# My first "real" build! 2015 Accord Sport (pictures fixed!)



## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

I posted this earlier but my choice of image hosting turned out to be a mistake as apparently all of the source links changed after 2 days. Sorry about that. Hopefully these images will hold. I’ve asked the mods to delete the previous thread, I can’t figure out how to do it myself and I’m unable to edit the posts.

You should know that this build is not finished. I was going to wait until all was done but that may be a long time from now. Honestly, I could use a little help so I figured I’d upload this now. Don’t worry, this is still a “build” thread with plenty of pictures to keep you happy  I just wouldn’t mind a bit of input from some of the more seasoned car audio guru’s.

Quick background… a long long time ago (not really) I dabbled a bit in car audio. It was mostly just installing head units, full range speakers, amps and subs. Mainly it involved the never ending quest of trying to get good bass in a Jeep Wrangler (I’ve owned 4 of them). I never did a two way set up or messed with crossovers, especially not an active setup. I’ve been lurking here in DIY for a few years now and drooling over some of the beautiful installs I’ve seen. I’ve wanted to learn and challenge myself with a more involved install for quite some time, but mainly I just want good sound! I finally got a new car this year, so the gloves came off. Big thanks to all of the people here who’ve posted before me, I’ve picked up many techniques and components from this forum. I’ll try and follow the format of what I’ve seen here.

Goals:

Good sound: The best SQ I can achieve with my limited knowledge. I don’t care about blowing myself away with bass all the time, but I do want some headroom so I can bump it once in a while.

A great install: No shorts, no noises, no rattles, a quiet cabin.

My new car: Very little if no mods to the car at all (had to bend/drill some metal), stealth install (in the cabin), still keep most of my trunk space, integrate with the factory HU and don’t lose BT functionality.

Budget: As cheap as I can acheive my goals, I'm not loyal to any brand. I just tried to go with what looked like a good bang for the buck (after research).

Education: Learn install/fab techniques, fiberglass (first time!), learn why my system sounds like crap/sounds awesome and be able to fix it (this is a work in progress at the moment).

So here’s the gear (so far)

Processor: JBL MS-8

2-way fronts
-Mid: Stereo Integrity TM65 @2ohms
-Tweet: Tymphany (Vifa) NE25VTS-04 @4ohms
-PPI P900.4 [power]

Rear fill (don’t hate)
-FaitalPRO 4FE32 4” @4ohms
-MS-8 [power]

Subs
-2 10” Dayton Audio RSS265HO-44 (sealed) @1ohm
-Sundown SAE-1000D [power]











In this picture, the mids are Silver Flutes. They wouldn’t fit as their magnets would hit the window, a large spacer pushed them out too far. I decided to keep them for a home speaker project and go with the TM65’s that everyone here raved about.

Here’s the car, I went with the Accord Sport 6MT after considering it versus the Civic Si and new Subaru WRX (goal was a manual car as I’m very bored with my current automatic Accord). 










The WRX was amazing, I loved it, but it was more expensive and I think I did too much reading online and the Subaru turbo motor reliability scared me, also, it’s a bit rough on poor roads (which I see a lot of in my 60 mile daily commute).

Civic Si was also fun was in the end it was a little too “sporty” for a DD and it was significantly louder than the Accord.

The Accord Sport has a great (and quiet) ride, its manual transmission is buttery smooth and very engaging, it handles okay (nothing like the WRX obviously), and it’s the cheapest, possibly most reliable, and roomiest. It’s also the easiest to drive in stop/go traffic, so I guess my “oldness” won. Anyways, I’ve had it for a couple of months and I love it, I made the right call.

Okay I’ve got a shiny new car, so let’s take it apart! 




























Got that pesky interior out of the way. Here’s what my office looked like at this point.










Now let’s get some wires to the trunk. I went with the BlueSea circuit breaker. My past experience has shown me that I’m going to be flipping the power to my gear on and off a lot as I mess with the install and test stuff, so I thought it was worth the money. The quality is great, I’m glad I sprang for it. 










I tried my first bit of fabriacating with this custom bracket. I’ll make it look nicer later, it does a good job for now.










I love tech flex.










Under the hood got some loom too but I can’t find a picture of it at the moment.










I went with the easy route for power, had to open up this stock firewall hole to fit the massive 1/0 welding cable. Yes I know 1/0 may be overkill, but it wasn’t much more expensive and it’s futureproof. In the end it was a bit of a pain given the Accords thick carpet padding, but it fit and I’m good to go.



















I sprayed some self-etching primer and let it cure. I hate rust!




























Tapping for remote turn-on.










I’ve got wires. Let’s clean em up. The speaker and signal pick-up wires have also been run to the doors already.










Power cable was a tight fit, but the carpet sits level. Thank you Honda for the thick foam padding, I’m not even going to worry about laying down MLV at this point. We’ll see how it goes.










Not exactly 90 degrees for the power/signal cross point, but I’ve got no noise, so I consider it fine.










Nice and neat to satisfy my OCD demons.





































Everything in the trunk ready to fulfill its destiny.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Everything fits nicely back together. What a great feeling to have the wiring done and to be able to put the interior back in.




























On to the doors. As a former Jeep guy, I love to take the doors off.



















The stock speakers, check out the magnet size. I cannot overstate how horrible this stock system sounds. I have a base model (LX) 2006 Accord with the factory system and it sounds 1 million % better than this car, no joke. It was so bad it highly accelerated the timeline for this build.



















Got rid of the stock vapor barrier. It’ll be replaced with MLV.










I noticed the doors are very simple compared to many I’ve seen on this forum. Typical Honda, keeping it simple (quick, cheap and fast to build). I must say though, the interior of this car feels and fits nicely together, some good engineering and thought went into it.

I had some leftover Dynamat Extreme from my younger days of buying high priced stuff and using it the wrong way. But hey, it’s a good product and I’ve got a lot of it so I’m going to use it. I went with the method of not over applying, I think the sounddeadenershowdown guy is spot on in that you don’t need to cover 100% of the sheet metal. After applying, some tap tests showed that my doors are much less like a bongo drum.










Other side.










The sport only has 4 speakers, no tweets. I needed to get these tweets in the stock Honda sail panels. I ordered the sail panels online from a Honda parts store, they’re standard on EX and up trims (or maybe just EX-L and up, don’t quote me).



















After removing the grills/rings they do fit (with some trimming of the body tabs). Hot glue should hopefully keep them in place.



















All wired up and ready to go.










Everything in its right place. You’ll notice the connectors change later on. I didn’t like the blade connectors and found out about the XT60 style connectors. I highly recommend them, they’re cheap too, Amazon.










Now onto fitting the 6.5’s. Like I said earlier, the Silver Flutes were just too big with their large magnet. The neo magnets on the TM65’s are wonderfully compact. This is a beautiful looking speaker.



















Wired up for 2 ohms. 










I originally made some mdf rings (my first time!). I painted them with bedliner but just did not like the finished product. So I bit the bullet and bought some 3/4” HDPE. Not cheap but HIGHLY preferable IMO. Much better to work with (no mdf dust!) and you don’t have to worry about moisture.

