# 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall



## papasin

This reinstall will be slow, but with a goal to finish by the end of the year. This is my wife's car, and the previous install was as I documented "simple". As a reminder, some pictures of the car...with fair amount of non-audio mods.














































List of non-audio mods:
Panimex Body Kit in Gloss Black (complete set - side skirts, rear and front spoilers with integrated LEDs)
Coilover Set - Bilstein B14
16" Sport Edition SM3 Silver + Yokohama S.drive tires
Roof Spoiler by BRABUS
Performance Exhaust by SILA Concepts - Dual Tip Center Exit
Cold Air Intake by SILA Concepts - Powdercoated in a Black Finish
Cold Air Intake Induction Tube Upgrade
Side Scoop (GT) - Smoke Finish
Sprint Booster
HID Conversion Kit - 4300k
Front Parking Light SMD
License Plate SMD Bulbs
Z series Black Antenna
Smann rear window grip
smart base rack
smart bike rack

with previous install log here:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...stall-customized-black-2009-smart-fortwo.html

As some folks might now, I'm also in the middle of reworking a few things in my Civic, so my time will be divided between the two cars.

So why undertake this reinstall when I'm not done with the Civic? Well, a funny thing happened not too long ago...my wife rarely drives the Civic since she's still not super comfortable with a stickshift. However, one day after the recent comp I entered, she sat in the Civic's driver's seat and took a listen and came a major realization...she said: *I had no idea what I was missing, so when is my car going to sound this good*?

So in true DIYMA spirit, everyone knows gotta make sure she's happy, so here goes SQ project #2 . Here we go...

Goals:

1. SQ in a tiny car - as many know, always a challenge
2. Lose ZERO space in the trunk...errr, what trunk? 
3. First attempt at SQ2 (I'll encourage her to a comp once this is complete)
4. Cram all the audio gear below into a Smart! 










Equipment as shown above...pretty much everything is new or changing except the JL XD600/6, with the XR6.5Ms being transferred from the Civic.

HU: Pioneer AVH-P8400BH
Processing: JBL MS-8
Tweeters: HAT L1 Pro R2 in headshok pods (complements the pods on the dash for the tachometer and clock)
Mids: Audible Physics XR6.5M
Center: Audible Physics XR3M-LE
Under Dash Sub: Alpine SWR-843D
Amps: JL Audio XD600/6 and JL Audio XD500/3

I apologize in advance as I'll probably have limited progress over the next few weeks with state finals and a few other work-related things taking me away from this. But thought I'd at least start this log to get things documented. Should be an interesting little undertaking.


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## Melodic Acoustic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Now this one I am truly looking forward to. That Type R 8" upfront matched with the XR6.5M should be very very nice. I really like the Type R 8", digs quite low for an 8". The type R, Alto Falstaff and Arc Audio 8 are my favorite 8" subs.


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## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Luckily there is a ton of room in the dash for a sub (as you know from the previous install). Should be easy to keep all the bass up front.

I love the 8400BH...but the nav add-on sucks.

Jay


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



JayinMI said:


> Luckily there is a ton of room in the dash for a sub (as you know from the previous install). Should be easy to keep all the bass up front.
> 
> I love the 8400BH...but the nav add-on sucks.
> 
> Jay


No NAV this time. My wife and I both have iPhones, and will be using that for NAV in this car. As folks probably know, one of the features is to be able to run NAV and other apps from the iPhone (thru appradio) and display on the 8400BH. Got it installed actually, pics to come...


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## papasin

*Pioneer AVH-P8400BH installed*

Before:



















After:



















Love the bigger screen. But now in addition to iPod, 8400BH also brings Pandora integration










and as mentioned, with the iPhone thru Appradio, we're able to use our favorite navigation app (Waze) with community posted traffic updates, police locations, hazards and stopped vehicles on the road, etc...all viewable and can be controlled thru the 8400BH....never having to worry about map upgrades, etc.


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## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I've been wanting to see the quality of the screen graphics on the 8400 when used with a phone. The Pioneer add-on nav is very blurry. I've been seriously considering this for my next HU. My android phone w/ Nav is more accurate than my Garmin nav.

Looks pretty nice from the iPhone.

Thanks for posting pics

Jay


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## trojan fan

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I've always had a lot of curiosity for those cars. What's your impression of the car on the interstate , driving at highway speeds?

You mentioned "state finals", what type of work do you do?


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## audiovibe

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

One of the nicest For Twos I've seen. Tuning in for the install.


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



JayinMI said:


> I've been wanting to see the quality of the screen graphics on the 8400 when used with a phone. The Pioneer add-on nav is very blurry. I've been seriously considering this for my next HU. My android phone w/ Nav is more accurate than my Garmin nav.
> 
> Looks pretty nice from the iPhone.
> 
> Thanks for posting pics
> 
> Jay


My understanding is that thru appradio, whether it be Android or iPhone should essentially be the same if you're using the same app. There's at least half a dozen map apps that are compatible, so should you not like Waze (which as I mentioned is our favorite), there's quite a few others to choose from.

You should also check with Bing. Looks like he put one in his wife's Kia Sportage (and no, I did not get the idea of the HU from him lol).


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



trojan fan said:


> I've always had a lot of curiosity for those cars. What's your impression of the car on the interstate , driving at highway speeds?


I think it's fine. It's speed limited to 90mph. The suspension and wheel/tire upgrades definitely help in giving it a sense of stability on the highway. We drive it mainly around town, and can't be beat for parking in SF and downtown San Jose! 



trojan fan said:


> You mentioned "state finals", what type of work do you do?


As I tell a lot of folks at work, just a "dumb manager" nowadays for a s/w branch at NASA lol. Previously, a s/w lead in the same branch, and before that, a s/w engineer. Just been busy at work and didn't mean to mix that with the audio hobby portion.

As for state finals, unrelated to work and just happen to be doing things too on the Civic when I have time...so all I meant was trying to get that done since that's next Sunday!


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## papasin

*Subwoofer*

Ugh, a bit of a setback today. Thought I was going to make a simple sub swap. Anyway, some pics...

Here's the Type R sub in the pre-fab Smart car under dash enclosure:










with a nice helping of Focal Blackhole Stuff thrown in the enclosure (see it in the background, but didn't get to take a pic before throwing the sub into it)










...then, I tried to put things back into the car, and couldn't get it to fit. So I scratched my head as to why, then I realized the difference. Note the Type R has a significant lip seen here










which is not the case for the JL8w3v3 seen here










and that lip is enough of a clearance issue that it doesn't mount back in with the Type R (argh).

Note that the JL barely clears in my previous install.



















...so I guess until I come up with an alternative (or someone has a suggestion), back with the JL. I suppose it's not shabby looking if you compare it with the Type R.



















I guess off to the Classifieds with the Type R.


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## Salami

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Did you try installing the SWR without the gasket? 

It is removable and should give you the clearance you need. Use some pliable duct seal under the flange to form a thin air tight seal.


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## IBcivic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

You could always use a rabbet bit and sink the Alpine 6 to 10mm into enclosure, if there is enough meat in the walls.


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## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Looks great. I acutally looked at one and almost convinced my wife to let me buy one until we had a kid, that killed the entire plan.


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## thehatedguy

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I don't normally like those cars, but that is sharp.

Mark, can you still buy the Alto subs?


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## Melodic Acoustic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



thehatedguy said:


> I don't normally like those cars, but that is sharp.
> 
> Mark, can you still buy the Alto subs?


Man I wish!!! But sadly no.


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## trojan fan

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



IBcivic said:


> You could always use a rabbet bit and sink the Alpine 6 to 10mm into enclosure, if there is enough meat in the walls.


X2...exactly ...countersinking it might get you there


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## papasin

*Type R is in!*

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and feedback. It means a lot and am so appreciative of the wealth of knowledge from folks on this forum. So much for me to learn. I found the below to work



Salami said:


> Did you try installing the SWR without the gasket?
> 
> It is removable and should give you the clearance you need. Use some pliable duct seal under the flange to form a thin air tight seal.


and felt like a total dunce :dunce:...especially seeing that this isn't the first Type R I've ever dealt with either. I totally should have known that gasket comes off :surprised:, but again thanks to this suggestion and the others as well. So here we go.

Sub out, with a helping of Focal Blackhole stuff that I forgot to take a picture off last time










...some speaker gasketing tape










and applied to the Type R



















installed into the box










and mounted under the dash


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



chefhow said:


> Looks great. I acutally looked at one and almost convinced my wife to let me buy one until we had a kid, that killed the entire plan.


We have two kids, and by far this is the favorite car for them to ride in (only one they are able to sit in the front legally). It's not designed for infants (rear-facing car seats), but by 18 months or so when they are able to sit front facing, works quite well. It's got all the harnesses too. Here's a shot of our typical front passenger seat:










with the tether/anchor and belt loop in the back of the passenger seat.




























Just think...going to all the kids' activities, we are able park in the impossible to park places while other parents can't find parking!


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



thehatedguy said:


> I don't normally like those cars, but that is sharp.


Thanks. Yes, stock










vs. with mods










is night and day.


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## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Now I am wishing I did it. There is a red one near my work for sale with bigger wheels and tires and lowered, tempting...


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



chefhow said:


> Now I am wishing I did it. There is a red one near my work for sale with bigger wheels and tires and lowered, tempting...


Something to tempt you with .


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## wdemetrius1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I never really paid any attention to these cars, but I'm really starting to like them.


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## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

They're not my cup of tea. I hate -- no, I HATE -- the CVT transmission. They're neat little cars, but I couldn't drive one on a daily basis...my other issue is that they were pretty expensive, so for the money you could buy a lot of other cars with more room that got the same mileage.

I like what you've got going on in this one, tho.

Jay


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## slade1274

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Shopping for DD HU- why 8400 over the 4400?


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



JayinMI said:


> They're not my cup of tea. I hate -- no, I HATE -- the CVT transmission. They're neat little cars, but I couldn't drive one on a daily basis...my other issue is that they were pretty expensive, so for the money you could buy a lot of other cars with more room that got the same mileage.
> 
> I like what you've got going on in this one, tho.
> 
> Jay


I'll be the first to admit that the Smart is not for everyone. A couple corrections though on what you've posted. As far as I'm aware (even the current model year), the Smart has a 5-speed single clutch automated manual and not a CVT. Some folks indicate that the shifts are jerky that causes a bouncy/rocking motion during up/down shifts which maybe your complaint that you're alluding to. In our experience, when we changed the suspension and tires, this subsided dramatically and don't really even notice it. Further, we haven't done this specific upgrade yet, but there is also an aftermarket motor mount that is available that stiffens things up that supposedly negates that rocking motion all together.

As for the price, when we bought it in 2009, we looked at quite a few cars and this was the only one we walked out of the dealer with under $14k out the door with the options we wanted. Actually, given the upgrades we've done, in hindsight, we probably could have gone to the base model (the pure trim) and optioned up AC and come under that price even further down to under $12k...but would not have a way to option up power windows and power steering so not sure if the wife would be happy with that.

In the end though, definitely depends on folks' taste. This is not my DD, the Civic SI is so it's night and day in terms of driving experience and you guys probably know my personal preference . But wanted to make sure the info above is correct for those who might actually have one or considering one .


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



slade1274 said:


> Shopping for DD HU- why 8400 over the 4400?


Got your PM as well, but essentially, the 8400s full "appradio" integration vs. the 4400s "appmode" is what sold me. As I understand, the former allows more of the controls directly on the screen vs. the latter is more view-only.

I was a bit skeptical at first since pionkej and others didn't give it glowing reviews:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...s/128064-pioneer-avh-p8400bh-mini-review.html

...but understanding what it does, still one of the better ones out there IMHO. You're right the Alpine W535 might be another one to look at, but that doesn't have a 7" screen which was also a big selling point.

Keep in mind everyone (and someday I'm sure she'll log on here and comment and/or get an ear full if I say something I shouldn't) that this isn't all about me, so keep all the decisions/choices in mind as having to pass the wife test in much more scrutiny when it's HER car .


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## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> I'll be the first to admit that the Smart is not for everyone. A couple corrections though on what you've posted. As far as I'm aware (even the current model year), the Smart has a 5-speed single clutch automated manual and not a CVT. Some folks indicate that the shifts are jerky that causes a bouncy/rocking motion during up/down shifts which maybe your complaint that you're alluding to. In our experience, when we changed the suspension and tires, this subsided dramatically and don't really even notice it. Further, we haven't done this specific upgrade yet, but there is also an aftermarket motor mount that is available that stiffens things up that supposedly negates that rocking motion all together.
> 
> As for the price, when we bought it in 2009, we looked at quite a few cars and this was the only one we walked out of the dealer with under $14k out the door with the options we wanted. Actually, given the upgrades we've done, in hindsight, we probably could have gone to the base model (the pure trim) and optioned up AC and come under that price even further down to under $12k...but would not have a way to option up power windows and power steering so not sure if the wife would be happy with that.
> 
> In the end though, definitely depends on folks' taste. This is not my DD, the Civic SI is so it's night and day in terms of driving experience and you guys probably know my personal preference . But wanted to make sure the info above is correct for those who might actually have one or considering one .


Thanks for the clarification. There is a local guy to us who makes the parts to do the Hyabusa swap. I'd like to ride in one of those. lol

Jay


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## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Thanks for the clarification. There is a local guy to us who makes the parts to do the Hyabusa swap. I'd like to ride in one of those. lol
> 
> Jay


Smartuki?...just make sure it has the brake upgrades.


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## IBcivic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I have the engine...just fed-ex me the smart


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## papasin

IBcivic said:


> I have the engine...just fed-ex me the smart


Quite the opposite, just send me the engine. I did all the external mods myself in true DIY fashion (including exhaust, body kit, etc.) so even though the engine is probably the next level up, I wouldn't be shy in giving it a shot and feel somewhat confident I know how to take apart the Smart (and put it back together) just as well as the next person.

Speaking of installing and taking apart the Smart, I'll show and make sure to remember to take pictures the second time around for the XR6.5Ms, but will be unique compared to most cars as it will be by removing the OUTER door unlike a typical door install of removing the inner door panel. Just think though how much easier it is deadening the outer door in this manner .


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## IBcivic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Quite the opposite,* just send me the engine*. I did all the external mods myself in true DIY fashion (including exhaust, body kit, etc.) so even though the engine is probably the next level up, I wouldn't be shy in giving it a shot and feel somewhat confident I know how to take apart the Smart (and put it back together) just as well as the next person.
> 
> Speaking of installing and taking apart the Smart, I'll show and make sure to remember to take pictures the second time around for the XR6.5Ms, but will be unique compared to most cars as it will be by removing the OUTER door unlike a typical door install of removing the inner door panel. Just think though how much easier it is deadening the outer door in this manner .


Sure...just deposit 2k in my paypal and I'll have it shipped to your door


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## papasin

IBcivic said:


> Sure...just deposit 2k in my paypal and I'll have it shipped to your door


Don't tempt me...actually, I need to make sure my wife doesn't see your offer, since my guess is she would be all over it and expect me to get it installed overnight .


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## papasin

Brock_Landers said:


> Any idea when this is gonna become a build thread? :shrug:


Please reread post #1, but if you are unsatisfied you are more than welcome to unsubscribe if the pace is not to your liking and I can PM you when things are done if I remember to be a courteous as your post.


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## papasin

Brock_Landers said:


> Le sigh ... note the "raz" emoticon. It was a joke.


Uh, ok. Didn't come off that way and certainly didn't find it very funny. I understand things might have gotten a lil off topic, but considering that I got a new HU and a new sub in (twice) in less than a week's time while getting a second car ready for CA state finals, not exactly clear on the "joke" since your wording was questioning whether this was even a build thread. But hey, I suppose it's an open forum. Good luck with your build and no jokes from me since I apparently can't take one .


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## papasin

*Installation of HAT L1 Pro R2 using headshok pods*

Now that MECA CA State Finals is behind us (quite an event with great sounding cars), I can focus on finishing the two cars and getting them ready for next season.

Up next, come the HAT L1 Pro R2 tweeters. As mentioned, they are going to be mounted using headshok pods to complement the pods in the Smart. If you recall, the Smart uses pods for the tachometer and a clock like so:










I thought long and hard where I wanted to put the headshok pods, debating whether to put the pods on the dash similar to the tach/clock, or do I want to put them on the pillars.

A couple considerations.

1. How hard is it to take apart the dash? Surprisingly, not hard, just tedious. Thanks to Evilution Smart Car Encyclopedia, it is nicely detailed here Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia. While doable, two concerns with this method.

A little bit more time consuming
If I decide to change my mind, not cheap to replace the dash (I suppose I could just plug the holes).
2. How hard is it to mount into the pillars? Surprisingly, more work than I would have thought, but still easier than to take apart the dash. Again, nicely detailed thanks to Evilution Smart Car Encyclopedia here Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia. Main thing that suprised me was I actually had to remove the roof trim to get to the pillars, as there are a couple T-25 bolts that secure the pillar to the frame of the car and these bolts are hidden by the headliner. Other main motivation for going on the pillars is that it is likely much cheaper to get replacement pillars than a new dash.

So in the end, pillars it is as a few others have. Here we go.

Pods secured to the pillars









Wiring/bullet connectors snaked through, with color-coded heat shrink









The HAT L1 Pro R2 wired and secured into the pods









Passenger side









Driver side









Both


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Brock_Landers said:


> Looks good! Are those pods omni-directional adjustable? Do they sit on a "ball" mount so they can be aimed wherever?


Yes and yes.


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## papasin

*MECA classification question*

Since the under-dash subwoofer is a factory OEM option in the Smart ForTwo, and with tweeter pods in the A-pillars, I wanted to verify for those that are subscribed and in the know that if judged for one-seat...would this car be in MECA Street Class, or elsewhere?

I think so, but wanted to get some validation. The 2012 rulebook indicates:


Tweeters may be flush, surface, or custom mounted in pods designed to provide a factory look to the install.
Unless mounted in a factory location, subwoofer(s) must be installed in the trunk / cargo area, except for systems that include subwoofers as part of original factory equipment.

Thoughts?


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## Melodic Acoustic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

If the sub is a factory install option and you just replaced it with another sub. You can compete street.


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Audible Physics said:


> If the sub is a factory install option and you just replaced it with another sub. *Your wife* can compete street.


Corrected .


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## BigRed

Sick man. Yeah you would be in street


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



BigRed said:


> Sick man. Yeah *your wife* would be in street


Corrected again ...unless Jim and Mark you guys are trying to say my Civic should be retired and no longer compete .

I guess that's an interesting question, during a season, can a competitor compete 2 cars? Or is my plan of competing the Civic, and having my wife compete the Smart make more sense?

She'll probably end up with more wins since Modified in CA is so stacked .


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## papasin

*Audible Physics XR6.5M installed!*

Had to jump on this sooner than expected. I took out the sail panels where the JL tweeter was mounted early this afternoon. The intent was to remove the tweeter, and seal off the hole since I now have the HAT ring radiators in the pods (mounted and ready to go, but not yet hooked up until I get the MS-8 installed).

I'm referring to this one:










I even talked it over with a fellow DIYMA member, and he and I both thought it should be "ok" compared to a stock install in many cars with just a mid.

Well, it might be "ok" for some people, but definitely NOT "ok" after my wife drove it. She asked why her audio sounds like crap. Her specific question: *Where's the top end?*

My jaw dropped, not because I was shocked or upset, but more so of how proud I am of her . I said I didn't think she'd notice. Her response was: "heck yeah", and why in the world would she not notice since the point of this reinstall was to get her car to sound as good or better than mine .

Ok, enough of that. So had to get my butt in gear. Out with the JL mid (this one):










and in goes the Audible Physics XR6.5Ms from my previous install on the Civic. I am utilizing the grill and mounting ring from the Arians, since I understand they share the same basket. Sure enough, works great.



















Right now, things are set up for the XR6.5m pair to play full range (from about 100Hz all the way up), no processing and just the basic 7-band EQ on the HU. All I can say is wow! I guess I never took advantage of these super-wideband drivers to their potential!! In my Civic, I had the XR3Ms taking over at around 300Hz and these were bandpassed and served strict midbass duty.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. With the Type R up front, the Audible Physics XR6.5Ms wired up and playing, once I get the MS-8 installed and paired with the HAT ring radiators, should be nice for 1-seat. I guess I'll reserve final judgment to my wife and report back.


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Brock_Landers said:


> That's an interesting texture on the door. It looks like carpet material but I'm guessing not? Is it some sort of fabric?
> 
> That HAT looks at home in there.


It's fabric on the door, but not sure exactly what kind.

Just to be precise, it's a set of Audible Physics XR6.5Ms in the doors, and yes, they look almost factory. Hope to have more to report tonight.


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## papasin

*Teardown, wiring, deadening*

Nothing too exciting to report. Spent a couple hours this evening taking out the seats, running wires, and a little deadening on the floor while I had the seats out. I forgot how tedious this stuff was since it feels like it's been forever since I did it on my Civic.

Just a couple teardown pics, and some deadening on the floor. Wires are run for speaker and RCA, and will get to power and distribution tomorrow with the goal of everything getting put back together and be ready to roll. Everything is currently as you see below. Good thing we're carpooling tomorrow, otherwise, my wife would not be pleased to find her car not drivable .


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## wdemetrius1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Nice!!!


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## SWINE

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Nice install!

My friend got the old "Fortwo" and im build him this boxes in dashboard


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## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



SWINE said:


> Nice install!
> 
> My friend got the old "Fortwo" and im build him this boxes in dashboard


Thanks. I believe your friend's is referred to as the 450 (whereas my wife's is the 451).

Curious about the placement of the tweeters. How's the stage width?


----------



## Mike1082

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Great job, OP... those tweeter pods match the interior so well!


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Mike1082 said:


> Great job, OP... those tweeter pods match the interior so well!


Thanks, that was the intent .


----------



## IBcivic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Dang, that e-brake lever is nearly half the length of the whole car! 
My Civic feels inadequate.


----------



## papasin

IBcivic said:


> Dang, that e-brake lever is nearly half the length of the whole car!
> My Civic feels inadequate.


I have an 8th Civic too as you well know, so yes, big difference.

It comes in handy for all the drifting my wife does .


----------



## papasin

*Things are installed and wired up sans the XR3M center*

As the title of the post indicates, everything is now installed and wired up except the XR3M center. Was able to snap some pics, but realized I missed a couple. Here goes...

Under the passenger seat, we have the JL Audio XD600/6 powering the HAT Ring Radiator tweeters and the Audible Physics XR6.5M, with two channels at 75Wx2 for the HAT tweeters, and 4 channels bridged at 200x2 for the AP XR6.5Ms. The XD600/6 is secured using industrial strength velcro to the carpet. Once secured down, it's next to impossible to lift the amp up .










with all RCAs and speaker wires labeled for ease of connection and possible troubleshooting.










The wires are fed through an existing carpet cutout for the seat airbag wires so took advantage of that.










A similar process was taken for the XD500/3 that went under the driver's seat, but forgot to snap pics for that . The XD500/3 will be powering the XR3M center at 200x1 with 2 channels bridged, and is powering the Alpine Type R 8" at 300x1.

With the XD500/3 being so tiny, I was also able to put all the power distribution under the driver's seat too. For ease of servicing, I could push the seat all the way forward, and have relative easy access to the fused distribution block. Pic of that and ground distro below.










I also installed a remote bass knob right under the e-brake lever for the XD500/3.










Finally, have the MS-8 installed behind the driver's seat, but you'd never know it was there with the seat pushed all the way back.










Last thing for the install (before I tackle the center) is the mid mounting. I wanted to use something a little better than screws, so here's my first venture with threaded inserts .




























Bites down nicely 

Post to follow on 1-seat listening impressions, but for now things are playing.


----------



## papasin

*SQ2 Preview*

Don't have the final config/mounting worked out yet for the center channel, but should be situated something like this:










Next couple thru the glass (couldn't do much with the reflections, but best I could):



















Nice thing with the MS-8, auto-tune for 2-seat in less than 5 minutes.


----------



## papasin

*Listening impressions*

Let me start with 2-seat since that is fresh on my brain...

*2-seat:*
Most of the info is coming from the XR3M-LE, no surprise there. The XR3M-LE is a known quantity to me, having had that as my front stage in the Civic for over a year. As many know with this driver, it digs relatively deep for a 3", so I was able to cross it down to 250Hz with ease. Also helped that I have 200W available for the center since IME (and I believe from others) the XR3 is not shy in taking power. The image was stable from both seats, detail was solid, and IMHO this will be a fun car for 2-seat listening. Since this is my wife's car, I guess I get the passenger seat most of the time, so I better make sure it sounds good from my seat! 

*Driver's seat without a center:*
I was pleasantly surprised. I hate to say it, but after my last tune on the Civic, maybe I don't remember how good things sounded or should sound...but after retuning the Smart for 1-seat, no center, I thought my wife's Smart sounded almost as good to my Civic's San Jose competition tune in some areas, and in other areas better!

Areas that are weaker (compared to my Civic):
1. The Smart is a tad weaker is the sub-bass quality. Even with the 8" Type R, it's still no 10". And no, not just volume. Certain tracks I'm used to listening to I can tell that it just doesn't dig down as well. That's not surprising, but just throwing that out there in case it's not obvious.
2. The Smart's midrange while quite good with the XR6.5Ms, I am quite used to the mids coming from up top and above the dash. The XR6.5Ms in the doors do a relatively good job of the mids not being localized coming from below IMHO. The quality is very good, but maybe I've been spoiled by the XR3M-LEs in the Civic.

