woode's audio setup

[woode]

Hey guys/gals,

**Here is current progress, finishing up is on hold until middle of June due to me moving**



I am doing budget "best bang for your buck" type of build. I wanted better sound quality and more range than factory, without it looking like I have anything done to the audio system. My budget was initially around $500. After materials, wires, amps, speakers I will be sitting at just over $600.

o Precision Power PPI PC3.65C Front Speakers $264
o Precision Power i350.2 Amplifier $98
o Precision Power A.12SQ Subwoofer $59
o Precision Power i650.1 Amplifier $107
o Rear Speaker Delete $0
o 25' 4GA wire for battery positive to distribution block $25
o 5' 4GA wire for main ground $12
o 2x 5' 8GA wire for power from distribution block to amps and ground from amps to distribution blocks $10
o 2x Distribution Blocks $15

The rear speakers are being deleted because 1) Rear fill ruins the sound imaging and 2) I rarely, if ever, will have passengers in the rear. The car is small enough that they can hear the fronts if need be.

The subwoofer is going to be enclosed in a custom fiberglass box a friend and I will be building in place of the spare tire. The amplifiers, crossovers, and distribution blocks will all be under the rear cargo mat as well. This retains useage of the trunk, the factory look, and makes it much harder to steal.

The factory spare tire and foam holder are taken out obviously. Their is a mount that sticks up a few inches for the spare tire to bolt into. This is directly in the way of where the subwoofer will be going.
With this removed, the mounting depth from cargo tray to bottom of trunk is just over 6".

I used a dremel to grind off the spot welds.


Starting to look ugly


And it's off!


Heat gun + chisel to get the factory deadener off.


Ready for prep/cleanup. I will be filling in the holes, smoothing everything out, and getting rid of the adhesive still stuck on.


A quick test fit, just to make sure my depth measurements were correct when I ordered initially. The yard stick going across represents where the trunk mat sits. With this setup there is about 1.5" of clearance, most of which will be taken up by the wall of the fiberglass box. Perfect!



More to come! I am in NJ and it is below freezing so that is all for today. I plan to have this finished over the next few weeks. I am also turboing the car so some of my time is going to that.

[woode]

I am using the factory amp wiring for the most part. This is in align with my goal of keeping as much of the OEM look as possible, and its less wires to run. The rear amp receives a full signal, and then filters it out to the door speakers bass. I am using it for the remote turn on and high line inputs for the amps. I will still be running the main power wire back from the battery, and the speaker wire from the amps to the front.

All you need to do this is a standard Toyota head unit harness. You have to change a couple pins but it plugs right in in place of the factory amp. Makes life easy.

Here is a link to RandomHero's post on the pinouts of the factory amp wiring.



Remote turn on


Solder


Heat shrink wrap, keeps it clean


From head unit, going to be used as line inputs for the amps






The remaining wires would originally be the output from the factory amp to the door speakers. I will not be using these since I am running all 3 speakers up front off the amp and through a crossover.



Here are the harnesses I will be using. From top to bottom:
-Camera harness by ae64, this plugs into the rear of the factory head unit. It has a ground loop to trick the head unit into thinking the parking brake is on for watching videos. The pinout is a 6v signal telling the camera to turn on. I will be using this as a relay trigger to the bottom harness, as the camera I am using works better off of 12v. Lastly, the input for the camera feed.

-Amp remote turn-on and line inputs harness. This will plug into the bigger of the two connections going to the OEM amp. Once I have things situated in the trunk, I will trim the wires to appropriate lengths.

-Reverse camera harness. This will plug into the smaller of the two connections going to the OEM amp. It outputs 12v constantly, and I have a relay in line that will supply power to the camera when triggered by the signal from the head unit.

[FnFast]

how is it coming along?

[jjkerr626]

UPDATES!!!!

[SilverlightPony]

>"rear fill runs the sound imaging"

Wat.

[Shankenstein]

Originally Posted by SilverlightPony

>"rear fill runs the sound imaging"

Wat.

I think he meant "rear fill ruins the sound imaging" which is half-true.

Rear fill tends to create some reflections that reduce stereo separation. If the sound doesn't arrive at the correct time, the interference will make a great EQ tune sound bad.

Rear fill can help saturate the cabin, and get a more consistent frequency response throughout the car. Some cars only sound good in one seat. Personally, I feel more immersed in the sound when the front-rear balance is just slightly biased to the front.

Just as with everything, rear fill has its pros and cons.

[eighty666]

Originally Posted by woode

.

this is taking forever with a dremel. how long did it take u to remove the spare tire hump?

[woode]

I just started this project again yesterday, it was on hold for a while due to turbo'ing the car and then had to leave out of town for a couple months due to work. Also, since I am under a time crunch it, the bottom half isn't going to be fiberglassed in anymore (have to leave again in a week). It is going to be all wood with carpet over. The sub/amp/crossovers will all be recessed in giving a clean look.

The housing for the sub-woofer itself is almost done.. I'll be updating with pictures tonight and over the next few days.

Originally Posted by eighty666

this is taking forever with a dremel. how long did it take u to remove the spare tire hump?

Not long, it is spot welded on - just grind off the spot welds. Maybe 20-40 seconds or so each? Make sure you are using a metal cut off wheel.

[eighty666]

yyea ive been cutting just afraid to go through and scar up the metal under neath. looks like its pretty clean on yours just taking my time. what are you patching the holes with? welding them? or just rubber?

[eighty666]

i hate that hump there, it kinda ruins the trunk space when u gut it. thanks for the post

[woode]

Updated 2nd post with some pictures/info using the factory wiring harness.

Originally Posted by eighty666

yyea ive been cutting just afraid to go through and scar up the metal under neath. looks like its pretty clean on yours just taking my time. what are you patching the holes with? welding them? or just rubber?

Rubber.

[B-R-Z]

What signal are you using for the subwoofer amp? Cross-over on the low-level inputs that feed the stock amp?

[woode]

There is my progress thus far. I need to make a "box" for the left crossover, and a top piece for the amp "box". Then I will tidy up the wires a little more and call it good.

I took a million pictures along the way, I am going to update once I get closer to being done. The only thing I forgot pictures of was some of the reverse camera stuff and how I epoxied in the tweeter. If anyone is curious, here is the PhotoBucket library of the pictures I took.. most of them are useless, I haven't sorted through them yet - hence why I haven't posted them yet.

It is tough because I just found out I am moving this weekend instead of 2 weeks from now.. so I am trying to finish this up and pack the house at the same time!

Originally Posted by B-R-Z

What signal are you using for the subwoofer amp? Cross-over on the low-level inputs that feed the stock amp?

I am using the same signal for both the sub amp and dash/door amp. It is the signal that went to the factory amp. Each amp has high level inputs and LPF/HPF so I am just rolling with that. It works good. Obviously, for a pure sound quality build I would be using an actual line converter among other things.. but that would start pushing my budget.

[woode]

**Here is current progress, finishing up is on hold until middle of June due to me moving**




All that is really left is making a cover for the amp box/rack/thing at the back of the trunk. It will be similar to the crossover one in that it will have cutouts for the amps.