# '17 Fiesta ST - A-pillars, Illusion Audio front stage, JL Audio amplification and DSP



## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

So, after getting back into car audio earlier this year with my MK7 Golf R build, I decided my '17 Ford Fiesta ST needed an upgrade as well. Car is lightly modified with a Cobb Accessport, Boomba short throw shifter, GT500 shift knob, GarageLine accelerator pedal mount and Sparco wheels.









I started off by choosing a front stage that would allow mounting the mids/tweets relatively on-axis, and the Illusion Audio C3CX's fit that bill nicely. These were paired with the Illusion C6 mids that serve as midbass drivers in this fully active 3 way front stage.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

I fabricated the a-pillars to house the C3CX's in a mostly on-axis configuration while keeping the overall shape and size relatively low profile. I covered them in a grill cloth that blends in with the Fiesta interior.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

I built baffles/adapter plates from HDPE to mount the C6's in the factory door locations.


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## ejeffrey (Oct 8, 2015)

I really like your work on this build and the Golf R, really clean and well done. How do you like the sound of the Illusions vs. the Morels?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Based on my recent experience with a 3-way active front stage, I knew I wanted a good amount of power going to the midbass drivers with at least moderate power to the mids/tweets. Achieving that in a car with such limited space is challenging, and I needed to fit a DSP as well. The combination of JL Audio XD amps and the Twk88 processor seemed like a good match. An XD700/5 powers the mids/tweets with 75 watts each, while the 5th channel will be used to power a Dayton shallow mount sub (after I build the enclosure). An XD400/4 was bridged to provide the C6's with 200 watts each. Amp rack was fabricated from PVC board and HDPE and was bolted into the hatch floor using nutserts with stainless bolts and washers. I'll get better pics of the amp rack to post soon. Weather has been bad and I've had to work on this at night, so all the pics I have of the trunk are "light challenged"...


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

ejeffrey said:


> I really like your work on this build and the Golf R, really clean and well done. How do you like the sound of the Illusions vs. the Morels?


Appreciate the compliment! I've had very little time to tune the new Illusion set-up, so it's hard to compare to my dialed-in Morel's at this stage. I did manage a quick tune this evening on the Illusions and they sounded terrific. I suspect the Morel's will still have an edge even after I get the Fiesta tuned, but they're both great. I really like the C3CX's small footprint and integrated point-source tweeter for an a-pillar install. It's perfect for this particular application.


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## ejeffrey (Oct 8, 2015)

Otterman said:


> Appreciate the compliment! I've had very little time to tune the new Illusion set-up, so it's hard to compare to my dialed-in Morel's at this stage. I did manage a quick tune this evening on the Illusions and they sounded terrific. I suspect the Morel's will still have an edge even after I get the Fiesta tuned, but they're both great. I really like the C3CX's small footprint and integrated point-source tweeter for an a-pillar install. It's perfect for this particular application.


Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the work and hearing your thoughts after you get everything dialed in!


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## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

I like how A-pillars turned out...nice work!


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

LBaudio said:


> I like how A-pillars turned out...nice work!


Agreed. Nicely done.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

rton20s said:


> Agreed. Nicely done.


Thanks, folks. Appreciate the compliments. ?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Some pics of the install process: 








Power starts with 1/0 gauge power cable running through a Stinger fuse holder that's secured to the factory battery tie-down bracket via a mount I fabricated from ABS and HDPE. 








I cut 2 separate pieces of HDPE and attached to an ABS base that slides under the factory battery tie-down. A top portion of ABS was then added on top on which the fuse holder is mounted. The entire assembly easily slides on/off the bracket after it's loosened, but is ultra-secure when the bracket is tightened.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

P.S. Getting 1/0 cable through the firewall and along the factory wiring loom to the trunk in this tiny car was a huge PITA...?
Even after removing the battery for access, the large factory grommet in the firewall is VERY difficult to get at, and there's not a lot of space through it. After...err..._improvising _with a number of cable-fishing implements in my garage, the most effective ended up being a 2 ft. piece of wood dowel around 3/8" OD. After carefully impaling the grommet from the floorboard side, I then split the power cable sheath, removed a 6" section of bare wire and inserted the dowel inside the cable sheath. This was then taped securely around the sheath and to the dowel and then pulled back through grommet. No pics of this part, unfortunately. 

