# 2007 Audi A4 Avant, first build - All Hertz



## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

So as my build finally comes to an end I thought I'd share what I've done, alltough its not near enough anything special than whats usually seen on here, to hopefully get some feedback and to perhaps inspire others,
just as many here have inspired and helped me through this experience.


This is my first "real" build I've done, as the only thing prior to this was a simple box with dual 12" subs and a rack ontop with two coax 6x9" and two cheap amps. Built it when I was 16 with all crap components!
Rather embarassingly I found a pic of it;










Didnt care much back then as I had a POS car that barely worked, but since I bought my Audi A4 I've tried to do every mod the best I can.

Planning for this build probably started in October and started with moderate 2-way systems in both front and rear doors with a 10" sub in the back.
I eventually decided to go 2x10" subs, since I do play alot of trance/dance/handsup and am abit of a basshead, and to skip the rear doors and use that money to get even better 2-ways up front.

I was afraid of the depth I had available in the doors since I have the window rail running right behind, so alot of messuring before deciding was done and calculated in AutoCAD










So the final component list is as follows;

HU: Pioneer AVH-P4300DVD
Front: Hertz MLK 2 TW
Rear: OEM
Subs: 2x Hertz HX250
Amps: Hertz HDP4 bridged to Milles & Hertz HDP1
Battery: Varta Silver Dynamic H3 100Ah
Misc: Stinger speaker & power wires, Audison Connection ST2 signal cables, power block and battery terminals

The HU and battery was purchased long before the build was even in the planning stage, more on that in final words and future plans.
As you might notice I used all Hertz products. Partly because of I've read good things about them and partly because it all fit in my budget since I got a nice deal buying all at once from a dealer here in Sweden.










My inital goal and requirements;
- More towards loud SQ orientated sound with enough bass to satisfy my taste of music
- Not to put on to much weight, alltough this kinda got thrown out the window 
- It wouldnt be much of a "show off" display, but still nice and clean to look at, eg. no plexi/LEDs etc.
- Be able to keep the spare wheel in place
- Finish before summer (Not so much..) Problem I had is I work abroad every other week so I had limited time once I was at home, in addition I dont have a heated garage so there was only so much I could do until spring arrived.
- Not needing to install additional battery

And the car in question is a 2007 Audi A4 Avant 2,0TFSI Quattro that I've owned since March last year.

















As mensioned, this is nothing fancy or special compared to what you usually find here, and maybe some of the pictures are boring but I still hope you enjoy looking through this build!
I only have the camera on my phone, excuse the poor quality in some pictures.
And lastly, pictures might not always be in order of how I actually went by!

I will update and upload the build in sections, rather than having 200 pictures on the first page I'll hopefully spread it out abit.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Lets get the boring stuff out of the way, running wires and sound proofing.

Almost all of the interior was taken out to ease the running of wires and to do things the right way.











0 gauge power cable through unused grommet next to the battery and beefed up to 0 gauge ground to chassi.
Still got some work here as the OEM Alt>Battery wire was abit short to set the battery terminals straight.




















Ground for power block at the rear seats, used a dremel to get a clean surface and used 0 gauge wire with soldered on copper terminal.





























As for new speaker wires to the doors I used 15 gauge for the tweeter and 13 gauge for the woofers. I know this is probably overkill, but I sleep better at night knowing I have proper sized and new wire going to them.
I also knew it would be tight with space from reading other builds with the same chassi. Basicly the hole is just the size of the plug that the harness connects to, so I took my dremel and made the hole abit larger at the bottom to fit the wires underneath.




















Once through that part, it was easy threading the wire through the original rubber grommet with the rest of the cables and into the door.











I decided to run the RCA's down the center console, using the original wire channels.





























Same for the rest of the wiring, using the original wire channels where there was plenty of room for everything. Used some additional zip-ties to keep everything bundled and neat.

Right side: Power, remote and right side speaker wires. Ground wire from back seat and onwards.











Left side: Left side speaker wires. RCA's meet up at back seat and onwards.











And how it looks from the front looking back.










The power and ground wire were routed to where the OEM subwoofer box used to be located, where the power block now will sit.











I swapped from a beige to a black headliner last autumn and while it was down I sound proofed with Silent coat.




















