# Kaz's 1996 Corolla 2k budget build



## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

It is less than 2k worth, but Living in New Zealand I have to pay hefty shipping for each item from usa 

Simple SQ build;
Pioneer MVH-X565BT headunit
Tweeters: Dayton Audio AMT car version
Midrange: Dayton Audio RS100-4 4"
Midbass : Exodus Anarchy
Amps : 2 x Soundstream Rubicon Lil Wonder III (Will provide 80w rms * 6 + 310w rms sub)
DSP : Soundstream Harmony (better construction than dsp-88r, but just a starting point. May upgrade dsp in future)
Subwoofer: Soundstream EXACT 12" 

All parts are either here or ordered and on their way.
Will have to pour out cash (for a student anyway) purchasing power tools and materials over the next few weeks. Will keep you posted and I highly value any input you guys have!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The tiny palette I have to work with... 1.6m max width and not even 1 metre deep....










Looks clean-ish?









NOPE









In the middle of the wheel well....Should I sort this out haha?









Second hand amps.... These things are old!









A look at the sub









This is some nice Polyfill. Will definitely re-use as my new box will be only 55cm * 50cm * 20cm









Deadener ready to go in trunk. Will have to clean first. The trunk deadener I have is a cheaper foam based deadener. Doors and other stuff I will use butyl.


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Nice gear and nice start.


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

I'm not jealous of the shipping costs you have.
But good luck with the build, you have a good start going.


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

very nice sub and great choices on the rest of the gear. nice to see a budget build on here once in awhile.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

First to give the trunk a clean up....










Deadener looks ok. I have used more than necessary, but this is just a foam based deadener, much lighter than butyl.









Not sure if I want to take the same approach to the trunk lid, as it does not have an OEM cover on it. Might just find a way of adding weight to it.









A-pillars are out. The texture is sort of leathery plastic.. which won't be easy to replicate..So I might just have to settle with sem texture spray or fabric, unless anyone has other suggestions?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Preparing for DIY war


























MDF for the amp case and sub box, foam insul board for the false floor (nice and light), perspex for the amp case cover, wood stick for fibre glass mounts, and lotsa carpet


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Spare tyre well sub box finished; It is Off-Centered because my wheel well is not symmetrical weirdly.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The yellow stuff from the sub box has left all my skin sore and my throat and chest irritated... Thougt it was just fancy pillow stuffing but might have been glass wool. It was very dusty stuff so hard to avoid breathing it.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Good progress with the sub. Interested in how you like the AMT. Are you planning on the rs100 in the pillars ?

Have a couple of nephews in the same city as you.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Yep rs100 in pillars and amt will go into sail panels. They should arrive this week sometime along with the dsp. The anarchies will be another week. I will be ordering a calibrated umik 1 soon, I should probably get onto that soon as it will take a while to get to nz


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Vinyl is here








The false floor production. Two pieces which surround the sub, easy to place and remove from trunk.
























SHIIIII*** just realised I carpeted the wrong side of the panel!! 









Early stages of amp rack.


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## wheelieking71 (Dec 20, 2006)

The "yellow stuff" was not any kind of "fill" at all. It is fiberglass insulation. That is why you experienced the irritation.

Looking good though!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

wheelieking71 said:


> The "yellow stuff" was not any kind of "fill" at all. It is fiberglass insulation. That is why you experienced the irritation.
> 
> Looking good though!


Will it still have the acoustic properties of the fill? Hope I wasn't wasting my time


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Some of the speakers arrived. They may be relatively low end sets of gear, but compared to what they sell in retail stores here, the quality is much nicer.
Just the RS100's and the tweeters for now. DSP tomorrow.


































Oh and my ghetto source of LED's


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The UMIK-1 mic will have to wait, the Nzpost usa forwarding service charged me $88.50 NZD just to post the anarchies here! What a ripoff! Very upsetting. 
That brings the total postage on the anarchies along to $115 nzd, almost the value of both of them!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The harmony arrived

















The controller is damn small!








More progress on the amp rack








Made some rather rough MDF rings for the rs100's.... best i could do with the multi tool haha


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The amp rack is almost together and the pod construction has begun. 
Simply using the hot glue to make the pod frame is insanely frustrating for a rookie such as myself


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Just a bit of what the amp rack will look like (the DSP will be moved up an inch)








The cabling has begun








The trunk with false floor (bit saw dusty)








These speakers dwarf my a pillars... making the pods is proving difficult








And my most awaited shipment is here


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

First coat of resin done on pillars. Quick question, is it really necessary to do a recoat with the fibre glass sheets? I will putty in the end anyway, the speakers on each pillar weigh about 568g or 1.25 lbs each.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Progress on trunk;
Needs a good vacuuming. Wiring on DSP still needs to be done. Will have a carpeted cover ontop of the amp tray with an led illuminated logo or design in the centre. 

















Wondering whether or not my battery needs updating, I currently have a Century CCA 330, very tiny thing, could probably fit something a bit larger. Would this suffice for a ~800w rms system?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

This all happened within two hours - a colony of small spiders took over my fibre glass work. Webs stretching across the whole table. OF course the only solution was to vacuum them up. 

























they are very tiny so you may need to expand. They were very spread out over the whole table so hard to capture them all in one macro shot with the phone.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Good to see another Kiwi on here. Where are you based?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

In hamilton mate, a good 5 hours away from ya. Good to know there are a couple other kiwis here, considering you dont see much good audio gear in Nz. Do you know of any SQ comps around?


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Oh there's a ton of good gear here, you just don't see it in the mainstream shops 
SQ comps are dead here unfortunately. Myself and a couple of others looked at doing something, but the lack of support from shops willing to help out/sponsor events made it unrealistic. Even the SPL comps here are few and far between, although there are some huge systems being built at the moment. I've even started a SQL (for lack of better description) build solely so I can have a bit of fun at comps and get some exposure.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

There is some better gear here, but focal rockford hertz etc is all I could find really. A lot I had to import, such as the daytons, anarchies and the cheap dsp weren't available here (from an internet search atleast )

Depending on how these amps go, I may upgrade them to two middle range amps with around 100w rms/channel that are more aesthetically pleasing later on this year. I see you make speaker rings, would you also make flush mount rings?


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Can make what ever you want my friend!  just flick me a message on my facebook page.

Audison is here as well and I have some friends in Auckland who have recently taken on the Morel brand. DSP's are definitely hard to come by here without having to give up a limb or your first born though. I've had a couple of 360.2's and P80RS/RSII's in the past and currently running an 80PRS. Audison Bit10D's aren't too badly priced if you know the right people, but still out of my budget at the moment.


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

Looking great. Doesn't seem to ghetto or cheap to me. Nicely thought out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Well, after a lot of struggling the pillars are wrapped.










