[opekone]

So I finally get the chance to throw coin down on my dream car. (Test drive? No, that's not necessary.) Once I stopped lusting over my fresh out of highschool dreams it hit me like a ton of bricks... Wow the stock speakers in this car image so poorly. The OEM stage is 32 feet long and 4 feet wide and it sounds like a ****ty little bandpassed speaker is playing from 20 feet in front of the windshield. It's like listening to music playing in the background of a telephone call. You can't even begin to appreciate how bad they sound because of the stage.

First step see what we can do with the stock speakers. I started with a cheapo Dayton 408, power to the OE speakers, and a 12W3 to fill it out. Still without and mic + REW I started with a base 2ms delay drivers to passengers side and 8ms tweeter to woofer. I'm able to place the stage on the dash by putting 1ms between the tweeters and mids and 1.75 between the left and right channels. A DSP can do wonders, can't wait till the computer autotunes for me. But now that it images well playing at anything resembling a fun listening volume and the speakers break up. It was a fun experiment, but time to get serious, budget serious!

Morel CCWR254
Revelators
IDMax12
Soundstream Picasso Nano 650.1 and 640.5 (The cheapest amps you can find)
I am considering throwing in a tweeter, but for now it's got plenty up top.

The Morels fit very nicely in the OEM tweeter location, which leaves a bit to be desired. The driver mounts like 6 to 8 inches away from the windshield and is missing out on some possible windshield horn loading. Or there is plenty of room to mount a tweeter right with it, but if I'm firing mid and tweeter at the windshield I think I'd want the mid closer to the windshield than the tweeter? Either way I'm eventually going to hog the plastic out and make a proper baffle for the morels. What does this mean? Does it mean the speaker is practically hanging from fishing wire being held on with two screws to a delrin mount? Yes. The stock grills just mutilated the sound coming from the speakers. After driving around with them off for a few weeks I decided to just upholster them.

The ScanSpeaks fit wonderfully in the doors. Basic 1" MDF ring (the baffle is 3/4") mounted on closed cell foam. Had to take just a little bit off the door cards to get them to sit comfortably over the top of the revelators.

IDMax 12 in a ~2cu sealed box. At some point I realized I don't give a **** about trunk space and this is my dream build so I've got an IDMAX 15 that I'll run inverted in a prefab box. Once I find a place where I can construct a baffle I'll swap to IB. #Apartment life #COVID life #Anyone in SD? Worst case is I build it in a parking lot with a couple 18v tools, but I'd like to avoid that. Since I'm limited to 10 pictures here is a shot of the 15.

Still gotta get a mic so I can actually see what's going on. It sounds great but there is still lots of untidiness from the combs and from the doors resonating. I wanted to avoid CLD + MLV and only rely on CCF for rattles - but that doesn't seem likely. Besides, what's the harm in doing just the doors good? I'll add some CLD for the resonance and isolated MLV to block the wave.


Thanks for listening!

 

[dgage]

Looks like a great car and a really nice system. Two comments.

1. You probably want to remove those MDF rings and replace them with some UHMW plastic or similar as the MDF will swell and turn to dust in a damp door environment. It’s not a matter of if they will fail but when.

2. It looks like that car has a trunk. Why don’t you run a pair of 12s or 15s infinite baffle, which uses the trunk as the enclosure? The IDMAX subs are known to work very well IB and the AE SBP series is probably the top IB driver out there though there are many that work well IB. You’ll need to seal the trunk from the cabin so the rear wave and front waves don’t meet and cause cancelation. IB provides deep bass and bass that plays pretty high to easily meet midbass so you get very good, very clean bass. Because the enclosure is so large and doesn’t help the suspension, you can’t put a lot of power, usually 200-300w is all that is needed per driver and you’ll still get lots of bass. Maybe not enough for a bass head but short of that, plenty for most anyone else.

And your car isn’t ever going to be quiet so noise abatement should probably be focused on rattles and noises.

Hope you’re enjoying your system, should be fun when you get the system up to the level of that car’s performance.

 

[opekone]

Thanks. It's certainly nothing compared to what the majority of people do on this site! I hit the MDF with some scotch guard but kind of expected this would be the case, I may cut up a plastic pair when I deaden the doors. What thickness should I use for the UHMW plastic? As for the subs that's the plan, "just" need to build a baffle.

Why not buy a second 12? I couldn't stomach the investment and it potentially not reaching my goals. So I grabbed the 15 knowing I can double up and spread that load oh so deliciously. I figured I could fill the trunk with a gross prefab until the time came to create a baffle. Living in an apartment really limits my ability to work with larger pieces of material.