I did put down some Silent Coat on the floor and other larger "naked" areas but didnt take any pictures because I was in a hurry getting the carpet back in as I needed the car for a week abroad for work.
Didnt want to add to much weight to the car as I also want it to be as fast as possible, but I think I did a sufficient amount of deadening in the cabin to make a difference.

More to come tomorrow, stay tuned!


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## bradknob (Oct 26, 2009)

awesome!!

wish I had the patience to rip out my entire interior for wire and deadening. seems so simple once its out tho, will have to do it on my next vehicle.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Now onto the doors.
As I recognize the importance of a proper install making the most out of, to me, expensive components I spent alot of time to seal and deaden them as well I could.

Starting with fabrication of the spacers in MDF, I opted for this rather than cutting out the OEM speakers and using the plastic "ring" that I've seen some do.
With MDF spacers I could decide the exact depth to the door card and also more importantly a sturdier mount to prevent flexing.
I removed the door cards lots of times to get the right messurements to optimize them to the speaker depth and the OEM door card seal, you will see what I mean later on.

The spacer would be 38mm thick, so two layers of 19mm MDF would be perfect.

Poor mans jigg and possibly the oldest plunge router known to mankind, but it got the job done.










First made a hole to fit the speaker diameter, but not all the way through.
Afterwards I drew the figure from a template of the OEM spacer to fit the mounting holes.











Then set my jigg to cut the outsides where it was circular and then back to the speaker hole to cut that all the way through.
For the remaining cutting of the figure I used a jigsaw











For the second layer of MDF I used the same fashion but I left the bottom "arrow" bit and just did it circular.











Since I really wanted to be able to screw on the speakers real tight I countersank M4 T-nuts inbetween the two layers of MDF before glueing them together.
























































Then I coated them with a mix of fiberglass resin and bondo, and finally painted them. It will hopefully protect them abit against moisture softening them up over time.




















Heres the door card, moist shield and window regulator motor removed. Exposing two larger holes and two smaller that needed to be sealed shut.











I concidered sheets of metal, but in the end the only "right way" in my mind was fiberglassing.
I've not worked with fiberglass prior to this so dont expect much!
Started with the three easier holes and covering up eveything else to protect against the resin. Put some cardboard behind to get a flat surface then some painters tape with moldwax smeared on.




















The top hole was abit more tricky as the door card handle goes into that hole about 10mm. 











Once cured they popped off nicely and made a clear contour of the hole!
They were then trimmed and holes drilled for selftapping screws to fasten them with.




















Silent coated the outer door skin with two layers and the middle with one. Door cards also got some love.





























For mounting the spacer to the door I used some bolts and nuts. The OEM spacer was just screwed into a piece of plastic wedged into a hole that popped right out, so not very ideal if you want it tightened down hard.











First some silicone between the spacer and door skin, then I used some dynaliner as a seal for the speaker.











Onto the OEM door card seal. At first I had plans on just removing it but instead I tried to make the best I could to keep it functioning somewhat.
Its hard to see from the picture, but I made the spacer to just sit a few mm from the seal, as shown when I testfitted for the last time. 
To make it abit sturdier I added silent coat and then used a quite thick CCF strip on the spacer where the "lip" press on to create a seal to the door panel.





























Here you can see how its pressing against the CCF strip and thus minimizing sound escaping into the door panel instead of into the cabin.











Then to finish up on the doors I put a layer of Dynaliner over everything and then some silicone around the edges for all the fiberglass plates and screwed them on.





























Terminals crimped and soldered, connected to speaker and then some shrinkwrap on.











Another problem I had was how to mount the tweeters since they were quite abit larger than OEM ones.
The OEM tweeter clips into the speaker grille.











So I mocked up my own way of getting them to stay behind the grille. Im not very proud of this way, feels "ricey" but I didnt see much of an option if I wanted to keep them behind the OEM grille.
I layed a couple of layers of fiberglass mat and shaped strips to make the tweeter fit into, then glued that onto the panel itself with some PL400.





























Then I just trimmed off the "mount" for the OEM tweeter and it still fit nicely.




















The grilles for the woofer was also quite dense. Theese cannot be taken off then put back on again since they are "plastic-welded" onto the door card. New ones cost about $10 so no big deal.
I drilled out most part and then used the dremel to still keep some of the protection, then again used PL400 to glue bits of wood on the backside so I could staple "acoustic transparent" cloth over them and 
use a old soldering gun to fasten the new grilles back on.
I tried doing the same for the tweeter grilles aswell, but it turned out the clips wouldnt reach to snap on when the cloth was wrapped around the plastic grille.










































































And everything back together and finished, while still looking OEM-ish. Real thudd when closing the doors now, and 0 rattle.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

bradknob said:


> awesome!!
> 
> wish I had the patience to rip out my entire interior for wire and deadening. seems so simple once its out tho, will have to do it on my next vehicle.


