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New car audio brands, especially high end ones, are pretty rare these days...maybe its the shrinking market, maybe its the fact that most business people just want to make a quick profit versus truly delivering a fantastic product; regardless, it seems that a lot of the new names I gander at CES (not pre-established overseas brands that are making an entry into the US) are of the low rent, vaguely (or blatantly) copy cat variety from China.
So imagine by surprise and delight when long time industry friend Andy Wehmeyer told me about his new venture, a high end car audio brand called Audio Frog. My respect for Andy and his expertise instantly gave credibility to the brand, a credibility that was further reinforced when i found that Gary Biggs was also part of it...Gary is someone who has built cars that i have long stared at, someone i have no hopes of ever coming close to matching in the field and someone i respect a huge amount...since talking about it in detail at the 2014 CES, i have eagerly awaited the physical product arrival.
Despite all the faith i have in guys like Andy and Gary, to me, in the end, only one thing matters: the actual performance of the products themselves. So when Andy asked if i would be interested in trying out an pre/early production set and give him my impression, i jumped on the chance. The only thing was to find the right vehicle for the job as we are always prebooked with existing product selections.
In the end, it didnt take long, a good friend of mine, who has had three previous cars done by me, just purchased a brand new Acura MDX...after a quick look at the car and some discussions, it was decided that this vehicle would be my foray into the Audio Frog brand.
To be honest, one of the biggest reasons i wanted to do AF in a car like the MDX is that i know integrating with the oem system to produce a great sounding car has some challenges. With its datalink amp volume control, you have to tap the signal AFTER the stock amp, and that is often less ideal and requires more work than going with an aftermarket system or tapping a oem system pre-amp. I figured, if i can get the AF set to sound good in this car, it would absolutely excel in any environment.
so...lets get started with the goals:
1. achieve a nice level of SQ utilizing the top of the line AudioFrog three way set
2. locate midrange and tweeter onto the A pillars but still try to maintain a low key appearance.
3. Build a completely stealth set up in the back that takes up no room above the trunk floor, so basically, everything had to be located in the stock storage bin.
so...lets get to the log.
First up, a quick shot at the metal fuse holder bracket that Jesse made for underhood, it houses a single stinger 0 ga dual midi fuseholder:
to make this happen, Jesse installed two rivetnuts into the metal side panel, and then fabricated a metal plate that bolts to those rivet nuts and had threaded holes for the fuse holder to bolt down into it:
moving onto the signal source, which of course remains completely stock, the only change was a mosconi RCD-Mini DSP controller custom mounted in the ashtray area. This gives the customer master volume, subwoofer volume, and preset changing on the flay. framing the controller is a little trim panel that has been flocked black to match the finish in the oem tray:
a few quick build pics of this piece, first here is the factory tray and the controller side by side:
the controller mounting wasnt hard, the side of the astray was cut out a bit, allowing the controller to sit on a piece of 1/8" mdf and then the bolts supplied with the controller bolts through the bottom of the tray and into the threaded holes of the controller, and secures it tightly.
i then fabricated a small mounting plate out of 1/4" mdf, put it in, and backfilled the edges with duraglass:
when that cured, i took it out of the car and sanded it down, applied a little more filler at various areas until the shape is what i desired:
i then test fitted one last time in the car:
and then i flocked it with black nylon fibers, let it cure, and press fitted it into the tray:
moving onto the front stage, which consists of the Audiofrong GB60 midbass, the GB25 2.5" midrange, and the GB10 small tweeter. the GB60 went into the stock lower door location.
Lets take a quick look at the GB60. it is quite a beefy little driver, with what looks like a surround capable of supporting very good excursion. but what really impresses me is the awesome build quality of the product. the fit and finish, the design and just the overall end result ooozes quality. Two set screw terminals eliminate the need for spade connectors, though i would recommend tinning the wire leads before inserting them as the set screw is not huge. its a shame such a beautiful driver will be completely hidden, but anyway, here you go
so first, jesse applied a bunch of blackhole tiles on the outter door to help with resonance:
some CLD damper went around the factory speaker mounting location, new speaker wires were run into the door, and a honda/acura spacer ring was bolted in place, it is then sealed inside and out with butyl rope:
then, the rest of the door received full coverage with focal BAM XXXL composite damper:
and the GB60 secured in place:
the outter door skin also received ample attention from STP CLD damper:
the same treatment went onto the passenger side:
moving onto the A pillar for the GB25 and GB10...lets first take a look at the finished product. after consulting with Andy on aiming, the GB25 midrange was aimed 90 degress off axis at each other, while the GB10 tweeter was tilted back aiming at the opposite listener. this helped produce an A pillar that was not too obtrusive and Andy told me they would perform well in this orientation.
