1st mod to the new max

[daesonn]

Hey guys, today I decided to work on the first part of my sound system. I recently had a nice system in my 94 maxima that exploded, and I took it out and added to it. I still need to make myself some new kick panels for my new car, but I decided to do these first, so I would feel more comfortable. I recently purchased some MB Quart 6 1/2inch midbass speakers. I'm a big fan of sound quality, even when its loud. So I decided to make my first mod to the new car, MDF mounts in my doors. I got my door panel off and traced the stock speaker and then cut out some nice rings from some Medium Density Fiberboard. These rings aren't mounted yet because I plan to use sound deadener first, and I don't want to connect them to my stock system, the rest isn't ready yet.' I'll put up more pictures of my sound system mods(including these) when i'm doing the install.

My next mods will include:Installing my aftermarket head unit,Mounting my midbass into the rings I made today,Building a custom 15"inch subwoofer enclosure with 2 amps in the trunk,And putting kick panels in my car (Either if I find a way to mount my old ones from my 94 maxima into the new car, or make new ones customized to my 2k1 maxima)

If you've seen the speaker mount in the door of a 5th generation maxima, you'd notice my mount is almost exactly the same. This way, I don't have to make any unnecessary holes or cuts to my door, but the sound quality will increase significantly.

Only picture so far, more to come.

[davskins97]

Nice looking spacers. Don't forget to waterproof them. There is a lot of moisture inside those doors.

I'm halfway through with my component install (driver's side done). My a/d/s 6.5" drivers were almost exactly the same size and mounting pattern as the factory bose. All I had to do was add some dynamat and mount the speaker to the factory spacer. The tweeter was a different story. The factory tweeter is so small that I had to remove the bracket and drill holes to mount the tweeter in one of the supplied plastic brackets. I didn't want to run new wires from my trunk for the crossovers so I am mounting them under the dash. I am going to take a day off next week to complete the other side.

[daesonn]

You plan to do any kick panels? Or a subwoofer enclosure?

[davskins97]

Not doing any kicks. There's too much work involved in trying to create a good sound stage. Too much risk that it won't turn out right and I would want to rip it out and start over. I don't have that kind of time or desire. I will use time alignment in my Pioneer DEH-7800MP to get a decent stage for the driver's seat. I don't have too many passengers that would even notice that it's screwed up on their side. I can always turn it off I have someone who notices.

I have an Alpine 12" R series sub mounted in a 1.25cf (I think) box with polyfill. It is rear-firing and I have it tucked up into my pass through hole so I have as much trunk space as possible. I built a 3-piece wall of mdf and carpeted it. The center piece is mounted with standoffs in front of the sub. The other 2 pieces fit over the wheel wells. When you open the trunk all you see is the carpeted wall. I mounted my sub amp (Alpine MRP-M650) to the back of one wall, and the component amp (Alpine MRP-F450) to the other. I have an old Rockford Phosgate amp on my rears but for some reason that one has engine noise in it, even though it is grounded to the same ground as the other 2 and they don't have any noise. I have some things to try but for now I have the fuse out of my rear amp. The sub fires against the wall and sounds really good. The wall has also cut down on the rattling from outside the car.

I did damage the rear passenger side seat belt retractor during my install, so I need to replace it. The one I trashed is now rattling. Damn thing went into retract mode when I had it out to dampen it and I couldn't get it to pull back out. That among other things has made this a very time consuming project. Can't wait to be done.
Modified by davskins97 at 6:23 AM 1/14/2008

[MaximA32]

What are you planning on doing with your stock unit? Is itthe Bose unit or no? I assume it still works? Let me know.

[davskins97]

Mine is Bose and it still works. I have it sitting in my closet right now, along with the Bose amp and Bose front components. You want to buy any of it?

[daesonn]

I have a stock system, nothing special. What do you recommend I use to waterproof my mdf? Because I plan to build an MDF floor in my trunk and im wondering if I should waterproof that as well...but i might sound deaden it too, let me know what you think I should do.

[davskins97]

I cannot for the life of me find the thread I ran across last week talking about his mdf rings falling apart after a few months. Anyway, I know there is a way to do it, probably with primer, paint and sealant (acrylic or lacquer???). Home Depot should be able to give you some help there. I will poke around for the answer tomorrow with my boss at work. I would predrill any holes you need (countersink or counterbore too) including the mounting holes for the mid, before you seal the rings. Also, don't use screws that are long enough to break through the rings. The things are going to wick moisture and suck it up like a sponge if there's an exposed area of mdf.I think the sound deading material would do a pretty good job of keeping the moisture off, at least the dynamat extreme that I used will. I have been using my sparingly though, as it was $100 for a 12sq. ft. door kit at Best Buy. Might have been cheaper online but I needed it that day.The trunk area doesn't see anywhere near the moisture that the inside of the door gets. The snow was melting the other day and the roads were wet here and everything around the plastic speaker cup in my door was soaked.

[daesonn]

Also, don't use screws that are long enough to break through the rings. The things are going to wick moisture and suck it up like a sponge if there's an exposed area of mdf.

Not sure what you mean by that...could you reword it for me?

[davskins97]

If the mdf is 3/4" thick, use screws that are 1/2 or 5/8" long when mounting the mid speaker so they don't break through the back of the mdf, exposing some unsealed mdf. Basically don't give the moisture any little crack or crevice to seep into.

[daesonn]

gotcha, good idea, thanks man. Anyone know of a cheap way to get sound deadener? and where the best place is to apply it other than the doors? I plan on putting a 15 inch sub in my trunk, and I need to make a MDF floor in my trunk first, should i sound deaden underneath it? or on top? or wherever

[davskins97]

Sounds like you will need alot, although I would use it where you think you hear rattles since it is crazy expensive. If your installation allows you to go back in and dampen it without too much trouble I would hit the trouble spots first and then dampen anything that you need to after that. Buy it in big packages, the Dynamat Extreme door kit I bought at Best Buy (probably not the cheapest place to get it) was $100 for 12 sq. ft, where as the small speaker specific sheets were like $20 for maybe 2 sq. ft. I know you will want to deaden your rear parcel shelf, there are all kinds of rattles there. I also have small plastic rectangles wedged between the shelf lid and the rear window because it vibrates up and down and sounds awful. I will guess that your trunk lid will need it too unless you don't care about what it sounds like from the outside. I did my A pillars (1 down, 1 to go tomorrow) and I will probably deaden my C-pillars too.

Check out this link first: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/conclusion/

There are other brands that claim to be as good but less expensive. B-Quiet is one I remember someone using and liking it. Damplifier Pro is another that is less expensive but I haven't researched any opinions on it. RAAM mat I have also heard of. Maybe we need to jump to a car audio forum to see what people are using. Here are a few links of products mentioned in the article I linked above.

http://www.b-quiet.com/ultimate.htmlhtt ... x.cgi?p=pr

[davskins97]

Got my components done. Sounds pretty great, but I am still tweaking and tuning. The Dynamat got rid of an annoying light popping sound I had coming from my A-pillar. I also added some strips to the door lights as they mount very loosely and rattle. I still have to finish my rear deck. The corner I didn't complete is the source of all my rattles right now. Once I get that done I think I will call it complete.How's your project going daesonn? You getting anything done?