It sure did help alot, but oh-what-a-pain.. Especially since I probably have some sort of condition when I just couldnt lay the carpet or trim back together without wiping it all down nice and clean first!


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Very nice work for a first build. All that thoroughness will definitely pay off, keep it up!


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

sinister-kustoms said:


> Very nice work for a first build. All that thoroughness will definitely pay off, keep it up!


Thank you! A whole new world really opened up for me, already got new ideas floating around in my head..


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

For the power/fuseblock I thought it would be nice to utilize the space that opened up when I removed the stock subwoofer box which sits behind a "hatch" on the right side of the trunk.




















The first idea beeing to just cut out a piece of MDF about the shape of the OEM box and let that be that...











But with just that, it wouldnt cover up all of the "naked" metal from the chassi/body so it soon escalated into covering all sides and the wheelwell. Which meant fiberglassing again, and as you can see I managed to get a massive air pocket but
since its not of structural importance I didnt care to mend it.





























After I had the rough shape finished, I utilized the stock mounting points with some strips of holepunched iron-something.. (Couldnt find the name for it in english)
Then I started the tedious work of smoothing the angles out with bondo.




















Next was fitting some nice grommets for the wires to run through. I knew what I wanted them to look like, but took alot of time before I finally found cheap ear piercing "tunnels" on ebay in various sizes which looked just as I wanted it.
Then I countersinked behind them and later used hotglue to make them sit still.





























For the fuseblock I got some chrome piping to raise it about 10mm from the surface.




















Then painted flat black, and as a final touch I drew the "Audison Connection" logo in Adobe Illustrator as a vectorized image and sent it to a designshop who lasercut it into a sticker for me.





























As a last minute thing, I decided to keep my stock amplifier which runs the rear door speakers. I thought it might still be nice to have some sound at the back for when I have passangers back there.
Since this wasnt planned for it ended up in a wierd place and not really good looking, but it was the only place it would fit screwed on to the back.


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## robolop (Mar 10, 2008)

That already looks very good.


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## Kellyo77 (Dec 5, 2009)

Incredibly impressive work! I love the ear "tunnels". Never would have thought of that. 
Looking forward to more from this build. 

By the way, Robolop being impressed should make you proud! He has done the most amazing work I have ever seen in a vehicle. His BMW build thread here is fantastic.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

robolop said:


> That already looks very good.





Kellyo77 said:


> Incredibly impressive work! I love the ear "tunnels". Never would have thought of that.
> Looking forward to more from this build.
> 
> By the way, Robolop being impressed should make you proud! He has done the most amazing work I have ever seen in a vehicle. His BMW build thread here is fantastic.


Thanks to both of you! Yea, I think the ear tunnels came out great.. And not expensive coming from Hong Kong! 

And Robolop's BMW was probably one of the first threads I came across here on DIYMA, just amazing stuff.
Im just happy knowing that there are a choosen few that read this!


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

For the amprack I made a MDF board to lay ontop of the spare wheel.
To start off I had a curve tool that I got the shapes from and then took thoose curves to make a template out of cardboard and voila! 















































Tried out some different layouts of the amps and filters, alltough the amps are very small the filters are massive so I didnt have much options here if I didnt want to cross power wires with the signal cable and risking induced noise.




















To keep with the same design I used to the fuseblock, I made the amps raised up 10mm with bits of chrome copper pipe and got even more fiddely with the filters that I wanted to tilt forward for a better look.
Since I needed to screw them down, I got some round sticks of wood that fit inside the chrome pipes and glued them onto the MDF in the angle I needed.











After all holes were drilled I sprayed a few layers of clearcoat and then vinyl wrapped it with 3M 1080p Scotchprint matte black. Screwed everything down and glued on the ear piercing tunnels in the holes.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

It just keeps getting better!


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## Schnitz (Jun 26, 2008)

Totally and completely impressed.
Those doors rival most pro installers.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Thank you for the kind words, really encouraging and rewarding after all the time spent to hear such things from people on a board like this.


