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Ridgeline SQ Audio Build - Vancouver, Canada

28K views 169 replies 18 participants last post by  juiceweazel 
#1 · (Edited)
For those that are interested, I have been busy updating the audio system in my 2006 Ridgeline and I created a link to those who want to see how the build is going, but the DiYMA site has some restrictions on posting pics to non-members. I'll get pics up on this site very soon! I am about halfway through the build so far.
Please give me some input or suggestions on this SQ highlight install.
Thanks, JJ (Lunchbox12)
 
#2 ·
I was able to read your post but only saw icons where your photos are posted. Clicking on the .jpg icon leads me to the log-in page for the DIY Mobile Audio forums :(
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the advice guys! I'll just start a new build log here to make it available to all the ROC members here. I should have it going by tonight! Thanks for the heads up!
 
#5 ·
Honda Ridgeline SQ Build

Some of you here at ROC have seen my build log thread and website from last year. Ridgeline *Project - Home

DIYMA, the DIY mobile audio forum site, has been instrumental in helping me during the past year to decide on a new approach to the audio system in my 2006 Ridgeline.

Over the past several months I have been slowly gathering ideas and technical advice from many DIYMA forum members and vendors to help assemble and implement an improved SQ project.

Competing in IASCA and USACi shows last year and gathering advice from judges, industry folk, and fellow competitors has also given me an immeasurable amount of insight in choosing what to do for this project’s new direction.

Basics of this system include:
• XStatic Batcap 3000 main battery and Batcap 400 mini battery adjacent to amp.
• Project DB custom battery terminals
• Shok Industries 1/0 OFC power and ground wiring and stock engine compartment wiring upgrades, big 3, etc.
• Dynamat and Second Skin sound deadening materials (liberal CLD and MLV to various areas) floor, inner/outer doors, firewall, truckbed wall, pillars, roof, headliner and door skins
• Reupholstering of headliner, pillars, door panels, console, and use of dash mat.
• Repainting of all interior plastic pieces, new carpet to match dark theme.
• Alpine source units and video system (F#1 Status DVI 9990 and PXA H990 as well as W900 Touchscreen BT Nav, Alpine 6 disc DVD changer, and 2 additional Alpine monitors)
• Tru Technologies SuperBillet 8-S with Stage IV and OpAmp (BB62/AD79/NL49)/Kimber Kable upgrades
• Kimber Kable interconnect
• PHASS component speakers (1” DTM 25C/4” FD 0496/8” MD 0875)
• Incriminator Audio Flatlyne 12” SQ subwoofer
• Custom center console with iPad/iPhone dock
• Compustar/Drone security system

The build is about 1/2 completed so far. I thought that now would be a good time to post some pics because I actually have enough pics to make a decent showing. I am also seeking advice from any ROC members willing to chime in and help contribute opinions on whatever areas they see potential room for improvement/refinement.

Seeing the beautiful progress of other members’ ridgeline builds on ROC and DIYMA (e.g. stoph, bmwproboi, bginvestor) has also lit a fire under my ass to get this build going too!

Well, here goes….
 
#6 ·
Some of the stuff going in...
PHASS Ceramic dome tweets
PHASS 4"
PHASS 8"
FlatLyne 12" Sub

 
#10 ·
Some initial wiring upgrades under the hood...



Big 3 upgrade using zero gauge SHOK Reference OFC, and 4 gauge upgrades to as much stock wiring that I could...All wires soldered, techflexed, and double shrinkwrapped.
 
#11 ·
Batcap 3000 main battery
Batcap 400 to go next to amp for added punch!
 
#12 ·
Now time for removal of interior parts, headliner, etc. to start deadening of panels. SecondSkin products used as well as some remaining deadening (Dynamat) already there from my previous install.
The whole floor, inner and outer metal on the doors, behind door panels, firewall area, truckbed wall, roof and headliner were all included. Also the headliner and various interior parts were covered in synthetic suede.
 
