2002 Civic Progress

[sundownz 197]

So... I'm finally going to have a running vehicle with a system. It's been about 8 months since I've had a system in a running vehicle, pretty sad all things considered! But... it is coming along nicely and some photos of the progress are attached.

*Under-Hood Wiring w/ Knukonceptz KLM 1/0 battery to chassis and battery to engine block grounds. Generic "0 gauge" wire through generic ANL fuse holder. The red generic 0 gauge is about the size of 2 gauge quality wire and is plenty for this install. All ring terminals are soldered... and yes, that is a much larger battery than stock.

* Roughly 2 cubes tuned to ~32 Hz thanks to Rich (stratusrt01). This houses 2x Sundown SD-1 10" subwoofers. These produce more than enough bass for my regular daily driver... quite surprising really.

* Kicker SS midbass driver. Mounted using a 1/2" MDF mounting baffle that I made. Duct tape used to seal it tight against the door. This thing has 12 screw holes... I used all of them and each one goes through the sheet metal behind the baffle... so it's on there good. I will be sealing it further with aluminum tape when deadening gets here -- which will be Raamat BXT.

* Driver side Kicker SS tweeter. Simple install, cut a hole and put it in! These will get time alignment and level adjustment from the Rockford 3Sixty.2 that will be installed when it is completed.

* Passenger side tweeter is installed as well right now.

* My door is just a hair shy of fitting the Kicker SS midbass along with the window. I screwed this pressure treated wood block in there to stop the window before it hits the magnet. Three 2.5" screws hold it in place and I'll probably add more. My window "stop" mechanism simply waits until the motor is under too much load then shuts it off, so I'm simply making an "after market stop" if you will. It works just like from the factory except the window is about 2" shy of going all the way down.

* Wire mess while construction is underway. The fat white wire is Nick Lemons @ Stereo Integrity's now infamous "magic speaker wire" -- it is really pricey Tara-Labs wire. I know what you are thinking... but I have done an A/B and was convinced enough to pay over $350 for a spool of wire. Anyhow... the amps will likely be mounted to the back of the seats when those go back in, if that doesn't work out as planned they will be mounted on top of the enclosure and I'll get some rubber feet to help isolate them.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

[sundownz 197]

Got the 3Sixty.2 installed and the 100.4 mounted to the back of the seat.

Do not have the passenger side Kicker SS midbass in yet. That part is a pain, have to cut sheet metal.

The 100.2 won't fit on the seat backs so it is going to have to be mounted to the woofer enclosure with some rubber feet.

I have a hissing through my system with no volume... seems that the 3Sixty.2 is causing it. Never experienced this in my other installs utilizing the 3Sixty.2 unit so I'm not sure whats up. Can't hear it with the engine running or with music, but it's there, so it bothers me.

Neatening this stuff up is a huge PITA... more pics tomorrow.

[Big E 4]

Lookin' good

[sundownz 197]

Lookin' good

Thanks

I ordered my Raamat BXT 5 minutes too late... I have to wait on their next shipment so it won't be here until next week. Guess who is driving with no interior door skins for a week? Yep, thats me. I got 125 ft^2... I wonder if I can use it all on two doors and my trunk... yah, I think I can

I'm not going nuts with deadener like my other Civic... I used up my deadening energy for the next 10 years on that:

http://www.sundownaudio.com/rides/Civic/ -- You can see the carnage here. This one isn't running at the moment... waiting on performance mods and whatnot. Alot of those pics are old and don't apply anymore... but you get the idea.

[theabunai 3]

I ordered my Raamat BXT 5 minutes too late... I have to wait on their next shipment so it won't be here until next week. Guess who is driving with no interior door skins for a week? Yep, thats me. I got 125 ft^2... I wonder if I can use it all on two doors and my trunk... yah, I think I can

Jacob thank you for proving my first posts correct

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...st&p=256578

Muahahahaha

Edited July 12, 2007 by theabunai

[///M5 2,833]

While I am glad you are finally putting in a system and it looks like it will be nice, I must say $350 for speaker wire and Kicker comps? Seems backwards to me. Especially when you have active capabilities. As for your noise, others have experienced that at Diyma on the 360 and I am not sure if they found a cure.

