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2011 rtl

6K views 40 replies 9 participants last post by  Stoph 
#1 ·
Figured I might as well put up a post on here as well as on DIYMA's website.

Vehicle is a 2011 Honda Ridgeline

Headunit: Pioneer P99-RS

Front Stage: Hybrid Audio L1 Pro RR2, L4, L8

Subwoofer: Morel Ultimo SC 12" 4 ohm in roughly 1.4-1.5 cu. ft. fiberglass enclosure underneath the seat.

Amplification: JL Audio HD 900/5 and 600/4

 
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#4 ·
Started working on the kick install.

I wanted them to not be too obtrusive and I still wanted to be able to use the hood release and the fuse panel on the driver side. Same black vinyl was used from the tweeter pods, and then L4 grilles were attached to keep the speakers safe :D




 
#5 ·
Radio Trim install kit

Crutchfield sent me a pretty nice install kit, but I have never liked how they have seams and such as well as the little mini pocket that can never hold anything in it. I put the kit together and then went to work with some goodies :D








Then applied some nice CF vinyl after all the sanding was done.


 
#6 ·
That's about where I am at now, Its been a slow build lots of things going on along with trying to plan my fiance and I's wedding that's coming up. I just want to get this thing done without rushing it enough to make it look sloppy :D

Things I still need to do...
Mount the L8's in the doors and deaden them up. the L8's can dig pretty low and I'm thinking I need to really steady up the front doors to kill any vibrations that I don't want.

Working on the amp rack now, its going to be in the location next to the sub enclosure. JL HD amps are able to stack so its really going to take a small amount of room.
Teaser picture


Still need to run the RCA's and the 1/0 gauge wire from the battery. Waiting on a few things to arrive still before I do that.

Anyways, thanks for reading / looking :D Any comments are appreciated!

-Chris
 
#7 ·
Not an audiophile by any means, but an honest appreciation of the planning, time and effort to custom mfg all the pieces. I esp like the finished looks of the radio install kit! :act035:
 
#14 ·
Wow is right, I paid way less for my HU, Sub, speakers and amp than the OP paid just for the HU that does not even have an amp or radio, it is just a Sound SQ preamp, with sound processors, Auto Time alignment, 31 band equalizer,32 bit digital signal processor, three level Sound Retriever for compressed music files, 8 channels with 5 volt RCA's.

Oh! and at least for only $1200 it offers CD player, Ipod control cable included, aux and Usb ports. Worth every penny if you want to have flexibility to get the best possible sound from it without adding extra sound processors :act035:


Nice work with the fiberglass on the sub box and the other drivers.

What kind of wiring kit and RCA cables and sound deadening are you going to use?
 
#15 · (Edited)
RCA's are home built using Gepco cable and neutrik ends. The gepco cable fully techflex'd and they are different colors to separate the channels out. 8 channels can get a bit hectic to run and keep track of. I'm currently trying to figure a way to label them with some form of label maker etc.



Wiring kit is a JL Audio 1/0 gauge wiring kit. I've been using their kits for a while and never been let down by them.

Wow is right, I paid way less for my HU, Sub, speakers and amp than the OP paid just for the HU that does not even have an amp or radio, it is just a Sound SQ preamp, with sound processors, Auto Time alignment, 31 band equalizer,32 bit digital signal processor, three level Sound Retriever for compressed music files, 8 channels with 5 volt RCA's.

Oh! and at least for only $1200 it offers CD player, Ipod control cable included, aux and Usb ports. Worth every penny if you want to have flexibility to get the best possible sound from it without adding extra sound processors
Ipod control on this headunit is stellar as well as fast. The audio also bypasses the Ipod/Iphone DAC.

The 31 band equalizer is also independent L/R so I can adjust both sides separately instead of across both channels. Suffice to say its one powerful processor built into a headunit :D But yes, it was probably the most expensive thing on the list :(
 
#18 ·
RCA's are home built using Gepco cable and neutrik ends. The gepco cable fully techflex'd and they are different colors to separate the channels out. 8 channels can get a bit hectic to run and keep track of. I'm currently trying to figure a way to label them with some form of label maker etc.



