# A tale of two FR-Ss: Part TWO (Illusion Audio, Mosconi)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

This is part II of a two part double Scion FR-S build log, click here for part I:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...wo-fr-ss-part-one-illusion-audio-mosconi.html


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So as the first FR-S build left the garage, right on its tail pulled in the second. This one in ultramarine, a dark blue coat with a purplish hue.

Unlike the first one, this one was bone stock, but still pretty cool:




















The goals for this car are very different from the first car:

1. To achieve a good level of sound quality with a modest budget and power

2. to keep weight gain to an absolute minimum and ZERO trunk space lost

3. keep all things completely hidden out of view

so let’s get started...

The signal starts with a Pioneer AVH-P4400 dvd headunit...by now, we have discovered the Beatsonic tabs, which have a slightly better texture than the normal Scion tabs, and best of all, it is designed for the car so you don’t need to do any trimming of the tabs:





































here is the wiring harness prep:










Here is the OEM Bluetooth mic snapped from the roof of the car, the mic itself was then unsnapped from the housing and the pioneer mic secured in place:




























By video bypass of the headunit for none driving situations, I did something very simple and reliable. There is a tiny little button on the left side of the dash next to the trunk release...what this is a PUSH OFF/RELEASE ON momentary switch. since the pioneer wants to see a zero signal on the parking brake wire and then signal, all one has to do is give this button a single press and voila! all done. 

the switch is soldered and then secured to the back of the dash panel with a series of plastic pieces:




























I also retained his factory USB and Aux input panel's full functionality:










here is the oem input module out of the car, along with the pioneer sub cable that has its end stripped, and a 3.5mm mini jack cable soldered to a servo extension cable, these two plugs into the back of the module, and then runs to the aux and usb input of the pioneer:



















The customer also supplied me with a back up camera, so I have that wired up to come on everytime the car is in reverse:










here is the Sony camera he gave me:










here is the sony camera's wire secured in the trunk lid to factory bundles and passing into the trunk via the OEM conduit:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

The front stage consists of a set of Illusion Audio's midline Lucent series...so let us take a closer look at this set. The cone is poly versus the Carbons, and it is a soft dome tweeter versus the copper dome on the C6. but otherwise, the two uses the same basket and this xover network also features bi-amp capability.














































first, new speaker wires were run into the door:










the door was sound proofed with STP foam and gold damper around the speaker openings:










a pair of speaker adapter baffles was fabbed up and weatherproofed with three layers of truck bedliner:










the baffle was then secured to the vehicle using oem points:










and the L6 midbass secured:



















the inside of the door card grille area received a layer of STP gold damper.










the passenger side received the identical treatment:























































Like the FR-S, the L6 tweeter will go into the stock midrange location outboard on the dash. here is the stock dash grille with the tweeter and the midrange, removed from the vehicle:










the tweeters were unsnapped from the grille to prevent resonance, and the midranges were unsnapped and removed from their housing:










the L6 tweeters were mounted to their brackets, slightly trimmed and holes enlarged to fit the oem basket, and wired up:










the oem mounting basket was laid in place, a new set of speaker wires run up and through the center opening:










and the L6 tweeter bolted in via oem hardware:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the same processes on the other side:




























Now comes the pics of the wiring bundles as it goes from the front to the back of the vehicle.

on the driver side went the RCAs, the remote turn on wire, rear view trigger, and speaker wires for the left side drivers:










here is where I tapped the signal for the reverse gear...it is the pink wire pin 5 on the big plug, soldered in place here:










rest of the wiring, secured to the vehicle every few inches, entry into the trunk and into the spare tire well area:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

so, let’s move onto the trunk.

as mentioned previously, the goal here is to be totally stealth and as light weight as possible

so...here is the normal view when you open the trunk, as you can see, 100 PERCENT STOCK with the cargo mat:










remove the mat and you see a new flake floor, trimmed in carpet, with a center cutout towards the back of the trunk:










pop off that grille and here is what you see, a very simple rack with an Illusion Audio L10 subwoofer in the back, and a pair of Mosconi Gladen One amps at the front, the 60.4 sends 60 watts a piece to the front stage drivers, while a 120.2 provides the sub with 350 watts or so. the gear is trimmed in red to go with the red and black theme of the interior. 

again, just basic and simple:
































































the floor is done in three sections with the two side pieces easily removable to access all the tools:



















moving onto the build pics:

first the spare tire well was fully sound proofed with STP gold damper:










this is the .65 cub feet enclosure, which also acts as the foundation for the rest of the system and platform for the amps to sit on:



















let us take a closer look at the L10 subwoofer. compared with the C10, the cone is poly, and the neo motor is a bit smaller, but once again, everything else is very similar. 





































here are the main top floor pieces and grille before and after carpeting:




























all these pieces were dyed a slightly lighter shade to better match the oem carpet, though it is almost impossible to tell in this picture lol










here is the main trim panel around the amps and sub before and after vinyl:



















and finally, a shot of the wiring underneath it all, everything bundled and secured every few inches, and everything completely contained within the spare tire well.




