The first one I did - the bottom one in the photo - did not go so well. This upholstry fabric really did not want to stretch, and would start to melt before it would stretch in the slightest. The second one, as you can see went near perfect. The CRC ados glue I used was very strong, a bit too strong, ripping up the putty when i struggled to re-position it. Not a very fun experience. Live and learn. These are tiny pillars, so 4" pods were bound to be difficult.

What I've learnt; Shallow mount midrange would have made this a lot easier. These daytons are as deep as they are wide.


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

You can't know it all first time round. You would have paid a lot more for a shallower driver though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Quick question. When I put the anarchy's in the doors, I have to push them in with a lot of force because of the magnetism, is this fine, or will I have to use a spacer to avoid this magnetic force? Will it have any effect on the health or performance of the speaker?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

No anarchy build log is complete without a speaker depth comparison.
The old speaker is a soundstream tarantula, crap quality at best. Weighs maybe one third as much.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Did a HEAP of work today. Got all 6 front speakers installed and wired up. 
The Anarchy speakers werent 6.5 inch at all, a bit more like 6.6 to 6.7 haha. So Adjustments had to be make to get those in. 
The door grommet was my main enemy, and after getting a coat hangar stuck inside it, I rage quit, cut the stuck part off and left it inside. I then ran my woofer cable outside the grommet and sealed with silicone. Stock wiring was used for the tweets. I'm going to bring the whole amp rack out again to replace the RCA's with some nice quality ones on their way. New battery terminals also coming. Also can't power up the system till my 4 gauge wire arrives....


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

Progress is good. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I've tried searching the forum but I am having trouble sorting this issue;
The DSP powers up fine, and the remote out cable from the DSP is plugged into both AMPS.
When I run power, the DSP powers up, then both amps power up. But after a few seconds, the second amp makes a pop (can see the subwoofer pulse) and then it turns off, no blue or red led. The fuses are fine and the remote cable is fine. Havent tested the power/ground but it is running off the same dist. blocks as the other amp, and that one stays powered on just fine. Any ideas?


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Kazuhiro said:


> I've tried searching the forum but I am having trouble sorting this issue;
> The DSP powers up fine, and the remote out cable from the DSP is plugged into both AMPS.
> When I run power, the DSP powers up, then both amps power up. But after a few seconds, the second amp makes a pop (can see the subwoofer pulse) and then it turns off, no blue or red led. The fuses are fine and the remote cable is fine. Havent tested the power/ground but it is running off the same dist. blocks as the other amp, and that one stays powered on just fine. Any ideas?


Did you figure anything out? Sorry I'm not much help on the problem but wouldn't mind some updates


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I will repair the amp when I have plenty of time. For now there is a similar amp on the way, should have arrived today but may have to wait till tomorrow. I'll see how that goes, and there is another amp i have my eyes on which may replace it haha. System is pretty much all together, will take more pics when I get out and start setting up the new amp. Only other things I am waiting on are my new battery terminals and new RCA's.


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## swest1970 (Oct 23, 2014)

Kazuhiro said:


> I've tried searching the forum but I am having trouble sorting this issue;
> The DSP powers up fine, and the remote out cable from the DSP is plugged into both AMPS.
> When I run power, the DSP powers up, then both amps power up. But after a few seconds, the second amp makes a pop (can see the subwoofer pulse) and then it turns off, no blue or red led. The fuses are fine and the remote cable is fine. Havent tested the power/ground but it is running off the same dist. blocks as the other amp, and that one stays powered on just fine. Any ideas?


First thing I would try is to wire the amp turn on's through a separate 12v switch directly from your terminal block. Try that for a while - remembering you will have to manually turn on and off your amps. If that works, then I would blame the DSP. A few of us have been having these types of issues with the PPI DSP-88 / SS Harmony because in several cases it appears to lack the output power to turn on multiple amps. In my case, it would lock up the DSP randomly (no sound output). In another case, it would cause the amps to go into protection due to low voltage (less than 10v) on the turn-on wire. All cases were fixed by removing the DSP turn-on from the system - and turning on the amps by using a timer based on the source turn-on or ignition switch.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

swest1970 said:


> First thing I would try is to wire the amp turn on's through a separate 12v switch directly from your terminal block. Try that for a while - remembering you will have to manually turn on and off your amps. If that works, then I would blame the DSP. A few of us have been having these types of issues with the PPI DSP-88 / SS Harmony because in several cases it appears to lack the output power to turn on multiple amps. In my case, it would lock up the DSP randomly (no sound output). In another case, it would cause the amps to go into protection due to low voltage (less than 10v) on the turn-on wire. All cases were fixed by removing the DSP turn-on from the system - and turning on the amps by using a timer based on the source turn-on or ignition switch.


Sorry to waste your time but the amp is faulty lol - figured it out on the day


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

So far good job man!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Amps are running fine, and all channels are playing sound.
At the moment I am having DSP problems, cant connect to the soundstream harmony with my laptop.. 
If you look closely at a picture of it, I get the feeling it wasnt actually brand new like described? Bought from an ebay seller called autosounds4less in california.









looks like a return or ex demo even....


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## swest1970 (Oct 23, 2014)

Kazuhiro said:


> Amps are running fine, and all channels are playing sound.
> At the moment I am having DSP problems, cant connect to the soundstream harmony with my laptop..
> If you look closely at a picture of it, I get the feeling it wasnt actually brand new like described? Bought from an ebay seller called autosounds4less in california.
> 
> ...


They all look like that - at least in my experience. Rough edges on the aluminum. Did you peel off the protective cover on the top plate? As for the connection issue, I assume you have installed the correct drivers for the on-board USB to serial adapter in the DSP? Or are you having problems passing the Com port check when you start the software?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

swest1970 said:


> They all look like that - at least in my experience. Rough edges on the aluminum. Did you peel off the protective cover on the top plate? As for the connection issue, I assume you have installed the correct drivers for the on-board USB to serial adapter in the DSP? Or are you having problems passing the Com port check when you start the software?


You are correct! The com port check is holding me back. No the DSP did not have a protective cover, just a bag. The com port crashes when i attempt. I installed the win7/win8 driver (im on win7) and that was successful, and then the 15mb software. I just realized there are two remote IN wires. Do i need both hooked up? At the moment just one is connected, and the remoute OUT wire is signalling the amps fine. How do you install to the serial adapter in the DSP?


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## swest1970 (Oct 23, 2014)

Kazuhiro said:


> You are correct! The com port check is holding me back. No the DSP did not have a protective cover, just a bag. The com port crashes when i attempt. I installed the win7/win8 driver (im on win7) and that was successful, and then the 15mb software. I just realized there are two remote IN wires. Do i need both hooked up? At the moment just one is connected, and the remoute OUT wire is signalling the amps fine. How do you install to the serial adapter in the DSP?


