Page 6

The Sound System

Newest at bottom

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This page is to detail my sound system and any modifications that I do to it. The factory speakers are hidden under carpet and dashboard and such so I do not have any pictures of those.

Stock Sound System Stats:

-Concert II sound system
-6 speakers (Delco)
-Two 5.25 inch component speakers in the doors (includes woofer and tweeter each door)
-Two 6x9's in the rear deck
-The 6x9's have a resistance rating of 10 Ohms each. Never heard of that before. Kind of cool.

Here are some stats on the sub woofers:

-Rockford Fosgate Punch Stage 2 12"
-molded polypropylene woofer cone
-60 oz. magnet
-frequency response 20-200 Hz
-RMS power handling 200 watts
-peak power handling 400 watts
-sensitivity (1 watt/ 1 --meter): 86 dB
-4-ohm impedance

Here are some stats on the 6x9's:

-Rockford Fosgate 6x9 P1694c
-Mica-Injected Polypropylene Woofer Cone
-Full Range 4-Way Speaker with Titanium Composite Dome Tweeter
-Frequency Response: 40Hz - 21kHz
-RMS power Handling 75 watts
-peak power handling 150 watts
-sensitivity: 90 dB
-4 ohm

Here are some stats on the 5.25 component speakers:

-Rockford Fosgate 5.25" component P152s
-mica-injected 5-1/4" polypropylene woofer with polyurethane surround
-two 3/4" aluminum dome tweeters per woofer
-external 2-way crossover network (12dB/octave, 3,200 Hz)
-frequency response: 70Hz - 22KHz
-RMS power handling 60 watts
-peak power handling 120 watts
-sensitivity: 86 dB
-4 ohm

Here are some stats for the big amp:

-Lightning Audio Bolt B2.300.4 amplifier
-50x4 @ 4ohms
-75x4 @ 2ohms
-150x2 @ 4ohms
-900 Watts Max Power
-Variable x-over from 40-400Hz
-+12db Juice Boost Bass EQ
-chrome cover

Here are some stats on the sub woofer amp:

-Lightning Audio Bolt B2.250.1
-150 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms
-250 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms
-variable low-pass filter (40-250 Hz)
-selectable bass boost (12 dB) at 50 Hz
-speaker-level inputs
-fuse rating: 15A x 2
-11-1/16"W x 2-1/16"H x 11-1/8"D

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And my mono amp that I am going to power the subs with. I wired the subs in parallel to it for a 2 ohm load:

My other 2 lightning audio amps. One for the two 6x9's - and future coaxials - (the bigger one) and the other for - I don't know yet:

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Nov 28, 2004

The subs in the shipping box prior to opening:

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Jan 1, 2005

Here it is after being unwrapped and the shipping box just opened:

The two boxes in the box:

The two boxes just opened to reveal contents:

Inventory check. All there:

Everything laid out. Included in each box is: Punch P2 12" sub woofer, plastic screw cover ring, bag of screws, foam sealant strips, RF logo car window sticker, instruction booklet.:

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Jan 8, 2005

Installation:

Here is the wiring kit for the amps (I need a few more wires though):

And the wiring kit's contents laid out:

The stripping of the trunk process:

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Jan 13, 2005

Here are some pictures of the wiring kit being installed in the car. These were all taken post-install due to my digital camera batteries dieing right before we started. We had to remove the back seat (which is still out) as well as a few other things to install these wires. My friend Eric helped me to do this and is going to help finish it as well.

Here is a picture of the wire in the engine compartment not hooked up:

Here is where the wire goes from the engine compartment into the car:

We ran the wire through the door and cut a hole in the rubber hose that holds all of the existing wiring:

There are two remote wires here that were run under the carpet. You can also see the power wire:

Here is a view of the trunk from where the backseat has been removed:

This is where the remote turn on switch is going to go - inside the arm rest. We wanted to keep the wires as hidden as possible for the cleanest look we can get:

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Jan 14, 2005

The scosche line out converter came today. I don't know when I will put it on but it will probably be sometime early this week because I am anxious to hear what this system can do.

