# Show Install infused with SQ - Porsche 997 Cabriolet - Focal, Mosconi, Alpine, JBL



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Hi Guys,

Spent the last month or so building this car...quite a different and unique challenge for me on several fronts.  

The car is a 2006 Porsche 997 Cabriolet, built up over the past year by the customer into quite a stunning show piece. Among other mods, the car stands out with its two tone Orange and Black color scheme, which is present on both the exterior and the interior in the form of painted panels, trim pieces, and leather upholstery.

Part of the idea was to honor the SF giant's world series win last year by carrying the team's colors, but to me, it also reminds me of the paint scheme available on the GT3 RS...but done a bit more tastefully:










So let us take a look at the exterior of the car first in all her glory:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Onto the goals and challenges of the install:

1. To design and build a system that compliments the theme of the car. To me this means a good combination of showiness and wow factor but also somehow reserved, still holding something back. Here we made a decision that would prove to be a challenge during the build:

Instead of using the traditional front trunk to house the majority of the gear, we decided to remove the backseat completely and use that space for the install. This brings with it several advantages, chief among which is the ability to still carry things upfront (backseat is useless anyway), and be able to directly influence the shapes and colors of the interior design…but it does make for a pretty complex design.

2. To create a system that can be audible when driving and moving at highway speeds. Now this may seem a bit strange, but when you consider that there are almost nothing stunting the exhaust gases between the tail pipes and the engine...you may understand what I mean.  This could perhaps be THE LOUDEST car I have ever worked on. 

To help you understand what I mean, I made a little video, first with my ipad sitting in the car as the engine was started and given a few quick revs. And then of the car pulling away under some throttle going down the street:

Loudness measurement of Simplicity In Sound Project 997 Cabrio - YouTube

Basically, the car idles at around 80-82db! and quick revs instantly brings that up to over 90db...on the highway under power, the noise level would be over 100db!... 

3. To build a system that can have pretty good sound quality when you put the top up and turn the engine off. In fact, the car will be at a few upcoming SQ comps...it has its limitations being a convertible...but it should have a respectable showing.

So to sum it up: Showy but clean, backseat delete, can stay undistorted and get VERY loud, and yet still retain good subtle SQ characteristics. 

Before I start, I wanna make sure to THANK the following people who helped me out greatly:

*•	Scott Baughman for once again helping me setup a deal with Focal/Mosconi...and to provide me with support throughout the build.
•	Nalaka and Duane from Orca for all their technical and sponsorship support
•	Andy Wehmeyer for his advice and tips on setting up the MS-8
•	Loi at Euromotorpseed for building an awesome dash mounting kit
•	Various installer friends for their insight and experience on working with the 997 Cabrio
•	Lars for allowing me the pleasure to work on his prized possession.
*
Let’s get started with the build.

The signal starts with an Alpine INA-W910 all-in-one navigation headunit, it is installed with a terrific dash kit made by euromotorspeed. I gave the bezel to the customer's painter so he can match it to the rest of his interior pieces, which have been painted orange:










I also installed a Boyo VTL275 license plate frame backup-camera, let me tell ya, running wires through the car to the engine bay is not a lot of fun  And yeah the Porsche sticker is off set a lil to the left, that’s already been fixed since this pic was taken.










And the view from the inside:










I ran the USB/IPod cable to his glove box, so he can have the option of playing either media formats:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The front stage consists of a set of Focal k2p 165 KRX3 6.5" 3-way component set. We chose this set for a few reasons, but chief among which is its ability to generate a lot of output while still remaining linear. A good choice to cut through all that noise when driving down the road.

The midbass drivers were installed into the stock lower door locations...the doors first received their layer of sound proofing, and new speaker cables were routed into them:










Next two baffles were built out of MDF and then coated with truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:



















The baffle was then bolted to the door with original hardware:










The MASSIVE k2p midbass was then wired up:










And installed into the door:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The same procedure was performed on the passenger side:














































The 3" midrange and tweeters were molded into the stock A pillars. Here for a change I made the pillars as low profile as possible and generally follow the angle of the OEM piece. To me, facing the k2P tweeter really off axis isn’t a bad idea sometimes, but also, being that this is a show car, I wanted to keep the pod as clean looking as possible. Even with just a full 90 degree off axis configuration and the speakers facing each other, it would have produced a pretty big bulge at the front of the pod - ugly.

