[doitor]

After a long pause, its time to get back into the SQ game, so I decided to start a new build.
The main goal is to build a stealth system in my daily driver.

The car: 2022 Toyota Prius aka. Project Uber SQ.

Source: Ill use two. First, the OEM head unit connected via high level into the DSP. Second, iPhone/Ipod touch into a Topping D10 DAC via coaxial digital into the DSP.

Speakers: IIAF Magnifica LE Carbon Fiber/Copper 3 way + 12" IIAF BL5 sub

Amps: Two IIAF D410 4 channel amplifiers. One for each side. Channel 1, 100 watts for the tweeter. Channel 2, 100 watts for the midrange. Channels 3 and 4 bridged to get 275 watts on the midbass. D135 Mono amplifier for the subwoofer (500 watts).

Processor: MINIDSP C-DSP 8X12 DL

Installer: Me.

Picked the car up from the dealer on June 22, 2022.

Take a look at the dash. Its a pretty nice platform to start.

J.

 

[doitor]

What do you do the first day you get a new car?
Take it apart, of course. LOL.
The top of the dash comes out in under 10 minutes, 5 if you hold my beer.

J.

 

[doitor]

The doors also come apart pretty easy.

Added a bit of deadener and put it back together.

Moved onto the hatch area.

Added some deadener.

Then the headliner suddenly came off.

J.

 

[doitor]

Also did a bit of measuring.
First, had to get the mic out and measure the OEM system.

Then used the osciloscope to measure clipping on the front and rear speakers.
With a 1 khz 0 dB tone, the fronts clip at 51/62 and the rears 53/62.
With a 1 khz -5 dB tone, the fronts clip at 56/62 and the rears dont clip.
With a 1 khz -10 dB tone, the fronts and rears dont clip.
With a 50 hz 0 dB tone, the fronts clip at 54/62 and the rears 61/62.
With a 50 hz -5 dB tone, the fronts and rears dont clip..
With a 50 hz -10 dB tone, the fronts and rears dont clip.

J.

 

[doitor]

Very interesting , I didn't know you test each driver for clipping and thought you test your amps and headunit and be done. The build is looking very pro , keep up the good work. I'll checking the entire build progress !!

bbfoto is right.
Since Im using the OEM hu as one of my inputs into the DSP, I wanted to know the clipping volume to be able to adjust gains down the rest of the gear with a clean signal.
The amps are here, just waiting on the speakers and this should move pretty fast.

J.

 

[doitor]

I should have known better from this being another well thought out and high end Jorge/doitor install! 😊 :bowdown:

Yeah, you should. LOL.

Welcome back as I always enjoy your work. I took a break from car audio as well and now I'm back down the rabbit hole!

Thanks.
Welcome back to the madness.

J.

 

[doitor]

Saturday morning building RCA's.
Used Canare StarQuad L4E6S cable with Rean NYS352G RCA plugs, tech flex, heat shrink.

J.

 

[doitor]

Speakers are here.

J.

 

[doitor]

Sub is also here.

Also got some prototypes of the soon to be released BL5 tweeters to test.

J

 

[doitor]

Looks like plenty of room on the dash and pillars to play.

Yes, could do several configurations but will start with the easy one.
Tweeters in the a pillars, midrange drivers in the dash and mid bass in the kicks.
Power and speaker wire is also here, so its going to be a pretty busy weekend.

J.

 

[doitor]

Weekend progress.
First grabbed the OEM high level signal from the dash speaker harness.

Solder.

Individual heatshrink.

Paired heatshrink.

Used electrical tape like the OEM harness.

J.

 

[doitor]

Also started with the tweeters.

Made some mounting rings with acrylic and mdf.

J.

 

[doitor]

Is the Canare cables internally 4 wires? Did you twist each wire pair together then solder to the Rean RCA connectors?

Yes, the Canare cable has 4 wires.
They have several models. Im using the L4E6S that has four 24 awg wires that are twisted and shielded for the rca´s.
I soldered a pair (both of the blue wires) to the positive and both of the white wires to the negative.
That also allowes me to make the Y-cables for bridging the midbass and subs pretty easy.

J.

 

[doitor]

Added some fiberglass bodyfiller.

Sanded.

Added some regular body filler.

And sanded some more.

Used 80 and 240.
Need to get some 320 and keep sanding.

J.

 

[doitor]

Weekend progress.
Sanding, sanding and more sanding.

Ran all the speaker wiring.
Back frame rail.

Front frame rail.

Terminating the wire at the dash.

J.

 

[doitor]

Not a lot of progress this weekend.
Installed the USB extension in the center console.
The idea behind that is to keep the IPod in there. The right one goes into the Topping D10S, the left one is just 12v, so I hook up the Apple CCK3 into both and the Ipod into the CCK3.

Also added the "I dont trust you with my system switch", which cuts the remote wire.

J.

 

[doitor]

I put my "I don't trust you with my system" switches in the extra spots in the dash button row. I have a switch to the remotes for the DSP and one for each amp. I like your stealth placement better though. I've used keyed switches in the past.

Those buttons look pretty sweet, but I needed something a bit more secure.

J.

 

[doitor]

Mine are more for turning parts of the system off if I need to.
I don't take my cars anywhere for service, I've had stuff stolen out of 2 of them in the past and the dealers do not care, read the fine print when you have work done.
We dropped off a BMW at a dealership, put the keys in the night drop box, in the morning we get a call wondering if we dropped the car off with the radio missing. Someone had destroyed the dash to remove an aftermarket radio, funny thing is, they used the key to open the door because there was no forced entry, so it had to be an inside job. Dealership refused to cover the damage, we had to claim it on our insurance.
Another time I had a car in for paint at a Ford dealer, a bunch of stuff was stolen out of my car, the manager showed me where I signed the work order and it says they are not liable for lost or stolen items.
So yeah, no one works on my cars, if I can't fix the problem myself I sell the car. The 2 year free maintenance you get with some new cars, I never use. Car leaves the dealer they never see me again, even for recalls.

That makes total sense after what you have been through.

A lot of us old SPL guys do this. Don't always want 148DB's or some idiot thinking they want more!

I bet you the mechanic can get it into the 150´s.

J.

 

[doitor]

First set of speakers are in. Woot, woot.
The original speakers mounted from the top. Had an idea to mount them from the bottom and make a "waveguide". Made a ring with 1/8" mdf and held it in place with wood tongue suppressors.

Used tape to make a mold.

Fiberglass body filler.

Regular body filler.

Covered them with black felt.

Speaker mounted.

Made the baffle from 1/4" acrylic, used speaker gasket tape on both sides of the baffle and duct seal on both sides.

Added some deadener and hot glued everything that could rattle.

Covered with speaker grill cloth and into the car.

J.

 

[doitor]

Weekend updates.
Front stage is done.

Amp rack wiring.
This is where my OCD shines. LOL.
Used metal/neoprene washers to not mess up the amps.

Test fitting the RCA´s.

Example of each amp power side.

Power and ground wires.

Into distro block.

Wiring under the rack.

J.