The 1/0 cable was too large to fit inside the crappy factory plastic wire 'cubbies' along the door sill, so I removed the one on the driver's side. After doing so, I'm convinced they served no purpose other than they're likely cheaper and faster during car assembly than looming and securing the wires in a more traditional manner. 








1/0 gauge power wire was covered in TechFlex and is accompanied by 4 runs of speaker wire (two runs of 16 AWG to the mids/tweets, 1 run of 14 gauge spliced into the door speaker wires in the kick panel, and 1 more run of 14 gauge spliced to the speaker outputs in the kick panel for signal into the JL Audio Twk88 DSP). All wiring zip tied to the factory harness. 







Factory plastic wire cover was retained on passenger side since it was large enough to accommodate the 4 runs of speaker wire.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Couple pics of the Illusion Audio C3CX's with pigtails applied. Tweets received inline capacitors for protection since I'm running fully active, and all connection points were made with soldered XT60 bullet connectors. Speaker connectors were soldered, attached to the speaker terminals and heat shrink applied.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

A-pillar fabrication: I wanted to get the C3CX's more on-axis than in previous a-pillars I've built, but also wanted to keep them relatively low-profile. I started with making the mounting rings from MDF and low heat plastic.









Next was in-car test fitting.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Recessing the speaker rings in the a-pillars required creating a scallop in each pillar, both to smooth out the transition and to provide a clear line for the sound to pass. I used low heat plastic to achieve a bend to the scallop beds and attached them to the pillars at the back with hot glue.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Stretching fleece and applying fiberglass resin. 
















Applied Rage Gold body filler and started the sanding process...
















After a LOT of sanding and copious amounts of Rage Gold and Easy Sand. 
First pillar wrapped with black grill cloth. 









And finally, both pillars wrapped and speakers installed. The sanding and wrapping process required removal of the pillar "base", which was attached with plastic "rivets". I used a butane torch to heat these rivets and removed the bases, then re-attached the bases with screws.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Couple early pics of the amp rack:
















The rack surface is constructed from 1/2 inch PVC board and backed by 1/2 inch HDPE for strength and to provide room for the 1/0 ground cable to be routed underneath. It’s secured to the trunk floor with nutserts and 1/4-20 stainless bolts/washers. I’ll take more pics after I install the amp covers. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Looks great! Really nice work on those A-pillars. ?

Where did you pull signal from to feed the JL Twk?

And did you do any sound treatment/deadening to the front doors and/or door panels?

I did a similar install in a friend's 2015 Fiesta ST. He didn't believe that the OEM Ford MySync source unit would be as bad as I said it would be until I hooked up my portable Sony Walkman CD player that has a mini-Toslink optical output and fed it directly into the DSP's digital input.

We compared the same music files via both sources and he was shocked...Night & Day difference in SQ using the direct digital input. It instantly improved the tonality, clarity, separation, and focus, as well as vastly improved the soundstage & imaging.

I'm not sure how different the 2017 Fiesta ST OEM HU is, but I can't imagine it is much different. You might also check to see if one of the PAC Audio AmpPRO Ford interfaces will work in your Fiesta. Highly recommended.

So if you haven't already, you may want to just test using a DAP or another clean source with a digital output fed directly into the TwK. Or even a DAP with an analog Line Output sent directly to the TwK via an RCA adapter.

You might lose some gain using the digital inputs on the TwK (and possibly fader control if you are using rear speakers), but the digital signal has way lower SNR, so you can gain it up on the back end quite a bit without any ill effects.

...Just my experience. Looking forward to what else you do.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

@bbfoto - Thanks! I pulled the signal from the factory front speaker leads at each kickpanel. I used NVX sound deadening on the doors and on the door panels just in strategic locations rather than a full covering. So far it's sufficient to tame any resonances. I may do more deadening later, but I'm kinda torn on the idea. The Fiesta ST isn't the quietest car, but that raw, go-kart nature is part of it's charm.