I estimate total weight gain to be around 20lbs...the weight of the spare pretty much equals the weight of all the wood, as there isn’t really a lot of it, the amps and subs are quite light as well.

so how does this one sound?

in a sense, not unlike the first FR-S, in terms of imaging and stage. pillar to pillar width, very nice depth, and height a few inches above the dash.

So I am sure many of you want to know just want the C6 has over the L6...well, I can tell you that the first car offered slightly more solid and precise center image, improved midbass impact, and better detail up top. 

but this car still did very well, especially when considering how little power it has. bass impact out of the L6 is also excellent, with a good flat response and extension, again, hiding the fact that it’s a shallow sub easily from the listener.

here is the RTA graph before I got, again, nice smooth extension at the bottom end, similar peaks and valleys as the first car, but the key difference is a bigger drop off at the top end, which is the soft dome tweeter versus the copper beryllium on the C6.










So yeah...that’s two FR-S builds in three weeks...time to take a small break...but working on both of these cars were a pure joy...and I really hope to do more of them in the future.

I think to me, the Illusion audio sets are perfect fitted to the car, not from a sonic standpoint, but just the theme of the vehicle: HIGH PERFORMANCE, LIGHT WEIGHT, and LOW PROFILE!

Now...can I get a BR-Z please? 

Bing


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Great builds as always. Bing. Question, why did you retain the OEM midrange's bracket for the tweeter? It doesn't look like it's doing much.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

that is a good question. the main reason is kinda funny, the stock wiring bundle for the mid and tweeter, i had ziptied together, but its very bulgy, and when i intially just put the tweeter there, it help on jumping up and hitting the bottom of the tweeter, i was worried that in the long term, it can cuase rattling while driving...so the basket basically jams the wiring bundle in place so it doesnt move. 

i am sure you can do something else to prevent it, but at the time, it seemed the most simplistic solution hehe


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## Bluenote (Aug 29, 2008)

cool work Bing! looking forward to seeing more Illusion set ups!


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

awesome dude. always impressive to look at how simple you make things look, and i know how hard it can be sometimes with brand new cars and new panels. those new VW doors are so tight with them new pop connectors. 

i would call this (and the rest of your work) far from simple - simplistic? yes - but very complicated when compared to 90% of whats out there with the DSP and the "proper" installation techniques!!


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## TEGBOY (May 4, 2008)

Perfection as always Bing. How are you finding the StP. We love here in Australia! Another cracking install, love it!!


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Great install in this FR-S, too. It was nice to see the difference of not having the Airbag system in the trunk. It seems to take up quite a bit of room, but IMO would be a great feature to have on these cars.

Now I wanna see you pull off an install without deleting the spare tire.  Maybe a passenger footwell sub, or rear corner of the trunk...

Would it be difficult to provide an opening into the cabin through the rear deck for the subwoofer frequencies?

Great work once again!


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## JoeHemi57 (Mar 28, 2006)

I have a FR-S and i think the trunk would be great for an IB setup, you could get 2 or 3 10's in there for sure.


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

Wow! I read part one of the FRS install, didn't think that part two would be up this quick. Great job as usual.


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## speakerpimp (Feb 15, 2012)

I love that stealth style. Looks great! Well worth the tiny weight gain.


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## michaelahess (Jul 8, 2012)

You've made me decide to rebuild my system in the spare tire well, I'm worried about heat though, I've got a single alpine pdx-v9, think that'll overheat in there with just the mesh cover like you have? It gets mighty warm on the back of the seat.

Gotta spend some time on my father-in-laws bandsaw to practice, haven't done sub boxes in years!


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

yeah certain amps certain work differently in a fake floor config, and i pick carefully, these fan cooled mosconis really do great down there. 

i cannot say much about the alpine, as i dont hae much experience with it, but if its gets really hot (hurts to touch it) on the back of the seat, it may be best to put a big crossflow fan on it if you do under the floor.


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## Se7en (Mar 28, 2007)

Super clean as always sir!


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## bertholomey (Dec 27, 2007)

JoeHemi57 said:


> I have a FR-S and i think the trunk would be great for an IB setup, you could get 2 or 3 10's in there for sure.


Actually, you can get two 12's in there IB. It it tight, but it can be done. 

You can also get a lot of gear in the spare tire well - very tight fit, but it can be done. 

Fantastic job once again b.


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## dineau (Jul 21, 2015)

Is the subwoofer useable with the panel on top ?


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

Yeah it makes no difference to the sound as it's fully breathable

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk


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