Areas that are better (compared to my Civic):
1. More refined and detailed at the top-end. This is not too surprising, since with the Smart I have the HAT ring radiators and in the Civic I have most experience with the XR3M-LEs and having the tweeter of the quality of the HAT R2 does shine.
2. Up front bass!! Even though I did comment that the 8" Type R doesn't dig as low as 10s, but there's no mistaking that the bass is up front. I'm also able to cross the midbass/sub at a much higher crossover since I no longer have to worry about the bass pulling back...so I decided to use 125Hz to really give the 8" TypeR the best chance of reproducing solid sub/mid bass and leave the XR6.5Ms to do their job and focus more on the midrange.
3. Center image on the Smart was top notch. I don't know if it was the size of the cabin, the install aiming, etc., but the center image even with processing entirely defeated was still decent, pretty much at the center of the car. With processing flipped on, got it to be pretty small platter accurate, almost as if it was between the two little Smart pods.

*Most important opinion (the daily driver of the car - my wife):*
So I had my wife take a listen from the driver's seat and ask her what she thought. She gave me a quizzical look. I asked her what's wrong, and she said it sounds good but doesn't image well. I asked her where she thinks the center is relative on the dash. She said it's not on the dash, it's coming from the floor.

Say what? And then it hit me. I ran the MS-8 sweeps...not her! I told her to sit up to about my level, and bam, image on the dash, center. I admit I'm already short at around 5'5"/5'6", but she's a good 4" shorter!

I guess I'll have her run the sweeps in the morning, but I think I want to hear her impressions after about a week or month of driving .


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Do you ever sleep?!? This post was from like 2:30 in the morning, wasn't it?
Wish I had your energy. lol
BTW, my GF just told me that Cupertino is home to Apple. 

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Do you ever sleep?!? This post was from like 2:30 in the morning, wasn't it?
> Wish I had your energy. lol
> BTW, my GF just told me that Cupertino is home to Apple.
> 
> Jay


Hehe, funny you say that since a lot of my co-workers say the exact same thing (about sleeping and my energy). This definitely is a hobby, and between working a full-time job in the Silicon Valley, having two little ones (6 and 2), and doing the obligatory stuff around the house, the only real time I have for the hobby is roughly around 10pm to 3am, if that. But I try to get at least 3-5 hours of sleep in. Isn't that what you need too? 

Yes, Cupertino is the heart of Apple. Main office is a couple miles from our house, with a satellite office literally a block away. City is relatively small, with only one zip code for the entire city. One of the best school districts in the area if not the state and one of the main reasons we live in this particular city. Both my wife and I grew up in San Jose (where Bing lives - about 20-30 mins. away).They are building the giant Apple spaceship looking campus soon as well, so that will be interesting for the city (lots of discussion at the town hall meetings).


----------



## papasin

*Re: Listening impressions*



Brock_Landers said:


> On a side note, I took my car to a "Pro" audio shop in Murray, UT and they said "Oh you want to go IB for the sub? I would never do that. It won't sound as good as ported or sealed. Ever."


Can't say I have experience with IB subs so I honestly would not be able to give you an opinion, but many others on here will definitely. My understanding is it depends on your goals, type of sub(s) you're using, etc.



Brock_Landers said:


> Talk about a "say what?" moment. Then they showed me their Focal $2k 3-way set. I walked out chuckling. Props for DIY.


If the Focal drivers they showed you are the Utopia Bes, then that might be a decent price .

Focal No. 7 Active 6-1/2" Utopia Be 3-Way Component System
https://www.al-eds.com/Focal-NO7ACTIVE-p19634.html


----------



## FLYONWALL9

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Could you share with me what and how your making your lables?

The install is looking great, neat little car too. Do you know if we
are selling VW Polo's here in the states yet, its about the same 
size car. I wouldn't mind having one of those with a diesel engine
and about 100mpg. lol

Thanks,
Scott


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I don't know about Richard, but I used a Brother Ptouch label maker from Office Max. I caught one of the nicer ones on sale for like 50% off a couple years ago...the only problem is I was using a butane torch to put the clear heat shrink over the labels and they don;t like that much heat. If I do it again, I'm going to use a hair dryer.

I don't believe Polo's are being sold here yet, but with all the mini cars out there now (Smart, Fiat 500, Scion IQ, etc.) it shouldn't be long.

Jay


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



FLYONWALL9 said:


> Could you share with me what and how your making your lables?
> 
> The install is looking great, neat little car too. Do you know if we
> are selling VW Polo's here in the states yet, its about the same
> size car. I wouldn't mind having one of those with a diesel engine
> and about 100mpg. lol
> 
> Thanks,
> Scott





JayinMI said:


> I don't know about Richard, but I used a Brother Ptouch label maker from Office Max. I caught one of the nicer ones on sale for like 50% off a couple years ago...the only problem is I was using a butane torch to put the clear heat shrink over the labels and they don;t like that much heat. If I do it again, I'm going to use a hair dryer.
> 
> I don't believe Polo's are being sold here yet, but with all the mini cars out there now (Smart, Fiat 500, Scion IQ, etc.) it shouldn't be long.
> 
> Jay


Thanks Jay for answering while I was sleeping (see, I sleep) .

Like Jay, I use a Brother P-touch labelmaker as well. You can sort of make it out in this pic (look in the area near the gas pedal).










The version I have is over 2 or 3 generations old now though and have had it for over 10 years (use it for all sorts of labeling - around the house, etc.). It's really useful that separately I have a PT-80 at work (the previous generation) and I think the latest now is a PT-90.

Amazon.com: Brother Personal Labeler Machine, White (PT90): Office Products

I didn't use clear heatshrink (which I've done in the past), but actually used two labels and used the smallest font the P-touch had, wrapped the labels around each other so that they both adhere to the wire and each other. But with a single label, definitely need the heatshrink as they tend to peel off the wires. We'll see over time...as I may regret not using heatshrink. I find the low-heat setting on my heatgun to work well with heatshrink and labels.

- Richard


----------



## rdubbs

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I'm excited to see how this turns out


----------



## papasin

rdubbs said:


> I'm excited to see how this turns out


I'd say it's ahead of schedule and about 90% complete...and playing relatively nicely . All that's really needed is final mounting of the center channel, which is probably the most difficult part of the install. The speaker wire and RCA for the center are routed and pretty much ready to go.


----------



## wdemetrius1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



rdubbs said:


> I'm excited to see how this turns out



^^
X2!!!


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



wdemetrius1 said:


> ^^
> X2!!!


Thanks. The Smart won't be at your car's level though in Street not having a 3" in the dash, not to mention the tiny cabin puts it at a huge disadvantage :worried:.


----------



## papasin

Smart's MECA debut in Street was a good one...came in 2nd place and was 0.25 points from 1st. 4 entries in Street at the comp (most competed class). 3rd and 4th were also close separated by half a point or less, but 2nd and 3rd were separated by over 15 points .


----------



## tintbox

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Congrats.


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



tintbox said:


> Congrats.


Thanks, got excellent feedback from multiple folks and can definitely improve. Many people really liked the look of the car too, and of course got the occasional joke of fitting it into the bed of someone's pickup truck .

I entered it in my wife's name, as I plan on competing my Civic after January...so she gets the points .


----------



## IBcivic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Concrats Richard! 
Were you using the c-channel + rearfill or L+R+sub?


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



IBcivic said:


> Concrats Richard!
> Were you using the c-channel + rearfill or L+R+sub?


Thanks Martin. No center channel or rearfill atm. Even though as it currently stands being an MS-8 build without the center channel, one of the strengths the car exhibited in my testing (and validated by the judge and score) was a solid and stable center image. That wasn't the biggest area for improvement .

My wife and I talked last night and given the feedback received, there maybe some rethinking done for comp specific scenarios if we want her car to be more competitive in MECA Street as the season continues :thinking:.

But right now, she has more points than I do!


----------



## BigRed

Nice job Richard!!


----------



## BigRed

Double post


----------



## papasin

BigRed said:


> Nice job Richard!!


Thanks Jim, I would love to get your opinion on it of course .


----------



## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Great job, the build is really nice and I like the use of space in the car. Keep up the great work


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



chefhow said:


> Great job, the build is really nice and I like the use of space in the car. Keep up the great work


Thank you, means a lot coming from a street class world champion! Wish you could listen to it to give me some additional feedback.

Also, I realize there are some skeptics about the Smart's gas mileage...the round trip drive was about 190 miles and I used less than 4 gallons of gas. I think most know this is not a diesel or a hybrid, so pretty impressive IMHO. Also, recall it's using aftermarket rims and tires that are considerably wider than OEM so there's a penalty, but apparently not anything to worry about.


----------



## Beckerson1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Congrats on the debut. I'm itching to get into mine the next couple weeks as well. Received some good news as far as local competitions as well so look forward to the coming season.


----------



## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

It's too bad I live across the country. If you make it too Finals I will be there this coming year.

Edit, how have you found the MS8's 2 seat tune in the Smart?


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Beckerson1 said:


> Congrats on the debut. I'm itching to get into mine the next couple weeks as well. Received some good news as far as local competitions as well so look forward to the coming season.


Thanks. MECA or IASCA?


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



chefhow said:


> It's too bad I live across the country. If you make it too Finals I will be there this coming year.


Touche. Where is MECA Finals for 2013? My goal is State Finals and not sure about Worlds, and more so for my Civic (which is in Modified) vs. the Smart .



chefhow said:


> Edit, how have you found the MS8's 2 seat tune in the Smart?


It's decent. I haven't had more time critically listening and adjusting, but I wrote up some initial impressions on the post below:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...t-jl-alpine-pioneer-ms-8-a-2.html#post1739603


----------



## Beckerson1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Thanks. MECA or IASCA?


Don't know the full specifics yet. Looking at 7-8 for my region and a total of 15-20 for Ohio. If things go well they will get certified and be able to do 2x and 3x in 2014. They are in talk for some side by side shows with MECA. The closest MECA sanction is in Columbus. Not worth the 3 hour drive IMHO  ...

Discussion thread:

http://www.caraudioclassifieds.org/forum/general-car-audio-discussion-questions/140522-big-news-about-dbdrag-comps-ohio.html

More or less not really into DB drab but it will be nice to show up to shows, meet people, make some friends, demo the car, etc... All the fun jazz


----------



## co_leonard

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Thanks, got excellent feedback from multiple folks and can definitely improve. Many people really liked the look of the car too, and of course got the occasional joke of fitting it into the bed of someone's pickup truck .
> 
> I entered it in my wife's name, as I plan on competing my Civic after January...so she gets the points .


Husband and wife team competing in an SQ competition! Me likey! 

I actually did this too. My and I wife also competed in an SQ competition, although in a different category.


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



co_leonard said:


> Husband and wife team competing in an SQ competition! Me likey!
> 
> I actually did this too. My and I wife also competed in an SQ competition, although in a different category.


My Civic is in MECA's Modified class. The Smart is in Street (and once I get the center mounted SQ2). Will be rare for her to go to a comp unless very close since we have two little ones. That's what my brother or friends are for to drive the other car .


----------



## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

For Finals there are talks of a few different scenarios from what I have heard thru the grapevine.

1. MECA Finals are in Nashville as they are every year, IASCA Finals are split between 2 locations, 1 is in Cali and the other is somewhere in the Midwest like Indy was this year.
2. A joint Finals with MECA, IASCA and possibly USACi all together under 1 roof in a location like Indy.

Either way I would love to have the opportunity if you do come to Finals to hear and see the cars.


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



chefhow said:


> For Finals there are talks of a few different scenarios from what I have heard thru the grapevine.
> 
> 1. MECA Finals are in Nashville as they are every year, IASCA Finals are split between 2 locations, 1 is in Cali and the other is somewhere in the Midwest like Indy was this year.
> 2. A joint Finals with MECA, IASCA and possibly USACi all together under 1 roof in a location like Indy.
> 
> Either way I would love to have the opportunity if you do come to Finals to hear and see the cars.


Thanks for the info. MECA Finals in Nashville would be quite tough for a couple reasons:

1. MECA CA state finals will be a challenge as it is as I anticipate the competition will be formidable like last year .
2. Even if one or both cars are strong enough to push past CA state finals, getting to Nashville or Indy will be a challenge. Not impossible, but a bit of a trek. A day trip or even a weekend away is a stretch as it is with little ones. Heading to Finals will probably be a two week activity, and that will likely cause some logistical issues .


----------



## trojan fan

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> .Also, I realize there are some skeptics about the Smart's gas mileage...the round trip drive was about 190 miles and I used less than 4 gallons of gas. I think most know this is not a diesel or a hybrid, so pretty impressive IMHO.)


Are you saying this bad boy is getting 10 mpg over it's EPA rating


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



trojan fan said:


> Are you saying this bad boy is getting 10 mpg over it's EPA rating


The 2009 Smart ForTwo is rated as 33city/41hwy.

Fuel Economy of the 2009 smart fortwo coupe

Round trip I would say it was about 95% hwy driving. I filled up before I left, and filled up again when I got back...so unless my trip meter was doing something whacky, yeah, about 47mpg for the trip. First for us to get mileage this high for sure, but seeing we mostly drive around town. We typically get in the mid to high 30s in mixed driving. Was a pleasant surprise.


----------



## Justin Zazzi

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Round trip I would say it was about 95% hwy driving. I filled up before I left, and filled up again when I got back...so unless my trip meter was doing something whacky, yeah, about 47mpg for the trip. First for us to get mileage this high for sure, but seeing we mostly drive around town. We typically get in the mid to high 30s in mixed driving. Was a pleasant surprise.


As the passenger for this trip, I can confirm it gets outrageous empeegees. I was a bit stunned, but that may have been from the super-firm (aftermarket) suspension.


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Jazzi said:


> As the passenger for this trip, I can confirm it gets outrageous empeegees. I was a bit stunned, but that may have been from the super-firm (aftermarket) suspension.


You call that super-firm?  You're lucky I convinced my wife to settle for the 16s vs. the 17s...not to mention going with the Bilsteins vs. the KWs or the Brabus.

But you all should know the SI is my daily driver, and you've been a passenger of that car...so you know my personal preference .


----------



## jisturm

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I just stumbled upon this thread and love it! I love small cars! I have the opposite in the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. I have room, lots of it, but I don't want anything visible. I was looking at your equipment and think I may actually rob your equipment list for my own. with a few changes. I'm not looking to compete. I just don't like the noise that comes from the stock Jeep stereo. 

Question, only because I am still learning about the MS8, are you using the MS8 for all of the sound processing and are you planning to use the MS8 for any rear fill? (Only asking because in the Jeep, the rear seat can't hear anything if you fade it forward so rear fill is a must for my kids to be able to hear anything out back.)


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



jisturm said:


> I was looking at your equipment and think I may actually rob your equipment list for my own. with a few changes.


Feel free, but as I imagine you know, equipment selection is only part of the equation. The install techniques and locations play as big (if not bigger) part of the equation as well as tuning.



jisturm said:


> Question, only because I am still learning about the MS8, are you using the MS8 for all of the sound processing and are you planning to use the MS8 for any rear fill? (Only asking because in the Jeep, the rear seat can't hear anything if you fade it forward so rear fill is a must for my kids to be able to hear anything out back.)


In the Smart's current setup, I am not using rear fill. However, I've used the MS8 in the Civic and had rears, but were using them more for the out of phase content with the L7 processing. It's easy enough to toggle L7 off though and utilize the rears in the fashion that you are thinking off. You'll just need to be careful it doesn't pull your stage back.


----------



## chefhow

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Thanks for the info. MECA Finals in Nashville would be quite tough for a couple reasons:
> 
> 1. MECA CA state finals will be a challenge as it is as I anticipate the competition will be formidable like last year .
> 2. Even if one or both cars are strong enough to push past CA state finals, getting to Nashville or Indy will be a challenge. Not impossible, but a bit of a trek. A day trip or even a weekend away is a stretch as it is with little ones. Heading to Finals will probably be a two week activity, and that will likely cause some logistical issues .


I would expect the competition to be pretty tough this year, more shows on board, more publicity and better quality cars.

Talk to Brian at Liquid Glass to see how he did the trip last year, his was a TREK.


----------



## BigRed

Not many are gonna do what Brian did. That was quite a commitment


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Off topic...but I just replaced (as in this morning, at 7am) the AVIC-F90BT in the GF's Jeep with a new Pioneer AVH-X3500BHS because of the Advanced App mode. She recently got a new iPhone 4s and the iPod cable in the F90 was a little staticky, so I figured this would kill like 3 birds with one stone. She's been using Pandora lately too, and I asked her for a Pandora One acct for Xmas. I even replaced her old XM tuner with the new SiriusXM tuner (since the new '13 Pioneer stuff (other than the 8400BH) is no longer P-bus compatible.

I'm looking forward to trying out the Advanced App Mode, based largely on Richard's recommendations. Apparently it can work with Android phones when paired via BT too.

Also, going back to something else we discussed:

http://www.smartbusa.us/

Jay


----------



## wdemetrius1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Thanks. The Smart won't be at your car's level though in Street not having a 3" in the dash, not to mention the tiny cabin puts it at a huge disadvantage :worried:.



Congratulations on your debut!!! 

Don't worry. 

My best advice is simply: Keep tuning and listen to good feedback when it comes your way. :2thumbsup:


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

First off, Merry Christmas everyone!



JayinMI said:


> Off topic...but I just replaced (as in this morning, at 7am) the AVIC-F90BT in the GF's Jeep with a new Pioneer AVH-X3500BHS because of the Advanced App mode. She recently got a new iPhone 4s and the iPod cable in the F90 was a little staticky, so I figured this would kill like 3 birds with one stone. She's been using Pandora lately too, and I asked her for a Pandora One acct for Xmas. I even replaced her old XM tuner with the new SiriusXM tuner (since the new '13 Pioneer stuff (other than the 8400BH) is no longer P-bus compatible.
> 
> I'm looking forward to trying out the Advanced App Mode, based largely on Richard's recommendations. Apparently it can work with Android phones when paired via BT too.
> 
> Also, going back to something else we discussed:
> 
> http://www.smartbusa.us/
> 
> Jay


Sounds cool Jay. My one word of advice would be to get some sort of iPhone mount for your GF so that the phone is easily accessible. Advanced App Mode has its definite strengths, but one of its weaknesses IMHO is that you still need to interface with the phone at times and tucking it away in the glovebox is not a good idea.



wdemetrius1 said:


> Congratulations on your debut!!!
> 
> Don't worry.
> 
> My best advice is simply: Keep tuning and listen to good feedback when it comes your way. :2thumbsup:


Thanks D. Yeah, for my wife's car, I need to get some folks' seat time...still need to finish up and get the center channel permanently mounted if I want (her) to compete in SQ2.


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> First off, Merry Christmas everyone!
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds cool Jay. My one word of advice would be to get some sort of iPhone mount for your GF so that the phone is easily accessible. Advanced App Mode has its definite strengths, but one of its weaknesses IMHO is that you still need to interface with the phone at times and tucking it away in the glovebox is not a good idea.


Merry Christmas!

Yeah, I will be ordering a vehicle specific bracket from Quadretec that attaches to the radio mounting holes and orients the phone to the right of the radio. I got to play with it a little today and thought it was pretty cool. It's a step up from the F90, for sure.

Looking forward to seeing the center channel install.

Jay


----------



## mklett33

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Cool build!


----------



## Digital_Synapse

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Something to tempt you with .


Who's car is this? Can I get more pics/details please.


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



Digital_Synapse said:


> Who's car is this? Can I get more pics/details please.


A car Smartmadness did for one of their customers.

2008 Custom smart car - owned by Janice

I got quite a few things from them, but I did all the work myself in true DIY fashion .


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Just got back from the Autorama competition. The Smart did pretty well .


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Does that mean your wife and kid placed higher than 5th?!? Time to do the Civic over again! lol

Congrats to you and the fam. 

Nice job.

What did the the Power Wheels do SPL-wise?

Jay


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



JayinMI said:


> Does that mean your wife and kid placed higher than 5th?!? Time to do the Civic over again! lol
> 
> Congrats to you and the fam.
> 
> Nice job.
> 
> What did the the Power Wheels do SPL-wise?
> 
> Jay


Sorry, might be hard to see in the pic, but Smart placed 1st in MECA Street install and 1st in MECA Street SQ. The former was without competition, so not saying much...but the main reason I entered it in install is to learn about it and gain experience in the category in general.

As for MECA Street SQ, there were 3 cars in the class, and the Smart placed 1st with a score of 69.5. IIRC (but don't quote me on it and maybe check out the MECA website for official scores), the other two cars placed quite a bit lower by over 19 points lower...so either the competition wasn't as tight or the Smart just has an "unfair" advantage over other cars in the class due to its upfront sub and nice cabin. Most importantly, I received VERY helpful feedback from the judges (and I use plural even though it was only officially judged by 1 person) because Fred Lynch and Zach (aka boostedrex on DIYMA) also got seat time in the Smart and I have some easy changes to the vehicle to crack the 70 point mark.

MECA Kids also was 1st place finish, but uncompeted. Same thing there, got great experience into the world of SPL. Probably two easy tweaks to improve significantly.

As for the Civic, will have some changes, but not for the reasons of improving the score. I hit some limitations with some of my equipment, but I know there's some things I can improve/tweak even still with the existing equipment to crack 80 points. All in all, was a fantastic day, fantastic show, and the kids and family had a great time. For me, the reason I do this is not for trophies (although it's fun), but to learn, improve, and show how enjoyable it is and to get the family involved. Received great feedback, what more can I ask for?


----------



## Melodic Acoustic

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Great Job sir!!!


----------



## JayinMI

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

What equipment limitations? With all the Mosconi stuff and AP stuff, you have some pretty nice equipment. I could see if you needed to update the substage (considering you're only running 1 10", IIRC). 

Jay


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



JayinMI said:


> What equipment limitations? With all the Mosconi stuff and AP stuff, you have some pretty nice equipment. I could see if you needed to update the substage (considering you're only running 1 10", IIRC).
> 
> Jay


I'll comment on my Civic thread once I get there. But the AP speakers and Mosconi amps are there to stay . Sub is ok as well. Stay tuned...


----------



## wdemetrius1

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Congratulations Richard!!!


----------



## cyrusthevirus23

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

i have yet to see one of these cars on the road they look so small like the actually size of my front car door on my sports coupe


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



cyrusthevirus23 said:


> i have yet to see one of these cars on the road they look so small like the actually size of my front car door on my sports coupe


Fred Lynch said he was more comfortable in my wife's Smart than the Civic, so for those that know Fred, that's saying something about the size and space the Smart offers .


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



wdemetrius1 said:


> Congratulations Richard!!!


Thanks D. It was fun, a little long and challenging with the kids, but a great time.


----------



## thehatedguy

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Noooo....I know Fred, and I can read between the lines with what you are saying...lol.




papasin said:


> Fred Lynch said he was more comfortable in my wife's Smart than the Civic, so for those that know Fred, that's saying something about the size and space the Smart offers .


----------



## papasin

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



thehatedguy said:


> Noooo....I know Fred, and I can read between the lines with what you are saying...lol.


Not really trying to knock anyone, but my key point is the Smart may look small on the outside, but the interior space it offers surprises most everyone who is not intimately familiar with it. Along with the interior space, the SQ potential in it is also not something to trifle with. One of the competitors who I would say I've gotten to be good friends with said this was one of the best 2-way systems he has ever had a chance to listen to, which is high praise in my book.


----------



## thehatedguy

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

I was just messing with Fred...he's a big boy like me.


----------



## escarolo

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*

Very nice install, I like a lot.

Where can I buy those brilliant tweeter pods?

Best Regards from Spain


----------



## papasin

escarolo said:


> Very nice install, I like a lot.
> 
> Where can I buy those brilliant tweeter pods?
> 
> Best Regards from Spain


Hit up headshok here on DIYMA.


----------



## papasin

A little update...


----------



## Audio Options

*Re: 2009 Smart ForTwo Reinstall SQ2 - Audible Physics, HAT, JL, Alpine, Pioneer, MS-8*



papasin said:


> Something to tempt you with .


do you know which body kit is on this one, I have been looking to pick up a smart


----------



## papasin

^ Kuhl fx


----------



## evangojason

papasin said:


> A little update...


What do you think so far?


----------



## papasin

evangojason said:


> What do you think so far?


So far so good.


----------



## papasin




----------



## papasin

*Upgrades...*

With the Civic getting new shoes, didn't want the Smart to feel left out . The Arians are in. With the same bolt pattern and basket, this made for the easiest mid replacement I've ever done!










If you recall, I had some comparison pics (XR6.5M on the left, Arian on right):





































The previous mids (the XR6.5Ms) were no slouch, but the Arians are taking it to the next level.


----------



## Justin Zazzi

Needs bigger magnets to tbh. Those are about the size of your midrange drivers.


----------



## papasin

Jazzi said:


> Needs bigger magnets to tbh. Those are about the size of your midrange drivers.


I had to think for a minute and then realized you're referring to the xr3s/nz3s . Yes, those things have monster magnets, especially the xr3s . For those that never saw that comparison, this is what Jazzi is referring to:




papasin said:


>


In all seriousness, the Arians as mids are fantastic! In many applications, I have seen people use them for strict midbass duty (heck, that was what I was using them for in the Civic). Don't get me wrong, they are also formidable midbass drivers, but they have incredible potential as midrangers wonderfully covering a large spectrum...and mated to a tweeter, makes for a very potent 2-way!


----------



## portwarboss

nice install


----------



## bertholomey

papasin said:


> In all seriousness, the Arians as mids are fantastic! In many applications, I have seen people use them for strict midbass duty (heck, that was what I was using them for in the Civic). Don't get me wrong, they are also formidable midbass drivers, but they have incredible potential as midrangers wonderfully covering a large spectrum...and mated to a tweeter, makes for a very potent 2-way!


This is a perfect description of the Arians Papi!


----------



## wdemetrius1

I agree.


----------



## papasin

Been a little busy, so haven't updated but the move to the Arians seem to be ok .


