# Sticky  REVIEW: Handcrafted Car Audio, (Mesa, AZ)



## jporter (Apr 2, 2013)

A few months ago I had Jon at Handcrafted rework a previous install that I wasn't happy or satisfied with. Over the course of a couple weeks Jon removed some JL Audio amps and a noisy AudioControl processor. The previous installer added some modules trying to eliminate engine noise and left some factory computer modules hanging without being secured. Jon corrected the mess, and reconfigured for a totally active 4 way system. Out came the JL amps, Audiocontrol processor and in went an Audison BitOne and my original McIntosh amps. He used one of the existing JL mono amps to drive a pair of subs. Jon made a custom amp rack and threw in some nice embossed touches on the wrap. Sub enclosures were redone to blend in better with the interior and replaced some haphazardly built ones. Smaller 10" subs were used with proper air volume enclosures and replaced choked JL Audio 13" subs. The BitOne controller was molded into the ash tray and looks like it came that way from the factory. The system is still breaking in but it sounds great! I can see why Jon has a installer of the year award, and is retailer of the year again.
Here are a few pictures.

Amps and cover in SSR


Amps without cover - during install


Subs


BitOne controller


I would highly recommend Handcrafted and would be glad to answer any questions on the system. JP


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## handcrafted (Sep 22, 2009)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*

Thanks for taking the time to post this Jeff and we are very happy that you are so thrilled with your system. For those who did not follow Jeff's original thread when he was looking for help with this vehicle, there were quite a few obstacles to overcome. We never bad mouth our competition and this will be no exception. However, I am going to show some pictures of the previous installation just so that you guys can have a clear picture of what we had to deal with.









Here is a shot of the subwoofer enclosure on the passenger side. 








Here you can see inside the enclosure to a port that connects this enclosure to the one on the other side.
























Once each enclosure is removed, you can see where the enclosures were mated up to the "tunnel" that connects the two enclosures together. It's not that this idea is entirely a terrible one, but the execution of it just missed the mark. Some of the problems with the enclosures were that they didn't make much of an effort to make them look like they belonged as they were not conformed to the shape of the panels and they were simply wrapped in black carpet. The airspace of the enclosure as a whole was not anywhere near what the 13" JL audio woofers need to operate properly. Also, given that a plastic compartment had to be removed in order to build this enclosure, the electronic modules that were secured inside the compartment had nowhere to go and were left hanging or at the most, secured with sound deadener. Lastly, it appeared as though the enclosure was built inside the vehicle as we had to demolish it to remove it. 
























We saw a lot of this kind of thing throughout the wiring of the vehicle, wires passing through sheetmetal with no effort made to protect the wiring from shorting out.
























Here are some various pictures of what we found when we removed the radio. Of course, keeping your wiring harnesses nice and neat and secured is necessary to make sure wires don't get pinched and everything goes in the dash properly. Given how things were pushed into the dash, it's no wonder that one of the two mounting points for the radio was broken off. The noise filters were used to try to get rid of the alternator whine commonly heard with Pioneer radios, unsuccessfully unfortunately. There were several other choices made on behalf of the owner of the vehicle, without his consent or against his original wishes that didn't add up to much more than a shop wanting to sell their own product rather than using what the customer had supplied. To be clear, I am not whole heartedly against this policy, when it makes sense. Using your own products is great when the customer has perhaps been misled about what will best satisfy their needs. But, going from a fully active McIntosh system to a quasi active JL system with rear fill simply did not satisfy the customers goal. 

So, we removed the MDF mounting board that all the JL amps and the Audiocontrol DQL-8 were secured to in favor of a custom welded steel rack to secure his two McIntosh amps and the one JL amp to run the subs. We replaced the Audiocontrol piece with the much more user friendly and more attractive Audison Bit One, and molded the DRC into the unused ashtray up front. We fixed all of the wiring in the back so it was nice, neat and protected and then moved on to the cabin. There, we replaced the enclosure two separate enclosures matched to the contour of the panel and wrapped in matching vinyl, loaded with a Hertz shallow subwoofer in each which was perfect for the amount of airspace and output the customer was looking for. We took care of a few other little odds and ends in the vehicle and our work was done. Here's a few more pictures of the finished project.









This is our steel rack with one of the McIntosh amps and the JL amp in place.








Here, you can see two of the 4 1/4"-20 bolts that we used to secure our rack to the vehicle.








Our decorative trim panel slides down over the 1/16" steel lip that extends over the top of the amplifier and then neo magnets secure it to the bottom flange. It is secure, but easily removable if needed.








Here is the DRC in place, it tucks away when not in use.
















And the passenger and driver subwoofer enclosures. The second picture was taken before we finished off the edge of the cut carpet.








And the last thing we did was add a nice little phone dock to hold his iPhone in while driving.

If you guys have any questions, please message me, I don't get on here to check replies anywhere near as much as I'd like.


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## MinnesotaStateUniversity (Sep 12, 2012)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*

The enclosure looks sleek.


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## handcrafted (Sep 22, 2009)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*

Thank you Minnesota, we were very happy with how they turned out as well.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*

That's it I'm moving to Arizona lol. Very very nice job on redoing what once was done. Makes me want to man up and do my Ram.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*

Looks great.


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## handcrafted (Sep 22, 2009)

*Re: Review - Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, AZ*



Coppertone said:


> That's it I'm moving to Arizona lol. Very very nice job on redoing what once was done. Makes me want to man up and do my Ram.


Come on down man, the weather is great!


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