I got to try out my router table, better get it set up right.










MDF rings










HDPE = Better










They fit!










With holes.










Measure 10 times, cut once.










I used 3 rivet nuts, which should hold just fine. My poor brand new doors look ugly now with the self-etching primer and the bent tabs. Even with the low profile TM65’s I had to bend the tabs to fit. I couldn’t go much thicker than a 3/4” spacer.



















They fit!










Plenty of clearance from the window.










Here I followed the advice of a user from another forum (he may be on here as well). I got some denim insulation panels from the big box store and wrapped them up in plastic. I covered with CCF (since I thought the plastic may make noise) and taped them down to the inner side of the outer door skin. 














































To try and decouple the 6.5’s from the door I used butyl rope between the door and spacer then gasket material between the spacer and driver.



















The only bad thing about this (assuming it’s working) is that the rope squished down and touched the mounting screws. It’s pretty gunky and will be a pain to remove the screws and replace them. I’ll deal with that if I have to. 

Here they are mounted with some foam baffles and some more dynamat.














































I had to trim the foam a bit as well as the door panel.










Other side























































You can see it’s crowded in there. I’m a little worried this is hurting the sound, more on that later. Oddly I had to trim the inner foam ring on the driver’s side but not passenger side to clear the window.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Now for the MLV.





































There’s a layer of 1/8” CCF on the other side of the MLV. It’s held in place with some Velcro at the top.










Other side.










To keep moisture out and to seal the door off, I ran butyl rope in the slot where the stock moisture barrier sealant was. I then pressed the MLV firmly against it to create a good seal (that rope sticks to ANYTHING). For good measure I sealed the edges with CCF and some foil tape.










So everything fits nicely. I need to trim back the MLV a tad on the driver’s side as it’s tight, but it’s okay for now. So far there are ZERO rattles from the doors, yay! I’ll get a picture of the stock doors buttoned up later, forgot to take one.

That was some hard work. I need a beer!











Now for some bass. My ultimate goal is to have each of the 10’s in the far corner of the trunk in a fiberglass enclosure so that I can still use most of my cargo space. I’d like to keep things sealed so I have as much room as possible. I thought it would be wise to build a test box out of mdf before attempting this, I was right.

I’m going with 0.7 cu ft per sub. 0.55 is recommended by parts-express for sealed, but I can always make the box smaller.










My first build with a router, three cheers for round circles!










The glue up. I used Titebond III and brad nails. MUCH quicker than using screws. Three more cheers for air compressors!










Rounded the corners, because why not?










I wasn’t going to carpet but at this stage I’m starting to realize the fiber-glassing might not happen until the distant future. Plus, my first attempt in carpeting ended in defeat, so I wanted to try and get it right. This time it wasn’t perfect but I did a much better job.










With the Dayton’s installed. These are beautiful, simple drivers.



















At home.










Let’s make sure the trunk doesn’t rattle. Also, I’ve removed the rear speakers and will be leaving it open where they were installed. I hope this provides enough pass through for the bass. I’ll need to make the trunk quiet so I don’t hear road noise. That will be accomplished with this stuff.










First, some dynamat.




























Stuffing insulation until I can’t stuff any more. 



















Trunk lid.










I dynamated the rear deck as well, I can’t find the picture at the moment. I put lots of CCF on the plastic rear deck cover.










I haven’t decided exactly what I’m going to do yet for an amp rack, I'm thinking of mounting everything under the rear deck if it’ll fit. Here’s my temporary setup so that I can hear everything, please excuse the fabulousness.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

So how does it all sound? Well, that depends on what I listen to. More natural stuff sounds incredible. The MS-8 really wows me on songs that have a lot of acoustic guitar and vocals. The mids coming from the TM65's are truly amazing, I really can't get enough of it. The highs are excellent too and the MS-8's logic 7 is pretty neat, putting a virtual center stage right where it should be. 

The problem comes when I turn on more produced/electronic stuff. I gotta say I'm not happy with the bass response I'm getting. I think it may be the subs, or the MS-8, or both. The bass just feels slow and doesn't really kick. With the power I'm pushing I should really feel it. I've tried to trick the MS-8 by turning the sub down on sweeps and then back up after calibration. I am getting bass, but just on the lower end. Lower stuff does sound pretty good, like rap and dubstep, but it seems like the sub response is not linear, I'm not getting what I wan't above 50hz. The low stuff will run me out of the car if I crank it. After further reading it seems unanimous that the Dayton HO's are not meant to be sealed. This weekend I decided to send them back. I ordered 2 10" Sundown SD-3's that should work nicely in the box I made. I think I'll be happier working with a sub that is meant to be sealed. They will give me even more space in the corners of the trunk due to their shallow mounting depth.

Another issue is the lack of midbass, well it's there, but I have to crank things up to get it. I get a TON of vibration on my door, no rattles, just vibes and it's a bit annoying. It seems like I'm not getting much gain on the low end from the doors/cabin. I'm halfway wondering if that insulation in the door is killing the lower stuff. Also, I'm having the famous MS-8 is killing my midbass issues when I tie in the sub. If I get rid of the subs and crank stuff the TM65's really hit, but I feel like they're just working too hard (my PPI gets pretty darn hot).

If anyone has suggestions I'm all for it. I've had a few issues with the MS-8 resetting already so I'm definitely sending it back. Not sure if I'll get another one or go a different direction. Thanks for reading!


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## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

Nice build. I always love those hondas. I sat in a 2014 a few weeks ago when I was shopping for an SUV and I absolutely love the cloth seats. It was the exact same as yours. I actually prefer that material over leather. The material they used in some of the cars these days are very nice. Not anything close to what they used years ago. 
You selected some nice equipment looking forward to the progress.


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## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

I was running the MS-8 with 1 JBL 12GTI sub and the one thing I loved was the bass. You'll have to play around with the amp gain and MS-8 volume to find the sweet spot. I would recommend getting a notepad and every time you do a calibration, write down the MS-8 volume, amp gain positions and what you like and don't like about how it sounds. I think, this will help tremendously in getting everything to sound the way you like.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

SQLnovice said:


> Nice build. I always love those hondas. I sat in a 2014 a few weeks ago when I was shopping for an SUV and I absolutely love the cloth seats. It was the exact same as yours. I actually prefer that material over leather. The material they used in some of the cars these days are very nice. Not anything close to what they used years ago.
> You selected some nice equipment looking forward to the progress.


Thanks! It's really a great car for the money. I'm happy I went with it.



SQLnovice said:


> I was running the MS-8 with 1 JBL 12GTI sub and the one thing I loved was the bass. You'll have to play around with the amp gain and MS-8 volume to find the sweet spot. I would recommend getting a notepad and every time you do a calibration, write down the MS-8 volume, amp gain positions and what you like and don't like about how it sounds. I think, this will help tremendously in getting everything to sound the way you like.


I need to write down the settings. I'll be doing a lot of testing this weekend. Really a pain to have to re-calibrate each time, but the alternative is learning a LOT more about tuning than the little I know. I may go that route, we'll see though, I wanna give the MS-8 a fair chance.