The pods were wrapped in the same black leather the interior was done in, and around the two drivers is a plastic trim piece painted the same orange as the rest of the interior...I know it looks darker in the pics but that’s really just the angle of the light:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Pulling back a bit to show the pillars with the rest of the interior:



















Here is the build process for the A-pillars:

First, I took apart the mounting pods that the KRX3 set came with, retaining only the top baffle. I then traced and cut out two sets MDF mounting baffles that are 1/8" larger all around (to accommodate the thickness of the leather). 

Here you see the MDF pieces in the middle, the plastic mounting baffle from the focal kit to the left, and the complete mounting pod on the right, for reference:










A flush mounting wall was then built up using low heat plastic:










The leather was stripped from the OEM A pillar, holes cut and the mounting baffles secured at identical angles:










Mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allow to cure, and a duraglass/resin milkshake was poured into the pod making them extremely strong:










The entire thing was then filler-ed and sanded smooth to blend it all in:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

And wrapped with black leather:




























Here are the two Focal mounting baffles back from paint also done in orange:










The speakers were wired up and then popped into the baffles:










From here on, it’s simply about mounting these into the A pillars and you end up with what you saw earlier. 

I also chose to rewire the OEM 3" center channel to run off the internal amp of the MS8; as I feel that any lil bit of center helps with the ms8's overall imaging:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next comes a few pics of the wiring bundles as they travel from the front to the back of the car. The power cable comes down the driver side, and all signal/speaker wires are down the passenger side:























































Onto the rear speakers. Normally I don't even do rears, or with the ms8, I would just leave the OEM rears in running off the processor. The 997 has a pair of 3" components in the rear side panel; but a 3" replacement set is never going to generate the kind of output we need to overcome the car's extremely loud noise levels. So instead, I decided to mold in some pods for a set of Focal K2P 165 KRC two way coaxials. This way, they can still be quiet when in Logic 7 mode of the MS8, but can be brought to full volume for additional output simply by turning the MS8’s L7 off.

First glass was laid down on the rear panels around the OEM speaker grilles:










Once they were cured, the molds were removed from the panel and trimmed to the desired shape. They generally follow the contour of the OEM panel and its leather/carpet joint line:










Ring baffles with flush mounting rings were made up and everything was test fitted on the OEM panel. I also at this time drilled a bunch of holes through the fiberglass back mold and stock panel:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

A bunch of cap bolts were then threaded through the holes in the back mold, and secured with HD epoxy, these will act as mounting points for the pod:










The ring baffles were then attached:










Grille cloth pulled and resined, reinforced from the inside with duraglass/resin mixture and also some modeling clay:










The shapes were then filler-ed and sanded smooth:










And wrapped in the same orange leather as the rest of the interior:










The pods were then secured to the OEM panels with washers and lock nuts:



















A bit of sound proofing also went on the back panel:










The passive crossovers tucked away and the wires lead up to their proper locations:










The speaker wired up:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

And the OEM panel put back into place:










Same goes for the driver side:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Now, moving onto the main course. As mentioned before, the backseats area was cleared for the amps, subs and processor. Back in the planning stages, I sorta made a rookie mistake when taking measurements and over estimated how much room I had…and was under the impression that I had a few more inches of width than I actually did..until I started laying things out..So everything ended up being VERY tight back there hehe, requiring a lot of precision and do-overs.

So this is what I came up with...the one slight gripe I have is that the customer's upholster, who did a fine job on the rest of the car, to could have done a slightly better job on the stitching of the bottom trim panel...maybe we will redo it in the long run.

As you can see, the two tone black and orange theme carries on, but this time joined by a third color - silver/metallic. My idea was to have nothing but these three colors throughout the build.

