# 2000 Land Cruise SQ install completed Pics



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Well, totally done with mo2vation's 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser 

For build up pics, please see this thread:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37484

anyway, goals:

1. excellent sound quality

2. classy and simple design with a little bit of show factor

3. the hatch install needs to be EXTREMELY strong to withstand pounding from diving tanks, drum sets on a regular basis

so...lets get started.

the signal source starts with a pioneer 6000UB ipod enabled CD player, this is a more or less temporary solution, he will switch to a double din of sometime down the road.










front stage consists of a set of a Seas Lotus reference 6.5" two way components, the tweeters are molded into the A pillars, and covered in tan vinyl. as you can see, this A pillar is very long and extends all the way to the B pillar:





































the midbass are in vinyl trimed fiberglass kick panels, aimed on axis with the opposite listener:





































and here is the front stage as a whole:










grilles were made for the kicks:










and here is what htey look like attached:










take off a stock pop off panel on the left side of the dash, and the USB cable for the zapco DSP control can be accessed, plug in an extension, and tune away from the driver seat:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

moving onto the cargo area, i built a side mounted amp rack/subbox, in the end, it only took up about 3" of real trunk space, meaning the space that goes beyond the wheel well cover. this also allows him to retain back seat fold down ability to pass long cargo through. the rack is VERY sturdy, i can sit my 200lb butt on it  and you can grab it and shake the entire truck with it...

on top of a vinyl cutout window with mesh and land cruiser logo that sits above the two amplifiers, a Zapco DC reference 650.6 powers the front stage (180watts for midbass 100 for tweets), and a DC 500.1 power a single IDQ10v3 with 500 watts. the mesh not only hides th amps from plain view, but also provides adequate heat dissipation. the sub is flushed into a vinyled opening, and a plexi window looks into the Distribution blocks. the front and back sides
have a grilled cutout on them to allow air to flow though the entire structure, this will ensure the zapco am's fans, whcih draws air from one side of the amp and out hte other, does not just circulate dead air. the entire rack is finished in tan carpeting:























































fold the backseat down and you see the other vented covering panel:










a grille was made to go over the sub and D block rack:



















and here is the grille on the rack, the carpet is fully breathable so it does not affect the sub's output.










and finally, a few shops of the naked rack showing hte wiring and layout:




























with just a standard file loaded onto the amps now, it sounds pretty good arleady, stage is surprisingly high, with good solid midbass impact. taking her down to LA tommorow and gonna tune it some more with Eng.


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## slvrtsunami (Apr 18, 2008)

nice, very nice. I am sure ken will love it. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make the Aug. 9th meet so I can't see it in person.

Off topic: about your avatar. Gotta love the Major!!


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## jdc753 (Nov 14, 2007)

wow that looks beautiful. Simple yet oh so nice. I hope to one day be able to do work like that.


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## dual700 (Mar 6, 2005)

Meh. 




































J/K!
Damn, I miss having SUV back!


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## sr20det510 (May 20, 2007)

Very nice!

I'm noticing the DC and Lotus combination work well together : )


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah i like the DC cuase its set and forget, less wires, no need to access back there once its on 

i will have it at the meet on saturday


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## dvflyer (May 11, 2007)

Nice to see a different style install from the ones we usually see. Good job.

Question: Because they have the DC Reference amps, there is no external processor, correct? So the USB connector comes from both amps? i.e. one connector daisy chained?

(no need to answer if you've already done so on my350z)


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## theothermike (Dec 20, 2006)

mom has same car. white 2000 landcruiser

im so tired of those 2 4" vented subs in the back cargo area where your new box amp rack is. but i bet it was a simple install car is easy to mess with.

nice work bing


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hey mike,

you just run one usb cable back, little telephone cords daisy chain all the amps together, you can i think chain up to 10 or 15 amps and tune it off one cable upfront 

b


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## spliflover (May 31, 2008)

those grills you made are impressive.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Nice, I like it.


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

stunning work as usual


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## moosejuice (Oct 5, 2007)

Looks great!!! 
The rear solution for hauling looks like it will hold up just fine...

B-


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

why black grilles?


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## drake78 (May 27, 2007)

Whiterabbit said:


> why black grilles?



the blacker the grill....the sweeter the sounds


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## shinjohn (Feb 8, 2006)

Bing,
Nice work as usual!
Just curious: do you really need venting at the front and rear of the rack, or was that more of an aesthetic decision?

edit: and congrats to mo2vation on the install!