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## Pseudonym (Apr 17, 2006)

keep trying with the ms8. youll eventually find a sweet spot and then you can put the screen and remote away and forget about it. looking at the pictures of the trunk completely stripped has me screaming at my screen "why no IB?!". a simple board to seal off the area behind the backs of the seats with 2 12's or 3 10's or a 15" attached to it and youre done. no bulky box and more space for amp/processor organization.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Pseudonym said:


> keep trying with the ms8. youll eventually find a sweet spot and then you can put the screen and remote away and forget about it. looking at the pictures of the trunk completely stripped has me screaming at my screen "why no IB?!". a simple board to seal off the area behind the backs of the seats with 2 12's or 3 10's or a 15" attached to it and youre done. no bulky box and more space for amp/processor organization.


Ha, I thought about it for a minute. The biggest reason for not doing IB was that I want to keep the ability to fold down my rear seats. I've also never heard an IB setup, so I went with what I know.


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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

It looks great! Good job on the tweeters and the rings for the door mounted midbass.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

lashlee said:


> It looks great! Good job on the tweeters and the rings for the door mounted midbass.


Thank you very much! Wow, I just looked up your Hybrid EX-L build, amazing work! I'll be looking at it closely, the amp rack you did is close to what I had in mind. The sub install is absolutely beautiful. Maybe some day I'll try something like that if I decide I can live without a spare.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Poor bass response between genres sounds like something that would happen to me before I give it the works in time alignment, did that make any difference for you at all?


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

great work, AND great documentation. You really give the sense for me to do it myself, but I lack any such digging into the car to wire it. I would say playing with the MS8 you will not learn much, but will understand the limits. I was playing with one today at a shop, and I would recommend going with a sep channel adjustable DSP. This maybe your issue as the MS8 doesn't allow for individual channel adjusts. From my readings it will get you there 80-90%. 

But from looking at what you have and like to do...You are not the 90%. You are looking for something particular. I know. So either take the subs out of the MS8 loop, or swap it for a full control DSP. 

This is only one perspective, and a limited one. So take it for what it maybe worth.

How long did it take you to do the doors and wiring(not including sub)?


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## Pseudonym (Apr 17, 2006)

bigjeep127 said:


> Ha, I thought about it for a minute. The biggest reason for not doing IB was that I want to keep the ability to fold down my rear seats. I've also never heard an IB setup, so I went with what I know.


i mean if you dont like low, hard hitting bass, then i understand.


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## slowsedan01 (May 4, 2008)

Nice build. I have a 2013 Accord Sport and did a pretty simple build on mine. There should be enough room under the seats for the MS-8 on one side and your PPI on the other. I have all three of my amps under the seats and processor in the trunk. How do you like the TM65's? How high are you running them?


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Phil Indeblanc said:


> great work, AND great documentation. You really give the sense for me to do it myself, but I lack any such digging into the car to wire it. I would say playing with the MS8 you will not learn much, but will understand the limits. I was playing with one today at a shop, and I would recommend going with a sep channel adjustable DSP. This maybe your issue as the MS8 doesn't allow for individual channel adjusts. From my readings it will get you there 80-90%.
> 
> But from looking at what you have and like to do...You are not the 90%. You are looking for something particular. I know. So either take the subs out of the MS8 loop, or swap it for a full control DSP.
> 
> ...


I don't think I've had enough time to play with the MS-8, I will see where I can get with it this weekend.

I did the doors over a few days, I'd say it was about 10 hours per door. I was fortunate to have another car to drive so I took my time and did a little at a time.

The entire car has taken me about 2 months haha, but again I'm taking my time. Mostly weekend work. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I actually re-did the wiring about 3 times. The joy is in the journey though. My wife heard how good it sounds and wants me to do something similar to her next car. I don't know if I have the energy to do this again but if I do it, it'll be a lot easier with what I've learned.

I think I'll eventually get a fully controllable DSP to tinker with, it's something I've always wanted to learn. I'm interested in building home theater speakers as well, so something like the MiniDSP may be in my future.



slowsedan01 said:


> Nice build. I have a 2013 Accord Sport and did a pretty simple build on mine. There should be enough room under the seats for the MS-8 on one side and your PPI on the other. I have all three of my amps under the seats and processor in the trunk. How do you like the TM65's? How high are you running them?


I looked under the seats but it sure seemed tight. I may look again because I doubt there is room for all of my gear under the rear deck. For now I want to get the sound right, then I'll button everything up nicely.

The TM65's sound great, I've actually found more midbass (without the subs integrated) thanks to someone pointing out that the Accord HU kills bass even more at higher volumes. I'm running the MS-8 at a higher level and using a lower level on my HU. I still have lots of vibration from my doors when they hit, maybe I'll do some experimenting later with more/less deadening/absorbtion. I've honestly never heard any high end 2 way setups in cars before so I have no comparison, but the TM65's don't flinch at whatever I throw at them and the mids are truly impressive, guitar and vocals especially. I have them crossed at 2500 with a 24db slope. I read on here that they don't like more than 2500. I may experiment more but they blend so well with the tweeters that I'm pretty darn happy with them right where they're at.


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## Salami (Oct 10, 2007)

bigjeep127 said:


> The TM65's sound great, I've actually found more midbass (without the subs integrated) thanks to someone pointing out that the Accord HU kills bass even more at higher volumes.



On my 2013 Sport the head unit does not "kill bass". There is a roll off of 60hz and lower at all volumes. There is a volume dependent boost at right around 70hz, the bass boost lessens as the volume is increased. 

The MS-8 will correct for the frequency response at what ever volume the head unit was set at during setup. It can not eliminate the bass boost as the volume is lowered.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

So I installed the SD-3's this weekend. Had to open up the cutouts a bit larger so I cut out new plywood rings and used them to trim the openings. I then cut a slit in each ring so I could get it into the box and use is as a backer for the t-nuts, much better than MDF! So now I've got a box that's even more sturdy than the original.




























So how are the SD-3's? Well, I found the hard hitting bass that I was missing  Much better response in this sealed box than the HO's. I haven't had a lot of time to listen, but so far they seem very capable. I'm going to need to do a good bit more rattle control. 

I'm still not 100% satisfied with the way the MS-8 is treating the bass. I've hooked up my iphone directly to the Aux input on the MS-8 and it sounds virtually identical compared to the Accord HU. At this point I'm convinced that the stock HU signal is not the issue, the MS-8 seems to handle it just fine. I've tried re-cabrating at multiple levels and I'm still not happy. My MS-8 is going haywire too, keeps reseting and the screen keeps freezing, so I need to send it back now. This does not inspire me to get another.

I'm still debating whether or not to get another MS-8 or try something new. I've been trying to wrap my head around what I'd need in regards to a MiniDSP setup. I believe the 2x8 is what I need. Does anyone know if there's a MiniDSP model that will handle line level inputs or do I need to purchase a seperate line output converter? I'm thinking an LC2i, or is that overkill? Based on what I've read I assume the MiniDSP can correct the weak input signal I'm getting at the low range from the Accord HU just as the MS-8 does during the first step of calibration. Meaning, there's no need for a product like a JL Clean Sweep or the "accubass" from the LC2I, is this correct? From what I read, I wouldn't be starting with a flat signal, but I'd be flattening everything out during the EQ process. I've got a lot more reading to do.