Wiring kit is a JL Audio 1/0 gauge wiring kit. I've been using their kits for a while and never been let down by them.



Ipod control on this headunit is stellar as well as fast. The audio also bypasses the Ipod/Iphone DAC.

The 31 band equalizer is also independent L/R so I can adjust both sides separately instead of across both channels. Suffice to say its one powerful processor built into a headunit :D But yes, it was probably the most expensive thing on the list :(
Thanks for sharing that, I hope it is worth the time and cost building your own RCA cables, a single or a pair seems cheap to make, once you need 4 or 6 channels sometimes purchasing a 4 channel set becomes way cheaper than making them, I was able to get a 4 ch set of stinger level 3 (top of the line) for $20.00. Those RCA connectors are the ones that add up in the cost. And it becomes kind of bulky to rout them since they are thick.

As far as my experience making cables, I made a home set of cables out of Canare guitar cable, huge difference in the bass dept compared to standard cables even some mid range monster brand, surprisingly a $3.00 set of mono price were not that much inferior to the canares, it surprised me but these are really thick and running 2 sets in a car can take quite a bit of space needed for other wiring.

I also made a subwoofer cable for a home sub, out of a professional studio canare microphone cable, it just simply made a difference in the bass, it did not have the energy and extra bass the guitar cable had but it gave it a superior bass, even better that some Belden Coax cable with Canare RCA connectors ( these connectors are pricey) that I used for video component cables.

I buy this stuff at Markertek, not sure if a better price can be found from a different vendor, I think they sell the Gepco too, it seems very popular for guys making their RCA cables like you. You had any experiences with Canare microphone cable to make RCA cables?
 
#17 ·
Shouldn't be that big of an issue for the 8's, I've seen a guy toss in Dynaudio 10's before. I'm going to be making spacers out of HPDE plastic and then trimming up some metal after full deadening / sealing of the door. I'm waiting as long as possible to tackle the doors otherwise I lose the tunes in the car ride in the morning to work :) 50 miles 1 way, ugh
 
#22 ·
L8's will be in the doors.

Small update ... I've had a change in heart and plans, so after talking with lunchbox some more I've ripped out the console and am going to be making a new console with the Morel driver in that. Should allow much more room under the seat for the (3) PPI arts. (2) AX400's and a A600. I'm going to be running an AX400 on each side of the truck for the ability to have Stereo seperation. Should be interesting non the less :D I already have big plans for the console and can't wait to get started on it :)
 
#24 ·
AX400 and A600 are models of amplifiers from the line up of Precision power Art series. They are from circa 1990's ... I've always wanted to run them since I was a kid in high school :D

Yeah the tweeters look way better in person, its actually a copper ring along with a copper phase plug in the middle of the ring radiator.
 
#25 ·
Mmm

I keep hearing, class AB Amps deliver better sound to components than class D amps, is that the reason for the switch? Does is it apply to just active set ups or also passive?
 
#26 ·
It's mostly a nostalgia thing for me :) a lot of people love class A and alot of people use class D. I just remember these amps from when I was a kid and loved them. Before this my system was zapco reference amps and those were very nice amps. Just want a change :) its like seeing that hot rod you loved as a kid


Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide
 
#28 ·
Are you going to have any drivers on the rear doors?

if not

Will you be bridging the AX400 to drive the fronts with 200watts per channel?

sounds like you will have to put a lot of sound deadening material on the front doors besides sealing them to use those 8 inch drivers.

I have one layer on mine from side to side, inner outer, and a double layer to almost half the door (about 18 inches from the front) on the outer layer right behind the driver.

The bad: doors are heavy and I need to help my wife to open it sometimes, and she complains a lot. :D

The good: almost like a tank, they close every time with no effort, and it is bad I have to remind my son to not slam it like he always does.:act064:

I keep reading on other sites that you only need 1/4 of the door sound deaden, or money is being wasted. At least my doors close almost by themselves if that is worth something. :act035:


It will be interesting to know what your plan is for the front doors.
 
