# 2017 Compass Build; JL C7 3-way, FiX-86/TwK-88, HD amps



## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Well it’s about time I document the build that I have been working on for some time now. I still haven’t been able to listen and tune as the installation in still in progress but I look forward to getting things all wrapped up!

The ride is a 2017 Jeep Compass Limited with the 8.4” U-Connect system w/CarPlay (without the Beats/amplified system) that I purchased new (at 30k miles currently). The stock audio package is pretty terrible, and after getting approval from the GF I have been working diligently on weekends and after work to try and create a factory-ish look with zero compromises in terms of rear cargo area (unless you consider not having a spare tire a compromise!)


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Jeep Compass


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Door reinforcement/sealing and CLD/MLV installation:


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

HDPE adapter/baffle and door card treatment


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Apillar fabrication


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Wrapped/glassed and test fit only to decide to place the tweeters a bit more on-axis:


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Apillar shaping/sanding and finishing with SEM textured paint. I sprayed at 15” and then sanded with 1000 grit for the final texture:


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

After painting with “trim-black” final color and test fitting midrange/tweeter:


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## Truthunter (Jun 15, 2015)

Nice work here. I like how you added the reinforcing ribs on the plastic door insert.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Apillars installed!


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## bluesman1 (Mar 2, 2010)

Nicely done.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Really nice work.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

A goal for this project was to conceal all audio electronics and the subwoofer enclosure in the largely unoccupied volume where a spare tire should be. At first I was planning on using a single 12W6v3 powered by a 750/1 but I was not able to fit the 12 without increasing the rear deck height; Since my labradoodle already has to stoop while standing with the current deck height in the Compass I decided to change the plan and bought two 10W6v3’s and a 1200/1 for power. 

Below are some terrible pictures taken with my phone of my work monitor of the planned build (a nice perk of the job!). I modeled the volume that I had (and was willing to give up!) and sent a basic drawing package off the AD Designs to have Pete work up an optimized solution to my needs. The end result was a 4th order bass reflex enclosure that takes full advantage of the space available while still being relatively easy to fabricate save for a few tricky cuts/intersections:


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

The enclosure is pretty close to being ready (shown as a dry assembly). Just need to finish the vent corners and glue it up as well as cut the speaker baffle for the subs.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

For some reason composite vent corners seemed like a good use of my time; Pete’s design calls for 45’s in the corners leading to the nominal port length but I figured that a smoother transition would be even better, or at least hopefully no worse!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Pics this time?


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Amp rack wire management and running the speaker wire for the front stage, factory line-level signal back to the FiX-86 and remote etc.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Some DIY RCA’s were in order due to the close proximity of the FiX/TwK/Amps. Cardas 2x21 cable and Canare F-10 connecters were used.


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## OCD66 (Apr 2, 2017)

Killer build.


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## GreatLaBroski (Jan 20, 2018)

Excellent work so far, love the project!


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## rob3980 (Jun 11, 2010)

Amwesome work so far man. Can’t wait to see the finished product.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

LOVE it! You've done an amazing job with the install already, am very excited to see more and read your thoughts about those C7 speakers.


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## Blu (Nov 3, 2008)

Great work so far! Watching with interest as I have some similar challenges to work around (Canine companions).

Please post a photo of your Labradoodle


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Thanks for all the compliments guys, this is my first real install other than applying sound treatment on my previous Jeep so it has been a great learning experience. I really enjoy the fabrication side of this project and don’t mind taking it slow, listening to it at the end (is there ever and end?!) will be nice but I’m also not willing to comprimise anything on the install or cut corners to get there a few weeks sooner.

Emma the labradoodle is my trail dog and a large reason for making efforts to maintain the deck height. It’s actually looking like my enclosure will give here another 1/2” of vertical over the standard deck height so I’m pretty happy about that!


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## BlueAc (May 19, 2007)

Looks professional... at least from these amateur eyes lol. Nice work!


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## mattkim1337 (Jan 31, 2018)

So are you an installer, or were you one in the past? Your fabrication and attention to detail is pretty great for a diyer.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

mattkim1337 said:


> So are you an installer, or were you one in the past? Your fabrication and attention to detail is pretty great for a diyer.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk


Nope, I'm just a guy who likes to obsess over the details; I'm a ME/MFG engineer by trade and have always enjoyed making stuff, particularly things that are functional while being aesthetically pleasing.