The USB/serial driver gets installed on your computer - which it looks like you did. If you go into "device manager" on windows, you should be able to see the USB/serial adapter from the DSP connected to your computer under the "Ports" tab. Mine always shows up on Com 5. Select the correct com port in the DSP software, and make sure that the DSP is powered up when you try to connect. 

I have both remote-in wires connected - one to each source that I am using. Other installs have used only one of the remote-in wires successfully, which suggests that you do not need to connect both for it to work fine.

If you know that the unit is powered up and turned on, and you have selected the correct Com port, and you still can't communicate with the DSP, try another computer. If all fails, you may have a defective unit.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

swest1970 said:


> The USB/serial driver gets installed on your computer - which it looks like you did. If you go into "device manager" on windows, you should be able to see the USB/serial adapter from the DSP connected to your computer under the "Ports" tab. Mine always shows up on Com 5. Select the correct com port in the DSP software, and make sure that the DSP is powered up when you try to connect.
> 
> I have both remote-in wires connected - one to each source that I am using. Other installs have used only one of the remote-in wires successfully, which suggests that you do not need to connect both for it to work fine.
> 
> If you know that the unit is powered up and turned on, and you have selected the correct Com port, and you still can't communicate with the DSP, try another computer. If all fails, you may have a defective unit.


On the right track, the device manager says com11 but the software only allows up to com9. I guess the driver install wil have to change someway.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

ok by changing usb ports I managed to find one with COM9. It is connecting now!
Thank you so much swest, you saved the day! I could not find this help anywhere else!

Also; Is there any distribution as to how the DSP uses left and right channels? does it just go A-> Left; B-> Right; C-> Left etc?

Nevermind, just found it in the labyrinth of its manual


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

My terminals arrived today, only 8 dollars, praise aliexpress : Will chuck them on when I have spare time.









How the setup looks; Yeah its a granny car so granny colours. I will put the midbass cover when I've decided if it fits or not. The left pillar mainly still bugging me. Will definitely revinyl these and get the colour right.









Also, temp mount for now, but I quite like it here;


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

Looking good mate. How does it sound.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Definitely sounds better than it use to, but nothing has been tuned yet. Crossovers are at 80, 600, 5k for sub/midb/midr/tweet respectively. Just did this based on the response charts but they are subject to change. Haven't gotten ahold of an RTA mic yet so I will only be doing basic smart phone tuning for now.... Also gotta sort out my time alignment and gains. Suffice to say, I am in the very early stages.


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

Do you have any experienced sq gurus around you. I have been really lucky to meet some awesome mates through the Aussie car audio site and have been helped with a lot of the little things. It's amazing the difference a great tune makes.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Unfortunately not. Theres a few kiwis i know of but the driving distance is a little far for my schedule


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

That's a bummer mate. I got lucky by meeting my amp/speaker pimp only two suburbs away.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Another problem has arisen! 
Today I was tuning away on the DSP software, went to save to the device and bam! It crashed!
The DSP stopped playing audio. The controller has light on it but nothing on the screen, nor do the buttons do anything. The remote light on both amps and the dsp is running. 
When i try connect to the DSP again over my laptop, I get the the test window again. Running the right com, it connects, and when I go to test, it gets an error on the first test, the "RS232 Test". I made sure the controller was connected well because this usually can cause errors.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: The remote light on the DSP is in fact off. The power/ground and remote cables are fine however.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Under certain conditions the unit will lock up. Mine will do it if the remote in signal is dropped momentarily dropped (my car has does this when the starter is engaged after the unit powers up)

Was the USB connection loose whilst you where programming ?

Either way disconnect the USB and the remote in and the unit should reset and be ok.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Problem is it won't turn on at all. All it can do is put out a remote out signal and put a light on the controller knob. Reconnected everything except for the rcas and 12v remote in. I don't see how reconnecting the 12v remote in will help, isn't unplugging the head unit really the same thing? It's soldered so I'm hesitant haha.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Sorry , meant the 12v remote in signal from your head unit. Not the controller remote.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

NealfromNZ said:


> Sorry , meant the 12v remote in signal from your head unit. Not the controller remote.


The remote signal into or out of my headunit? Would unplugging my battery do the same? Cos I'm going to put new terminals in anyway


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Money spent on RCA's really add up when running active haha


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Losing hope with this DSP; If I end up having to RMA, the cost will be ridiculous, having to pay postage to and from New zealand to california..


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## swest1970 (Oct 23, 2014)

Kazuhiro said:


> Losing hope with this DSP; If I end up having to RMA, the cost will be ridiculous, having to pay postage to and from New zealand to california..


Mine will lock up once in a while too. usually when I start the car - same as Neal, I have a BMW which drops the power on crank. Turning the power off and back on solves the problem. If yours will not restart after you remove the power, then you might have a defective unit. sorry.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Under some strict isolation tests - with the same results - I am beginning to think this unit may be defective...

I will wait a few more days for soundstream to reply to any of my support messages, and if that doesn't help I will go forward with the RMA process.


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Dang that sucks


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Also another question - I am running a 100 amp ANL fuse at the battery - as the amps are 60 + 40. I run this unit from the same distro also, but I hear the fuse value is negligible. This wouldn't have any effect on the unit would it?


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## swest1970 (Oct 23, 2014)

Kazuhiro said:


> Under some strict isolation tests - with the same results - I am beginning to think this unit may be defective...
> 
> I will wait a few more days for soundstream to reply to any of my support messages, and if that doesn't help I will go forward with the RMA process.


From the photo, it is wired correctly and powered up. The unit has to have a proper connection to the wired remote control to function - are you sure the connectors are fully seated? 

I think you are stuck with the RMA process. My experience with PPI/SS Tech support is terrible - I gave up with the questions I had into them that never got answered. 

PS - Nice use of an ATX power supply.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The remote wiring could not be seated any firmer. I agree this is an issue, when I first hooked it all up and couldnt get it running, It was because of the remote cable, which had to be pushed right in to get running. Now that I think about it, the remote light and audio symptoms were the same as they are now, which leads me to believe this is the issue. However I dont want to tear it apart. From a basic examination, the wires all appear to be seated in the connector correctly - so once I open it up i'm not sure I can do it any help.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The DSP has been sent back. For the next two or three weeks, all i can do is wait :|


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## ben54b (May 30, 2014)

That's bad news.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I continue my descent into madness as i sit here brooding in a car of silence


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Expecting new unit to arrive around 30th of june!
Quick question; I will be running the DSP power straight from my distro block, which is connected to a 4 awg wire with a 100 amp fuse. Would it be necessary to put a 1 amp blade fuse inline with the DSP power wire?


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Kazuhiro said:


> Expecting new unit to arrive around 30th of june!
> Quick question; I will be running the DSP power straight from my distro block, which is connected to a 4 awg wire with a 100 amp fuse. Would it be necessary to put a 1 amp blade fuse inline with the DSP power wire?