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## lashlee (Aug 16, 2007)

bigjeep127 said:


> Thank you very much! Wow, I just looked up your Hybrid EX-L build, amazing work! I'll be looking at it closely, the amp rack you did is close to what I had in mind. The sub install is absolutely beautiful. Maybe some day I'll try something like that if I decide I can live without a spare.


Thanks man! And definitely let me know if you need any help. I don't get on here that often anymore but you can email me for faster response!


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Nicely done!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Babs said:


> Nicely done!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thank you!

An update, I've sent the MS-8 back and ordered two MiniDSP 2x4's. Maybe I could've eventually gotten what I wanted with the MS-8 but it was driving me nuts re-calibrating all the time. I'd like to learn how to tune anyways, it's part of the fun! Should be here in a week(ish)...


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Well scratch that, lol. 

I did get the MiniDSP's and played around with them quite a bit, it was a ton of fun but I found myself doing so much research and testing/tuning that I realized it was going to take me forever to learn to tune correctly. I got used to the amazing front stage the MS-8 gave me and figured I could fix the bass issue easier than getting a self tune like that on the front stage. So I decided to give the MS-8 (ordered another one) a second chance and I'm glad I did. I'm going to keep one MiniDSP to play with (maybe on my home theater sub) and sell the other.

Unfortunately, I'm now having issues with the second MS-8. This one keeps resetting too. I can't believe it. I thought it was maybe a wiring issue like a poor ground or loose connection but I've tested everything and I've got good stable voltage. I think I narrowed it down to the display. I haven't noticed a restart with the display unplugged, so I'm going to listen all week without the display and see what happens. This unit didn't even work out of the box, the display came on but wasn't responsive. It wasn't the remote battery, I swapped it with my garage door opener battery. I read in the MS-8 thread to loosen the screws on the back of the display and that worked. 

BUT... I did have a breakthrough with the tune. I still couldn't get the bass I wanted with the traditional method so I set it up as a 3 way instead of a 2 way with sub. BINGO, bass is no longer boomy, it has joined the party, and holy crap it sounds like it's coming from my dashboard! I drove around for 30 minutes and loved everything I listened to. So glad I stuck with it.

So,now I gotta figure out what is wrong with this unit. I find it weird I had two bad ones in a row so I don't want to send it back without considering all the possibilities. If anyone has a suggestion please fire away. We'll see what happens this week without the display plugged in.

I plan to finish up the amp install in the next few weeks. Then I'll see about fiberglassing the subs in!


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

On tuning.. I've said it in a few threads but it did really help me tremendously. I recommend referring to Kyle Ragsdale's youtube vids on using Room EQ Wizard. I rounded them all into a playlist. Though he's using REW to measure and Helix DSP to tune, the principle is pretty much the same for about any RTA that'll average pink noise and any DSP software such as the MiniDSP.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Your not alone on issues with the MS-8 DSP. I am seeing it with other folks. Also you see them come up for sale with issues. Maybe JBL needs to fix something with it?


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Phil Indeblanc said:


> Your not alone on issues with the MS-8 DSP. I am seeing it with other folks. Also you see them come up for sale with issues. Maybe JBL needs to fix something with it?


I don't think they're actively revising it. But they do seem to still be selling it. Kinda crappy if you ask me. Maybe they're working on something new? 

An update, 2 days (about 2 hours in the car) without the screen plugged in and not a single issue, I definitely think it's the screen. I'm liking the tune though!


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## edouble101 (Dec 9, 2010)

Nice build! You took the time to do things right the first time and it payed off! 

Issues with the MS-8(s) were out of your control but you figured it out.

BTW I am super jealous that you found a stock hole to run 1/0 through!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

edouble101 said:


> Nice build! You took the time to do things right the first time and it payed off!
> 
> Issues with the MS-8(s) were out of your control but you figured it out.
> 
> BTW I am super jealous that you found a stock hole to run 1/0 through!


Thank you! I was relieved to find the midbass after some messing around with the MS-8. I was so defeated thinking that my front door install may have been the problem, so glad it wasn't.

Yeah I was lucky to find that hole just sitting there. I think it's for higher end models that have radar cruise control. I did have to drill it out just a tad to get the grommet to fit. I'm happy that the MS-8 is okay without the screen plugged in as I never planned on keeping it permanently plugged in. I just hope the main unit holds up!


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

Awesome build. I have a 2015 as well with a very similar setup. I didn't tidy up near as nicely as you did though since I cant see it anyway and its a lease going back in 3 years. I have MS-8, P900.5. Image dynamics cx62 v2 in the doors and image dynamics xs-28 in the sails. I've been on mine since February and I still don't have it right. I get some bad break up in my right mid at higher levels and the tweeters are really bright. Don't know why the breakup is happening though. Have checked everything, and I can move it to the other door by swapping wires. Constant playing with MS-8 and gains on amp during calibration has minimized it quite a bit though and I think I may be able to get rid of it. MS8 is definitely a pain in the ass though. I think JBL has done a great job of making me not want to do another stereo ever again. That may change once the kinks are worked out though. What are your p900.4 gains at and what ms8 volume during calibration?


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

cms983 said:


> Awesome build. I have a 2015 as well with a very similar setup. I didn't tidy up near as nicely as you did though since I cant see it anyway and its a lease going back in 3 years. I have MS-8, P900.5. Image dynamics cx62 v2 in the doors and image dynamics xs-28 in the sails. I've been on mine since February and I still don't have it right. I get some bad break up in my right mid at higher levels and the tweeters are really bright. Don't know why the breakup is happening though. Have checked everything, and I can move it to the other door by swapping wires. Constant playing with MS-8 and gains on amp during calibration has minimized it quite a bit though and I think I may be able to get rid of it. MS8 is definitely a pain in the ass though. I think JBL has done a great job of making me not want to do another stereo ever again. That may change once the kinks are worked out though. What are your p900.4 gains at and what ms8 volume during calibration?


Hey thanks.

So my 900.4 is around 9pm (20%) for the tweets and noon (50%) for the 6.5's. Keep in mind my 6.5's are wired at 2 ohms, yours may be 4. I think the MS-8 kills a lot of the output on the mids when the sub is integrated, without it they can really pound. 

The only time I've heard break up or distortion was when I had my gains too low on the 900.4. I barely need anything to power my tweets and in some calibrations I had the gain almost all the way down, this is when I didn't like the highs. What works for me is having the gains as I have them now and when I calibrate the MS-8 is around -40 and sounds as it should during the sweeps (normal talking level). Currently as I have it the HU volume sits around 25-30 when listening but after some calibrations I've had it as high as 35-max and things were still crystal clear.

Have you experimented with different crossover levels and slopes? Maybe you need more power going to your mids and less to your tweets? I don't know much about your drivers, sorry.

