Scion FR-S (Ultramarine) upgraded with Illusion Audio and Mosconi parts

[SpeedRacer]

I was referred by a friend to a custom audio installation specialist operating under the name:
Simplicity in Sound

I provided the follow requirements in my install:
Keep the factory look
Minimize weight gain
Allow me to use the built-in USB and AUX inputs
Install a rear-view mirror (I have to parallel park in the city)

WOW! Did this guy deliver. Correction: over-deliver. Incredibly clean installation and the system sounds great!

First, the install:
I don't want to spoil the look for you guys so you'll have to see the photos below. What I will tell you is that the custom install took up no room in the car and I was even able to go on an IKEA run, throw the rear seats down, and fit an entire desk in there! Bing (from Simplicity in Sound) was able to keep my factory look and the car didn't gain any weight! It still handles like a beast on the road... I love those corners! Of course, I had to take out my spare tire to make this happen, but I have AAA so I'm covered in case of an emergency.

Now, the sound:

When I throw in The Eagles' Hotel California (LIVE), I can hear exactly where every instrument is coming from, the bass kick of the drum is clean and I can hear it as if they're right in front of me. I went crazy the first time the maracas came in from the left side... I HAD NO IDEA THERE WERE MARACAS in that song! The Illusion Audio speakers deliver every note in such a clear, crisp fashion, you can hear EVERYTHING in your music. Totally lets me rock out. When I switch up to a little bit of Dr. Dre (I didn't forget about you, Dre) the bass sounds so great with every song. These are really stellar speakers.

HUGE props to Bing at Simplicity in Sound. Fantastic job and thanks for allowing my car to pump out awesome tunes. Cheers! :happy0180:

I'm not the first FR-S on these forums to go to Bing for my install either. Here is the build log from the install man himself:

This is part II of a two part double Scion FR-S build log, click here for part I:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19058

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So as the first FR-S build left the garage, right on its tail pulled in the second. This one in ultramarine, a dark blue coat with a purplish hue.

Unlike the first one, this one was bone stock, but still pretty cool:






The goals for this car are very different from the first car:

1. To achieve a good level of sound quality with a modest budget and power

2. to keep weight gain to an absolute minimum and ZERO trunk space lost

3. keep all things completely hidden out of view

so let’s get started...

The signal starts with a Pioneer AVH-P4400 dvd headunit...by now, we have discovered the Beatsonic tabs, which have a slightly better texture than the normal Scion tabs, and best of all, it is designed for the car so you don’t need to do any trimming of the tabs:









here is the wiring harness prep:



Here is the OEM Bluetooth mic snapped from the roof of the car, the mic itself was then unsnapped from the housing and the pioneer mic secured in place:







By video bypass of the headunit for none driving situations, I did something very simple and reliable. There is a tiny little button on the left side of the dash next to the trunk release...what this is a PUSH OFF/RELEASE ON momentary switch. since the pioneer wants to see a zero signal on the parking brake wire and then signal, all one has to do is give this button a single press and voila! all done.

the switch is soldered and then secured to the back of the dash panel with a series of plastic pieces:







I also retained his factory USB and Aux input panel's full functionality:



here is the oem input module out of the car, along with the pioneer sub cable that has its end stripped, and a 3.5mm mini jack cable soldered to a servo extension cable, these two plugs into the back of the module, and then runs to the aux and usb input of the pioneer:





The customer also supplied me with a back up camera, so I have that wired up to come on everytime the car is in reverse:



here is the Sony camera he gave me:



here is the sony camera's wire secured in the trunk lid to factory bundles and passing into the trunk via the OEM conduit:





The front stage consists of a set of Illusion Audio's midline Lucent series...so let us take a closer look at this set. The cone is poly versus the Carbons, and it is a soft dome tweeter versus the copper dome on the C6. but otherwise, the two uses the same basket and this xover network also features bi-amp capability.











first, new speaker wires were run into the door:



the door was sound proofed with STP foam and gold damper around the speaker openings:



a pair of speaker adapter baffles was fabbed up and weatherproofed with three layers of truck bedliner:



the baffle was then secured to the vehicle using oem points:



and the L6 midbass secured:





the inside of the door card grille area received a layer of STP gold damper.



the passenger side received the identical treatment:













Like the FR-S, the L6 tweeter will go into the stock midrange location outboard on the dash. here is the stock dash grille with the tweeter and the midrange, removed from the vehicle:



the tweeters were unsnapped from the grille to prevent resonance, and the midranges were unsnapped and removed from their housing:



the L6 tweeters were mounted to their brackets, slightly trimmed and holes enlarged to fit the oem basket, and wired up:



the oem mounting basket was laid in place, a new set of speaker wires run up and through the center opening:



and the L6 tweeter bolted in via oem hardware:





the same processes on the other side:







Now comes the pics of the wiring bundles as it goes from the front to the back of the vehicle.

on the driver side went the RCAs, the remote turn on wire, rear view trigger, and speaker wires for the left side drivers:



here is where I tapped the signal for the reverse gear...it is the pink wire pin 5 on the big plug, soldered in place here:



rest of the wiring, secured to the vehicle every few inches, entry into the trunk and into the spare tire well area:



















so, let’s move onto the trunk.