I've hot rodded a few cars in my day but I snagged the 6 year 100k warranty on this pupper... so I'll have to respect the limits of my bank account and throw money at the car in a safer way. For now. 😁

 

[dgage]

You may want to keep your eyes open for a track saw on Craigslist. I have an expensive track saw from Festool and I love it. With a track saw you can make fine furniture with tools that are easily stored in a closet. If you made me choose between my real nice table saw and my Festool track saw, well, I’m going to need help carrying that beast of a table saw out. A router against a straight edge can also give you very nice cut edges so that is a slightly cheaper option as well. Even better if you combined both and used the router with the track for the saw.

 

[beerdrnkr]

Nice car! I have a 2018 WRX and previously had a 2015 WRX. I've gone through a ton of setups with both vehicles. I did the exact same thing with my grilles to prevent the mids from getting muffled. I also have a IDMAX but it's a 12", haven't tried it out yet, been too lazy to swap subs out. Lol.

If you have any ideas or questions that I can help with, just let me know. Are you in San Diego?

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 

[Frequentflyer]

Nice car (nice color...CWP owner here also). I like what you did with the grills. Is that speaker cloth?

 

[draft6969]

Soooooooo am I hearing that you have a 12 IDMAX laying around? I need a D2

 

[opekone]

You may want to keep your eyes open for a track saw on Craigslist. I have an expensive track saw from Festool and I love it. With a track saw you can make fine furniture with tools that are easily stored in a closet. If you made me choose between my real nice table saw and my Festool track saw, well, I’m going to need help carrying that beast of a table saw out. A router against a straight edge can also give you very nice cut edges so that is a slightly cheaper option as well. Even better if you combined both and used the router with the track for the saw.

I think a router, a table, and a track might be in my future.

Nice car! I have a 2018 WRX and previously had a 2015 WRX. I've gone through a ton of setups with both vehicles. I did the exact same thing with my grilles to prevent the mids from getting muffled. I also have a IDMAX but it's a 12", haven't tried it out yet, been too lazy to swap subs out. Lol.

If you have any ideas or questions that I can help with, just let me know. Are you in San Diego?

Radical! Love the second iteration of the tweeter mount, very smooth! I am in SD! I'd love to get a listen to your setup once the pandemic passes. I'd be interested to learn more about the baffle you made! It looks like it's bolted to the false floor, that can't be the case?

Nice car (nice color...CWP owner here also). I like what you did with the grills. Is that speaker cloth?

Hell yeah, white is so plain, but also so regal. Yeah just some speaker cloth and contact cement.

Soooooooo am I hearing that you have a 12 IDMAX laying around? I need a D2

It's a D4. Get those ohms up like you know you want to. Either the W3 or the IDmax will serve apartment duty, the other must go!

 

[draft6969]

Dam. I have a D2 and need another one. I would have loved to get it from you 😥

 

[beerdrnkr]

Soooooooo am I hearing that you have a 12 IDMAX laying around? I need a D2

I do, can't remember if it's D2 or not. I've been dying to hear how it sounds.

I think a router, a table, and a track might be in my future.



Radical! Love the second iteration of the tweeter mount, very smooth! I am in SD! I'd love to get a listen to your setup once the pandemic passes. I'd be interested to learn more about the baffle you made! It looks like it's bolted to the false floor, that can't be the case?

Awesome, for sure after this whole thing blows over we can definitely meet up. We removed some of the plastic panels behind the seats and replaced them with wood along the floor and that's what we screwed the baffle into.

Hell yeah, white is so plain, but also so regal. Yeah just some speaker cloth and contact cement.



It's a D4. Get those ohms up like you know you want to. Either the W3 or the IDmax will serve apartment duty, the other must go!

Dam. I have a D2 and need another one. I would have loved to get it from you

Where are you located?

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

 

[Bobby_Jones]

Nice build. I'm running a Precicion Power ion in my WRX, which is the same thing as the Picasso. Running a sealed Infinity Ref1200 but looking for more. Thinking of trying an 8 inch ported.

 

[opekone]

My CLD arrived today! Naturally I went to the hardware store to get some fiberglass panels and lo and behold it's a special order item at every store in town. I suppose I should be using amazon for everything anyway. Since patience is my enemy I went ahead and got going with the CLD. I used 10lb total, not too bad for a pair of doors. Doing more reading it seems mlv at 1lb/sqft isn't that different than CLD at 1lb/sqft for blocking sound... so I'll save the MLV for the trunk baffle. I may look for some CCF to stick between the cards and the panels or I may order some fiberglass (anyone have experience with polyester absorption tiles, how are they to work with and cut?) Maybe I'll be lazy and just let it ride until after the baffle gets finished, besides it sounds good now so I wont complain. My 18v router should be here soon... the parking lots are calling to me. I suppose I should start pulling the trunk apart and planning my mounts.