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## tyroneshoes (Mar 21, 2006)

Very nice install. If I was on your coast, Id defiantly give you my truck to work on. Just no one I cant trust anymore around here. 


Seems like you use the lotus set a lot. Just curious what crossover settings you find to be best with them, assuming you went active with the zaps? And any eq cuts you tend to address usually with the set.


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## cheesehead (Mar 20, 2007)

Very nice!

I especially liked the amp/sub box in the hatch.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

shinjohn, well, i cant say for sure if i need it or not but i know only three facts:

1. socal gets much hotter than us on average 

2. the zapco dc amps do indeed run pretty hot and definetly utilizes its fans

3. it cant hurt to have the box flow air through it 

so...

hehe

b


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## mo2vation (Apr 13, 2008)

*Just got home and got to see the rig up close!*

My wife and I just landed from Bonaire (diving, etc.)

Rolled in, and there in the driveway is my truck. Haven't see it for quite awhile...

I get in, and the faceplate is off of the head unit... I'm thinking, "I know Bing, dude either put it in the glovie or in the console - we'll try the glovie..."

There it is. Snap it right on, and fire it up. I need to move the truck out of the driveway to get the 8 bags through the garden gate to the rinse station so I can dunk all of this dive gear and stuff.

So _of course,_ I _had _to fire up the system to, you know, move the rig out of the driveway...  

This task took about 20 minutes, as I called over my wife, had her get in and we drove the thing around the block 6 or 7 times. 

I had sent Bing a couple of CD's that provided a sample of the stuff I like to listen to. He took the liberty of creating a reference CD of stuff not too far askew from that and left it in the head unit - so I got in, snapped on the face plate and up came some music.

Nice touch.

It sounds very good. Solid, punchy, quiet. There is a depth to the silence which I appreciate, as it delivers the perception of greater dynamics to the entire system. This isn't easy as I have the world's worst aftermarket windshield install....its like sticking your head out the window the is so much wind noise. This isn't a wacky car show punch and sizzle - this is a grown up's audio system. It makes me smile, as I haven't had a true SQ system since back in my Concord, Linear Power, Zapco PEQ, ADS days. Its been awhile, and this system crushes that one. 

I'm a drummer, and Bing included a studio drum session on the CD. I know what I want a kit to sound like, and dude nailed it.

The install is first rate. Thanks for cutting the front floor mats around the kicks - they look great. The back mat looks very good, too. Everything looks just like it does in the eMails and pictures we've been sending back and forth, but its real now.

COOL!

This head unit will go in my wife's Rav 4 sometime before long when I bring the LC back up for the double din DVD / NAV upgrade. 

Again, I SO wish I was here for the grand unveiling and hand off. I'll call you later, Bing - I want to hear all about the SoCal M&G and have you walk me through some of the finer points of the system.

Thanks again.

Anyone in SoCal - it is SO worth it to make the drive up to this guy and have him do your work for you. I'd only seen his stuff on this site, walked through his posts, saw the peer respect he garners, listened at how he spoke of audio and his passion for SQ and there was no doubt that Bing was the guy for me.

The vision is described to him - a bullet-proof box sitting over the rear wheel well that will be out of the way and house the Sub - he took another step further and added the D-blocks, Amp rack, some "tasteful flash" and little extras (like the venting, the matching grills, the LC logos, etc.) 

Of course the SQ is there, but the install is classy, rugged, functional, stealthy and will serve every purpose I laid out in the very first eMail Bing and I exchanged back in April.

Bing - thanks again. You pour yourself into every install, and I'm very fortunate to have gotten to know you, receive excellent recommendations from you and have you complete a stellar custom install on my Land Cruiser.

Thanks again, buddy.

---
Ken


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

*Re: Just got home and got to see the rig up close!*

why black grilles?


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## mo2vation (Apr 13, 2008)

*Re: Just got home and got to see the rig up close!*



Whiterabbit said:


> why black grilles?


Because he knows this is a working truck. That means lots of mud and sand from diving, flyfishing and other outdoor activities. 

I'd bigfoot all over tan grills and they'd look pretty bad very quickly.