#29 ·
each amp will be running in tri-mode actually supplying 50 watts to the tweeters and midrange driver and 200 watts to the Midbass in the doors.

yes lots of deadening and weight to tame these 8's I'm going to be making a baffle plate out of 3/4" HPDE plastic as well to help strengthen where they mount up as well. All of the open cavities in the door will be sealed using 1/8" abs plastic molded and screwed to the door and then deadened over the front and back of the plates. Once I tear into the doors I might see if there is a way to attach some bracing to the door to stop flexing as well.

I'm not too worried about the weight as I did the same thing in my honda element that I previously had. Loved how easy the doors are to shut afterwards ... my wife will have to be re-taught as she has already forgotten about the element haha.
 
#31 ·
2 of the 3 arrived yesterday :)



Mmm, very interesting, never crossed my mind, 3 mode just for the fronts from a 4 channel amp powering the 8 inch subs with a mono signal after the rear channels are bridged. I assume each 8 inch sub will get 100 watts.


Here is something I whipped up at work :D It will give you an idea of what I'm going to be doing.
 
#32 ·
Oh okay I missed the 3 amp set up bu wondered why you said both amp will be running in a 3 ch mode.

I hope the doors can handle the high power peaks although not the full 200w per channel will be used.

If you listen to hip hop or music that is non stop non sense bass, good luck, even if you clean the frequencies to keep the lowest ones to hit the 8 inch drivers.

Will you use a special track to tune it, or kind of just play a normal track used before to test it and tune it?
 
#33 ·
Not too much into hip hop, main goal for this system is just nice clean and clear sound. I'm not a bass aholic any more, that was for when I was young :D The 8's should be just fine in the doors, there was a guy on the DIY forums who put 10's in the doors of his RL and loved it. Door treatment etc will be the biggest factor in that part of the install.

Tuning will be done with a RTA and tones initially then tuned to my personal taste using source material that I'm used to and enjoy alot.
 
#34 ·
Thanks for the diagram posted early.

I am not sure if this question has been asked before, I do not mean to get too much out of the subject but since these doors are going to need a lot of deadening or if not deadening like dynamat maybe other materials to eliminate vibrations due to the power given to the subs.

will it be fair to say that, the more you add, say dynamat or similar material to the door, the more power is needed to really get the benefits of it, and if not a lot of power is being used the bass can actually be less noticeable with more deadening material and really without messing with crossovers just adding more material, and adjust basic HU bass. In other words, add more material, no messing with crossovers same power equals less bass unless more power and crossovers are messed with? :D

Anybody else experienced this issue or willing to comment on the issue?
 
#35 ·
Thanks for the diagram posted early.

I am not sure if this question has been asked before, I do not mean to get too much out of the subject but since these door are going to need a lot of deadening or if not deadening other materials to eliminate vibrations due to the power given to the subs, but.

will it be fair to say that, the more you add, say dynamat or similar material to the door, the more power is needed to really get the benefits of it, and if not a lot of power is being used the bass can actually be less noticeable with more deadening material and really without messing with crossovers just adding more material, and adjust basic HU bass. In other words, add more material, no messing with crossovers same power equals less bass unless more power and crossovers are messed with? :D

Anybody else experienced this issue or willing to comment on the issue?
I don't think more power will be needed to gain the benefits of a properly deadened and sealed door. The whole purpose is to kill the vibrations and stop panel resonance which both hurt midbass performance in doors. Sealing off the door helps to create a proper baffle to seal off the front wave from the back wave of the speaker.

I'd have to say if anything it will make the power more useful? or more effective? Not sure if I am using the right words for that one.
 
#39 ·
Thanks for the info on the doors deadening, it seem like good recordings sound much better, and recordings with less bass or not as good sound worse than before the extra deadening.

Is fiberglass the next thing over the console frame?
 
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