Against the back wall is the amp rack, housing 4 Mosconi amps in very close proximity to each other. Starting from the passenger side, a 100.4 sends 100 watts to each mid/tweeter combo upfront and to each rear mounted coaxial, two 100.2s are in the middle sending 500 watts bridged at 2ohms to each subwoofer, and a 200.2 powers the door mounted midbass with 200 watts RMS.

On the floor, two Focal 27V2 11" subwoofers are inverted firing into .5 cubic foot sealed enclosures, while the JBL MS8 processor is in between. Everything carries a flush mounted theme, with slant routs on all the openings. Four ultra bright Orange LED flood lights from oznium.com are molded into the side surfaces of the bottom trim panel, and the display for the MS8 is molded into the front fascia. I also did some orange mesh trim at the front, mirroring the same mesh on the front bumper of the car. I know that a downward/loaded enclosure may get slightly better bass response, but the goal here was always to show case the subs in plain view…not to mention I don’t think we had the space to do a downward firing subbox…but I think inverting them actually does help a lil with the output response of them…as the subbass is quite nice and in fact louder with the top down.

Anyway, enough talk, I will just let the pics to the talking:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Here I want to take some very close ups of the fit and finish around the amps. This was extremely difficult to get right as things were really really tight. Its one thing for the lines to look good from a few feet away, but I want to show close up of the work...it took me several tries to get it right and I am quite proud of how it came out.



















Here is the look with the seats at their normal driving positions:



















Now, onto those LED flood lights. The car already has some orange interior accent lights, and the customer wanted some lighting back there. Due to the lack of space, there was no way to do the traditional edge lit Plexiglas design. So I gave it some thought and went with these orange LED floods. And let me tell you, they are BRIGHT!

Here is the view in a darkened garage:























































What I really like is that when reflected off the magnet, it turns them into orange colored as well.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Finally, a few shots of the car and system as a whole from the outside looking in, to show how it flows with the rest of the interior:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Now comes the build pics for the back.

I wanna apologize before hand, in accidentally deleted about a handful of pics of the build process on the sub enclosures...so you may have to just use your imagination on that part 

First order of the day was to figure out a way to secure the amp rack to the back wall. The OEM carpeted panel was nothing more than a flimsy cardboard concoction. So I made up this panel out of MDF to act as the main anchoring point. The cutouts in the center were purely meant to save some weight:










With all the corresponding holes cut and threaded inserts installed, this panel was then secured to the factory partition panel with epoxy and staples.










Next, I completely removed the rear seat belt mechanisms, and then tapped threaded holes, four to each side, into the heavy duty mounting frames on either side of the car. 



















Here are the 8 bolts that will be used to secure the foundation board:










I also took time to ground the main cable to the same frame using an OEM bolt:










Next, the foundation piece was bolted in with the 8 bolts and two OEM screws, each bolt was secured with lock washer and washer, along with some threadlocker. Now we have a solid plane to mount the equipment:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next I build up the mounting baffle for all the amps, with all the holes measured out and tapped, and side supports installed:




























Next I secured two pieces of MDF to act as mounting for the K2P passive crossovers. They are angled to match the shape of the floor. I also painted the top portion of the panel black, so that no bare wood color would seep through the Mosconi amp's slatted covers.




























This panel was then bolted to the foundational board using about 15 cap bolts, which goes into the threaded inserts I installed earlier into the foundation board:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next, the two crossovers were installed, wired up. All the barrier strips were also wired up at this time and signal/power cables organized:





































To match the silver black and orange theme, I took the Mosconi amps out of their outer casing and painted the cases silver:










And then each amp was reassembled back together:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next came the fun process of installing the amps and wiring them up. Due to the extremely limited space between all the gear, this task too me almost two full days to figure out...redoing things several times when I realized a better routing method can be had...but here is the final result.

If you look closely, there is some method in all that madness. Every wire is bundled and secured every few inches, and power/signal cables were kept apart as much as possible on the mid/high amps:





































This is the trim panel for the amps, before and after being wrapped in orange leather, and the installed into the car:




























This is the back top trim panel before and after black leather, and then installed into the car:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Now for the bottom portion of the build. 