The MS-8 can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I hope you can figure it out!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Babs said:


> On tuning.. I've said it in a few threads but it did really help me tremendously. I recommend referring to Kyle Ragsdale's youtube vids on using Room EQ Wizard. I rounded them all into a playlist. Though he's using REW to measure and Helix DSP to tune, the principle is pretty much the same for about any RTA that'll average pink noise and any DSP software such as the MiniDSP.


I've seen his stuff before, I think based on your recommendation from another thread, it's good stuff. I basically decided that I was spending too much time reading about tuning (and attempting it) and just wanted to listen to my system. The MS-8 really does a great job for the most part. I will keep at it with the tuning though, just as my own pace. I may use a MiniDSP just to run the sub if I can't get it just right with the MS-8.

You have an SD-3 right? I think I saw that you did, in a fairly large box, correct? Sorry if I'm confusing you with someone else. How do you like it? I am gonna shrink my box down to the recommended 0.5 and see how it does, I'm at 0.7 now.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

bigjeep127 said:


> Hey thanks.
> 
> So my 900.4 is around 9pm (20%) for the tweets and noon (50%) for the 6.5's. Keep in mind my 6.5's are wired at 2 ohms, yours may be 4. I think the MS-8 kills a lot of the output on the mids when the sub is integrated, without it they can really pound.
> 
> ...


From the hours upon hours of reading I have done on the MS-8, level matching gains for drivers seemed to be mentioned a lot and amp gains are set around 2volts (about 1-2 oclock) for both doors and tweets which is what Andy from JBL recommended in the huge MS-8 thread.

My mids are 2 ohm as well. I have played anywhere in the 2200-3000hz crossover range with 18 or 24db slopes. Right now, I'm at 2600hz 24/db slope. No sub at the moment as I am waiting for Sound Solutions to send me a damn replacement. (That whole story is in the general section). The mids hit very hard and make all my mirrors vibrate and even with the sub, they integrate well for me. I have found that having the sub gain almost completely down during calibration (then turning up after calibration) provided the best bass in the doors and sub itself for me.

I will try mixing up the gains and see where that gets me. Hopefully somewhere better than i'm at now. Thanks!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

cms983 said:


> From the hours upon hours of reading I have done on the MS-8, level matching gains for drivers seemed to be mentioned a lot and amp gains are set around 2volts (about 1-2 oclock) for both doors and tweets which is what Andy from JBL recommended in the huge MS-8 thread.
> 
> My mids are 2 ohm as well. I have played anywhere in the 2200-3000hz crossover range with 18 or 24db slopes. Right now, I'm at 2600hz 24/db slope. No sub at the moment as I am waiting for Sound Solutions to send me a damn replacement. (That whole story is in the general section). The mids hit very hard and make all my mirrors vibrate and even with the sub, they integrate well for me. I have found that having the sub gain almost completely down during calibration (then turning up after calibration) provided the best bass in the doors and sub itself for me.
> 
> I will try mixing up the gains and see where that gets me. Hopefully somewhere better than i'm at now. Thanks!


Yeah maybe try turning your tweet gain down. For the record, I don't mess with my gains after calibration (except for the sub a bit). I may try your trick of turning the mid gain down before calibration then back up to see if I can get more midbass with the sub integrated, good luck!


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## TheAlchemist9 (Apr 29, 2015)

Nice build.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

EcoHawk said:


> Nice build.


Thanks!


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

I'm having some better results with lowering my tweeter gains and raising the mid gains and calibrating at -40. In the first set of sweeps, are your tweeters really quiet compared to your doors? I feel like its too quiet and MS-8 is boosting the highs because of it.

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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Well it's been a little while, but I finally made some progress. Rigged up an amp rack out of MDF and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I may end up re-doing it with plywood since all I had was 1/2" mdf, but it seems fairly stiff. Please excuse the quick and crappy spray paint job on the mdf. I also put some rear speaker in the rear seat bolsters. 

I put the MS-8 under the passenger seat which was a PITA since I had to almost re-wire everything. It's done and I had a lot more room under the rear deck without it. Also, it's nice to have it in the cabin as I can reach the calibration microphone plug from the driver's seat. I also installed a bass knob for my Sundown amp for greater control.

I'm still having issues with this MS-8 (randomly resets with the screen plugged in), I tried a different cable for the screen this time so we'll see if that fixes the problem. Just odd that I've had the same issue with two new units. Harman said I could send it in for a replacement but I want to make sure I try everything before I swap it for a refurb.

Tomorrow I'll put the interior back together and fire everything back up.









































































On an unrelated note. I finally got around to cleaning my car exterior well for the first time since I got it. This is the first time I've ever used a silica based coating, it was a simple spray and wipe, wow, so easy to apply and the results are amazing. Relentless beading and shine. I'll never wax again.










Forgot to pay the dog tax earlier, so here's one of my big guy Geordi doin what he does best.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

Looks very nice. I originally wanted the ms8 under one seat and my p900.5 under the other. Glad I didn't go that route after all these months of playing with gains daily to find out what the ms8 likes. That rear deck came out awesome. 

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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

cms983 said:


> Looks very nice. I originally wanted the ms8 under one seat and my p900.5 under the other. Glad I didn't go that route after all these months of playing with gains daily to find out what the ms8 likes. That rear deck came out awesome.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk


Yup, that's exactly what kept me from putting my 900.4 under the driver's seat. There was no good way I could orient it and still have access to the gains, which like you said is crucial with all of the MS-8 tinkering. If I oriented it so that the gains faced the rear, the amp poked out too much for my taste. I ended up with it facing into the cabin so I can reach it from the back seats with the back folded down, that way I can level match the highs/lows.

I kinda regret going with the quick and dirty painted mdf cause it turned out to be a huge pain to wire that up on my back. Wish I had just bought some plywood and carpeted it. Oh well, live and learn, I've got a usable trunk and tunes at the moment, so I'm happy.


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## Babs (Jul 6, 2007)

Looking great. Silicate coating? Oh boy! Gotta research. 


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

bigjeep127 said:


> Yup, that's exactly what kept me from putting my 900.4 under the driver's seat. There was no good way I could orient it and still have access to the gains, which like you said is crucial with all of the MS-8 tinkering. If I oriented it so that the gains faced the rear, the amp poked out too much for my taste. I ended up with it facing into the cabin so I can reach it from the back seats with the back folded down, that way I can level match the highs/lows.
> 
> I kinda regret going with the quick and dirty painted mdf cause it turned out to be a huge pain to wire that up on my back. Wish I had just bought some plywood and carpeted it. Oh well, live and learn, I've got a usable trunk and tunes at the moment, so I'm happy.


Yeah I cut a piece of mdf and carpeted it. Excuse the mess, I don't have any new pics of the trunk. Won't see much when it's all tied up. It is great to just disconnect the sub and have the full trunk like you said.









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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

So good news (and a moment of bad news). I've been listening for a week with the screen plugged in and the MS-8 hasn't restarted once. So I'm very hopeful that the new screen cable fixed the issue. The bad news is that after a rush calibration I think I removed the microphone at the wrong time and I got the dreaded "jet engine" noise. Wow, that was scary. It's truly amazing how loud my tweeters got. Luckily I killed the car before they blew. The "jet engine" noise is well documented on the MS-8 thread. Though it's disappointing, I think it can be avoided in the future. I'm going to install a kill switch just in case if happens again.

