my 240 system project...

[ayjay]

Well, when I first bought my 90' 240 3 weeks ago, the first thing I wanted to do was throw a system in it... It has a 50x4 Clarion deck in it already, and 4x6 Alpine coaxials all around, but I just laugh at the SQ... I mean, how can anyone stand listening to music like that?!!

So I'm plannin a big system and hope for some input for installing what I'm getting. My buddy is gonna help me with the fibreglass door panels, as he is currently workin on his FOUR-WAY component setup in his integra (Focal Polykevlar 3-ways, and Dynaudio 8"s) so I will post my progress in a little bit, but for now this is just an intro to my project :P

This is what i currently have:

Orion HCCA 12"Tsunami 1000D (cheap amp I know but pushes 1000W RMS)Concept 504-A (gonna run it 150x2 RMS @ 4ohms to doors)CDT Audio CL-641 3-way componentsAudio Control Overdrive line driverECLIPSE 55430 deck (triple 8v pre-outs, no internal amp)

Other purchases lined up:

Monster Cable Interlink 401XLN (4ch and 2ch)Monster Cable HOTWIRES speaker cable(w/ time correction)Monster Cable DigiCap 1 farad capacitor (mmm, digital voltage readout :P )Monster Cable Magnetic Circuit Breaker (shouldn't be pullin over 100amps)

That's all that I can think of for now, might get a YellowTop Deep Cycle battery in the future, but I got a pretty good list for now. I'm goin all monster cable not cause i got endless amounts of money but cause i can get it for 10% below costs, so ya... hoping to hit about 140db with my Orion, but not sure if 1000W is enough, you guys think it's possible?

i'm sure some of you guys have done some custom door work, so let's hear what you did exactly, not gonna start for at least another month... and let me know what you guys think about my setup, cause i think it'll be pretty good.

[ayjay]

oh ya, and i'm ditching the rear speakers... was thinkin of runnin the alpine's in the back as rear fills, but i figured that if they can't handle the hole 17W rms from the clarion deck, then they'd get fuked by the 50W from my Concept amp... I'm thinkin that 150W goin through 3-ways in my doors will be just fine :P

[Sopdadope]

Good choice with the CDT's. The CL's sound terrific for the money. If you're budget can handle it, just pay the extra $ for the HD's, they're definitely a lot better.

BTW, I have an Eclipse deck I'm selling. Sounds great and has MP3 playback. If you're interested, shoot me an email.

[Woodmister]

Dont buy Monster Cable, too expensive... check out http://www.knukonceptz.com/

[ayjay]

Dont buy Monster Cable, too expensive... check out http://www.knukonceptz.com/

you're right it is expensive... but i'll give you some quotes on the stuff i'm gettin:

MonsterCable DigiCap: $150 CND ($199 US retail)MonsterCable 401XLN 4ch: $80 CND ($119 US retail)

so i'm gettin pretty much everything half price... it's actually 10% below cost...

[ayjay]

Good choice with the CDT's. The CL's sound terrific for the money. If you're budget can handle it, just pay the extra $ for the HD's, they're definitely a lot better.

BTW, I have an Eclipse deck I'm selling. Sounds great and has MP3 playback. If you're interested, shoot me an email.

ya, i'm likin the idea of CDT's cause up here in B.C. no one has them, and very few peeps even have 3-ways...

I WISH i could have gotten the HD's cept i couldn't justify spending that much... got the CL's for $180 US shipped through ebay, so i couldn't pass up the opportunity....

definitely interested in the Eclipse deck, but don't think I can afford it at the moment, but i'll drop you an e-mail...

[Holisticbeatz]

Nice little plan you got there. Are you going to Dynamat the interior as well?

[Rockenreno]

lol, if you're pushing 140db with your woofer, you're not going to be hearing anything else :pface

[Sygerwulf]

Well Orion's have always been known for their monster SPL abilities, but 140db will be a close call. I have no doubt that the hatch design of the 240 is cabable of hitting it though. I hit 152db with only 800watts and 2 Rockford Fosgate 12"s, it's really all in box design and possitioning. Make sure it's firing vertically toward the hatch window to get the most possible impact if it's sealed, or if it's ported or bandpassed make sure the ports are firing vertically. I've heard 2 or 3 240's with setups that should have hit in the 150-60's easy, but because of poor box design and placement were only hitting around 130.