I've been toying with the idea of using a quality DAP as my primary source since doing my Golf R install earlier this year, but I've found the VW head unit sufficient with FLAC files on SD cards, with Tidal streaming my secondary source. The '17 Fiesta has Ford's Sync 3, which has a nice Apple/Android interface, but I haven't had a chance to really test it for audio fidelity since I just did most of the install last weekend. The Fiesta doesn't have it's own SD card reader, meaning I can't share my music library between the ST and my R, so I'm probably a lot closer to picking up that Fiio M11 now...  

I'll have a few more pics to post probably tomorrow. Installed the remote for the JL Audio Twk88 in the lower front dash today. Looks great, but that little LED is BRIGHT!


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

Great work. I've wanted to run the C3CX's on the dash, but I just don't think I can deal with that bulky of a speaker on the dash. You did a good job keeping the obstruction to a minimum, but I'm still not sure I could deal that bulky of a speaker on the dash. Clean work though, looks good!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Mounted the JL Audio remote for the Twk-88 in the lower part of the front console. 


















The knob integrates well with the factory controls, but the LED is way too bright. Will be working on a solution to dull that down a bit...


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

JL knob integrates nicely. I don’t think the led is too bright...if you want to be spotted from space. Lol!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Finally got a couple decent pics in daylight of the amp rack...


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

And a couple more of the dash and a-pillar front stage:


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Metal grills installed. I think I like this look better than the cloth grills.


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## LOST_llama (Feb 10, 2013)

Are you using the passive Xovers that came with the C3CX’s? If not, I highly recommend it. I had a very similar set up (XD400/4 bi-amping with signal coming from a TWK) and was not using the passives which lead to me frying one of the tweets on the right channel.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

LOST_llama said:


> Are you using the passive Xovers that came with the C3CX’s? If not, I highly recommend it. I had a very similar set up (XD400/4 bi-amping with signal coming from a TWK) and was not using the passives which lead to me frying one of the tweets on the right channel.


I'm not running the passives at all. Haven't even taken them out of the plastic! Everything is running active. I did solder capacitors into the tweeter leads as a safety precaution, however.


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## LOST_llama (Feb 10, 2013)

Otterman said:


> I'm not running the passives at all. Haven't even taken them out of the plastic! Everything is running active. I did solder capacitors into the tweeter leads as a safety precaution, however.


Smart move, I wish I would have done the same!


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## Franks AudioMotive (Dec 25, 2019)

Those A Pillars are nice. Thanks for sharing the write up! Love it!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Franks AudioMotive said:


> Those A Pillars are nice. Thanks for sharing the write up! Love it!


Thanks! It's funny what pictures reveal: I noticed the passenger side pillar seemed to show more of the black outline of the windshield than the driver's side, making them look not quite symmetrical. I was really meticulous in the fabrication process to make those match, so I found this a bit disturbing. On closer inspection, I found that the black windshield outline is actually _about 3/4" wider_ on the passenger side, making it appear slightly asymmetric when it's actually not. _Weird._ 

Happy Holidays, All! I plan on spending part of Christmas Day designing my sub enclosure...


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

LOST_llama said:


> Smart move, I wish I would have done the same!


Incidentally, I initially planned on running the C3CX's passive when designing the system, but because space is so limited, I ultimately decided it was more efficient to just add 2 channels of amplification. This eliminated the necessity of mounting the passive crossovers and simplified wiring a bit as well.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> I did a similar install in a friend's 2015 Fiesta ST. He didn't believe that the OEM Ford MySync source unit would be as bad as I said it would be until I hooked up my portable Sony Walkman CD player that has a mini-Toslink optical output and fed it directly into the DSP's digital input.
> 
> We compared the same music files via both sources and he was shocked...Night & Day difference in SQ using the direct digital input. It instantly improved the tonality, clarity, separation, and focus, as well as vastly improved the soundstage & imaging.
> 
> ...Just my experience. Looking forward to what else you do.