I would and couldn't hurt incase something goes south


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The plot thickens.........for the worse..
The DSP i sent back via air mail still hasn't turned up at the sellers shop, and its a few days over the max arrival time. Looks like I may purchase another to speed things up and wait for a refund from the return arriving or the postage compensation. 

I've started thinking about tearing the dash piece out, and refrabricating it into a tablet mount. 
I will get rid of the headunit completely and get myself a nice DAC.
I will need a DAC that can charge the tablet as well. It will most likely be a 7" android from aliexpress that is sleek but not concerned about the guts. I also want a means of radio, as internet radio here isnt really viable. (mobile data prices soar like eagle)
Any options for using a tablet on a DAC and also having a working radio?


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Starting looking at otg cables and microusb hubs. Would allow charging and USB devices that work with android such as fm/TV tuners and DACs

I run a sabre chipset based DAC with my carpc . It allows either analog of digital output and sounds superb . 
DAC's


Sorry to hear about your ongoing dac issues


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Sweet as, I will probably go with one of those dacs once I've figured out exactly what I need... There's so many to choose from. The tablet will have an otg y cable connected to the DAC and a charger. As for radio, that could be done with a cheap external tuner connected to another input on the DAC such as the aux.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

There are some good fm and TV tuner apps in the App Store. I'd be inclined to get a usb tuner and connect via a usb hub. Would also give you the option of running an solid state hard drive at a later date.

That way all volume control duties are covered off via the tablet and source switching.

Thee are a few USB hubs that will put out 2 amps on a couple of ports which is enough to charge a tablet.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Neat, I'm glad it all works together simply. Did you find a tuner that utilised your car antenna? Even if it involved chopping and stuffing the cable in?


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

The car had two TV aerials . Just made up adapter cables as only needed Freeview.

I'm going to change it back to the factory bmw TV tuner as there are mid kits that convert them to Freeview . Only doing this as a project for something to do.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

While on the downbuzz of no audio I decided to wire up my front midbass and midrange to keep me happy. I discovered that my setup had terrible alternator whine, which I never noticed when running the DSP. Could something like this cause damage to a DSP? Its not rca related I'm quite certain, so I will have to redo my power and grounding connections.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The ebay store autosounds4less has not contacted me in six days and my patience has flown out the window. I have gone ahead and ordered the DSP-88R from amazon as I was able to get 2 - 4 day shipping. I should be more than eligible for my harmony refund.

Also got my bat terminals all hooked up now. Needed post shims for them to fit.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Kazuhiro said:


> While on the downbuzz of no audio I decided to wire up my front midbass and midrange to keep me happy. I discovered that my setup had terrible alternator whine, which I never noticed when running the DSP. Could something like this cause damage to a DSP? Its not rca related I'm quite certain, so I will have to redo my power and grounding connections.


I'd doubt that whine would have caused dsp damage. 

Try shorting the RCA plugs in the mean time. Suspect you where just picking up noise because one end of the rcas wasn't earthed.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Going to ground those RCA's today thank you, looked up videos of the particular whine and it was identical to mine. 
Good news; The dsp may arrive today, and I got my full refund for the harmony! I have received some vinyl and will be making the amp rack cover over the weekend.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Battery went incredibly flat after grounding rca's, to the point where we had to unhook the battery to start the car. Not sure why this is only occuring now. I wrapped copper around the two rca's i am using and crimped the other end to the head units ground.

Looks like on going battery problem now, car will only start when using a jumper, without the battery connected. Wont jump with the battery connected. Terminals are solid and battery voltage is 12.9v when off.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)




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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

hehe


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

Atta boy. Now hurry up and get the pp hooked up!


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## WifeyHatesMyHobby (May 27, 2015)

WhereAmEye? said:


> Atta boy. Now hurry up and get the pp hooked up!



Sorry, just dropping by to say that I hope my wife gets my pp hooked up tonight. 


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

WhereAmEye? said:


> Atta boy. Now hurry up and get the pp hooked up!


Sorry got work tonight . Tomorrow for sure!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Too excited, decided to stay up late after work and finish the job. 
All is setup again, my initial crossover points and time alignment are done.

Tomorrow I will be pulling out the RTA and getting serious. Thing sounds great already. I guess I havent heard anything decent lately haha.

Will take pictures when I have made it tidy and finished the amp cover. 
Also I have some pretty bad sound as well. The ppi unit has volume 0 - 40, andthing above 25 and i notice a low buzz. Also can hear slight alternator whine. Will be regrounding those RCA's with proper fuses soon.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

All buzzes and whines removed completely! Clean signal! And no saving issues


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I'm finding it difficult to align and phase the tweeters, its very hard to listen for the image when you cant cross them any lower than 4500


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Small diy project, trrs to trs adapter for the dayton mic, can finally give rew a shot.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Just when you think your system sounds 'ok-ish'; Rew is there to prove you wrong.
I guess android applets can only take you so far. This is what my system looks like at the moment, with only a tablet used so far to rta. Clearly miles away from where i should be.

Individual Drivers









And all at once


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

A little progress, wanted to get rid of the 120hz hump which gave a muddy boomy noise to the midbass. Spent about 8 hours tuning and plan to do another 8 tomorrow.


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## WhereAmEye? (Jun 17, 2013)

How do you manage 8 hours of tuning in a day? That's crazy. Any updates?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Had a semester break, but after all of that, progress is well beyond anyway haha. Its 8 hours of listening and learning.... Its my first system and first tune so all the messing around is taking place now. My curve is much more attractive, though still has a good few humps around the 100 - 400hz area. Unfortunately my midbass curves matched very poorly, with the passenger driver declining 100hz below my crossover. Managed to eq them close together, but still have 2 or 3 nulls in the overall EQ 

The 180hz null is killing me man... cant do anything. Will have to look for a physical solution
It isnt crossover, phase or individual driver related. Only occurs with both midbasses running.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Got any pics of the Anarchys installed?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Not at the moment. I lose the bottom 3 inches of window movement though.
They are installed straight into door hole, with a pad of heavy leather deadener inbetween the metal and speaker. This is the only way I can have them and still fit beneath the stock speaker cover. Will put some photos up later today


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

With this limited space I have for door mounting I went down this road;

Start with a ring of this weird heavy deadener I have








Goes onto speaker hole..and then covered with butyl/foam layer
















Then some padding on top.









And here is why I have to mount it without a proper baffle..

















Experimenting with some vinyl stuff at the moment too..