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## ToNasty (Jan 23, 2013)

shizzon said:


> Amp rack wire management and running the speaker wire for the front stage, factory line-level signal back to the FiX-86 and remote etc.


Where did you get that distro from?


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

ToNasty said:


> Where did you get that distro from?


Power connections/wire are all JL Audio; the distribution block is JL's XD-PDBU-3X.

All components used are outlined in the attached system diagram:


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## ToNasty (Jan 23, 2013)

shizzon said:


> ToNasty said:
> 
> 
> > Where did you get that distro from?
> ...


Image is "broken"


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

I’m impressed. In fact I’m really, really impressed. Very nice attention to detail there.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

It has been a while since I posted last but I have slowly been making progress on my Compass Build and am getting pretty close to being able to hear the fruits of my labor about a week!

I was not able to find an Odyssey battery that was a drop-in for my compass but the PC1230 technically fit in the volume available and only required a little bit of work to get the factory battery terminals (one of which has a built in fuses) to fit.

Going with the PC1230 with top and bottom connections allowed me to leave the top locations for factory wiring and just tap into the side mounts for my audio needs.

Positive and runs of 0 AWG go down behind the battery to the chassis to run back and pop out at the rear seat location; Also in view is the main fuse between the front and rear batteries which is conveniently held down by the factory battery retention strap. The two runs of bare 2 AWG are for charging system (big 3) and have yet to be terminated.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Here the + and - runs of 0 AWG can be seen running back using the factory fuel line guard as well as a view of the rear seating area without the seat cushion showing the power wires pop out of an access panel.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Some details of the JL DRC-205 remote's installation; I'm pretty happy with the location in terms of access and aesthetics:


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Also, I have completely redesigned the amp rack layout for optimized wire routing and component access.

The mount for the JL Fix/TwK units easily removable to access the goods underneath (fuses, terminals etc.) as it is retained via magnets and alignment posts. In the last pic the second layer (with the bit of cosmetic carbon) stays fixed to the amp rac and the upper MDF piece removes easily.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

And here it is all installed. Its hard to not make this area look cluttered with all of the gear packed in but I don't hate it.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Some close up shots:


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## court (Feb 7, 2017)

Nice build


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Great attention to detail.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

Nice work man! I’m a fan of the JL FIX and TwK myself.


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## saltyone (Feb 2, 2019)

Very nice! Well done! What do you think about the FiX and TwK? I love mine, but I’m actually about to replace my fix 82 with the new PAC amp pro for 8.4” non-alpine Uconnects. I have the LSA-4 also, and the only weakness of my system currently may be that it’s just a tad “muddy”. There’s zero noise at any volume level...and hopefully that doesn’t change. I’ll run the PAC directly to the TwK via optical cable.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Believe it or not I have yet to finalize the install and listen to the system so my reports on the FiX/TwK are limited to using the demo software that JL offers whichI have found it to be pretty intuitive and easy to understand for a first-time DSP/Active user.

The good news is the wait should be over (at least to hear my front stage, sub is delayed a bit) soon as I scheduled my final “instal” for Tuesday at the JL dealer I bought the heat from. For the most part they are connecting the wires I ran from the LSA-4/FiX inputs to the Uconnect speaker outputs. This will prevent this from being a true DIY install but I have gift certificates to the shop from Christmas and am not wanting to open up the dash to so I’m going to have them finish it off.

Bad news is that I broke my left pinky finger my accidentally punching a tree on a MTB ride Wednesday evening. This has definitely slowed my progress on the final steps that I wanted to complete before handing my rig over to the shop...


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Details of the +\- 0 AWG runs exiting a factory grommet under the rear seat and running to the secondary Odyssey. It was nice to have the access panned in this location for running power wire!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Here the magnetic base and general fuse access with the FiX/TwK mount removed.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

The whole reason for the magnetic FiX/TwK mount is because my placement of the amps prevents access to the settings panels!

So, with only two fasteners in front of the amps removed the amps slide out and give access to the needed settings (with the DSP unit I imagine this will be infrequent but still necessary!). 

The back of the amps are retained having the optional attachment “ears” slide into receptacles that I build out of layered ABS. This actually ends up retaining the stack of amps pretty damn well while making it relatively easy to access the panels if needed (at least without the sub enclosure!).