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## Xandr (Jan 17, 2011)

great job
wait for more


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

congrats for your amazing skills!!!
the work done on the doors is incredible!!!

i've only a little question: where i can find the tool that you use for "catch" the curves?

i've see it in your post number 12 on your topic...

i need one 

stefano


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Thanks for the comments!

@stef600rr
I believe its called a "curve ruler" in english. I found one in a design/paint shop here in Sweden. 
If it might help I did find two different manifacturers of it called "Linex" and the other "KOH-I-NOOR"


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

For the subwoofers I ideally wanted stealthboxes on both sides since I find just a box to simple, boring and kills luggagespace.
There are a few reasons why I didnt go with stealthboxes;
1. I didnt have any experience in fiberglassing prior to this
2. This meant I would need to try and get a matching carpet for the sidepanels, which is impossible and I cannot live with missmatching colors like that. Recarpeting all of it to alcantara was also on the optionslist for a moment but
I couldnt justify the costs and work.
3. I knew my deadline was already shot out of the window, this would take alot more time to get it the way I wanted. 

In an effort to save some of the space I started making drawings in AutoCAD to find the best angle for the box to keep enough air behind the sub while still making it as shallow as possible. It could also not be taller than what was allowed for me to keep my luggage cover to fit over the top.











When I found the best compromise between the two, I got drawings made for all the pieces I needed. Since I didnt have good enough tools to make completely straight cuts I used the AutoCAD drawings to program a milling machine which cut
the pieces out for me for a perfect fit.











Since I didnt want it to be just a boring flatbaffle box, I decided to get some curves for the subs. Started with cutting out some rings, one to raise the sub abit and one to surround the edge of it.




















Then I cut out a portion of the sides of the baffle so I could have a groove to staple fleece onto. Rings were glued on and then I started assembling some of it starting with the sides and bottom.






































I wanted the box to have a snug fit in the trunk, but since the HX250 only wants 18,13 litres I had to make walls to allow for only that volume. I also added a few more for stability and to not leave empty space between them which "might've"
created echo or dissonance in some way. Probably not necissary at all with theese "mid-end" subs but easy way to let me have a piece of mind.
T-nuts for mounting and used PL400 around all edges to ensure it was airtight.
In addition I filled the remaning spaces with expanding foam.


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## vwtoby (Oct 28, 2005)

awesome car, awesome gear and awesome build so far


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## lucas569 (Apr 17, 2007)

so your stating this is your 1st time doing such an audio build of this caliber? you seem like a seasoned installer to me.


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## boltcd (Sep 26, 2011)

Thats a awesome looking amp rack


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Suscribed for some swedish erotica


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

lucas569 said:


> so your stating this is your 1st time doing such an audio build of this caliber? you seem like a seasoned installer to me.


Hand on heart, the only thing prior to this is what's in my first post.
But the time it has taken me, trials, errors and remakes is the difference of what I assume a proper installer wouldnt need.

Sure, you need to be somewhat handy and have ideas, but I believe anyone could do this as long as you have the patience and dedication.
I've taken my time and not tried to rush anything with shortcuts so that I would be happy with the results! 
It probably helps if you're also quite pedantic like myself..

Also, I do think I "owe" it to the components (the Milles in particular) to be installed properly so that they will play as well as possible.

Anyways I will take that as a compliment, flattered to say the least.

@ vwtoby, boltcd and IBcivic
Thank you, real fun knowing there are people that like to look at the work! 

Sadly I will have to leave you hangin' for about a week before I get the rest of the pictures uploaded and posted as Im off for 7 days of work again.


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

Khaotic said:


> Thanks for the comments!
> 
> @stef600rr
> I believe its called a "curve ruler" in english. I found one in a design/paint shop here in Sweden.
> If it might help I did find two different manifacturers of it called "Linex" and the other "KOH-I-NOOR"


thank you very very much!!!


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Wow Bad ass,, I wish I had a Avant.. by my wife doesn't like the hatch back! 
So I had to get a A4 lol


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## Durzil (Jul 10, 2012)

Nice build. Let us know how you like the HX 250's.


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## sinister-kustoms (Jul 22, 2009)

Khaotic said:


> Sure, you need to be somewhat handy and have ideas, but I believe anyone could do this as long as you have the patience and dedication.
> I've taken my time and not tried to rush anything with shortcuts so that I would be happy with the results!


Quote for truth!