@bbfoto - you were absolutely correct on this one. After some tuning, it was pretty obvious the stock Ford Sync HU was the weak link. Fiio M11 came in last night and the SQ is shockingly better. I knew it would be a major upgrade, but it really makes the poor audio rendering of the Ford system painfully obvious. The stock VW MIB2 in my Golf R is quite a bit better, but still looking forward to firing up the M11 in there as well. 

These are actually my first systems that didn’t start with a quality aftermarket head unit. Appears the modern DAP is rapidly becoming the go-to “head unit” as auto manufacturers make it nearly impossible to replace the integrated factory gear. The sound quality of the Fiio M11 is NICE. 




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## ejeffrey (Oct 8, 2015)

Otterman said:


> @bbfoto - you were absolutely correct on this one. After some tuning, it was pretty obvious the stock Ford Sync HU was the weak link. Fiio M11 came in last night and the SQ is shockingly better. I knew it would be a major upgrade, but it really makes the poor audio rendering of the Ford system painfully obvious. The stock VW MIB2 in my Golf R is quite a bit better, but still looking forward to firing up the M11 in there as well.
> 
> These are actually my first systems that didn’t start with a quality aftermarket head unit. Appears the modern DAP is rapidly becoming the go-to “head unit” as auto manufacturers make it nearly impossible to replace the integrated factory gear. The sound quality of the Fiio M11 is NICE.


I've been reading a lot about DAP integration lately and will probably be going that route on whatever my next car is. I'm curious as to how you are integrating this in both cars - are you going analog outs (like I saw bertholomey did) or digital out to your DSP?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

ejeffrey said:


> I've been reading a lot about DAP integration lately and will probably be going that route on whatever my next car is. I'm curious as to how you are integrating this in both cars - are you going analog outs (like I saw bertholomey did) or digital out to your DSP?


I'm frankly not sure yet! For the Fiesta, I'm just running a 3.5mm to stereo RCA cable into a pair of the analog inputs of the TWK-88. The TWK digital inputs are 1 Toslink and 1 coax, so I may try the coax digital soon, though I'm not convinced there's much to be gained from that. The Zapco DSP-Z8 IV II in the Golf R has Toslink and auxiliary analog RCA as well as Bluetooth, though I'm not sure what resolution the BT is capable of. I'll likely go analog into the Zapco as well, but may use BT when I don't feel like plugging in. This is my first go with a DAP as well, so I'll just have to experiment a bit. Frankly, although this Fiio sounds exceptional, I'd happily trade it for a double DIN Alpine that integrates with the steering wheel controls if that was an option (but it's not). I'm going to try out a steering wheel mounted BT remote for the Fiio and hopefully that will satisfy me.


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

Otterman said:


> @bbfoto - you were absolutely correct on this one. After some tuning, it was pretty obvious the stock Ford Sync HU was the weak link. Fiio M11 came in last night and the SQ is shockingly better. I knew it would be a major upgrade, but it really makes the poor audio rendering of the Ford system painfully obvious. The stock VW MIB2 in my Golf R is quite a bit better, but still looking forward to firing up the M11 in there as well.
> 
> These are actually my first systems that didn’t start with a quality aftermarket head unit. Appears the modern DAP is rapidly becoming the go-to “head unit” as auto manufacturers make it nearly impossible to replace the integrated factory gear. The sound quality of the Fiio M11 is NICE.


Well, sorry that I was right.   It's too bad though because the Ford Sync system is really convenient for everyday use. But I'm glad that you picked up the M11 and that it made a substantial improvement. 

A DAP is great with a good pair of headphones or IEMs to use as a reference for tonality and the soundstage when tuning your car systems, and just for on-the-go listening of course.

I use my iBasso DX220 & AKG N5005 IEMs a lot when tuning my car systems, especially to check the relative midbass & bass accuracy in my vehicles, but it confirms the image placement for me as well.