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

I borrowed the label maker from work and made sure that everything was properly identified.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Good grief about the pinky finger! Geez, that is terrible my friend. But I can't tell where it's slowed up some amazing progress at all! Simply stunning work still!


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## mfenske (Feb 7, 2006)

This build upsets me because I now feel like a talent-less hack. Also, Reggie the Labradoodle says hi to Emma.


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## saltyone (Feb 2, 2019)

Looking great!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Build update: after a bit of turmoil and additional delay I finally have a working front stage! 

I had the components hooked up to the factory outputs by the shop I purchased the gear from and had two days of listening and tuning before I managed to short the TwK88 ?! 

I was installing a cooling fan/plenum and controller under the amp rack (a different version is shown below) and had a screwdriver make contact between 12V+ on the barrier strip and the metal strain relief of one of the output RCA’s. I saw a spark and then had no diagnostic lights on the TwK88 or sound. Chalk this up the the noob factor for having that barrier strip live while doing the work...

Luckily JL warrantied the unit and I’m back in action! I used the wait to reconfigure the amp rack so that both seats now fold down without moving the battery or amp stack. Unfortunately this change will require a redesign of the sub enclosure (that I already have cut, but not assembled). I’m going to see if I can work some magic to account for the volume change with the reduction in length to preserve tuning but I d also considering my options and may even consider a sealed alignment.

Now for the listening impressions, and it wouldn’t be in theme with this build if there wasn’t some strife involved. First of all, when the Compass was originally picked up after the final hookup the gentleman who did the tune said that he didn’t like it much when he first started and that it took a bit off “tweaking” to get it to a place that he liked it. He also stated that he tried time alignment and didn’t like it so the tune I went home with had no TA. 

As an excited and assuredly bias DIY enthusiasts I was trying hard to enjoy the setup but (even after going home and adding/making a tune with TA based on measured driver distances). TA created a more focused center image but things still weren’t quite right. 

I then proceeded to pull out the UMM-6 microphone and downloaded REW to attempt to go through the tutorial posted by SkizeR and noticed some oddities when I tried to measure the tweeters; when playing pink noise through what should have been the driver tweeter I noticed that the frequency response was severely truncated (sorry, no images, but it fell off a cliff above 11kHz). Crossover settings were pretty much to JL spec at this point (C7-100ct Tweeter High-Pass: 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley @ 4500 Hz. C7-350cm Midrange High-Pass: 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley @ 480 Hz Low-Pass: 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley @ 3500 Hz) and the passenger side tweeter showed a similar response. I then tested the left and right midranges to measure erratic and peaky response that had extended up to 14kHz!

My tweeter and Midrange drivers were been sent the wrong signals!! In my quest to have the cleanest RCA routing I made it so that channels A/B were for the Midrange drivers and the A/B channels were for the tweeters; this is not very logical and I did not express this detail with the shop installers so I don’t really blame them. 
With things corrected in the DSP as far as crossover settings go for the respective drivers I got responses that much more in line witch what is expected and that’s about as fast as I have gotten!

The question is, how did the tweeters fair in dealing with a High-Pass setting of 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley @ 480 Hz Low-Pass: 24 dB/octave Linkwitz-Riley @ 3500 Hz!?!?

I DID have JL’s protection capacitor in line so perhaps damage shouldn’t be an issue? I will be taking measurements and presenting data when I can get around to it but I’m hoping that I don’t have to replace these things!

More build and tune updates will follow as progress occurs, but for now I’m a happy camper with some tunes in my daily driver! Now I just need to verify that the tweeters aren’t compromised. 

I will say that with just the TA (and the right signals being sent to the right drivers!) I am pretty ecstatic with the sound prior to driver break-in. I’m not one to use the correct terminology or even truly know what to look for but the sound is very pleasing as is and it is exciting to know that there is likely a lot left on the floor in terms of room for improvement with the tune. I am getting decent center (perhaps it could be tighter?) of windshield placement in terms of vertical/horizontal and some fun imaging. I don’t have anything worth while to compare too but the C7 mid-bass drivers in the doors are sounding very healthy on the bridged 600/4; very tight, detailed, and authoritative. It seems like lost of my door preparation is doing its job but I am getting one of two slight rattles on semi-continuous notes out of the driver side. The tweeter and midrange play seamlessly together and (first time 3-way for me!) and truly a delight on the select tracks that I have auditioned. Even the lowest/deepest male vocals are located above the dash and with so much depth, again, perhaps a bit broad but I’m sure this could be improved upon.