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Where I am at now. All I want now is more bands/parametric... I owe it to myself. 31 aint enough.
I have two nulls - 180hz and 1.4khz... any advice on solving these? At this point I cant hear anything wrong with it, but rew insists 










For now i am putting the tablet project off for a bit. I will focus on on re glassing the pillars completely, and perhaps fabricating the sail panels too. Want to aim them 5 - 10 degrees higher, at the moment they are aimed at shoulder height.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Any screenshots of the DSP? Would be interesting to see. The 31 bands with adjustment between each band adjusting, I'd think you could chase away any dips.

I have yet to spend the long hours with the mic and DSP myself, but from what I can see with the RF363 you could alter each EQ point to bring down or up if need be any of the freq around the problem area. 

But of course I'm sure you tried. Maybe you can alter some things in enclosures with foamy filler material? Just to see the change?

Another harder thing to tryt is IF you have another matching driver in the problem EQ range that you can swap out, and see if it driver specific or source just to see if that area rubs clean? Lastly changing some configuration in the car perhaps, which is harder than the others, but just to see how it effects rew response?

that's what I can come up with for now :-/


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The nulls are from the cabin as a whole. Does not occur with any individual drivers. I'll see what I can do though. I have pinpointed a few noises I want to eliminate - one being the window controls.
I have the day off work today so I might invest some time in longer tests with more averages to get things in better shape. It is pretty straight at the moment from 200hz to 3khz within 2db, but from what I've seen in target curves, if someone can recommend a 1db bump somewhere, then I am clearly not accurate enough.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The 180hz null is almost gone i think....and I only deadened the door instruments today. (arms rests, pockets, controls etc)









(take note of the scale phil)

The 16 - 2k sits perfectly flat now, apart from the 1.4khz. Without smoothing the 1.4khz gaps is very slim. Also put the tweeters 180 degrees out of phase for a change, seems to have the same slight dip. The capacitor is supposed to cross them as well at 4.5khz (what dayton says).... but my calculation was around 5khz. I may be wrong though. I must say at this point my listening is not critical enough to notice the changes anymore, it just sounds great to me.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Kazuhiro said:


> The 180hz null is almost gone i think....and I only deadened the door instruments today. (arms rests, pockets, controls etc)


Nice!


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Glad your enjoying it! Well done!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Since I am going to redo my pillars - I thought about changing the aiming. I hear aiming around the rear view mirror will give me a better image, as I will have less worries about axis and reflections, can anyone vouch for this? 

I am also considering adding the tweeter mount to these pods.....and while I'm at it, I may as well change my tweeters. I love these daytons, no complaints about the quality. They sound very clear, and havent thought for a second that they sound tinny or sharp (though grainy at quiet levels - low low background levels). I dont like crossing my mids at 4.5k+, as the region is definitely past beaming point (or at least point of tuning convenience) for the dayton rs100. I would like to find a decent silk dome thats about the same form factor, and is happy at 3k. And since this means about 90% of tweeters, the decision becomes overcrowded, any suggestions guys?


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Vifa XT25's


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

You dont happen to know anyone around here selling a contender by any chance? Would be a real convenience given the currency difference at the moment


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Lol, na sorry man. I have a pair, but don't want to give them up!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

They seem rather large, is there flexibility with the flange?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

More or less what I am looking for;
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...stige-27tffnc/g-h1396-1-textile-dome-tweeter/


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Could hit up Andrew or Dee at DC Tech and see if they can offer anything from the Morel range?


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Kazuhiro said:


> More or less what I am looking for;
> https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...stige-27tffnc/g-h1396-1-textile-dome-tweeter/


Thats what I have, lots of people say good things, haven't heard mine yet...


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Dropped some money on tweeters already. Got the NVX XSPTW, postage was 30usd to new zealand so I was happy with that. After hearing good advice about majority of tweeters on the market, I finally went with this which is a better value approach to a SB acoustics tweeter that also struck my interest. Also this comes with a nice grille.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

cool, get the install rolling on. I have heard a couple good things about NVX in general about using better components/parts than the general popular brands, so I hope you have good results with it.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Need some advice for fibre glassing.
Last time I used a t shirt and contact adhesive to make the shape and it was quite difficult. 
Can anyone recommend a material and fastening method? 
I also had trouble with the wood and hot glue. The Dayton speaker is a heavy little thing and no hot glue and sticks could hold it.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Kazuhiro said:


> Need some advice for fibre glassing.
> Last time I used a t shirt and contact adhesive to make the shape and it was quite difficult.
> Can anyone recommend a material and fastening method?
> I also had trouble with the wood and hot glue. The Dayton speaker is a heavy little thing and no hot glue and sticks could hold it.


Are you trying to glue it with the speaker in the car? Take the speaker out and aim the ring and glue the ring without the speaker in it. Then take it out of the car and glue in some more supports to hold the speaker.

Lots of people use really stretchy fleece, go to the store and feel it because some fleece is not very stretchy. I've used both hot glue and ca glue. Hot glue you have to lay then push the fabric into it, ca usually will soak through while you are holding it in place. 

Try this vid...


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

I don't know how you are aiming yours but what worked for me was tying or taping a string to whatever part of the car I was aiming at and then using one hand to pull the string taught to the center of my speaker ring, that makes it easy to look at the ring and determine if it pointing correctly. Then try to hold it there while you hot glue it in with your third hand.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Problem is that the dayton speakers are very deep, the magnet is huge for a 3" driver, so I am always conscious of making it fit. I can cut the back of the pillar open but that only adds maybe one or two cm to work with.

Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Kazuhiro said:


> Problem is that the dayton speakers are very deep, the magnet is huge for a 3" driver, so I am always conscious of making it fit. I can cut the back of the pillar open but that only adds maybe one or two cm to work with.
> 
> Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


Well not much you can do about the size of the speaker, are you just having a problem holding it there? Bunch a towel up into the corner to hold the speaker up while you aim it?

I got lucky with my 10F having very small neo motors, made it really easy to get into the corner.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I'll see what problems I run into. Each pod will house the rs100 and a rather large xsptw tweeter, aimed at the bottom of the rear view mirror. I'm a bit busy as of late so this will begin in two or three weeks time.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Im considering changing the mids too... not sure yet though. 
I dont think I want to spend 200 for a pair of scans, all the driver must do is respond good between 300 and 2.5 - 3khz... and not be bulky like the dayton.
These have caught my eye. I dont know anything about tang band, but they look nice, have a nice response and are cheap! 
Tang Band W3-1364SA 3" Bamboo Cone Driver

It is the same depth, however the magnets radius is half that of the daytons.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Tweets arrived. They are massive compared to the AMTPOD's.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Nice! Get to work installing those things so I have entertainment while I'm away from my car this week!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Cant do it!! Busy in the labs for the next few weeks


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

If a high pass capacitor is only being used as protection; eg I have a 2.5khz crossover on dsp and have a 2khz high pass cap (about 25uf ~ depending on R) does it really matter how high end my caps are? Could I just run regular generic audio caps at no loss in sound quality?

