pAge oNe: intro
pAge tWo: sound system design
pAge tHreE: pics of it all
pAge fOur: ramblings and rants
pAge fiVe: ********updates*********

Here are some pics of the car. As I mentioned, it's in pretty good shape. Just turned 88,000 miles and runs like a champ. I have replaced the front struts, all brakes and rotors, rear air shocks, the power steering sector, and replaced the temp sensor, which triggers the electric fans, and the exhaust. Typical shit like spark plugs, wires, thermostat, etc... For tires I bought Goodyear Regatta 2. I put them on my 98 Camry last year and I have never been so impressed. Everything works great and it rides like it should.

You can see the satellite radio antenna in this pic. Due to the soft-top and the accompanying trim, it had to be mounted to the trunk lid. No problem though, in fact it worked out well. I may include a pic later that shows the inside of the trunk lid, with a solid sheet of dynamat. Inside she's all business. Mark Cross leather option. I haven't made any modifications as of yet, and there is no reason to mess with the seats. I use Meguiar's Leather cleaner and conditioner, as well as their vinyl and rubber conditioner at least twice a month. I just ordered 100 12000mcd green LED's to pimp the inside. expect to install when it's not 10 degrees. INSTALLED 03/22 see page 5.
The Sirius control was mounted with an existing trim screw and I made a bracket with some parts from the hardware store. There is no transmission hump so i used the space in the low center of the dash for my stereo signal connections. They are hidden well behind the removable factory cover, two screws.

As you can see ,the front seat is super plush. And the front seats are back and reclined. I'll straighten up when we fill the car, and then it's real roomy. The backseat has plenty of room for my wife and I to get freaky when the front seats are fully forward!

I was real happy with how the Alpine turned out. It matches the rest of the car real well. I left the Blau pictured for a comparison. I loved it, except for the red and blue illumination that is.

The illumination of the car is GM green. The Alpine has a full green display, and the Sirius is green with a blue-green display. I am no longer considering converting the entire car to red. Since everything is green, i will maintain the stock color for accent lighting. I may tint the windows for summer though, this car holds in heat pretty well.

All of the wiring was done with a high attention to detail. Rockford battery posts were utilized to maximize contact for power and ground connections. An Optima battery was used to make sure the system performs well. 4 AWG was ran through the firewall, using a grommet. Split loom was used to hide and protect the wire. A 60 amp fuse and holder is only 6" from the battery. The ground was also upgraded with 4 AWG. The alternator was upgraded to 165Amps in place of the stock 90A.

The pic with the rear seat removed shows the interconnect and speaker wire in the middle of the car. It is hard to make out, but you can see the power wires on the far side of the car (driver's side). As stated, i will never own 6x9's again.

This shows a pic of the front speaker with the cover removed.
Notice the dynamat, which covers the entire door skin. I'm kinda disappointed with this stuff though. It was the only thing I cheaped out on. The factory speaker was 2.125" deep and that is what will fit. The HPC rockfords are 2.25" deep and that required bring them out a bit and sealing with rope caulk (because it is removable, and works quite well). With the factory grill on, it is quite stealth. I am moving back to component sets. I have a very, very good argument against coaxials, but as I mentioned on the previous page, this car had numerous motives. One of which is as a showcase for my store on what can be done for under $1200. My last system was around $3500, just audio, no video, not including installation. That was great, but ANYONE can sound good at that price. I would like to show the kids around here that attention to detail could result in a great sounding system at any budget. However, I will probably end up swapping for components. An afternoon with a RTA and we could easily solve some issues.

I had been working out designs for the trunk for about 4 months. This is what I had to start with.

-COMPLETED-

The sub enclosure is 2 cu. ft. sealed. I have always used sealed enclosures, but Vega recommends this sub for ported, and they do sound quite musical. The nice thing about a ported box is that you can design the box specifically for the woofer. It involves incorporating the free-air resonance of the woofer and the tuning frequency of the box. Vega also recommends that the port "play" into the passenger compartment. I can accomplish this by removing a section of metal behind the rear seat armrest. I have seen this done before in cars and am up for giving it a try. Even if I do not keep the port there, it will help bring more music into the car, instead of sealing it in the trunk.

Everything went pretty much as planned. I decided to mount the cap underneath the amp rack because the distribution blocks were flush mounted.

