# SQ in a tiny car - 2004 MazdaSpeed Miata Install



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

I get asked a lot by my friends, what kind of car is best for sound and what are the worse...i usually point to big wide open vehicles are optical for sound, and small, low and cramped converible sports cars as not ideal.

So it is with some trepidation that i dove into this latest project..as its about as small and low of an interior as it gets, this side of a Lotus Elise--A 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata. A pretty rare car if you remember them, essentially an aftermarket modded factory badged car with a turbo. 

The goals:

1. Achieve a good level of sound quality despite the cramped interior

2. Obtain decent subbass performance

3. keep things hidden and stealthy in the trunk, with most of the usable space retained.

Luckily for me, two things were in favor when it comes to this car. The first is the owner has a hardtop installed, which helps with bass response. Secondly, this particular generation of Miatas has massive room behind the lower door location, as the window does not intrude into the area when lowered...you can probably stuff a 4" deep driver in there 

anyway, lets get started.

First three quick pics of the car, as it is rare, and i really dig the track ready stance and rim/tire combo.




























The signal starts wtih a Kenwood Excelon X995 single DIN headunit, with a pocket below:










I located the unit's BT mic on the steering column cover next to the boost guage:










and the USB/Ipod cable is routed to the glovebox:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The front stage consists of a pair of Seas Lotus Reference 6.5" two way component set. The midbass was installed into the stock lower door location...first order of business was to run new speaker wires into the doors.

This was quite a royal PITA, as there is hardly any room to work and disconnect the stock molex plug...but i finally managed to get it, drilled a hole in the plug and passed new wires through:



















The passenger side was even more difficult, and required me to drop the blower assembly housing to access the the molex from inside the car, after much cursing, i got it done:



















Once that was done, the door was sound proofed:










A pair of adapter baffles was made up using MDF, and coated with truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:










the ring was secured to the door using stock screws:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The driver side Seas midbass wired up:










and installed into the door:



















The stock door card was pretty well put together, so i just laid some damper on the back around the area of the speaker:










The same process was repeated on the passenger side:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The tweeters were molded into the A pillars. Slightly on axis to try and project it above the instrument cluster shroud. Wrapped in black vinyl that has a texture similar to the oem plastic finish:





































A few quick build pics of th e Pillars:

first holes were drilled into the pillars, and the surround areas scuffed with 40 grit, mdf rings were aimed and attached:










Grille cloth was pulled across the shape, resin applied, allowed to hardne, and then a duraglass/resin milkshake was poured into the pillar to make it virtually a solid piece, you can see the effect where the greenish mixture fills the pod:










Once that cured, filler was applied and the shape sanded smooth and blended in:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next they were wrapped in vinyl and the tweeters wired up:










and finally, the tweeters were installed into the pillar, and the entire thing is ready to go back into the car:




























Now onto the subwoofer. There are a few differnet solutions i have seen for the miata, some put a pair of 6.5" woofers behind the seat on the rear shelf, some have installed a sub in the trunk. Niether of those ideas seemed good from my personal experience with convertible...you want something to load the woofers off of. 

That left me with the other common solution for the car, which is the passenger side foot well. This configuration has worked well for me in the past, so i decided to go that route. the majority of the subwoofer installs i found ont he web for the car looked something like this:










with a box stuffed in there and a cover board infront. This works fine, but i wanted to save as much space as possible for the passenger, give him/her a lil extra room to stretch the legs if need be, and also, i wanted to load the woofer off a more soli surface, instead of just firing straight back.

so here is what i came up with. looking down into the car from the outside, you see a portion of the box:










sitting in the car, you see it like this:










basically, the subwoofer itself fires up and back towards the side of the car, near the center tunnel, and there is a portion to the right of it that is much lower. This essentially gives the passenger a bit more room to extend their legs to the right, while giving up only about 1.5" of space on on the left side compared to having the sub come straight back.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

this design also allowed me to install a beefier sub than say a flat 8" driver...and i chose a single Arc audio ARC 8 for this. pop off the grille and you see the sub. Here is the box from a few more angles:





































I have to say i am quite impressed with this lil guy in this configuration, extension is nice and smooth all the way down to 30hzish...and unless you are playing super heavy bass tracks, it literally performs like an average 10" driver. 

a few build pics of the enclosure.

first the area was masked off and 10 layers of cloth was laid down:










once that cured, the mold was pulled out and then trimmed to the desired shape:



















I then made up the front baffle, which is a combination of a recessed mdf ring, with a side piece attached to it at an appropirate angle. 