First a mold was taken of the entire floor section with a dozen layers of cloth:



















Once that cured, the mold was carefully trimmed to the desired shape:










A top panel mounting board was made out of 1/8" hardboard with 3/4" spacers, and secured to the bottom mold, making sure that it sits at a precisely level orientation:



















Next the mounting platform was secured full into the mold with duraglass and filler:



















Next the top mounting baffles for the sub box were built, the edges rabetted slightly:










And bonded to the back mold with strips of MDF spacers. This may look simple but took me the better part of a day to do...as the top baffles HAD to be perfectly flat, at the exact height more or less with each other, and also light up precisely with the opening on the amp rack's cutout...or nothing will look right down the road:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The entire structure was then removed from the car:










Here is where I accidentally deleted a few pics...but basically, mold cloth was pulled, resin applied, allow to harden, and the box reinforced from the inside. Everything was then trimmed and sanded smooth. Mounting hole for the subs cut out, and the top panel wrapped with orange leather. 

This is what I ended up with, note the clips for mounting the top trim panel.






































This was then loaded into the car, the way it’s shaped, it’s almost impossible to lift out of the car without flexing both side up, the weight of the two boxes squeezes down on the middle, making the entire structure very secure. I added a few strip of HD Velcro anyway at the OEM seat mounting points.

The MS8 was then installed and wired up:



















The bottom trim panel also took a lot of time to figure out. First, pieces of 1/2" and 3/8" MDF was oriented in the car at precise angles to match the cutout of the amp rack. Once I was satisfied with all the pieces being at the right dimensions, I made the cutouts for the subs.

Next, I arranged them in the car and quickly glued them together with wood glue and a strip of CA glue on top. Basically praying for no wind and steady hands or it would all crumple before the glue had a change to dry. 

Once the bond was strong enough, I took the entire structure out of the car and nailed it all together with 3/4" nails:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Next I secure a front panel to the piece, which follows the contours of the floor, and made the cutouts for the mesh and molded in the opening for the ms8's display. I also made the cut out for the MS8 at this time.




























Next, the holes were cut out for the LED floods:



















And the mounting rings for the floods secured at proper angles:



















Everything was then blended in and ready for leather:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

With the complex shape of the panel, I had to get it stitched, so I dropped the piece off at the customer's upholstery shop, and a few days later, I got it back. They secured the leather to the front and top surfaces, while I did all the cutouts and edges. It’s not bad, the folded creases can be a little cleaner at the stitching.




























Next the LED floods were mounted to the panel, wires routed, and the MS8's display also figured out:




























The orange mesh was then attached:


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The flush mounting trim for the sub before and after wrapped in orange leather:



















And then secured to the main trim panel, at this point, the piece of finished and can be install into the car to form the final piece to the puzzle.




























This is the remote control switch that allows me to turn the lights on and off with a little module:










And here is the flush trim panel for the ms8...I forgot to take a picture of it being wrapped in orange leather but I am sure you get the idea by now:










And finally, I leave you with two pics from one of my favorite times of any build...when I have all the major fabrication done and everything is test fitted in bare wood…I love it for some reason…even though it all has to come back apart for upholstery.




















So that’s it...the car is pretty much all done. Just have a few little things to take care of this week and get her tuned. With just an initial setup on the MS8, its pretty good, imaging and very precise with good height. It also can get VERY loud...enough to drown out the engine/exhaust noise. I expect it to get better once the speakers break in and we can do a real tune on it.


Tschüss 

Bing


----------



## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Fantastic! The orange/black is a bit flashy for my taste, but your work looks awesome! You have the stock Focal xover running between the mid/tweet in each pillar?


----------



## neuspeedescort (Feb 23, 2010)

the fresh princes parents never had a porsche like this!

great work as normal.


NEUMAN


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the focal xover handles the mid/tweeter 

there simply isnt enough channels, both on the ms8 or the amps, to run three way active front and rears.


