This is the second convertible that I have owned. I just love that "top down experience" (other convertible owners know exactly what I'm talking about). I also love loud and clear sounding car audio systems. So combining the two together, I knew it was going to be quite a task. I wanted to design a system that would just be unbelievable coming from a convertible, thus "TOPLESS WONDER" was created.
Here it is, The car that I chose to spend way too much money on. I have done so much work to keep this car looking and running awsome.
�I have rebuilt the entire suspension excluding the rack & pinion, along with replacing the entire powertrain after the original engine blew a head gasket. Then after the original top was severely ripped in the infamous "pinch zones" that convertible Le Barons have. I decided to go from vinyl to cloth, WOW! this change really set my car apart from other Le Baron convertibles. The other distinctive look that helps set my Le Baron apart from others is the EPIC "Vista" chrome rims, when the car is all cleaned up it turns alot of heads.
Despite the monetary setbacks the car has caused me, I don't regret one penny I spent. I feel that the Le Baron is a classy ride with a reasonably designed interior. When it came to choosing what Amps or Subs to use this was an easy decision, I along with 5 of my friends are Orion Die-hards and strictly believe in D.I.Y. installs. So I already knew what Amps and Subs I was going to use. And when Orion revealed thier "HCCA" series subs, that made my sub decision instantly. Before that 4-15" XTR DVC Series 2 were slated for the back seat. For front fill I went with MBQuarts, I wanted to make sure I had excellent sounding front stage. I know alot of people don't like the harsh tweet that MB's have, but it isn't anything a slight treble adustment can't fix. Besides what are most I.A.S.C.A. finalists using?
Just a shot of a smart a$$ sticker that is on my sail panel windows. (yes I know that "mutiple" is spelled wrong. it is now just "orgasm doner")
�I have gotten alot of respones from people about this sticker, mainly laughs. Which was its purpose any way. Now for the main attraction...The sound system!!
Lets start with the dash, I know adventualy I want to add video to my car so I wanted a H/U with Video/VCR control. I was looking into Clarion pretty seriously but when I seen the JVC KD-SX100R and the price that I could get it for, JVC is the H/U I got. I'm realy pleased with this head unit, my only gripe is that it doesn't have pause. Currently For EQing I'm utilizing Orion's 300 PSW, I will evantually replace this with the DEQ30 unless they come up with something better.
Here it is the front stage, it consists of two sets of MBQuarts:
�The 5.25" 2-way reference set paired with MB's componant X-over,
�the other pair is the 3-way RSB 335 the 8" 5.25" tweet component set with the music comp X-overs. I wanted a nice mid-bass fill, sense the HCCA subs are optimized for about 45 HTZ and lower I wanted to make sure that there wasn't a frequency gap from the subs to the mid-bass. At the time I bought the 3-way set I had no idea where to install the 8" driver, but as you can see from the pict. I managed to find a way to keep all 10 speakers in the front of the car. If you think the passenger side looks nice you should see the drivers side. You can't even see the 8" driver, it is completely up in the dash. With all these speakers up front, it makes for a very impressive front stage.
I decided to convert the back seat into the system's amp rack, as you can see it turned out very nice. And yes you can still sit on it, but the leg room is very tight. I must take a time out here to give a thanks to Gerald Smolka for his assistance in the construction of this stylish rack. What you can't see is the P/G Bass C.U.B.E., it is under the rack in that open space. I decided not show it off like the amps and capacitor. In case you can't tell the two amps are Orion's 2100 and 425 HCCA amps. You probably know that the 2100 is for the Subs and asking yourself "Why a 425 for front stage instead of a 250 of 225?". Well I wanted the power of a 250 for the RSB 335's and the power of a 225 for the 2-ways. By running channels 1&2 as left and 3&4 as right, I wired both speaker sets to recieve the wattage they where designed for. Some significant things you can't see here is behind the back seat. That would be the MBR 70 and the Jaccob's electronic Accuvolt FR-1500 these amps are powered at 16.25 Volts!!! (no voltage drops here)
Here is just a shot of the amp rack with the cover that I made to detour would be thiefs. Pay no mind to the cleaning supplies below I had them out earlier then decided to snap this pict. after I put them back.
Here they are the bad a$$ beasts, the HCCA 12d subs. As you can see the box has windows to show off those massive magnets, that window is 3/4" thick and is the entire back wall of the sub encloser. I also have black lights in each chamber with glow-in-the-dark star stickers stuck all over chamber walls, this looks too cool in the dark. I hooked up the lights to the trunk switch so they turn on only when the trunk is open.
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Here it is a full shot of the trunk, this box was a pain thin the rear to get in the trunk. I would say that the box subs in all weigh about 200lbs. I hit 135.5 db at the Grand Rapids Monster Jam Y2K.
This is were I give thanks to those who made this idea a possibility.
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�First: Tracy and the crew at Mr. Tunes for the sweet deals with the Orion and MBQuart equipment.
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�Second: The Orion Posse for giving me awsome ideas and putting up with my excessive questions about "What or How do you think this will look or sound?".
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�Third: My parents for letting me use their garage to build and install the system there, then putting up with me tuning everything in
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�And lastly: You for visiting this site. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments about the install or the web page. Top down wind in my hair....I'm cruising