I did a little more sound deadening/rattle control before putting everything back together.

The map lights were making noise during hard hitting bass. 










So were the seat belt height adjusters.










More foam and CLD on the rear deck










Some denim insulation behind the rear seat bolsters.










I also took the time to foam every plastic panel that touched metal. I wrapped all loose wires in CCF too.

So the rear speakers sound way better than I ever thought they would. Of course they're nothing like my front components when listened to on their own, but the range they have even with the seat upholstery covering them is great. I'm very happy I did this as I can keep the rear deck cut outs open (or completely seal it if I ever try out IB). When tuned with the MS-8 they do exactly what they should, I don't notice them at all but they do make everything sound fuller (the sound empties out a bit when I fade to front completely). I never got used to just having the front stage even after a few months of listening, I'm glad to have full sound back. I know some purists may disagree but I'm very happy with the results. I've got them crossed above 120 btw, per Andy's recommendation with the MS-8. 

I ditched the bass knob. Turns out I had the gains up too high on my amps and the bass knob just added distortion, I didn't like how it boosted anyways, was around 40-50 which is peaky in my car already. So as of now I'm at my best tune ever. Turning the amp gains down really made a difference. Having them too high just caused the MS-8 to cut the levels everywhere and put the amps at their clipping limit. The amps run considerably cooler now, especially the 4 channel, they're barely warm even after 30 minutes. So now I've got beautiful sound that I'm ecstatic about. The further sound deadening really helped the bass. I need to do a little bit more but I'm almost there.

Ironically the best tune I got was by following the MS-8 directions to the T. I think I was too influenced from the MS-8 thread and tried a lot of the "tricks" before just sticking with the basics. Simply put, I have everything level matched as well as I could without the amp gains turned up too much, this put the calibration level of the MS-8 around -30. All speakers were normal dialogue level and the subs were loud enough to clearly hear without adding and physical vibration. I didn't touch the gains after calibrating. I think I'm at a good balance with all of the levels, the stock HU sits around 20 for listening so I don't get any distortion from the stock internal amp, the MS-8 is at -10 so it feeds the amps a strong but not clipped signal. I bumped up the midbass a bit on the EQ but the subs crossed at 80 do a good job of blending in. More deadening will help further.

I've been reading a lot about infinite baffle lately and it's got me curious. But I think for now I'm just going to enjoy what I've got, sounds pretty damn good to me, I'm happy to have good results after all of this hard work. So I'm going to take a break, maybe I'll be back sooner than later if I get the itch. Hope you enjoyed!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Oh, and the amp rack is sturdy. It really helps to deaden the movement of the flimsy rear deck. I've got no worries regarding robustness as it stands, I may re-do it with plywood later just so I can carpet it and hide the wiring better. It's a fine resting point for now though.


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## FunkPnut (May 16, 2008)

Good job on the rack. Creative way to do standoffs from the rear deck.



bigjeep127 said:


> I've been reading a lot about infinite baffle lately and it's got me curious. But I think for now I'm just going to enjoy what I've got, sounds pretty damn good to me, I'm happy to have good results after all of this hard work. So I'm going to take a break, maybe I'll be back sooner than later if I get the itch. Hope you enjoyed!


I can confirm IB is awesome. Something to look into more seriously when you get the itch.

I'm getting a set of SI TM65's delivered today or tomorrow. How are you still liking those?


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

FunkPnut said:


> Good job on the rack. Creative way to do standoffs from the rear deck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I honestly haven't had a quality setup like this before and none of my friends are into car audio, so I have nothing to compare them to. The MS-8 still cuts the midbass when the subs are integrated but I did get them to sing finally when I calibrated without subs. Man, they sure do slam, like others have said. Beyond that, the mids are truly remarkable. My favorite thing to listen to is more acoustic sounding tracks like I said before, anything with a guitar just sounds so warm and realistic. I honestly find it hard to believe that mids can get much better than this, but again I don't have a ton of experience. I don't think you'll be dissaopointed.

I recently discovered (from what others say) that IB setups can give you BETTER range from your subs, not just better lows. Is this your experience? I've got acceptable midbass from the TM65's but a lot of midbass is coming from my subs, which the MS-8 does a good job with. If an IB setup will give me cleaner notes in the 60-100 range then I'm all for it. I like the SD-3's more and more but I'm sure it can get even better.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

cms983 said:


> Yeah I cut a piece of mdf and carpeted it. Excuse the mess, I don't have any new pics of the trunk. Won't see much when it's all tied up. It is great to just disconnect the sub and have the full trunk like you said.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks good! Save for the wiring 

What did you use as spacers? I just cut some PVC. Did you ever get the tune figured out with your MS-8? It really does seem to be all about getting the levels right.


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## FunkPnut (May 16, 2008)

Definitely excited to get those SI's in!

I crossover at 70Hz @ 24db, so although the sub is still playing those higher frequencies, I prefer to have my mid bass to take over as much of that as possible to keep the bass upfront.

You lose a bit of output around 50Hz because you don't have the peak of a small enclosure. I bumped mine up just a tad to bring it back. The sub to mid bass transition is smooth and blends very well.

Yeah if you like deep lows, an IB install can reproduce that without sounding strained. There's a lot of great content below 40Hz.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

FunkPnut said:


> Definitely excited to get those SI's in!
> 
> I crossover at 70Hz @ 24db, so although the sub is still playing those higher frequencies, I prefer to have my mid bass to take over as much of that as possible to keep the bass upfront.
> 
> ...


One big question I have about IB is this... a lot of folks on here go with 2-15's. I've never considered 2-15's in my life. I'm not a massive basshead, but I enjoy smooth, hard-hitting, SQ bass like most people. If I'm trying to get the best SQ, is 2-15's the way to go? Or is that just nuts? I'm thinking about duplicating this setup... 

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...ll-gallery/205857-2014-accord-ib-install.html

Another option would be to try out the 2-10's I already have, adding a third if needed. I read more and more that subs designed for small sealed boxes actually do really well in IB.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

*Re: My first &amp;quot;real&amp;quot; build! 2015 Accord Sport (pictures fixed!)*



bigjeep127 said:


> Looks good! Save for the wiring
> 
> What did you use as spacers? I just cut some PVC. Did you ever get the tune figured out with your MS-8? It really does seem to be all about getting the levels right.


The wiring should be cleaned up this weekend. I bought some 1/4 nylon standoffs from home Depot. They're in the drawers in the bolt /screw aisle. And no, still screwing with this ms8. Almost tempted to put it all back to stock I'm so frustrated. I experienced that jet engine noise as well. It fried one of my tweeters. This ms8 hates me lol

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## FunkPnut (May 16, 2008)

This is my first go on IB, so my experience is limited, but good.

I'll leave it to more experienced IB'ers to answer your questions:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/2612370-post11.html

sqshoestring also has a lot of great insight on the topic as well.

