# Fiat 500 Abarth (Hertz, Helix, alpine)



## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Today the build started for a customer and his Fiat Abarth. He contacted me talking about hearing the factory system in the BMW M6 and wanted something just as good if not better. Having a limited budget I tried my best to meet that goal. He wanted to limt the space taken as he uses the car daily. We talked over products for a good week, finally with the list in hand I was given the keys and cued the music. 

The list

*Amp*
Alpine PDX-V9

*Front Speakers*
Hertz Hi-Energy HSK165

*Rear Speakers*
Focal Access 165

*Processor*
Helix P-DSP

*Sub*
Alpine Type R 10

*Sound Dapening*
Dynamat Xtreme
Second Skin Overkill Pro

*Power/Speaker Wire*
KnuKonceptz

*Head Unit*
Pioneer App Radio 2

* Additional Items *
Laser jammer
Hard wire V1

Here are the items so far.









































Tear down


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

RCA's and wake up wire zip tied every 6 inches



















Bose amp next to alpine









Door panels removed









Speakers removed









Dynamat installed




































Removed side panels


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Ran the speaker wire



























Removed the intake to access the blank grommet 




































Testing the processor and updating

















Installed the DSP in bose factory amp location. Used the bose power wire to feed it.










Label speaker wires


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

*Build videos coming soon*


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Wonderful start so far, will the subwoofer be fiberglassed in, or wood? Also will the tweeter be on or off axis? Can't wait to hear the review on that Helix processor. Keep us the good work and I'm sure it will turn out to be a very clean build.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Coppertone said:


> Wonderful start so far, will the subwoofer be fiberglassed in, or wood? Also will the tweeter be on or off axis? Can't wait to hear the review on that Helix processor. Keep us the good work and I'm sure it will turn out to be a very clean build.


Thank you! The tweeters will probably be ran slightly off axis but I will know further when the speakers come in. The alpine sub will be installed in a fiberglass enclosure on the left side of the trunk. Being that I have used the Zapco and JBL DSP, I am looking forward to trying a different one.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Great start. I did a similar install for a gilrfriend in her Fiat 500, also with a Type R 10" in fiberglass enclosure on left side of trunk.

When do you start glassing the enclosure? Keep the pics coming.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Subscribed and waiting for the next installment of what should be a wonderful build.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

crnacnac said:


> Great start. I did a similar install for a gilrfriend in her Fiat 500, also with a Type R 10" in fiberglass enclosure on left side of trunk.
> 
> When do you start glassing the enclosure? Keep the pics coming.


How does she like the 10 in that size car? I will start glassing in the next few days, I have to build the false floor first.



Coppertone said:


> Subscribed and waiting for the next installment of what should be a wonderful build.


Thanks 

Today I got a late start simply because I was waiting for the set of focal's to get in.

Focal's









Factory head unit pulled out, had to pull the vents out as well for the double din.













































Ran all the wires to the trunk. 









The stock rear speakers. What a piece of junk :surprised:









Stock Vs aftermarket. I'm surprised the bose speaker didn't fall apart


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Speaker wire soldered and heat shrunk.



























After drilling out the rivet holding the stock speaker in place and installing a small amount of dampening material I installed the speakers with no problem.










Believe it or not there is a small amount of space still there.













































Wires organized to the trunk area 



























All wires ran and labeled 









Idea of where the amp will go.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Been a busy few days. I didn't get a chance to work on the car yesterday however today I did get a few big items started. The head unit as well as the wiring harness came in. I am still waiting on the hertz speakers for the front! That is what's holding the front being completed. Tomorrow I will go ahead and make the spacers for the doors as well as install the laser jammer.

Wiring harness made.



























Installed and programmed the steering wheel controls.


















Masking up the area for the fiberglass













































Laying the fiberglass



























Cure time


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Today I built the spacer rings. They will be bolted into the factory location. Luckily the windows don't even come into the area the speakers are located.










First I made the correct opening with my circle jig. Than placed the factory speaker in the hole and traced out the outside.














































Mounted the fuse block and took the strain off the wire with clamps. This is located on the plastic shroud below the windshield. 




























Another layer of fiberglass was done on the sub box. Tomorrow laser jammer.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Today the laser jammer was installed. Luckily I didn't have to fully remove the bumper just worked behind it. I used the included mounting brackets and installed them into the slit towards the middle of the fiat's bumper. 










Installed the spacer rings after a coat of paint. They were mounted to the factory holes using bolts and locking nuts.


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## cyrusthevirus23 (Feb 16, 2013)

keep bringing those pics up good job so far


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Thank you. There will be a lot of build videos when editing is done.