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## fnlow (Nov 29, 2011)

Very impressive- especially the doors!


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## robolop (Mar 10, 2008)

I’m kinda jealous about the rings you use for your cables to run through.
You have this especially made? Or you can buy those things somewhere? If yes, can you please send me the link, I’m very interested in those.
And I’m still finding it supercool those amps are floating. I’ve already done this to previous cars I had, and then I placed some invisible lighting under there.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Thanks guys, I will be putting something in about that in the end post Durzil! :2thumbsup:



robolop said:


> I’m kinda jealous about the rings you use for your cables to run through.
> You have this especially made? Or you can buy those things somewhere? If yes, can you please send me the link, I’m very interested in those.
> And I’m still finding it supercool those amps are floating. I’ve already done this to previous cars I had, and then I placed some invisible lighting under there.


They are ear piercing tunnels that are made in various sizes.. I bought them on ebay from this guy;

*PAIR*16g 14g 12g 8g 6g 4g 2g 0g 00g 12/14/16mm SteeL Ear PluGs TunneL Piercing | eBay

Cheapest I found since its in pairs from him, from hong kong so it took probably 3 weeks until I had them delivered but I had no rush! 
I was also temped with lighting but then I would also "need" to add some plexi to the false floor so I would show them off all the time.. I wish I had more time to do stuff like that, but for now it'll do as it is!


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

are they ear piercing?!?:laugh:

you are a genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

*VERY impressive* work on this build.

Considering this is your first build your level of ability is light years ahead of many professional installers skill level.

And using those ear piercing gauges is brilliant.

I never even thought of using those for wire grommets......and considering they should be stainless steel they should be a better quality than anything intended for use as grommets.

The contour tool will be a nice addition to my toolbox.

I learned few things from your build so far and I thank you for that.

I always love an Audi install so keep those pics coming.


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## adamand (Apr 19, 2009)

Great looking build! Count me in.


How are the ear piercings measured? The ebay ad mentions "measured at centre"... is that (I'm assuming) the inside measurement or overall? I love the idea of these!


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

GlasSman said:


> *VERY impressive* work on this build.
> 
> Considering this is your first build your level of ability is light years ahead of many professional installers skill level.
> 
> ...


Thank you, makes me glad to know someone else can make some use of my work and ideas! I'll be back home soon to update with the rest!



adamand said:


> How are the ear piercings measured? The ebay ad mentions "measured at centre"... is that (I'm assuming) the inside measurement or overall? I love the idea of these!


Its measured at the outer "wall", as in the part that actually goes through the ear flesh if you used it for a piercing.
Its not consitant through the range of sizes, but I found that if you buy a 10mm tunnel, the hole would be around 7,5-8 mm for a wire to go through.

I would be stoked to see theese start popping up in other builds now!


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Back home and here is the rest for the subwoofer box.

To add some more looks to the box I wanted a "Hertz" logo of some sort on it. Since the only thing I could find in shops was stickers which I thought would just look tacky, I drew the logo in AutoCAD and had it milled out in 2mm aluminum
and then painted the surrounding in hertz orange.











This ofcourse gave me the issues that even though I was going to fiberglass the baffle to give it curves, I needed the location of the logo to be flat for mounting. So I cut some pieces of MDF in the exact size of the logo and fitted it
to the baffle. You'll see in the next step how this worked.





























Then it was time for the fleece to be stretched over the baffle and soaked in resin. For the logo I used the other MDF cutout and covered it with aluminumfoil so it wouldnt stick to the resin and then screwed it with predrilled holes
onto the first cutout underneath the fleece. After it had hardened I could easily unscrew and remove the cutout and it left a flat surface for the logo to be placed on.






































With the general shape finished, I layed down alternating layers of mat & weave until it was strong enough. Since it didnt have a structural importance I think it ended up at only 5 or 6 layers. Reinforced the edges aswell so it wouldnt
start letting go of the baffle.




















Next I had to get the edges around the baffle sharp which I used some MDF board covered in aluminum foil pressed down on bondo. Then I routed along the edges to get it completely straight and even.






