----------



## wdemetrius1

Congratulations Richard!!!


----------



## evangojason

Congrats!!


----------



## papasin

wdemetrius1 said:


> Congratulations Richard!!!





evangojason said:


> Congrats!!


Thanks everyone. MECA Street in CA is fierce. I don't think they have the scores posted yet, but IIRC, 2nd was a point or less from my wife . It was one of the most competed classes at the Bakersfield show with folks driving from as far as AZ. We have to step it up even more!


----------



## papasin

Some BIG updates to come...


----------



## wdemetrius1

Looking forward to what you have cooked up.


----------



## BigRed

Pics or it didn't happen


----------



## Golden Ear

BigRed said:


> Pics or it didn't happen


Yeah, what he ^ said


----------



## papasin

Let me start off with the what, and I'll let my wife later cover the why .

Goals:
1. Achieve a high level of sound quality while maintaining a classy look with impeccable attention to detail.
2. Incorporate an iPad mini as the source unit.
3. Continue with the theme of no loss of trunk space.

As with my Civic, I reached out to John of JT Audio and Accessories to help make the install portion all happen. I'll let him chime in if he'd like to say the number of times he probably told us "you want me to do what?" . Yes, I know, we gave him the smallest production car in the US and wanted him to do quite a few things that I'm sure have never been done before in a Smart car. :laugh:

I'll let the pics speak for themselves, but every time he sent us an update, our jaws just dropped. Wow, amazing, awesome were words often used .

Ok, let's start off with the source unit as mentioned. iPad mini integrated seamlessly into the dash. Alpine RUX-C800 installed right below it. For those not familiar with the Smart, there's usually the controls for hazard, power door locks, and TPMS indicator right below the HU. The controls have been expertly relocated under the steering wheel.




























with a couple build pics


----------



## papasin

Next, an Alpine H800 installed in the left rear quarter panel.










with a couple quick build pics



















More to come...


----------



## JayinMI

So, did sanctioning bodies approve the use of all digital sources, or does this signal the end of the competition life of this car? Kinda doubt the latter, since you've taken it to another level, tho. lol

If you have to have a CD source, how are you getting around that?

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> So, did sanctioning bodies approve the use of all digital sources, or does this signal the end of the competition life of this car? Kinda doubt the latter, since you've taken it to another level, tho. lol
> 
> If you have to have a CD source, how are you getting around that?
> 
> Jay


Hi Dr. Jay of Podiatry! 

Not to worry, rules say:
MECA approved audio tracks will be used for judging. CDs or competitor provided USB flash drives or Ipods are allowed.
Finals will be judged using judging materials of the highest possible quality.

By the way, I started running and hurt my knee. Got any suggestions on what shoes to get Dr. Jay?  :laugh:


----------



## badfish

Tease


----------



## Golden Ear

MrsPapasin said:


> Hi Dr. Jay of Podiatry!
> 
> Not to worry, rules say:
> MECA approved audio tracks will be used for judging. CDs or competitor provided USB flash drives or Ipods are allowed.
> Finals will be judged using judging materials of the highest possible quality.
> 
> By the way, I started running and hurt my knee. Got any suggestions on what shoes to get Dr. Jay?  :laugh:


Bwahahaha! I think the doc would recommend Crocs:laugh:


----------



## JayinMI

Clearly, running in Crocs didn't do you any good. I'd probably try some running shoes. I'm partial to New Balance nowadays. lol

Last I had heard you still needed a CD player in the signal chain...which is (at least to some extent) part of what kept me from doing a tablet. I don't necessarily plan to compete (no shows near me) but I'd like to be set up to should my location change. Glad to see they're getting with the times.

I'm liking where this build is headed.

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> Clearly, running in Crocs didn't do you any good. I'd probably try some running shoes. I'm partial to New Balance nowadays. lol
> 
> Last I had heard you still needed a CD player in the signal chain...which is (at least to some extent) part of what kept me from doing a tablet. I don't necessarily plan to compete (no shows near me) but I'd like to be set up to should my location change. Glad to see they're getting with the times.
> 
> I'm liking where this build is headed.
> 
> Jay


Thanks for the advice, Dr. Jay! I knew I was doing something wrong! lol
Like I said before, this forum is awesome! Podiatry and car audio advice all in one place. :laugh:

I like where this build is going too.  So happy I'll get to enjoy it once it's all done.


----------



## JayinMI

MrsPapasin said:


> Thanks for the advice, Dr. Jay! I knew I was doing something wrong! lol
> Like I said before, this forum is awesome! Podiatry and car audio advice all in one place. :laugh:
> 
> I like where this build is going too.  So happy I'll get to enjoy it once it's all done.


Congrats!

Jay


----------



## jtaudioacc

I've seen the pics.


----------



## quality_sound

MrsPapasin said:


> By the way, I started running and hurt my knee. Got any suggestions on what shoes to get Dr. Jay?  :laugh:


Are you a heel striker?


----------



## papasin

Moving onto possibly the most difficult part of the build, or at least one of the two . As some know, there was some controversy about the up front subwoofer in the previous install. We've chosen to embrace it and as the saying goes, go big or go home .

Without further ado, here's the new and improved sub stage.










Pop off the grill and behind it you will find an Illusion Audio C12XL. 










Remove the protective cover and you will find what JT indicated as "easily one of the hardest boxes i've ever built".



















...and one build pic.










For those with discerning eyes, you'll be able to see how the proper airspace was achieved (hint: I'm not referring to the stuffing). :surprised:

I will post the next phase in a bit...


----------



## JayinMI

So this will move you guys into a different class, then?

Is the sub removable for passengers?

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> So this will move you guys into a different class, then?
> 
> Is the sub removable for passengers?
> 
> Jay


Hi Jay,

As I alluded to, there was some controversy with the Type R 8 up front, so regardless the choice was to move the Smart to a different class or put a sub out back. After considering our options, we did not want to compromise on goal #3 for the build. So while we were at it, as I said, might as well go big .

As for whether the sub is removable, it is with some work, but we have no intentions on taking it out. There's going to be adequate foot room for the occasional passenger, plus, this isn't exactly a long distance travel car .

More updates when I get back to my computer...

- Richard


----------



## JayinMI

I seem to remember you saying that it's usually one adult and one of the kids in there, so I wasn't sure. Nice work so far. Can't wait to see more.

Jay


----------



## jtaudioacc

there's actually decent foot/leg room. that passenger sear really moves back, a lot, more than the driver seat, which is weird.


----------



## RenoAutoSound

More pics! Is that the only thing you changed just the bigger sub and the ipad in the dash?


----------



## papasin

Patience. When you have kids, you'll know why weekends aren't really days off .

As for the staggered seats, as I understand it is so elbows don't rub . But even the driver's seat, it goes back pretty far! I think I mentioned it before, but my 6'+ boss finds the Smart seat roomier than his Prius.


----------



## JayinMI

Yeah, I'm familiar with Smart cars. We used to do all the nav/radio/speaker/heated seat installs for the local Smart dealer. The staggered seats was something we thought was odd from the start, but it made sense since the car is so narrow. There's a decent amount of leg room in them, but it's hard to get a feel for how much room the sub takes up.

In '11 when they changed the dash, no one was making a dash kit for them, so I made a jig to trim the existing kits to fit the new dash, but we only did like 3 after that and the Smart dealer closed.

Jay


----------



## jtaudioacc

found this while browsing the world wide web.


----------



## Golden Ear

I remember how good the bass sounded in this car with the 8 in it, this has got to sound amazing!!!


----------



## papasin

For the front stage changes, went with the Illusion Audio Carbon C5 CX.























































...so call it a 2.1 front stage 










and here's a few build pics























































I cannot underscore how extremely pleased we are with the build quality and outcome. I will leave it to more experienced ears to comment on how the transformation sounds.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Since Richard said I would explain the why, here goes...

After the rules and classification fiasco in May, we decided we wanted the car to be at its fullest SQ potential and in a class that anything goes so that we would not be hindered by rules and protests. Don't you think we've had a lifetime worth of drama over rules? Giving this competition thing another try, the Extreme class seems like a perfect fit.

Thank you to those who reached out to us during a time when we were hurting after the classification fiasco. It really meant a lot to us and encouraged us to continue. Especially thank you to BigRed and JT for lending us their skills, talent, and support to make this happen.

And finally, thank you SQHemi for agreeing to let MECA move my points into the same Extreme class as you. SQHemi is the only other current MECA competitor from CA in this class. We appreciate your good sportsmanship and allowing us to have this chance to compete again. Looking forward to seeing how the Smart car does alongside your car. Should be fun!

Anyway whatever happens in competition will happen. The most important end result is that I get an awesome sounding car! Yay!


----------



## Justin Zazzi

Wow ... wow!

What a difference since the last time I saw it. Can't wait to hear it in a few weekends!

Also, I'm thrilled the two of you are still "in the family" so to speak, we all missed you and are glad you're back.


----------



## JayinMI

If this car sounds as good as I imagine it does, Richard will be making upgrades soon too. lol

Jay


----------



## knever3

I love those point source speakers! I thought they were a full range until I looked closer. Beautiful work and it matches so well with the other pods on the dash. All that sound in a small car must rock!!!


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> If this car sounds as good as I imagine it does, Richard will be making upgrades soon too. lol
> 
> Jay


Jay - what makes you think the Civic doesn't have any upgrades .

badfish - now that's teasing, or am I?


----------



## BigRed

Holy crap!! Just started working on the tune with basic levels and phasing...this thing is gonna be really nice!


----------



## JayinMI

Are you guys still using the door speakers? Arians aren't they?

Jay


----------



## JayinMI

papasin said:


> Jay - what makes you think the Civic doesn't have any upgrades .
> 
> badfish - now that's teasing, or am I?


What makes you think I don't think the Civic has upgrades? lol


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Are you guys still using the door speakers? Arians aren't they?
> 
> Jay


Nope


----------



## JayinMI

Nice. If CA was like 1200 miles closer, I'd come out to see this. lol


----------



## papasin

Forgot this pic :surprised:










More build pics on JT's FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/jtaudioacc


----------



## JayinMI

What about the _rear_ speakers? lol

Is that a PDX-V9?

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> What about the _rear_ speakers? lol
> 
> Is that a PDX-V9?
> 
> Jay


What rear speakers? 

Nope, not a V9...M12.


----------



## BigRed

Just finished another session. I just realized why this car sounds so good. Left and right mids/tweets are less than 10 inches pld. And the up front sub is ridiculously easy to blend

This is gonna be fun to see how it does this weekend. Really looking forward to it


----------



## wdemetrius1

Wow, 

I'm looking forward to see how this one does as well.


----------



## [email protected]

So the new enclosure is your previous enclosure and one more enclosure to house the 12"?

Hows that 12xl sound?


----------



## papasin

[email protected] said:


> So the new enclosure is your previous enclosure and one more enclosure to house the 12"?
> 
> Hows that 12xl sound?


1. Yep.

2. Come take a listen Saturday and judge for yourself .


----------



## BigRed

The sub still needs to be broken in. lots of e40 being played at the moment 

If u wanna see the subs moving 20 hz watch my video Joey


----------



## Golden Ear

E40 will definitely get that thing broken in. Let me know about how long the break-in period is on that thing, if you would please, Jim. 

I can't wait to hear the car. Hopefully I'll get a chance on Sunday


----------



## 69Voltage

Impressive and beautiful looking build. Would love to see it next time I'm in the Bay area.


----------



## jtaudioacc

Listened a bit today...pretty awesome. Let's just hope C.J. Ross isn't judging this weekend.


----------



## astrochex

I saw car a couple weeks ago while JT was in the middle of the build. Needless to say, it cleaned up very, very nicely.

The finished build pics are beautiful, I'm sure it looks better in person.

Given the personnel involved, I would not be surprised if Mrs. Papasin brings hardware home.

Good luck!


----------



## IBcivic

papasin said:


> Forgot this pic :surprised:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More build pics on JT's FB page.
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/jtaudioacc


----------



## slade1274

any tips/links on how you get digital signal from ipad mini to processor. I thought the original ones used the camera dongle...


----------



## jtaudioacc

slade1274 said:


> any tips/links on how you get digital signal from ipad mini to processor. I thought the original ones used the camera dongle...


the smart is using a pure i20. no noise, no pops, nothing, it's silent.

oh and genuine apple dock to lightning connector adapter


----------



## papasin

Got one more thing cooking for Saturday. Will post later if things come together .


----------



## fockus

PLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEASE a video, very nice install simple..sober and PURE SQ.


----------



## BigRed

I have a video but it has not been approved by senior management


----------



## slade1274

senior does not count... this is seniora's car


----------



## MrsPapasin

papasin said:


> Got one more thing cooking for Saturday. Will post later if things come together .


Tada! Sweet surprise from the Mrs. and the Kids! Smart cookies for the lucky few that get to eat them at the comp today. Wish everyone luck!


----------



## badfish

Mmmm


----------



## JayinMI

That's soooo cool. Where did you find a smart car cookie cutter?
Good luck, hope the bribe of cookies works in your favor. lol

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> That's soooo cool. Where did you find a smart car cookie cutter?


What do you mean? This is a DIY site, isn't it? MrsPapasin took some aluminum, and hand shaped it herself to make that!


----------



## JayinMI

Smart car owners are unique individuals, IME, I bet she could sell them. lol


How did she do today?



Jay


----------



## Golden Ear

The cookies were delicious. Thanks Mrs Papasin! It was nice to finally meet you and Jim.


----------



## [email protected]

Cookies!? I didn't get any smart cookies!~ I enjoyed listening to the car today and I look forward to hearing it in the future. JT, it looked great!!


----------



## papasin

[email protected] said:


> Cookies!? I didn't get any smart cookies!~ I enjoyed listening to the car today and I look forward to hearing it in the future. JT, it looked great!!


Bing ate your share as he came back for seconds. 

Seriously, we can drop some off at your shop as I think we have some left. Just let us know...


----------



## MrsPapasin

Yay, our first year under our belt in the MECA competition scene and all in all it turned out really well. We got a second place finish for each of our cars in our respective classes and I am proud of it! Although it was scary and tense at first to come back to competition, at the end of the day I was happy that we gave it our best, that we didn't let a bump in the road stop us, and that we put the fun back into this wonderful and beautiful hobby. The best part of it all is that I got a phenomenal sounding and looking car out of it! Thank you hubby for introducing me to this sport, thank you BigRed for sharing your beautiful tuning skills with us, and thank you JT for the incredible install (you will have the medal to prove it!).


----------



## JayinMI

Congrats! So that was the MECA CA Finals?

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> Congrats! So that was the MECA CA Finals?
> 
> Jay


Yes. So technically, I guess I am 2013 MECA Extreme Class CA State Runner-up.


----------



## rdubbs

Congrats! Your vehicle turned out really great! I'm glad you both did really well! Looking forward to whatever comes next for the two of you


----------



## JayinMI

Very cool. Are you guys going to the Finals-finals? lol

Jay


----------



## papasin

Congrats MrsPapasin! Not bad at all for a car that just finished Phase 1 of the install less than a week ago.

I echo MrsPapasin's thanks to BigRed and JT. JT, your medal is in transit, but here it is virtually...well deserved on your part!


----------



## JayinMI

So there will be a phase 2? Woohoo!

Jay


----------



## RenoAutoSound

Richard and Linda, I'm happy you guys came out yesterday it was great seeing you again. the cookies were great but more importantly thank you for having the EZ Up. You guys did great and should be proud of all of the accomplishments you had this season.


----------



## badfish

Richard ,Linda it was really nice to your family out in lanes again! Thanks for breakfast and cookies. The smart car was ah sum! Congrats
John


----------



## papasin

Thanks everyone, we had lots of fun and we definitely enjoyed it. We'll be doing a few more here and there, and trying a few different things. Stay tuned... 



RenoAutoSound said:


> Richard and Linda, I'm happy you guys came out yesterday it was great seeing you again. the cookies were great but more importantly thank you for having the EZ Up. You guys did great and should be proud of all of the accomplishments you had this season.


Yeah, wow, that rain definitely made things a bit tricky. I do not envy the judges jobs during that downpour, but great job within those circumstances...my hats off to all of them! That foot stomp must have sounded something else lol.



badfish said:


> Richard ,Linda it was really nice to your family out in lanes again! Thanks for breakfast and cookies. The smart car was ah sum! Congrats
> John


Congrats to you John. Don't forget to change your sig .


----------



## jtaudioacc

I wonder if the rain sounded like a pop? :laugh::surprised:


----------



## Justin Zazzi

That rain!

Fun day, and a big thank you to the Papasin family for the cookies and the popup tent that saved us all from drowning. That Smart Car is one of my favorite cars now, maybe a little more favorite than the Civic hehe. You all really outdid yourselves, great job.


----------



## [email protected]

jtaudioacc said:


> I wonder if the rain sounded like a pop? :laugh::surprised:


I like canday! :surprised::blush:


----------



## jtaudioacc

[email protected] said:


> No, that was some sort of installation deficiency... :surprised::blush:


where's that abuse of power mod at when we need him? :laugh::laugh:


----------



## jtaudioacc

this is the only pop in the fotoo :laugh:


----------



## [email protected]

I heard a pop. Maybe your hearing isn't acute enough to pick it up?


----------



## [email protected]

And if YOU really cared, YOU would have been there!!!!! ohhh.. burn!


----------



## papasin

fockus said:


> PLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEASE a video, very nice install simple..sober and PURE SQ.





slade1274 said:


> senior does not count... this is seniora's car


Sorry it's quite dark, but seniora's approved the following video (sounded really good!)






EDIT: Are we having fun yet?


----------



## jtaudioacc

[email protected] said:


> And if YOU really cared, YOU would have been there!!!!! ohhh.. burn!


i observed on FaceTime!


----------



## [email protected]

JT, your next job is to find somewhere to install one of these:


----------



## simplicityinsound

jtaudioacc said:


> where's that abuse of power mod at when we need him? :laugh::laugh:


i am right here, i will delete this thread if you dont show up at the next event!


----------



## [email protected]

*nom, nom, nom* "What pop?"

Thanks for the cookies!!!!!


----------



## jtaudioacc

[email protected] said:


> *nom, nom, nom* "What pop?"
> 
> Thanks for the cookies!!!!!


that's a fancy signature you got there.


----------



## [email protected]

In honor of you guys we are changing our logo!


----------



## Darth SQ

jtaudioacc said:


> where's that abuse of power mod at when we need him? :laugh::laugh:


Right here; the other mod is a poser. 
On a more face palming point, how the hell did I miss this thread?
Maybe I've been working on my own build way too much. 
Congrats to all the winners from this weekend and a special congrats to Linda for rising to the occasion!
MECA is not the same without Papasins competing.


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thanks everyone for the congratulations and warm welcome back! We finally got around to taking a picture of our cars with our haul. Not bad for our first year! I'm still enjoying my car very much and the tune is only getting better! Thanks BigRed! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!










Good luck to my fellow extreme competitors, SQHemi and RenoAutosound. Wishing you guys the best of luck at worlds!


----------



## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> Thanks everyone for the congratulations and warm welcome back! We finally got around to taking a picture of our cars with our haul. Not bad for our first year! I'm still enjoying my car very much and the tune is only getting better! Thanks BigRed! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good luck to my fellow extreme competitors, SQHemi and RenoAutosound. Wishing you guys the best of luck at worlds!


As the sad and despondent Odyssey, banished to the background, rests solemnly dreaming of what might have been............

Congrats to the Papasin family!
May your efforts continue to pay off in 2014! :thumbsup:


Bret
PPI-ART COLECTOR


----------



## MrsPapasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> As the sad and despondent Odyssey, banished to the background, rests solemnly dreaming of what might have been............
> 
> Congrats to the Papasin family!
> May your efforts continue to pay off in 2014! :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLECTOR


What makes you think there are no plans for the Odyssey? Maybe it's foreboding something. Lol


----------



## JayinMI

You could build a whole stage behind the front seats in the van. lol

Jay


----------



## [email protected]

JayinMI said:


> You could build a whole stage behind the front seats in the van. lol
> 
> Jay


Dude, that's where the bass goes!!!!


----------



## papasin

Funny guys and gal. Some more build pics...


----------



## papasin

Custom floor mats


----------



## JayinMI

[email protected] said:


> Dude, that's where the bass goes!!!!


In Florida, maybe. lol 

Hahaha.

Jay


----------



## papasin

Just installed per the Mrs request .


----------



## MrsPapasin

More accessories! My Smart car is all about having fun! Ready to hit the trails!










Mr. Papasin thanks for installing the pedals!


----------



## [email protected]

MrsPapasin said:


> More accessories! My Smart car is all about having fun! Ready to hit the trails!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. Papasin thanks for installing the pedals!


Yay! More toys!!!


----------



## astrochex

How do you keep from popping wheelies? :laugh:



MrsPapasin said:


> More accessories! My Smart car is all about having fun! Ready to hit the trails!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. Papasin thanks for installing the pedals!


----------



## MrsPapasin

astrochex said:


> How do you keep from popping wheelies? :laugh:


Must be the up front sub! :laugh::laugh::laugh:


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> So there will be a phase 2? Woohoo!
> 
> Jay


...under way 

Updates over the next few weeks.


----------



## ///Audience

excellent install! What is that grey matter you are using to make molds? Is it some type of fiberglass?


----------



## Kevin K

So with an install like that, what are you gonna change?


----------



## UNBROKEN

I got a sneak peek this morning....It's gonna look very, very nice.


----------



## papasin

^ . Yeah, he's an artist, isn't he. 

For the inquiring minds, I want to start off saying that some of the "Phase 2" items were things we originally intended for Phase 1...just didn't get to it due to the complexity of Phase 1 and the goal of having the car ready for CA state finals.

So anyway, let's start off with the doors. Let's just say the goal was for it to match the rest of the install and while this update won't necessarily add to the "SQ" of the car, it completes the look and gets rid of an unneeded speaker location . I'll let JT's work and the pictures speak for themselves. Doesn't JT make it look easy?


----------



## UNBROKEN

The doors look great in person too. 
I may have slowed him down for a few minutes...I had him take a listen to my truck.
He was looking at the other parts of Phase 2 when I left.


----------



## Kevin K

very nice


----------



## MrsPapasin

JT I like like like lol


----------



## quality_sound

NIIIIIIIIIICE. Removable skins is one of the things I SERIOUSLY miss about my MkV. 


For source, is it just the iPad? No tuner, or anything else?


----------



## papasin

iPad only for Phase 1. Who knows what Phase 2 will bring. 

EDIT: It's iPad mini with LTE, so can get spotify, pandora, etc. streamed.


----------



## Darth SQ

papasin said:


> ^ . Yeah, he's an artist, isn't he.
> 
> For the inquiring minds, I want to start off saying that some of the "Phase 2" items were things we originally intended for Phase 1...just didn't get to it due to the complexity of Phase 1 and the goal of having the car ready for CA state finals.
> 
> So anyway, let's start off with the doors. Let's just say the goal was for it to match the rest of the install and while this update won't necessarily add to the "SQ" of the car, it completes the look and gets rid of an unneeded speaker location . I'll let JT's work and the pictures speak for themselves. Doesn't JT make it look easy?


OMG!
A perfectly good opportunity to install real Star Trek TNG Captain Picard fishbowls.
Water makes one hell of a good baffle.
Oh well.


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## [email protected]

Looks great! I can't wait to see more!!!!


----------



## Golden Ear

[email protected] said:


> Looks great! I can't wait to see more!!!!


Ditto!


----------



## papasin

[email protected] said:


> Looks great! I can't wait to see more!!!!





Golden Ear said:


> Ditto!


If you guys insist  :laugh:...

But before I get to it, want to take a minute to wish everyone a *Happy Thanksgiving!*

For us this Thanksgiving, we have many things we have to be thankful for. I for one am supremely lucky that our entire family loves this hobby, which I have been reminded by others on this forum for wishing to be as lucky. I don't deny it, I am proud of it...having a spouse that not just "authorizes" this build, but is very involved and committed to her car. It's her car and a lot of what you all are seeing is to achieve her goals with the evolution you are witnessing (going from simple, to modest, and now). For those that doubt her resolve, feel free to talk to her if you have the opportunity to meet her. She told me recently that someone asked her something along the lines of why build on a platform like this...a car this small? Her response: "I like to make my car do things that people think are impossible." I am so proud of her, and thankful to be so lucky! 

I would also like to thank and acknowledge the many friends that we have made along the way in this hobby. Many of you are on this very forum, and we thank you for sharing and appreciative of folks' willingness to help...with posting your experiences and knowledge. A special thanks to BigRed for helping with this car's tuning.

I would also be negligent if I did not acknowledge and thank JT for agreeing to take over from where this rebuild started. Definitely some of the goals laid out are well beyond my skills, and the next part of Phase 2 will definitely demonstrate this.

So back to the build. Just as a quick reminder, as mentioned in post #178, an Alpine M12 was seen peeking out behind the driver's seat. We did not get to put all the amps I had wanted to use, nor mounted the way we wanted, but I think that's now been taken cared of....so, a little power nicely tucked away in the rear lift gate. 




























Build pics:


----------



## MrsPapasin

Wow! Nice work JT! Is that my Christmas present?! Does it come complete with a BigRed tune?


----------



## JayinMI

Is that an M12, and 2 F4's?

Jay


----------



## JVD240

WOW.

Very nice!


----------



## bertholomey

Fantastic fit and finish! Show Quality and easy accessibility for servicing if needed. Awesome use of the space afforded in the car. Wonderful Christmas gift!


----------



## BigRed

Nice nice nice!!!

Let me know when it's done


----------



## Darth SQ

O......M.....G!




I feel like such an amateur when I see work like this.
Well done!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Papasin family and best wishes to all of them here and overseas.


