Old School High-End Meets New School High-Efficiency

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

When I read "old school" my head went way further back.

Wonder if I can get one of these to work since it would probably sound better than the 2020 piece of trash they used.

It looks almost double-din sized. I'm sure you can get it to fit with some custom-built brackets and a sheet of black ABS for a front trim piece. And you can probably find some of the media for it at a flea market.

Hmmmm.....a "Craig" Pioneer unit? I've owned several Pioneer stereos over the years and remember Craig as being a low budget manufacturer, but I never knew the two companies were ever affiliated with each other. I guess I need to read up on Pioneer's history a bit more.

[FR-S2GT86]

I'll give you extra bonus points and two gold stars if you can get this to fit in the dash.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Wonder if I can get one of these to work since it would probably sound better than the 2020 piece of trash they used.

In our old Astro I had an OmniFi DMP1 MP3 player .

The removal cartridge gave me the idea for a retro version that was a direct double-din where the drive cart would plug into the front and look like an old 8 track.

[FR-S2GT86]

Short update:

The basic construction of the subwoofer enclosure is complete. My Orion HCCA 12 fits perfectly.






Now to choose some cover materials surrounding the sub and start building the front beauty cover panel. I also need to work on mounting the amplifiers and cleaning up and securing all of the wiring.

What do you think about those old-school tweeter protectors?

[soundman98]

lol, i remember the time that people used to pay big money for floor standing speakers with light bulb 'protectors' in them!

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by soundman98

lol, i remember the time that people used to pay big money for floor standing speakers with light bulb 'protectors' in them!

Hey, they work. And they're real cheap at any auto parts store. These particular ones are 12-volt, 4-ohm, 4.9-watt license plate bulbs with matching sockets.

I have a set of MB Quart coxially-mounted separates that I have in my Solara with the Musicomp crossovers that utilize light bulb protection for the titanium tweeters. This particular set is older than my 2000 Solara and still work beautifully. I've never blown a tweeter nor one of the bulbs and they have been installed and have remained operational in two vehicles since I purchased them in the late 90's.

The science behind this is that when you start to drive your tweeters too hard, the bulbs begin to get brighter and brighter. As they do, they get hotter and hotter. What happens to a load in any electrical circuit as it gets hotter? It's resistance increases. Incandescent bulbs are designed to do that. There's your protection.

And it has the additional advantage of not affecting the tweeter phasing.

Don't try this with LED bulbs though, it won't work.

[Ernest72]

I am no audiophile, but I like my double din apple CarPlay HU from pioneer.

That said I always admire these custom setups and the knowledge and time put in to make them just right.

[FR-S2GT86]

Update:

Things are slowly progressing with this audio system build. I got the studs installed where the factory holes for the plastic snap rivets would normally go to secure the factory trunk lid liner in place. This preps the trunk lid for my amp rack that I'm building.





These 1-inch studs were not easy to fish down and over from the openings and holes in the internal trunk lid bracing. I had to use a combination of a spring claw tool, a magnet and a very thin but fairly stiff length of nickel coated copper capillary tube along with a lot of patience to get these studs in place.



The three studs on top can be accessed from behind with an open-end wrench in order to tighten them down but the four studs on the bottom cannot be accessed with a wrench from behind at all, so I had to get the main securing nut in place on the bolt first, following the nylon washer, flat washer, and lock washer, then thread two more nuts onto the stud, tightening them together to use them to hold the bolt in place while I tightened the main securing nut down. Then I just loosened and removed the two nuts and did that for the remaining three studs.

I used the factory trunk liner as a template to cut the initial amp rack patterns which I am planning to build as lightweight and strong as possible incorporating a sketetal structure sandwiched between two 1/4" Birch plywood sheets.



I'm also planning on building a beauty cover for the subwoofer enclosure. I've got a cardboard mock-up of it made already. This cover will allow people to view the subwoofer with a three-dimensional effect.





Fun fact: I have this cardboard piece just friction fitted in place and forgot I had it there when I took the car on some twisty roads on a 150 mile round trip over the weekend, and when I got back, I popped the trunk to find that it was still in place and hadn't moved a bit! The subwoofer enclosure is strapped in place using an anchor system that I fabricated to attach to the rear seat securing bracket bolts and seat belt mechanism securing bolts. Apparently it works very well as the enclosure hasn't moved either. Tried and tested!

Note: I have not drilled a single hole in this car so far during this audio system build, nor during any other modifications to this car for that matter.

Here's a look at the strap set up for securing the enclosure in place.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Note: I have not drilled a single hole in this car so far during this audio system build, nor during any other modifications to this car for that matter.

nice!
i've always been leery of any builder who's first instinct is to grab a drill bit set!

i'm still a little irritated at myself that i had to run my door speaker cables on the outside of the door boot because 12/2 doesn't fit through it like my past vehicles...

[FR-S2GT86]

Short update:

More work on the trunk lid-mounted amp rack last night.





This thing should end up extremely lightweight yet very strong.

[FR-S2GT86]

Amp placements.





I've decided that I'm going to
mount them at an angle to make
it easier to make adjustments
on the ends, and also so that I
can have lighting underneath
each one.

[soundman98]

the part that's going to fascinate me the most is your wiring methods across the trunk lid!

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the part that's going to fascinate me the most is your wiring methods across the trunk lid!

Planning on flexible wire loom and clamps. Power wires on one side and signal wires on the other. I'll make it look good.

I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.......or something like that.

[FR-S2GT86]

Short update:

Strengthened the main amp rack board on the back side a few weeks ago,



and made the top and middle pieces to help support the rack, and mounted the three amps on the rack and got everything roughed in this evening/early this morning.



Progress.