High end audio system in Australian Odyssey

**Winno** · 09-11-2012 09:48 PM

Hi peeps.
Thought I might post up a few pics of the audio system I've been putting into my 2010 Ody Lux.

I wont go into too much detail but here's a few pics;

Out goes the factory double and in goes Clarion's HX-D2. This is their top cd receiver and is aimed at those who want simplicity and the best sound quality.

This pic was taken as the trim was still being finished, but you get the idea.

My Phoenix Gold Titanium amps - a 600.2 two channel amp for the A-pillar speakers, and a 500.4 four channel bridged for the door speakers.

They fit neatly under the front seats.

My rear channel and sub amp - Alpine PDX4.150. Two channels are bridged for the sub and the other two are stereo for the rear stage (rear stage is yet to be installed into C-pillars)

Yep, rear of the car, on the storage pocket. There's also a Clarion changer installed underneath it insire the pocket.

My sub is bolted to the floor in a custom made sealed box between the two front seats. The drive is a magnesium coned Infinity Perfect 10VQ.

My door speakers - Seas L16RN-SL. The doors are totally sealed with Dynamat. I also recovered the wood trim with 3D vinyl alloy wrap.

My A-pillar trims

Glassing balls onto factory trims

After putty and much sanding and painting

The drivers in the A-pillars are Audible Physics NZ3-As.

Obviously with a build of this level, there ALOT more in the details but I wont bore you with that, unless you really want to know. But there is definitely alot of thought that's gone into this to make it worthy of the sound quality competition scene for 2013 in Qld.

Basics
AP NZ-3A - 250hz - 20kHz
Seas L16RN-SL - 80Hz - 250Hz
Infinity Perfect 10VQ - 20Hz - 100hz
All driven actively off phoenix Gold Titanium and alpine amps from a Clarion HX-D2 cd/tuner/pre/processor and Apple Lossless via iPhone 4 in custom cradle.

All work was done by yours truely.
Any questions, feel free to ask away.

**charliebrown** · 09-11-2012 10:51 PM

fkkkkk thats crazy. love the sub armrest hahaha neat

**TbM** · 09-11-2012 11:27 PM

Simply amazing, lost for words, your workmanship is exquisite.

**Vvvtec** · 09-11-2012 11:33 PM

love it!

please, share details

**sensei_** · 09-11-2012 11:38 PM

lost for words mate. looks stunning. i cannot imagine how much that will set you back. if you dont mind disclosing the costs.

**curtis265** · 09-11-2012 11:38 PM

wow

amazing stuff!

**TbM** · 10-11-2012 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by Winno

**Winno** · 10-11-2012 08:55 AM

Cheers guys.
The Clarion head unit is quite understated in looks but is has a very high quality processor on board. Couple this with a very nice CD player and DAC combo and I have one of the nicest head units ever made.

The PG amps are older style Class A/B with bipolar output devices. They're the last of the amps PG made when sound quality was placed above making money. Thick circuit tracks, discrete components and oversized everything. Nice casework rounds things out.
The 600.2 is capable of about 150wrms into the AP mids.
The 500.4 is capable when bridged of up to 275ish wrms into 4 Ohms. The mid basses they power are 8 Ohms so power roughly halves.

The Alpine amp is a compromise because I had nowhere else for my third PG amp if I wanted to keep my fold down third row seats. It does the job though but as its a Class D amp, and I'm not that keen on Class D for sound quality, it does rear fill and sub duties.
150 to 180wrms for rear fill should be enough.
And about 400wrms for the sub.
I'll eventually pick up a PDX1.1000 mono amp for the sub for a lot more headroom and this will stack onto the PDX I already have.

The Audible Physics mid tweeters play from 250Hz right up to 20kHz and are mounted at eye level. This does amazing things for placing the stage right out in front of me, out on the bonnet. And because the drivers have no cross over anywhere near the critical midrange area, the sound is smooth, blended and so 'integrated'. Some would say there's a softness to the treble but if you listen, there's tonnes of detail, extension and 'airiness' up high. It's just a lack of distortion that we're used to hearing that is now gone. I decided to go wideband like this after my experience with the concept in higher end home audio. It helps to create a point source which for near field monitoring in a car especially, is ideal for creating amazing and palpable staging. Normal driver arrays spread the sound sources over a wider area through mids and tweeters which is not ideal at all. This set up keeps most of the sound up high and from one single point on each side of the car.

The Seas midbasses were chosen because of their reputation as a punchy and accurate driver. They certainly live up to their rep. I went for the 8 Ohm version because of its higher QTS over the 4 Ohm version as they work better in the large cavity of doors. Amp power is down but I still have plenty from the bridged PG amp. I normally don't bridge into drivers because of higher distortion but these drivers only play as high as 250Hz which is outside the ear's critical range so its not an issue.

The Infinity Perfect 10VQ is simply the best sound quality sub I've ever heard when I used to be in the industry. It's ideal for small boxes, is mechanically silent and hits hard and goes deep.

Power cabling is Stinger 0ga, Axis 4ga and all copper.
Signal wiring is Monster's top XLN Pro with AudioQuest solid core to the sub.

There's still a lot of tuning to do but I've done my time alignment and its already showing much promise. It's approaching the levels of quality of my home valve and ribbon system with respect to imaging and transparency.

Costs?
Because I did all the labour myself, I think I saved a few thousand here. A friend made up mdf ring spacers and trims, etc for free. Consumables including fiberglass, resin, bog, putty, paints, Dynamat sound deadening, etc came to maybe $1000 give or take a little.
The gear to replace;
Head unit; $2k
Three amps; $5k
AP mids; $600
Seas midbasses; $200
Infinity sub; $800
Cabling; $1.5k (the RCA cables were $450 each)
So, not cheap but I was prudent when buying and looked out for deals.