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## JayinMI

Something else, I just thought of, how did you use the Pure i20 with the iPad Mini? IIRC, the Mini has a lightning connector and the i20 is listed as having a 30 pin connector. Did it need to be disassembled? 

I'm currently fighting with myself about doing/not doing a tablet install.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jay


----------



## papasin

Thanks everyone! Like I said, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Jay, re: your first question, yes, 2 F4s and an M12.

Jim, thanks! We'll definitely let you know.

Bret, my family in the Philippines has been fortunate with Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan...almost all live in the island of Iloilo. I've heard as much as 95% of the island was heavily hit. My relatives have been doing what they can to assist in the relief efforts. My cousin has been active and has a Facebook album for the work they are doing to help. Thanks for the well wishes.

https://www.facebook.com/tinahautea...0202303769256895.1073741852.1271332639&type=1

Jay, re your second question, I noted the flow for the signal chain wrt the iPad mini to the H800 in another thread and I've quoted it below. I took the i20 apart, and just had the "base" part leftover. JT stuffed it (like a turkey ) behind the dash where the HU normally goes.



papasin said:


> iPad mini->lightning to 30pin connector->Pure i20->Toslink->H800
> 
> with one of these powering the i20:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DC Converter 12V Step Down to 7 5V 3A 15W Power Supply Module Waterproof New | eBay


----------



## BigRed

JayinMI said:


> Something else, I just thought of, how did you use the Pure i20 with the iPad Mini? IIRC, the Mini has a lightning connector and the i20 is listed as having a 30 pin connector. Did it need to be disassembled?
> 
> I'm currently fighting with myself about doing/not doing a tablet install.
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving!
> 
> Jay


30 pin to lightning adaptor


----------



## jtaudioacc

something like this, with the ebay power deal.


----------



## papasin

jtaudioacc said:


> something like this, with the ebay power deal.


Nice find JT. Didn't see this video until now. I just took the i20 apart knowing I wanted to ditch that stand part, and fortunately ended up having everything pretty much same way...glad I didn't screw it up. I guess we always have the backups.


----------



## quality_sound

They just posted the video today.


----------



## papasin

MrsPapasin said:


> Wow! Nice work JT! Is that my Christmas present?! Does it come complete with a BigRed tune?


Well, looks like JT got the Christmas lights setup.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Yay! Thank you guys! I am thankful for JT installs, BigRed tuning, and hubby who spoils me rotten! Best Christmas present ever! . Happy happy Thanksgiving everyone!


----------



## quality_sound

Niiiiice. I may have to have him do my next car. 

Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk


----------



## Golden Ear

That looks glorious!!! Love the blue

We'll done JT! And Richard & Linda for having the vision for this


----------



## UNBROKEN

If there's any way it can be completed by Friday I can probably fit it on my trailer with my truck and haul it back up for you. It would be sideways but I think it would fit. LOL


----------



## Golden Ear

UNBROKEN said:


> If there's any way it can be completed by Friday I can probably fit it on my trailer with my truck and haul it back up for you. It would be sideways but I think it would fit. LOL


You could probably fit it in the bed of your truck! Haha


----------



## UNBROKEN

It would definitely fit in the bed of my crew cab Chevy. I actually saw a guy running down the highway with one in his bed one day. LOL


----------



## REGULARCAB

there it is


----------



## jtaudioacc

it will most likely be done by Fri. i got it playing music now.


----------



## UNBROKEN




----------



## MrsPapasin

Like my car, fine wine can't be rushed.  Even if JT is done by Friday, it still needs BigRed to tune it. Let's not rush JT and BigRed. I'm willing to wait. I'll make sure to bring the Smart out for the next meet guys. 

Unbroken thank you for the gracious offer to haul my car back up here. Really appreciate it.


----------



## UNBROKEN

No worries...I'm heading that way already. Would be easy to haul it up if it was ready.


----------



## papasin

JT still has number #3, 4, 6, and 7 on the list to complete (#7 being the most important).


----------



## Golden Ear

WHATS NUMBER 7??? WE MUST KNOW!!! Lol


----------



## MrsPapasin

It's a SQ boost.


----------



## JayinMI

^ I LOL'd.

With as great as this is going, imagine what you could do in something with more room, like a Honda Odyssey. LOL 

Jay


----------



## papasin

^ That's a separate build thread...stay tuned


----------



## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> Like my car, fine wine can't be rushed.  Even if JT is done by Friday, it still needs BigRed to tune it. Let's not rush JT and BigRed. I'm willing to wait. I'll make sure to bring the Smart out for the next meet guys.
> 
> Unbroken thank you for the gracious offer to haul my car back up here. Really appreciate it.


LOL!
If your Smart car Linda is properly aged fine wine then my Suburban must be 50 year old scotch hence the time it is taking me to build the system. 
But truth be told I was really looking forward to seeing your Smart at this gtg.
I guess I can wait until.........March 2014?


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## james2266

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> LOL!
> If your Smart Linda is properly ages fine wine then my Suburban must be 50 year old scotch.
> But truth be told I was really looking forward to seeing your Smart at this gtg.
> I guess I can wait until.........March 2014?
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Yell ya!


----------



## casey

are the c5 pods sealed? i may have done it wrong but i was trying to see what size pod id need for the c4 comps and the calculator i did came out with 8.x liters lol


----------



## papasin

casey said:


> are the c5 pods sealed? i may have done it wrong but i was trying to see what size pod id need for the c4 comps and the calculator i did came out with 8.x liters lol


vented


----------



## casey

gotcha. i was using a qtc of .707 lol. i should have used around 1.1 i guess for mids, but that makes sense.

did you vent it because of how large of a sealed enclosure it would need?


----------



## xxx_busa

Super Sexy Smart


----------



## Coppertone

^^^^. You just described me to a T lol..


----------



## MrsPapasin

MrsPapasin said:


> It's a SQ boost.


Reveal on this soon! Remember think boost.


----------



## Kevin K

boost....? hmm


----------



## Golden Ear

A turbocharged Smart? It's about time!


----------



## ECLIPSEsqfan

Awesome! Boost = FUN!


----------



## papasin

Why boost, when you can dunk? 










Lol. I won't spoil the fun and let the Mrs. do the full reveal for #7. 

Small update. Hard plastic on the speedo cluster now covered in suede too.



















Build pics














































Next, Alpine CHA-S624 installed behind the driver's seat, plugged in via toslink to the second optical input of the H800, controlled by an Alpine CRA-1667RF. Main motivation for this actually is for GTGs. At the last SoCal one, Gary brought his huge booklet of CDs into the Smart, only to realize there was no way to play discs. Now, that's no longer an issue.


----------



## JayinMI

Boost? Meh. How about a Hyabusa swap? lol...search YouTube for the videos. hahaha

Jay


----------



## Justin Zazzi

If you're doing any performance upgrades, the Smart will need some firmer suspension, maybe something like this one mounted on a Unimog chassis:


----------



## MrsPapasin

MrsPapasin said:


> It's a SQ boost.


Here’s the big reveal on #7! This is for the serious SQ wife.

Sorry to disappoint you boys, but it’s not a turbo charged engine upgrade or a new spoiler. Those don’t add anything to the SQ value. Remember, I said it's a SQ boost. 

Being 5 foot 1, I am quite vertically challenged in sitting in a proper seating position for SQ. I’ve spent many happy hours sitting in my car enjoying its exquisite beautiful sound (thank you BigRed and JT), but little by little I began to notice that it just sounded better if I sat a little higher. The stage is higher and wider. Plus I didn’t figure it out for a very long time why the pressure between my ears felt different. When I sat up as high as BigRed sits in my car, then I finally heard the perfect awesomeness of BigRed’s tune in my car. Simply beautiful. 

#7 is a SQ boost made just for me so that I can sit up higher and enjoy the SQ in my car much more. At first, I was sitting on a very hard 4” cookbook with some high density foam on it. It wasn’t very comfortable nor very nice looking. So JT made this cool “SQ booster” for me. Don’t laugh boys. I may be petite, but I will come hunt you down to kick your butt if you make any fun. 

First, the very tough selection process (Mr. Papasin really wanted me to include these photos).























































...the finalists:



















...the winner/patient (how appropriate, a *TURBOBOOSTER*):










Now, onto some build pics.









































































Final product:





































Remember I will personally come visit you and kick your butt if you make any fun.  :mean: :laugh:


----------



## REGULARCAB

epic! My wife is of the short persuasion and is all the cuter for it. Dont let em get ya down.


----------



## ECLIPSEsqfan

Now that was unexpected, but very inventive! 
Very happy to hear that you are truly enjoying all the work that has been done in the car to the fullest.

- Mario


----------



## bertholomey

It seems logical to me to raise your ears to the level of the ears that the car was tuned. I think this is a fantastic idea 

I was also wondering- since it is a removable item, would you possibly take it with you to Get Togethers to listen to other's cars or would it mainly be for the Smart?


----------



## Kevin K

Very creative....oh the things we do for audio
Another question....will you be able to drive like this....part of my tuning is being able to enjoy the music at all times


----------



## slade1274

You could sell those for quite a profit for those being judged by Zenner......


----------



## james2266

And is Richard 6ft 1 inch? If he was you guys would be in exactly our situation. My wife is actually 5ft-2 and I am 6ft-3 so I know exactly where you are coming from. To make it even worse for me, most of my height is in my torso so I sit really high. I actually had to go to an suv to find a vehicle that felt right. Does the Smart not come with a power seat either? That should have gotten you high enough too but likely a much more expensive option if it didn't come with one.


----------



## Darth SQ

Did Richard get one to? :surprised:


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## papasin

*Re: Listening impressions*



james2266 said:


> And is Richard 6ft 1 inch? If he was you guys would be in exactly our situation. My wife is actually 5ft-2 and I am 6ft-3 so I know exactly where you are coming from. To make it even worse for me, most of my height is in my torso so I sit really high. I actually had to go to an suv to find a vehicle that felt right. Does the Smart not come with a power seat either? That should have gotten you high enough too but likely a much more expensive option if it didn't come with one.


Nope, not 6ft 1. I mentioned it earlier in the thread.



papasin said:


> I admit I'm already short at around 5'5"/5'6", but she's a good 4" shorter!


Smart does not have a power seat. Just forward/back, no height adjustment on any of the different model lines (Pure/Passion/Brabus).



PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Did Richard get one to? :surprised:
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Watch it Bret. I could say something too when you demo cars.  

But not for me, thanks. This is Linda's car...Civic's seats have height adjustment and works for me just fine.


----------



## james2266

*Re: Listening impressions*



papasin said:


> Nope, not 6ft 1. I mentioned it earlier in the thread.
> 
> 
> 
> Smart does not have a power seat. Just forward/back, no height adjustment on any of the different model lines (Pure/Passion/Brabus).
> 
> 
> 
> Watch it Bret. I could say something too when you demo cars.
> 
> But not for me, thanks. This is Linda's car...Civic's seats have height adjustment and works for me just fine.


Sorry Richard, must've missed that post earlier. I guess you two don't have quite the height disparity of my wife and I. 

I am surprised that a Smart doesn't have a power seat option. They aren't exactly cheap if I recall. For obviously reasons I have never really researched them.:laugh:


----------



## papasin

*Re: Listening impressions*



james2266 said:


> I am surprised that a Smart doesn't have a power seat option. They aren't exactly cheap if I recall. For obviously reasons I have never really researched them.:laugh:


Actually, talked about the cost earlier in the thread too.  



papasin said:


> As for the price, when we bought it in 2009, we looked at quite a few cars and this was the only one we walked out of the dealer with under $14k out the door with the options we wanted. Actually, given the upgrades we've done, in hindsight, we probably could have gone to the base model (the pure trim) and optioned up AC and come under that price even further down to under $12k...but would not have a way to option up power windows and power steering so not sure if the wife would be happy with that.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thanks guys for the warm comments! 



bertholomey said:


> I was also wondering- since it is a removable item, would you possibly take it with you to Get Togethers to listen to other's cars or would it mainly be for the Smart?


Yes it's the perfect thing for me to go around with at Get Togethers. I'm excited that I'll be able to try it out at the SoCal gtg this weekend! Beats lugging around my 4 inch cookbook. Lol.



Kevin K said:


> Very creative....oh the things we do for audio
> Another question....will you be able to drive like this....part of my tuning is being able to enjoy the music at all times


Yup that's the idea. I'm going to drive with it. I was already driving around with the 4 inch cookbook and foam. I actually would have liked it to have been much higher, but I didn't think that would be very safe driving around like that.



slade1274 said:


> You could sell those for quite a profit for those being judged by Zenner......


Lol. I think this SQ boost is for a niche market of one, but I guess you never know.


----------



## Darth SQ

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Did Richard get one to? :surprised:
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR



LOL well I don't think JT is going to make me an SQ shoehorn or corset. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## Golden Ear

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> LOL well I don't think JT is going to make me an SQ shoehorn or corset.
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Lol:laugh: You never know...


----------



## Golden Ear

Linda, did JT extend the pedals too or will you be wearing platforms when you drive?


----------



## MrsPapasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> LOL well I don't think JT is going to make me an SQ shoehorn or corset.
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


JT is an expert at shoehorning. He did shoehorn that C12XL up front you know. Lol


----------



## MrsPapasin

Golden Ear said:


> Linda, did JT extend the pedals too or will you be wearing platforms when you drive?


Ok that deserves a kick in the butt. I did say no making fun. Lol. . BUTT to answer your question, no JT did not extend the pedals and no I will not be wearing platforms shoes, BUTT I'll be sure to wear steel toe boots the next time I see you. :laugh:


----------



## Golden Ear

MrsPapasin said:


> Ok that deserves a kick in the butt. I did say no making fun. Lol. . BUTT to answer your question, no JT did not extend the pedals and no I will not be wearing platforms shoes, BUTT I'll be sure to wear steel toe boots the next time I see you. :laugh:


Hahahaha:laugh: It was kind of a serious question


----------



## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> Ok that deserves a kick in the butt. I did say no making fun. Lol. . BUTT to answer your question, no JT did not extend the pedals and no I will not be wearing platforms shoes, BUTT I'll be sure to wear steel toe boots the next time I see you. :laugh:


Feisty!
All this is just so much fun and so much material for me to run with. 
(sitting on my hands and biting my tongue) 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## MrsPapasin

papasin said:


> So why undertake this reinstall when I'm not done with the Civic? Well, a funny thing happened not too long ago...my wife rarely drives the Civic since she's still not super comfortable with a stickshift. However, one day after the recent comp I entered, she sat in the Civic's driver's seat and took a listen and came a major realization...she said: *I had no idea what I was missing, so when is my car going to sound this good*?
> 
> So in true DIYMA spirit, everyone knows gotta make sure she's happy, so here goes SQ project #2 . Here we go...


You know with Thanksgiving and Christmas just behind us and with the new year just ahead of us, I was just reminiscing about all the things that happened to my Smart car over the past year. A lot has happened since that day when I said, "so when is my car going to sound this good?" There were some bumps in the road that were really difficult to get past, but we did. In the end what I ended up with is more than just a car that sounds good. Thank you, Richard, for taking me seriously when I said that and for going along with me on the tremendous transformation that my little car has undertaken. Thank you, JT for the beautiful install. Thank you, BigRed for tuning my little car and for caring so much about this little family. And thank you to all three of you for believing in the little car that could. It truly is an amazing sounding car. I really did get the best Christmas present ever this year. Thank you, guys!


----------



## Kevin K

Now that was a nice thank you there. 
Merry Christmas to you guys.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Kevin K said:


> Now that was a nice thank you there.
> Merry Christmas to you guys.


Thank you, Kevin K. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!


----------



## Darth SQ

Well as it happens from time to time, life got in the way yesterday and I didn't have a chance to say Merry Christmas to all of you my friends.
Sorry about that......so Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## MrsPapasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Well as it happens from time to time, life got in the way yesterday and I didn't have a chance to say Merry Christmas to all of you my friends.
> Sorry about that......so Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year.
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too my friend!


----------



## audioxincsq

Ok I have some Questions , 1- are the dash pods flocked? Or wrapped ? And fake Black suede on the doors , was it stretchy ? To get down in to the mid? If so where did you get it


----------



## papasin

audioxincsq said:


> Ok I have some Questions , 1- are the dash pods flocked? Or wrapped ? And fake Black suede on the doors , was it stretchy ? To get down in to the mid? If so where did you get it




Steve - No flocking. Everything is wrapped with black street suede. I believe JT gets it from Keyston Brothers, but defer to him in case I am wrong.


----------



## audioxincsq

Trying to fig out how he wrapped the pods with all the cures ! on less it stretches , I need to find where to get that! The stuff I have won't do that


----------



## audioxincsq

I just got one and pretty much doing the same thing!


----------



## papasin

^ Lol. Same color too. You putting 5s on the dash also? 

I think it's this URL.

Keyston Bros.

JT just finished another set of pillars for my car with the same material.

http://www.facebook.com/jtaudioacc


----------



## papasin

audioxincsq said:


> I just got one and pretty much doing the same thing!


Nice, I guess Smart builds are the in thing these days. Our second one is almost done...except ours will probably be the first electric. 




























I guess I need to start another build thread at some point...stay tuned.


----------



## Coppertone

Wow so you have two smart cars, and that bad behind Civic that is sweet. So does that mean the Civic will now strictly be a show car ?


----------



## MrsPapasin

Two Smarts are totally awesome but no the Civic is still a family vehicle. It's still nice to have our family of four fit in one car.


----------



## Coppertone

So as to not pry too much, what's the distance for the electric Smart car? My wife travels at least 35 miles one way to her office and she drives my truck. Gas each month is running me now about $1000.00 per month. Since she is 5'2 I have several options for a smaller car but I still want her to have classy like your cars.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Smart advertises the range around 68 miles which from our experience is conservative. So round trip for your wife is probably pushing it and she'll probably literally coast into your driveway. However if she can plug in at work even into just a regular 110 outlet that should work.


----------



## papasin

Riddle: How do you fit 3 cars into a 2-car garage?
Answer: Like this.


----------



## Golden Ear

^lol


----------



## Coppertone

Aww shucks and here I can't even get one car into my 2 car garage lol..


----------



## james2266

That's one packed garage


----------



## papasin

james2266 said:


> That's one packed garage



Packed with...C12XLs?!?


----------



## james2266

papasin said:


> Packed with...C12XLs?!?


lol, well, I'll take one off your hands. Just one - all I need


----------



## MrsPapasin

james2266 said:


> lol, well, I'll take one off your hands. Just one - all I need


Hah hah! Not a chance!


----------



## james2266

MrsPapasin said:


> Hah hah! Not a chance!


I tried.:sad: Well, at least it is getting closer to when I can actually hear one. Looks more like several I'll be hearing. I wonder how it compares to my Ultimo. That's the best I've heard so far. I don't think that is an area I need to improve on really but we'll see what everyone else thinks. Gotta get this h800/rux installed and tuned today. I hope it gives me at least what the 6to8 gave me. Curious if the auto tune is any good on it. We'll see. If not, the rta setup will be brought out once again.


----------



## papasin

james2266 said:


> I tried.:sad: Well, at least it is getting closer to when I can actually hear one. Looks more like several I'll be hearing. I wonder how it compares to my Ultimo. That's the best I've heard so far. I don't think that is an area I need to improve on really but we'll see what everyone else thinks. Gotta get this h800/rux installed and tuned today. I hope it gives me at least what the 6to8 gave me. Curious if the auto tune is any good on it. We'll see. If not, the rta setup will be brought out once again.



You can ask UNBROKEN about the C12XL compared to the Ultimo as he did a direct swap (he actually went from a 12W6v3 to an Ultimo to a C12XL in a span of weeks lol). As for the H800 autotune, never used it or bothered...but from what I hear, you'll probably want to have the RTA and your ears ready.


----------



## james2266

papasin said:


> You can ask UNBROKEN about the C12XL compared to the Ultimo as he did a direct swap (he actually went from a 12W6v3 to an Ultimo to a C12XL in a span of weeks lol). As for the H800 autotune, never used it or bothered...but from what I hear, you'll probably want to have the RTA and your ears ready.


I, actually, fully expect that. That is once I figure the wiring out for connecting it here. I figured for the 5 mins or so it takes to do its sweeps, its worth it to see what it does.

Oh, and I will definitely be checkin in with Unbroken on March 8th.


----------



## Coppertone

I'm at an impasse as I currently run the C12 in my car, and yet I've heard such great things about the C12XL. My C12 is powered by my Mosconi AS300.2 as I'm not a fan of multiple subwoofers in my personal cars. I know that there are several reasons to convince me why I should run two subs but this is what makes me happy. So my question is is that C12XL miles apart from my C12 ?


----------



## papasin

Coppertone said:


> I'm at an impasse as I currently run the C12 in my car, and yet I've heard such great things about the C12XL. My C12 is powered by my Mosconi AS300.2 as I'm not a fan of multiple subwoofers in my personal cars. I know that there are several reasons to convince me why I should run two subs but this is what makes me happy. So my question is is that C12XL miles apart from my C12 ?



Ask Golden Ear. He has one of each. 

EDIT: but IMHO, if you have at least 1cu ft., u should go with a c12xl.


----------



## james2266

papasin said:


> Ask Golden Ear. He has one of each.


I can't afford either one of them really. My wallet (not to mention the wife) was angry with me when I got the Ultimo and that was at quite a discount from a nice gent off this site. I hope there is no discernible difference from the Ultimo 12 to the c12xl but from what I am reading tells me different. We'll see soon.


----------



## Golden Ear

Coppertone said:


> I'm at an impasse as I currently run the C12 in my car, and yet I've heard such great things about the C12XL. My C12 is powered by my Mosconi AS300.2 as I'm not a fan of multiple subwoofers in my personal cars. I know that there are several reasons to convince me why I should run two subs but this is what makes me happy. So my question is is that C12XL miles apart from my C12 ?


I have one of each in two different vehicles and in the vehicle I have the c12 I don't feel like I need to upgrade it to the xl. I love the way it sounds and for me it has plenty of output. It's in a 1 cubic foot sealed box facing the back in an 05 Tahoe powered by 560 watts from a pdx-v9.


----------



## Coppertone

^^^. You sir are a lifesaver because I think if I purchased one more thing, Don was going to kill me lol..


----------



## Golden Ear

Coppertone said:


> ^^^. You sir are a lifesaver because I think if I purchased one more thing, Don was going to kill me lol..


Lol! Again, that is only my opinion and some may disagree. Personally, I think I got a steal of a deal from Bertholomey at $400


----------



## audioxincsq

In SQ , 1 sub is best!


----------



## Darth SQ

audioxincsq said:


> In SQ , 1 sub is best!


I think Richard and I would disagree with that but I'll let him tell ya. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## Coppertone

Well as far as my personal vehicle, it will always have just one.


----------



## audioxincsq

40hz and down coming from 2 dif locations is bad! In all my testing


----------



## james2266

audioxincsq said:


> 40hz and down coming from 2 dif locations is bad! In all my testing


Interesting. First I've ever heard that as 40 Hz and down is supposed to be omni-directional. I can't say personally as I have never ran 2 subs in a vehicle.


----------



## BigRed

audioxincsq said:


> 40hz and down coming from 2 dif locations is bad! In all my testing


Agreed


----------



## audioxincsq

Well in my truck anyway ,


----------



## audioxincsq

You can't time Aline waves that long!


----------



## james2266

BigRed said:


> Agreed





audioxincsq said:


> Well in my truck anyway ,


I guess I stand corrected as you guys would certainly have more experience than I:blush:


----------



## Golden Ear

My vehicles only have one but that's only due to space. I believe that if they are in one location like in Richards car they sound very good.


----------



## audioxincsq

If you use 2 put them butt up against each other and you'll be fine


----------



## Coppertone

Nawwww, one is more then fine for me.


----------



## JayinMI

So, how is the system going to affect the distance it can travel?

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> So, how is the system going to affect the distance it can travel?
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



Not worried about it. Turning on the A/C or heat is a MUCH bigger impact.


----------



## papasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> I think Richard and I would disagree with that but I'll let him tell ya.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bret
> 
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR



Actually, I think you and Dom need to take a listen to the Smart and the Civic back to back, now that there has been some additional tune time on the Smart and perhaps may change your opinions. I think you two are mistaking pure SQ for output. The Civic certainly can get louder with a pair of 12s and a pair of 8s, and it is no slouch in the SQ department either IMHO, but the Smart has quite a few things going for it with a single full size 12 up front, and a pair of 5.25" point sources (think phase coherency  ).


----------



## Golden Ear

papasin said:


> Actually, I think you and Dom need to take a listen to the Smart and the Civic back to back, now that there has been some additional tune time on the Smart and perhaps may change your opinions. I think you two are mistaking pure SQ for output. The Civic certainly can get louder with a pair of 12s and a pair of 8s, and it is no slouch in the SQ department either IMHO, but the Smart has quite a few things going for it with a single full size 12 up front, and a pair of 5.25" point sources (think phase coherency  ).


Well of course a single c12xl up front is going to sound better than 2 of them in the trunk. Why do you think that's my setup as well? I was just saying that your civic sounds very good with two subs in the trunk; probably better than if you only had one.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Smart got an awesome tuning session and I mean totally utterly awesome. I am really enjoying it! Even the snowman sounds great! Just like Olaf, the Smart is ready for summer. First stop, Riverside! Thank you, BigRed!!!

UPDATE: Awww the video was blocked by YouTube. It was just a video of the snowman singing playing on the iPad mini and the sound system. Fun stuff. Sorry guys just wanted to share how much I'm enjoying the new tune.  Thanks again, BigRed!


----------



## audioxincsq

What's the best way to get all the power wires and sig wires from car in to tail gate?