[sundownz 197]

I ordered my Raamat BXT 5 minutes too late... I have to wait on their next shipment so it won't be here until next week. Guess who is driving with no interior door skins for a week? Yep, thats me. I got 125 ft^2... I wonder if I can use it all on two doors and my trunk... yah, I think I can

Jacob thank you for proving my first posts correct

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...st&p=256578

Muahahahaha

Haha, so true... when the blue Civic was still running I was driving it totally gutted too.

[sundownz 197]

While I am glad you are finally putting in a system and it looks like it will be nice, I must say $350 for speaker wire and Kicker comps? Seems backwards to me. Especially when you have active capabilities. As for your noise, others have experienced that at Diyma on the 360 and I am not sure if they found a cure.

Not sure if you are familiar with the SS, but they aren't a typical Kicker speaker.

I think that Scan-Speak makes them based on looking at them closely... it has the exact same type spider as the 7" Revelators -- take off the center phase plug and you can see the healthy copper shorting cap as well. I wanted to install the 7" Revelators but didn't want to put in an amp big enough to power them at 8 ohms and I want to do an MTM for my house with all four of them that I have at the moment.

I haven't had a chance to really listen to the tweeters since I have only one midbass in and it sounds weird... but so far so good. If I end up not liking this setup I do have the DLS Iridium 3" midrange and 1" tweeter around, as well as some Seas 7" midbass and even those Scan-Speaks.

Hmm... I guess I can live with the hiss, since 99% of the time I'll have the engine on and won't hear it.

[bigjae1976 0]

I can't believe you make car amps for a living and don't have a car with a decent system in it right now.

It is coming along nicely. I was sad to see you get rid of your BMW.

[sundownz 197]

I can't believe you make car amps for a living and don't have a car with a decent system in it right now.

It is coming along nicely. I was sad to see you get rid of your BMW.

I was too... loved that car. The payment was too high and I was having problems with the power steering... I had already spent $1,000 in *parts* working on the power steering but it was still notchy and problematic -- all thanks to a shop putting power steering fluid in when the flushed they system (it calls for ATF fluid). Of course I didn't check it as I figured it was obvious being that "ATF fluid only" was written on the cap and they were professionals. I normally do my own work but didn't have the equipment to flush the PS system. I couldn't prove it as it took 6 months to break down the system... and by then they could easily deny it.

Anyhow... I couldn't keep paying for the car and fixing it as I have better things to do with my money, like build more amps and whatnot But wow, that car sounded GREAT... DLS Iridium front stage and sealed SI Mag *drools*

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

We have 4 cars and the only one with a fully working system is the one in the 528i (stock).

[sundownz 197]

* The 100.4 and the 3Sixty.2 mounted to the seat-back

* The 100.2 mounted to the top of my box with rubber feet. The real anti-theft kicker here is that it's damn near impossible to get this amp off the box without sliding the box back -- see below.

* Two L-brackets screwed into the wheel wheels of the car then to the box (one on the other side makes two).

* I had to leave some extra wiring for flexibility when I take the seat up and down and for when I need to slide the box back and remove the amp. Didn't want to trim it all down so I just tied it up.

* Could not quite neaten this area up like I wanted. I had to leave enough extra on the power and ground to slide stuff around and fold the seat up and down as well. Everything is securely tied together and the distribution blocks are screwed down as well. Of course, this area is not seen when the seat is up and nobody but me has to ever see it so I'm not worried. Another anti-theft thing here... you can't fold the seats down in this car without the key, there is a lock cylinder on the rear deck.