I believe I modeled my particular sub and it has the about 1.6-1.7 times the output of other 15's in IB, so I am satisfied with a single 15.

But no, you're not crazy. If I didn't already have the IDMAX15 I would've gone with a pair of AE SBP15's, which I'll jump to in the spring.

The less work your speakers need to do to get the output that you desire, the cleaner it will sound.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

FunkPnut said:


> The less work your speakers need to do to get the output that you desire, the cleaner it will sound.


This makes sense. Considering those SBP15's are considered "wide bandwidth bass drivers" in the home audio world I can understand their allure. I've really got to find someone in the Atlanta area who has them.

I'm very tempted to order 2 and if they don't work out in the car I'll use them in my house


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## FunkPnut (May 16, 2008)

Well I'm not trying to convince you to spend more money, but the guy that I bought my IDMAX from swapped it out with a pair AE SBP15's... they'll work out.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

FunkPnut said:


> Well I'm not trying to convince you to spend more money, but the guy that I bought my IDMAX from swapped it out with a pair AE SBP15's... they'll work out.


Don't worry, you don't have to convince me to spend more money, that's what this hobby is all about. I had been eyeing them all along anyways. I may try out the SD-3's first in IB, I can always open up the cutout later.


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## soundstreamer (Jun 2, 2015)

Love the look of your install. Thinking about getting the same tweeters to use in my build.

Have you had any trouble with your amps overheating since they are upside down? Or since they are class D you don't have much heat? Would like to do this myself just worried about damaging my amp.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

soundstreamer said:


> Love the look of your install. Thinking about getting the same tweeters to use in my build.
> 
> Have you had any trouble with your amps overheating since they are upside down? Or since they are class D you don't have much heat? Would like to do this myself just worried about damaging my amp.


Thanks!

I've only had them there for a week but so far they're fine. They don't run hot at all. I was a little hesitant at first, but so many people here do the same thing, including high end shops. I think it would be fine but I'd say keep an eye on it at first. Maybe set them on spacers to let air get under.

Those tweeters are amazing for the price, I play them down to 2500 and they're great. Superb value.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

*Re: My first &quot;real&quot; build! 2015 Accord Sport (pictures fixed!)*

My p900.5 mounted on that same spot gets pretty hot sometimes. I was in Vegas a few months back and it got so hot that the amp was in protect mode for the first 3 hours of a 4.5 hour drive home. Talk about a boring ride without tunes. It was 115 degrees and I did have luggage in the trunk plus my trunk is stuffed to the max with denim insulation so it doesn't really get to breath at all. 

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## soundstreamer (Jun 2, 2015)

I usually dont have to deal with really hot weather here but on occasion it does. If I do try it I will for sure put some spacers in place. I've got a soundstream pn4.1000d I will have the mids running at 2 ohm and the tweeters at either 4 or 8 ohm. Will probably try regular vertical mounting first and see how warm it gets.


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## soundstreamer (Jun 2, 2015)

I forgot to ask how difficult was it to get the rings to come off the tweeters? I will probably have to do the same thing to get them to fit behind my factory sail panels.

Also noticed you have the tweets crossed at 2500khz. What crossover slope are you using and do you have the TM65's playing all the way up to 2500 as well?

Really appreciate your input and glad to see someone else having the same idea I do.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

soundstreamer said:


> I forgot to ask how difficult was it to get the rings to come off the tweeters? I will probably have to do the same thing to get them to fit behind my factory sail panels.
> 
> Also noticed you have the tweets crossed at 2500khz. What crossover slope are you using and do you have the TM65's playing all the way up to 2500 as well?
> 
> Really appreciate your input and glad to see someone else having the same idea I do.


It wasn't hard at all actually. I started by cutting the visible glue seal with an X-acto knife the best I could, then a little bit of heat from my heat gun and they pulled away. I can't remember but there may have been a tab that locked it in place and required a bit of a twist to unlock it first, or it may have just pulled off. Just work it and it should be obvious. I did have to spend a good bit of time scraping excess glue off the tweeter. Keep an eye on the terminals though, the voice coil wires are underneath some glue as well.

Do you have the same model accord? I did have to grind down some of the flange/tabs on the tweeters to get them to fit. Then a bunch of high temp hot glue held them nicely. I don't have grills though and they're unprotected, so if I had to do it again I may try and customize the sail panels with some bondo to integrate the grill/flange. They look good though.

Yup, MS-8 cross between the mids/tweets is 2500 at 24db slope. I went a little higher and the tm65s didn't sound quite as good. I think the MS-8 handles crossovers a little different than manually tuned processors, so YMMV. I may be able to go a little lower on the tweets but I feel it sounds great now, think I hit the sweet spot right off the bat. The TM65's play everything up to 2500 beautifully so I don't think there's any advantage to having the tweeters go lower (my inexperienced opinion). For the price, these tweeters rock. I do hear them breakup/resonate a slight amount on about 2% of the songs I listen to, some high pitched piano notes. I don't know if it's the tweeters or if the sails are resonating. It's not enough to bother me though, I've considered upgrading to scanspeak based on what people here say, but I'm not sure if they're worth the extra cost. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all in this pair of drivers, just deaden the doors well!


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## soundstreamer (Jun 2, 2015)

That doesn't sound to bad to do. Just takes some time and being careful. I am also a little worried as well about damaging the cone if I remove the grill as I plan on install it as close the sail panel cover as I can. I'm just trying to decide between the NE25VTS or the Morel MDT12. 

No I don't have an accord I have a Ford Fusion but the install will be pretty similar. I just dont have much mounting depth behind the sail panel which is why I'm also looking at the Morel. I do have the doors deadened fairly well but will probably need to add some more once I install the TM65's. I still get a little bit of vibration around the door handle and power window switch areas.

I'm going to be using the time alignment in my Pioneer head unit so I will not as much control as the MS8 but should be enough since this is my first time trying an active system. I like the idea of crossing around 2500. I will have to try some different things out whenever I get them installed. Thanks for all your information it's been really helpful!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Welp, I'm going infinite baffle. Ordered 2 of these today. 

Dayton Audio RSS390HF-4 15" Reference HF Subwoofer 4 Ohm

I'm probably a moron for ordering another pair of subs considering my setup sounds amazing, but I can't just leave well enough alone. It will probably be a little while before I get them in, busy holiday season combined with work travel will limit the time I have to work on it. I'll update as soon as there's something to report!


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## credible (Sep 1, 2014)

Fantastic stuff, though I am still in shock that after all the work you folks put into these systems that you don't put fans where ever you can, any electronic equipment works and lasts longer with less heat.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

credible said:


> Fantastic stuff, though I am still in shock that after all the work you folks put into these systems that you don't put fans where ever you can, any electronic equipment works and lasts longer with less heat.


Thanks!

Regarding fans, after 30 minutes of hard playing these amps don't even get warm. I've got a ton of headroom. I actually did put one in when I thought I was having heat issues with the MS-8 (not an issue now as it's not in the trunk anymore) and it just added noise.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

Yeah the precision power amps definitely don't run hot. Now whether they work right or not is luck of the draw. I've had a few brands of amps over the past years and none of them have gotten hot off of their own power. Just from summer heat but that didn't stop them from pounding either.