Reason being; If i can find some on aliexpress or ebay, it would really help with the free shipping. Paying as much or more shipping than the product is worth is ridiculous.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Will begin chopping up the pods next week! I have all parts ready, and got a pair of generic 25uf film caps. In the meantime I am working on a little pc speaker setup using alpine DDlinear 6.5 comps, active too!

I will also be buying another amp, namely the ppi 900.4 since it has dropped to 170usd. My tweets and mids will then be powered off the 80wrms 4ch rubicon amp used on the mids and sub.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Not car audio related...just a small fix










































Chrome spray is a bit cloudy, ordered some chrome wrap.

Coming up in a few days I will begin construction on the new pods. If the pillars cant house the mids and the tweets, i will just make a sail pod for the tweets. 
Also other little fixes such as repainting the bonnet, and new clear chrome headlights.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Oh my fkn god I've really done it now.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Comparison shot.

RS100-4 ; NVX XSPTW; AMTPOD-4


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

My situation:


































This wont be easy. Clearly have bugger all room for these speakers and a dome light aim. I have maybe 1 - 1.5cm behind the a pillar cover if I cut more. Looks like I will be forced into doing sail pods for the tweeters.


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## lpreston (Dec 29, 2006)

What are your thoughts on those tweets? I've got a set...not yet installed


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Same boat sorry.... I'm sure they will be much nicer to tune with.


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## lpreston (Dec 29, 2006)

Well...I'm subscribed now. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Definitely faster the second time round. This time I bought some local lycra (thx sinister) and it will sure make the job easier. 
For the sail panel tweeters, I decided to give expanding foam a shot. The sail panel is too small to use the tweeter rim with screw mounts, so this will be a case of a flush glue fit.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Getting there....slowly.
I've well exceeded my budget, from small gear changes (crap resale value here) and buying so many freaking screws....adhesives...or whatever


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Looking good, keep it up!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Tweeter pods are going differently;


















Another 6KG of deadener. Now to decide where to put it...


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

wow...this has taken a nice turn...at least in the gear you have. Are you planning on drilling out the foam? 

Those pillars with the lycra look like some cartoon character 

nice to see the progress!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Yea i will use the rest of the lycra on my superman cape.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

I don't know how you hav the patients...I would be loosing sleep to know how it sounds!


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I've really rushed in over the past 24 hours. Two layers of resin have been layed (used about 500g) and I am on my second filler layer. I'm kicking myself for leaving creases in the fabric. Hopefully will get all filling and finishing done over the next few days, and I will hand it over to be flocked first thing next week. Hopefully they can do it in a day or two, I dont want to wait a week haha. I dont think I used enough hardener on the tweeter pods.... so if they dont toughen up by tomorrow, I may have to take a step back.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Anyone know a cure for this....?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Test fit. Needs a bit more putty and sand then will be flocked in headliner beige









Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Alignment, crossovers and driver matching done along with a basic tune.
Didnt end up using caps, I trust this unit enough now, also I wanted to work below 2k. Also, loving the new tweeters, have much more detail than previous daytons, athough i am now crossed at 2k instead of 4.5k, so the rs100's dont need to extend so far.

1/3rd octave smoothing all spl


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Nice job! You could probably play with the mid/tweet crossover point quite a bit given the flexibility of both drivers. The RS100 looks pretty clean up to a breakup node around 9k. The 2nd order does seem to spike at 2k but other than that it's nice. Have you tried between 3k-4k yet?


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Have you tried bondo to fix the crack? You might have too muchmaterial on it. Try taking some off, and then reposition, secure it with some "holders"/dowel or some vise, jig....If not bondo, I would try epoxy.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I ended up sanding the area right down, and refilling. Today I set up eq profiles for the car turned on, as I noticed a change in tweeter volume with car on/off of about 3db. (insane)
Only the tweeter channel does it, not the mid channels. Anyway have a much nicer driving sound which is keeping me happy.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Isn't that an indication of a few possible things?

Your power wire to the power source of the tweeters? 
Your dsp setting, 
Your ohm difference if possible
Your Balance setting in your HUnit, 
Your wire thickness (least likely for tweeters)
Your amp gains if different power source or amp channel levels?

Did I cover it all?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I think its the power rating; `12v and 14.4v etc.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Something with the setup really isnt right at the moment, and I cant put my finger on it. I have the drivers eq matched extremely well, and the overall spl curve is fine. I tune for both ear positions averaged, however my left ear (centre; right hand drive) feels a harshness the other does not. And aside from that even, the music just feels distant, even with time alignment as close as it gets, there is no "presence" to the music, especially for vocals n such. I will try crossing the tweeters at 3 and 4k. Could saw dust on the tweeters cause inconsistencies? The grilles arent removeable so I'd have to use compressed air or something?

Anyhow, trying a new amplifier tomorrow for the mids and tweets so I will get down and dirty with the tuning again.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Amplifier didnt arrive unfortunately, but still went ahead with the tuning. I changed the tweeter crossover to 3k, and I did like it better. I found out my sub was out of phase, creating a massive null at the crossover. A simple 180 swap fixed this completely. I didnt pick up on this before as I was using 1/3 smoothing, will use 1/12th from now on. I am still noticing changes in the tuning depending on the amount of time the car is on, upon ignition the bass is lacking, and when raising the volume the front stage will get harsh before it sounds good. A minute later however, it will be fine. 

With 1/12th smoothing, the overall curve still shows some points a whopping 5dB (+2.5 and -2.5 peak/dips) higher than others where they should be equal, and I feel like 31 bands can't help me in these.
Is it time to step up the DSP? Perhaps a minidsp 2x8, DEQ.8 or anything that can compete at the price range?


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

This was my problem before tuning, presence, vocals, and sounding like it was in the doors , and not musical.

Part of it was that I had the crossovers active on the amp. for front I had to let them be full pass through so the DSP is only filtering the frequencies.

That was a chunk better, and then with the tuning, it brought the stage high off the floor, and things were sounding nicely dialed in. The music sounded like someone sprinkled pixi dust in front of my face with a special sound fx


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

New amp is in and tuned well! 
Sounding real great at the moment, had a few hiccups and stupid moments,like realizing after hours of fiddling with the sound stage and not getting an image, that the terminals on the amp are + - - + patterned haha...
So it is infact sounding a better than before. This amplifier is very underrated, and even with the same rating as the old lil wonder, seems to have maybe 1.5 times the juice. The front image feels like it has a higher resolution, or density if you will, a bit wider and brighter, and the presence has never felt greater.
Next step is an old school Fusion amplifier. This one will get a lot of boo's, but the fact is that it is a solid amplifier with plenty of power and good build quality. FP-1404 is the model, and the 90 amp fuses tell some of the story. 

The PA-304 has a few small scratchers, but cant complain considering it is 26 years old...


