward to the new build though!

Did this turn you off of Subaru as a brand in any way?


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

moodue said:


> That sucks. Looking forward to the new build though!
> 
> Did this turn you off of Subaru as a brand in any way?


nope just got a new STI !


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## naiku (May 28, 2008)

chasingSQ said:


> nope just got a new STI !


Nice! Looking forward to what you do with that, not just audio wise, but especially performance / looks.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Holy crap I ALMOST threw up the salad I just had for lunch. I'm totally shocked that this happened. Hopefully you were compensated for your losses. Hope to see what you come up with for the STI in May. I know you'll make it great in short order.


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## mumbles (Jul 26, 2010)

I hate to hear incompetent dealer stories... I'm with Hillbilly, kind of make you want to puke!

Please tell me that when you got the STi, you sprang for the upgraded Kicker speakers!


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

mumbles said:


> I hate to hear incompetent dealer stories... I'm with Hillbilly, kind of make you want to puke!
> 
> Please tell me that when you got the STi, you sprang for the upgraded Kicker speakers!


haha no way !


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## kmbkk (Jun 11, 2011)

That really sucks! I was on the fence whether I was going to get the recall completed or not, but decided to go ahead with it. It was completed a few weeks ago and so far no issues, but it's still early. Looking forward to the new STI build!


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## Mashburn (Jun 26, 2018)

Be sure to drop the link in here for the STI build!


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## chasingSQ (Sep 25, 2017)

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...19-sti-sq-build-sinfoni-mosconi-helix-si.html

new build link


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