I then blended the two together using duraglass and filler:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

This was then aimed and secured to the back mold:










mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allowed to cure, and the box was reinforced from the inside with some mat, chopstrand, and also duraglass/resin mixture. Then the surface was sanded and odd angles smoothed out using filler:



















Then it was wired up and wrapped in black carpet:










and the arc sub installed, note the mounting bracket at the top of the box:



















Here is the grille before and after carpeting:



















and here is a close up of where that mounting bracket goes, its secured to a factory stud via a nut and washer:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

next a four quick pics of the wires at the front of the car and at the side sills as it goes back, bundled together and secured to the car every 6 inches of less.





































moving onto the trunk...so as mentioned, the idea was to have a hidden build that takes up very little trunk space. The hard part about this in the miata is that the stock trunk floor is totally NOT FLAT...virtually every side is at a different angle and height, which is why instead of a flat floor, the oem solution was to just give you a floppy carpet that sits in there, comforming to various angles and heights... Obvisouly that wasnt going to work here. so i built the floor to be the lowest possible and still maintain a flat shape. its hard to say just how trunk space was lost, in most areas, its either zero or less than an inch, in some area, its about 2" or so...but either way, the net effect is that most of the cargo room is still thre. 

pop the trunk and you see the new fake floor, in graphite trunk liner. its two pieces, with a pop out grille on the main section:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

pop off the grille and here is what you see. Two Mosconi Gladen One amplifiers are in the middle, a 240.2 powers the midbass with 240 watts RMS, while a 120.4 sends 120 watts to the tweeter and 350 watts to the sub. On the left side, you see a Mosconi 6to8DSP, which provides processing to the entire system. Everything is trimmed in red vinyl that matches close to the exterior color of the vehicle:























































i had to dim the picture here so you can read "Mosconi" on the DSP


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

some build pics:

This is the foundational supported bolted to the vehicle, of vital importance to orient it at the right angle, as everything is secured to that.










This is the main platform for the amps and processor:










this is the top floor pieces before and after carpeting:



















This is the breathable center grille before and after carpeting:



















I also dyed the pieces slightly to match closer to the OEM trunk carpet:










This is the trim piece before and after red vinyl:



















and secured into the car:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

And three pics of the wiring organization:




























this is the reason why i made the side piece to be separate from the center. you can pop it out, and access the battery fully without disturbing the rest of the install:










So thats it...before i get to how it sounds...i want to show you how my laptop connects to this DSP.

This time, instead of running a long USB extension cable, i popped in the Bluetooth plug in module. When it turns on, it flickers amber, becoming a solid amber when the connection is made with the laptop, here is the module in the dsp:










Here is the quick view of the mosconi DSP's GUI (I WILL have the full review up very soon, waited for the BT module to write it):










Very convinient and it never lost connection in the hours i spent tuning the car 

SO! how does it sound? well, surprisingly good.

Stage is INSANELY high, as in right below the rear view mirror, depth isnt great but a lot of it IMO is how close you sit to the dash and it being such a tiny interior, width is pillar to pillar, and imaging is quite good as well.

As for tonality, here is the curve i achieved after about an hours worth of tuning with my newly calibrated dual Mic RTA, note the subbass performance...










i sat in the car then and basically just turned down the 1 to 1.6khz range a lil to smooth out the vocals...and its quite nice...very smooth and balanced with good detail. the sub bass, as mentioned, is superb given its a single 8 in the foot well. with an upfront sub i was also able to high pass the midbass a lil higher, so they are set at 100hz.

again, i am quite pleased with how it performs given its interior restrictions.

okay, time to rest my aching back from having to contort in this itty bitty car 

cheers,

Bing


----------



## bicycle_wreck (Sep 1, 2011)

Very clean. The attention to detail is humbling. Well done.


----------



## papasin (Jan 24, 2011)

Cool! My co-worker has one of these...and yes, the interior is TINY. My wife's Smart ForTwo's interior is "big" in comparison .