Hope it improves the VW system, too!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

bbfoto said:


> Well, sorry that I was right.   *It's too bad though because the Ford Sync system is really convenient for everyday use.*


That right there. The Apple CarPlay in Sync 3 is really slick, the USB audio interface works nicely, showing song tag info and album art with no difficulty, the screen is bright, the menus are easy to navigate and moving between CarPlay and other media sources is smooth and easy. But straight-up audio reproduction is just not good. It doesn't become apparent until you upgrade amplification and speakers, but it's bad enough that I think even the stock speaker system would benefit greatly from using a DAP. 

Hopefully going to spend some time this weekend sorting out my subwoofer enclosure. I'm a bit fanatical about maintaining the car's functionality, so I didn't want to secure an enclosure that would need to be removed in order to access the spare tire. My solution is to build a new false floor, with the enclosure actually mounted to the bottom of the floor. The enclosure/sub will be relatively light at about 25 lbs., but I'll likely add a support strut to make lifting the floor easier, anyway. Will post some pics once it's suitable for public consumption...


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Thought I'd post a couple REW screen shots I find interesting. First up is the current tune via pink noise played through the factory CD player (old Autosound 2000 test disc ). This tune obviously isn't perfect, but it's reasonable given not a lot of tuning time and it sounds nice. (Still working on the sub enclosure, hence the lack of bass extension).









Next is the initial response from the Fiio M11 using the pink noise file from JL Audio, and this is with _*exactly the same tune as above*_.








I expected some differences but nothing this dramatic. I never tested the factory system to see how flat the signal was, but based on this, it's either heavily EQ'd or just crappy (my guess is both). 

Took a few hours to get the Fiio to this:









Again, still has some issues I'll need to work on, but I want to get the sub enclosure finished before I spend more time on tuning. Progress pics to follow...?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Sub enclosure that will initially hold a Dayton LS10-44, though I constructed it to also accommodate a JL Audio 10TW3 should I decide to upgrade. 









Pencil marking is to approximate the hatch floor cut-out. Top of the enclosure will be covered in black vinyl. 
The enclosure will mount to the bottom of the hatch floor so it can be raised easily to access the spare if necessary. 










The enclosure is 19" x 14". The hatch area in the Fiesta is rather small...


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## Jlugo360 (Mar 6, 2017)

Nice work man!
That’s the same front stage i had on my last vehicle


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Otterman said:


> Sub enclosure that will initially hold a Dayton LS10-44, though I constructed it to also accommodate a JL Audio 10TW3 should I decide to upgrade.
> 
> Pencil marking is to approximate the hatch floor cut-out. Top of the enclosure will be covered in black vinyl.
> The enclosure will mount to the bottom of the hatch floor so it can be raised easily to access the spare if necessary.
> ...





Jlugo360 said:


> Nice work man!
> That’s the same front stage i had on my last vehicle


I have a set of c3cx that have yet to be installed nor have I actually heard them yet. How are you both liking them?


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## Jlugo360 (Mar 6, 2017)

Well mine been in their box in my closet for 2-1/2 years but i did love them while i had them installed


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

ambesolman said:


> I have a set of c3cx that have yet to be installed nor have I actually heard them yet. How are you both liking them?


They're *nice. *They really shine in this particular application. Plus, let's be honest: they just _*look really cool. *_  My only complaint is that I wish they came with grills. I know these are intended for custom fabricated applications, but I still would like to see a nice set of factory grills.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Made a little more progress on the enclosure today...


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## bbfoto (Aug 28, 2005)

^NICE work on that enclosure and rear cargo floor.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Decided to upgrade my sub to a JL Audio 10TW3. The Dayton sub has a sealed enclosure F3 of 63hz, so it struggled to go low enough to round out the bottom end (the JL has a sealed F3 of 40hz). I've found the JL response to be a lot flatter as well, requiring only a few bands of minimal EQ while the Dayton needed 7 bands with significant adjustments.









The JL is equally shallow on the back end as the Dayton, but significantly taller on the outside of the enclosure (particularly with the tall JL grill). So, I re-engineered the top portion of the enclosure to allow the JL to sit lower and more flush. 



