Here it is laid out beside the box:

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Jan 22, 2005

I bought some red 18 awg gauge speaker wire yesterday. We installed everything today. I have decided to go with a non built in box as building one is just more expenses on top of everything else and it has no guarantee of sounding good. All of the wires are just set in there but will be hidden/shortened as needed for a clean (and safer) look. Its bad looking right now but keep in mind that we're not done yet. My friend let me borrow his two-sub sub woofer box temporarily until he gets his new subs and installs it in his car. So, on that note, I am looking for a sub woofer box to hold 2, 12 inch subs which is carpeted preferably in a medium dark gray carpet. Here are the pictures so far:

The battery where we had to ghetto-tape the power wire to since the GM wires have these red rubber things that wouldn't let the ring terminal on the stereo power wire wouldn't fit (sorry if its confusing) We hope to get it fixed soon by getting a new *spade* terminal for the power wire:

This is the box with subs in it (note the amp on top - thats gonna change):

This is where the ground wire is connected (to one of the screws the jack box used to be attached to):

This is a picture of the line out converter, rca splitters, and rca cables all hooked up:

And here are my lightning audio bolt series 6x9's to replace the OEM speakers in the rear deck:

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Jan 30, 2005

I have decided to go back with my original plan of making a fiberglass enclosure for the subs so that they are built into the trunk. Its going to be awesome. I am keeping the system the way it is for now though (until I have to give Eric his box back).

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Feb 5, 2005

I changed my system so the the B2.300.4 is now reserved for speakers and my *new* B2.250.1 is for powering the sub woofers. I will get pictures of that and the new set up for the battery wires tomorrow. We put on a scosche battery terminal thing that has 2, 4 gauge and 2, 8 gauge outputs on it that screws into the battery and eliminates the need for those stupid red rubber things.

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Feb 10, 2005

Ok, so here are the pictures that I was talking about. The battery terminal was kind of hard to do but is done now and works so I am happy. I got one of those scosche battery terminals that you get at Walmart for about $8. It has 2 , 4 gauge outs and 2, 8 gauge outs. Including my amp wire (which is 4 gauge btw) I had 2, 4 gauge wires 1, 8 gauge wire and 1, 6 gauge wire. So close.... We had to shave the 6 gauge to make it an 8 gauge at the end (bad idea? it seems to be fine) Oh, and we were doing this at about 1 a.m. We wanted food and since my power wires we cut off to put this on we didn't really have much of a choice to do it otherwise. Unfortunately when I took the electrical tape off of the terminal some of the gold plating came off as you will note in the picture. *cough* cheap *cough* Well, I bought it because it was cheap so I cant really say anything lol. Here are the pics of it and my *new* amp in the car:

The terminal:

The *new* amp installed:

And as I've said before, this is a temporary set up until I get some $$$ to make custom fiberglass boxes in the side pockets.

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March 3, 2005

I got some roofing asphalt at Lowes for $12.96. It is 6inches x 25feet. It is exactly like dynamat at a FRACTION of the cost. Its about $1.00 per sq. foot! And it works too. It is called PEEL & SEAL roofing asphalt. It works! I put it on the back of my license plate and it killed the rattle and I put it on the trunk lid as seen in the pictures. The only sucky part about it is that I cant hear the muffler from inside the car anymore. *sigh* guess I will have to make the exhaust louder now lol. The next part to put this on will be behind the tail lights and under that gray plastic thing that is behind the plate. This stuff is recommended by me! Here are the current pics of it:

Here is the sound dampening material that I got:

Here it is after I put it on the trunk lid:

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March 7, 2005

I am making the rack for the amps finally now that I am on spring break. Unfortunately, picking up my sister from school and going to work cut my day short so I didn't finish but here is what I've got so far. I was going to do a floating amps thing but decided against it because of time, materials, and not wanting to take up much space. So here you go:

The board for the rack after being cut to size (I used a piece of cardboard to make a template for it):

Here it is with the amps on it with a few wires done (the seat is on Because I had to pick up my sister) Theres not any in between these 2 pictures because I didn't have time to take any:

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March 14, 2005

Here is what it looks like with everything in the trunk including the side carpet! I did finish the holes for the wires but I don't have any pics of that because I keep forgetting to take some. I also had to give Eric his box back (the reason I took this photo) because he needed it for his car. I am going to build a box sometime if the next few weeks from MDF and (Plexiglas?) that should be cool looking. I need to get carpet anyway for the amp rack, maybe I will just redo the whole thing in black since I want that done eventually anyway. We'll see how much that costs...

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March 28, 2005

I have some more pictures for this page too today. I have finally begun working on the fiberglass box for the subs. I know I have been back and forth between whether to do fiberglass or MDF but I chose fiberglass because I like a good challenge lol. I got all the stuff at Walmart and Lowes (duh : P ) Its coming along nicely but is yet to be finished. I have so little free time now a days its sad. Hopefully in like two weeks it will be done *fingers crossed* I did get the new speakers put in in the rear deck however. They work great. I need to solder the connections though. BTW, did I mention that I got these speakers on clearance at Walmart for $15 ? : D I also added some more dampening material to the floor of the trunk. I ran out and had to get some more but I had already started fiberglassing by the time I got more so it is not 100% done. Its done enough to show ya'll though. Enjoy:

Trunk dampening - so shiny:

What the speakers look like from up top before being removed (turns out they hang entirely below deck and so the carpet didn't need to come off - oh well - I got some cool pics out of it):

From inside the trunk looking up through the speaker hole:

Old speaker waiting to have its wires removed (how sad):

New speakers in - if only they could be seen:

What they look like from outside (that is Eric in the reflection - notice his "green" St. Patrick's Day shirt):

Materials for the box (MDF, fiberglass - mat and cloth, fiberglass resin, fleece):

Materials close up to show brands and such:

Carpet protection down (aluminum foil and masking tape):

First layer of glass:

Second layer and side walls glassed up:

One of the smaller walls being glassed:

All of it taped together (for show) to get an idea of what it is roughly going to look like. The subs are going magnet up (faces into the box) because I think it will look cool:

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October 11, 2005

I finally got around to getting some new speakers for the doors. They are Rockford Fosgate P152S, which in layman's terms stands for 5.25" component speakers. They sound awesome and is very highly recommended by me for all you LeSabre owners (and others who can fit these in their car). Very clear sound and good volume range. Anyways,We got the door panels off put them in, cut a hole in the passenger door panel carpet to show the speakers through and low and behold they were like and inch behind it and it looked terrible. Now I've got a door panel with a hole in it(NEW PROJECT!) that I am going to fix by actually mounting the speakers on the panel (instead of in their little speaker holes that Buick so nicely provided. Oh well. Here are some pictures of what it looks like thus far:

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January 3, 2006

Somewhere around this date I purchased and installed new 6x9 speakers. They are Rockford Fosgate P1694C 4-way speakers. I guess this was the time period where I had lost my camera (in my dad's truck apparently) and so I don't have any pictures : ( I did do a review of them on cardomain's store so you can check them out from click my review link. Sorry bout that. They sound great though.

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January 22, 2006

I bought a new head unit for my car! It is a pioneer DEH-P6800MP. It has a lot of cool features (most of which are listed at the top of this page). I also purchased an RCA auxiliary adapter for it with CD changer pass-through. I am planning on getting the pioneer 12 disk changer next as soon as I get enough money. My wiring harness, adapter kit and antenna adapter are all coming tomorrow (thanks to cardomain) Which is when (hopefully) Eric and I will try to install it. Apparently from research I have discovered that it is difficult to take the dash off of this car so I might end up having it done by pros aka another $100-$150. Lets hope its not too bad. My old CD player (original factory) has been skipping badly recently even with a cleaning and so I fear it is at the end of its life cycle. Oh yeah, I am also getting an infrared steering wheel control adapter so that I can still use the buttons on the steering wheel. I'm lazy - so! Anyways, here are some pictures of the units before installing them (since we haven't yet installed them):

Unit in box:

Both boxes (unit and aux adapter):

Unit top:

Unit front:

Unit back:

Aux input device:

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February 1, 2006

Today Eric and I removed almost my entire interior so that we could put in the new receiver. I know we didn't have to take everything out, but then, how would we have gotten to see how it was all put together (or lay down in it). This also gave me a chance to repaint/touch up the plastic trim that goes in along the floor where I hadn't been able to spray. I also realized that I need new carpet (black of course) because of how truly dirty mine is (stains from coffee, ground in mud, ect...) I also decided to remove the mobile phone base because, even though it is cool, it no longer serves a practical purpose because no one I know uses the old school Nokia phone that it was designed for. It also freed up several fuses and allowed for the removal of a lot of excess wiring. Overall it was a learning experience and..isn't..finished..yet. We'll get it done tomorrow, or at least get the radio in. Check back soon for more exciting updates. Until then enjoy these random pictures of the inside of MY Buick LeSabre...

Carpet removed (left) Everything removed (right)

Mess of wires (left) Ash tray removed (right)

Dash removed (left) Factory head unit removed (right)

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February 4, 2005

Eric and I finally got the radio in, the wires installed the carpet and seats back in, the rest of the trim painted, and even one of the two door panels back on. The only problem is a piece of metal behind the radio preventing it from sliding all the way in. The radio is exactly the correct length to fit inside the opening but with the RCA cables that I have running from the back of the unit to the amps it won't quite fit. Oh well, guess I am going to audio masters after all since I don't have a tool to cut something that far back in the dash. I do have it up and running though and I love it. It has far superior sound compared to my original head unit, plus its got a bunch of other cool features. Enough talk though, here are some more pictures for you:

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March 7, 2006

I forgot that I never put these pictures up of the finished install. The first one is where we had the piece removed from behind the radio. The other ones are the of the dash put back in and painted. Enjoy:

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