[ayjay]

Nice little plan you got there. Are you going to Dynamat the interior as well?

Yeah, forgot to mention that... gonna buy 63sq.ft. of RAAMmat 60, apparently it's better than Dynomat Extreme. Gonna use it for my doors, the trunk, and some in the hatch...

my car has 270K kms on it, so it's got a lot of rattles that i gotta cover up

[ayjay]

Well Orion's have always been known for their monster SPL abilities, but 140db will be a close call. I have no doubt that the hatch design of the 240 is cabable of hitting it though. I hit 152db with only 800watts and 2 Rockford Fosgate 12"s, it's really all in box design and possitioning. Make sure it's firing vertically toward the hatch window to get the most possible impact if it's sealed, or if it's ported or bandpassed make sure the ports are firing vertically. I've heard 2 or 3 240's with setups that should have hit in the 150-60's easy, but because of poor box design and placement were only hitting around 130.

Ya, my buddy had the same sub as I have, and he hit 142db with it in a slot ported brute of a box in his civic HB... but then again he was runnin a D2 shredder through it (2000W rms)... i think i should come close to 140db if i design the box properly. I'm gonna have a swapable slot port so i can use the same box for competitions and just swap in the bigass port... again, my buddy is gonna help me as he has a lot of experience in this type of stuff...

[Sygerwulf]

sweetness, lemme know how it turns out

[InstantRice]

Gotta say im a huge fan of that woofer...drool

[ayjay]

ya, i'll definitely keep you guys informed on my progress...

i'll post enough pics of my fibreglassing work to give you guys an idea of how to do-it-yourself. I've already cut out my rings for my speakers using 3/4" MDF board. Just gotta do some router work and then i'll be ripping off my door panels, to do the serious work.

might be a while though until i do start on the door panels cause i gotta get money before i can afford to do it properly...

[ayjay]

OMG! what have i done!!??!

haha, i couldn't wait so i've already made all the rings for my speakers and routered them all nice and round, and tonight i even went so far as to taking off my door panels and completely ripping off ALL THE VINYL and even the cloth that goes around the door handle area (passenger side only for now)...

so now i'm stuck without door panels on my car for the next couple months... ah well, will make installing the power door lock actuators a bit easier

within the next few days i should have the rings layed out and ready for fibreglassing, so i'll post some pics of my layout, and explain why i did it the way i did...

[Simmsled]

Get some dynamat and put it where the handle is attached to the door metal. if you go around it it will sound more solid and not so clanky. oh.. and dynamat everywhere else

[ayjay]

Get some dynamat and put it where the handle is attached to the door metal. if you go around it it will sound more solid and not so clanky. oh.. and dynamat everywhere else

cool aight... thanks for the advice... ya i gotta save up for my RAAMmat 60 (better than Dynamat Xtreme), cause i'm gettin 63 sq. feet of it... once i get that i can do my entire doors, and prolly still have enough for the trunk...

if i run out i was just gonna buy some "Brownbread" (sp?) to fill in the gaps... was also gonna spray expanding foam in the side panels, and possibly the roof if the rattles are too bad...

[ayjay]

AIGHT!! here's some pics!! all in sequential order...

ripping off vinyl, muahaha!

cuttin holes for 4" (up near door handle)..

initial layout...



some more layout pics w/ 6.5" spandexed...

ready for fibreglassin pics, spandexed!

[S13Owner]

Nice pics ajay. I just started getting into car audio and custom work. This would be a good "how to" for newbies to car audio like me. I was wondering how fiberglassed enclosures were formed, and the pictures helped a lot. How did you make the braces (for lack of better terminology) for the rings? Do you have any close up pics of them? Also, how much does it usually cost for materials for a project such as this? I'm not planing on doing anything like this any time soon I just want to know how its done.

Do you have a hatch or coupe? If you have a hatch, how are you going to do the rear speakers if at all?

