My sound system is finally complete but...

[muhhan]

I'd just thought I'd share with you all how my boot make over has gone

Before...
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7186/bootbeforeii6.jpg

After...
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2561/bootinstalljz6.jpg

It 'only' took me around 4 months to complete, and now I can't remember the specs of everything that went in. Briefly though, the sound system runs pioneer head unit, focal speakers, alpine sub, alpine and dls amp. The nasty thing was when I finally got everything hooked up the car wouldn't start because the battery had run flat as the car hadn't been started in a few months! :( I eventually got it working, for a short while, and was very happy with the sound quality and level even though at this stage it hasn't been tuned.

Thanks for reading!

[cool_filo]

nice set up man:thumbsup: thats hott,

[02hondaGRL]

the boot is a bit messy... can't understand how that took 4 months to do. The front speakers look good and the doors.

[94_Accord]

yeh i like how u hav changed the trimmings on the doors and mounted the speakers, the sub is nice, amps are good.

IMO i think if u maybe put black vinyl over the plank of wood on top of the sub and tucked away some of the slack on the neon lighting then it would look a lot neater.

[zorrt]

yeh i like how u hav changed the trimmings on the doors and mounted the speakers, the sub is nice, amps are good.

IMO i think if u maybe put black vinyl over the plank of wood on top of the sub and tucked away some of the slack on the neon lighting then it would look a lot neater.

i believe thats the underside of the parcel tray....

[muhhan]

Thanks for the comments people! Much appreciated.

Yes that is the underside of the parcel shelf (that part is still stock, and yes I am going to get some wire clamps to hold the wire neatly against the parcel shelf. It will usually be folded down so you won't see the underside of it, but it would be a good idea to cover with vinyl or paint it black. Thanks for that!

02hondaGRL, this boot install was put together completely by my fiance and I, who at the time knew nothing about cars or car audio, everything has been custom made and painted by yours truly ;) , of course with the help of the good people here at Ozhonda :thumbsup: . Something which we are very proud of. Also, all of this audio equipment doesn't come cheap especially for a uni student, keeping in mind there are lots of hidden costs such as the wiring, terminals, and fuses that you don't see but are essential for the smooth running of the sound system. On top of all that having to buy all the necessary equipment to do the wiring, wood work, and painting does put a major dent in the wallet. So I hope that gives a little idea as to why installing and retrimming the interior can take 4 months. But it was all worth it :D Thanks for your comment though :thumbsup:

[Slow96GSR]

If you want to see mess look at some of the big competition trucks/vans we've done in a rush, 2 day builds!! If you want to see nice, this one is there, bit on the plain side but still nice. My install took one week total time but I have other clients that come first so that's why I took 4+ months. But I change it about every other month of use. Keeps me happy, no free time to get me in to trouble, and people going wow, I want that.

[cool_filo]

the boot is a bit messy... can't understand how that took 4 months to do. The front speakers look good and the doors.

lol what is ur definition for messy? show us ur set up :D

[94_Accord]

i believe thats the underside of the parcel tray....

yeh i drew a complete blank when i was typing out my reply.. lol thanks for the correction

[integraz]

Is the sub running off the DLS amp right?- how much power?

Looks good btw, even better if u made a false floor, to cover all the wires and mkae the amps look flushed under the floor.

Anything else gunna be put in there?

What material are you using for the sub box?

Also could u get a night pic? i wanan see the neon in action, espc with the TYpe-S, cause i have the same.. sub i wanna see how it looks like when lit up.

thanks

[muhhan]

Integraz, yes the sub is running off the DLS amp. I can't remember how much power it's putting out. The amp is running in bridged mode feeding the sub which is wired in parallel to present a 2ohm load. I think the sub is around 300WRMS from memory and the amp is about 350-360WRMS.

To tell you the truth I don't particularly like the DLS amp as it makes the sound very smooth where as I prefer the sound a little sharper. I also found this to be the case on their speakers when I went to listen on the sound demo board.

I think I would be better off with a mono-block amp, but finding one that is suitably powerful can be quite expensive!

My sub box is made from 18mm MDF, with sound deadening, and many, many screws! Take a look in the DIY section as I posted up how to make a sub box there.
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38774

Btw, there is a false floor there! You should see the jungle of wires underneath! I'm hanging out for the night photo as well, I don't even know if the neon works in its current setup, as I mentioned above my battery is flat and my wallet is empty :( Nothing else is going into the boot, it is finished, except for tidying up of the neon wire and perhaps changing the DLS amp in the far future.

[muhhan]

OK people. This is what I'm packing...and to any would-be theives patrolling this thread come near my car and me and my 2 chihuahuas WILL bring the pain! :mad: haha
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5783/doggiesez7.jpg

Amps - DLS Classic CA-23 (2 channel running in bridged mode to power the sub) & Alpine MRP-F250

Speakers - Focal Access 130A1 splits up front, Focal Access 690CA1 6x9 coaxials in rear, & of course the Alpine Type S 12" sub

Wiring - DLS 4 gauge main power cable up to the distribution block then DLS 7 gauge cable to the amps, Aerpro 12 gauge speaker wire, and DLS RCA cables

Accessories - DLS gold plated battery terminals, DLS 100A trip switch, DLS gold plated distribution block, gold plated crimp rings for large gauge cable, and various other terminal connectors

After having done all of this and looking back on my experience from it all I'd make the following comments:
I'm not really a fan of DLS, despite having a lot of their gear in my install. The main reason I bought it was because it was on sale at the time. Don't get me wrong it's good quality stuff but having strange gauge like the 7 gauge can make finding terminals difficult. Then you end up having to go back and buy the other bits when it's not on sale and that really hurts! I ended up getting a lot of DNA terminals as they seemed to fit better and were easier to work with then the DLS terminals, which annoyed me because the DLS ones were quite expensive!

Also I don't really like how the DLS amps and speakers sound, it's too smooth for my liking and not enough punch. With the amp I think it would be much better to get a mono-bloc if you can afford it. I was very happy with the quality of the Alpine unit :thumbsup: .

If I did it again I'd probably try to get stinger cabling or just stick to the Aerpro stuff as I was pretty happy with that for my speaker wire.

4 gauge may seem thick but you really do need quite thick cables for your power as it can be a cause of power restriction, much like a thin exhaust system. Originally I wanted to go to 2 gauge which would have been ideal but the shop didn't have any at the time.

I am very happy with the focal speakers and would definitely stick with them:thumbsup: .

One last thing, this was one of the first things I did on my car before I knew much of anything and I kind of relied on the sales person to help me make the right decisions. That was a mistake! The place I went to spun a lot of sales person BS. They were friendly enough when I was buying the gear but when I finally got around to installing the stuff terminals wouldn't fit the cable or the amps, the battery terminal was hard to work with, but the worst thing was there was a massive scratch on my Alpine sub and when I went to bring it back they accused me of putting the scratch in it although I had only took it out of the box to look at it! In the end they replaced it for me but I was really annoyed that they treated me like that, needless to say I don't shop there at all, not for a thing. I'd rather pay more and get it sent from interstate. The moral of my story is do your research and don't take everything shops tell you as truths.

[Fr3aKi3]

When I read 7awg cable I thought it was a typo... lol

[02hondaGRL]

i'll take a photo of it tomorrow. and this is a uni car and a uni boot install paid all by yours truely. no daddy help there. So no bitching and whinging about how its a tight budget cos ur a uni student. Priorities got me the car i have and the sound system i have.