Added an Audiocontrol LC2i I had laying around for high-to-low signal conversion, as I'm not sure running the speaker-level factory outputs directly to the TWK-88 RCA inputs was the best route to go. There IS less background static now, but not sure I can detect any other improvements. Will add pics of that addition soon.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Audiocontrol LC2i mounted on the outside of the factory pocket. The factory trim was a bit too flimsy and moved a bit too much for my taste, so I replaced the trim with 1/8" plastic and covered it in matching carpet. Much sturdier surface for mounting now.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Decided to change both power and ground distribution blocks. Liked the size of the previous KnuKonceptz blocks, but while they DID take 1/0 AWG in and 4 AWG out, the connections were too small to accept wire ferrules with either. The connections also tighten from the SIDE, which made it very difficult to be serviceable in such tight quarters. The slightly larger KnuKonceptz power block that replaces the smaller version tightens at an angle from the top and accepts wire ferrules. In order to route the wiring to accommodate the larger power block, I needed a ground block that would allow a higher connection point so 1 ground wire could run on top (and 1 that also tightens from above), and this InstallGear piece ticks all the boxes.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Cleaned up the wiring after the LC2i addition and distribution block changes. Zip ties are your friend....


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

A few observations on the system design, tuning and the like: I initially bridged the XD400/4 to provide 200 watts to each Illusion Audio C6, but I was getting some harsh bass notes occasionally that _almost_ sounded like bottoming-out, primarily on the left side. Concerned they were getting too much power (although the gains were at minimum), I decided to just run 2 channels at 85 watts to each midbass. Surprisingly, I actually got an identical response (with gains optimized on 0 db tones), so the problem was either the physical properties of the door or something odd in the factory system. The interior door skin is plastic instead of sheet metal, so the lack of rigidity may be causing the problem. I deadened it as much as possible, but the problem remained. I decided to continue powering the C6's with the 85 watts since I'm getting plenty of output, and I've been able to tame the problem with EQ and raising the crossover to 75hz at 24db L/R. 

I previously complained about the Ford head unit's audio performance, but it improved a bit with the LC2i providing high/low conversion. It still lacks some resolution, particularly on more complicated musical passages, but it's livable. The Fiio M11 is obviously much better, but I've found it difficult to use while driving, which to me defeats the purpose. I'd rather have the convenience, functionality and added safety of using the factory system and lose the resolution of the M11. 

TWK-88: easy to use, does the job. Wish it had speaker-level inputs and signal sensing. Also would like maybe 14-15 bands of parametric EQ per channel instead of 10. 10 bands for each speaker in an all-active system sounds sufficient, but a few more bands would still be handy. I wanted to go all JL for amplification/processing, but if I was starting over, I'd go Helix or Zapco for the DSP. That said, I've been able to get it tuned really well. It's just taken some time to get there. 

Illusion Audio C3CX's: In my particular application, with a-pillars and nearly on-axis mounting, the imaging is _unreal_. Still wish they came with some cool factory grills, though....

Weather's been bad lately, but hope to get the ST cleaned up for some final install pics soon and then call this project done!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Added a back-up camera this weekend, using the FORscan program to activate the option in the Ford Sync system. Neglected to take pics during the actual camera install and routing the wires through the hatch (a HUGE PITA). Once I got the wiring to the interior, it was secured to the factory wiring harnesses with zip ties all the way through the car to the head unit/monitor. 








When not equipped with the camera from the factory, the video input pins in the harness plug to the monitor are unused, so I took a couple harness pins from an old head unit harness I had laying around and placed those in the correct pin locations (center of the video connector to pin 14, shield/ground to pin 15). After taping and zip ties, the install looks OEM.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Removed the Audiocontrol LC2i, as that addition led to some alternator noise. Obviously a ground loop, so I _could_ have worked to de-bug the situation, but instead I experimented and got really picky with the input levels directly into the TWK-88 and ended up with a cleaner signal. From there it just made more sense to remove the LC2i.