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah the smart is definetly way bigger


----------



## Salami (Oct 10, 2007)

Bing I am going to be honest. I just stole all of your pictures for the sub enclosure. I have been trying to figure out how to do a foot well sub enclosure and this pretty much figured it out for me. Hope you don't mind too much. 


Great install as always. 


Posts number 8 & 9 need the tag blocked out.


----------



## Darth SQ (Sep 17, 2010)

Incredibly inventive.
You have the ability to always think out of the box. 
The color contrast was even more striking than the Porsche install.

Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## Bumpin' Goalie (Nov 27, 2009)

Great install. Making the most of limited space. 

What metal mesh did you use for your breathable grill? I haven't found quite what I need for the same purpose.

Also, let me know if you have a good place to grab up a 6to8. 

Best wishes.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thanks Salami, fixed 

the mesh i use is:

McMaster-Carr

as for 6to8, check you local mosconi dealer, if yo dont have one, find your local focal dealer,  if you dont have one either, pm me and i can ask for ya.


----------



## rideit (Nov 20, 2011)

Magnifique.


----------



## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

nice install, amprack is clean and nicely designed


----------



## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I really like this install. Great job as always. 
Mosconi is under the Orca umbrella isn't it? If it is, I know who to ask about the 6to8. 

Oh, the blue plastic is low heat plastic from Select Products. LOL

Jay


----------



## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Just awesome. That is all


----------



## Woosey (Feb 2, 2011)

Great job!! I'm still looking for some time to do my mx5... Also with mosconi as100.4 2-way active...


----------



## decibelle (Feb 17, 2011)

simplicityinsound said:


> On the left side, you see a Mosconi 6to8DSP, which provides processing to the entire system.



Oh he/she's gonna be blown away by this thing. Lucky owner! 

Bing, I'm not typically a fan of Miatas, but this one... this one looks good. I can't imagine how crazy a car as small as this is going to sound with a front sub. That angle is a brilliant idea, something I may have to consider in my own footwell.


----------



## BaSiCEvil (Mar 14, 2007)

Another well done and amazing looking install Bing!


----------



## veleno (Sep 16, 2006)

Very nice install!

So I've seen the amps for sale in the classifieds but never really payed attention to them. What are they comparable to?


----------



## jab4au (May 31, 2010)

I really look forward to your build logs, sir! Great job, as always!


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

veleno said:


> Very nice install!
> 
> So I've seen the amps for sale in the classifieds but never really payed attention to them. What are they comparable to?


they are a good mid/high line amp...i cant really say what they are comparable to...but price wise they are ummm similar to jl HD and PDX?

somewhat.


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Excellent use of the available (very limited) space, and a super clean install! 

Bing, is the Bluetooth dongle a proprietary device, or will a standard USB Bluetooth dongle plug into the 6to8?

Will the software run on Windows 7? (Looks like you're using Vista).
How about Mac OSX Lion? I've got a Macbook Air but could run Windows through Parallels or Bootcamp if I had to. Have a link to the demo software?


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

bbfoto said:


> Excellent use of the available (very limited) space, and a super clean install!
> 
> Bing, is the Bluetooth dongle a proprietary device, or will a standard USB Bluetooth dongle plug into the 6to8?
> 
> ...


its a propritary mosconi dongle.

as for the other stuff, i cant asnwer it, Nick wingate is a better person to answer those questions. 

b


----------



## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Thanks Bing.


----------



## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Another great one Bing. I'm very curious about the BT connection. Anticipating the review


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the BT, well there isnt much to be said, its just the same as if i had the usb cable hooked up, it connected right away, and everything worked exactly the same. 

there were one or two times when it was transfering saved settings and stopped becuase of a glitch in the BT signal, but as soon as i retried it went through fine...and this was over the course of about 6 hours of tuning and playing with it over 2 days


----------



## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Thanks Bing, I wrongly thought the BT was only for communicating with the Android app... I have to read over the literature and the 6to8 thread again


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

it is for that and also for general tuning with a BT equiped computer


----------



## pdqwrx (Aug 1, 2009)

Bing- Another great install... I'm glad you liked the ARC 8". That is a very under utilized woofer...


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah i have liked that little guy since i heard them in the Mustang that my bud Chris Merrill built with i think three of four of em? 

you can bet they would be my go to sub for 8".