Audio X Custom car audio 
256-764-4111


----------



## JayinMI

Bluetooth? lol

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

Yes it works wirelessly and power is over inductive charging. That's the beauty of it all. Just works like magic. Lol


----------



## papasin

Lol Jay and MrsPapasin.

Steve, you should also have a boot that's going into the tailgate (2009 model year is on the left side, not sure if yours is same since there were slight changes 2011-newer). You might be able to fit a few wires through that, but obviously, not all the wires are going to fit. So you'll probably need to cut extra holes, and just add more. JT ran RCA on the left side (adjacent to the current boot) and ran power and speaker on the right side (added a couple boots on the right side).


----------



## JayinMI

It's kind of an installer joke at our store. lol

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

While learning a thing or two as a MECA judge, I really liked the idea of having a windshield cover to keep the car cooler and block distractions going on in front of the car. I made this from left over drape scraps and cloth I had at home. Sewed in velcro on the top edge, used magnets for the sides, and the windshield wipers to keep it from flying away. Worked out pretty well at yesterday's SoCal Riverside comp.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Tada! I'm "extreme"ly happy on how the Smart did at the SoCal Comp at Riverside yesterday! My daughter loved the party favors that we got out of it. 

Thank you to all who made this possible. Richard for being the sweetest husband who lets me tag along with him in all this audio stuff. JT for the superb install! And BigRed Jim for his inspiration and tuning of my Smart on numerous occasions. This last tune he did has been so magical for me and I'm so happy to that it has allowed the Smart to come into full bloom right now! It truly is beautiful! Thank you!!!


----------



## papasin

MrsPapasin is too modest. As everyone has noticed, you have very good ears and it is just getting even more refined as you continue in this hobby and now that you have become an SQ judge. Many are also realizing that this hobby doesn't have to be an all boys club and bringing out their SQ wives to the gtgs and comps....more and more ladies are at the events because of the passion and interest you put into the hobby. I am extremely lucky and am proud to be the one to "tag along" to these events with YOU as it is your vehicle that is clearly the standout, garnering SQ best of show amongst 18 standout SQ vehicles from CA and AZ.

Finally and most importantly, thank you for being a fantastic mother to our children. I am the luckiest father in the world. Happy Mother's Day!

Edit: 










And close up of BOS


----------



## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> Tada! I'm "extreme"ly happy on how the Smart did at the SoCal Comp at Riverside yesterday! My daughter loved the party favors that we got out of it.
> 
> Thank you to all who made this possible. Richard for being the sweetest husband who lets me tag along with him in all this audio stuff. JT for the superb install! And BigRed Jim for his inspiration and tuning of my Smart on numerous occasions. This last tune he did has been so magical for me and I'm so happy to that it has allowed the Smart to come into full bloom right now! It truly is beautiful! Thank you!!!





papasin said:


> MrsPapasin is too modest. As everyone has noticed, you have very good ears and it is just getting even more refined as you continue in this hobby and now that you have become an SQ judge. Many are also realizing that this hobby doesn't have to be an all boys club and bringing out their SQ wives to the gtgs and comps....more and more ladies are at the events because of the passion and interest you put into the hobby. I am extremely lucky and am proud to be the one to "tag along" to these events with YOU as it is your vehicle that is clearly the standout, garnering SQ best of show amongst 18 standout SQ vehicles from CA and AZ.
> 
> Finally and most importantly, thank you for being a fantastic mother to our children. I am the luckiest father in the world. Happy Mother's Day!


Congrats to the Papasin family on yesterday's accomplishments. :thumbsup:
BTW, your daughter is getting sooooo big! 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## wdemetrius1

Congratulations!!!


----------



## bertholomey

papasin said:


> And close up of BOS


Awesome!!!! Congrats!!!!!! 

It appears to be some cheering going on in the background!


----------



## Black Rain

Congratulations. Glad the Meet/GTG went so well.

Ooh and Happy Mother's Day


----------



## DLO13

haha, so awesome on so many levels!


----------



## Rishi S

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Papasin


----------



## Black Rain

MrsPapasin said:


> Tada! I'm "extreme"ly happy on how the Smart did at the SoCal Comp at Riverside yesterday! My daughter loved the party favors that we got out of it.
> 
> Thank you to all who made this possible. Richard for being the sweetest husband who lets me tag along with him in all this audio stuff. JT for the superb install! And BigRed Jim for his inspiration and tuning of my Smart on numerous occasions. This last tune he did has been so magical for me and I'm so happy to that it has allowed the Smart to come into full bloom right now! It truly is beautiful! Thank you!!!


Seems like everyone had a blast. Even the youngest are winning....LOL


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thank you, everyone!


----------



## xxx_busa

papasin said:


> MrsPapasin is too modest. As everyone has noticed, you have very good ears and it is just getting even more refined as you continue in this hobby and now that you have become an SQ judge. Many are also realizing that this hobby doesn't have to be an all boys club and bringing out their SQ wives to the gtgs and comps....more and more ladies are at the events because of the passion and interest you put into the hobby. I am extremely lucky and am proud to be the one to "tag along" to these events with YOU as it is your vehicle that is clearly the standout, garnering SQ best of show amongst 18 standout SQ vehicles from CA and AZ.
> 
> Finally and most importantly, thank you for being a fantastic mother to our children. I am the luckiest father in the world. Happy Mother's Day!
> 
> Edit:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And close up of BOS


Does this mean Richard is Baking Cookies for the next Event ?

If not I will


----------



## papasin

xxx_busa said:


> Does this mean Richard is Baking Cookies for the next Event ?
> 
> If not I will


Are you hosting a meet after your car is done? 

Not sure if you want me baking though...especially if you want it edible.


----------



## Rishi S

xxx_busa said:


> Does this mean Richard is Baking Cookies for the next Event ?


I would love to see this


----------



## MrsPapasin

Getting ready for Texas! I'm super excited! Hope we will be warmly received out there! I'm looking forward to meeting people and listening to their cars. I have a lot of admiration for the people I've seen on diyma who are going to be there. Also looking forward to seeing Ally again and finally getting to meet Dr. Paul I hope! 

Going through my checklist!

One brushed aluminum JT audio sticker check!










One super special BigRed tune check!

Spare tire to fit in the back check!

Car charger check!

Extension cord for car charger check!

Ability to plug in someone else's iphone for demos check!

One SQ booster seat for me check!

Window cover to block out sun and heat for demos check!

Am I forgetting anything? Hope not! I think the car is more ready to go than me!


----------



## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> Getting ready for Texas! I'm super excited! Hope we will be warmly received out there! I'm looking forward to meeting people and listening to their cars. I have a lot of admiration for the people I've seen on diyma who are going to be there. Also looking forward to seeing Ally again and finally getting to meet Dr. Paul I hope!
> 
> Going through my checklist!
> 
> One brushed aluminum JT audio sticker check!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One super special BigRed tune check!
> 
> Spare tire to fit in the back check!
> 
> Car charger check!
> 
> Extension cord for car charger check!
> 
> Ability to plug in someone else's iphone for demos check!
> 
> One SQ booster seat for me check!
> 
> Window cover to block out sun and heat for demos check!
> 
> Am I forgetting anything? Hope not! I think the car is more ready to go than me!


Please be safe Linda. 
I drive 50k a year and even I wouldn't want to make that trip. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## james2266

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Please be safe Linda.
> I drive 50k a year and even I wouldn't want to make that trip.
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Meh, piece of cake. Seriously tho, be safe and enjoy. Wish I could be there too. Mine is sounding a whole lot different now after the additions of the Illusion c8 and AP midranges. Also, the tuning tips I picked up from Cali have been instrumental. I no longer have a collapsed stage on the left side. Sadly, there really is noone here to listen to appreciate all of this but me it seems.


----------



## Black Rain

You be safe out there on that road, that is one long drive the Bay to Texas. Hope you have fun the good 'ol folks down there.


----------



## bertholomey

Safe travels and try to enjoy the experience! You could start a blog, and we could all follow your progress


----------



## Darth SQ

james2266 said:


> Meh, piece of cake. Seriously tho, be safe and enjoy. Wish I could be there too. Mine is sounding a whole lot different now after the additions of the Illusion c8 and AP midranges. Also, the tuning tips I picked up from Cali have been instrumental. I no longer have a collapsed stage on the left side. Sadly, there really is noone here to listen to appreciate all of this but me it seems.


Don't the moose like sq? 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## ssmith100

Really looking forward to hearing this car at College Station.

Shane


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thanks, guys! 

ssmith100, I would love to hear your car too! Make sure to introduce yourself to me.


----------



## quality_sound

I forgot you guys are coming to College Station. This one is definitely on my list. 

Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk


----------



## veloze

Safe travels for you Linda & your family. Have a great time in College Station. Too bad I didn't plan ahead to be with you guys. I have a feeling you do well at the money run.?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## MrsPapasin

quality_sound said:


> I forgot you guys are coming to College Station. This one is definitely on my list.


Dr. Paul, looking forward to meeting you! Hope we get to listen to your car too! . Don't berate me too much if my kids end up wearing Crocs to the event. Lol



veloze said:


> Safe travels for you Linda & your family. Have a great time in College Station. Too bad I didn't plan ahead to be with you guys. I have a feeling you do well at the money run.?


Jose, thank you! I'm just hoping to have a good time no matter the outcome. I feel very lucky to be able to embark on this adventure and to have this opportunity to go to such a big event. I wish you could be there with us too! Would have been cool for us Cali kids to hang together there. Catch you at the next SoCal gtg and/or comp!


----------



## JayinMI

I looked back through the thread but didn't see what I was looking for. Does the iPad come one/shut off with the ignition? If so, did you have to do anything special (install an app or something) to make it do that?

I keep seeing JT's iPad installs, and it's hard to not do an iPad now. lol

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> I looked back through the thread but didn't see what I was looking for. Does the iPad come one/shut off with the ignition? If so, did you have to do anything special (install an app or something) to make it do that?
> 
> I keep seeing JT's iPad installs, and it's hard to not do an iPad now. lol
> 
> Jay


Turn on AssistiveTouch. Built into iOS...

iOS: Using AssistiveTouch

EDIT: Meaning...you still need to turn the iPad off manually. Turning it on, when the ignition starts, the i20 gets power and the iPad detects it and comes on. Turning it off is tricky because the off button is no longer accessible, but using AssistiveTouch gives you the ability to turn off the iPad manually with a few keystrokes or swipes.


----------



## quality_sound

MrsPapasin said:


> Dr. Paul, looking forward to meeting you! Hope we get to listen to your car too! . Don't berate me too much if my kids end up wearing Crocs to the event. Lol


lol, it'll be hot enough to be forgivable. 

My car is bone stock right now. I've been in flight training since December so I haven't been able to work on the car at all.


----------



## quality_sound

papasin said:


> Turn on AssistiveTouch. Built into iOS...
> 
> iOS: Using AssistiveTouch
> 
> EDIT: Meaning...you still need to turn the iPad off manually. Turning it on, when the ignition starts, the i20 gets power and the iPad detects it and comes on. Turning it off is tricky because the off button is no longer accessible, but using AssistiveTouch gives you the ability to turn off the iPad manually with a few keystrokes or swipes.


Can you elaborate on this, Linda? I looked at the link and it's pretty vague.


----------



## veloze

quality_sound said:


> lol, it'll be hot enough to be forgivable.
> 
> My car is bone stock right now. I've been in flight training since December so I haven't been able to work on the car at all.


Hey Paul, flight training? That's awesome!! Since when you started flight training? Did you get a commission rank with the USAF?


----------



## quality_sound

veloze said:


> Hey Paul, flight training? That's awesome!! Since when you started flight training? Did you get a commission rank with the USAF?


No, I'm WAY too old to commission but I'm aircrew now and out of AMMO.


----------



## veloze

quality_sound said:


> No, I'm WAY too old to commission but I'm aircrew now and out of AMMO.


That's kool tough...I would love to be behind the cockpit of an airplane someday. 

Check out this link:

iOS 7 Assistive Touch - YouTube


----------



## papasin

quality_sound said:


> Can you elaborate on this, Linda? I looked at the link and it's pretty vague.



Last I checked, MrsPapasin was Linda and Richard was papasin. 

Paul, the video that Jose linked is good. If that still doesn't clear it up, you can check it out for yourself Saturday.


----------



## JayinMI

That was one of the things that had me leaning toward Android, since it can be rooted and set up to turn off on loss of power. But every one supports the iPad.
Tough decision.

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> That was one of the things that had me leaning toward Android, since it can be rooted and set up to turn off on loss of power. But every one supports the iPad.
> 
> Tough decision.
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



How do you get optical out on Android?


----------



## quality_sound

papasin said:


> Last I checked, MrsPapasin was Linda and Richard was papasin.
> 
> Paul, the video that Jose linked is good. If that still doesn't clear it up, you can check it out for yourself Saturday.


My bad, Richard. I didn't even really look, but assumed Linda replied. lol 

It made more sense once I realized I didn't have to create a new gesture since it already had the lock button built into the menu.


----------



## quality_sound

JayinMI said:


> That was one of the things that had me leaning toward Android, since it can be rooted and set up to turn off on loss of power. But every one supports the iPad.
> Tough decision.
> 
> Jay


Everyone I've seen that tries an Android gets tired of trying to deal with Android itself. Yes, you can make all kinds of changes but the OS itself just kinda blows.


----------



## JayinMI

papasin said:


> How do you get optical out on Android?


I believe I've seen it where someone used a USB to Optical adapter and then had to use a "hacked" Android install to get it to work. I believe the Android install allowed OTG support. But it can be done.

Like this:

Behringer U-Control UCA202 | Sweetwater.com

Jay


----------



## papasin

quality_sound said:


> Everyone I've seen that tries an Android gets tired of trying to deal with Android itself. Yes, you can make all kinds of changes but the OS itself just kinda blows.





JayinMI said:


> I believe I've seen it where someone used a USB to Optical adapter and then had to use a "hacked" Android install to get it to work. I believe the Android install allowed OTG support. But it can be done.
> 
> Like this:
> 
> Behringer U-Control UCA202 | Sweetwater.com
> 
> Jay


I think the two of you here pretty much covered the reason(s) why there are more iPad installs. Is iOS less "open" than Android, sure. But if the only thing I need to do is turn on AssistiveTouch to get a button to turn off the iPad when the physical buttons are inaccessible, and everything else just works, I think I can live with that (more so Linda seems to be able to ). For me personally, I would rather not have to deal with all kinds of workarounds and hacks to get an optical out which is pretty important in this type of install...and perhaps that's why others are going this route.

Oh, FYI, the last show was using the iPad as a source, so it's not too bad of a source either I guess. :surprised: :blush:


----------



## papasin

It was great meeting everyone that made it to the Aggieland Invitational. I enjoyed talking to folks and for most of the day I was delegated giving demos. It was a long, but a good day for the Smart.










Also great to have excellent West Coast representation out here! 










Looking forward to more fun tomorrow!


----------



## DLO13

WOOP WOOP! Congrats again!


----------



## badfish

Congratulations Linda well-earned


----------



## palldat

Congratulations to Linda. Way to go.


----------



## bertholomey

Awesome job! Have a great time today!


----------



## Kevin K

good job !


----------



## veloze

I'm hoping you do well at the money run. Congrats for placing 1st with the smarty.


----------



## Darth SQ

Best wishes to you both today!


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## xxx_busa

This is AWESOME - Cookies for Everyone on me...


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thank you everyone! I had a great time in Texas! Some pics for posterity. 

The Smart just chillin'









Smart in the competition lane









Team WCA, my homies









SQ girls and their cars  Happy to see you again, Ally!









Nice meeting you, Dr. Paul!


----------



## MrsPapasin

xxx_busa said:


> This is AWESOME - Cookies for Everyone on me...


Next stop Huntington Beach and Mark don't forget to bring the cookies and your new super awesome JT built car!


----------



## ssmith100

Linda,

Would you send me the pics you took of my car. You got a few good ones and I don't really have a bunch of the car.

Thanks,

Shane


----------



## MrsPapasin

ssmith100 said:


> Linda,
> 
> 
> 
> Would you send me the pics you took of my car. You got a few good ones and I don't really have a bunch of the car.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> 
> Shane



Hi Shane! Sure I'll PM you later tonight. At work right now.


----------



## papasin

MrsPapasin said:


> Next stop Huntington Beach and Mark don't forget to bring the cookies and your new super awesome JT built car!



What a great show at Huntington Beach! Weather was great, the location was good, and the company was excellent and always fun to see the SoCal crew, both old and some new faces. 

15 SQ cars competed and the competition was incredible. Smart was very fortunate to fare well, so hats off to everyone at the show!


----------



## james2266

papasin said:


> What a great show at Huntington Beach! Weather was great, the location was good, and the company was excellent and always fun to see the SoCal crew, both old and some new faces.
> 
> 15 SQ cars competed and the competition was incredible. Smart was very fortunate to fare well, so hats off to everyone at the show!


Congrats guys. Wish I could of been there. Gotta figure out some way to move closer. Working on that but still stumped. That Smart was impressive when I heard it in March. Got me thinking more all the time about doing an up front sub actually. Wish I had the sub for that and the time to try building it. Maybe next year


----------



## papasin

james2266 said:


> Congrats guys. Wish I could of been there. Gotta figure out some way to move closer. Working on that but still stumped. That Smart was impressive when I heard it in March. Got me thinking more all the time about doing an up front sub actually. Wish I had the sub for that and the time to try building it. Maybe next year



Hey James, it would be awesome to meet up with you again. IMO, the Smart has improved a fair bit since you last heard it as the tune has been refined even more. Up front subs are definitely cool.


----------



## palldat

Congrats again and thanks for doing the demo for my girlfriend...now maybe she will cut me some slack when I need to spend time with my new Alien Family


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thanks, James and Paul! James come visit again even if it's just to listen to cars and hang out with us. 



palldat said:


> Congrats again and thanks for doing the demo for my girlfriend...now maybe she will cut me some slack when I need to spend time with my new Alien Family



It was my pleasure, Paul! Hope we see more of her! I really appreciate the ladies and kiddos coming to hang out too! I missed listening to your car once again though! Next time!


----------



## palldat

MrsPapasin said:


> Thanks, James and Paul! James come visit again even if it's just to listen to cars and hang out with us.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It was my pleasure, Paul! Hope we see more of her! I really appreciate the ladies and kiddos coming to hang out too! I missed listening to your car once again though! Next time!


You didn't miss much. Thursday evening was headed to Jim's for a retune after adding the extra amps and the alternator died. Only got a chance to notice that the mids were connected wrong and adjust levels. However, needed to do a little more as the score reflected 

It was great though for the amount of feedback and wonderful family feel as usual


----------



## james2266

MrsPapasin said:


> Thanks, James and Paul! James come visit again even if it's just to listen to cars and hang out with us.


As much as I would love to have my vehicle be listened to by you guys again, it will be me doing all the listening next time. I don't forsee us making such a road trip in the near future. Just too much driving as much as I loved the trip; it was exhausting. Next time I want it more relaxing. I will most certainly try to have my next trip down there coincide with either another get together or a competition of some sort and we will be certain to look for the Smart and the Civic Oh, and I hear there is an Odyssey too


----------



## bertholomey

papasin said:


> What a great show at Huntington Beach! Weather was great, the location was good, and the company was excellent and always fun to see the SoCal crew, both old and some new faces.
> 
> 15 SQ cars competed and the competition was incredible. Smart was very fortunate to fare well, so hats off to everyone at the show!


Congrats Linda! Another well deserved win


----------



## papasin

Some pics Linda took with our DSLR yesterday.


----------



## mires

Please stop showing me pictures of those Illusion point sources. They are at the top of my list of things I want right now. Sadly, they are at the bottom of the list of things I NEED


----------



## papasin

mires said:


> Please stop showing me pictures of those Illusion point sources. They are at the top of my list of things I want right now. Sadly, they are at the bottom of the list of things I NEED


Lol. Maybe I should update my build thread with some additional pics too.  

One I forgot, is the pic below. I've gotten a few questions from folks via PM or otherwise on how the Alpine CD changer in the Smart works. Signal is fed optically into the H800 via toslink. But the unit pictured below is what sends track and disc "control" to the CD changer.


----------



## MrsPapasin

veloze and I had a nice discussion about the windshield cover at the last comp/gtg. He's thinking of making his own as well and the topic about what magnets I used came up. Just putting this info here in case veloze or anyone else is interested in which magnets I used. They are 3/4" diameter x 1/8" thick neodymium magnets from Amazon.
Amazon.com: CMS Magnetics® N50 Epoxy Coated Neodymium Magnet Dia 3/4 X 1/8" Disc Magnet 10 Ct.: Home Improvement

veloze, I look forward to seeing what you come up with. You have some great ideas!

And just for fun, posting another picture of the Smart. As you can see I've been having a lot of fun taking pictures. The last few comps and gtgs have inspired me!


----------



## papasin

Great job MrsPapasin on implementing the backup camera solution below.










Neither JT nor I had anything to do with it! 

More details from MrsPapasin to come.


----------



## MrsPapasin

The Mr. cracks me up. It's not really a big deal. This is just an interim solution until I have time to figure out a better one. It works, but you still have to manually launch an app. For now though this will do.

This is the wifi module that I mentioned awhile back when palldat said he was still waiting on the app for a backup camera on JT's scion thread. It's a wifi backup camera by 4ucam that works on both iPhone and Android.



MrsPapasin said:


> Here you go, palldat! No need to wait. Someone has already come up with a wireless backup camera solution for the iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.
> 
> iPhone Android iPad WIFI car backup camera
> 
> Get one and let us know how well it works! Lol


Back then I was still muddling around with some ideas including using a raspberry pi and a pi camera with a wifi router. I also tried some wireless wifi cameras. All of which ended in epic failure because I was too annoyed with all the overhead of starting up the pi and the latencies introduced by using various forms of video compression over wifi. Being a mom of two young kids and working full time, I don't have a whole lot of time to tinker other than the middle of the night when the kids are asleep. Plus with an overloaded schedule this year for work, I haven't been able to put in much time on this little project unfortunately so I didn't make much progress on that end. However, I still have some ideas on using the pi in the car later down the road. 

Anyway, back to the current solution. I decided to take the plunge and try out that device that I mentioned to palldat. Since I already had an existing camera that Richard had installed a long time ago, I only purchased the wifi module. 

The existing Boyo backup camera on the Smart that Richard had previously installed:










The wifi module box:










The wifi module:










The existing camera hooks up easily to the yellow RCA connection shown. It also needs 12 V power and ground (the red and black wires). The other large connector shown next to the yellow RCA is a 12V output. In my case I didn't need it since my camera was already wired up. So only part really left to do was to splice, solder, heat shrink, and secure the module inside the dash behind the iPad mini. I wired the power to switched power so that the wifi module turns on when you turn on the car. I did not make it so that it only powers on when you go reverse because I want the ability to use the camera any time the car is on.

Next you select WIFICAMERA in wifi settings. 










Here's the app you have to manually launch every time you want to use the backup camera. 










Once launched it looks like this:










My camera looks pretty good day or night. Picture shown here is at night.

Now keep in mind this is video going over wifi so there is inherently latency introduced because of it. 4ucam enclosed a little letter with their disclaimer saying, "The image you see on your smart phone is delayed about 0.5-0.7 seconds. Please use the backup camera as a reference only." I haven't played around with it that much yet, but I believe that to be about right in what they are saying. So the camera isn't going to help if you're peeling down the road in reverse at high speeds, but it's good enough for slowly backing up from your driveway and as an extra check that nothing or someone isn't back there. 

Finally, there's a key thing I think we're all wanting to happen with this: Autolaunching of the app when the car is put into reverse. I still have hope in figuring that part out when I get a chance to hack away at that, but for now this is decent interim solution for me.

That's all folks!


----------



## JayinMI

It's little things like this that are delaying me from making the switch to a tablet. But JT's iPad installs are making it harder and harder to resist! lol

Jay


----------



## palldat

MrsPapasin said:


> The Mr. cracks me up. It's not really a big deal. This is just an interim solution until I have time to figure out a better one. It works, but you still have to manually launch an app. For now though this will do.
> 
> This is the wifi module that I mentioned awhile back when palldat said he was still waiting on the app for a backup camera on JT's scion thread. It's a wifi backup camera by 4ucam that works on both iPhone and Android.
> 
> 
> 
> Back then I was still muddling around with some ideas including using a raspberry pi and a pi camera with a wifi router. I also tried some wireless wifi cameras. All of which ended in epic failure because I was too annoyed with all the overhead of starting up the pi and the latencies introduced by using various forms of video compression over wifi. Being a mom of two young kids and working full time, I don't have a whole lot of time to tinker other than the middle of the night when the kids are asleep. Plus with an overloaded schedule this year for work, I haven't been able to put in much time on this little project unfortunately so I didn't make much progress on that end. However, I still have some ideas on using the pi in the car later down the road.
> 
> Anyway, back to the current solution. I decided to take the plunge and try out that device that I mentioned to palldat. Since I already had an existing camera that Richard had installed a long time ago, I only purchased the wifi module.
> 
> The existing Boyo backup camera on the Smart that Richard had previously installed:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The wifi module box:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The wifi module:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The existing camera hooks up easily to the yellow RCA connection shown. It also needs 12 V power and ground (the red and black wires). The other large connector shown next to the yellow RCA is a 12V output. In my case I didn't need it since my camera was already wired up. So only part really left to do was to splice, solder, heat shrink, and secure the module inside the dash behind the iPad mini. I wired the power to switched power so that the wifi module turns on when you turn on the car. I did not make it so that it only powers on when you go reverse because I want the ability to use the camera any time the car is on.
> 
> Next you select WIFICAMERA in wifi settings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the app you have to manually launch every time you want to use the backup camera.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Once launched it looks like this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My camera looks pretty good day or night. Picture shown here is at night.
> 
> Now keep in mind this is video going over wifi so there is inherently latency introduced because of it. 4ucam enclosed a little letter with their disclaimer saying, "The image you see on your smart phone is delayed about 0.5-0.7 seconds. Please use the backup camera as a reference only." I haven't played around with it that much yet, but I believe that to be about right in what they are saying. So the camera isn't going to help if you're peeling down the road in reverse at high speeds, but it's good enough for slowly backing up from your driveway and as an extra check that nothing or someone isn't back there.
> 
> Finally, there's a key thing I think we're all wanting to happen with this: Autolaunching of the app when the car is put into reverse. I still have hope in figuring that part out when I get a chance to hack away at that, but for now this is decent interim solution for me.
> 
> That's all folks!


