Soarer Stereo - Speakers

Just had word from supplier that the speakers were sent on Tuesday! Suppler is going to chase up for me and let me know whats happening (apparently) - Lets see what happens...

Soarer Stereo - Update

On the weekend I got a sheet of 18mm MDF to build the Sub Box and rebuilt the interior of the boot, MEA Members seem to think that 18mm is too thin, but since this Soarer needs to do a 12 second 1/4 mile, 18mm single thickness should do the job just fine with some bracing and properly sealing all the joins.

STILL no speakers though, becoming increasingly pissed off as time goes on since my current stereo is pretty much rooted. Was told on 18th June that speakers would be sent on the 19th June, after 2 emails to the supplier, I have no received any reply, let alone a tracking number and confirmation goods have been sent. Since I paid via Direct Despoit and have not even received a receipt, its starting to look like I have been JIBBED - but the one saving grace - is that the person I purchased this gear off is a Mobile Electronics Australia Sponsor, I can at least post on the fourms and let other members know what has happened, and stop them from being screwed over.

After checking the domain name of the email address that gave me the direct deposit details, I learnt that its not registered to the company name listed on the MEA Forum, its listed as a Sole Trader with an ABN that is not the same name as the person I was dealing with on the forums.

More updates coming later...

Soarer Stereo - Install Starting

Tonight, I'm going to start installing all the wiring, amps and headunit. I dont have the speakers yet but I'm going to wire everything up using the standard speakers, and speaker cable from the front of the car, to the rear, then back to the front so I dont need to put new wiring in for the amps.

The speakers shouldn't be far away (I'm told) and when they arrive the whole system should be pretty much complete, and the only work required is going to be building front pods for the speakers. If the current purchase I have organised falls through, then I will be using 4-5inch midrange and 6.5 inch midbass instead of using 6.5inch for both, while I dont think it will look as cool, the sound will be much better.

Off to work on the car :)

Soarer Stereo - More Parts

Over the weekend I picked up a few more bits for the install, the most notable thing being a 1kg SCA Fire Extinguisher, ready to mount just near the front passangers seat, using a custom bracket from David at Fusion Furniture.This will give me an extra 5 points when competing in MEASQ competitions, another requirement for MEASQ, is that you have a fuse within 45cm of your battery and the ability to break the main circuit within 30 seconds. Since I'm not very keen on smashing open fuses or cutting wire, I picked up a Heavy Duty Killswitch from Autobard (cost about $20) which will be wired up between the battery and the fuse.

The killswitch is designed to be installed in race / rally cars as a way to cut all power to the motor after a crash to prevent any leaking petrol catching on fire, therefore these switches are designed to be used quickly. The one I have is spring loaded so when you turn it "off" it cant rattle itself back "on", it also has a hole cut at the end of the handle so you can put a cable to it, and turn it off from a lever inside the cabin - very useful if you plan on starting electrical fires in your car.

Finally I picked up 4x 6.5 inch MDF speaker spacers for building the front door pods, I'm starting to regret going for 6.5 inch splits instead of 4-5inch due to sound AND space requirements, but since the speakers are already paid for and the price was right, I'm sure 2x 6.5inch in each door should be ok. There are some good tutorials on installing car audio gear into Soarers/SC300/SC400's on the forum Soarer Central, I've linked a few of them below.

Soarer Central - Running Amp Power Wires
Soarer Central - Dynamat Install + Pictures Here
Soarer Central - Removing Headunit

Hopefully speakers will arrive soon!

Soarer Stereo - Subwoofer

I did some thinking, and decided to stay with all new equipment in this install, So the Digital Designs 2515 is out of the budget, and instead I decided that a Digital Designs DD-512a (12 inch) would do the job just fine. I spoke to Keith @ AMG Audio who said to try any Autobarn or Phatt Audio Concepts (P.A.C), since anything from P.A.C is out of my budget, and Autobarn is open weekends and after work for me, i decided to give them a go - I wasnt looking for advice and any nuff-nuff can get a price from a part number right?