That’s it for tonight!


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## Gas Is Expensive (Aug 26, 2008)

Damn it. How am I only just now discovering this thread? Nice work dude. I have a 2018 Compass Limited with the 8.4 Uconnect (no Beats) and have been searching everywhere for someone else doing a build in the same vehicle. My install is pretty much done, and nowhere near as complex as yours, but I'm extremely happy with it at this point. Wish I had the patience and time to do a true pillar build, but I ended up with Audiofrog GS25's in the stock dash locations, SB Acoustics SB29 tweeters in pods mounted to the pillars, Audiofrog GS690's in the doors on midbass duties and a single 12W6v2 sub.

Any chance you can walk me through removing the rear seat cushion? I'd like to reroute some wiring, and that would be a tremendous help. Not sure why I haven't been able to figure out how to remove it, but it feels like I'm going to break something when I try pulling it up. All of my previous vehicles had easily removable rear seat cushions. Perhaps I'm not tugging hard enough? Or are there clips/fasteners that I need to detach? TIA!


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## Chris12 (Sep 20, 2018)

shizzon said:


> Some details of the JL DRC-205 remote's installation; I'm pretty happy with the location in terms of access and aesthetics:


Awesome attention to detail. I know how much time it takes for each extra step (like mounting the bass knob near the ignition switch, but still out of sight.)

Nice work!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Thanks for the compliments! The build continues...

I had some rattles going on in the already well treated doors and was looking for an excuse to try some Resonix products; so I pulled in a decent order of CLD (sheets and squares) and CCF (5 and 10mm). All of the products were great to work with and of high quality, would buy again!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

I made some good progress on the enclosure these past couple weeks, I’m nearly ready to apply the DuraTex coating but will need to spend some time filling fastener holes and sanding etc.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

I’m pretty happy with the fitment in the available area.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

The gear is packed in pretty tight! There will be mesh inserts to cover the “vent holes”, just waiting on materials.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

If you have been following this build you may recall that originally I had an enclosure designed for my available space and even had all of my pieces cut for assembly when I found out that the placement of my amplifier stack and secondary battery would prevent me from being able to lay the back seats flat.

I decided that this was not something I wanted to live with, so I have recommissioned most of the cut pieces (essentially reducing the enclosure length by two inches and removing ports) to yield a nominally sealed enclosure with an internal volume of approximately 2.65ft^3 after driver displacement. 

WinSD shows this configuration to yield a QTC of .649 and a Fsc of 40.77 Hz: a volume reducing plug could be installed to reduce the effective volume to 2.38ft^3 (QTC of .662 amd Fsc of 41.7) id desired. Alternatively, Polyfil could be used to increase the effective enclosure volume, but i'm not sure if this should be considered due to the un-stuffed Qtc of .649.

For fun I have designed a modular plug that will allow for me to not only adjust the effective volume of the sealed enclosure but also allow for the installation of a 6" ID flared port for when I feel like getting a bit louder and don't the hit to cargo space. For this configuration, internal volume would be fixed at 2.65ft^3 and tuning frequency would be determined by the length of (port used since the port is external to the enclosure volume). 

Without Polyfil, a 24in port length should result in a 31 Hz tuning frequency; based on some preliminary research (https://www.glasswolf.net/papers/polyfill.html) it is looking like I may be able to achieve a sub 30Hz tune with a port length of less than 20" if i achieve a stuffing density of approximately .85 lb/ft^3.


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## Gas Is Expensive (Aug 26, 2008)

Wow.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

I received my 6” flare port the other day and contemplated placement before ultimately deciding on going with front left side next to the secondary battery. 

Still need to fabricate the port-hole cover for the sealed configuration; one things for sure, the ported option will not be low key!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

I might just get to fire up the subs tomorrow if I manage to get enough time in. I’m happy with the result of the textured coating, it seams like it shouldn’t be too difficult to clean off. I may even sand it with some 800 on the top to break the sharp edges for even easier cleanup.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Wow! After two days of working nonstop over the weekend I finally have bass! 