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

your builds always make me jelouse..but this one...wow this one takes the cake. you should of put some no.7's in haha XD im sure he considered them. 

i have a question, sealing the baffles? how did you seal them? does it come in a spray can? you said bed liner but are their other ways to do that


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

original plan was for the no.7 kit...but the krx3 is a bit stouter and get louder and is a better fit for this environment 

by sealing i meant just like covering it so water doesnt get to it  not like air tight seal hehe


----------



## PottersField (Mar 18, 2011)

It's way too flashy for my tastes but it flows with the theme of the car quite well. The craftsmanship is impressive for sure. Awesome work, sir.


----------



## Kellyo77 (Dec 5, 2009)

Holy balls of ****. You never cease to amaze me. Fantastic work. Wish I lived closer to you. Would get your help with my junk.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

oh i should mention the owner is German...from near Stuttgart!  and knowing how Porsche dresses up the GT3 RS...to me, i think this flash is perfectly fine for this car hehehe...its very German somehow


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> original plan was for the no.7 kit...but the krx3 is a bit stouter and get louder and is a better fit for this environment
> 
> by sealing i meant just like covering it so water doesnt get to it  not like air tight seal hehe


haha louder my ass, i saw somebody do that same setup with the no.7's at a show, guys name is baker, he's from around me , about an hour or two from me. his car was by far the loudest and cleanest sound car ive ever stepped foot into  hold on i have a picture of his amp rack. not sure how close they are, but it's roughly the same setup, with the no.7 kit. 










and yes, water seal was the concearn i have in my baffles, my driver door doesnt leak, but i was just in my passenger side yesterday and it has mold on my baffles and they've only in their for a month...and we've been in a drout 

also wanted to ask, how do the k3's sound off axis? ive only ever seen em on axis.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

so far they are decent, but again, all thats been done is a single baseline tune. no eq, no nothing  will do the rest this week  the k2p onaxis? yikes... i have heard that a few times, and to my ears...its a bit peaky for me...

i know that car hehe...and as far as which set can get louder hehe i was just going with what Focal recommended me  I guess we will never know unless we put the two side by side in the same environment hehe but i CAN tell you that the K2P mid is a lot beefier looking


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> so far they are decent, but again, all thats been done is a single baseline tune. no eq, no nothing  will do the rest this week  the k2p onaxis? yikes... i have heard that a few times, and to my ears...its a bit peaky for me...
> 
> i know that car hehe...and as far as which set can get louder hehe i was just going with what Focal recommended me  I guess we will never know unless we put the two side by side in the same environment hehe but i CAN tell you that the K2P mid is a lot beefier looking


yeah it is. i dont know much about bakers car, im pretty sure its a no.7 or a no.6 set, i know he doesnt run the cross over that comes with them, he runs them active. 

my descritpion though...they play poorly low volumes but at volume...the dynamics of the system are just... the music he demo'd it with, when the drum hit, yout **** your pants, very very very acurate to a key, i'll be honest ive never heard anything like it, i imagine if he did meca 1 seater he'd be pulling high 80's if not 90's. btw you have a PM on the way


----------



## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

Bing this is great work! You've raised the bar once again!
This looks so good!


----------



## Salami (Oct 10, 2007)

****. Putting together this thread must have taken almost as long as the build.

Excellent job on both!


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

Salami said:


> ****. Putting together this thread must have taken almost as long as the build.
> 
> Excellent job on both!


ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting friend, learn it, love it.


----------



## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

Your wiring jobs are always amazing, but this one is simply stunning. Fantastic job with the Mosconis - probably would have been challenging to get that much power in that much space with many other manufacturer's amps. You really had to stretch your deductive reasoning powers to get that final layout, but I think it is a complete success. Love the video as well - great sounds from the exhaust, and I'm sure there will be great sounds from the cabin as well.


----------



## stockgp (Jun 7, 2007)

i've always liked how you use that low heat plastic. big fan of your installs.

where do you get the plastic? that would save me a lot of router time


----------



## sebberry (May 1, 2008)

Another incredible build from you!


----------



## julez007 (Aug 2, 2011)

Very very nice attention to detail.

Fantastic job :beerchug:

that car is LOUD 




and thats with the stereo OFF LoL..


----------



## jab4au (May 31, 2010)

Top shelf, as always... Great job!!