Looks good Linda....with my current screen it auto switches to my reverse but I am not using my tablet but rather my media player.

When you work out the kinks I may make the switch to a tablet


----------



## MrsPapasin

Took some video while driving with the backup camera on. Overall I think it's pretty cool and works well but I do have some negative observations so far:

1. It drains the iPad mini fairly quickly even while the iPad is charging. Not surprising though since streaming video over wifi is pretty resource intensive for a little iPad. Not sure if I can take a long road trip and have the backup camera running for the entire time. 

2. While having the iPad's wifi connected to the camera's wifi module, you can't stream music on things like Pandora and Spotify since those are also trying to connect to the network. Need to see if there's a way to trick it so that the camera uses the wifi but Pandora and Spotify use the cellular data network connection. 

Anyway, it's an improvement over having nothing. So I'm happy. 

This first video, you'll see a red BMW SUV passing on my right. The music you hear playing is direct from the iPad mini.





This second video, you'll see a Honda CRV passing on my left.


----------



## DLO13

Seems like the complaints you have aren't too bad. As far as driving on a trip with ur backup camera on.... HAHA - I think you will be okay.

The network issue is kind of a bummer. Samsung has an app called Download Booster (android) that seems to bridge the two connections (wifi and cellular), but I don't know if it actually works for streaming services. I did a quick search for an ipad equivalent, but didn't have very much luck.


----------



## MrsPapasin

DLO13 said:


> Seems like the complaints you have aren't too bad. As far as driving on a trip with ur backup camera on.... HAHA - I think you will be okay.
> 
> The network issue is kind of a bummer. Samsung has an app called Download Booster (android) that seems to bridge the two connections (wifi and cellular), but I don't know if it actually works for streaming services. I did a quick search for an ipad equivalent, but didn't have very much luck.


Thanks DLO13 for looking into the network issue!


----------



## DLO13

MrsPapasin said:


> Thanks DLO13 for looking into the network issue!


No problem. Have you thought about using Bluetooth instead of wifi?
They make some pretty cool Bluetooth cameras that could work as an alternative to your current wifi setup (with some modification). Or perhaps there is a way to get the camera to stream Bluetooth instead of wifi?

Amazon.com: Looxcie LX2 Wearable Video Cam for iPhone and Android - Retail Packaging - Black: Cell Phones & Accessories


----------



## MrsPapasin

DLO13 said:


> No problem. Have you thought about using Bluetooth instead of wifi?
> 
> They make some pretty cool Bluetooth cameras that could work as an alternative to your current wifi setup (with some modification). Or perhaps there is a way to get the camera to stream Bluetooth instead of wifi?



I haven't yet. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll look into this more when I get a chance. For now I have to get ready for a rover field test for work this coming week.


----------



## cajunner

maybe it would be possible to separate the streams, have the camera operating on 5.8 gig and the spotify on 2.4 gig, and the ipad using an outboard USB adapter for one or the other?

seems like this should be completely controllable, like you could record back-up cam action while listening to videos, split screen...

I mean, you should be able to run several wireless devices on the one iPad, input and output...

right?


----------



## MrsPapasin

Hi Guys, thanks for the suggestions on the backup camera! 

Just wanted to share some Smart car fun we had over the weekend.

We took a quick trip to attend the 2014 smart car show @ SMART MADNESS. It was our first Smart car meet and we had a lot of fun. Met other fun Smart car owners and saw how each personalized their Smart in their own unique way. 83 Smart cars in all! Some pics of the event:

In the morning we all lined up to go into the event.









On this trip, I decided to use my iPhone to view the back up camera and use my iPad to play music. I figured why not make use of my phone's screen since I carry my iPhone around everywhere anyway. There's a Smart in front of me and a Smart behind me. Lol









Wow, that's a lot of Smart cars!



























Some of the more notable Smarts:






























































































































This is a Crossblade Smart









This was the Show and Shine Best of Show:









I know what you guys are thinking of this picture. :laugh:






















































Even though this wasn't a car audio meet, still many were very interested, had many questions, and wanted demos of my Smart. They loved it!









Eyelashes and rhinestones- Cute but eek!









Pin striping by Curly - I like that pink pin striping


















Raffle prizes!









And finally we were pleasantly surprised to receive the long distance award and also a raffle prize. Our "madness" for driving long distances has been recognized. Lol :laugh:
Thank you Smart Madness for the award, raffle prizes, lunch, and the fun day!









We also got this raffle prize from another Smart car owner. He thought of us because of all the gadgets in my Smart.









Here's a video of the event that another Smart car owner put together:


----------



## JayinMI

Long distance award? How far was it, the other reference to you guys headed to Smart Madness made it seem like it was only a few hours away? I would have figured some guy would have came from New Jersey or something. lol

The only car show I ever entered my Rio in didn't have a long distance award, but it was a 1200 mile drive to the DFW, TX area. I got dealer's choice tho. But I think that was just because they thought I should get something, lol

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

Lol Jay. It's 369 miles from home to Signal Hill where Smart Madness is located. We surely thought someone from further up North would have made it but it just turned out we were the ones who live the farthest away amongst the Smart owners who showed up that day. They sell stuff in the store and online so I think it was their way to try to get some of us that don't live in the SoCal area to come out for the event.


----------



## JayinMI

Yeah, I was aware of them. We used to have a Smart dealer up the street from us and did all their Nav installs and Alarms/starters. Now they are closed down and we don't see many Smart cars anymore.

When they changed the dash in '11, nobody was making dash kits for them and when we called about it they said they didn't plan to. I made a jig to modify the older kit to fit the new dash, but haven't done any since the first 2, and that was in '11!

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

It's funny you bring up the dash kit. Many were very interested in the iPad mini dash installation to the point one customer asked one of the Smart Madness installers to
come out and see my iPad mini install. She said she asked them several times but was told they wouldn't do it. So he told her that they needed to work together with JT to make it happen. Lol


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Yeah, I was aware of them. We used to have a Smart dealer up the street from us and did all their Nav installs and Alarms/starters. Now they are closed down and we don't see many Smart cars anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> When they changed the dash in '11, nobody was making dash kits for them and when we called about it they said they didn't plan to. I made a jig to modify the older kit to fit the new dash, but haven't done any since the first 2, and that was in '11!
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



My '13 electric has the new dash kit. Build log to come.


----------



## JayinMI

My jig isn't perfect, I only got to do 2 cars before I realized the slight gap at the top. It works with the Metra kit. Maybe I'll have to work on it again. lol

Jay


----------



## Golden Ear

Linda, you should put suicide doors on your smart and show them all up! Lol

How did you use your iPhone as a backup camera? I just lifted my truck and that would be very handy.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Golden Ear said:


> Linda, you should put suicide doors on your smart and show them all up! Lol
> 
> How did you use your iPhone as a backup camera? I just lifted my truck and that would be very handy.



For a fraction of a second, we thought about that but then decided against it. I can think of a dozen other things I would rather spend my money on. I am eyeing those Brembo brakes on that red Smart. Some fresh paint would be nice. Maybe someday a turbo but I'm really trying to stay away from that because I know I would be really reckless. Still very tempting. 

Neat that you lifted your truck! Displaying the backup camera on the iPhone is no different than displaying on the iPad mini. You just have to select WIFICAMERA in wifi settings. The wireless transmitter doesn't care what device it is on the receiving end.


----------



## MrsPapasin

It wasn't my best win, but still I had a great time at the MECA comp yesterday at SiS. One of the joys of competing and going to gtgs is meeting people and being able to share ideas and in the experience of this fun loving sport! I really enjoyed talking to several people about some of things I've been working on in my car at this combined comp and gtg. I hope to hear back from some of you! Would love to keep the exchange of ideas going. Of course I would have loved to have won 1st, but I figure this gives me the drive to take things to the next level. We have plans underway.  I'm really excited about this!


----------



## JayinMI

Linda, I think you have a problem. You may be an addict. lol

Great job. If I come out to Cali next summer, I will have to make an effort to see this.

Jay


----------



## james2266

Congrats Linda! 2nd place is a whole lot better than no place which is what I get up here:laugh: Your Smart is one of my highlights from the trip to Cali. That thing had more impact than any vehicle I have heard before. I asked Richard what midbass you were running and my jaw hit the floor when he said there were no midbasses in this vehicle. Sure has me wishing I could find a way to get a c12xl up front in mine too but money and space are just not there for that. I am thinking that a SI BM mk4 might be in my future tho. Sure wish I could hear one.


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Linda, I think you have a problem. You may be an addict. lol
> 
> Great job. If I come out to Cali next summer, I will have to make an effort to see this.
> 
> Jay


Lol Jay. If it's any (more) incentive, I think we have a couple other vehicles that sound marginally ok too.  :laugh:


----------



## Black Rain

You know have followed and commented on here as to how good of an integratipn you've done to the car, but I've been wondering... how the do the system analysis since don't have a CD slot? Is there a USB port somewhere that I missed?

Also congrats on another successful and fun day.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Black Rain said:


> You know have followed and commented on here as to how good of an integratipn you've done to the car, but I've been wondering... how the do the system analysis since don't have a CD slot? Is there a USB port somewhere that I missed?
> 
> Also congrats on another successful and fun day.



Hi Black Rain! Thank you! For MECA 1x and 2x events playing off the iPad mini is acceptable as a source. However, for 3x events we have the judge use their official MECA disc in the CD changer I have behind the driver seat. The H800 has two optical inputs. So one is for the iPad and the other is for the CD changer.

Also not sure if Al and a few others that I met at the SiS MECA comp this past weekend are reading my thread here, but I fixed the issue with the CD changer. I forgot to plug my CD changer controller back in behind the iPad mini when I was installing the wifi camera and the HDMI interface. It's all back together and working again. Next time I see you guys my CD changer will be ready for you.


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> Linda, I think you have a problem. You may be an addict. lol
> 
> 
> 
> Great job. If I come out to Cali next summer, I will have to make an effort to see this.
> 
> 
> 
> Jay


 
Jay, I would love for you to come out to
Cali and meet up with us! Let us know when you decide to come out this way! And yes I know I have a problem! Lol! But it's a good problem and Richard encourages it. 



james2266 said:


> Congrats Linda! 2nd place is a whole lot better than no place which is what I get up here:laugh: Your Smart is one of my highlights from the trip to Cali. That thing had more impact than any vehicle I have heard before. I asked Richard what midbass you were running and my jaw hit the floor when he said there were no midbasses in this vehicle. Sure has me wishing I could find a way to get a c12xl up front in mine too but money and space are just not there for that. I am thinking that a SI BM mk4 might be in my future tho. Sure wish I could hear one.



Thank you, James! Come fly out and visit for your SQ bug fix.


----------



## james2266

MrsPapasin said:


> Thank you, James! Come fly out and visit for your SQ bug fix.


I likely will end up doing just that but unfortunately it won't be for a while. The next vacation is looking to be next March and it is going to be Hawaii this time. Maybe the next time or maybe I'll be able to convince the wife and (more importantly) the finances of another trip next fall (Sept-ish 2015 would be awesome I think). Until then I will have to live vicariously through you guys.


----------



## JayinMI

papasin said:


> Lol Jay. If it's any (more) incentive, I think we have a couple other vehicles that sound marginally ok too.  :laugh:


True enough! You've got an Odysee (sp?) too, right? LOL

(I'd love to hear the Civic too. I told my GF I wanted to drive out so I'd have my car, but I probably wouldn't come back. hahaha)

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> True enough! You've got an Odysee (sp?) too, right? LOL
> 
> 
> 
> (I'd love to hear the Civic too. I told my GF I wanted to drive out so I'd have my car, but I probably wouldn't come back. hahaha)
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



A 2000 Honda Odyssey...and as mentioned a few pages back, a Smart Electric. Most likely by next summer, both will have achieved a certain SQ level.


----------



## Coppertone

^^^ so will the Smart electric replace your Civic, or are you just keeping (4) vehicles for SQ ?


----------



## papasin

Coppertone said:


> ^^^ so will the Smart electric replace your Civic, or are you just keeping (4) vehicles for SQ ?



I believe Linda answered that question a few pages back. 

No, Civic is not going anywhere. If you recall, we park the two Smarts tandem on one side of a two-car garage and the Civic right next to it.

We have received a couple comments already that our kids will be spoiled with hearing these systems and wonder why things are different whenever they go into a friend's car. :laugh:


----------



## JayinMI

Yeah, you'll have to specifically teach them not to tell their friends that their stereo sounds bad with their bullet tweeters and Pro Audio mids. lol

Jay


----------



## DLO13

Little Audrey gets into the friends parents mini van...

"I think you need to work on your imaging."


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> Yeah, you'll have to specifically teach them not to tell their friends that their stereo sounds bad with their bullet tweeters and Pro Audio mids. lol
> 
> Jay





DLO13 said:


> Little Audrey gets into the friends parents mini van...
> 
> "I think you need to work on your imaging."


Lol! You guys are probably right they're going to start saying funny things like that. Audrey already tells me she likes her music at a certain volume level and requests specific songs to be played. Her favorites right now are "Let It Go" and "Firework", but she also likes music with lots of drums and sings "Spanish Harlem" if you play it.


----------



## james2266

JayinMI said:


> True enough! You've got an Odysee (sp?) too, right? LOL
> 
> (I'd love to hear the Civic too. I told my GF I wanted to drive out so I'd have my car, but I probably wouldn't come back. hahaha)
> 
> Jay


Hmm, sounds familiar. Yes, the ride back was a whole helluva lot less exciting and quite painful going back into audio purgatory. If you are in Michigan, then your drive would be fairly similar to mine. Mine was 8000 km round trip. For you Americans, I think that is around 4000-4500 miles or so.



MrsPapasin said:


> Lol! You guys are probably right they're going to start saying funny things like that. Audrey already tells me she likes her music at a certain volume level and requests specific songs to be played. Her favorites right now are "Let It Go" and "Firework", but she also likes music with lots of drums and sings "Spanish Harlem" if you play it.


My kind of girl. Let it go I am unsure of which one that is but Firework is awesome if that is Katy Perry. Best be careful of some of the other songs on that CD tho Not sure you'd like her singing the Circle the Drain song for instance.:laugh: I don't care what others think, I love Rebecca Pigeon's stuff including Spanish Harlem.


----------



## rton20s

Just wanted to pop in and say congratulations on your 2nd place this weekend. And more importantly, to thank you for your feedback on Saturday morning. Without it, I'm sure there is no way I would have gotten a 2nd place finish myself! 

Catch you guys at the next one!


----------



## JayinMI

james2266 said:


> Hmm, sounds familiar. Yes, the ride back was a whole helluva lot less exciting and quite painful going back into audio purgatory. If you are in Michigan, then your drive would be fairly similar to mine. Mine was 8000 km round trip. For you Americans, I think that is around 4000-4500 miles or so.


Yeah, it's a hike. My GF, her brother and dad made a trip last summer. Michigan, to NJ to Louisiana (somewhere down there, pretty sure it was near NOLA), through Texas, to Roswell, NM, through AZ up to Northern Cal and down to the Pasadena area and then back.

Michigan is not a good state for car audio. I'd love to get out.

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> Michigan is not a good state for car audio. I'd love to get out.
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



But then you won't be JayinMI anymore and I'll be even more confused. I'm still having a hard time recognizing KP and ErinH.


----------



## JayinMI

I could change it to JayFromMI. lol


----------



## MrsPapasin

rton20s said:


> Just wanted to pop in and say congratulations on your 2nd place this weekend. And more importantly, to thank you for your feedback on Saturday morning. Without it, I'm sure there is no way I would have gotten a 2nd place finish myself!
> 
> Catch you guys at the next one!



Dustin, thank you! Congratulations to you too! I'm happy to help when I can.


----------



## MrsPapasin

I've been making some references to a HDMI interface in some of my posts. I thought I would elaborate. I started noticing the pure i20 wasn't charging the iPad mini fast enough. Most of the time just playing music was ok, but any time I tried to use another app on top of that, it would drain faster than it could charge. Now that I have the wifi backup camera, gps navigation, and music playing all at once, the pure i20 setup just wasn't cutting it for me anymore.

The pure i20 is meant for smaller devices such as the iPhone or iPod. Larger devices such as the iPad mini and its larger counterparts require more power to charge it adequately fast enough for the purpose outlined here. For this reason, I decided to try something different. 

I actually first saw this on someone's NSX thread on another forum, but I never saw any updates on what the outcome was. I decided that it wouldn't hurt for me to just try it out. The operative word here is "try". I don't know if it's going to be the right thing in the long run, but I figure it's worth trying out. Besides that it's just fun to play with this kind of stuff.

Here's what I'm doing. I'm using an apple hdmi av adapter that splits the lightning connector out to a hdmi and another lightning connector for dedicated power. This dedicated lightning connector allows the iPad mini to receive the appropriate power it needs to adequately keep up with charging. The hdmi goes to a monoprice HDMI switch box that spits out toslink (the optical), hdmi, coax, and 3.5mm stereo. All I care about is toslink to go back to the H800 processor. 

I've been using this set up since just before the SiS MECA comp last weekend and I believe sound quality is the same as it was with the pure i20. There may be some slight variation, but a very minor tune up will fix that. So far I am pleased that now the iPad mini stays charged even when I open several apps at once.

There is however a caveat. When the hdmi av adapter is hooked up to the iPad mini, it thinks that there's a TV or monitor hooked up to it. It will happily play the audio out over the HDMI, but won't allow for video to play directly on the iPad because it thinks it's displaying the video out on the HDMI connection. This isn't really a big concern since I don't drive around watching videos, but I am looking for a solution since my kids sometime like to go into the Smart to watch videos. I may have to delve into jailbreaking the iPad mini to retain this function as well as to address the wifi issue with the backup camera, but for now I'll just be evaluating whether or not I like this setup with the HDMI interface for sound and being able to keep the iPad mini charged. So far so good! 

The other nice thing about this setup is that it will allow me to move to an iPad mini retina if I choose to do so and I can add in other sources through the hdmi switch box. The HDMI switch box allows for 4 inputs.

Here's some pics of the components used:

The lightning to HDMI av adapter:




































The monoprice HDMI switch box to toslink:





































USB power for the lightning cable. Everyone needs a USB buddy lol:


















12V to 5V DC to DC converter for the monoprice switch box:









My harness:


----------



## JayinMI

That's sweet, Linda. We use that HDMI adapter on some of the new Pioneer double din HU's, hadn't thought to use it in your application. I've been on-and-off considering an iPad mini install at some point, but not all of my issues have been solved yet, but I was considering trying to relocate my factory HU to my HUGE glovebox, using the USB port to control it, but using something like the USB Buddy you have there, to feed power to the power pin of the USB Port. Except I didn't know the USB Buddy existed...so much easier than making my own 3A 5V power supply. lol Thanks! I feel one step closer.

Oh, and Richard, if I moved from MI, maybe I could change my name to "ThePodiatrist"? I bet you could remember that one, lol.

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> That's sweet, Linda. We use that HDMI adapter on some of the new Pioneer double din HU's, hadn't thought to use it in your application. I've been on-and-off considering an iPad mini install at some point, but not all of my issues have been solved yet, but I was considering trying to relocate my factory HU to my HUGE glovebox, using the USB port to control it, but using something like the USB Buddy you have there, to feed power to the power pin of the USB Port. Except I didn't know the USB Buddy existed...so much easier than making my own 3A 5V power supply. lol Thanks! I feel one step closer.
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and Richard, if I moved from MI, maybe I could change my name to "ThePodiatrist"? I bet you could remember that one, lol.
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



Dr. Jay, we can never forget that! Lol. We met Dr. Paul at Aggieland. We gotta meet you someday too! 

And yeah that USB Buddy is pretty convenient!


----------



## MrsPapasin

Got the wifi backup camera to work with Pandora and Spotify. Really happy about this neat little trick. The WIFICAMERA transmitter by default uses DHCP. To signal the iPad mini that there isn't an internet connection via the wifi while maintaining the functionality of the WIFICAMERA, you switch it to Static mode. You have to copy down whatever IP Address and Subnet Mask is shown under DHCP for WIFICAMERA then put those down under the Static tab. For my case, the IP is 192.168.2.33 and Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. You can access these menus under the WiFi network settings, then press the letter "i" in the circle next to the network name WIFICAMERA as you see below.
























It's working great and charging the iPad through the HDMI digital av adapter too. Though I have to admit I tend to push things to the limit. I'm streaming Spotify, running Waze, and viewing the wifi backup camera all at once. Richard frowns upon me doing all this at once. lol With all three running, it does have a little bit of a hard time charging as I see it fall one percent then go back up by one percent. However, it does maintain its charge.

Now if I could just figure out how to get that app to auto launch when I put my car in reverse. More research...


----------



## [email protected]

Richard is just an old fuddy duddy! I say you play some angry birds while all that is going on too!!!!! 

Glad you are getting it worked out!


----------



## papasin

[email protected] said:


> Richard is just an old fuddy duddy! I say you play some angry birds while all that is going on too!!!!!


Perfectly happy with my double DIN while you two venture into tablets and CarPCs. I'm definitely too old and a fuddy duddy (or maybe just too lazy) and will just have to live vicariously through the things you both experiment with in your setups.


----------



## [email protected]

papasin said:


> Perfectly happy with my double DIN while you two venture into tablets and CarPCs. I'm definitely too old and a fuddy duddy (or maybe just too lazy) and will just have to live vicariously through the things you both experiment with in your setups.


 My experiment arrives tomorrow!


----------



## jtaudioacc

[email protected] said:


> My experiment arrives tomorrow!


2 months until classifieds.


----------



## Coppertone

^^^ Naw that would be me lol, I give it till Thanksgiving J/K.


----------



## Darth SQ

jtaudioacc said:


> 2 months until classifieds.






Coppertone said:


> ^^^ Naw that would be me lol, I give it till Thanksgiving J/K.


LOL!


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## jtaudioacc

[email protected] said:


> My experiment arrives tomorrow!





jtaudioacc said:


> 2 months until classifieds.


my bad, it was 2 days, not 2 months...:laugh::laugh::laugh:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/car-audio-classifieds/166849-fs-e3io-2din-car-pc-mini-itx-v2-gen4-lnib-bit-off-more-than-i-can-chew-sale.html


----------



## james2266

jtaudioacc said:


> my bad, it was 2 days, not 2 months...:laugh::laugh::laugh:
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/car-audio-classifieds/166849-fs-e3io-2din-car-pc-mini-itx-v2-gen4-lnib-bit-off-more-than-i-can-chew-sale.html


Starting to think about that as an experiment of my own. Just have to rub these two pennies together and try to come up a couple thousand dollars or so.


----------



## Coppertone

^^^, Wow, was I ever off.


----------



## [email protected]

Laugh all you want, this wouldn't have gotten to this point over the weekend if I was playing with the car pc.... I will be laughing all the way to the bank! 







jtaudioacc said:


> my bad, it was 2 days, not 2 months...:laugh::laugh::laugh:
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/car-audio-classifieds/166849-fs-e3io-2din-car-pc-mini-itx-v2-gen4-lnib-bit-off-more-than-i-can-chew-sale.html


----------



## MrsPapasin

MECA 2x Tune-up in Torrance souvenirs  Always thankful to BigRed for the tuning and JT for the impeccable install! 

The other car, I'm super proud of is Mama Papasin's Odyssey, our family van. A DIY build by the family! Richard has started a build on our joint adventure. 
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...2000-honda-odyssey-papasin-family-van-sq.html

Was really fun working on it together from building it to tuning it. We're pleased with the results.


----------



## MrsPapasin

From MECA 1x in Selma. It was the last California comp for this season before state finals! It was a pretty small comp but it was fun hanging out with Win1.  Now on to state finals!


----------



## MrsPapasin

hmmm... what's this?


----------



## DLO13

MrsPapasin said:


> hmmm... what's this?


Oh NO YOU DIDN'T!


----------



## palldat

Nice...what brand is that? Looks familiar. How is the stage now?


----------



## MrsPapasin

palldat said:


> Nice...what brand is that?


----------



## palldat

Ahhhhh, it is just an illusion 

I bet it sounds great. I look forward to hearing it this weekend.


----------



## MrsPapasin

JT, thank you for these beautiful and versatile sails!


----------



## casey

interesting indeed.

Whats your reasoning? Wider staging? I assume just the new sail tweeters are playing now?


----------



## JayinMI

More nice work from JT. 

Are those "eye" tweeters? You know, for the judges who need to see tweeters?

Pretty soon, you're gonna need a diesel crew cab truck and a car hauler to get all your cars to comps. lol

Jay


----------



## captainobvious

Makes sense Linda. Bring the stage out a tad wider with the Illusion tweeters in the sails. 

Nice work as usual by JT!


----------



## rton20s

Nice tweeters. Great choice. I had heard tale of this. I look forward to checking it out in SLO.


----------



## captainobvious

Oh, and best of luck to Team Papasin at the state finals ! I'm pulling for you (from across the country)


----------



## MrsPapasin

Choices, choices... this is more fun than picking out shoes to match my outfit!