After that I digged in many hours of bondo and sanding to get it nice and smooth. Just when you think you're finished and spray with some high-build primer you spot all the problem areas. 






































Eventually I was happy with the surface and moved on. There was still some minor stuff I did before i glued on the back and could start painting.
For fastening the box I had a piece of aluminum made and bent it to the right angle of the box. T-nuts on the inside of the box to fasten it and for the floor I used bolts and nuts. 
Speaker terminals are "Supra Boxcon" with another piece of aluminum for a nicer look.
























































All screw holes were bondo'd and sanded smooth, then I painted first with black spraypaint and then a few coats of clearcoat to allow me to vinyl wrap it. Final testfit before I wrapped and installed the subs.




















Vinylwrapping with 3M scotchprint, then installing terminals, 10 gauge speaker wire, fonoform and fitting the logo with strong doublesided tape.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

As final words and summary I thought I'd go through it step by step, to avoid rambling back and forth.

*The build:*
It took time.. About 2,5 months past my set "deadline", but I know Im a person who wouldnt be able to look back and think I didnt give it my best effort and compromise the outcome.
I was even hessitant to post this build here, but Im glad I did! All the nice feedback really make it encouraging to stay in the scene, probably not any further with this car, but for whatever's next.
Most of my inspiration and ideas come from this board, if I include theese hours spent to research and find sollutions to my ideas I'd probably shoot myself..
There was alot of trial and error, sometimes I was just too fed up and paused for a week or so, but managed to push through when I still couldnt
see the end.. But when it really starts coming together and when the speakers make their first appearance you just sit there and smile full of satisfaction!

*The sound:*
I do not really have much reference here, nor do I know how to describe what Im hearing properly for you audiofreaks but I will try my best.
Am I happy with it? In short, yes. But they are still beeing broken in and gains arent set properly, so I expect to still see them evolve abit.
The two HX250's really are enough to please my needs as a basshead. I've cranked them up real high sometimes and I never heard them miss a beat or sounded distorted/clipped.
Even though I wanted the Mille subs that I couldnt find here in Sweden, Im not disappointed with theese!
As for the MLK's up front Im real happy with. I do play very loud for the most time when I drive and they've yet to get tiring or boring.
I read around alot before I decided on theese, and it seems I've hit the spot for my taste from what I could gather from reviews and descriptions.
The tweeters are set at -2dB on the filters, but they have never become to sharp or hurtful when played loud for extensive amount of time.
And the same credit goes to the woofers. If I turn the sub's off you can still feel them hit when in the backseat on some tracks..
They are currently bridged on the HDP4 which gives a potential of 500W, but I've not dared to turn the gains up yet due to a problem with my H/U I will get into later.
I wish I could go active and give the woofers abit more than the tweeters, I do think they could really come alive if I could send them more separetly!
From everyone that has listened to it has been impressed, which have more references than I do so Im pleased.

*The looks*
I did go back and forth on lighting, plexiglass and bringing the Mille's out onto the doors but right now Im glad I didnt go this route.
The time it wouldve taken for me wouldve probably made me give up halfway through. 
For now Im happy with the way it is. If I want to show it off it will still be nice to look at, and still be hidden/OEM at first glance. (Apart from the subwoofers ofcourse)
There are some flaws still that I'll have to live with, the box still had some imperfections that I didnt think would show with the vinyl on but does and on the amprack I oversprayed a layer of clearcoat and started to run on one spot.
Im not particulary keen on the subwoofer grilles, was concidering going without them but since I do carry stuff back there sometimes I couldnt risk them getting damaged.
The ear piercing grommets did turn out very nicely, and would be nice to see this catch on.. There are lots of different designs on theese that very well could fit in audio installs if you want your wiring to show! 

*Future plans*
First off all will be replacing the headunit, and soon.
I bought this long before I thought of doing such a build, and now I belive this is my bottleneck. Maybe not so much in the SQ area, but as Im giving the milles so much power I need more settings to keep them safe. 
I do not have a seperate high-pass on my current one, as I wouldve wanted to pass them at 50-65hz so that I dont send them flying. I know I can go louder and I can hear that they come alive the last few steps of the volume that I dare turn up.
Nor do I with my current H/U have a proper T/A and it only has a 8-band EQ. Im looking at the Pioneer 80PRS to replace it with, but it will be a shame as I like the big screen. Oh well, I didnt spend this much time and money to have it be bottlenecked by the H/U.
My optimal setup would be to go active with a Bit-One, 3-way and stealth box the subs in the back. Probably also would choose a class A/B amp from Audison to feed the front, but as said, I dont see myself doing anymore on this car atleast until I have ticked off other plans that I have for it.
Next time I will probably do things differently aswell, as now I did do everything at once and it was hard to keep the motivation up sometimes.
Probably would have been easier to just start with the Milles and doors, then moved on to subwooferbox etc.