I ended up using black carpet because every dealer in my area was out of charcoal. Unbelievable. But the black worked out well. It is latex backed to prevent water damage.
10 AWG power wire was used from the 451s to the Vega124. A 5-way binding post was put in the sub enclosure. I used 3/4" MDF for the box. Dozens of wood screws, wood glue, silicone, then liquid nails helped keep it together and sealed. I removed the sound deadening from behind the rear seat and re-located it to the sides of the trunk. I applied dynamat to the trunk floor, so with the trunk lid being deadened, she is dead quiet at full volume!!! A big factor is that the trunk closes itself. My license plate was securely fastened top and bottom. I have applied rubber bumpers to the rear of my plates before, but so far all's good. No rattles on the first try. I cannot, and will not tolerate a trunk that is noisy. In most cars it can be quited by facing the subs forward, however, that means it will not be as loud or boomy. It will become more musical in the car though. Because we all know that people with noisy trunks are only laughed at.

************UPDATE 9/03 *************
I have decided to put the xtant 403A I just got into the camry. I replaced the stock 90A alternator for a 165A alternator. I am also working on designs to remove the spare tire and jack (american traveler rocks), and build a ported enclosure for the Vega124 which ports into the car via the rear arm rest. So we'll see how it all turns out.
I just bought a 31-band RTA which will be used to set the parametric eq on the Blau Hamburg, and I am looking for a 31-band 2 channel EQ.

***************UPDATE 10/22************
The new alternator was installed with no complecations. It took me roughly 2 hours because the serpentine belt was a bastard and I had to run to the hardware store to buy a new bolt cuz the old one was 1/16" to thick for the new alt. The voltage at my amp is a solid 13.8V-14V with my system full volume, headlights, fans and wipers, idling and parked. However if I sit at a light with the blinkers on and brake lights lit my voltage will drop a bit. The car has a lot of lamps going then and i want to replace them with LED's. This is hella expensive, and I'll have to weigh my options and make sure i don't have a short somewhere associated with the turning lamps.

Also, I completed the cut-through from trunk to back seat!!! it is awesome!!! I got a hold of charcoal carpet and i finished if off really well. I did not cut any factory fabric, just finessed it. It looks freakin good and has helped bring more bass into the car. It no longer sounds like it is muffled in the trunk. The port is facing toward the rear of the car, so I would like to build a new box porting through or maybe facing sideways. we'll see. I also carpeted a board and installed it on the inside of the rear deck to protect the speakers and wires as well as improve the overall appearance.
I removed my spare tire and jack in place for fix-a-flat. (my buddy has a 1999 Ferrari 355 Spyder and since each tire is directional and different it's impossible for him to have a spare, so the car comes with fix-a-flat to get you a bit further down the road. I also have American Traveler road side assistance (AAA sux!) so I do not feel this will cause any immediated problems. However, I am now considering redoing the entire trunk area and having a full-size spare where my amp rack is and doing something a bit more trick. But it's pretty low on my list of crap to do.

Also, I changed to enclosure for the Vega128 (yes, i have a 8 ohm sub now) to a slot ported box. This increased the output greatly! It hits so much harder and is so much louder. It is obvious that the Vega124/128 subs are not that efficient in a sealed environment. I chose an 8 ohm sub to help the Rockford 451S run cooler and lower THD. The amp does run hot after an hour or so at full rip, but it has never went into thermal protect. I am installing two squirrel cage fans in the trunk lid firing down to increase cooling. However, as page 4 shows, i'm comming from 4-12's. i do want a bit more punch, so i'm either going to two 12's or 4 isobaric 10's. damnit, it never ends.

*************** UPDATE 9/6/04 **************

Well, I got another xtant 403A and I am totally redoing my trunk. First I decided on a new location for my electronics. One that does not take up so much friggin' space! So I made a board that fits just right on the driver's side, then carpeted it to match the trunk. I have changed the red power wire showing to silver to match. Now with my trunk open I can build a storage area in the tire well that will hold, get this, a spare tire! And, of course, the various tools and meters I take wherever I go. I am very pleased with the increased sound quality that the xtant has to offer.

*************** UPDATE 2/21/05 **************

New subs! I filled the enclosure with 60% polyfill. I upgraded the original speaker wire as well. I paid $100 for the whole loaded enclosure. I got it from a MTX factory near Lena, IL. They have great closeouts all the time.

Finally, the trunk is finished!!! Custom cover allows me to hide my spare tire and tools. Access is through a door, which is hard to see because of how well the carpet seam is. I was able to cut the cover just perfectly so that it did not require any mounting, it just fit in place, completely flush with the trunk floor! I rock.

I have plenty of space to haul suitcases and crap, zero mess. I love it! I also installed 45 green LED's in the trunk lid, which illuminate the trunk whith the lid open.