Ulrisa's Volvo S40 Build

[ulrisa 26]

Hi!

I am rebuilding my whole system this summer. This build is going to be slow because I will be getting things as I get the money for them. My goals are: Loud, great sounding bass and mids/highs. Basically I want to have the ability to get loud when I want it, but I want it to sound good so when I'm just on my way to work the sound quality is still amazing. Trunk space doesn't really matter, but backseats do. I also want to upgrade my electrical system at some point. What kind of electrical engineer student would I be without a strong electrical lol.

The plan so far is:

• AA Carbon Fiber Mids w/ Havoc ST010 tweeters (2 way active)
  
• 2 Xcon 15"'s or Death Penalty 15"'s
  
• Sundown SAZ-3500D and Rockford T-400-4
  
• Redo Big 3 with Knukonceptz Fleks, HO alt (still not sure from who), possibly XS Power batteries
  

Alright so it's time for some pictures! Sorry this is going to be a long first post, but I already got the doors deadened/sealed.

This is what I got in the mail today!

CLD tiles and extruded butyl rope from Don at SDS. Great stuff, I wouldn't buy anything else.

Here is the door panel in question.

Yes that is the speaker wire that is outside of the rubber boot. I tried to run it through the boot, but Volvo's seem to be specifically designed to make any audio modifications impossible lol. This doesn't look as good, but it's still safe.

Door panel is off. I proceeded to take off the vapor barrier (plastic stuff), and clean the surfaces with brake pad cleaner. Very powerful stuff, but if your not careful I can take the paint! haha.

Just showing the inner CLD tiles off. The beauty of these tiles is that you don't need to completely cover the surface for them to be effective.

This is the finished door. I sealed off all possible holes.

Here is the driver side before and after.

That does it for now! Stay tuned. I'm going to deaden the roof next. I'm saving the butyl rope for later when I get my new speakers so I can properly seal them.

Let me know if the pictures are too big! I just realized it and it's a little late now haha.

[Mac N Cheese 90]

pics look good! keep up the good work

tuned in

[ssh 924]

Looking good, nice selection of products

[ulrisa 26]

Thanks! I'm hoping to do the roof today. Too bad it looks like it's going to rain

[ssh 924]

Sucks when you have the time than it rains, luckily for me it doesn't rain too much in arizona.

After seeing so many build logs with cld tiles and what not has me thinking I should add that to my doors. It's cool how you don't need to cover the whole thing but just a portion

[ulrisa 26]

Sucks when you have the time than it rains, luckily for me it doesn't rain too much in arizona.

After seeing so many build logs with cld tiles and what not has me thinking I should add that to my doors. It's cool how you don't need to cover the whole thing but just a portion

I would definitely recommend it. If you want to take it a step further, you can get mass loaded vinyl and make a sound barrier for the door. I wanted to do this, but MLV is kind of pricey.

I forgot to mention it before, but I had NO midbass before. It was depressing how crappy it was lol. After doing this, my current speakers sound 5 times better. I am blown away by how different the sound is. It just makes me more excited for when I get the AA Carbon fiber mids

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

Keep up the good work and keep them pitcure's a comin'.

[ulrisa 26]

It's been a while! My computer decided to die a while ago, so I've been on my laptop. I finally figured out what was wrong with it and sent out the part for a warranty replacement. I did end up deadening the roof that day, I'll get some pics up later. Unfortunately I did not take into account that there is a sun roof tray, so I didn't get to deaden as much as I wanted. Also, the headliner will not come out in one piece in my car (yay Volvo! lol) unless you take out the back window. Space was tight and I couldn't get the stuff where I wanted. It did help though, it got rid of some annoying squeaks and rattles, so I am satisfied for now. The only thing I'm worried about is for when I get the 15's, roof flex might kill my sunroof/roof. I'm probably going to have to figure out some bracing, but I'm not ready for that yet.

Still saving up to get the SAZ-3500D before the sale ends. Hopefully I'll have enough. Unfortunately that won't be that interesting for you guys until I get my speakers with my next paycheck 3 weeks from now lol.

Just thought I'd give a quick update and explanation for my sudden disappearance lol. I'll post the pics up in a bit.

[ulrisa 26]

Ok, sorry for the wait, but here are the pictures of the deadening of the roof.

With this car, it is pretty much impossible to take the headliner out of the car without damaging it unless you take out the back window. Volvo's FTW! lol j/k. I think part of this build log is to demonstrate that you do not want to do car audio with a volvo unless you are up to a challenge (and I mean, EVERYTHING is a challenge.) So what I ended up doing is just letting it hang while I applied some more CLD tiles. The problem I ran into was that the sunroof tray took up most of the work area, something I entirely forgot about. To truely deaden the roof I would have to take the tray out, so I wasn't up to that yet.

This is the car with everything just hanging down. Looks kind of sad.

This is the bare sunroof tray.

This is the tray with 5 CLD tiles on it, kind of looks like the Purina logo.

This is at a different angle, capturing the tiles that I put behind the sunroof tray, near the back of the roof.

And finally, this is a little deadening I did in the front.

Overall, was it worth the effort? I guess so, it got rid of some annoying rattles that I've had even without the bass. I really wish that it wouldn't be a big deal to take out the sunroof, but it is.

