# Bing goes passive? :) Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Build - Morel/Arc/Audiomobile



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

kinda odd but when i think back, for the past 5 years or so, about 90-95 percent of the builds i have done have been active system with a dsp. To the point that things like multiple runs of speaker wires upfront, sorting out a location for the dsp, 6 channels or more of amplification, etc etc all seem commonplace for me.

so it was actually kinda odd to do a very basic passive build utilizing a pair of point sources upfront a single sub in the back. I kept on thinking i am forgetting to run something or build something, when in reality, those pieces were simply not in the design 

so, the simple goals for this toyota tacoma double cab are:

1. a nice improvement over the stock system

2. keep all the products hidden and out of sight

first up is the underhood fuse holder, and once again, i borrowed Julia to make me one of our usual metal tabs that is welded to the top of the battery tie down:




























the signal source is a pioneer 5600bhs double din headunit:










i was able to retain the customers oem usb plug by securing a new usb cable to it and running it to the pioneer headunit's usb input:











i also tapped into the oem backup camera system so the same image thats present on the stock rear view mirror can also be displayed on the headunit:











becuase this is a very modestly budgeted system, we went with a set of Morel's new Tempo Ultra 692 6x9 point source system as her front stage. first, a new set of speaker wires were run into the doors:











next, the outt door skin received some blackhole tile, while the inner door skin got some coverage with focal BAM xxxl composite damper:










I then fabricated some speaker adapter spacers and coated them with several layers of truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:










the spacers were then bolted in place using oem hardware:










and the morel point sources wired up and secured:










here is a close up if the new tempo ultra point source:










the outer door skin also receive a bit of CLD damper











the same procedure was then repeated on the passenger side:























































now comes a series of pics showing the wiring bundle as it travels from the front of the car to the back...all signal and speaker wires came down the driver side, while the powercable is the only thing running down the passenger side:
































































moving to the amp rack and subbox...the idea was to keep everything hidden and out of the way, that means everything had to go behind the backseat...there wasnt a lot of depth back there but in the end, i managed to fit a sub enclosure housing a single audiomobile GTS 2110 10" subwoofer, along with an arc audio xdiv2 600.4 amp. the arc amp sends 150 watts to each front door point source, and 300 or so watts to the subwoofer. The enclosure has been carpeted with black trunkliner, while the amp sits on a black vinyl wrapped racl:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

lets take a look at the build pics of the back...i have to say, the simplicity of the outward appearance of the enclosure belies the complexity. in the end, it was quite a tight squeeze to get the sub in there and still leave clearance behind the seat backs. 

first, this is the stock plastic panel before i cut the back out of it:










once i trimmed the back, i secured it back in the car, and built the back and side portion of the sub enclosure and also secured it to the car. i then taped over the hooks and other oddly shaped areas of the back wall, and fiberglassed over it:










when that cured, i pulled the enclosure out and i now have the back half of the enclosure:










i then secured the front baffle to the box:










and secured an additional layer of 1/4" mdf that will act as an extension and flush fit to the opening in the stock plastic trim panel:










i then fabricated a ring baffle, and marked on the box where i needed to have fit (basically as low as possible for clearance purposes)










i then cut out the hole in the enclosure, and glassed in the ring baffle with some mold cloth:










then the gap was filled with duraglass and filler applied on top and the entire shape sanded smooth:




























here is a quick shot of the back of the enclosure to show how it goes around the stock back wall's shape:










the front of the enclosure was then carpeted with black trunkliner:




























Even though this part will likely never be seen once the box is in the trunk, i wanted to make sure the bottom part of the stock plastic panel has a smooth transition to the molded out sub box ring, instead of the basic cut that i had made, so i fabricated a simple curve out of mdf, wrapped it with black vinyl, and secured it to the bottom output of the plastic panel:




























and finally, here is the box and oem plastic panel bonded together:




























here is a quick shot of the area behind the enclosure, with the power and ground wires run, and two rivet nuts that help secure the box to the backwall so all that weight isnt being secured just by the factor retainer clips:










and finally, the entire structure bolted in place, and the audiomobile sub secured:










by comparison, the amp rack was a very straightforward affair...its simple a piece of mdf, wrapped in black vinyl, secured to the driver side stock plastic bin, and the amp installed to it:





































so thats it...two front speakers and a sub...come to think about it, back when i dreamed up the name Simplicity In Sound, these are the kind of installs i was doing day in and day out....oh how the times of changed 

without a dsp, there isnt much imaging to speak of, the stage hovers around dash height, with some slight rainbowing with male vocals, the midbass is very strong as you can imagine with these 6x9s, and surprisingly, despite the location of the tweeter, there is an abundances of highs and detail uptop. the single audiomobile 10 provides very good bottom end reinforcement for the entire cabin.

overall, i enjoyed this build...just wish i had a bit more room behind those darn seats!! 