I had been undecided on doing a thorough sound deadening job on the Fiesta, but after using it as my daily driver for the last few months, it's apparent that it definitely needs some deadening, particularly in the area of road noise and vibration. So, while I was routing the reverse camera wiring, I went ahead and took out the passenger seat and applied NVX deadener over the floorboard and inside some of the trim panels. Will try to duplicate that effort on the driver's side in the next weekend or two.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

After testing cheap flat black spray paint on some scrap grill cloth, I decided to apply it to my a-pillars. It actually appears more of a dark charcoal now and the spray also took away the sheen of the cloth, making it match the interior quite a bit better.


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## Stycker (Jan 31, 2018)

Otterman said:


> Mounted the JL Audio remote for the Twk-88 in the lower part of the front console.
> View attachment 259216
> 
> 
> ...


I used flex seal and a paint brush. Brush around the light until only a small bit of the light in the center is exposed. Yes the as seen on tv stuff. It lasted six years until I just traded my truck in. Beautiful build and a-pillars by the way.


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## DavidK442 (Apr 21, 2019)

Very professional install. Great work on the A-pillars, and everything else for that matter.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Stycker said:


> I used flex seal and a paint brush. Brush around the light until only a small bit of the light in the center is exposed. Yes the as seen on tv stuff. It lasted six years until I just traded my truck in. Beautiful build and a-pillars by the way.


Thanks! I decided to upgrade to JL's DRC-205 remote. It looks nicer and the LED surround is a lot softer. The intensity matches the other interior lights well.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Had time this weekend to apply a good amount of CLD to the driver's side. 


















Also spent quite a bit of time tuning and came across an odd challenge/situation: I had to use different crossover slopes for each midbass. The frequency response works out fine on the left side with all 12 db slopes, but the right side develops a huge hole in the F/R from cancellations. So, in order to alter the phase slightly and eliminate the cancellation, I used a 24db low pass to the right midbass and... Poof! The big F/R hole was gone. But it only worked on the right side. If I tried changing the left side to match, that side developed the F/R hole (I was tuning the front stage, so no sub-bass extension  ). Shifting the phase 180 degrees and keeping the crossovers consistent from side-to-side wouldn't work, either.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

To follow up on my last post regarding tuning, F/R and phase issues, I've found that issues with very small dips/peaks on individual speaker measurements can be magnified when combined with speaker pairs/sets. I was able to smooth out the response by adding a bit more EQ to the individual driver dips while returning all the crossovers to 24db slopes. I didn't encounter similar issues in my MK7 Golf R installation/tuning, so not sure if it's a function of the Fiesta interior, the drivers themselves, or the differences between DSP's. The TWK-88 does _seem_ to measure with steeper roll-off on 24db slopes than the Zapco Z8-IV II, though that may be a function of the car interior as well. Anyway, the tune is really nice now and it brings a big smile to my face every time I fire it up.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Rebuilt subwoofer enclosure. When I installed the JL 10TW3, I found the exterior mounted portion was taller than the Dayton model I used previously. To compensate, I added an extra 1/2" top portion to flush it a bit better. Unfortunately, this also caused the bottom of the enclosure to come in contact with the spare tire when raising/lowering the assembly. The rebuilt enclosure is wider and longer, allowing me to flush the woofer an extra 1/2" while gaining a 1/2" bottom clearance and maintaining the same interior volume (app. .52 net cu. ft.). This will also allow me to add a cover to completely hide the sub and protect it while hauling stuff in the hatch area. 





















































Covered the top of the sub enclosure in black carpet rather than vinyl this time. Didn't like the look of the vinyl on the last version.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Added cleats to the bottom of the floor so the assembly will correctly locate itself when lowering it. 

















So, yeah, it looks almost identical to before, but it functions significantly better when raising/lowering the floor to access the spare or the amplifiers. Maintaining as close to full functionality as possible is one of my design goals, so I think the effort was worthwhile.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

I haven't been completely happy with the grill cloth upholstery on my a-pillars. Although it's not intrusive and blends in OK, I just prefer the look of vinyl. A previous attempt at wrapping one of the a-pillars in vinyl was unsuccessful; the shape is just too severe. So, I procured another set of salvage a-pillars and commenced upon version 2.0. 

