What's up guys. My name is Anton and I'll be guiding you through my never-ending quest for the quietest Lexus :)

Update 11/27/2007: This car has been sold and I currently have a 2004 LS430 Ultra Luxury package and for which I'm starting to get the itch and take it all apart and go wild. If I do, I will certainly post it on this website.

By the way, if you have a chance, check out my high-end wheel shop L.A. Wheel and Tire. We specialize in factory original and chrome wheels.

Contents (with corresponding page #)
1. Overview
2. Current install in progress
3-8. Sound deadening pictures
9. Interior swap project
10. Pictures of my car

Hello and welcome to my Sound Domain installation page. Here you will find lots of useful information about car stereo and sound deadening installation. This page primarily concentrates on my journey to make my car very quiet and sound good. It reflects all the steps I went through, the do�s and the don�ts of sound deadening. It also displays my stereo. I performed most of the work myself so I have the first hand experience. When you are finished viewing my web page please do not forget to vote at the top of the page. Also, if you have a chance sign my guest book.
Thanks...Enjoy...

I became interested in car audio about 3 years ago when I installed my first system in an 86 Cadillac. It consisted of a Kenwood tape deck, Blaupunkt 6X9 speakers and USAcoustics amplifier. It was fairly loud but I always wanted something more... Ever since then, I started gathering a lot more information from various people and websites. Sound Domain was one of them. Over the course of a few years I learned the basics of car audio and installed my own custom system in my Maxima.

This is my 1997 Nissan Maxima.

The car comes very nicely equipped out of the box. At first glance, it�s your average grocery getter. But wait, don�t give up just yet. It has an engine that was rated world's best V6 at any price consecutively for the last 7 years. The car itself is beautiful and looks humble, however, open up the throttle a little and it will rocket all the way to its 6600RPM redline with unbelievable smoothness. Current upgrades include front and rear sway bars as well as wider rims to grip the road better.

When I designed the system the main goal was to achieve maximum sound quality possible and still be able to set off a few alarms in the process. I utilized various carefully chosen components and they work very well together.

The source unit is the famous Pioneer Premier DEX-P1R. I chose this unit because of its unmatched sound quality and sound processing capabilities. It would take me a whole another website to describe the features of this head unit. It does everything short of driving your car for you. It has time alignment, crossovers, and equalizer and speed sensitive volume control. Here is a picture of this unit installed. I also recently added a Pioneer in-dash cd changer. I will post pictures of the unit pretty soon.
Please note that some pictures may look blurry until you click to enlarge them. Thanks

From there the signal is sent through Monster cables to my amps. Dual MTX Thunder 8302 amplifiers power the front speakers. I chose MTX for excellent reliability and real world power levels. One amp is sending over 125 watts to the midranges and the second one is sending about 75 watts to the tweeters. The amplifiers are installed under the seats and I have no problems what so ever with them overheating. Here are a couple of pictures.


Orion XTR 900 handles the low end. This amplifier is capable of outputting well over a kilowatt of power but the reason I chose it is due to it�s excellent sound quality, subsonic filter and flexibility. The amp is currently mounted to the back of my box. Here is a picture of it prior to installation.

The box is a very interesting design. It utilizes two 10� A/D/S subwoofers in a V-angle configuration firing directly through the factory ski hole location. This setup allows me to have amazing sound quality with no rattles and pressurize the cabin instead of the trunk.

Here is what you see when my trunk is open. Nothing!!!

For the front speakers I�m using A/D/S 336im coaxial. They have excellent sq and midbass to spare. They are mounted in stock door locations on a 2� thick MDF baffle. Each door has been treated with over 2 rolls of Raam mat sound deadening material and deflex pads have been installed behind the speakers to eliminate distortion. The factory crossovers have been ditched in favor of active crossovers on the Pioneer head unit. The speakers are high passed at 80hz/12db.
Here are the A/D/S drivers.

Some of the other things include an Optima yellow top battery, 4 Gauge Monster Cable all around, and other monster cable wiring. Securing the car is a DEI alarm with remote start. Here is a picture of the LED that is flush mounted between my AC vents. Looks sweet AND stock.