Bing


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

I like it KISS. Good job. passive systems could sound good.


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

Top notch for a KISS setup.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

Great build as always guys. I've had my eye on the Morel Tempo Integras for a future build in a friend's Tundra. I knew you would be the first person on here to put them to use  That I am aware of anyway. Is there really anything negative you can say about the set? Keeping the price point in mind of course.


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## EstBndNDown (May 25, 2014)

Nicely done, I sure appreciate what a good installer can do.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

mires said:


> Great build as always guys. I've had my eye on the Morel Tempo Integras for a future build in a friend's Tundra. I knew you would be the first person on here to put them to use  That I am aware of anyway. Is there really anything negative you can say about the set? Keeping the price point in mind of course.



well? id say the top end is actually a little brighter than i expect, running this set passively, it was a little bit more aggressive uptop than i thought, and i turned the eq on the pioneer down a lil and it tamed it right down. i guess the negative would be that running it passively wont be nearly as good as the tempo ultra two way run actively  i do have to do some digging about running this set actively...that could really be the ticket for a lower budget sq setup.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

simplicityinsound said:


> well? id say the top end is actually a little brighter than i expect, running this set passively, it was a little bit more aggressive uptop than i thought, and i turned the eq on the pioneer down a lil and it tamed it right down. i guess the negative would be that running it passively wont be nearly as good as the tempo ultra two way run actively  i do have to do some digging about running this set actively...that could really be the ticket for a lower budget sq setup.


Thank you for your thoughts sir. They sound like they will work well for him. He has 7 bands of eq and t/a available so I think I can make do with that. Keep up the good work!


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

One thing I would add to this discussion.... I think in some vehicles a coax/point source can work better than others. There was a noticeable difference in the height of the NSX we did the point source in vs. this truck. I don't even know if a component set with the tweeter mounted higher would have been any benefit to the NSX. I think it could have helped, though, in this truck (if the design parameters of the build would have been different). 

Just something to think about..





mires said:


> Great build as always guys. I've had my eye on the Morel Tempo Integras for a future build in a friend's Tundra. I knew you would be the first person on here to put them to use  That I am aware of anyway. Is there really anything negative you can say about the set? Keeping the price point in mind of course.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> One thing I would add to this discussion.... I think in some vehicles a coax/point source can work better than others. There was a noticeable difference in the height of the NSX we did the point source in vs. this truck. I don't even know if a component set with the tweeter mounted higher would have been any benefit to the NSX. I think it could have helped, though, in this truck (if the design parameters of the build would have been different).
> 
> Just something to think about..


Thanks for that Joey. I own the Integra Ovations myself and have been a little obsessed with everything point source the last couple of years. I have mine installed in a Montero Sport right now and experience some of what you are talking about with trucks. It has a very high seating position and drivers installed in lower doors obviously. They will be going in my next car though which will be a Prelude, G35, 240sx or something of the sort. A much lower seating position pretty much and I think they will sound much better in that type of environment. I do refer back to that NSX build quite often just to read Bing's thoughts on that simple setup. The idea of point sources in the doors and sub in the passenger footwell appeals to me in a way I can't explain. Call it a love for simplicity


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## ccapil (Jun 1, 2013)

Passive setups accualy sound pretty decent if thought about properly. I was surprised when I ( unfortunenly ) went back to passive. 
That sub enclosure is genius, perfection! Just to clarify - did you obviously fiberglass the back of it and then put mdf over the fiberglass as well? If so why did you do it like that? I thought you would've just left it fiberglassed to fit it perfectly.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

ccapil said:


> That sub enclosure is genius, perfection! Just to clarify - did you obviously fiberglass the back of it and then put mdf over the fiberglass as well? If so why did you do it like that? I thought you would've just left it fiberglassed to fit it perfectly.


Now that I go back and look at it, I'm not sure what is going on there lol. Looks damn sturdy though.


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

Great job.

The idea of designing the sub box design to fit into the stock plastic panel is truly brilliant and redefines thinking out-of-box.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

The only thing fiberglassed are the two spots over the factory child seat restraint loops....


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## aoessand (Jan 11, 2011)

I have the same head unit it and my xs d6500 are the only things ive bought so far but man this sub box is a real inspiration on what can be squeezed in if you have the skills which you defiantly do!


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