2007 Honda Accord Build

Doors:












Easy access compartments:

Doors continued...

Molex in driver side rubber grommet blocking path for new speaker wire:




New hole:








Finished Hushmat, little over 16 sq ft per door:


Finished Ensolite:

jcstites said:

Looks good. I'll probably have to do the same thing on the drivers side door in my 03 accord.

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WhereAmEye? said:

Lovin' how you put in the speaker wire (driver side). I just drilled a hole in the white harness connector thing. How big is your wire?

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All credit for this build goes to my installer. He's been my installer for about 3 years now and he's a great guy. I've learned a bunch from him and plan to have my own go at installation at some point. I'm not sure how big the wire is, but he thought about drilling a hole in the harness thing, he had done it before, but chose not to this time.

Here are some more pics, I really need to get the rest of them on here.

Honda Accord harness kit and Pioneer DEH-P5100UB installed




Hole drilled in large center console for iPod USB cable and BitOne console from headunit


iPod in small center console compartment. The iPod cable is loosening at the end, replacement from monoprice is in the mail. Lifetime warranty

More pics...

Engine power upgrades:








Tweeters, was a quick install, my installer wants to wrap them and make them look nicer, but I'm in no hurry. I'd rather put that money into another sub or dif amps

james2266 said:

Looking very good so far. I notice you have an Audison Lrx 5.1k as I do. I am curious by this statement - especially the last bit. Are you happy with the Audison or really not happy with it or just thinking about trying something else? I have read that the Black 12 is very similar to my Morel Ultimo in alot of respects so I am curious if you think you getting what you need from your amp. I think about getting a 2nd sub from time to time too but 1. can't afford one being I would need another much more powerful amp and then would actually need 2 amps as I would need one to do my midrange and tweets too.

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I'm happy with the LRx 5.1k, it's extremely versatile and convenient, and sounds great. The only con I can see it having is that it gets real hot. The reason I would upgrade is just to try something different. I've had the LRx 5.1k for almost 3 years now, and I'd really like to try an Arc SE amp, and maybe a KS2500.1 or KS1200.1.

It's been a while since I've read about the Ultimo, but I would like to hear one one day. The next thing I'm going to do is actually go back to my IDMAX for a while. I've had the Black12 for 9 months now, and I'd like to mix it up again. The Black12 has amazing output from 20-40hz for a single 12 sealed, maybe more than the IDMAX, but I'd like more output from 40-70hz, and the IDMAX has that. I'd ideally like to have 2 Black12's one day, or maybe 2 IDMAX12's, but I think I'd have to upgrade my alternator, as well as get a more powerful amp, and that's money I don't have right now too

I'll post the other pics of amp/sub in a couple hours.

Hoptologist said:

I'm happy with the LRx 5.1k, it's extremely versatile and convenient, and sounds great. The only con I can see it having is that it gets real hot. The reason I would upgrade is just to try something different. I've had the LRx 5.1k for almost 3 years now, and I'd really like to try an Arc SE amp, and maybe a KS2500.1 or KS1200.1.

It's been a while since I've read about the Ultimo, but I would like to hear one one day. The next thing I'm going to do is actually go back to my IDMAX for a while. I've had the Black12 for 9 months now, and I'd like to mix it up again. The Black12 has amazing output from 20-40hz for a single 12 sealed, maybe more than the IDMAX, but I'd like more output from 40-70hz, and the IDMAX has that. I'd ideally like to have 2 Black12's one day, or maybe 2 IDMAX12's, but I think I'd have to upgrade my alternator, as well as get a more powerful amp, and that's money I don't have right now too

I'll post the other pics of amp/sub in a couple hours.

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Its always good to hear opinions on this amp from someone that has first hand experience. Also good to hear your opinions on the various subs you've run. I have only ever had 3 diff. subs and only one that was a 12 (my current Ultimo). I have tried as best I can to hear a few others around here but it is so difficult as car audio is pretty much dead around here; especially the sq variety. I have recently gotten a quick listen to a JBL GTI12 mkii in a slightly water damaged ported box that the owner had no real clue about the specs of. It was actually pretty impressive. If I had a little extra dough, I might have grabbed it just for the hell of it but he wanted $300 for it still. The IDMax 12 is right at the top of my list of subs I want to hear. Never had the luxury. The one that just sold on here for $200 was really tempting but I am trying to actually get what I have in and maximized before going after any new equipment.