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> More nice work from JT.
> 
> Are those "eye" tweeters? You know, for the judges who need to see tweeters?
> 
> Jay


Now, now. Eye candy is nice, but I like ear candy too. 



captainobvious said:


> Oh, and best of luck to Team Papasin at the state finals ! I'm pulling for you (from across the country)


Thank you, captainobvious! See yah at Worlds!


----------



## rton20s

Shoes are to outfits as tweeters are to judges. 

Love the modular aspects of the new sail panel pods! Looking forward to getting a demo this weekend. Regardless of how you choose to accessorize.


----------



## papasin

rton20s said:


> Love the modular aspects of the new sail panel pods!


Agree, as Linda hinted, very versatile. 

Fantastic fabrication work by JT as always!


----------



## palldat

Maybe we can get 2 listens unless there is a 3rd option for tweets


----------



## shinjohn

Did you every try any of the Scans?


----------



## captainobvious

Are those the Hybrid proR2's in silver? 

They look purdy


----------



## papasin

captainobvious said:


> Are those the Hybrid proR2's in silver?
> 
> They look purdy


Yep. Same ones as from the OP. :surprised: :laugh:


----------



## MrsPapasin

captainobvious said:


> Are those the Hybrid proR2's in silver?
> 
> They look purdy


Yup competed with those this past weekend in Selma.


----------



## mrpeabody

MrsPapasin said:


> Yup competed with those this past weekend in Selma.


Dang I just missed seeing them too. We got to the Selma shop right after everyone had left.


----------



## MrsPapasin

mrpeabody said:


> Dang I just missed seeing them too. We got to the Selma shop right after everyone had left.


Oh darn, we missed you! Come to State Finals this Sunday!


----------



## shutmdown

quick question, does JT use real Alcantara to wrap your pieces?


----------



## papasin

shutmdown said:


> quick question, does JT use real Alcantara to wrap your pieces?


I'll answer again. 



papasin said:


> Everything is wrapped with black street suede. I believe JT gets it from Keyston Brothers.


----------



## shutmdown

thank you Richard, sorry for the redundant question.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Every girl has got to have her thing... maybe tweeter fetish is mine. Lol!



palldat said:


> Maybe we can get 2 listens unless there is a 3rd option for tweets


But of course there's a 3rd option! 



shinjohn said:


> Did you every try any of the Scans?


shinjohn, but of course! It's thanks to you and your extensive reviews on tweeters and getting to listen to it in your Pilot.

Richard surprised me with this. He sure knows what this girl likes!  




























Here's a picture of my three tweeters:










And the shoe fits perfectly like Cinderella!




























Gorgeous! 










I wonder which tweeter I should accessorize with for State Finals? Hie hie hie... I know which.


----------



## claydo

Hmm, nice selection of tweets! Wish this thing was coming to nashville.....am I right in assuming you and the mr. will be flying out?


----------



## shinjohn

Nice! Lookin' forward to hearing the system again!


----------



## captainobvious

papasin said:


> Yep. Same ones as from the OP. :surprised: :laugh:



You mean, <gasp>, all the way back to page one?!?  

Actually I was thrown off because in the pics, they don't appear to have that inner beveled edge finished in the copper color. Is it just the lighting or did you have JT sand that out to make them all silver?


----------



## captainobvious

claydo said:


> Hmm, nice selection of tweets! Wish this thing was coming to nashville.....am I right in assuming you and the mr. will be flying out?


I believe it IS coming actually. Just not being _driven _there


----------



## bertholomey

captainobvious said:


> I believe it IS coming actually. Just not being _driven _there


I'm looking forward to seeing a Touch and Go out of the back of a C5 Galaxy! Just like the video, except for a Smart popping out the back!


----------



## claydo

captainobvious said:


> I believe it IS coming actually. Just not being _driven _there


Ooooo, awesome. I was looking forward to meeting the papasins.......didn't expect to get to check out the smart! Is the civic gonna make the journey too?


----------



## papasin

captainobvious said:


> I believe it IS coming actually. Just not being _driven _there





bertholomey said:


> I'm looking forward to seeing a Touch and Go out of the back of a C5 Galaxy! Just like the video, except for a Smart popping out the back!


You should know by now what we are capable of.   :laugh:


----------



## claydo

Oh my.......can a smart survive re-entry?


----------



## papasin

Prototype in progress. 






...but some _Smart_ folks are looking at traveling as shown below.


----------



## captainobvious

Or...


----------



## rton20s

MrsPapasin said:


> Here's a picture of my three tweeters:


Those Scans need to be seen in person to be appreciated, but this picture does a pretty good job of showing the difference in size. Richard let me check out _some_ of the tweeter selections last Friday. Of course, he saved the Scans for last. Those Illusions aren't a small tweeter to begin with, so to be dwarfed by the Scans is pretty impressive. There probably aren't a lot of sail panels that could handle that rear chamber. 



papasin said:


> You should know by now what we are capable of.   :laugh:


Just don't let it end up like the Top Gear attempt! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJdrlWR-yFM&feature=player_detailpage#t=428


----------



## papasin

Psssh, just need to have some imagination and think out of the box. There are those that had doubts that the Smart would be a good SQ platform...and look where it is now.  :surprised:

Back on earth and thinking of how to cart a Smart, there's always these options.


----------



## HondAudio

bertholomey said:


> I'm looking forward to seeing a Touch and Go out of the back of a C5 Galaxy! Just like the video, except for a Smart popping out the back!


What the...?

How can it be going that slow and take off again? :surprised:


----------



## Beckerson1

Slats on the front of the wing and the use of flaps on the rear drastically increase the lift on the wings. Hence lower speed needed for take off. Plus when taking off into the wind (which can't be seen whether it was or not) helps drastically as well.


----------



## etroze

Lift is everything with those big cargo planes. The engines alone are the size of an F350 pickup. So think about how long the wing is if the engines are that big.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Oh oops, I forgot to say I'm not done yet! I still have a few days more before State finals.

With every accessory there's always the perfect dress that goes with it. I wonder what that could be?


----------



## claydo

That appears to be a slit cone midrange......I'm guessing along the lines of this........


----------



## MrsPapasin

claydo said:


> That appears to be a slit cone midrange......I'm guessing along the lines of this........


You might be onto something, claydo.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Shinjohn, thank you for stopping by to take a listen! Appreciate the critical feedback!


----------



## Kevin K

I'm with Claydo, looks like Scan's mids...to accompany the new tweeters... Nice.


----------



## shinjohn

MrsPapasin said:


> Shinjohn, thank you for stopping by to take a listen! Appreciate the critical feedback!


The pleasure was really all mine. Good to catch up a bit and hear/see all the progress you guys have made recently. Great stuff!

Love all the updates esp. to the Smart. Really suits my tastes for sure! 

Best wishes to you guys this weekend, have fun!


----------



## MrsPapasin

Kevin K said:


> I'm with Claydo, looks like Scan's mids...to accompany the new tweeters... Nice.


Wow you guys are good! 

Since the cat is out of the bag...














































Comparison between the Illusion Audio C5CX and the Scanspeak 15W Revelators.



















Richard made these HDPE baffle rings for these mids. 










It came together very nicely. 










It's all topped off with a BigRed tune too! One of his finest! It really is amazing! The clarity, impact, naturalness, and realism has improved greatly with with no loss in focus even though we moved away from the coaxial drivers. Don't get me wrong though the C5CXs are no slouch. They served the Smart very well this season getting three SQ best of shows. It was just time to try something new.

The deep chamber Scan tweeters add that perfect sparkle, sweetness, and delicacy while the Scan mids provide improved impact when needed while adding detail and warmth. All couldn't have come together without BigRed's tuning and the help of JT with the sails. Thank you, Jim! Thank you, JT! I am super happy with the results. Can't wait to take this little car out to State Finals and Worlds!


----------



## Bluenote

That's great Mrs Papasin! I've always wanted to try those Scan Speak drivers. Good luck with the comp, you should do quite well.


----------



## sqnut

The Scans look gorgeous, great install.

PS With Jim's tune I'm sure it sounds great too. Curious who the tweaker in the family is, yourself or Richard.....or both?


----------



## claydo

I'll a lil eager to take a listen myself, I'm tickled you're bringing her to finals, or is it a he.....not sure how the ladies refer to their rides.....lol. I'm working on getting a set of scan 5s on my dash as well. I chose the "m" version, and I'm looking forward to comparing the sound of the two drivers. See ya in a few weeks brood de papasin! Oh, and sorry, but one more time.......is the mister bringing his ride as well? Or is this a smart only adventure?


----------



## Lycancatt

scans! oh dear..i might do my jumping up and down fanboy thing..i am a huge fan of scan drivers


----------



## Kevin K

They look great and right at home, look forward to hearing it....soon


----------



## ErinH

Always loved Scan. Sometimes I regret ever ditching my scan setup from 4 years ago which had the Scan 12m and the alpine/scan d2904 variant. I really dug it (not to say I don't dig what I have now). With you and Clay going with the Scan 5's, you two are gonna cause me some headaches, lol.

Regardless, knowing these speakers, I'm sure this sounds awesome. I look forward to hearing it at Finals if we have the opportunity to swap keys!


----------



## shinjohn

MrsPapasin said:


> The deep chamber Scan tweeters add that perfect sparkle, sweetness, and delicacy while the Scan mids provide improved impact when needed while adding detail and warmth. All couldn't have come together without BigRed's tuning and the help of JT with the sails. Thank you, Jim! Thank you, JT! I am super happy with the results. Can't wait to take this little car out to State Finals and Worlds!


This driver combo is one of my favorites for sure, but I have to say it does come together really, really, nicely in this car. Set up so well with the physical locations and the tune is fabulous..... It was definitely a "WOW" experience.


----------



## rton20s

That Scan sure looks beefy compared to the C5CX! I look forward to getting some seat time in the Smart this weekend.


----------



## ErinH

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the "w" version over the "m" version?


----------



## papasin

ErinH said:


> Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the "w" version over the "m" version?


Why choose tint over cloth? (J/K) The "w" was chosen for a good reason. Think about how this car is set up, and it should make perfect sense.


----------



## casey

looks awesome! I didnt realize the scan was that much bigger than the illusion.

Also, I see you are using the ring radiator tweeter. Any reason on that over the dome tweeter?


----------



## papasin

casey said:


> Also, I see you are using the ring radiator tweeter. Any reason on that over the dome tweeter?


I'll let Shinjohn or Erin take that one.


----------



## quality_sound

Did the upgrade smooth out that roughness in the upper midrange? I know you said it was source dependent but if it helps, that's never a bad thing.


----------



## papasin

quality_sound said:


> Did the upgrade smooth out that roughness in the upper midrange? I know you said it was source dependent but if it helps, that's never a bad thing.


The upper midrange with the C5CX was actually very good. Even with this setup, it's source dependent and we both verified it. Jim didn't believe us at first, until he heard it for himself. Both optical inputs are *not* the same. With my H800, it's not this way. Something about the H800 in Linda's Smart when you toggle between CD changer and iPad regardless of what speakers are run alters the tonality. It's really weird.


----------



## quality_sound

Well that's a bummer. With Scans being a bit less forward it would have been cool if it helped with that. It would suck to have to swap out the H800. Glad to hear it's been an improvement though.


----------



## papasin

quality_sound said:


> Well that's a bummer. With Scans being a bit less forward it would have been cool if it helped with that. It would suck to have to swap out the H800. Glad to hear it's been an improvement though.


Linda uses one optical input 99% of the time. Thanks to Jim, it's tuned very very well for the one input. If we need to switch, it's easy enough to get to physically swap the cables. Other processors have only one optical input anyway, so no big deal.


----------



## papasin

And as indicated, it came together very nicely.


----------



## ErinH

papasin said:


> Why choose tint over cloth? (J/K) The "w" was chosen for a good reason. Think about how this car is set up, and it should make perfect sense.


I don't recall the details. Do you guys not have a dedicated midwoofer? If so, then I've got it.


----------



## ErinH

papasin said:


> I'll let Shinjohn or Erin take that one.


smoother dispersion off-axis. That's the trait of the RR, in trade for a bit higher Fs to it's dome counterpart.


----------



## papasin

ErinH said:


> I don't recall the details. Do you guys not have a dedicated midwoofer? If so, then I've got it.


Bingo...you can look at Linda's sig. But I guess she needs to update it now too.


----------



## ErinH

I've got sigs disabled so I was hoping I was right. lol. 


Cool stuff. Great drivers as has been said. The revelator line is a classic.


----------



## papasin

ErinH said:


> smoother dispersion off-axis. That's the trait of the RR, in trade for a bit higher Fs to it's dome counterpart.


For the deep chamber variants, the Fs on the RR is actually a smidge lower but basically negligible (420 for RR vs. 425 for soft dome).

The rationale is I'm just going to blame Shinjohn for letting Linda listen to his deep chamber RR tweeters and leave it at that lol.


----------



## ErinH

papasin said:


> For the deep chamber variants, the Fs on the RR is actually a smidge lower but basically negligible (420 for RR vs. 425 for soft dome).


Right. There are a few different versions of the Illuminator tweeters. I was just comparing an 'all things equal' RR vs Dome. The benefit for the RR is smoother off-axis dispersion.


----------



## casey

ErinH said:


> smoother dispersion off-axis. That's the trait of the RR, in trade for a bit higher Fs to it's dome counterpart.


Ah makes sense. Its been a while since I read up on the differences, and even so I may have misunderstood.

Makes me wonder if its worth trying the 3/4" scan RR on mine 


sorry to get off topic.

Again, I like the changes!


----------



## ErinH

I did some comparison testing a few years back and posted the data *somewhere* (can't recall now). Ultimately, I went with the RR as well. I've owned all the scan illuminator tweeters at some point or another, though. They're all great. The only real key is to pay attention to sizes. If you rock a 6.5" driver for 2-way purposes then get the larger tweeter so it can better mate at the point where the 6.5" is beaming. If you're using a smaller mid in a 2-way or 3-way (ie; a 4" mid) then you use the smaller tweeter since you can cross a bit higher.

At the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with Scan. Outside of Kef, it's the only other brand I'd not hesitate at all over running. 

Get a good driver/speaker and you have to do less with the tune to make it sound good.


----------



## MrsPapasin

I'm super proud of this second at CA MECA State Finals. Tied for first but my fellow extreme competitor, Scott Welch, took the win because his tonality score was slightly higher than mine. Congrats, Scott! Nice to know that hard work does pay off and that the little car can hold it's own weight in a highly competitive class!


----------



## shinjohn

Congrats on the finish, well done!


----------



## rton20s

Congratulations Linda! I couldn't believe how close it was between Scott and yourself. Especially averaged across three judges. It might not be a win, but it is most certainly an accomplishment.


----------



## bertholomey

That Smart is awesome! Great job Linda!


----------



## thehatedguy

There are many wins that don't always equal first place trophies.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thank you, guys! 



thehatedguy said:


> There are many wins that don't always equal first place trophies.


You're totally right!  I'm really happy how the Smart came together and the fact that it was a tie for the top score of the show is a huge accomplishment that I am so grateful for. Couldn't have done it without the many friends who helped us to get here. BigRed for tuning, JT for the install and new tweeter sails, friends who helped baby sit our kids yesterday and gave us a place to crash for the past couple nights, WCA teammates who have been supportive and who make this hobby so much fun to share ideas with, and friends online who are cheering us on from near and far. Thank you all for everything! 

I'm really hoping to get a chance to meet you, thehatedguy, as well as many others. See you at World Finals!

This same friend who helped with our kids and gave us a place to crash, took this really nice picture of the front stage of the Smart and shared it with me on Facebook. I thought I would share this here as well.










Here's a pic with SQHemi's Charger and the Smart being judged side by side. Extreme windshield and window covers at work.  What can I say, we just like covers out here in California along with sweaters and blankets for 70 degree weather.  










And finally Matt Roberts judging the Smart.


----------



## crea_78

Matt Roberts judging in CA?? Far away from home in SC, and he is a super nice guy. Congrats on the win!!


----------



## JayinMI

Congrats Linda! Great work. Nice to see Richard had a good outing (ha!) too. 

I've always wondered what Matt Roberts looked like. lol

Jay


----------



## SQHemi

rton20s said:


> Congratulations Linda! I couldn't believe how close it was between Scott and yourself. Especially averaged across three judges. It might not be a win, but it is most certainly an accomplishment.


The evolution of Linda's smart car is absolutely stunning. The sheer amount of work and dedication they have put into its continued upwards progression is inspiring and reflects the competitive spirit the Papasin's bring to this sport. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, their ability to create such amazing sound from such a small space is truly a win. My hats off to them and I would hope she would be considered for Meca's competitor of the Year as she has earned in my opinion.


----------



## ErinH

congrats on the fresh install and score.


----------



## thehatedguy

I was wondering what the old hippie was doing in Cali.


----------



## astrochex

Congrats Linda, on making the winner work really hard for the victory.


----------



## MrsPapasin

JayinMI said:


> Congrats Linda! Great work. Nice to see Richard had a good outing (ha!) too.
> Jay





ErinH said:


> congrats on the fresh install and score.





astrochex said:


> Congrats Linda, on making the winner work really hard for the victory.


Thank you, guys! 



SQHemi said:


> The evolution of Linda's smart car is absolutely stunning. The sheer amount of work and dedication they have put into its continued upwards progression is inspiring and reflects the competitive spirit the Papasin's bring to this sport. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, their ability to create such amazing sound from such a small space is truly a win. My hats off to them and I would hope she would be considered for Meca's competitor of the Year as she has earned in my opinion.


Scott, thank you for the warm words. Richard and I are just doing this because we enjoy the hobby and it pushes us to improve, learn, and grow. I'm sure there are other competitors who are just as if not more deserving than myself. But thank you for this. I appreciate it! Congrats to you on the win! I hope we can continue to push each other to bring out the best in each other and in our cars!


----------



## Golden Ear

Congratulations Linda!! Your car sounds amazing! I'm so glad I got a chance to listen to it on Sunday. You and Richard deserve every trophy you get. Keep up the good work and thanks for all the help


----------



## MrsPapasin

Golden Ear said:


> Congratulations Linda!! Your car sounds amazing! I'm so glad I got a chance to listen to it on Sunday. You and Richard deserve every trophy you get. Keep up the good work and thanks for all the help


Thank you, Golden Ear! You too keep up the good work! I still owe you a windshield cover fitting!


----------



## Golden Ear

MrsPapasin said:


> Thank you, Golden Ear! You too keep up the good work! I still owe you a windshield cover fitting!


Lol Thanks! Now that the season is over for me we have plenty of time to get the windshield cover done. I'm sure I'll be back up at your guys' house soon enough bugging you for help with something:laugh: You and Richard are the best!


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thank you, Arizona, for some fun times and the hospitality! Enzo, thanks for organizing. Nice to see you again, The real Subzero. Pcabinatan and David Creger, it was a pleasure meeting you both. Win1, thanks for coming out to represent WCA with us! 

Now time to prep for Worlds!


----------



## Golden Ear

Congrats on the amazing score you got Linda! Way to go!


----------



## JayinMI

So you ARE bringing the car(s) to Tenessee?

Jay


----------



## MrsPapasin

Spent most of yesterday driving home from Arizona. It was a long road home. Good practice for going to Worlds! It really helps to have a great sounding system to pass the time. 



Golden Ear said:


> Congrats on the amazing score you got Linda! Way to go!



Thanks! It was a pleasant surprise!  



JayinMI said:


> So you ARE bringing the car(s) to Tenessee?
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



Yes!


----------



## rton20s

MrsPapasin said:


> Spent most of yesterday driving home from Arizona. It was a long road home. Good practice for going to Worlds! It really helps to have a great sounding system to pass the time.


Looks like the valley. Is that the coastal range off in the distance? 

I'm sure it is comfy, but I couldn't imagine driving a Smart all the way to Tennessee! I look forward to seeing how the Smart stacks up at Worlds.


----------



## bertholomey

.....the no cruise control is what would be challenging to me, so you guys are amazing to be able to drive so long without it ?


----------



## MrsPapasin

rton20s said:


> Looks like the valley. Is that the coastal range off in the distance?
> 
> 
> 
> I'm sure it is comfy, but I couldn't imagine driving a Smart all the way to Tennessee! I look forward to seeing how the Smart stacks up at Worlds.



You know your scenery! That was on route 166.

As far as Tennessee goes, it'll be a fun experience. I feel very lucky to be able to go. 



bertholomey said:


> .....the no cruise control is what would be challenging to me, so you guys are amazing to be able to drive so long without it ?



Yeah that does suck that there's no cruise control but I'm used to it now. I just can't sit on my SQ booster the entire time.


----------



## mrpeabody

MrsPapasin said:


> Yeah that does suck that there's no cruise control but I'm used to it now. I just can't sit on my SQ booster the entire time.


My integra has no cruise control either. Couple drives to Phoenix each year to visit family and now I'm used to it. Though, Tennessee might be another story, lol.


----------



## claydo

92.75.......Holy scoresheet batman!


----------



## JayinMI

bertholomey said:


> .....the no cruise control is what would be challenging to me, so you guys are amazing to be able to drive so long without it ?


They make cruise control kits for the Smart...maybe something to think about for next year's trip to Finals. lol

Jay


----------



## shinjohn

Nicely done in Arizona, congrats! What a drive!
Did you guys do any tuning between SLO and AZ?


----------



## rton20s

No cruise control on the xB either. I hear there is a simple fix.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Got stars? I got mine! Lol


----------



## rton20s

Are these for your windhield cover? If so, make sure to use different sizes to help with the visual illusion of depth.


----------



## Golden Ear

rton20s said:


> Are these for your windhield cover? If so, make sure to use different sizes to help with the visual illusion of depth.


I moon would really help too! Lol


----------



## MrsPapasin

Coming soon to Nashville, TN...


----------



## rton20s

She needs some wheels to match mommy's! 

I think the Papasins are going to own half the vehicles at finals.


----------



## papasin

The dash is headed in the right direction with an iOS device.


----------



## rton20s

Wait just a minute. Pioneer?!


----------



## JayinMI

Starting her off right!

Jay


----------



## papasin

rton20s said:


> Wait just a minute. Pioneer?!



Our van has a Pioneer 8400BH that was inherited from Linda's Smart. If you look at the first few pages of the thread, this car also had a Pioneer DD previously. So it goes without saying, I have nothing against Pioneer HUs.


----------



## MrsPapasin

Actually front stage is more like this for the MK1 Smart. Added a volt meter.


----------



## MrsPapasin

*Depth Stars*

Some pics of the Scans in the Smart














































Depth Stars


----------



## claydo

Just out of curiosity.........what secures the tweets? Are they clipped in from the back or something?

And, I sure do love the look of that suede........noice.


----------



## MrsPapasin

claydo said:


> Just out of curiosity.........what secures the tweets? Are they clipped in from the back or something?


Attached by magic star dust for extra width. Lol :laugh:

Just kidding, they're press fit in custom interchangeable rings just like the Illusion or Hybrid tweeters.


----------



## Darth SQ

Congratulations you two. 
That's a big win. :thumbsup:


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## papasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Congratulations you two.
> That's a big win. :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> Bret
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR


Bret can correct me, but I believe what he is referring to is a congrats to MrsPapasin on what was recently added to her signature. It was just announced and will be awarded at World Finals next weekend. I'm very proud of her for her dedication and committment.


----------



## REGULARCAB

papasin said:


> Bret can correct me, but I believe what he is referring to is a congrats to MrsPapasin on what was recently added to her signature. It was just announced and will be awarded at World Finals next weekend. I'm very proud of her for her dedication and committment.


That is a pretty cool accomplishment :crowngrin:

And the depth stars are classic!


----------



## Kevin K

Congrats Mrs. Linda. 
I like the star effect, that is neat. Is that tint with stars applied?


----------



## MrsPapasin

Kevin K said:


> Congrats Mrs. Linda.
> I like the star effect, that is neat. Is that tint with stars applied?



Thank you, Bret, REGULARCAB, and Kevin!

Congrats to you too, Kevin, on the 2014 MECA ModStreet National points championship! 

The stars are part of a mesh netting fabric.


----------



## Kevin K

MrsPapasin said:


> Thank you, Bret, REGULARCAB, and Kevin!
> 
> Congrats to you too, Kevin, on the 2014 MECA ModStreet National points championship!
> 
> The stars are part of a mesh netting fabric.



Thank you. I look forward to hearing your car very soon.


----------



## rton20s

You really did the depth stars! I love it. It has to be worth at least 1/4 point on the score sheet.


----------



## papasin

...or, we might just go with something like this.


----------



## MrsPapasin

rton20s said:


> You really did the depth stars! I love it. It has to be worth at least 1/4 point on the score sheet.


1/4 point might make all the difference! lol :laugh:



papasin said:


> ...or, we might just go with something like this.


It looks like this inside...










and with a little help from the iPad mini


----------



## MrsPapasin

Hubby installed a new Borla Dual Center Cat-back Exhaust for the road trip! Yay! It's quieter than my old one. Thank you, Richard!


----------



## rton20s

As if you guys didn't already have enough to do?  

The exhaust looks good. Are all of the hangers properly connected?


----------



## papasin

Just swapped the rims and tires (on loan from the electric sibling).


----------



## Coppertone

Looks very nice with what you two have added, bravo to you.


----------



## Golden Ear

Very nice!


----------



## JayinMI

I like those wheels a lot better than the stock (non-electric) Smart wheels I've seen. 

Are either of you (or both of you) judging at Finals?

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> I like those wheels a lot better than the stock (non-electric) Smart wheels I've seen.
> 
> 
> 
> Are either of you (or both of you) judging at Finals?
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



Lol Jay. Those are aftermarket rims and tires also.

http://smartmadness.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=230&product_id=391

The OEM rims and tires on the electric are pretty much the same as the gas siblings.

No, we aren't judging finals. The MECA judges for finals are listed on the MECA website.