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## cyrusthevirus23 (Feb 16, 2013)

bigaudiofanatic said:


> Thank you. There will be a lot of build videos when editing is done.


sounds good looking forward to seeing it!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

As someone who knows Matt personally, I have no doubt that his build will be all that his customer wants and more. Quality takes time, and patience requires time but when it's all done the only thing that will be said is WOW.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Ran the laser jammer wires through the firewall.










Installed the power switch for the jammer.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Everything is starting to wind down. The speakers come in tomorrow and most of the car is already put back together. 

Installed the double din dash kit. Sadly you have to cut your vents but a double din looks fantastic in this location. 









Amp mounted and tested. A full amp rack will be built later when the sub box is done.









More progress on the sub box.









Much cleaner, I decided as a thank you to my customer to do a full detail.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Today was the finally here, waited 3 weeks for the speakers to get here and finally they came. Installing them went smoothly, as everything was pre wired and they fit right in.

Old VS new



























Pre soldered the terminals


















Soldered and heat shrunk


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Dremeld the back of the pillars as well as part of the front grill out to install that new tweeters.

Today was the finally here, waited 3 weeks for the speakers to get here and finally they came. Installing them went smoothly, as everything was pre wired and they fit right in.

Old VS new



























Pre soldered the terminals


















Soldered and heat shrunk






















































Hertz tweeters installed




































Door went back on without a hitch.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Tuning time!! The input/output was confusing at first. The sad part is #1 output is actually Right and not left.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

bigaudiofanatic said:


> How does she like the 10 in that size car? I will start glassing in the next few days, I have to build the false floor first.


She likes the 10" but wants a 12". Don't they all



How is the enclosure coming along? Pics?


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

crnacnac said:


> She likes the 10" but wants a 12". Don't they all
> 
> 
> 
> How is the enclosure coming along? Pics?


 HA I use to run a 10 back in the day, than a 12 now a 11. I think for the size of the car a 10 will more than suffice.

A few pics of the progress on the sub box. Still have some more layers to do.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

More layers inside and out.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Sorry for the delay with updates. The owner had some things come up where the car has to go back to him. Today I finished up the install. Everything went under the false floor instead of having the processor behind the factory bose cover. 

Came out very clean customer was very happy.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Looks very clean and that was a job well done as far as the enclosure.


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## astrochex (Aug 7, 2009)

Looks clean. How does it sound?

Do you have pics of the false floor build process? Thanks.


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

Great job. I had concerns about the space to fit a double din HU and door speakers without interfering with the window movement but it seems to have turned out well.

I have been considering ordering Pioneer AppRadio 2 but the ratings have been 50/50 so I have been holding out until I get a hands-on opinion. I have two questions;

1. How does it sound as far as sound quality is concerned?
2. Did you hook it up to an iPhone/iPad? If yes, which apps were you able to run and control from the HU?

Thanks


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

reithi said:


> Great job. I had concerns about the space to fit a double din HU and door speakers without interfering with the window movement but it seems to have turned out well.
> 
> I have been considering ordering Pioneer AppRadio 2 but the ratings have been 50/50 so I have been holding out until I get a hands-on opinion. I have two questions;
> 
> ...


You will need a connects2 kit from metra in order to fit a double din, along with cutting a piece of metal and parts of the vents as well.

I am still not impressed with the appradio at all, 2 volt pre outs to start with. The owner is using a android and no ipod. 

The sound quality is great, sadly the tweeters do sound distant so will probably be fiberglassed to run axis at a later date. Running a set of focal's would probably do better at that angle.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

astrochex said:


> Looks clean. How does it sound?
> 
> Do you have pics of the false floor build process? Thanks.


I do not have any pictures of the false floor build as of right now. I will try to get a few later. I used one of the bolt studs from where the bose bracket was mounted and used a L bracket to go from there to a board where both the processor and the amp were mounted. This way I used factory mounting points to hold my board in place.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Coppertone said:


> Looks very clean and that was a job well done as far as the enclosure.


Thanks Ben


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Nice finish. Job well done.


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## reithi (Mar 29, 2012)

bigaudiofanatic said:


> You will need a connects2 kit from metra in order to fit a double din, along with cutting a piece of metal and parts of the vents as well.
> 
> I am still not impressed with the appradio at all, 2 volt pre outs to start with. The owner is using a android and no ipod.
> 
> The sound quality is great, sadly the tweeters do sound distant so will probably be fiberglassed to run axis at a later date. Running a set of focal's would probably do better at that angle.


Thanks. I concur the tweeters would have better imaging off axis on the pillars.