Are you running a line driver by chance on your 5.1k? I have always found that I have to really crank the gains especially on the sub channel to get any sizeable output from it. I also found the B channels lacking for midbass production. I am now using a Mosconi One 120.4 bridged for that (340 watts rms potentially). I would actually love to replace the 5.1k with a Mosconi AS300 and a 100.4 maybe? Don't have a couple grand to spend on that tho. I have also looked at that Arc KS2500.1 as a sub solution. I like that one alot as it can run 2 Ultimo's potentially at 1 ohm if I chose. Have also looked at Genesis, Audiosystem xion, Sinfoni and many others as possible upgrades. As these are all a large chunk of change and I have no experience with any of them, I want to hear what they have to offer before I go doing anything. I need some ears on experience which is tough to land around here. I guess I am still learning but going into this one a little more level headed this time. I want to maximize what I have first and really hope I get exactly what I want even if deep down I don't think I will get what I crave with what I have.

james2266 said:

Its always good to hear opinions on this amp from someone that has first hand experience. Also good to hear your opinions on the various subs you've run. I have only ever had 3 diff. subs and only one that was a 12 (my current Ultimo). I have tried as best I can to hear a few others around here but it is so difficult as car audio is pretty much dead around here; especially the sq variety. I have recently gotten a quick listen to a JBL GTI12 mkii in a slightly water damaged ported box that the owner had no real clue about the specs of. It was actually pretty impressive. If I had a little extra dough, I might have grabbed it just for the hell of it but he wanted $300 for it still. The IDMax 12 is right at the top of my list of subs I want to hear. Never had the luxury. The one that just sold on here for $200 was really tempting but I am trying to actually get what I have in and maximized before going after any new equipment.

Are you running a line driver by chance on your 5.1k? I have always found that I have to really crank the gains especially on the sub channel to get any sizeable output from it. I also found the B channels lacking for midbass production. I am now using a Mosconi One 120.4 bridged for that (340 watts rms potentially). I would actually love to replace the 5.1k with a Mosconi AS300 and a 100.4 maybe? Don't have a couple grand to spend on that tho. I have also looked at that Arc KS2500.1 as a sub solution. I like that one alot as it can run 2 Ultimo's potentially at 1 ohm if I chose. Have also looked at Genesis, Audiosystem xion, Sinfoni and many others as possible upgrades. As these are all a large chunk of change and I have no experience with any of them, I want to hear what they have to offer before I go doing anything. I need some ears on experience which is tough to land around here. I guess I am still learning but going into this one a little more level headed this time. I want to maximize what I have first and really hope I get exactly what I want even if deep down I don't think I will get what I crave with what I have.

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I've only had 3 different subs as well: JL W1v2, IDMAX, and then Black. Sealed, sealed and ported, and sealed. All 12". I've heard great things about that JBL, I've always wanted to hear one of those, a JL W6, Hertz HX300, and DD 2512. I almost bought that $200 IDMAX too lol, it was a great deal.

No line driver. My gains are all moderately set, never had any issue with output. My Arc Black 6" mids give really nice midbass for a 6", more than the Hertz MLK 165 I had previously, although in the future I'd love to get 7" or 8" mids hehe. Before the LRx, I had a Zapco 360.4 bridged for the Hertz MLK and going active with them on the Audison really opened them up even more. The Black 6.2 component set, though, I'd say is more full sounding and dynamic, but slightly not as smooth, compared to the Hertz. In the future I want to try either Morel or Dynaudio comps, and maybe DLS.

Pretty stealthy looking install outside of the subbox, nothing is really visible. I hope you have that box bolted right down to the car frame however. If you don't, one good box slide and you could have serious issues. I am sure you thought of that already.

Funny, I had the ML165 set as my first venture into true sq as well. I came across a deal on a set of Morel mt22 tweeters and it was like my high end clarity was 100x better instantly and that is one of their lower line tweeters! I have since moved up to Scanspeak D3004 tweeter which is very similar to the Morel but with more hi extension - a little ah... airier? In my battle to get solid midbass/subbass in my last vehicle I grabbed a set of Morel mw265 8 inch home drivers and had them installed. There was a gigantic difference in midbass punch and clarity too. I was hearing things I had never heard before in songs especially subtle bass electric variations. Truly worth the effort to get larger midbasses in your doors. Floor would be even better. I got to hear that in Florida (thanks Steve!) and it was very impressive. Much better imaging and no rattles!