----------



## BaSiCEvil (Mar 14, 2007)

Awesome!
Bing, you need to move to the islands!
Nowhere to get that type of quality work here!


----------



## GS3 (Feb 19, 2006)

wow, this is an awsome install. i can only imagine the time, effort and the finance that is required for this install.

great work as always bing.


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Amazing work again Bing....truly impressive!


----------



## JoeHemi57 (Mar 28, 2006)

I've always had a thing for 911's, not really the Cabrio's but that is just amazing. I am totally blown away by your craftmanship skills.


----------



## Blown Mustang GT (Dec 6, 2008)

Very nice work! You should definitely be proud of this job!


----------



## cadaver (Sep 17, 2006)

i almost never post, but i've watched your work for many years, and again, you have not failed to impress the hell out of me. great work.


----------



## Schnitz (Jun 26, 2008)

Reading your threads is the best tutorial I've ever come across. Thanks for all the instruction & info.
And as always amazing effin work!


----------



## GSlider (Jun 11, 2009)

So much attn to detail. I cant imagine what the final bill for everything was, lol.


----------



## Petter (Jul 5, 2010)

Wow. I'm impressed!


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

as far as how much it costs...well...i can afford to charge a lil less compared some other high end shops simply due to almost non existing overhead  but its not cheap by any means hehe


----------



## Audio Options (Aug 28, 2008)

hey Bing who did you have do the stiching, Ive been looking for a new upholstery shop


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Chris...if it was up to me i would for sure give to finishline in Santa Clara (or is it sunnyvale), for sure...they do a phoenomenal job...at a hefty price but really really good.

the customer used his upholster who did the two tone job on the interior.


----------



## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

Once again nice work Bing!

Seeing how much gear you stuffed into the rear of this P-car gives me hope 
for mine. With roughly the same amount of amps and processors as well as 
speakers now I KNOW I can do it. With the exception of putting my processors
in sealed stainless boxes in the rear floor. 

excuse my ignorance are those 8's or 10's? Over all, how is the response from
them? I am also going to mount my 10's in that location, though firing upward.
Do you think I will gain any responce if i were to fire them into another chamber
say 2" above the cone? I was going to leave the front open so it would not be
a bandpass type enclosure. I just wanted some cone loading because like this
install mine will be open as well, in a targa.

Cheers,
Scott


----------



## theothermike (Dec 20, 2006)

one quick observation, what was the reasoning for running 2x 2 channel rcas into the ms-8, based on the looks of the configuration you had inputs into ch. 1 and 2 and 7 and 8. is that because you wanted a functional subwoofer control up front at the headunit since the jbl ms-8 is behind the driver and so is the display?

mike-


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

theothermike said:


> one quick observation, what was the reasoning for running 2x 2 channel rcas into the ms-8, based on the looks of the configuration you had inputs into ch. 1 and 2 and 7 and 8. is that because you wanted a functional subwoofer control up front at the headunit since the jbl ms-8 is behind the driver and so is the display?
> 
> mike-


regardless of where the MS8's display is mounted, I usually always input non-fading channels into it, just so the customer have the option of adjusting the bass from the headunit. (if the headunit is so equipped)

i know it may not be as good as using the MS8s remote, but the truth is that i find a lot of my customers tend to lose track of the little thing after a while...and is much easier to just hit one button on the screen and move the bass adjustment


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> A bunch of cap bolts were then threaded through the holes in the back mold, and secured with HD epoxy, these will act as mounting points for the pod:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


this is a great tutorial on doing panel mounted speakers!

I would really love to know where you get some of your supplys where do you get the lugs you used to fasen with epoxy to the bracket? 

do you think this method would support a heavy duty mid bass like an L6 or L8? or would their be ot much ressonence in the door in that setup :mean:


----------



## BowDown (Sep 24, 2009)

Awesome work man. The orange and black is a bit much.. but the craftsmanship is top notch!