Please keep us updated with more pics and explanations.Keep up the good work :ylsuper

[ayjay]

what i've done so far is pretty cheap...

i've used 3/4" MDF that i had left over from a previous box, and made all the rings and supports with it... for the supports for the rings i just cut 1/2" strips and measured according to the angle i wanted the rings to be... basically I put the ring down at the angle that i wanted it to be, and just traced the heights for the supports, and cut them....

the hardest part was creating the hole for the 4" and mirroring the layout from the passenger side panel to the driver's side panel... had to cut a big hole (3" in diameter) in the door panel to accustom the magnet for the 4", and with the ring angled exactly at the opposite person's head, the magnet sticks through the door only about 1/2", and the spandex stretches nicely to the door handle (see layout1 pic) and creates a decent amount of airspace for it...

the spandex has been the most expensive part so far... paid $17 bux canadian for 2 square yards of it... turns out i needed like half that amount or not even... when looking for spandex, get the stretchiest stuff you can find... i think the stuff i got was 20% spandex and 80% nylon, if that makes any difference...

you have to stretch it as tight as you can, to not only get smoother curves, but so that it makes the fibreglassing work easier... and HOT GLUE!!! hot glue is your friend... i used hot glue for all the supports and rings, and to glue the spandex in place... your fingers won't like it :pface

i own a hatch, and i'm not going to use the rear speakers at all... the deck i'm getting doesn't have an internal amp, so i would have to buy an extra amp just to run rear fills... i think that my front soundstage will be plenty though, with 150W RMS runnin through each door...

i'll be starting the fibreglass work soon so i will post my progress on that...

[Simmsled]

Sweet. Go get em ayjay!!!

[ayjay]

uhhh... now that i've torn my doorpanels all to fuk... anyone know how to re-vinyl, or at least have tips on how do do it?

cause if i can't re-vinyl, i'll have to put in major hours doin bodywork, and gettin em' painted...

[MainEvent212]

3M adhesive spray, just spray and stick

[ayjay]

3M adhesive spray, just spray and stick

and use 3-way stretch vinyl? or heated stuff? cause i heard that 2-way stretch wouldn't stretch good enough...

OH AND ALSO... my buddy can get me a whole bunch of fibreglass CLOTH as opposed to regular matte (???)... never heard of it, but will it work? he says that it's easier to work with.... i'm gettin it for free so no real loss

[ayjay]

OK I am now THAT MUCH CLOSER to finishing my system...

Within the last couple weeks, I got ahold of an AudioControl Overdrive line driver, which i'm going to use for my Tsunami amp (needs at least 6V to perform)...

and tonight I picked up an Eclipse 55430 w/ TRIPLE 8-VOLT preouts, and no internal amp!! mmmmmmm

doesn't play mp3's, and doesn't have a detachable faceplate, but the SQ from this deck is absolutely amazing (so I heard)...

Next up: fibreglass/resin, bondo, vinyl, and wiring/cap...

[S13Owner]

How's the project coming along? Any pics yet?

[ayjay]

no new pics yet... have been soo busy with school/work i haven't been able to get around to it...

but just finished school friday, so this week i'm gonna start fibreglassin i hope... i'll take more pics then...

if not fibreglassin my doors, then i'll be making my sub box, cause mdf is cheap will post pics of that too

[ayjay]

ok got pics of my progress, and some of my latest aquisitions :P

DOOR PANELS EVERYWHERE!!! nearest ones are my buddy's which will hold the 8" dynaudio's along with the 3 way Focal Polykevlars... the other one's are mine, and will look like his once i'm done...

my 4" and tweet enclosures... still gotta seal off the hole that you can see in the doorpanel, but leave enough room for 4" magnet to stick through

my 6.5" kickpanel... extensive bondo work to be done!

it's a sea of fibreglass... i decided to fibreglass my entire door panel to give it more strength... no flex in it now

that's one hole that i gotta leave alone......

[ayjay]

and my latest aquisition...

my ECLIPSE deck...

... no internal amp as you can see only pre-outs...

uhhh 55430 anybody?? kindof a mystery deck, but it's aka. the 5504...mmmmmm haha

[stretch240sx]

hey how did it go

did you finish yet?