As for subs, I had a Hertz ML2500 before my Ultimo and it was a nice addition although it never seemed to have much output. I think it does alot better in the upper ranges than the lower and that vehicle had a drop out in the upper sub frequencies so I think that was the major contributor to that. Funny you mention that JBL sub, I just checked and it is still for sale. Man, if I only had the money to spend. Would be an easy fix on the box with all of the glassing stuff I have here and it would make an awesome spare. I probably would of offered him something for it if it was not a truck box. the box would have to fire up and it would take up more real estate than I am willing to give. If it was an IDMax, I probably would have grabbed it if I liked its sound. I would love the extra 6 db or so of sensitivity for one and the fact it is about 3 inches less deep. If only I could here one. Maybe on my return to Florida next March for SBN. Really looking forward to that and I really hope I can cross off alot of these 'must listen' items off my list then.

Since my last post, I've sold my Black12 v1 and gone back to my IDMAX for the time being. The plan for the future is either 2 Black12 v2 or 1 Illusion Audio C12 XL (not sure I could swing 2).

I've gone from 1 JL Audio 12 W1v2 sealed, to 1 IDMAX12 sealed, to 1 IDMAX12 ported, to 1 Arc Black12 sealed, to 1 IDMAX12 sealed again. I've always had single sub setups, and I love trying out different subs and different boxes, but I think I'm just spinning my wheels until I switch to a dual sub setup (to really get me the effect I'm ultimately wanting).

I haven't taken many new pics, no point really, but here is my new sealed box I'm using for my IDMAX, came out real good, props to my installer for that, didn't want to spend extra on carpeting since it is just a temporary thing, and was going for as cheap as possible





He also just got some new tuning equipment, going from Termlab to TrueRTA along with a new mic and a couple other new toys. He only got a chance to mess around with some tuning/eq for an hour or 2, but the changes he made have made a nice improvement in my overall sound. He had to drop a couple frequencies substantially that were showing as huge peeks, specifically 1.2khz and 800hz I believe. Everything sounds much more transparent and clear, and I'm excited for him to do even more next time

For the future, I'll be getting new amps as well. The Audison LRx 5.1k has served me super well, but I want more headroom, and my only gripe with it is that it gets super freaken hot, even with no input RCA's and no speakers connected. Sometimes the red light comes on and I've had it go into protect a few times, but then I will make the trip from Fresno to Disneyland or Fresno to Santa Rosa, in the summertime, 'bumping' pretty loud the entire time, and it will be fine, lol. I've talked to Audison and Elettromedia and they offered to look at it/repair anything if necessary/clean it/etc for $125, but I don't think it's worth it. If I was going to keep it for another couple years, then I would, but I'm looking to get new amps hopefully within a month or so. Just an FYI to whoever the future owner of this amp will be, lol.

Update

It was about that time to change things up a bit. It had been about a year and 2 months since my last significant changes, so I was overdue by at least a couple months. My cars been at my installers for a bit now and this is where we’re at.

New sub stage
(2) Arc Audio Black 12 v2

New amp stage
Arc Audio KS 300.2
Arc Audio KS 300.4
Arc Audio KS 2500.1

The Blacks will be getting about 1.1cuft of space each in a sealed box, and they will have 2500rms total to play around with and keep them company. Everything is pretty temporary right now because we wanted to see how they sound firing into the cabin sealed off from the trunk, as well as rear firing. We’re going to see how they sound firing into the cabin first, so things will be sealed off as best they can without being permanent.

I wanted to keep my spare tire, so an amp rack was made that fits nicely on the back of the box.

The Black 1.0 will be hooked up to 2 channels of the 300.4 and the 6.0 on the 300.2. The plan is to hopefully go to a 3-way set near the end of this year, either Focal Flax, Illusion Carbons (once the 3” comes out, and I’d probably do 8” in the doors), or maybe Gladen. I just don’t see the massive Arc Black 4.0 fitting in, and I don’t really want to do kicks. Too bad they don’t have a 3.0, because the Blacks sound great.

I had 37 sq ft pack of RAAMmat BXT II, so he used it to deaden the entire trunk (had major road noise back there), and then he used Hushmat on the top deck lid.

I’ve always had major buzzing/resonance in my doors during certain songs, even though they are super deadened (Hushmat inside/outside, and Ensolite over that on the outside). I’ve read others on here giving up on their Accord doors because they are just ridiculous with resonance, but only certain songs. When it happens, if I just press on the actual window, or crack the window a tad, it goes away. So to try and improve it, Focal Blackhole Tiles will be added inside the doors around the back of the speakers, and the door cards will be mass loaded with Hushmat.

So it’s not finished yet, but here are some pictures so far