Lastly I would like to thank this great community, and I will surely lurk around from here on to keep myself up to date with ideas and information for my next build!

Feel free to ask about anything, I'll gladly help if I can and hopefully inspire someone else to their future installs.


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## slpery (Jan 14, 2011)

Awesome work, and i can adhere to your final words. My system is running but i need to kick my arse to finish the little things. Although after looking at yours, i might go back to the drawing board and change a few things.

Well done!!!



...how thick is your false floor lid? Does it flex with any weight on it?



.


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## Woosey (Feb 2, 2011)

Well done!!!

You are showing some really nice work here!

Chapeau!

By the way: Can't you use your amp's high pass crossover on your front set to save them?


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

slpery said:


> Awesome work, and i can adhere to your final words. My system is running but i need to kick my arse to finish the little things. Although after looking at yours, i might go back to the drawing board and change a few things.
> 
> Well done!!!
> 
> ...how thick is your false floor lid? Does it flex with any weight on it?


Thanks! I used a 12mm MDF board for that, it does flex if I press down on it but its no worry that it will crack from the weight of the amps/filters even though it only lies on the very left/right edges of the plastic cover.



Woosey said:


> Well done!!!
> 
> You are showing some really nice work here!
> 
> ...


Thank you! Sadly its only possible to do it at 80hz when I have it bridged with the way they built it.
I can cross the A-channel 50-5k but only 80-3.3k for the B-channel.. :worried:


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## stef600rr (Aug 5, 2012)

really congrats!!! your work and your skills are amazing! 


ps. and thanks for the help for the plastic curve.... i bought it 1 weeks ago and now i can't work without it!!!


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## 83corolla (Nov 5, 2009)

Sweet car and build. I have a 1.8t myself.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Thanks fellas!
Happy to help, stef600rr


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## tuner culture (Jul 14, 2010)

Nice componets, Very nice work! representing another Audi on the forum  

I really like the ear piercing grommets.... very innovative. Are you on Audizine?

How do you like the Hertz subs, i was thnking of switching from JL Audio W6 to the new 10" VOCE line


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## FLYONWALL9 (Nov 8, 2009)

I wish I read your thread before tackling my doors. GREAT how to step by step you have laid out for anyone who reads this. I wasted several pieces of nice 3/8" Meranti plywood and had to move to MDF. I can tell by your bench your no weekend warrior when it comes to wood working. Great skills, and tools! The factory grill mod is also something I may implement as well, it gave a nice touch to the door card. 

Being I have gained some knowledge from your work, I feel I should pass along a tip for you. When you lay your glass next time, before it goes off try using PEEL PLY, or poor mans peel ply (plastic trash bag). Put the trash bag over your gassed area and use a knap roller to press the bag into the glass. This will smooth out all uneven areas. When you pull off the trash bag you will be left with a much smoother surface that should be ready for bondo without having to sand. The only down side to using this method is you really have to mix your resin on the cool side rather than hot so that it doesn't flash before you apply the peel ply. It is also possible that if the glass is laid well enough that you wont even need to bondo if your going to cover with vinyl or thin carpet.

GREAT use of materials not meant for car audio (ear rings) I'm sure you know others will follow, I may be one of them. You know what they say, about coping being a form of flattery. 

LASTLY, I LOVE THIS CAR AND EVEN MORE THE INSTALL! This is so clean!!!!! ONE OF MY TOP 5 FAVORITE BUILDS ON THIS FORUM!


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

that blue "curve tool" can be found at jo-ann fabrics.


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## tuner culture (Jul 14, 2010)

I have the blue curve, love it. I also picked up another type of curve that keeps it shape more true and its clear, i found it at a art supplies store in the drafting area. I ended up using that more then the blue curve becasue i could bend a shape and it would keep a true curve line in the arcs.


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## LBaudio (Jan 9, 2009)

very nice and clean install. Attention to detail is what I like in this install and it sets your build apart from many others.