And it sounds good (if you ignore the panel rattles). The pair of 10’s with the periscope port are having no problem hitting the lows (though I did start with basically the maximum port length that I can fit at about 2.5 inches from the ceiling). A 30 hz test tone was pretty ridiculous and mainstream rap/EDM baselines were impressive to say the least. 

No tuning or anything has taken place, I just hooked up power to the amplifier and connected the speakers wires and it worked; to be honest I don’t even know what the settings look like in the TwK. 

I spent some time preparing for the enclosures arrival by redoing my wire identification and adding through holes in the amp rack and guides/bumpers for the speaker wires to improve wire management. The white wire guides also prevent the enclosure from crushing the speaker wire on the aluminum amp rack corner.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Freakin awesome, man! I've never seen anything like it, but I can dig it! Really clean work, too.


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## JohnnyOhh (Feb 19, 2015)

Your works looks awesome! Super cool set-up/build. Great job. Are you going to paint your port or anything? Probably tune it in & trunk liner it or something?


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## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

Nice car, nice build with lots of attention to details, nice bikes, nice dog,.......


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

DavidRam said:


> Freakin awesome, man! I've never seen anything like it, but I can dig it! Really clean work, too.


Thanks! It has been quite the journey and a lot of fun. 



JohnnyOhh said:


> Your works looks awesome! Super cool set-up/build. Great job. Are you going to paint your port or anything? Probably tune it in & trunk liner it or something?


Eventually I will finalize the port length and bond the segments together followed by paint, perhaps the same textured coating as the nominal enclosure. For now I’m going to go with tape so that I can play with the tuning.



LBaudio said:


> Nice car, nice build with lots of attention to details, nice bikes, nice dog,.......<img src="http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Big Grin" class="inlineimg" />


Now it’s time to get a nice tune ?.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

And finally some measurements of the periscope port enclosure! All measurements are with the 26.5" port length (including flare), and no polyfil.

I was able to get rid of a decent peak at 49 Hz and am happy with the low end extension; though based on the solid performance down to 25 Hz im wondering if I could afford to reduce the port length a bit? 

Is it worth trying to improve the response in the 45-52 Hz region when viewed in 1/12 octave?

Apologies in advance for what I'm sure are poor REW graph settings/parameters for viewing/analysis, let me know what to change for the next set of tuning tests!


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Since I have attempted to create a highly configurable enclosure I figured I would post the theoretical performance envelope of the system in the sealed and vented configurations. 

I have yet to try the enclosure sealed, and will be attempting to fabricate a plug this weekend, but I am excited to see if I will be able to shorten the vent length (while maintaining the same basic tuning frequency) with the addition of polyfil.

I will be attempting to now go about tuning my front stage in earnest and will post response graphs (and i'm sure questions for those more experience than I) as I make progress.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Some progress was made over Thanksgiving on the amp cover and I’m happy to say I have a functioning cargo area again!


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Wow, this is essentially quite similar to the refresh I’m doing this year on my GC. C7’s with 2 HD 600/4’s and 10w6’s (I have HD750’s but may just use a HD1200/1 for simplicity). As others have said, amazing work! Personally I would have liked to see your 4th order bandpass box results but I’m definitely looking forward to your thoughts on the c7’s once tuning is set.


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## few35t (Dec 10, 2014)

sub'd


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Your right about that being a pretty similar setup! The C7’s are sounding beautiful to my untrained ears, but then again I don’t have much to compare them in the car audio world. With Tracerite TA and REW/RTA tuning I’m getting a strong center image/soundstage and am enjoying all types of music through the system.

Small system update. I picked up a Fiio M11 Pro as my primary source via the digital/coax input on the TwK. Initially I was going to get all fancy and make a custom holder/charging station in the limited area that I have but I ended up just using a compact magnetic cell phone mount. The cable is routed under the center console through a factory hole with excess cable inside of I want to grab the DAP for a closer look. 

The Fiio has been serving me well (both in the car and in driving my Sony over ear headphones) and is sounding great while making for pretty easy access to my music collection and streaming services. The FiX corrected factory output has its own preset/setting in the TwK that I can toggle to on the fly for phone calls or audio from cell phones etc.