----------



## Salami (Oct 10, 2007)

simplicityinsound said:


> first the area was masked off and 10 layers of cloth was laid down:



Bing how thick is the fiberglass for the section? It does not look very thick. Trying to get an idea on how thick this section should be as I looking to build something similar in my car. Going to be using a single 8. Sub I likely to use is a proto TC Sounds Epic 8. ~20lbs IIRC. I want make sure the fiberglass part is strong enough but don't want to make it thicker than it needs to be for strength, long life and sound quality.

I have never worked with fiberglass before and don't much about how strong it is for different thicknesses.


----------



## HondAudio (Oct 19, 2006)

He's done it again!


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Salami said:


> Bing how thick is the fiberglass for the section? It does not look very thick. Trying to get an idea on how thick this section should be as I looking to build something similar in my car. Going to be using a single 8. Sub I likely to use is a proto TC Sounds Epic 8. ~20lbs IIRC. I want make sure the fiberglass part is strong enough but don't want to make it thicker than it needs to be for strength, long life and sound quality.
> 
> I have never worked with fiberglass before and don't much about how strong it is for different thicknesses.


its a lil less than 1/4 at that point, thats about 10 layers of cloth...now 10 layers of cloth is going to be way thinner than 10 layers of mat, but i have always felt that cloth is much stronger than mat and you can get away with thinner walls. remember also that after the box was reinfoced, three additional laters went onto the backside. i would imagine for a mold that butts up against carpet, having it hugely thick is perhaps slightly overkill, and IMO this something along the lines of 10 layers of cloth is more than adequate  

i use 7.6oz cloth.


----------



## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

I was impressed with this build from the beginning, then I worked on a Miata the other day. WOW! They are smaller (much, much smaller) than I remember. Even more kudos, now. LOL

Jay


----------



## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

Bing,

Your installs are very detailed as always!! :thumbsup:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

JayinMI said:


> I was impressed with this build from the beginning, then I worked on a Miata the other day. WOW! They are smaller (much, much smaller) than I remember. Even more kudos, now. LOL
> 
> Jay



especially for someone of my size lol


----------



## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

Very well executed build Bing. I am actually looking into getting a Miata of this generation and had a couple quick questions for ya.

Do you recall the volume of the enclosure? I have 2 of the old school Boston Acoustics Pro Series 8's that I was hoping to use in the car somewhere but I'm not sure where. It doesn't look like I'll be able to stuff them both in the footwell like you did here unfortunately. I MAY be able to get by with just one but I dunno. I'd hate to pay someone an arm and a leg to build an enclosure to replicate yours only to be disappointed by the output ( or lack of).


----------



## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

... and the BING quality continues.

Lorv these little cars, so much fun! Now this one has a sound to match the go factor!


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

mires said:


> Very well executed build Bing. I am actually looking into getting a Miata of this generation and had a couple quick questions for ya.
> 
> Do you recall the volume of the enclosure? I have 2 of the old school Boston Acoustics Pro Series 8's that I was hoping to use in the car somewhere but I'm not sure where. It doesn't look like I'll be able to stuff them both in the footwell like you did here unfortunately. I MAY be able to get by with just one but I dunno. I'd hate to pay someone an arm and a leg to build an enclosure to replicate yours only to be disappointed by the output ( or lack of).



that enclosure was iirc with a peanut test around .35-.4? so net around .3-.4? i dont think two 8s is a good idea, its gonna have a boomy response in that small of a box.


----------



## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

simplicityinsound said:


> that enclosure was iirc with a peanut test around .35-.4? so net around .3-.4? i dont think two 8s is a good idea, its gonna have a boomy response in that small of a box.


Thanks a lot for the reply Bing. I didn't figure there would be enough airspace for 2down there but it would be nice. If I decide to pick up a Miata, I think I'll try and find a JL Stealthbox for it.


----------



## tr0y_audi0 (Feb 13, 2007)

fantastic sub enclosure!
keep up the good work my friend..


----------



## BurnOut956 (Sep 3, 2007)

You ar absolutely amazing with your installs. Attention to detail is top notch.


----------



## w8lifter21 (Jun 12, 2009)

I just picked one of these up and have been digging around for build logs. Excellent job.