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## craiggus365 (Apr 5, 2009)

Nice Nakamichi amp!


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

nice! where is this going?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Its already in the trunk in place of the lil wonder on the rack. I will be redoing my trunk again, need to make it wider, to fit a 30cm and 60cm amplifier. Then I will do one of those flush amp covers, with just the heatsinks showing.

Grandtech APT X Optical Bluetooth 4.0 Music Transmitter Receiver Supports SBC/APTX Bluetooth A2DP/IOPT Digital Optical Output-in Other Consumer Electronics from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Bought one of these and will try optical straight to the DSP. Currently using olde AD2P bluetooth on a pioneer x565bt headunit. So technically I am running around 320kbps to the dsp, whereas apt-x is supposed to be near lossless (of good enough for my tidal collection). If its enough of a difference, I will ditch the headunit completely, and replace it with a panel with DSP control, Remote switch, and Volt/amp meter.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Now that the 88R has stopped saving profiles, I will definitely be upgrading DSP!


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Just watch the classifieds for a used Helix.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Might be stepping forward with the Massive Core-1 thanks to Skizer.
If it goes through, I'll gladly provide feedback on the gear and experience as there isn't much word on here about it.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Big changes happening, getting things out of the way while I dont have audio.

The mids/sub amp will be replaced with a higher power, oldschool (around 2000ish) Fusion FP-1404. Along with the DSP change, I will also be running a headunitless operation. 
I have ordered: A replacement DIN with a drawer, where my dash do-dads will go.
A Bluetooth 4.0 APTX reciever and an oldschool burr brown Nakamichi DAC-41 will be hooked in. Will also be using bluetooth OTG with a usb to coaxial digitizer (no conversion). The DAC allows two inputs, so there will be BT on one, and USB on the other. A TRRS jack will be spliced with my car antenna too.

A friend of mine will be assisting me with his 3D printer, to make a good dock for the phone. The dock will be on the fron of the din faceplate, along with a remote switch and led, and a possible voltmeter. 
Not sure where I will run the DSP's remote yet, but it will definitely be in the centre of the vehicle, not the drivers side coin pouch which was inconvenient to access.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

DAC Has landed!

Neat early 90's piece I believe?

A few little scuffs, nothing to complain about for its age


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Heres the new Fusion amp era 02 - 03 I believe. 

Needs a bit of restoring, chips, paint, and some work done on the logo piece. 
Anyone have advice for restoring this? 

Terminals and screws are showing their age, although the contact areas are in great shape. 
Deoxit is 30 dollars a pop here, not worth it for such a little job. Any other recommendations?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Fingerprint magnet. At least this will be concealed in my dash. 
Initial Test with Fidelio X1 headphones : The built in DAC is terrible, hopefully the digital output isn't like this.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The brains behind the operation:
















Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

The massive core-1 was an interesting dsp to work with. I have some things I'd like to say about the unit. 

Since receiving it only two nights ago, I have dug right into it, and spent a total of 10 hours messing around with it.

I love how you can add groups which makes the interface a lot more straight forward, not just channel numbers. The crossovers have plenty of slopes and types etc, linkwitz Butterworth bessel. The equalizers are a whole different story to other dsps. Although you have to add the bands, right off the bat there is a limit of 8 parametric bands per channel. So you may as well add 8 to all the channels. I don't see why the bands can't just be there all the time, instead of adding them. For each group (tweets mids etc) there is left, right or left plus right tuning options. You either use one or the other, you can't use L+R alongside the L and R. So in total, you basically have 32 bands per side. But these bands are very useful, and I didn't find myself needing them all. Parametric, with customized frequency, width and up to 20db gain or cut in 1db steps. There is also options to use hi and low gate band options. Eg one of my midbass speakers had a diminished upper frequency response in comparison to the other, so I used this to boost everything above 200hz on the channel by a few db. 

The unit has a battery manager and Rms limiter feature too, which I haven't gone into yet. They seem quite innovative, definitely a new feature for dsps. 

Going from a dsp88r, this unit somehow has a much more lively, detailed sound. My system sounds more aggressive, and I love it. I'm not sure how to explain it. Even with two days use, my setup is a whole new experience, more immersive than ever. There is also a stage depth option, which is like extending your speakers out past the car bounds, with a bit of the 'bathroom' effect you may have used in realtek drivers. The outputs are very powerful 12Vpp, so definitely set your amp gains right down. 

Will post more info when I mess around with it more.



Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

Thats some great info. First I have heard use of this DSP. Glad your enjoying it.

I'm sure you'll be spending many more hours with it. But interesting to hear that it made such a difference (if comparing both from a non-tuned set point). Those L/R and band settings I have no idea about, but the way RF 3Sixty.3 has it is each side has independent dB cut control if you want.


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## fr3ek (Jan 17, 2009)

Nice set up!

Don't see too many people with the NVX tweeters and Exodus woofers posting here, so just wondered if you had an inkling of what they would sound like as a two way set?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

They are both greater speakers. The tweets can be crossed very low which makes them great for a 2 way. Im not sure why, but my anarchies dont seem to handle higher frequencies well. But I dont see any reason why it wouldnt be a good setup


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I will soon be on a semester break from uni and ready to start building again. 
What I have planned:
New Headunit (excelon)
Finish pillars -> Flocking
Re frabricated trunk 
Rewired, lots of sleeving on the way

For the trunk I am planning on doing a false floor sort of operation, with just the top heatsinks showing on the beauty panel. Will do an improved job of cable management this time. If anyone has any layout ideas, let me know. Thats where my creativity is lacking, I will essentially be doing the same layout but without the enclosed amp rack area.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

how goes it Kazuhiro?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Of the above list - just the headunit has been done so far.
In the coming weeks I will grab the remaining supplies, Wire and Wood.
For now I need to mock up ideas for layout


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Received another FP-1404 today! It is just gorgeous! I absolutely love these oldschool 4ch. Production date around 2000ish, reasonable stats for an amplifier of its time; 14.4V; 130wrms x 4 @ 4 ohms, 210 x 4 @ 2 ohms, 425 x 2 @ 4 ohms.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

If you've seen the Soundstage width thread which I've hijacked, you'll notice a large portion of the efforts are going towards the tuning of this vehicle. Thanks to the members there, mainly SQnut, I've really pushed the bounds on my perception of music and stereo science. 
Tweaks have been made over and over, and different curves have been experimented with. Here is the final installment before I re-fabricate the trunk. 

Overall in my tuning ventures I have my upper range settled in concrete, as I believe I have achieved all I can with it. That is a decline of 5dB from 200hz to 3khz, and another 5dB to 10khz. I am finding that a 10dB decline from 50hz to 200hz seems to be quite universal, a 'correct' amount of bass. As always this wont be suitable for on the road, so I have to increase that amount a few dB. One thing that isnt consistent is a lot of EQ curves having a flatness below 50hz, and others increasing exponentially..I believe I prefer the latter. Also seeing the topic of dynamic EQ, I thought I'd take a shot at tuning with this enabled (There's loudness level 1 and 2 on the kenwood....started with level 1). 