as mentioned previously, the goal here is to be totally stealth and as light weight as possible

so...here is the normal view when you open the trunk, as you can see, 100 PERCENT STOCK with the cargo mat:



remove the mat and you see a new flake floor, trimmed in carpet, with a center cutout towards the back of the trunk:



pop off that grille and here is what you see, a very simple rack with an Illusion Audio L10 subwoofer in the back, and a pair of Mosconi Gladen One amps at the front, the 60.4 sends 60 watts a piece to the front stage drivers, while a 120.2 provides the sub with 350 watts or so. the gear is trimmed in red to go with the red and black theme of the interior.

again, just basic and simple:















the floor is done in three sections with the two side pieces easily removable to access all the tools:





moving onto the build pics:

first the spare tire well was fully sound proofed with STP gold damper:



this is the .65 cub feet enclosure, which also acts as the foundation for the rest of the system and platform for the amps to sit on:





let us take a closer look at the L10 subwoofer. compared with the C10, the cone is poly, and the neo motor is a bit smaller, but once again, everything else is very similar.









here are the main top floor pieces and grille before and after carpeting:







all these pieces were dyed a slightly lighter shade to better match the oem carpet, though it is almost impossible to tell in this picture lol



here is the main trim panel around the amps and sub before and after vinyl:





and finally, a shot of the wiring underneath it all, everything bundled and secured every few inches, and everything completely contained within the spare tire well.







I estimate total weight gain to be around 20lbs...the weight of the spare pretty much equals the weight of all the wood, as there isn’t really a lot of it, the amps and subs are quite light as well.

so how does this one sound?

in a sense, not unlike the first FR-S, in terms of imaging and stage. pillar to pillar width, very nice depth, and height a few inches above the dash.

So I am sure many of you want to know just want the C6 has over the L6...well, I can tell you that the first car offered slightly more solid and precise center image, improved midbass impact, and better detail up top.

but this car still did very well, especially when considering how little power it has. bass impact out of the L6 is also excellent, with a good flat response and extension, again, hiding the fact that it’s a shallow sub easily from the listener.

here is the RTA graph before I got, again, nice smooth extension at the bottom end, similar peaks and valleys as the first car, but the key difference is a bigger drop off at the top end, which is the soft dome tweeter versus the copper beryllium on the C6.



So yeah...that’s two FR-S builds in three weeks...time to take a small break...but working on both of these cars were a pure joy...and I really hope to do more of them in the future.

I think to me, the Illusion audio sets are perfect fitted to the car, not from a sonic standpoint, but just the theme of the vehicle: HIGH PERFORMANCE, LIGHT WEIGHT, and LOW PROFILE!

Now...can I get a BR-Z please?

Bing

[mechaghost]

that's a pretty nice setup you got there!

[mikeg7827]

VERY NICE! EPIC WIN!! super clean.. love the trunk work and now i need to find those beatsonic tabs lol

[kmbkk]

Dang, another great install Bing!

[2forme]

Love the way it looks, but can you still use the trunk?

And why paint it red when the car is blue?

[simplicityinsound]

Originally Posted by 2forme

Love the way it looks, but can you still use the trunk?

And why paint it red when the car is blue?

i can sit my 200 plus lb ass in the trunk :P (not that i did ahem lol)

its not paint, its just vinyl, and its to match the red/black theme on the interior of the car

we discussed this, the blue of the exterior is very hard to match with vinyl, plus its dark enough that against the black floor and black equipment, it doesnt provide a lot of contrast.

b

[jadewbj]

Super clean install, love it.

[2forme]

Originally Posted by simplicityinsound

i can sit my 200 plus lb ass in the trunk :P (not that i did ahem lol)

its not paint, its just vinyl, and its to match the red/black theme on the interior of the car

we discussed this, the blue of the exterior is very hard to match with vinyl, plus its dark enough that against the black floor and black equipment, it doesnt provide a lot of contrast.

b

I was more concerned with stuff getting placed on the sub itself.

[SpeakBeck]

I've been looking through your installs and they all look top notch. Very nice work!

I did have a question about the sub cover panel, though. Does that hinder the sound at all when it is on? How about any rattles/noise from it when it is on?

[simplicityinsound]

the cover is fully breathable, any material that you can blow out a candle or lighter through, the sub acts like its not even there. i listned to the system with and without the cover, with and without the carpet, and it makes vitually no difference. its been the same for any car, and on some hatch backs or wagons, the sub system acutally sounds BETTER with a grille and a heavy top mat in place, providing some pre-loading of the sub.

[simplicityinsound]

Originally Posted by 2forme

I was more concerned with stuff getting placed on the sub itself.

sure if you stuff the truink full of stuff, it may hinder the sound a lil, but in that case, it makes no difference where the sub is, front side or floor

bass will always find away through as long as its not airtight so basically, every day times, bags, luggage groceries, doesnt make a bit of difference in sound.

its been my experience across about 250-300 similar builds over the years.

[DIM]

Nice set up. But not my taste, I actually use my trunk.

[simplicityinsound]

Originally Posted by DIM

Nice set up. But not my taste, I actually use my trunk.

i thought that was the whole point of this build, to be able to fully use the trunk and still have great sound hence the sturdy fake floor and totally stock apperance

or did you mean you use your spare?

[DIM]

Originally Posted by simplicityinsound

i thought that was the whole point of this build, to be able to fully use the trunk and still have great sound hence the sturdy fake floor and totally stock apperance

or did you mean you use your spare?

Lmao. I failed on my part by not reading. I was just skimming through the pictures. I thought that was the stock/before picture.

Sooo. I take it back, i DO like your set up, ahaha.