----------



## JsUltimateSounds (Nov 29, 2011)

inspiring build, i enjoy seeing creativity in tight spaces


----------



## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

simplicityinsound said:


> its a lil less than 1/4 at that point, thats about 10 layers of cloth...now 10 layers of cloth is going to be way thinner than 10 layers of mat, but i have always felt that cloth is much stronger than mat and you can get away with thinner walls. remember also that after the box was reinforced, three additional layers went onto the backside. I would imagine for a mold that butts up against carpet, having it hugely thick is perhaps slightly overkill, and IMO this something along the lines of 10 layers of cloth is more than adequate
> 
> i use 7.6oz cloth.


For a given thickness the matt will be more _*rigid*_ because of the random orientation of the fibers and _*thats*_ what we're concerned with in an audio enclosure.

The downside to cloth is it doesn't like conforming into tight spaces....especially the higher weight cloths.

Whenever possible I always suggest a full span internal brace glassed into the back wall and tied into the sides if possible....that way the rigidity of the walls aren't as important since the brace/braces will at least cut the large wall in 1/2 or 1/3.


----------



## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Wtf you make things look so damn simple!!!

As always you do great job no matter what kind of car it is!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## tr0y_audi0 (Feb 13, 2007)

I like it!
nice job man.. the bluetooth chip nice idea..


----------



## aznbo187 (Jun 21, 2011)

Thanks for the write up! I like how you retained a lot of the factory functionality in a space so limited. 

Does the grill with the carpeting reduce any of the sound output for the subwoofer? Also, where did you get the grill?


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

my experience is that anything you can blow out a ligher or candle through, subs will pretned its not even there. 

i made the grille


----------



## w8lifter21 (Jun 12, 2009)

Excellent job, I have an '02 I am doing now and I feel your molex plug pain . Question, what is that blue strip material you used around the edge of the ring for the sub to give that sunken look? I typically use 2 different sized MDF rings, but I like your way better!


----------



## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Another NICE build Bing....

I really like the type of resin you use, nice and transparent, the body filler looks to 
be easily workable. Could you please tell me what brands they are and your source.

Also, I've made my own slurry with epoxy resin but not polyester. What are your
mixture ratio's for doing this. How much resin, filler, and catalyst, what kind of catalyst
are you using also? The hardener for your resin I am guessing but unsure?

Thanks for your help,
Scoott


----------



## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

FLYONWALL9 said:


> Another NICE build Bing....
> 
> I really like the type of resin you use, nice and transparent, the body filler looks to
> be easily workable. Could you please tell me what brands they are and your source.
> ...




No sure what Bing uses, but I do hardner for both filler and resin in my mix


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

i use standard layup resin from uscomposites. as for hardner, over the years i have learned to guestimate pretty well so i dont measure no mo lol

for filler i use USC kromate lite and duraglass


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

w8lifter21 said:


> Excellent job, I have an '02 I am doing now and I feel your molex plug pain . Question, what is that blue strip material you used around the edge of the ring for the sub to give that sunken look? I typically use 2 different sized MDF rings, but I like your way better!


low heat plastic from selectproducts, find your local stinger dealer and order some 

i dont know what the normal avaiable industry equivalent is.

b


----------



## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> i use standard layup resin from uscomposites. as for hardner, over the years i have learned to guestimate pretty well so i dont measure no mo lol
> 
> for filler i use USC kromate lite and duraglass


THANKS FOR THAT.

How about your slurry of resin and body filler? How do you make
it, what kinds of catalyst and amounts. Do you just mix resin like
you would as per norm as well as body filler and then just mix them
together? 
Cheers


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Yup mix resin w duraglas...ratio determines thickness...and throw in both types of hardner...mix pour repeat

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## astrochex (Aug 7, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> some build pics:
> 
> This is the foundational supported bolted to the vehicle, of vital importance to orient it at the right angle, as everything is secured to that.


Buncha noob questions...

How many bolts hold the platform to the car? The two aft ones are obvious, but what about the forward side?

As far as the attachment itself, do you simply drill oversize holes through the sheet metal and use either bolts/nutplates or bolts/lock washers and nuts? Do you coat the outside part of the attachment with bedliner after install?

Thanks.


----------



## MacLeod (Aug 16, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> And three pics of the wiring organization:


Dude you do the best wire management I think Ive ever seen. Cant imagine the patience it takes to do something like this. I bet it was one of the most time consuming aspects of the entire install.


----------