But all this thinking about insulation materials is getting my mind juices flowing!


What are the cool kids using for a DAC nowadays? Don't tell me it's a Helix.

 

[dcfis]

You would be very happy with that single ID Max 15 in a decent IB baffle.

 

[opekone]

You would be very happy with that single ID Max 15 in a decent IB baffle.

I think you are right. I can't recall the thread but someone on here was explaining their various IB projects and how they enjoyed a single 15 over 2 15s. They thought it had to do with trunk space and the WRX does not have a large trunk. The single woofer will look so ugly and sad all alone in the baffle.

Love the cat that matches your avatar. That's too cute.

 

[opekone]

The dash is a hollow cavity of death. I cried a little when I saw this really simple path to run the tweeter wire. The one I chose was not so simple. Oh well. Next time.

Filled er up with a bunch of fiberglass. Had to use a bag to contain the glass from falling down into the dash, but left the top open, then stuffed the hole and back up under the dash as well.

 

[dcfis]

Looks like the same wire i use. Can't remember if it's knu or sky high.

You are right depends on the trunk size. When i went from one to two i think it moved up the frequency resonance a bit. I do like it for what i listen to. Sounds like a real kick drum in tone and attack. I know there is more to it than that but i personally don't care for tons of low bass like most people. Does nothing but fatten and round it off while producing innumerable rattles to chase down.

 

[Frequentflyer]

The dash is a hollow cavity of death. I cried a little when I saw this really simple path to run the tweeter wire. The one I chose was not so simple. Oh well. Next time.

Filled er up with a bunch of fiberglass. Had to use a bag to contain the glass from falling down into the dash, but left the top open, then stuffed the hole and back up under the dash as well.

View attachment 265931

View attachment 265932

Here's my plan. Also got a tweeter mount I designed going in the space in front of the midrange.

 

[.69077]

Definitely gonna follow this closely. And I know what you mean by dream car, Ive owned 10 Subarus, including a 1999 2.5RS I bought brand new, a BRZ and Forester Turbo. But the STi was always on my bucket list. So being this was the last year of the EJ engine I had to pull the trigger on my 2020 STI Series White. The Bilstein suspension out of the Type RA didn't hurt as a selling point either.

 

[.69077]

I've hot rodded a few cars in my day but I snagged the 6 year 100k warranty on this pupper... so I'll have to respect the limits of my bank account and throw money at the car in a safer way. For now. 😁

Exact same plan I have, SAS Gold warranty for 6/100k.

 

[opekone]

The most recent upgrade is a boring one to see but it has made one of the biggest differences in sound. Unfortunately, I changed a lot of things changed at once and was far too lazy to try some A-B-A-C type comparisons. A brand new source unit, a new DSP, and completely different gain staging. Before I was using the headphone output of an S9+ as a line driver into the DSP408 and it was not able to make up for the low line voltage without adding significant coloration to the sound. The DSP.3 puts out a massive 6 volts. This meant I had to set all of my amp gains from near maximum to minimum (with some additional cuts in the DSP). And what I imagine to be the largest impact is the significant source change to USB Audio Player Pro transmitting directly through the USB hec directly into the processor. So now the signal chain only contains one DAC and no ADC's. The phone still ties into the car's bluetooth and it the steering wheel controls function and control UAPP and the stock stereo displays the track info and shows the album art. 🙌🙌🙌

As for the future, IB is coming eventually. I've got my router and got a drill... We're team Makita now. I still need some router bits and I'll probably grab one of those adjustable curves from MobileSolutions. I suppose I'll want a saw as well to chop my mounting plates out of 2x4 or 2x8. REW and a umik is doing me well but my sweet USB audio interface isn't so sweet and doesn't have a line input, so I'm on the hunt for a discount sound card that will allow me to set TA with a loopback setup - my searching has not been fruitful. There is only a hint of system noise, but it's still there and it's more than likely due to the embarrassingly low SN Ratio of the picasso amps. It's getting close to real amp time.

I also still have some nasty resonances in the 150+ range from the door speakers that should get tidied up when I add fiberglass into the doors... I might also need more glass in the dash, the back wave of the mid booms through the dash like a transmission line and outputs above your shin just inches from the midbass. Adding the insulation to the dash made a huge impact to a bunch of nasty sounds I was localizing to areas at the top of the door above the speaker. So you just never know with this ****.