In other news I have finalized the port length at 26.5” and bonded the segments together. After bonding I wrapped the outer wall with a layer of Resonix CLD sheet followed by several coats of Second Skin spectrum. In terms of the enclosure I still need to order some mesh material to cover the floor vents but I don’t hate it without them so I'm not in a huge rush. I also plan on installing some LED strip lighting under the overhang of the enclosure to provide some (hopefully) cool indirect lighting when desired.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Since the enclosure must be removed to access the amplifier gains I justified replacing the terminal with the new magnetic version the SMD offers. If anyone is interested In the standard copper version that I removed( I have two, on NIB) let me know!.

While the box was out I wired in a LED strip with smart phone control to provide lighting effects in the back when desired. Not too shabby!


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## mrmill (Feb 11, 2013)

Great read, Great install...I love the periscope port, looks like your subs are ready to roll coal.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

mrmill said:


> Great read, Great install...I love the periscope port, looks like your subs are ready to roll coal.


Thanks! It’s been a journey for sure! Still work to do on many fronts but it’s getting there!

The port has grown on me for sure; rolling coal from this chimney would be an expensive one time affair though .


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## fatstrat (Jul 12, 2019)

shizzon said:


> Thanks! It’s been a journey for sure! Still work to do on many fronts but it’s getting there!
> 
> The port has grown on me for sure; rolling coal from this chimney would be an expensive one time affair though .


This is the best build I have seen so far. Your patience and attention to detail are next to none. Even your explanations and photos are very detailed. I have 3 way C7's ordered and your build gives me the inspiration to take my time to do things right. Thanks for sharing this awesome build.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

fatstrat said:


> This is the best build I have seen so far. Your patience and attention to detail are next to none. Even your explanations and photos are very detailed. I have 3 way C7's ordered and your build gives me the inspiration to take my time to do things right. Thanks for sharing this awesome build.


It's great to hear that some of my work and progress on this install might be helpful to someone who is about to take on a similar endeavor; to be honest, I didn't know the mountain of work that I was getting into when I started but the process has been therapeutic and a great learning experience.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

And finally some REW plots of the install and C7 front stage! I have been using Jazzi's tuning guide spreadsheet and have tuned to the "Jazzi" house curve over the weekend in a fairly course first pass tune. I have had other tunes in the car before in which I did not utilize a house curve and was able to get to a place that was quite enjoyable but I am not one to leave things alone.

I'm sure that the plots aren't "best practice" in terms of the settings used (1/6 octave smoothing used while in RTA, it sounds like most smooth after the fact?) and perhaps the scales aren't the best but here is a snapshot of where I am at with the system. Improved tune and measurements to follow.

Of note, in order to get the desired acoustic responses of the drivers I have settled on crossover settings/slopes that are quite different for the MR. Driver side I landed on 425-24LR HP and 6000-24LR LP while the passenger side ended up at 650-12LR HP and 5250-24LR LP. Perhaps this is the result of my A-Pillars being different as I have sealed up one side and treated it with Resonix while the other side (passenger) is still playing IB as I have not been able to update the passenger pillar yet. I plan on taking some detailed measurements of the sealed vs. IB configurations and will post here when ready.


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

And here are the Front Stage and Front stage with Subs plots:


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## Erickk (Nov 11, 2020)

Awesome build and very thorough walk though of the process. I have a 2021 Compass Limited and the stock system is just terrible. I’m starting a similar setup as yours with the JL C7’s and two subs using up the spare tire location. What did you do with the stock dash speakers (left, center, right)? Did you replace those too or just left them in not connected? Also did you change the rear door speakers as well? Thanks


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## shizzon (Nov 15, 2018)

Erickk said:


> Awesome build and very thorough walk though of the process. I have a 2021 Compass Limited and the stock system is just terrible. I’m starting a similar setup as yours with the JL C7’s and two subs using up the spare tire location. What did you do with the stock dash speakers (left, center, right)? Did you replace those too or just left them in not connected? Also did you change the rear door speakers as well? Thanks


Thanks for the compliments, I have been enjoying the system problem free now for over 10 months. I would still love to have it tuned by someone with a decent amount of experienced but it is already leagues ahead of any other car audio system I have heard so I am content. 

The stock dash speakers and rear door speakers remain in place. All of the stock front speakers (L,C, R) are disconnected, but the rear doors are still seeing power from the factory system (with the factory system heavily biased to the front so that they are basically silent).


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