The goal this time was to smooth out some of the more severe edges and angles and to change the speaker aiming from almost fully on-axis to a somewhat off-axis orientation. Speaker rings were constructed from ABS plastic this time instead of MDF (I failed to take pics of the ring construction...).

Initial wrap (used an old t-shirt that was really stretchy):








This time around, instead of creating a scallop "bed", I simply cut out the shapes and stretched the cloth fairly tight to get a flatter bed. 

First layer of resin:









After a number of hours applying Rage Gold and sanding everything smooth.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

First pillar wrapped in vinyl. LOT of stretching to get this to work. The heat gun is your friend...









Old pillar vs. new pillar:









Passenger a-pillar installed:









Driver's side a-pillar:


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Driver's side pillar from the driving position:









My grill work turned out cleaner this time as well:


















The new pillars are a noticeable step up in fit-and-finish from the first version, and the vinyl integrates into the interior much better than the grill cloth.


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## ejeffrey (Oct 8, 2015)

Excellent work as always!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

ejeffrey said:


> Excellent work as always!


Thanks! These pillars are my best work so far. Wrapping them in vinyl was a huge PITA, but the results were worth it. 😊


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## DavidK442 (Apr 21, 2019)

Impressive, professional level work. The pillars integrate very nicely.
Did you have to play with the tuning to compensate for the angle change?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

DavidK442 said:


> Impressive, professional level work. The pillars integrate very nicely.
> Did you have to play with the tuning to compensate for the angle change?


Thanks for the compliments! Much appreciated.

Definitely needs re-tuning! I frankly was surprised at not only the amount of adjustment required, but the nature of the changes in frequency response. I've only had time enough to adjust the existing tune to smooth things out, but I'll probably do a full re-tune. I actually think the frequency response is smoother in the more off-axis aiming. I'll try to confirm that theory with some raw measurements this weekend.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

ejeffrey said:


> Excellent work as always!


Thanks! If I re-do everything enough times, I'm bound to get a little better at it!


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)




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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

Otterman said:


> I actually think the frequency response is smoother in the more off-axis aiming. I'll try to confirm that theory with some raw measurements this weekend.


OK, I stand corrected on this impression. Measurements showed almost identical pre-EQ frequency response between the previous a-pillars and the new ones (with exception of a 2.5khz spike on the left mid, which I attribute to reflection off the factory monitor "hump"). Really surprised at this considering the significant change in speaker angles. The first version had the speakers aimed directly between the front seats at head height, while the new ones are aimed at the center of each side window. Pretty interesting the off-axis response would be so similar. 🤷‍♂️


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## baggedbirds (Sep 21, 2008)

pillars turned out great.


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

baggedbirds said:


> pillars turned out great.


Thank you! Plan on re-tuning this weekend.....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Wow, that vinyl work turned out great! I’m gonna do a little vinyl wrap on the front of a fiberglass sub box this weekend. Got my heat gun handy! Which adhesive did you use?


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## Otterman (Aug 30, 2015)

farfromovin said:


> Wow, that vinyl work turned out great! I’m gonna do a little vinyl wrap on the front of a fiberglass sub box this weekend. Got my heat gun handy! Which adhesive did you use?


Thanks! I used DAP Weldwood Landau Top and Trim. Really indispensable for this type of upholstery work. The 2 game-changers for me on the vinyl upholstery were learning to be way more liberal with heating the material to achieve the necessary stretching, and buying a gravity-feed sprayer to apply the adhesive. 😊


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## Prickles (Aug 25, 2015)

Otterman said:


> So, after getting back into car audio earlier this year with my MK7 Golf R build, I decided my '17 Ford Fiesta ST needed an upgrade as well. Car is lightly modified with a Cobb Accessport, Boomba short throw shifter, GT500 shift knob, GarageLine accelerator pedal mount and Sparco wheels.
> View attachment 258967
> 
> 
> ...


Hey mate, were the A pillars easy to remove? I really want to go a 3-way front stage in my 2015 ST but wanted to get an idea of the work required. Currently running 2 way +sub in factory locations (Helix M SIX DSP and M ONE X, plus a T'EYES CC3 head unit). 

Appreciate the time and effort put into this thread.


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