# 2014 Lexus GS350 Operation: Snow White Mosconi JL Audio Hertz



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

This wasn't a fairy tale install thanks to the owner. So I won't be giving much details here. Suffice to say if you see him do not I repeat DO NOT do business with him. This is a warning. 

The car - 2014 Lexus GS350

The equipment - Hertz HSX 165
- Hertz HCX 165
- JL Audio 12w3v3-4
- JL Audio XD 800/8v2
- JL Audio XD 1000/1v2
- Mosconi 4to6
- BatCap Model 800






A layer of Hush Mat Ultra was applied to the outside skin.





Then a layer was applied to the inside skin.





The molex plug in the door jam didn't have provisions to run speaker wire through it so I soldered onto the OEM door speaker wiring.





True to Octave fashion plexiglass mounting rings were fabbed up.





The Hertz HSX 165 woofer received a foam gasket and heat shrunk terminal leads.





The plexiglass mounting plate utilizes OEM mounting hardware.







The passenger door received the same treatment.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

The rear doors received the same treatment as the front doors.







Just like the front doors the OEM speaker leads needed to be soldered onto.







The Hertz HCX 165 got the same treatment as the front woofers.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

A Stinger amplifier kit was provided by owner.





Since I soldered the OEM wiring inside the doors I needed to do the same in the interior. A fair amount of OEM wires needed to be moved out of the way to access the door speaker wire.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

The power wire was ran down the passenger side of the vehicle.





While running the power wire I soldered the back passenger door plug so I could run the speaker wire as I ran the power wire.













There is an OEM pass through for wiring that made running the power wire into the trunk an easy process.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

With the power wire ran I turned my attention to finishing up the interior wiring. The tweeters were next. Quick disconnect connections were used and color heat shrunk.





The mounting strap that came with the component set lined right up with the OEM bolt holes.





Speaker wire run to the back started. Hush Mat Quite Tape was used to secure the speaker wire.







The same process of soldering the speaker wire in the kick panel was performed in the driver's kick. 





The driver's tweeter received the same attention as the passenger.







The driver's kick panel had just as much to remove to access the door speaker. Once done everything was tied up and ran clean.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

Rear door speaker wire soldered.













The driver's side has the same pass through as the passenger. 







With the front done the trunk received a full dampening treatment with Hush Mat.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

The enclosure was made out of birch plywood and bolted to the trunk using 1/4-20 bolts and rivet nuts.





The amplifier rack was made out of birch plywood, bolted down using rivet nuts and 1/4-20 bolts









A BatCap Model 800 was mounted to the under side of the amplifier to provide an additional power reserve. A metal mounting bracket was welded up to secure the BatCap.











Audio Signal was tapped at the OEM amplifier. The leads were soldered and heat shrunk.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

Time was taken to lay out the wiring so that signal and power wire were completely separate of each other. The passive crossover networks for the front stage were also located in the rear on the rack.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

The design of the trunk used the interior accents, colors and textures to give a integrated look. With the amplifier rack cover panel in place and carpet the trunk could still be used.





A vinyl trim panel covers the amplifiers.





With the cover panel removed the beauty underneath can be revealed. IMO pictures do not do this trunk justice. The enclosure is a slot ported enclosure that I hide the ports behind grille cloth covered trim. 3 types of vinyl were used to give an OEM feel. 











This close up shows the intricate panel work and the attention to detail on the fit and finish. The devil is in the details and sometimes these little things get lost.






Well that's about it. This was a bitter sweet install. I never really got to tune it but I can tell you it got loud and slammed. The design of the trunk has to be one of my favorite that I have done. If you're in the Georgia area and see this car tell the owner what a great job I did.

For more visit www.OCTAVEONLINE.com


Russ,


----------



## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

we all get those kind of customers.


----------



## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

Amazzzzinnnn work.