In other news, I ordered my AA carbon fiber mids and AA Havoc tweeters today!! I didn't get paid as much as I thought I would so the sundown will have to wait

[Randal Johnson 544]

interesting ...

[stevemead08 752]

interesting ...

Is this all you can add to peoples build logs?

Every build I've looked at has this.

[ulrisa 26]

So I realized that I hadn't really gone into detail with my plans for the front stage. Right now I have these crappy Rockford Fosgate Power 5.25 coaxials. Not bad for $20, but I need more! My doors only fit 5.25's, so I am going to be doing my first fiberglassing project, and I am kind of modeling them after j-roadtatts' Alpine type R door pods. Thanks for the idea! I am going to have the mid angled toward the driver/passenger. They are going to mount to the door's current screw holes, and be sealed with SDS extruded butyl rope. I am also going to make tweeter pods to go on the A-pillars.

[ulrisa 26]

I made a video today of my current system. I thought I'd throw it in here, it gives kind of an idea of where I am now and I'll have another one posted after I am finished (hopefully with a better camera). This camera really sucks, it seems to destroy most of the flex I am witnessing lol, but it's still interesting I think.

[lithium 358]

good job wit the deadening, personally i would have used slightly less on the roof, saving it for the trunk, rear deck, etc. irregardless its nice to see someone who's got the right idea with deadening and not going overboard like you usually see.

[stocks 2]

how is that zune hooked up to the hu? lithium it looks like he has a fair amount of roof flex so he probably wants to control that

[ulrisa 26]

how is that zune hooked up to the hu? lithium it looks like he has a fair amount of roof flex so he probably wants to control that

The zune is hooked up through the AUX port in the back of the radio using a male to male 3.5 mm cable. I wish head units had zune integration, but it's still all ipod. It works pretty well though, sound quality is great it's just not having the control on the head unit sucks. If you have a dash mount it's pretty good though.

good job wit the deadening, personally i would have used slightly less on the roof, saving it for the trunk, rear deck, etc. irregardless its nice to see someone who's got the right idea with deadening and not going overboard like you usually see.

Thanks! Cranberryyumyum was right, I used a bit more because of all the flex. Didn't seem to help as much as I would have liked (damn sunroof) so I'm probably going to have to do some more when I get the new subs in . I actually already did some deadening with CLD tiles in the trunk and on the rear deck, I just did it before the build log. Maybe I'll try to get a pic or two up of that as well.

Going to buy some mdf tonight to make mdf rings for the door pods!

[ulrisa 26]

I had decided to wait to make mdf rings until my speakers came in. A mysterious box appeared on my doorstep today while I was at work.

Hmmm... What could be in there.

Ascendant Audio stickers? Wow whatever is in those boxes must kick ass.

These are the Havoc tweeters. They look awesome! These are going to sound just a tad better than the tweeters on my rockford coaxials.

This is a close up of the tweeter at a different angle. Looking good.

And here are the carbon fiber mids, in all of their sexy midbassyness.

I am VERY excited to put these in. I hope my first fiberglassing experience goes well. These speakers are beastly, I love them already.

I might be getting an amp on Tuesday, but I can't reveal it yet in case the deal falls through, but it is going to be awesome!

Hope you enjoyed the pics

[Julian 641]

-drool- AA mids and morel Tweets.

i want a pair!

tell me how they sound

[ulrisa 26]

I'll be sure to include a review of some sort when I can get them in. I am hoping to start making the speaker pods this weekend.

[ulrisa 26]

Ok, it looks like I'll be getting the amp for sure now. I'm getting an Incriminator Audio 40.1! I'm really excited. I was kind of hoping to own an Incriminator amp some day.

[jcarter1885 995]

Ok, it looks like I'll be getting the amp for sure now. I'm getting an Incriminator Audio 40.1! I'm really excited. I was kind of hoping to own an Incriminator amp some day.

What are you running on the amp?

[ulrisa 26]

Ok, it looks like I'll be getting the amp for sure now. I'm getting an Incriminator Audio 40.1! I'm really excited. I was kind of hoping to own an Incriminator amp some day.

What are you running on the amp?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with two SSA Xcon 15's.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

The new Drivers are SEXY!!

You will Do good with the Fiberglass, It was easy to pick up. The best part is how quick it drys, the bondo/body filler drys even quicker. DON'T FORGET to buy a box of Latex gloves.

[Adrian_D 520]

morel Tweets.

They look a lot like Seas H1396

Good work on the car and component selection Ulrisa

[ulrisa 26]

The new Drivers are SEXY!!

You will Do good with the Fiberglass, It was easy to pick up. The best part is how quick it drys, the bondo/body filler drys even quicker. DON'T FORGET to buy a box of Latex gloves.

Thanks! It's not quite EPIC MIDBASS!! lol, but I think they will sound pretty nice. I'm hoping to start glassing tomorrow I'll make sure to pick up some gloves. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Good work on the car and component selection Ulrisa

Thanks! I really appreciate it. I researched quite a bit before I chose my drivers, and I liked just about everything about these.

I'll post some more pics as I make progress with the pods.