#13 ·
The doors are modified to house 8" PHASS midbass drivers that will be using the doors as the primary airspace and will also have an aperiodic membrane--Dacron sandwich anyone? We started the aperiodic membrane assembly with waffle grille cutouts and a custom stainless "tunnel" to house the membrane solidly on the outside opening and a solid baffle mount on the inside opening for the speaker. Illuminated trim ring also seen--these were custom made from a marine-based fabrication shop locally.
 
#16 ·
Now matching up trim ring to door panel and integrating the grille ring.
 
#17 ·
How can you not like these Tru Technologies amps? I think most manufacturers that display internals with plexi bottoms (like Tru, Zed, etc..) just love to show off these things like a proud parent would!
Special thanks to John at Tru Technologies for spending so much time with me helping to match his amps and OpAmp options to my specific speakers in this build (...and also for the one in my upcoming GTR install).
 
#18 ·
The a-pillar pods needed to be made to allow fitment of a 4" midrange and have them vent to a larger open space (e.g. outside or deep into dash). Initial cutouts favored an angular design with soft edges to keep the Ridgeline's theme/look intact. Baltic birch may be the final baffle but double thickness 16G 304 stainless may do the trick too.

The early prototype had prompted making some stainless ribs to help define the shape of the enclosure behind the PHASS 4" mid and vent it into a wonderful spot where the stock tweeter resided; as a huge hole leading into the dash exists in the old stock tweet location. The ribs will make it a lot easier when glassing in the final shape at some point. Interestingly, the 4" mids can play full range according to Don at PHASS. The decision to create a pod with the tweeter mounted was done to permit flexibility of going with the ceramic domed tweeter or sticking with the mid alone. The preset function of my old skool Alpine F#1 processor will make switching between the 2 configurations a snap. Perhaps one setting for competition, another to suit personal tastes...we will see.

Unfortunately the pods seem to stick out quite a bit, however the seating position in the Ridgeline is very much upright than most other cars, even SUV's, that I sit in and I'm 6'3 and when I mocked up the position using cardboard it didn’t feel as intrusive as I thought it would be, so I went ahead with it.

Some people will criticize, and some love a much better integrated look into the pillar, but I sort of wanted this to be more of a highlight install. Also I really wanted to maintain the position of that 4"driver angled in slightly and placed 2-3" above the dash at the lowest point of the transducer when it is in it's final mounted state.

Another interesting point is the relationship of the tweeter and the midrange. They are slightly angled towards each other. I'm not sure why, but when I listen to many speakers using this configuration, they seem to sound better to me. and I can't localize them as being separate from each other as easily. I'm sure there is a technical/audiophile theory that may explain that better, but that's how I describe it.

I bet you could easily use a smaller midrange and integrate it so nicely into the pillar to have a look like so many cars I've seen on these forum pages, etc, etc. BUT...I just love these PHASS 4" mids, they are huge and they will require a well designed vent, but I trust they will sound nice once they are in.

Tweeter and midrange slightly angled towards each other. Has anyone tried this and/or liked it? Hated it?

The difference is very subtle, only a few degrees of angulation for sure.

The metal frame provides a support structure for the fiberglass and an opening will be matched to the previous dash opening for the tweet along with a fabricated tunnel that will vent the backpressure into a separate airspace in the dash.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Some of you may now notice that the Stainless baffle is now double thickness and Baltic Birch plywood bonded to the surface for added strength/damping and a nice surface to mount the midrange will be added in photos later...

A threaded insert was built into the pillar allowing the pod to be mounted using a secure tab on one end and a bolt that will be accessible via the tweeter opening.
 
#20 ·
Got the door panels wrapped finally! Keeping that SQ synthetic suede going!!

I was not completely in love with suede as the most attractive finishing material, but it has grown on me a bit! The benefit to an SQ install is there though due to its slightly better absorptive quality compared to say plastic or leather/ vinyl. I tried to wrap as much stuff as I could without it being prohibitively expensive!
 
#21 ·
Here are pics of the Baltic Birch added to strenghten/dampen the stainless baffle:
 
#24 ·
When does it end? The never ending quest and thrill for perfect sound. Extreme taken to another level. Your hobby your passion, enjoy it. I hope the Cops don't mind the loud sound in Canada. :act035:
 
#26 ·
Crazy hobby it is! This car is not designed to be too loud...not gonna bother anybody with this truck, especially cops!
 
#27 ·
Crimson, my home shop is pretty basic, but I'm a DiY'er that is ok with outsourcing some things like suede wrapping--which I'm terrible at. All the designs are my own. The metal work and the LED trim rings were done with the help of a local marine-based fab shop. I'm definitely not affiliated with the car audio industry. My day job is working on people!
 
#30 ·
On the big 3, did you also run a wire from the positive to the fuse box? then from the box to the alternator or just from the positive to the alternator?
Asking because our trucks have one cable going from the pos to the fuse box.
 
#31 ·
Great question! I did zero gauge from pos to alt. AND I upgraded the factory wire to 4 gauge from pos to fuse box (both fuse boxes got the wiring upgrade--the one on drivers and the one on passenger sides)
passenger side

driver side
 
#32 · (Edited)
The quality of the speaker housings is very impressive. I've seen so many MDF/super glue speaker pods, dash trim and even console mods and wondered how well they would hold up over the long haul. Cudos to you for the metal fabrication and threaded riv-nuts.

Also, the gear you have assembled seems to be top-knotch, I'm guessing you will have more money tied up in audio gear than the cost of the truck :p

I do have to say I'm not feeling the 4" mid/tweeter pods on the dash. So far all other aspects of your install seem to be so well integrated into the truck.

I think I would have opted for putting the mids in kick panel panels. Or perhaps mounting them under the dash, behind the stock tweeter holes and letting the sound bounce off the windshield (wonder if they would sound better out of phase if they were reflecting off the windshield). Even pods mounted high on the doors or in front of the outer-most dash vents would be preferable in my opinion.

Please expand on your decision to go with the dash pods.
 
#34 ·
Hey Coolbob!
Thanks for the comments and the questions about the pods!
I had a feeling that the choice to make large pods emanating from the a-pillars would draw opinions. Most people choose to integrate into an a-pillar rather than create large stand-alone housings.

To help answer your question about the decision to go to pods, the first consideration has to be made to seating position in the ridgeline. The seat position has the driver in a more upright position than most vehicles. Kick panels or under-dash pods would be better siuted in my opinion if the seat position is a bit more low-slung like in sports coupes or sport sedans. I love the path length offered by kick panel pods in those applications. In fact my GTR install to follow this one will feature under dash pods.

The Ridgeline was explored infinitely for this option, but the way the dash sits, the under-dash/kick panel pods are too easily obstructed by legs, and the loss of apparent height in the image was too drastic when I tested with some mocked up satellite pods. I couldn't get the image right with mids and tweets so low in that particular car no matter how hard I tried!

When I put them up in the dash, the difference was night and day. Of course, the imaging and height improved, but I was worried about the close path length of the left side. Once I had tuning and time correction the width and depth improved tremendously!

The midranges I chose also work best when vented to the outside (or a large separate space--e.g. large pod with venting deep into the dash). This prohibited a door install of the mids, also I wanted the depth of the midrange relative to the listener to be a bit more forward.

The idea of bouncing the mids and highs off the windshield was also a consideration, but it ended up sounding like ****. I have yet to hear a car that does this configuration well to be honest. Maybe I need to listen to more cars though!?!

To be honest bro the option to make the pods seemed to be a bit unwieldy due to the size and odd shape, but after spending time on trips overseas and seeing the installs in car audio crazy nations like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. these beastly pods are quite the norm-- they grew on me after a while and I didnt mind that "in your face" big ass pod a la MR. Whitelidge's Magic Bus--given the sonic benefit!

This car is meant to be my audio dream where sound quality is intended to be uncompromised--highlight install and pretty damn obnoxious!. The GTR will be a much more stealthy design!!!
 
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