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

tuner culture said:


> Nice componets, Very nice work! representing another Audi on the forum
> 
> I really like the ear piercing grommets.... very innovative. Are you on Audizine?
> 
> How do you like the Hertz subs, i was thnking of switching from JL Audio W6 to the new 10" VOCE line



Ofcourse, Audi deserves nothing less! 
Yupp, same username on AZ.. Also made a crossthread over there!
About the Hertz subs, they lived up to my expectations.. As mensioned I do like my bass and Ive not had a moment where I felt they didnt deliver for my needs. I was also looking at the V10s but they are still not available over here it seems. I guess the only thing I could complain about is that, according to Hertz drawing, they are tuned at 55Hz so at the low end it dies off abit but then again I dont have much reference to compare. Also I havent yet tried to experiment with filling abit more fonoform which might help that abit?




FLYONWALL9 said:


> I wish I read your thread before tackling my doors. GREAT how to step by step you have laid out for anyone who reads this. I wasted several pieces of nice 3/8" Meranti plywood and had to move to MDF. I can tell by your bench your no weekend warrior when it comes to wood working. Great skills, and tools! The factory grill mod is also something I may implement as well, it gave a nice touch to the door card.
> 
> Being I have gained some knowledge from your work, I feel I should pass along a tip for you. When you lay your glass next time, before it goes off try using PEEL PLY, or poor mans peel ply (plastic trash bag). Put the trash bag over your gassed area and use a knap roller to press the bag into the glass. This will smooth out all uneven areas. When you pull off the trash bag you will be left with a much smoother surface that should be ready for bondo without having to sand. The only down side to using this method is you really have to mix your resin on the cool side rather than hot so that it doesn't flash before you apply the peel ply. It is also possible that if the glass is laid well enough that you wont even need to bondo if your going to cover with vinyl or thin carpet.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind words, flattering! 
The bench is actually my grandfathers, as I used his workshop.. I've not done much woodwork like this before, more building garages etc, but I guess it runs in my geenes 
I dont know if its even audiable to my ears doing what I did with the grilles, but it sure put my mind at ease and since it wasnt very hard to do it was a no brainer for me.
As I said, beginner when it comes to glassing so thanks for the tip.. If I carry out my plans I got floating around in my head now for my next build/upgrade I will certainly try this out!
Would be very happy to see more people use the piercings as grommets, I would feel like I gave something back to this community as I have myself gotten so much help just by reading other builds!
Once again, very flattered to say the least! 





LBaudio said:


> very nice and clean install. Attention to detail is what I like in this install and it sets your build apart from many others.


Thanks alot!


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## blickman12 (Apr 23, 2013)

Rather than replacing the deck, go with a DSP. Like an Audison Bit One or BitTen D. Each will give you more voltage on your preouts as well as add more control with very extensive EQ's that will give you much more control of your system. Both are tuned using computer software. Audison is a sister company of Hertz and they run parallel to each other. So they're products mesh really well together even you though you are keeping that Hertz theme, I assume you probably already knew that since you used the Connection products. If the Audison DSPs are out of reach in terms of budget, try a rockford 360.3 or a JBL MS-8. All great processors.


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## blickman12 (Apr 23, 2013)

Also, great work man. True craftsmanship on this install. Great attentiveness to the smaller details. Very clean.


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## slowride (Jan 26, 2009)

Awesome work. This build looks great.


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Seems a Bit 10 would be a perfect addition to your system for a pretty minimal cost and would allow you to go active and have better control over everything. Great install!


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## Khaotic (Jan 5, 2012)

Not checked in here for a while now..
But all is well, I'm currently using a 80PRS and gone "active" with the tweeters to play right off the deck and only using the woofers on the HDP4 to be able to tune them individually.
Big improvement over my last deck, but I wont be fiddling much more with this install as I've got future plans of a rebuild!
Got a sweet deal on Audison TH K3 set so that will replace the Mille's, just going to find the time and motivation to start a new build.
Ofcourse then I will go full active with a BitOne, this time I will start a new build thread when the build actually start and keep it going through the build rather than posting it up when everything is finished like this one..


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## UNFORGIVEN (Sep 25, 2010)

What an amazing job! 
I'm jealous... Makes me want to get another project car and do it right.


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## vivmike (May 24, 2013)

Unreal build. Keep up the great work.


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## kizz (Jun 22, 2009)

I love the amp rack. simple CLEAN and beautiful.


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## knever3 (Mar 9, 2009)

Wow! Awesome job on those door panels! Great job overall can't wait to see your next upgrade.


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## Freijojo (Dec 2, 2009)

Nice job for the cabling of the amplifier and the arrangement


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