----

Now... all I really need to do is to get the passenger side midbass in, deaden the doors, and tweak the system

I've got another gremlin though... now I've got a turn-off pop. Presumably my 3Sixty.2 is acting up... I'm going to see if I can get my isolated Navone Engineering power supply in there for it. It did not pop before installation of the 100.2 either. These high-tech gadgets are so touchy sometimes.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Jacob, since you are a civic specialist, you think you could do the install on my '96?

[sundownz 197]

Jacob, since you are a civic specialist, you think you could do the install on my '96?

Hehe... at least it's not an 01+ model. I had to take out the entire rear area, seats, side panels, etc... just to get the rear deck cover off. I'd hate to work in an install bay and see an 01+ Civic roll in for rear speaker replacement. Heck... the fronts are those clip-in plastic deals with the almost square hole behind them. You HAVE to cut and make a baffle unless someone makes a plastic adapter or some sort.

But yah... a 96' is no problem! Running power wire is oh so easy... speaker install is a breeze... and wire tucking is easier than the 01+ models.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Jacob, since you are a civic specialist, you think you could do the install on my '96?

Hehe... at least it's not an 01+ model. I had to take out the entire rear area, seats, side panels, etc... just to get the rear deck cover off. I'd hate to work in an install bay and see an 01+ Civic roll in for rear speaker replacement. Heck... the fronts are those clip-in plastic deals with the almost square hole behind them. You HAVE to cut and make a baffle unless someone makes a plastic adapter or some sort.

But yah... a 96' is no problem! Running power wire is oh so easy... speaker install is a breeze... and wire tucking is easier than the 01+ models.

Oh power wire is done.

Randy and I ran 4/0 through the fire wall and under the drivers side panels.

[theabunai 3]

4/0 Damn Aaron, how big was the hole you had to drill through the firewall ? probably could've fit your thumb in it with some room to spare...

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

4/0 Damn Aaron, how big was the hole you had to drill through the firewall ? probably could've fit your thumb in it with some room to spare...

Big enough to not need to get the dremel out.

[sundownz 197]

A few updates...

I added a seperate relay to turn the 3Sixty.2 on -- this seems to quiet down the turn-off pop. It was loud enough to make my ears ring before, seriously.

I also totally revamped my gain structure by resetting the 3Sixty.2 through a new setup and lowering my gains. This eliminated 90% of my system hiss. I could probably get rid of the rest with a superior head unit or a line driver. But it is almost totally inaudible now.

Need to install the second midbass still... motivation is damped due to my deadener not being here.

[troy_audi0 0]

kinda wierd.

I was just lookin at running your amps..

I also have kicker SS comps & only my drivers side mid is installed

How did you set them up..??

Thanks Troy

[rabidmechanic05 0]

well now doesnt that tweeter install look familiar

haha, only makes it better that its in the same gen lx as mine XD

'05 LX Coupe

and i feel the pain of ripping everything out of this car just to do the rear speakers, and to make it better i had to take out the rear torque bars for the trunk to fit my 6x9s, so now i got a 50lb trunk to hold up!!

[sundownz 197]

Indeed... I gave up the idea of using deep 6x9" speakers in the back rather than subs due to those bars. I just ripped out the rears completely to allow more bass into the cabin.

[sundownz 197]

kinda wierd.

I was just lookin at running your amps..

I also have kicker SS comps & only my drivers side mid is installed

How did you set them up..??

Thanks Troy

As of now they are active with 24dB slopes crossed at 3,000 Hz... the midbass has a 24dB high pass at 65 Hz on the 3Sixty.2 unit, a 50 Hz high pass on the amp at 12dB per octave, and the subsonic around ~30 Hz again at 24 dB per octave on the amp. So... I really killed the low frequencies hard, thus allowing me to use a lower than normal crossover frequency.

[rabidmechanic05 0]

im working on figuring out a system to act like the torque bars so i still have an open trunk instead of having to prop it, but its a pretty challenging item to design.

[platnum accord 0]

how long did it take you to get the rears apart. on my friends 98 it took me alone about 50 mins to take it apart and put it back togeather. it was fun