[simplicityinsound]

i get asked a lot whether or not we want to work on high end sports cars...and the truth is, for the most part, I'd rather build systems in more pedestrian vehicles. many of the high end and exotic sports cars tend to be less than ideal sonic environments, while requiring a lot of backbreaking labor in tiny cramped interiors. One of the exceptions to that is Porsche, over the past decade or so, i have always enjoyed working on various porsches, i feel that they are pretty well put together, assembled in a logical manner, and can sound quite good with the right build.

So it was pretty cool when a previous customer returned to us to build a system in his 2012 997 S4...a car he had just picked up from a socal dealer. Unlike most other porsche customers of the past, he wanted to focus on sound quality, even if it means loading the car up with a little extra mass...which is fine by my book

so lets get started with the goals:

1. achieve a nice level of sound quality throughout

2. maintain some degree of usability in the front trunk and retain rear seats (he actually folds them down to use as a shelf for a golfbag)

3. design a sub system that can produce a decent amount of output without sacrificing sound quality

so...first up, two shots of the car itself, stock but still very pretty to me:

Joey fabricated a simple metal mounting tab, which bolts to stock locations and houses his stinger fuser holder:

the signal starts with a Pioneer 8000NEX double din headunit, installed via the euro spec connects2 dash kit:

I also added a pioneer ND BC6 backup camera for him, which was loads of fun

moving onto the front trunk. as mentioned, the idea is to still retaining some usable space, so here is the normal view with the top cover in place. he lost about 6 inches or so of total space, but still enough to throw some groceries into it:

lift off that cover and you see a vinyl covered rack with a mesh grille center, showing two mosconi AS 200.4 amplifiers. they power the front stage with 6x200 watts active, and sends close to 1000 watts to the subs. a porsche emblem is in the center of the grille:

lets take a closer look at the construction of the amp rack.

first, all the signal wires were bundled and TESA taped, and routed into the front trunk area via an oem grommet:

then the signal wires went through additional factory grommets into the storage area, while the power cable went down the passenger side:

then, i tapped four holes with 1/4-20 threaded taps into the aluminum crash structure under the floor:

and fabricated a foundation platform with holes drilled to line up with those four threaded holes in the aluminum:

then i wrapped the board in black vinyl, attached spacers, and temporarily installed and wired up the first 200.4 and the mosconi 6to8dsp

i then removed the amp, leaving just the pre-positioned wiring, and bolted this board to the floor using four 1/4-20 bolts into the threaded holes on the aluminum crash structure:

i then reinstalled the amp and wired it up:

then i made the second platform which will house the second AS200.4, and wrapped it in vinyl as well:

then i bolted that board in place and wired up the second as200.4

this is the cosmetic trim/cover panel before and after upholstery and mesh installation:

and pop on the grille, and its done:

and here is the top cover board before and after carpeting:

moving onto the interior. the front stage consists of a set of Morel titanium Elate 6.5" three way set. the midbass as installed in the stock lower door location.

first, the stock speaker was removed and new wires run into the door:

next, the outter door skin was sound proofed with blackhole tiles:

then the stock speaker was separated from its mounting basket, the back of the basket cut out to allow additional clearance, and sound proofed to reduce resonance:

the area round the speaker mounting was then sound proofed, and the stock speaker mounting basket bolted back in place:

then i fabricated two baffles that mimics the shape and thickness of the stock speaker flange, and coated them with several layers of truck bedliner to protect them against the elements:

and then the new morel titanium elate MW6 woofer was ready to be bolted in place:

next, the rest of the door was treated with a general allowance of focal BAM XXXL composite damper:

and then i bolted the speaker adapter plates on using stock mounting points and hadware:

and finally, the elate MW6 was wired up and secured:

the outer door cards on the porsches are pretty solid, but we still put on some STP CLD damper to help with resonance:

 

[simplicityinsound]

the same procedure was repeated on the passenger side:

Moving onto the midrange and highs, which are housed in the stock A pillars. since this is a sleep and low slung sports car, i didnt want to mold too obtrusive of a pod that contrasts too much with the interior. so here is the finished product, each side housing a morel CDM880 dome midrange and a MT350 tweeter...the pillars actually go all the way back to the B pillars, and is wrapped in a single piece of tan vinyl:

lets get onto some build pics of the pillars, which were a bit of a pain for two reasons. the first is obviously its sheer length, but the second was the slow and painful process of stripping the stock leather from the pillars. but after about 2 hours, the process was done and they were sanded down. Speaker baffle rings were aimed and secured to the pillars:

mold cloth was pulled and resin applied, then the pods were reinforced from the inside via a resin/filler mixture:

then a few repeats of filler and sanded, i ended up with a smooth and blended in shape:

then i wrapped the two pods with tan vinyl:

and installed and wired up the Morel speakers:

so thats it for the front stage, next comes with pics of the wiring bundles as they are run from the front of the doors, the only wire that ran to the back were the subwoofer speaker wires and the rear camera related wire...which involved fishing them through a grommet in the rear tail let area:

 

[simplicityinsound]

that leaves the final piece of the puzzle, the sub enclosure. The idea was for a simple and straight forward enclosure that sits on the floor behind the rear seat that provided good output but still maintained a very high SQ factor. To that end we went with a pair of Morel Ultimo 8s. Joey fabricated the enclosure and here is the normal view with the seats in the upright positions. as you can see, nothing can really be seen from the interior of the car:

lower the seat backs and you can glimpse the full view of the enclosure and the dual ultimo 8s. the subs were chosen for their sound quality and also their size and enclosure requirements. the entire enclosure is meant to be simple and easy to access and remove, and utilizes the stock mounting hardware that use to hold down the OEM bose sub enclosure:

though it looks like the box is pretty tall at the front, you will see that it tapers down to just a few inches tall at the back end, as the stock floor steps up.

now, lets look at some build pics from Joey on the enclosure...which is missing hte first coupla steps of actually building the enclosure from MDF and sitting in the car. but here is the result, as the two sides are being smoothed over will filler:

next, the sub was placed in the car, and all the gaps backfilled with filler:

he then ended up with an enclosure that matched the oem interior perfectly:

he then built up a lip at the front of the enclosure so the front trim panel can flush mount into:

when that was finished, the enclosure was test fitted one more time in the car:

i then took over and started to upholstery the enclosure.

first, to ensure there is no raw wood showing through the front trim panels edges and openings, i sprayed it with black paint. i intentionally masked a few key areas that will allow the double sided mounting tape grab onto the wood:

then i wrapped the back and top portion of the enclosure with tan vinyl:

and then wired up and mounted the dual Morel Ultimo 8s, and using threaded inserts, intall two metal brackets that line up with the factory mounting points for the BOSE sub. these will serve to anchor the subbox in the car, yet be easily accessible for removal.

and finally, i wrapped the front trim panel with tan vinyl as well:

and finally, the two side cover panels that hide the mounting spots were vinyled as well:

so thats it...it was a pretty time consuming projects as there were multiple areas of fabrication, but the end result was quite nice.

imagine wise, the car did really well, center is well focused right over the stock center channel grille, which is near the threshold of the dash/windshield joint, giving the system very nice depth. width is decent at pillar to pillar, while height is about 5 inches or so above the dash.

the titanium elate set is good ole morel as usual, meaning superbly balanced and smooth midrange and highs while maintaining its composure at very high volumes. it gives you a lot of detail without ever being harsh. the new titanium midbass has simply awesome midbass impact and extension...imo among the best on the market.

the dual ultimo 8s, as you would think, simply disappears into the music, very musical, and dry sounding with awesome transcient reponse. when pushed, they did a great job at giving the hair some ruffling in such a small hatch back environment...they probably can use another 500 watts, but performed really great nonetheless.

while i undertand many hgih end sports car's owners obsession with weight savings, i also do enjoy being able to furnish a car like this with a nice SQ build...the customer isnt a racer and just like to enjoy his car from all aspects...and i have to say i probably would do the same.

until next time,

Cheers!

Bing

 

[casey]

very nice work. That sub enclosure is awesome

 

[Babs]

I can't even look at my car now! Hehe. Thanks! Seriously awesome yet again though.

May I ask about how many hours you have in a job like this? Just curious. Granted having your shop and your supplies all 5S'd and dialed in certainly makes huge difference.

 

[simplicityinsound]

honestly we probably should be better at keeping track of our hours, and certainly we would be more profitable...but we set out with a goal, do the work, and add little extra touches in the middle, and then when its done, its done. hehe

this took i think 2 or 2.5 weeks but there were breaks in between so its kinda hard to say.