What i REALLY love is the chromed accent rings around the speakers, normally, to achieve this look a ton of fabrication would be required, but thanks to the unique design of these speakers (more on them below), it was very straightforward. the metal rings matches well with all the shiny accents in the car. the pillars were finished in highgrade german vinyl:
some close in shots of the Audio Frogs:
and three quick pics of the entire front end:
So imagine by surprise and delight when long time industry friend Andy Wehmeyer told me about his new venture, a high end car audio brand called Audio Frog. My respect for Andy and his expertise instantly gave credibility to the brand, a credibility that was further reinforced when i found that Gary Biggs was also part of it...Gary is someone who has built cars that i have long stared at, someone i have no hopes of ever coming close to matching in the field and someone i respect a huge amount...since talking about it in detail at the 2014 CES, i have eagerly awaited the physical product arrival.
Despite all the faith i have in guys like Andy and Gary, to me, in the end, only one thing matters: the actual performance of the products themselves. So when Andy asked if i would be interested in trying out an pre/early production set and give him my impression, i jumped on the chance. The only thing was to find the right vehicle for the job as we are always prebooked with existing product selections.
In the end, it didnt take long, a good friend of mine, who has had three previous cars done by me, just purchased a brand new Acura MDX...after a quick look at the car and some discussions, it was decided that this vehicle would be my foray into the Audio Frog brand.
To be honest, one of the biggest reasons i wanted to do AF in a car like the MDX is that i know integrating with the oem system to produce a great sounding car has some challenges. With its datalink amp volume control, you have to tap the signal AFTER the stock amp, and that is often less ideal and requires more work than going with an aftermarket system or tapping a oem system pre-amp. I figured, if i can get the AF set to sound good in this car, it would absolutely excel in any environment.
so...lets get started with the goals:
1. achieve a nice level of SQ utilizing the top of the line AudioFrog three way set
2. locate midrange and tweeter onto the A pillars but still try to maintain a low key appearance.
3. Build a completely stealth set up in the back that takes up no room above the trunk floor, so basically, everything had to be located in the stock storage bin.
so...lets get to the log.
First up, a quick shot at the metal fuse holder bracket that Jesse made for underhood, it houses a single stinger 0 ga dual midi fuseholder:
to make this happen, Jesse installed two rivetnuts into the metal side panel, and then fabricated a metal plate that bolts to those rivet nuts and had threaded holes for the fuse holder to bolt down into it:
moving onto the signal source, which of course remains completely stock, the only change was a mosconi RCD-Mini DSP controller custom mounted in the ashtray area. This gives the customer master volume, subwoofer volume, and preset changing on the flay. framing the controller is a little trim panel that has been flocked black to match the finish in the oem tray:
a few quick build pics of this piece, first here is the factory tray and the controller side by side:
the controller mounting wasnt hard, the side of the astray was cut out a bit, allowing the controller to sit on a piece of 1/8" mdf and then the bolts supplied with the controller bolts through the bottom of the tray and into the threaded holes of the controller, and secures it tightly.
i then fabricated a small mounting plate out of 1/4" mdf, put it in, and backfilled the edges with duraglass:
when that cured, i took it out of the car and sanded it down, applied a little more filler at various areas until the shape is what i desired:
i then test fitted one last time in the car:
and then i flocked it with black nylon fibers, let it cure, and press fitted it into the tray:
moving onto the front stage, which consists of the Audiofrong GB60 midbass, the GB25 2.5" midrange, and the GB10 small tweeter. the GB60 went into the stock lower door location.
Lets take a quick look at the GB60. it is quite a beefy little driver, with what looks like a surround capable of supporting very good excursion. but what really impresses me is the awesome build quality of the product. the fit and finish, the design and just the overall end result ooozes quality. Two set screw terminals eliminate the need for spade connectors, though i would recommend tinning the wire leads before inserting them as the set screw is not huge. its a shame such a beautiful driver will be completely hidden, but anyway, here you go
so first, jesse applied a bunch of blackhole tiles on the outter door to help with resonance:
some CLD damper went around the factory speaker mounting location, new speaker wires were run into the door, and a honda/acura spacer ring was bolted in place, it is then sealed inside and out with butyl rope:
then, the rest of the door received full coverage with focal BAM XXXL composite damper:
and the GB60 secured in place:
the outter door skin also received ample attention from STP CLD damper:
the same treatment went onto the passenger side:
moving onto the A pillar for the GB25 and GB10...lets first take a look at the finished product. after consulting with Andy on aiming, the GB25 midrange was aimed 90 degress off axis at each other, while the GB10 tweeter was tilted back aiming at the opposite listener. this helped produce an A pillar that was not too obtrusive and Andy told me they would perform well in this orientation.
What i REALLY love is the chromed accent rings around the speakers, normally, to achieve this look a ton of fabrication would be required, but thanks to the unique design of these speakers (more on them below), it was very straightforward. the metal rings matches well with all the shiny accents in the car. the pillars were finished in highgrade german vinyl:
some close in shots of the Audio Frogs:
and three quick pics of the entire front end: