Another LC Stereo Upgrade

[jmvar]

Over the past couple of years I have slowly been upgrading the horrible sound system that came stock on my '95. I am sure that in it's day before the dry rotted speaker surrounds the stock system may have been pretty nice, but in this day and age it is pretty bad.

I started out by upgrading the headunit with one of the cheaper Aline CD players with Ipod controls. Next up I replaced the front speakers with Exile Audio 6.5" shallow mount coaxials and the rears with the normal pioneers. The sub was an Alpine 10" type E in a sealed box which was a craigslist special I picked up. Alarm is a clifford with remote start that I got hooked up with and installed with a friend of mine who is an alarm guru. Amp install kit is another hook up from someone who works at a big box store.

The amps were a pair of Rockford Fosgate amps I have had for over 10 years and have been reliable as hell.

This was all phase I of the stereo upgrade. I ran this setup for about 2 years and it was ok.

I really wanted to start designing a rear drawer system.

I decided I needed some of my rear hatch space back and really wanted to get the subwoofer enclosure out of there. I thought about ditching the sub box but I have been spoiled and there is no way the limited throw of the shallow mounts I have up front will satisfy my addiction to the boom.....j/k....no way does one 10" entry level sub constitute boom.

The next upgrade was a new amp so that I can get the pair of trusty rockfords out of the passenger side rear cargo area. I had big plans for that spot.

I bought an Alpine PDX-5 which puts out 75 watts by 4 channels and one sub channel with 300 watts. This was to go under the front driver's seat. pics.

Old rockfords, these are out of the truck obviously but they were in the passengers side rear hatch area under the plastic panel.

Reran all wiring to the driver's seat and installed the Alpine amp under ther driver's seat.

Fits really nicely under the seat

This was a really nice upgrade that really woke up the Exile Audio front speakers and the cheap alpine sub. I also had more control over cross over points for the speakers and sub via the amp where on the Rockford amps they were fixed at 100 hz.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I love the new Alpine amp lineup

 

[jmvar]

Next up was how to get the sub box out of the rear hatch area. I freed up the space behind the panel where the amps where so I decided to do something similar to what Long Duck Dong did.

However, I really wanted something bigger than a 10" in .5 ft^3. I figured if I was going to spend the money to upgrade the sub I really wanted it to sound better than the 10" cheapo alpine I currently had which was sounding pretty good with the new amp.

I started measuring space and volume to see how much space I really had back there. I filled a bag up with packing peanuts and contorted it to see how much volume there was back there. I took the packing peanuts and put them in a box to calculate volume. I calculated about 1 ft^3.

This is plenty of space for a modern 12" sub. The issue now would be the depth of the sub. I calculated that I had about 4.5" of depth. After looking at all my options I chose an Exile Audio XT12 due to price, availability, and their good rep for quality product and good customer service. The latter definitely came in handy when the sub I got was a dud. More on that later.

I did a lot of research and decided to do a fiberglass enclosure. I was a complete virgin when it came to fiberglass so I read a bunch of forum DIYs and asked a lot of questions. Here are some good forums.

Fiberglass Forums - Powered by vBulletin
DIY Mobile Audio

I will post the final product now as a teaser and post all the construction pics later on. I plan on making a cover for the sub and holes from the old stock sub, old ash tray, and cubby hole.

And most important, sounds pretty damn good.

Stay tuned for construction pics.

 

[RescueU]

Where did you relocate your remote alarm system controller, which is usually found under the driver's seat?

 

[jmvar]

Where did you relocate your remote alarm system controller, which is usually found under the driver's seat?

Didn't know the alarm module was under the seat. I don't have a stock alarm on my truck. That is why one of my first mods was the clifford, nice to have remote start and keyless entry.

My truck came with an interesting mix of features. It came with lockers but no leather or alarm. Kind of like a semi-poverty package. Maybe they forgot to put the alarm in. Now if only they had done me the favor and forgotten the sunroof and roof rack but no such luck.

In the pic below you can see that where the alarm light usually goes, I was able to install a ram mount for my gps. The wire you see on the left is the power wire I hard wired into the truck.

 

[jmvar]

I want to thank Brian and Morgan at exile audio for helping me through this install. I initially called Brian looking for a shallow mount 12" sub and he was able to find me an XT12. Then I had some issues with the XT12 I got but Morgan got me sorted out very quickly. The first sub I got had a misaligned cone/magnet and wouldn't play lower frequencies.

This is the mold I used to create the fiberglass shell behind the quarter panel. I filled the area with aluminum foil and then sprayed expanding foam to create the mold.

First couple layers of fiberglass.

Looks like I will get about .9ft^3....pretty close to what the XT12 needs.

Glued the glass tub to the MDF ring in the pic, then used duraglass to make sure it is sealed and strong, then more fiberglass.

Then it's time to screw and glue the front of the enclosure on there, 3/4" MDF. Used another 3/4" MDF ring to space the woofer away from the back of the enclosure a little and give me some room for sound dampening.

Fits like a glove

Time for the woofer and the panel cover.

The holes you see in the cover are from a small cuby hole I had to cut out and an ashtray. I had to make a cover for the panel to hide the holes so I got the resin and mat out again....time for more glass.

Glassed it, the strengthened with milkshake (duraglass and fiberglass resin mixed together), then smoothed it with body filler. I thought about wrapping it in vinyl but the cover was not smooth enough. The holes from the cuby hole and ashtray were showing through the glass. I was also afraid that on the first camping trip it would get cut or scratched from someone throwing something in the back of the truck. Had it carpeted at my local upholstery shop. Matches much better in person but it's not 100%.

Wish I could leave this beauty uncovered but that would be asking for trouble. I had to put a mesh grill on it, you can still see a subtle clue of the beauty that lies beneath if you look at the right angle....kind of like cameltoe.

Next project will probably be going fully active for the front stage with a new head unit that will give me full crossover control for each channel and time alignment. I will also need to build speaker pods in order to house a decent sized 6.5" woofer.

 

[PHIL O]

cool sound system upgrade

 

[RUST359]

That fiberglass box is sweet!

 

[Toyote]

you can still see a subtle clue of the beauty that lies beneath if you look at the right angle....kind of like cameltoe.

Great mod, killer quote.

 

[mot]

Where do I send the money for the downpayment for mine?

I'd love to hear/feel it in person!

NICE WORK!!!

 

[Keep]

Looks great! I've been considering something similar for a long time, but that install is really motivating me get off my ass and do it. How does it sound compared it to a traditional enclosure?

 

[Archengine]

That sub box is too cool! That is exactly what I had been planning on doing, but picked up a 10" sub box that fit inside the rear quarter.....for now. I would definitely pay you for one of those. The glass shell would be awesome, as I can do the mdf part in my shop. If your interested in making another one, please pm me.

To the comment above about the amp interfering with the remote control/alarm box under the drivers seat, I use a McIntosh amp there in my system, and it is considerably larger than the PDX-5. Many amps will fit under there, you just have to take measurements. Even with the porky MacI'm using, I was still able to fit the alarm box in there aswell, though repositioned parallel to the length of the truck.

Rob

 

[ChefFJ]

Impressive....

Very nice work.... I am digging the mold making technique. What kind of depth were you able to create? Depth of the sub it self?

I too am working on pods for the front stage. But I don't like the feel of putting them in the foot wells. I am leaning towards building pods onto the door panels, blended into the factory pocket.

Again, Nice work!! Keep it up!

 

[wakesetter]

im looking for simple. What box fit inside the quarter panel?

 

[wob]

Just got done putting an older model nakamichi head unit in, running a five channel alpine amp (but only running two JL audio speakers in the front doors, and have two ten inch Kicker 10's in the back side of my still to be completed storage box in the rear.

It sounds as good as my Audi's stock system, but not too bassy.

 

[jmvar]

Thanks for the feed back guys. i will try to answer some questions.

It sounds great!!! I had a 10" alpine running of the PDX 5 amp that sounded OK. It got overwhelmed when bass lines had a lot of detail or were really fast. The exile is very accurate and tight.

I think there is a little bit of resonance at higher bass frequencies but I can't tell if it is because I have the sub crossed a little high (120 Hz) or if the fiberglass enclosure is resonating a little. I think it may be my cross over point because I dampened the inside of the enclosure and it is pretty thick with over 7-8 layers of fiberglass.

The reason it is crossed so high is because my front stage is weak and can't play lower frequencies so I can't cross the sub below 100 hz, but my pod project should resolve that issue.

I was thinking of making a couple of these and selling them but it is a lot of work and I am not experienced enough in making things out of fiberglass to charge people for an enclosure. What I may do is make a tub for Archengine since he was the first one to ask as a trial run. not sure yet, I will think about it.

As far as depth, without the spacer ring you see in the pic the depth of the enclosure is about 4". THis means from the face of the baffle (where woofer mounts) to the fiberglass there is 4" to work with. This is how speaker mounting depth is measured so you can fit anything that has a mounting depth of less than 4". The XT12 I used has a mounting depth of 4" and I knew I wanted to dampen the enclosure so I spaced it out another .75"

When I make my pods I will probably make another tub and see how it turns out. I will keep you guys posted.

 

[Archengine]

JmVar,
I would be all about it! Do you have any heavy vibrations out of the rear panel area? My current setup is vibrating the 3rd row seat belt mechanism, and I'm too nervous to mess with it to quiet it down.

Rob

 

[jmvar]

JmVar,
I would be all about it! Do you have any heavy vibrations out of the rear panel area? My current setup is vibrating the 3rd row seat belt mechanism, and I'm too nervous to mess with it to quiet it down.

Rob

Hey Rob, I am making some pods for my daily driver in August. I will try and make the tub at the same time since I already have the mold that you see in the pic.

The only thing that vibrates is the vent that is right behind the rear sliding window. I removed the 3rd row seat belt on that side so no vibration there.

If you want to keep yours, just open it up and see if you can quiet it down. If you butcher it for what ever reason you can always get one cheap enough from cruiserparts.net or from someone parting out an 80 on this site. That is the first thing I checked before cutting up the rear panel cover. It wasn't that expensive to get a new one.

 

[betharuby]

i am loving all of your work... being a female not sure that i can handle all of this... but did install the system in my camry myself.. consisiting of a head unit.. subs and an amp... now i also own a 95 landcruiser and the stock system is not something i can live with... i am going to start with the speakers... so i am wondering if you can give me some pointers i have not been able to find out too much information online...
the front dash from what i gather can hold a 4" ... the front door speakers a 6.5".. and the rear door a 4"
and i am not sure about the 3rd row speakers yet but i am guessing a 4"
i have found some kenwoods that are a shallow mount... looks like i need a mount depth of 1 3/4 in.... does that sound about right? i am now going to look up the exile speakers you mentioned...
also is this speaker upgrade something i can do on my own or with a little help... or i am i getting in way over my head with pulling off door panels? i am pretty handy and know my way around a vehicle somewhat... so to say i am not the typical girl... but just may be trying to take on too much here...
thanks for any help you might be able to send my way

 

[aclos3]

i am loving all of your work... being a female not sure that i can handle all of this... but did install the system in my camry myself.. consisiting of a head unit.. subs and an amp... now i also own a 95 landcruiser and the stock system is not something i can live with... i am going to start with the speakers... so i am wondering if you can give me some pointers i have not been able to find out too much information online...
the front dash from what i gather can hold a 4" ... the front door speakers a 6.5".. and the rear door a 4"
and i am not sure about the 3rd row speakers yet but i am guessing a 4"
i have found some kenwoods that are a shallow mount... looks like i need a mount depth of 1 3/4 in.... does that sound about right? i am now going to look up the exile speakers you mentioned...
also is this speaker upgrade something i can do on my own or with a little help... or i am i getting in way over my head with pulling off door panels? i am pretty handy and know my way around a vehicle somewhat... so to say i am not the typical girl... but just may be trying to take on too much here...
thanks for any help you might be able to send my way

There is a nice thread about installing 6.5" polks in all four doors requiring minimal internal door modification. I am seriously considering installing some of these as my first step on a totally stock system.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/327663-front-door-speaker-upgrade.html

Enjoy and welcome to 'mud.