 

[Huckleberry Sound]

we set out with a goal, do the work, and add little extra touches in the middle, and then when its done, its done. hehe

One of the biggest things missing right now are just those little personal touches. Do it all the way right the first time. Giving the people more than they possibly paid for bring them right back. Sends them off into the offices of the world, talking about what they need to hear!!! Your services are rolling billboards. If you let one slip through the crack, that will be the one to bit you in the but. So keep doing everything you can to give people your best.

The best is yet to come.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

Amazing work as always. You raise the bar higher and higher with each build.

 

[Babs]

honestly we probably should be better at keeping track of our hours, and certainly we would be more profitable...but we set out with a goal, do the work, and add little extra touches in the middle, and then when its done, its done. hehe

this took i think 2 or 2.5 weeks but there were breaks in between so its kinda hard to say.

That's why you're an installer among installers. If I may presume, you work to a goal in mind for the finished product at a standard that's at at the pinnacle of 12v craftsmanship, and when it's done it's pure art. Been reading your installs for years now and I swear you guys are still getting better and better.

 

[optimaprime]

Just phenomenal crafts men's shop here ! So wished I lived closer so you could do my install.

 

[TheDavel]

Nice and clean, I like it for its simplicity!

 

[Ruchab91]

Can't stop looking it's all so CLEAN. Amazing job!

 

[RandyJ75]

If I ever hit the lottery, I am buying a new Porsche and sending it to Bing.

Beautiful work.

 

[[email protected]]

very nice work. That sub enclosure is awesome

Thanks Casey!!!!

I wish he had gotten a finished picture from the rear glass looking down, with it wrapped and put together, that was one of my favorite views of it..

 

[Gn4rkillz]

Of course an amazing job. One question, it seems like you guys always use the same style rcas. They look like basic Stinger rca's. Am I wrong?

 

[Babs]

Yeah Joey that sub box is the coolness. Well done! I can imagine it rocks that little cabin.

 

[ZombieHunter85]

I want to know how it sounds

 

[cajunner]

just because I'm a contrary son of a *****, it hurts me to see a car like this saddled with full weight subs and huge AB class amplification, just on general principle.

I know it likely sounds fantastic and it's a clean install, no worries on the craftsmanship but the tailoring of the component choices to the environment, didn't happen?


like, a marine install will have weatherized hardware, specialty stainless brackets, UV resistant plastics and no paper or hygroscopic material use, magnetic field containment, (due to compass interference) and what not.

this is a serious sports car, in my (understandably naive) dream installs, I see fully fiberglass sub boxes, neo everything, micro-sized amps and a minimum of CLD application.

I really don't like making posts like this, since I enjoy all other aspects of the Bing equation but a mildly dissenting opinion may have it's place, all things considered.

 

[JayinMI]

Man, those pillars are beautiful. I bet they were no fun to wrap.

Bing, did you wrap those by yourself, or did you have help? I usually get stuck wrapping stuff without help and wondered if you had any tips? I've heard of using wax paper to keep stuff from sticking before you wanted it to, but never tried it.

Oh, and the sub box looks pretty good too. lol

Jay

 

[JayinMI]

just because I'm a contrary son of a *****, it hurts me to see a car like this saddled with full weight subs and huge AB class amplification, just on general principle.

I know it likely sounds fantastic and it's a clean install, no worries on the craftsmanship but the tailoring of the component choices to the environment, didn't happen?


like, a marine install will have weatherized hardware, specialty stainless brackets, UV resistant plastics and no paper or hygroscopic material use, magnetic field containment, (due to compass interference) and what not.

this is a serious sports car, in my (understandably naive) dream installs, I see fully fiberglass sub boxes, neo everything, micro-sized amps and a minimum of CLD application.

I really don't like making posts like this, since I enjoy all other aspects of the Bing equation but a mildly dissenting opinion may have it's place, all things considered.

I guess it depends on the planned usage. If it's his daily, I'm sure it has more than enough power to make up for the added weight. If it never goes to track days, it's probably not that significant. Where can you really throw a Porsche through the ringer without worrying about getting pulled over on public roads? I think they said the sub box was removable. That might help.

Jay