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## credible (Sep 1, 2014)

cms983 said:


> Yeah the precision power amps definitely don't run hot. Now whether they work right or not is luck of the draw. I've had a few brands of amps over the past years and none of them have gotten hot off of their own power. Just from summer heat but that didn't stop them from pounding either.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk



Kind of funny you should mention the PPI amps, clearly you are speaking about bigjeeps 4 channel, well I just got into car audio again after over 20 years and last year bought a 5 channel phantom after lots of research and thought I had made a mistake but did not take into account the summer, lol.

It was literally a 40 degree day and coming home from work it went into protect, long story short I blamed the CDT's speakers and the car speaker wiring as I was running everything at 2 ohms...so what did i do, get new Image Dynamics, put in 2 fans and also ran new 14 gauge speaker wire, lol, what a pita that it getting it into the doors of my 2013 Dodge Dart, but well worth it and not an issue since.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

credible said:


> Kind of funny you should mention the PPI amps, clearly you are speaking about bigjeeps 4 channel, well I just got into car audio again after over 20 years and last year bought a 5 channel phantom after lots of research and thought I had made a mistake but did not take into account the summer, lol.
> 
> It was literally a 40 degree day and coming home from work it went into protect, long story short I blamed the CDT's speakers and the car speaker wiring as I was running everything at 2 ohms...so what did i do, get new Image Dynamics, put in 2 fans and also ran new 14 gauge speaker wire, lol, what a pita that it getting it into the doors of my 2013 Dodge Dart, but well worth it and not an issue since.


I have gone through 2 ppi phantom p900.5 and both made god awful noises when they powered on. From static to squealing, it does it all. Got tired of hanging upside down in my trunk trying to find a good one so I went back to my old Rockford p450.4 and it's so quiet now. I really wanted that p900.5 to work, I still do but oh well.

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## credible (Sep 1, 2014)

I have to be honest thats what scares me as well, then you factor in buying a second one and I may as well have just saved up for an Arc Audio or Memphis belle, boy those look quite nice


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

credible said:


> I have to be honest thats what scares me as well, then you factor in buying a second one and I may as well have just saved up for an Arc Audio or Memphis belle, boy those look quite nice


Yeah. I made the mistake of buying the first p900.5 from Amazon. Independent seller, 30 day return. Had to cut my losses on that one. Lesson learned, don't buy electronics from Amazon. The second one is from sonic so I can send it back and get a refund thankfully. I should have bought the Polk audio version for $100 more and it would have probably came standard with quality control. For now I went back to my trusty Rockford amps (p450.4 4 channel and an R500-1d for the sub). Nice, quiet and I can also hear my sub now unlike with the p900.5's sub channel which is nice.

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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

I can't speak for the 900.5 but I got the 900.4 after reading lots of good things about it on this forum. So far so good, and at such a low price I'm not going to lose sleep over it. If it starts acting up that'll be a good excuse to get something fancy. The Sundown amp wasn't exactly cheap though, but I'll be stressing it even less with my IB setup.

It's funny how we want to go cheap when we're starting a new build since we're buying everything at once, but piece by piece we upgrade later on 

In all seriousness, the 900.4 seems to a great value so far. I may ditch the amp rack if I decide to make a false floor when I go IB though, I'm wondering if I'll need to worry about cooling then. I plan on putting some expanded metal over it to let it breathe.


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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

I'm sure it may get a little warm under the floor. I know what you mean about spending more later. I'm debating on the 900.4 since the rf 450.4 is a little under powered compared to the ppi. 900.4 is alot smaller too and more efficient being a class d. Ugh, decisions 

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## cms983 (Jul 11, 2015)

I know you mentioned before that you didn't mess with your gains after calibration. If you don't mind, could you go into ms-8s hidden menu,( FIRST TURN THE VOLUME DOWN ON MS8 SO YOU DON'T FRY THE TWEETERS) then to output diagnostics, and get a db reading from your left tweeter and left mid with that pink noise at the volume you calibrated with. I'm still having trouble getting levels right. I just want to see how much quieter your tweeter is than your mids. I use an app called sound better on Android. I think apple has it too. If you have a free minute some time, I'd appreciate it.

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## Golden Ear (Oct 14, 2012)

Nice build! Thanks for sharing about the xt60 connectors. I ordered some for my own build because I was looking for something better than blade connectors also. Good luck with the ib install. I've heard quite a few ib setups and really liked them.


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## NIU_Huskies (Feb 24, 2011)

Very impressive install so far! Great job.


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Figured I'd give a final update. I've decided to sell the car. Nothing wrong with the car at all and definitely nothing wrong with the sound. I just decided to get a truck, have been thinking about a truck for a while and Honda came out with the new Ridgeline and I fell in love.

As for this project, I ended up loving the final result. I can't remember what I wrote here and don't feel like going back through, so here it is for those interested. I ended up getting the best tune with the MS-8 by setting it up as a 3 way and using the "low" channels for the subs. This gave me the best midbass and got rid of the bass delay I was having by doing 2-way plus sub. I tweaked the graphic EQ a bit to get the sound I liked and set it and forgot it. Good luck to those who use the MS-8, it really is worth it once you learn the quirks. I really really fought with the idea of taking it out and putting it in my new truck but these days I just don't have time for another project like that. The Ridgeline sound is HORRIBLE in comparison, lol. I'm just gonna have to listen to more audiobooks  Happy tuning!


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

I really like the new Ridgelines too. How would you compare the amount of road noise in the ridgeline compared to the accord?


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## Locomotive Tech (May 23, 2016)

Hey good luck with the new wheels, the Ridgeline is a nice piece!

And thank you for your build log, I found a lot of useful tips here and I am glad you ended up with what you were attempting.

Will keep an eye out for a Ridgline build log soon......audiobooks only go so far!


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Truthunter said:


> I really like the new Ridgelines too. How would you compare the amount of road noise in the ridgeline compared to the accord?


My Accord was pretty quiet after all the work I did, but the RL is quieter than the Accord from stock. I've got the RTL-T with the acoustic windshield. I really really like it a lot, so much practicality. I'm hoping it puts an end to my constant buying/selling cars


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## bigjeep127 (May 12, 2013)

Locomotive Tech said:


> Hey good luck with the new wheels, the Ridgeline is a nice piece!
> 
> And thank you for your build log, I found a lot of useful tips here and I am glad you ended up with what you were attempting.
> 
> Will keep an eye out for a Ridgline build log soon......audiobooks only go so far!


Haha, thanks for the kind words. You may be right. I doubt I'll be able to leave it alone


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## lincoln88 (Sep 24, 2016)

Great build man, sorry to hear your selling it but it's always fun getting a new whip.

I'm thinking of throwing a pair of those TM65's in my EX, but I'm worried about volume since they are 2db less efficient than what I'm running now. I only have a little over 100w RMS per channel to play with, but I could bridge to 200w and buy another amp for the tweets. Do those TM65'S need a decent amount of power?


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