----------



## papasin

rton20s said:


> The exhaust looks good.





Coppertone said:


> Looks very nice with what you two have added, bravo to you.





Golden Ear said:


> Very nice!


Thanks guys!


----------



## JayinMI

papasin said:


> Lol Jay. Those are aftermarket rims and tires also.


I thought maybe they were some kind of hard compound low rolling resistance tire specifically for the Electric or something...better MPG for the trip or something. lol



papasin said:


> No, we aren't judging finals. The MECA judges for finals are listed on the MECA website.


Since I'm not competing, (and haven't ever since no shows in my area) I didn't even think to look there. I've just been following the thread on here and on FB.

Jay


----------



## eling23

sorry if this is a repeat but i recently jailbroke my ipad and saw a cydia app that is for "tricking" an app to think it's on wifi but will use your LTE, it's called 3g unrestrictor, not sure if it can be used for your wifi backup camera but worth a try. I met you both a bing's get together a while back! .... for some reason couldnt log into my old accnt here but thought of this car when i saw it. I haven't kept up here recently so you may have already gotten it figured out.
-e


----------



## papasin

eling23 said:


> sorry if this is a repeat but i recently jailbroke my ipad and saw a cydia app that is for "tricking" an app to think it's on wifi but will use your LTE, it's called 3g unrestrictor, not sure if it can be used for your wifi backup camera but worth a try. I met you both a bing's get together a while back! .... for some reason couldnt log into my old accnt here but thought of this car when i saw it. I haven't kept up here recently so you may have already gotten it figured out.
> -e


MrsPapasin figured out a solution (see post 468). And she didn't even have to jailbreak it. When we get back from Worlds, there's a few things MrsPapasin still wants to look into, but the simultaneous LTE and wifi for the backup camera no longer is an issue. Thanks for checking back with us though!


----------



## MrsPapasin

eling23 said:


> sorry if this is a repeat but i recently jailbroke my ipad and saw a cydia app that is for "tricking" an app to think it's on wifi but will use your LTE, it's called 3g unrestrictor, not sure if it can be used for your wifi backup camera but worth a try. I met you both a bing's get together a while back! .... for some reason couldnt log into my old accnt here but thought of this car when i saw it. I haven't kept up here recently so you may have already gotten it figured out.
> -e



Sorry e for taking so long to respond! Been very busy with work (rover test in the Mojave) and World Finals. Thanks for getting back to me on that! Really appreciate you reaching out. Like Richard said I found the solution so my setup works with wifi for the back up camera and LTE for everything else. What I'm still working on is disabling TVout so that the video will display on the iPad's screen instead of telling me it's going out to a TV over HDMI because of being connected to the Apple digital AVI adapter. If you have any ideas on that let me know! I'm pretty sure it requires jail breaking.

I think once we've returned home from
Worlds, we will be having a little gtg. I'll PM you once we figure that out! Hope we can meet again!


----------



## MrsPapasin

Fun stuff at Worlds! I count my lucky stars that we had a safe trip out to Nashville and had a great time! :laugh: 










Some "hardware" as I kept hearing people call it that we get to take home with us.   So proud of our accomplishments this season and I'm loving my little car more and more because of them. 























































Thanks to everyone who was there at the event that made it so much fun! Had fun hanging out and having dinner with these folks: 










We even met Dr. Jay (JayInMI)! And that is totally awesome!


----------



## papasin

Proud of you!


----------



## bertholomey

Thank you so much Linda and Richard for making the trek to TN. I had such a wonderful time hanging out with you. I completely enjoyed my extended demo in the Smart - Fantastic! Congratulations on a wonderful competitive season! Please have a save journey home, and I look forward to the next opportunity.


----------



## Darth SQ

We're all proud of you Linda and the whole Papasin family!
MECA Spirit and MECA Spouse only told the rest of MECA what we've known about you all for years now. 
Love you guys! 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## palldat

Great Job.


----------



## rton20s

Congratulations Richard, Linda and kiddos! Even though the rest of the WCA crew couldn't make it out there physically, we were with you in spirit. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you guys have been great examples of team mates, competitors, sportsmen and in showing us that our love of car audio can and should be shared with the entire family.


----------



## Golden Ear

I want to echo exactly what Bret and Dustin said. You guys are great and I'm proud to be on a team with you! Way to go Linda, with the little smart car that could!


----------



## MrsPapasin

Thank you, Jason, Bret, Paul, Dustin, and Dominic!


----------



## BigRed

I really like the smart. Thank u for the demo


----------



## MrsPapasin

BigRed said:


> I really like the smart. Thank u for the demo



You're welcome! My tuner is a Master Class World Champion. His name is Jim. I think you might know him.


----------



## james2266

MrsPapasin said:


> You're welcome! My tuner is a Master Class World Champion. His name is Jim. I think you might know him.


Yeah, wanna tune mine? Lord knows I could use your expertise. Wish I had someone with a tenth your expertise up here to bounce ideas off of. Oh well. Gotta find a way to get my ass back down to see you guys again and when I do I will most definitely go out of my way to rehear your Smart Linda and I will finally get a chance to hear Jim's Big White


----------



## DLO13

This picture.... makes my day.


----------



## papasin

I forgot to update this thread. Some awesome work by JT (as always)























































and something different up front as well.


----------



## DLO13

papasin said:


>












eww


----------



## papasin

DLO13 said:


> eww


I guess you must not like the install. Well, guess I'll let JT know. Wonder who's car he's working on these days. :surprised:


----------



## DLO13

papasin said:


> I guess you must not like the install. Well, guess I'll let JT know. Wonder who's car he's working on these days. :surprised:


heh.


----------



## james2266

very nice Richard (and JT of course). Are you switching out all your amps to Zapco? Curious on your thoughts compared to the Mosconi/Alpine you guys were running before. I think a new amp might be in my future too and would love some ideas. Been thinking about replacing my Audison for some time now. Getting a little old and has some 'issues' at times. I guess I could attempt to fix it but replace might be better idea as I think there are a few better too.


----------



## papasin

james2266 said:


> very nice Richard (and JT of course). Are you switching out all your amps to Zapco? Curious on your thoughts compared to the Mosconi/Alpine you guys were running before. I think a new amp might be in my future too and would love some ideas. Been thinking about replacing my Audison for some time now. Getting a little old and has some 'issues' at times. I guess I could attempt to fix it but replace might be better idea as I think there are a few better too.


One of MrsPapasin's requirements for JT is for her car to be fully interchangeable. So we will be keeping the Alpine beauty panel and amps for the lift gate, so she can easily switch them much like all the other parts in her car. 

EDIT: but to answer your question, we've been quite happy with the Zapcos. The ones in the Civic, I really like because they upgraded the internals, added better RCA connectors, got rid of the crossovers and they only have gain settings and you can adjust per channel. You should come back and check them out for yourselves.


----------



## Darth SQ

DLO13 said:


> eww


That poor girl.
Her pic has been posted over 100 million times by now.
If she grows up not all screwed up it will be a miracle. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


----------



## Golden Ear

papasin said:


> I guess you must not like the install. Well, guess I'll let JT know. Wonder who's car he's working on these days. :surprised:


Haha


----------



## DavidRam

It looks a m a z i n g !!!


----------



## papasin

DavidRam said:


> It looks a m a z i n g !!!


Thanks, it sounds pretty good too. 

You should come take a listen sometime.


----------



## Babs

That "tailgate" amp setup is beautiful use of space. 

Yes you can't criticize the Zapco's as not being good-looking for sure. There's an old-school quality I like about their heat sink fins. Very sharp. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## james2266

papasin said:


> One of MrsPapasin's requirements for JT is for her car to be fully interchangeable. So we will be keeping the Alpine beauty panel and amps for the lift gate, so she can easily switch them much like all the other parts in her car.
> 
> EDIT: but to answer your question, we've been quite happy with the Zapcos. The ones in the Civic, I really like because they upgraded the internals, added better RCA connectors, got rid of the crossovers and they only have gain settings and you can adjust per channel. You should come back and check them out for yourselves.


Thanks for that Richard. A return is on my to-do list sometime in the future. I won't be driving back again anytime soon tho. 8000 km round trip is a little much. lol


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## teldzc1

Richard what drivers are those now?


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## papasin

teldzc1 said:


> Richard what drivers are those now?



Reverb Acoustic F2BE and F5


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## subwoofery

papasin said:


> Reverb Acoustic F2BE and F5


What's the depth of the F2BE please? 

Kelvin


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## papasin

subwoofery said:


> What's the depth of the F2BE please?
> 
> Kelvin


A shade over 0.9" based on my rough measurement.

But you might want to wait for the Audible Physics RAM 2.6 A combo which includes this guy:


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## subwoofery

papasin said:


> A shade over 0.9" based on my rough measurement.
> 
> But you might want to wait for the Audible Physics RAM 2.6 A combo which includes this guy:


Sweet driver, is it shallower? Is that why you suggest I should wait for this above driver? 

Kelvin


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## papasin

subwoofery said:


> Sweet driver, is it shallower? Is that why you suggest I should wait for this above driver?
> 
> 
> 
> Kelvin



Don't have measurements yet, but I suggested these based on ease of obtaining them along with a better response as indicated by the designer. Looking forward to trying a set myself for some comparison.


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## ssmith100

Richard

Are you and the wife coming back to College Station this year ???

Shane


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## Kazuhiro

Very nice fabrication, are those pods view obstructing at all? Does it make you feel more cased in, rather than open to the world?


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## papasin

ssmith100 said:


> Richard
> 
> Are you and the wife coming back to College Station this year ???
> 
> Shane


Unfortunately, not this year Shane. Maybe next one. You guys have fun!


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## papasin

Kazuhiro said:


> are those pods view obstructing at all? Does it make you feel more cased in, rather than open to the world?


Surprisingly, not much. MrsPapasin has had them for nearly two years now. The dash in this car is fairly low, and when seated the driver effectively sees right over the pods. I've seen smaller pods, in larger vehicles which actually caused more of a blind spot.


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## Brian_smith06

How did I not see those updated pics yesterday! I was showing the wife this thread


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## rton20s

I saw the new AP Ram 2.6 A on FB last night. Those things look nice! Hopefully I get to hear the Smart with the Reverb Acoustic gear before it gets swapped out.


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## DLO13

rton20s said:


> I saw the new AP Ram 2.6 A on FB last night. Those things look nice! Hopefully I get to hear the Smart with the Reverb Acoustic gear before it gets swapped out.


Too late. :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## rton20s

DLO13 said:


> Too late. :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


With as rapidly as some of the Papasin gear changes happen, I figured these will be in for at least this weekends MECA comp/GTG. After that, all bets are off. 

I can't imagine how often you two would be changing gear if you didn't have six different vehicles to play with!


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## papasin

The Smart can be reconfigured to whatever setup (past or present) in a fairly short period of time. So Dustin, just pick a setup, we'll load the preset, and you can listen to your heart's content.


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## Kazuhiro

That low dash sounds like a diy blessing.


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## rton20s

papasin said:


> The Smart can be reconfigured to whatever setup (past or present) in a fairly short period of time. So Dustin, just pick a setup, we'll load the preset, and you can listen to your heart's content.


This does not surprise me in the least.


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## Darth SQ

papasin said:


> The Smart can be reconfigured to whatever setup (past or present) in a fairly short period of time. So Dustin, just pick a setup, we'll load the preset, and you can listen to your heart's content.


Ok I'll bite......why would you want to?
Not being a smart ass; just really would like to know. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## MrsPapasin

PPI-ART COLLECTOR said:


> Ok I'll bite......why would you want to?
> 
> Not being a smart ass; just really would like to know.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bret
> 
> PPI-ART COLLECTOR



A big part of the fun with all this is learning. Richard and I are having fun experimenting with different setups, drivers, amps, etc. With each setup we get to practice tuning too and/or hear the differences between the different setups. What better way to do this than having a setup where reconfiguring is very easy. The best way to learn is just by doing. This gives us that luxury. As a wise man often referred to as BigRed has said, "Experimentation is your friend." It really is Bret.


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## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> A big part of the fun with all this is learning. Richard and I are having fun experimenting with different setups, drivers, amps, etc. With each setup we get to practice tuning too and/or hear the differences between the different setups. What better way to do this than having a setup where reconfiguring is very easy. The best way to learn is just by doing. This gives us that luxury. As a wise man often referred to as BigRed has said, "Experimentation is your friend." It really is Bret.


I completely understand that part.
I guess I just didn't understand why you'd want to go back to an old setup.
I should have been more specific.
My bad. 


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## DLO13

I now request your Signature be a gif of all the gear you are swapping and testing.


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## MrsPapasin

Time to take the Little Car out for some competition fun at Extreme Autofest in Anaheim this coming Saturday. It's all ready to go thanks to BigRed for another amazing tune! Thank you, BigRed!

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...gtg-angel-stadium-anaheim-ca-6-20-2015-a.html

Should be exciting as it looks like there will be several competitors in Extreme class along with me. Wish me good luck!


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## eling23

Wish i could make the trek down to kick it w you guys! Have fun! All i know is that you and Dom ruined me, the sound from your smartcar is un-freakin-believable! Goodluck! 
-Eugene


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## papasin

eling23 said:


> Wish i could make the trek down to kick it w you guys! Have fun! All i know is that you and Dom ruined me, the sound from your smartcar is un-freakin-believable! Goodluck!
> -Eugene


Eugene, it's gotten better since you last heard it.


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## mrpeabody

MrsPapasin said:


> A big part of the fun with all this is learning. Richard and I are having fun experimenting with different setups, drivers, amps, etc. With each setup we get to practice tuning too and/or hear the differences between the different setups. What better way to do this than having a setup where reconfiguring is very easy. The best way to learn is just by doing. This gives us that luxury. As a wise man often referred to as BigRed has said, "Experimentation is your friend." It really is Bret.


I'm in the same boat. I need to rig up some easily interchangeable mounting options though, as i tend to just start over from scratch all the time for funsies.


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## Golden Ear

Good luck Linda!!! Even tho I don't think you'll need it


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## Babs

Good luck! That's a cool little car! 
Wish I could email my ears over the continent so I could demo the Si and Smart. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Huckleberry Sound

Amazing Work!


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## LaserSVT

My friends often ask me why I don't compete. I respond by showing them your pictures. They then just say "Oh" lol


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## JayinMI

Yep. I was planning to try to compete more, then realized what class I'd be in, and wasn't so worried about it anymore. lol

I think Richard and Kirk Profitt are both in Modex...

So, I'll just show up at finals and root for the Papasins. 

Jay


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## rton20s

I can't wait to hear it Linda! I got a chance to demo Richard's car on Saturday and was very impressed. It seems like each time I hear one of the Papasin cars it is better than the last time I heard it. A pretty amazing accomplishment considering how great they were the time previous. And then to take all of the gear swaps into account, it is even more impressive.


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## papasin

rton20s said:


> I can't wait to hear it Linda! I got a chance to demo Richard's car on Saturday and was very impressed. It seems like each time I hear one of the Papasin cars it is better than the last time I heard it. A pretty amazing accomplishment considering how great they were the time previous. And then to take all of the gear swaps into account, it is even more impressive.


Linda and I are definitely enjoying the hobby, in large part due to the fact that we are continually learning, evolving, and maturing both platforms. Competing allows us to test some of these different configs, not that we can't judge for ourselves, but gives an independent assessment. The fact that you are noticing each time you hear the vehicles that they are improving, helps validate what we are also thinking...and that we're not swapping gear just for the sake of swapping gear. There is a method to our madness.  

Albeit, the gear changes are getting slower (if you can believe that), but we're still refining and testing and realizing there are still a few ounces of SQ to be had in multiple arenas including gear, install, and tuning. I know people say it never ends, but I think the Smart and the Civic are getting pretty mature, relatively speaking of course...but there are still a few surprises up our sleeve. :surprised:

As for those that have indicated about why they don't compete, there are definitely MANY other competitors that deserve recognition that have very impressive records and experience well beyond ours...but I wouldn't let whatever anyone else does (IMHO) be a deterrent. If anything, I think there are many who are coming into the lanes more recently wanting to learn, and I think that in large part is what it should be about and why we do it. There's also nothing like a set date (i.e. a comp date) to motivate getting something put together and targeting a deadline. For some (including me), that is extra motivation we're not just keeping gear on the shelves so to speak.


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## astrochex

Good luck on Saturday, Linda!

Be sure to stay/think cool, its gonna be a scorcher in that parking lot.


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## MrsPapasin

Thank you guys!


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## Babs

papasin said:


> As for those that have indicated about why they don't compete, there are definitely MANY other competitors that deserve recognition that have very impressive records and experience well beyond ours...but I wouldn't let whatever anyone else does (IMHO) be a deterrent. If anything, I think there are many who are coming into the lanes more recently wanting to learn, and I think that in large part is what it should be about and why we do it. There's also nothing like a set date (i.e. a comp date) to motivate getting something put together and targeting a deadline. For some (including me), that is extra motivation we're not just keeping gear on the shelves so to speak.


You make a great point.. If I were so bold as to even attempt to compete, I'd get out of it more than anything having a judge's ears assess what I've been able to put together, mainly for that expert feedback, so I can learn, run with that and improve. Couldn't care less about any trophy, but the opportunity to learn. If I were to actually place though, I'd probably faint. 



MrsPapasin said:


> Thank you guys!


Cheering squad ready! Go Linda Go! Go Linda Go!


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## Jimmy the Heater

Read this whole thread from start to finish in one sitting. What an amazing build, evolution and learning experience. Both for you and us. Thank you so much for sharing it!


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## MrsPapasin

Flowers are just what I need today. Richard got these for me and it made me smile. 

86.75 for me. Second place at Anaheim Extreme Autofest in a highly contested class with four competitors. 0.25 point from first place. Still hanging with the top cars. ? 

Thank you everyone for your cheers and support. This has been a very humbling experience. I'm
not really sure where I'll go from here with this car, but we're always thinking. All I know is that it never has sounded better and I'm loving it!


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## hot9dog

great looking install!!!! very nice!


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## MrsPapasin

I know in the big world outside of California, I'd get slaughtered by the guys who take Show and Shine very seriously, but gotta start somewhere.  Richard and I held a 3X MECA SQ event this weekend with Show and Shine. To our knowledge it is California's first time holding a MECA Show and Shine event. I did not compete my car in the SQ part of the event since I was busy directing and Richard was judging. I thought it would be fun however to give Show and Shine a try with the little car. Knowing really nothing about competing in Show and Shine, it was a big learning experience and expectations were really low especially after seeing who I was up against (an Acura, a BMW, our RAM truck, and a VW Jetta all of which were souped-up in some way or another). To my very pleasant surprise, the little car managed to squeak out a Best of Show win in Show and Shine. Thank you to hubby for putting the various mods to the car including body kit, exhaust, spoiler, and pedal upgrades. Thank you to JT for the install on the custom street suede, iPad mini, and audio upgrades including the stealthy tail gate amp integration. I know it's no Toyo Smart Show Car, but kind of cool to be honored with this award.


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## Darth SQ

MrsPapasin said:


> I know in the big world outside of California, I'd get slaughtered by the guys who take Show and Shine very seriously, but gotta start somewhere.  Richard and I held a 3X MECA SQ event this weekend with Show and Shine. To our knowledge it is California's first time holding a MECA Show and Shine event. I did not compete my car in the SQ part of the event since I was busy directing and Richard was judging. I thought it would be fun however to give Show and Shine a try with the little car. Knowing really nothing about competing in Show and Shine, it was a big learning experience and expectations were really low especially after seeing who I was up against (an Acura, a BMW, our RAM truck, and a VW Jetta all of which were souped-up in some way or another). To my very pleasant surprise, the little car managed to squeak out a Best of Show win in Show and Shine. Thank you to hubby for putting the various mods to the car including body kit, exhaust, spoiler, and pedal upgrades. Thank you to JT for the install on the custom street suede, iPad mini, and audio upgrades including the stealthy tail gate amp integration. I know it's no Toyo Smart Show Car, but kind of cool to be honored with this award.


You earned it. :thumbsup:


Bret
PPI-ART COLLECTOR


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## astrochex

The Mrs. Papasin Smart is definitely the little car that could! Congrats!


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## Huckleberry Sound

:)[/QUOTE said:


> Amazing Job. I love to see efficiency in car audio. Not to much, but just enough to get the point across. Just enough to really put the punctuation at the end of a good sentence! Keep up the great work. You are definitely setting a proper example.
> 
> Much success in all you do.


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## Babs

Congrats!! I'm now inspired to actually wash mine. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## shinjohn

Congrats, Linda. The Smart was lookin' good for sure! Well done!


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## MrsPapasin

astrochex said:


> The Mrs. Papasin Smart is definitely the little car that could! Congrats!





Huckleberry Sound said:


> Amazing Job. I love to see efficiency in car audio. Not to much, but just enough to get the point across. Just enough to really put the punctuation at the end of a good sentence! Keep up the great work. You are definitely setting a proper example.
> 
> Much success in all you do.





shinjohn said:


> Congrats, Linda. The Smart was lookin' good for sure! Well done!


Thanks, guys!



Babs said:


> Congrats!! I'm now inspired to actually wash mine.


Lol that made me laugh. :laugh:


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## DLO13

For those of you that haven't had an opportunity to listen to this car... I must tell you that it is the benchmark for audio.
I don't think I have heard a more precise and technically accurate reproduction of music, in ANY environment, let alone a car.

I really hope some of you can get a chance to hear it.


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## MrsPapasin

DLO13 said:


> For those of you that haven't had an opportunity to listen to this car... I must tell you that it is the benchmark for audio.
> I don't think I have heard a more precise and technically accurate reproduction of music, in ANY environment, let alone a car.
> 
> I really hope some of you can get a chance to hear it.



Thank you, DLO13! Appreciate that. Though there's always room for improvement as is true for any audio system. We're always finding ways to squeeze out every bit of SQ potential the little car has got in her, but I'm really enjoying as it is right now. Can't wait to hear your Extreme beast playing music soon too.


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## JayinMI

Got this pic from JT Audio and Accessories FB page.



Jay


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## bbfoto

Score! Smile says it all. Congrats.


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## Babs

Can't wait to see/hear these awesome cars and meet you guys. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Golden Ear

Congrats on the World Championship, Linda!!!


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## piyush7243

Many congratulations Linda. Great job

Sent from my X9076 using Tapatalk


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## astrochex

Thats a great pic! It should be the definition of happy. Soopercongrats too!

Does JD get a trophy too?


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## JayinMI

MrsPapasin said:


> The Mr. cracks me up. It's not really a big deal. This is just an interim solution until I have time to figure out a better one. It works, but you still have to manually launch an app. For now though this will do.
> 
> This is the wifi module that I mentioned awhile back when palldat said he was still waiting on the app for a backup camera on JT's scion thread. It's a wifi backup camera by 4ucam that works on both iPhone and Android.
> 
> 
> 
> Back then I was still muddling around with some ideas including using a raspberry pi and a pi camera with a wifi router. I also tried some wireless wifi cameras. All of which ended in epic failure because I was too annoyed with all the overhead of starting up the pi and the latencies introduced by using various forms of video compression over wifi. Being a mom of two young kids and working full time, I don't have a whole lot of time to tinker other than the middle of the night when the kids are asleep. Plus with an overloaded schedule this year for work, I haven't been able to put in much time on this little project unfortunately so I didn't make much progress on that end. However, I still have some ideas on using the pi in the car later down the road.
> 
> Anyway, back to the current solution. I decided to take the plunge and try out that device that I mentioned to palldat. Since I already had an existing camera that Richard had installed a long time ago, I only purchased the wifi module.
> 
> The existing Boyo backup camera on the Smart that Richard had previously installed:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The wifi module box:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The wifi module:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The existing camera hooks up easily to the yellow RCA connection shown. It also needs 12 V power and ground (the red and black wires). The other large connector shown next to the yellow RCA is a 12V output. In my case I didn't need it since my camera was already wired up. So only part really left to do was to splice, solder, heat shrink, and secure the module inside the dash behind the iPad mini. I wired the power to switched power so that the wifi module turns on when you turn on the car. I did not make it so that it only powers on when you go reverse because I want the ability to use the camera any time the car is on.
> 
> Next you select WIFICAMERA in wifi settings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the app you have to manually launch every time you want to use the backup camera.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Once launched it looks like this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My camera looks pretty good day or night. Picture shown here is at night.
> 
> Now keep in mind this is video going over wifi so there is inherently latency introduced because of it. 4ucam enclosed a little letter with their disclaimer saying, "The image you see on your smart phone is delayed about 0.5-0.7 seconds. Please use the backup camera as a reference only." I haven't played around with it that much yet, but I believe that to be about right in what they are saying. So the camera isn't going to help if you're peeling down the road in reverse at high speeds, but it's good enough for slowly backing up from your driveway and as an extra check that nothing or someone isn't back there.
> 
> Finally, there's a key thing I think we're all wanting to happen with this: Autolaunching of the app when the car is put into reverse. I still have hope in figuring that part out when I get a chance to hack away at that, but for now this is decent interim solution for me.
> 
> That's all folks!


I finally found it. I have a customer who wants to do an iPad in his Subaru, and also wants to run Front AND rear cameras, so we were trying to find out stuff that would work so he can order it. I like the video to wifi adapter. 

Thanks for doing the legwork.

Jay


----------



## papasin

JayinMI said:


> I finally found it. I have a customer who wants to do an iPad in his Subaru, and also wants to run Front AND rear cameras, so we were trying to find out stuff that would work so he can order it. I like the video to wifi adapter.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for doing the legwork.
> 
> 
> 
> Jay



Glad you found it Jay. We haven't looked into it since and this has been some time ago. There could be other things out there by now that's better than this, but glad if this is helpful.


----------