L&R Results; 










(The 20 - 40hz shape changes to match the decline when I use L and R together)


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Picked up another toy from the pawn store....


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## fr3ek (Jan 17, 2009)

I saw that one on Trade Me, but pick up only 

There was a Rubicon 1000-2 kicking around on TM too, see if that one is still around to make the pair.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Yeah man. Drove up from hamilton for it haha. Rougher than I expected, but I still admire it. I did see the 1000-2 but was working during the auction ending  The guy who bought it said it had problems with melted switches and fuse terminals, along with loose rcas, but all is fixed and working. I will probably replace the RCA's on this, one pair is a little loose. Will buy some shiny chassis clamp ones. Then I have to pick between this, the nak, and the fusion for the midrange/highs. My new trunk configuration will be modular for a while, to give me time to experience each amp for about a week.

Wait for this guy to relist: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=987532497
Absolute steal! He has the 1kW mono too


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Another measurement before I tear it up...

Matching the midbass and midranges. The main goal here was actually getting everything correct at the crossover point, and getting the phase correct. Unfortunately they dont seem to decline the same amount outside the crossover points, 300 and 3k. Overall curve is shown above for reference. This has also been done with the subwoofer measurement, not shown. Tweets havent been checked yet. Sounds phenomenal. (when its not rattling haha)


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Pulled everything out. Family photo while I'm at it.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Sent from my HTC_PO582 using Tapatalk


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Kazuhiro said:


>


Nice! Looks familiar! haha


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Little bit of progress.


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

How do you like that dsp?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

In one sentence - You get what you pay for. 
It is very capable, and I wouldnt have gotten individual driver EQ so tight without the exclusive channel eq. Plenty of parametric bands, plenty of other features. But still very quirky. A few things drove me mad about it, but I worked past it and achieved a very nice balanced sound, excellent across all genres and puts a smile on my face too often. I've never felt so pleased with my system before. Your helix on the other hand, from what I've heard, is a very nice unit and probably better. 

The system now aces staging and tonality tests. Although there is one issue I've noticed; The seven drum track, every hit is at correct placement, and height, but the centre one has an illusion of sounding like it is coming from both speakers. My centre is aligned with maximum constructive interference, and that could also be the addition of direct waves and the reflections. I think this could be the peak alignment of the reflections also, and produces the effect of sound from opposite sides.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Seems like my system is beginning to induce headlight dimming during my enjoyment. I've been led to believe this wouldn't be an issue for a low powered, general SQ purpose system. Altogether, the two amps have 180 amps of fuses. Each speaker is running off 130w taps and the subwoofer on 400ish, all 4 ohm operations. 1.2kW at most (as if I even get close). Perhaps my battery is on its last legs? Its less than a year old, but still a small 330cca running a stock alt. with no wiring upgrades.


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## Golden Ear (Oct 14, 2012)

Yea I'd start with the battery. Is it an agm battery? That's what I use in all my vehicles with a system and never have any electrical problems. I have 1500 watts on tap in two different vehicles and haven't replaced the alts, just batteries. Can you fit a bigger one in there?


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

Kazuhiro said:


> Although there is one issue I've noticed; The seven drum track, every hit is at correct placement, and height, but the centre one has an illusion of sounding like it is coming from both speakers.


Play that track and reduce the delay between L/R a bit. It should snap to centre.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I definitely could fit a slightly larger one - but I'm such a cheap ass. Its as basic as you get. 

Product


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## fr3ek (Jan 17, 2009)

As already mentioned, prob battery is POS. Have you ever replaced it in the time you've owned the car?

I had a Century 330CCA in my old Civic running just the one FP-1404 and had the same dimming issues. Replaced it with an Exide Extreme 430CCA and all was good after that. Went for that instead of an Optima as I didn't want to relocate the battery and that was the biggest that would fit.

Ran that battery for another 3 years without issue running the FP-1404 and an FP-9001D as well. Not sure of the long term effects on the remainder of the charging system, but I got away with it before selling the car.

Could upgrade your grounding in the engine bay to help too.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

I've never really had this problem till now, I bought the battery (330cca century) around june. Still have warranty but I suppose they cant cover that right? 

I still listen at the same levels as I always have this year, so I'm guessing the battery is the problem. I didn't know a single FP-1404 could strain it so much. 

Where did you buy the Exide from?


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## fr3ek (Jan 17, 2009)

Not sure if warranty will cover it, can try though! Just don't show them all the gear you are running.

Got the Exide from a local Exide reseller. This is going back to 2007 though.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Looks like this project will never meet completion. 
I will remove all the gear and sell the vehicle. New project will be in a 2010 Honda Inspire 3.5
Look forward to trying a new vehicle, and will be glad to ditch some of the resonance demons in the corolla. 

Potential things in mind for next project; 8" midbass, Centre channel, IB trunk.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

What??!!!! Dude....

You're switching cars already?! Maybe you want to at least give a final rundown of what you ended up with for the past 8 pages of logging?..And maybe your overall impression of what you surmise?
I'd say get an AGM battery and be done. no?


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Be done? I want to do a new project. I am pleased with how this one is, I haven't changed a single eq slider in a while. What sort of conclusions are you looking for? Rta? Gear?
What never got finished on this build; Flocking the pods, false floor cover. 

I'd like to experiment with the next car a bit, try some different configurations before going ahead completely. One incentive to the change; I want a show car.
This corolla aint a show car, thats for sure. A 2010 accord will be fitting for that purpose. I'd like an SQ showcar to share my passion. SPL dominates here. There are perhaps 10 or so SQ oriented vehicles in my country. (either dsp or nice gear i would consider sq)


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

ah ok...You did a number of swaps in the process I lost track of your end result. Sounds like you were done 

I used to have an Accord, long ago. Great cars. Its when I first got a MBQuart set and fell in love with them ....oh about 1994


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

Ah nice, 90's are a different story  
Will be a fun challenge swapping cars with a 14 year age difference, I'm still deciding whether or not to keep the OEM system in place.


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## Phil Indeblanc (May 27, 2015)

why would you? they likely have cut specific frequencies. check for that first. If I knew about my oem being limited, I might have taken it out from the get go.

Ya, the newer Accords are nice. Particularly the newest one...It has a lot of design lines I see from BMW.


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## Kazuhiro (Apr 28, 2015)

At the moment weighing up the Audible Physics RAM 3A and RAM 2.5. 
These will be installed in sail panels hopefully. I'm unsure I'll keep the Anarchys. 
My first choice for midbass is the sb satoris, but I havent done much research yet.


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