Wrong, both Autobarn stores I visited couldn't supply me with a price, and said they couldn't supply Digital Designs, I called a 3rd store with the same answer so I started to look at what else is around - I want to start building the system this weekend so there was no way I was going to get a Digital Designs.

Autobarn Morrabin offered me a Clarion PXW1552 for almost half price, it looks good, sounded good and was 15inch, not 12inch like the DD512a's, so I decided to go ahead and buy it.I think good looking is an understatement, in my opinion they look tough like an angry pitbull chasing your children down the street, this sub is going to be inverted, mounted in a 2.5 cubic foot sealed box and powered by the Clarion APX1301 Monoblock Amp.

While Digital Designs do make great subwoofers, which has been proven time and time again in SPL and SQ Comps, the hassel I had trying to chase one down has somewhat turned me off using them again. All the other main components I've purchased - speakers, amps, headunit - I purchased online and had no hassels, while the Wiring was purchased from JB Hifi (RCA's / Power) and Dick Smith (Monster Speaker Cable).

Tonight, I will start building the sub-box and may install it into my car to start the running in process at low watts. the stock Soarer headunit is starting to play up bad, cutting out when i turn on indicators and tape player keeps rejecting the 3.5mm Headphone Jack -> Cassette Adapter, so the sooner I get some kind of music happening, the happier I'll be

Soarer Stereo - Phase 1

Over the past 2 weeks I've been ordering / buying / collecting parts for the Stereo Install, its not going to be overly loud, and its not using top of the line components, but there will be a professional looking amp rack in the boot, and fibreglass door pods each with 2 x 6.5 inch speakers and L.E.D lighting pointing at the footwells and door jams (road / ground when door is open).

Heres the list of whats on order, or sitting under my desk

(Headunit) Pioneer 4050UB

(Front Amp) Clarion APX4241
(Front Speakers) Digital Designs DDC6.5
(Front Midbass) Digital Designs DDMB6.5

(Rear Amp) Coustic Power Logic - 2 x 70 watts
(Rear Speakers) Digital Designs DDCX6.5

(Sub Amp) Clarion APX1301
(Subwoofer) Undecided - Considering Digital Designs DD1515 (NOT PURCHASED)

(Power) Stinger / Soundquest SL Series 150amp amp Wiring Kit
(Power) 2x Stinger SPD814 Power Distrobution Blocks ( one +, one - )
(Power) Stinger 4ga Wire from Distro Blocks to Amps

(RCA Front) Stinger Pro2 Cables, Stinger Pro2 Y Splitters
(RCA Rear) Stinger Pro2 Cables
(RCA Subwoofer) Soundquest in Amp Wiring Kit
(Speaker Wire) 16ga Monster Cable Standard

Need to get

(Sound Deadening) Dynamat Bulk Pack
(Battery Switch) Repco / Autobarn 400 amp Killswitch
(Subwoofer) Undecided

(Fabrication) Sheet of 16-18mm MDF for building Subwoofer box
(Fabrication) Small sheet of 4-6mm MDF for building front door pods
(Fabrication) Fibreglass Resin, Stockings, 6.5 inch speaker mounts
(Fabrication) Speaker Cloth, Cable Ties, Paint / Filler

(Lighting) ~24x White/Blue L.E.Ds, Matching Resistors for 12v
(Motivation) Lots of it

Pictures will be coming soon

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, here I will be showing the world parts of my life, and sharing information with anyone who wants it. Now for a little bit about me...

My name is Sid, I'm 26 and live in Melbourne Australia, currently I work with the family buisness doing web design, sales and technical support. I like to play computer games, World of Warcraft, Red Alert, Fallout 3 and Oldschool DOS Games are my choice of weapon. I have a 1991 Toyota Soarer / Lexus SC300 Twin Turbo which is my pride and joy, you will find that most things in the blog are about my Soarer, otherwise they will be about the internet and technology.

The first thing I will be blogging about, is installing and building my car stereo, it will include detailed pictures and explanations on how i've done everything, where to get parts and where to get good quality gear at a very cheap price. I will also be blogging about websites that I make / help with, and other various idea's I have on how I'm going to by myself a Lamborghini LP460 :)

Thanks for reading