---
Ken


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

*Re: Just got home and got to see the rig up close!*



Whiterabbit said:


> why black grilles?


cuase i took a gander at the stock tan grilles he had on the stock door and sub woofers, and made a pretty quick and easy decision on black grilles. long term durability is more important for sure. those stock grilles were pretty much a few shade darker with black streaks all over the place hehe

also, from a cosmetic stand point, it is my opinon that unless you can match the factory tan/beige perfectly twih your own grille cloth, its best not to try, and instead, with the black tweeter grilles of the A pillar, its an overall better match cosmetically. when you see the black in pics its easy to say, well, cant you go tan, but then you go and try to match the stock tan to your book of 8 different grille cloth colors and nothing comes too close...thats another story hehe


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## Whiterabbit (May 26, 2006)

*Re: Just got home and got to see the rig up close!*

Thanks Bing. I completely understand about the tan interior (now that I drive a tan interior car) I can't believe how susceptible they are to black scuff marks from shoes. Disappointing at best. I can't imagine the effect of moving a drum set around repeatedly has had on tan paneling in the back.

I appreciate the explanation.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hehe no worries...steve, how far are you on the 6? i relaly want to see/hear hte result  the whiterabbit rising from the ashes


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## douggiestyle (Apr 29, 2008)

Man I always love looking at your installs. Great creativity and attention to detail. Props.

Doug


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

Looks great! You always produce very high quality work but screwcaps? You have got to be kidding me? I understand for serviceability reasons they make sense but I always find a way around them and in carpet it can be very easy, I will instal the final panel after everything is tuned/set right after I carpeted it so the glue is still a little tacky, I cut little x's and fold the carpet back, run my screws in and then place the carpet back down and work any seams out... never had a problem going that route but just a little peave of mine. Screwcaps became a complete joke at the shops I've worked at, convienient but a very lazy way to do things... not using them has made me a better installer and cause me to really think outside the box for many aplications.

Like I said though a beautiful install!
End rant


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

i hear you dave...though i am not sure if screw caps is a "lazy" way of doing things, at leas thte way i do it, first pilot hole then a 3/4" hole drill to flush it down...hardly less work than cutting an x and screwing into? 

i have dont he little x thing in the past, but i have found over time, at least around here, they lift up when people slide heavy stuff over it from time to time, and once this carpet gets pulled and stretched, it sorta looks wierd.

on a few other installs, i use plug and dowels or staped velcor to hold the panels down without any screws...but on the ones i feel will get a bit more abuse, i tend to still fall back to that...hehe

have you guys had no issues iwht using on backed carpet and the cuts around the screws lifting? mainly in fake floor installs where the top carpet is the loading floor...

if not, then maybe i will give that a shot some more


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

You don't take the lazy apporach when you do it (most just screw it in) if you are drilling pilot holes and such... I haven't had any problem with either backed or non backed carpet with the x method however I could see where it would be an issue if the user actually used there trunk and was using the carpeted panel... I think the customers I have done this for either dont really use the area that the panel was in or don't report any problems... who knows... sounds like you have played with a few methods... local weather can play a part and type of glue can also play into it...


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah,i think the best method overall, is piano plug into a pre-drilled hole...but thats quite a bit time consuming and sometimes not as strong, initially i was thinking of using that on this or just heavy duty velcro, infact, i sat there and thought about for an entire hour, and in the end, figured funcitonality above all, cuase you should see the condition the stock side panels were in, painfully clear that the back gets a lot of very heavy stuff thrown in with decent frequency, last thing i wnat is for the top panel to work loose and something gets behind there...you should see the lengths of hte srews under those caps hehe four are 2.5 inchers lol


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## mo2vation (Apr 13, 2008)

*First dive tonight in the truck - no worries!*

Just wanted to offer a shot of the rig with dive gear in it for tonight's dive.

Here are three shots: 

BB - (before Bing!)

AB - (after Bing)

AB with Gear


---
Ken


=======================

*Before Bing*





*After Bing* - I trimmed an Office Depot chair mat to fit back here to keep water and sand off the new carpet.





*Dive Gear Loaded!*


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## mo2vation (Apr 13, 2008)

One more - with the drums


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## fireball (Oct 20, 2009)

Really nice setup! Just bought a '99 LC and am figuring out what to do. Would love to have something half this nice.


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