----------



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

that panel work made my jaw drop a little.. also kind of curious what happened with the customer


----------



## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Freaking fantastic work on that trunk area, I love how it blends with the interior of the car. Great job as usual and I am sure it was a job WELL done.


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

Coppertone said:


> Freaking fantastic work on that trunk area, I love how it blends with the interior of the car. Great job as usual and I am sure it was a job WELL done.





SQLnovice said:


> Amazzzzinnnn work.





SkizeR said:


> that panel work made my jaw drop a little.. also kind of curious what happened with the customer


Thanks guys  If you can believe on the panel work I was able to knock the panels themselves out quickly. The finish work and gapping to make sure it all lined up was a killer. The amplifier panel literally lifts right up. Just pressure fit.


----------



## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

russ, ill be making the covers and trim for my amp rack starting tomorrow. how do you secure your beauty panels and their trim? in my case it wont really be able to be press fit. if you check my build, you can see what i mean. i just posted pics of the template in my build log


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

SkizeR said:


> russ, ill be making the covers and trim for my amp rack starting tomorrow. how do you secure your beauty panels and their trim? in my case it wont really be able to be press fit. if you check my build, you can see what i mean. i just posted pics of the template in my build log


Just sent you a PM.


----------



## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Great job! Would love to see more posts of your work.


----------



## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Anything new you're willing to share with us about this car Russ ?


----------



## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

Nice work... Sucks that u got a d*ck for a customer. I have the same car, repo the system for me lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Gorgeous work! Makes me want to redo my hatch. lol

Jay


----------



## NSTar (Feb 24, 2010)

Was this a regular or an ML head unit? btw, how did you route the power wire from the battery into the cabin passenger side?


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

Coppertone said:


> Anything new you're willing to share with us about this car Russ ?





BlueAc said:


> Nice work... Sucks that u got a d*ck for a customer. I have the same car, repo the system for me lol


Just saying what I posted. Really don't want to go into it but yes repoing the system did come across my mind. 



JayinMI said:


> Gorgeous work! Makes me want to redo my hatch. lol
> 
> Jay


Do it Jay. Don't think just do. Regrets after the fact lol 



NSTar said:


> Was this a regular or an ML head unit? btw, how did you route the power wire from the battery into the cabin passenger side?


This was the base audio system. There's a grommet right behind the battery that I ran the wire through. You do have to remove the battery to do this.


----------



## Greg_Canada (May 15, 2007)

That trunk looks amazing - super clean, i love what you did with the trim. I say it looks OEM+ !


----------



## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

That trunk fabrication is mighty. Its a shame you didn't get to tune it properly, that might've shut him up.

How did passive sound with a mosconi dsp in the mix?


----------



## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

Great looking trim panel work in the trunk! I dig it.


----------



## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Your plexi baffles and amp rack aresweeeeeetttttt! The rest is Awesome to


----------



## Octave (Dec 12, 2010)

optimaprime said:


> Your plexi baffles and amp rack aresweeeeeetttttt! The rest is Awesome to


Only way to do baffles IMO. Well that or aluminum. Aluminum is getting a little crazy. 



lashlee said:


> Great looking trim panel work in the trunk! I dig it.


 thanks



Kazuhiro said:


> That trunk fabrication is mighty. Its a shame you didn't get to tune it properly, that might've shut him up.
> 
> How did passive sound with a mosconi dsp in the mix?


Like I said. Really didn't get a true chance to listen to it. Got it playing and that's about it. I do find it the more I do active systems the less I like passive xovers. 



Greg_Canada said:


> That trunk looks amazing - super clean, i love what you did with the trim. I say it looks OEM+ !


Every install that's my focus. Try and make it feel as though the install could've been an option from the dealer


----------



## Viacheslav.V (Jul 25, 2016)

Trunk looks really great! Thanks for posting this. 

As I am going to do exactly the same car, could you please advise what is better to do with the OEM HU here?

I noticed that the OEM DSP can be switched off, but will an aftermarket DSP be able to help to get normal sound?


----------