I will pass App Radio 2 in favor of Android tablet despite the tons of work it will take to get it right.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

looks awesome man--how are those hertz mids? and howd the helix dsp do--compare it to anything, or--just job well done


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

bardo said:


> looks awesome man--how are those hertz mids? and howd the helix dsp do--compare it to anything, or--just job well done


I always love the hertz components, the woofers produce solid mids and can even go lower if tuned that way. Smooth all around sound. The helix is a pain to setup the output channels but once you understand how they set it up it just becomes time consuming. Compared to the MS8, its awesome to be able to tune on the fly without having to time align with a mic every time. Compared to a zapco DSP, I think I prefer the zapco, seems to have a bit cleaner interface even though there are not as many choices for crossover filter types in the zapco. Of course I was tuning this using a pre out of 2 volts instead of 4 or 8 with the zapco. Bit different there as well.


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## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

looks great!!!


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

bigaudiofanatic said:


> I always love the hertz components, the woofers produce solid mids and can even go lower if tuned that way. Smooth all around sound. The helix is a pain to setup the output channels but once you understand how they set it up it just becomes time consuming. Compared to the MS8, its awesome to be able to tune on the fly without having to time align with a mic every time. Compared to a zapco DSP, I think I prefer the zapco, seems to have a bit cleaner interface even though there are not as many choices for crossover filter types in the zapco. Of course I was tuning this using a pre out of 2 volts instead of 4 or 8 with the zapco. Bit different there as well.


interesting--you ever use any of the audison stuff (bit x)--was wondering how it was in terms of ease/end-results...

Also--hows that sub in a sealed box, thought they generally recommended that the type-R be run ported? Just curious, I have a hatchback-esque car and cabin gain doesnt seem to be as great as a regular trunk.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

bardo said:


> interesting--you ever use any of the audison stuff (bit x)--was wondering how it was in terms of ease/end-results...
> 
> Also--hows that sub in a sealed box, thought they generally recommended that the type-R be run ported? Just curious, I have a hatchback-esque car and cabin gain doesnt seem to be as great as a regular trunk.


Alpine's work great sealed and hatchbacks almost always have better cabin gain.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> Alpine's work great sealed and hatchbacks almost always have better cabin gain.


Someone should tell that to audi, because I swear bass practically gets lost trying to find it's way out of the back.

Either way--build here is quality--makes me want to try out some of those type r's or x's


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

bardo said:


> interesting--you ever use any of the audison stuff (bit x)--was wondering how it was in terms of ease/end-results...
> 
> Also--hows that sub in a sealed box, thought they generally recommended that the type-R be run ported? Just curious, I have a hatchback-esque car and cabin gain doesnt seem to be as great as a regular trunk.


Not yet, going to be running the mosconi in my own system when it comes time. To get end results it took about an hour after setting rough points. 

Never had trouble running type-r's in sealed boxes, they sound amazing sealed, plenty of tight accurate bass as well as the ability to get loud. Recommended sealed cubic feet is .58


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

You ever use REW to measure response / flatness? or you just play it by ear and use the DSP?


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

bardo said:


> Someone should tell that to audi, because I swear bass practically gets lost trying to find it's way out of the back.
> 
> Either way--build here is quality--makes me want to try out some of those type r's or x's


I didn't have aproblem in any of ym VWs or in my A4 Avant but every build is different. 

Make sure you don't have a peak that's making it sound like you're not getting low end extension.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> I didn't have aproblem in any of ym VWs or in my A4 Avant but every build is different.
> 
> Make sure you don't have a peak that's making it sound like you're not getting low end extension.


will do--have an A7 - and the sub sits way in the back, seems to be working better since I arranged it differently. Im going to rebuild the box again with 2 10's (instead of 1 12 ported) - and aim them up slightly. Seem to get better response for whatever reason.

/done thread jacking for now. carry on with the sweet install/build


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## Nathan_h (Aug 16, 2011)

Very nice install. Wish here was someone local with experience doing these.


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## JP Fabrication (Feb 20, 2008)

Nathan_h said:


> Very nice install. Wish here was someone local with experience doing these.




SIS - Simplicity in Sound


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## Nathan_h (Aug 16, 2011)

Thanks..I've just sent them a note.


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## Kevin K (Feb 11, 2013)

Very nice.


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## PsyCLown (May 17, 2013)

You make me want to learn how to use fiberglass...

Some really nice work!


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Nathan_h said:


> Very nice install. Wish here was someone local with experience doing these.


I actually will be flying to CA this January for some 370z audio installs. PM me for details and when I will be there.


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## bigaudiofanatic (Mar 1, 2009)

Kevin K said:


> Very nice.





PsyCLown said:


> You make me want to learn how to use fiberglass...
> 
> Some really nice work!


Thank you. Been a while sense I looked over this one.


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