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318is e30 "SQ" Build In Progress

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Been working on my new build in my 91 318is e30 BMW. You might have seen the budget build I did on my daily beater e30. This one will have much better fidelity and volume capabilities. Here is a list of the equipment going in:

HU: Clarion DXZ785USB

Front Stage: Rockford Fosgate Fanatic P 6.5" components

Rear Fill: Eclipse 3 way coaxials (sorry forgot the model number)

Interior Amp: Performance Teknique ICBM-774 4ch amp

Sub: Ascendant Audio Havoc 12 Dual 1ohm

Sub Amp: Performance Teknique ICBM-Digital mono amp

I went with the Havoc on the advice of a member here who had one and could give me an incredible deal on it... must say I am very impressed with it's clarity and excursion.

Here is what the Havoc is replacing... an Alpine Type R 12. Took me a year to toast this sub with the Performance Teknique. I never really liked the sub/setup I had built for it so I abused it pretty hard. Gave me an excuse to buy the Havoc.

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And here's the enclosure... 1.02 ft^3 before displacement with a 50% polyfil. I was trying to keep the enclosure small to save weight. Oh and I already moved the sub so it's right side up.

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The 4 channel..

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Remember this setup is supposed to be compact... so the amprack is built on the back of the box...

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Here you can see the distro blocks, relay to power the LEDs and turn on the amps and fans, and all the wonderful wire loom...

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On the bottom of the rack you can see the terminal strip for my speakers and accessory wires...

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That's all I have so far... questions and comments welcome.

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Looks good. Hopefully you reset your gains on your sub amp so you don't clip the Havoc to death like you did the Type-Arghhh

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Looks good. Hopefully you reset your gains on your sub amp so you don't clip the Havoc to death like you did the Type-Arghhh

I didn't clip the type R into oblivion... Just over powered it and fried the voice coils. It was also in a ported box so I should have pushed it less. But as I said I as unhappy with the setup... it hit too hard low and not hard enough on the mids. I don't think my current amp can over push the Havoc ;) , especially not in a sealed enclosure.

UPDATE:

Got the setup in the car yesterday and finished fiberglassing the ports through the back seat. I liked the way it sounded without the back seat in the car so I had to come up with a solution for getting sound into the cabin through the rear seat...

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Not the prettiest fiberglass work... but came out well for the first time doing it. Plus I used carpet so the finish didn't have to be perfect.

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The box is screwed to the firewall on the inside of the cabin so there is no chance of movement.... I hate boxes just rolling around freely. So far I am very happy with the setup. It hits much better and harder than the Type R although not as low. But that's the way I like to listen to music so this fits in much better than the ported setup. I can post pics of the other setup if anyone is interested. It was 1.4ft^3 tuned to 36hz ported into the car through the rear deck.

More updates to come later and as always questions/comments welcome.

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Nice sub choice. :)

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UPDATE: Finished the middle passthrough. It came out pretty well... I could have sanded the sides a little straighter but it will get the job done for now. The important thing is that it lets all the bass into the cabin and lets me keep my back seat, which the wife was adamant about.

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Here is the head unit all installed. I have to say it is one ugly piece of design. If this was in any modern car I wouldn't let it fly, but for some reason it fits in with the 18 year old vehicle's interior. The illumination does match the amber interior of the BMW as well, which was a big factor in buying it. Of course it also has plenty of features that I was looking for like hands-free bluetooth phone operation, 6v preoouts, and plenty of Xover settings and time alignment stuff.

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I also managed to get my components installed and the bluetooth setup. Everything works great I just forgot to get pics of them. I'll take pics and update tomorrow/the day after. Hopefully going to finish the beauty board tomorrow so I can post finished system pics.

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Well, been busy with customer and family vehicles so I haven't had as much time to work on this as I would like. But yesterday made a big step forward. I got the sub sealed off from the trunk's airspace. I know that I've read this is the "correct" way to do it, but holy crap does it make a huge difference. I gained at least 4db on alot of frequencies and on some others I gained as much as 9db!!! Now this is on a POS radioshack meter, but even still, that's a helluva difference. The SQ now is also much improved since it seems like there is a much flatter curve across the frequencies. I was blown away. Still no completed pics because I am changing the trunk floor out to a hinged unit to make it easier to access my spare and battery cables that I keep under there. Let me know what you guys think. Pics and videos are below. The vids aren't extreme like some of the ported boxes I've seen on here, but that wasn't my goal. I just wanted mid 120's and very good clarity. I am really happy with the results now.

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"SQ" video...

Video 1

excursion video... I can push it harder, but this was already high 120's... more than enough for me :)

VIDEO 2

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Nice work!

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Finally finished the trunk setup. I went with simple and old school looking. This was mostly to keep the weight down and have full access to the spare/jacks/jumper cables that I keep in the trunk. It came out to just under 85lbs, which is a little heavier than I wanted, but I am still very happy with the results. Hell the sub weighs 40lbs alone. I think the old school look really compliments the e30 though.

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Nice and clean!!

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