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

cajunner said:


> I mean, it's okay...
> 
> do you supply pole vent plugs for when the intermittent rain shower pops up?


what is intermittent rain shower? never seen such a thing here in norcal lol


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

stingray leather? nope...the orange is about the most unique thing i have ever used to wrap something in  yeah we dont have no such thing as intermittent showers, its two season, rainy (nov to march) and dry (rest of the year), i doubt this car will be out and about in rainy season and in the dry, there literally can be not a single drop of rain for 8 months


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

eviling said:


> this is a great tutorial on doing panel mounted speakers!
> 
> I would really love to know where you get some of your supplys where do you get the lugs you used to fasen with epoxy to the bracket?
> 
> do you think this method would support a heavy duty mid bass like an L6 or L8? or would their be ot much ressonence in the door in that setup :mean:



well if its a exact car like this, i wouldnt put more htan a 6.5" in there...it depends on the panel and the driver. the way its set up, with those bolts, i am sure thats enough to hold down anything.

all i do is drill a small hole, and screw in a bunch of 10-24 by 1" cap screws, let it make its own thread in the glass mold, then put some epoxy so it locks itself into the mold acting like a stud. then nuts from the other side.

but this panel its very hard to put any damper on it with all those grids, and its that hard flimsy plastic...so i think a 6.5" is about the limit...but many other cars, you should be able to do a 8 fine...provided also that the factory clips is strong enough to hold it in place.

i wouldnt call this THE way to do pods, i am sure if i can afford to spend a whole week and have a lot of money to work with, i can mold the speaker into the panel and have it rewrapped.


----------



## eviling (Apr 14, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> well if its a exact car like this, i wouldnt put more htan a 6.5" in there...it depends on the panel and the driver. the way its set up, with those bolts, i am sure thats enough to hold down anything.
> 
> all i do is drill a small hole, and screw in a bunch of 10-24 by 1" cap screws, let it make its own thread in the glass mold, then put some epoxy so it locks itself into the mold acting like a stud. then nuts from the other side.
> 
> ...


ahh, heres a good question : the wrap you did around the plate you made to the ring, how did you make sure that was just as secure as the bolts to the panel were? because thats what holds the speakers, i think you said somehting about putting a resin bondo mix in their i am not sure. :mean:


I KNOW i PM'd you, i also PM'd some other people that never got my PM's...3 in fact, and it's pissing me off because all 3 were quite long PM's. but alas, i start over: my question was how to mound a pod to a door panel, i kind of figuired some things out off of this build log, and my other question was above. 

here is what i'm working with: 


















: this is what we currently have 










heres the back of my door panel, plenty of room to deaden. i guess if i do mount an L8 on this baby ima have to really apply a few layers, and maybe even some egg crait. 










think these panels are optimal for this style with some 8's?  sorry for the thread jacking ^_^


its funny..i spent like 15 mins scourting this thread trying to figuire out what he used that was JBL than i had a doh moment when i looked at the ms-8


----------



## minibox (Mar 25, 2009)

Bertholomey told me to check this build out. You never cease to amaze me. Everything is done right, down to the last detail. Even a Phillies fan like me can appreciate the color scheme and beauty of this build.


----------



## SfTrainer (Sep 6, 2010)

Bing you did it again....great job, can't wait to see this car at the next comp. Although I'll have to listen from above....I always loved these cars, but haven't fit in once since I turned 12.


----------



## Blister64 (Jun 13, 2010)

wow man, that is awesome!! you did a great job.


----------



## impact (Oct 6, 2009)

nice work as always man, I like the A pillars


----------



## Big_Valven (Aug 20, 2008)

Very different choice of gear for you this time around. Good work though, I know how loud those focals get when you get bootloads of power into them.


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thanks guys,

eviling...for me i am not a "stuff big big speakers in the door" kind of person...i prefer the sound of most 6.5s to 8"s and i also prefer to keep the speaker behind the factory panel if possible. the door you have there, to me you dont need a door pod, you can just mount the speaker to the metal door, and build a raise pod to act as a grille to go around the protruding speaker. no need to put much structural integrity into it then. 

as for how the ring stays put, yeah i dump resin/duraglass mixture into it, its impossible to separate that ring, you will rip the wood or the fiberglass mold in half before hte ring separates. hehe

Valven...what do you mean? been with focal/mosconi since the beginning of the year


----------



## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Another great Bing Install!!!


