Chances are that you have seen this thread before, or have glanced at pictures of my install at one point or another. It has been around for a while, but I have threads all over so I figured I would condense them to a single area. Some areas I forgot to take pictures of, like running the wires in the vehicle, laying fiberglass for the doors, and some fabrication steps. When it comes down to it, I was often doing this by myself and did not have extra (clean) hands to take pictures, or I would simply forget. I don't think I'm going to go into detail about what I did, pictures speak mostly for themselves. If there are questions, hopefully I have enough time in my new married life and time with the US Navy to answer any questions you may have. I hope you enjoy my installation.
Props go out to Jonsey for helping out when he did. Also my wife Carly for putting up with my audio addiction.
By the way, you will notice all this install was done in parking lots. No garage, no permanent work area, no big tools. Basically a drill, a jigsaw, a dremel, a power converter (for the jigsaw) and hand tools.
EQUIPMENT
Highs- Image Dynamics CD2 w/ mini lens (under dash) Mids- Image Dynamics IDQ8D4V2 (door pods) Subs- two Image Dynamics IDQ15D2V2 (trunk baffle) Headunit- ALPINE DVA-9861 (using toslink audio output) Controller- ALPINE RUX-C701 Processing- ALPINE PXA-H701 Aux device-120gb Microsoft Zune (straight into the PXA-H701) Amplifier Highs\Sub- MEMPHIS 16-MCH1300 BELLE (75x4 @ 4ohm + 1100x1 @ 1 ohm) Amplifier Mids- MEMPHIS MCA-300 (250x2 @ 2 ohm)
Early on, I had some temporary stuff thrown in and juggled around. I had some Image Dynamics CX62 mids for a while, then some Seas CA18RNX 8's took their place. I made door pods for the CA18's and ended up folding a cone on one of them because I was giving them way too much power! I had some Audison (NEXT!) amplification, some DLS A3 amplification, some older memphis amplifiers, a few Alpine Head units, and a old school analog 5 channel crossover. I wish i had more pictures of the old stuff that I went through, but here is some of it!
so here are some pics of the early life of my system!
So there I was, looking for a car that I could build this for that also had a double din opening for the H701 combo and that I thought I could fit the CD2 horns into. The GTi fit everything. After I bought her and made a trip up to my parents house to retrieve my IDQ15's, I made this hatch baffle in the parking lot of the military barracks I was living at with a single cordless drill, a jigsaw and some hand tools on the back of a friends old pickup truck! It only took a few days to put together. fairly simple!
So it came to pass that I came in the ownership of some sound dampening. There was a day off, and a few friends of mine decided to help me install it on a super hot day in the parking lot. turns out taking the door apart for this was a piece of cake!
Ahhh, yes. The question that people ask about the most. How are your HLCDs? Well, they are dynamic, super loud, detailed, and really picky. Did I mention they are a pain in the asshole to install? Pardon my language, but they are not easy depending on what kind of vehicle you drive. I got lucky. First I had the Ultra bodies that are super huge and awesome down to 800hz with a 24db\oct slope. Thats all fine and dandy because my H701 will go down to 30db\oct so I am set there. But the big horn bodies simply did not fit under the dash with the way that the motor was mounted to the top or the bottom. My air conditioner blower motor was right where the motor for the horn needed to go. Weighing int at 8lbs each, they are bigger motors than my IDQ8's. There will be no playing to get them in there. I called Image Dynamics and ordered a pair of miniature horn lenses and the motor mounted horizontally instead of top\bottom and they went in fairly easy. But mind you, I warn you that you will need good equalization and crossovers to tame these things, otherwise you will be spending money to spend more money. Be prepared. I also had to relocate a distribution system on the driver side up further into the dash because that is where the motor needed to fit. I also bought some used mini horn lenses on the forum and they didnt fit because they were only for the CD1 motors and had an angled throat. Those went back up for sale real soon! *sigh*
As far as mounting is concerned, I first wrestled them into place using lots of zip ties, then once they were where I needed them to be I drilled some holes on each end and one dead center of the horn lens. I used some metal strap like the kind you use to hang pipes in your house from various bolts and made a structure under the dash for the horns to hang from.
After three iterations of amplifiers, I came across a deal on a memphis belle that I could not pass up. I purchased the memphis belle and decided my mids could use more than 75 watts, because my horns were so efficient (109db 1w\1m) that my mids could not keep up! I then acquired a memphis two channel that would push my mids (also recently acquired IDQ8's) at two ohm with 250 watts!! After my friend Jonesy and myself did the re-installation of all this stuff it was then christmas vacation. I drove up to new york to spend time with my family and my girlfriend. Turns out I had lots of free time in the morning while everyone was at work and i decided to use some techflex and goodies I have had in boxes for a long time! I finished this in maybe 10 hours, but i am very satisfied with the results. The amps are underneath a simple false floor that I intend to re-make this spring, but it works great and the amps get warm on long trips at loud volumes, but never have had any overheating\protection issues. I wish I had cleaned it better before the pictures, but i am sure that is OK with you all!
PS! I also still have my spare tire! All I have to do is remove my hatch baffle, tilt the false floor up\left, then remove the tire! Pretty cool if you ask me!
nice gear. Makes me wish I could go out and install my ultra horns right now! and that I that I could fit an 8 in my door. dual 6 1/2"s will have to suffice i suppose
nice gear. Makes me wish I could go out and install my ultra horns right now! and that I that I could fit an 8 in my door. dual 6 1/2"s will have to suffice i suppose
2003 Volkswagen GTi 1.8t - Mosconi, Vifa, Exodus, Helix PDSP, IDMax, carPC *updated*
Linear Mode