----------



## dogstar (Jan 31, 2007)

Wow... the install is amazing but I simply can't dig the black/orange. I'm sure the owner loves it and that's what matters, but to me it takes away from the beauty of the car and the wow factor of the install.


----------



## eighty5iv (Aug 15, 2010)

as always very clean and sexy. the ideas you come up with always amaze me. i can always count on you to stuff a bunch of things into small spaces.


----------



## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> so far they are decent, but again, all thats been done is a single baseline tune. no eq, no nothing  will do the rest this week  the k2p onaxis? yikes... i have heard that a few times, and to my ears...its a bit peaky for me...
> 
> i know that car hehe...and as far as which set can get louder hehe i was just going with what Focal recommended me  I guess we will never know unless we put the two side by side in the same environment hehe but i CAN tell you that the K2P mid is a lot beefier looking


You should try to play with the TN53k's orientation. The way the tweeter chassis has been constructed is to optimize staging. You have the straight "bar" which spreads the sound on the sides and the dual flange that kinda cancels sound that goes up or down (to avoid some reflections) - horizontal dispersion is larger than the vertical one. 

Since you have your tweeters at eye level, try to have the straight "bar" closer to parallel to the floor. That will focus the sound towards your ears and towards the windshield - nicely avoiding reflections at the very top of the windshield - fine tune the placement while listening... 

Kelvin


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Thanks Kev, for the info! that will come in handy the next time...

but i think for this car...keeping the tweeters and midranges uniform in orientation along the A pillar maybe a bit more important...just remember how loud the car is in its natural elements


----------



## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> Thanks Kev, for the info! that will come in handy the next time...
> 
> but i think for this car...keeping the tweeters and midranges uniform in orientation along the A pillar maybe a bit more important...just remember how loud the car is in its natural elements


Gotcha'  

Kelvin


----------



## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

cajunner said:


> I think that there is a certainty that those who know why Focal makes those tweeters like that, will look at the way those are installed and cringe just a little...
> 
> but 99% of those getting wowed in the car would point out "why the tweeters are crooked? the nameplate isn't even level"
> 
> so I think the design decision was the correct one for the application, but an install like this using that tweeter selection/placement, will not look correct, when placed to sound correct.


^ that's exactly 1 reason the K2P, K2P, KRX2 and KRX3 sets are not for beginners. It took me 3 years to determine my tweets orientation and where they should point at... 
The way they have been designed is really impressive but can sound NASTY when not done right - reflecting where it shouldn't making for a really bright "Focal" sound 

Kelvin


----------



## pnn23 (Jun 7, 2008)

Wow Bing, still putting in work. Haven't won the lottery yet, eh ?


Are there any G35's you've worked on recently?


----------



## eisnerracing (Sep 14, 2010)

Nice car !!! - but enough orange already 

don’t get me wrong an accent color is complement to break up an install - 
but a bit much for my taste inside and out - just my preference and opinion


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

I know what you mean  but i find the car's styling very european...a lot of people from Europe seem to dig it hehe...also its gonna be on an Italian Audio mag...i think we may have somewhat different tastes  

I think i actually toned down the amount of Orange in the build from the customers original request


----------



## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

wow can't believe i missed this the first time. AMAZING work as usual!..


----------



## req (Aug 4, 2007)

awesome work bing =D


----------



## astrochex (Aug 7, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> I know what you mean  but i find the car's styling very european...a lot of people from Europe seem to dig it hehe...also its gonna be on an Italian Audio mag...i think we may have somewhat different tastes
> 
> I think i actually toned down the amount of Orange in the build from the customers original request


I think the orange is boss, personally!

Congrats on another amazing build and European exposure. So is a Tuscany location on your satellite office list?


----------



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

astrochex said:


> I think the orange is boss, personally!
> 
> Congrats on another amazing build and European exposure. So is a Tuscany location on your satellite office list?


satelite office? hahaha i would say most of the peeps on this forum have a better work space than i do


----------

