Gold Member Username: InsearchofbassPost Number: 2398 Registered: Jun-04 | Jim85IROC08-08-2004, 09:52 PM Since a lot of what I chose for this stereo was based on what I read here and on a couple other forums, I thought I'd post pics now that I'm far enough along for it to be interresting. The system was designed on a very strict budget. This system was bought by my girlfriend for her car. I told her I could give her a great stereo for around $500, not including the head unit. Since her head unit wound up not having RCA pre-outs, she got my $750 Kenwood PS-907. The amp is a Phoenix Gold T400.4 refurb that I got through Sounddomain for under $200 during a 10% off sale. I bought cdt CL-61a's through thezeb.com while they were having their 15% off sale. The subs are $35 Tangband W8-740Cs. Of course, the cost of the installation has cost me a couple hundred bucks by the time I got the wood, plexi, mirrored plexi, screws, vinyl, bondo, blah blah blah... So anyway, here's the install so far. The goal is to make the interior look stock with nothing interresting for thieves. The trunk is going to look a bit more flashy. First the front stage. Stock door panels. Nothing interresting. The CDT mids are in the stock location. http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_1.JPG Driver side kick panel. I cut a hole the same size as the tweeter grill, glued the grill into place, and mounted the tweeter directly behind the hole. The tweeters are aimed at the center of the car. http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_2.JPG Passenger side kick. http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_3.JPG Since the subs are going to be visible from both sides, I wanted a mounting method that allowed both sides to look good. I also wanted to hide the ugly foam gaskets on the Tangband subs. To do this, I decided to mount the subs outside the enclosure, and put a radius on the opening. With the gaskets in place, the sub looked sunken in too far, so I cut the gaskets out. http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_4.JPG The sub enclosure is .5 cubic feet, tuned to 35hz. The way I designed it, I can change the tuning frequency of both enclosures by replacing 1 piece of wood. The center area is the amp rack. http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_5.JPG The rear panel that completes the enclosure is going to have 3 flush-mounted plexiglass windows so that you can see inside the enclosure. Inside the enclosure the walls will be gray vinyl, with mirrored plexi on the floor. The outside of the enclosure will be graphite vinyl. I've got red LEDs that are going to be used to illuminate the inside of the enclosure, as well as behind the amplfier. Here's the enclosure from inside the car: http://www.sover.net/~iroc85/Camry/camry_stereo_6.JPG I'm going to attempt to fiberglass a piece that transitions from the oval seat opening to the surface that the subs and amp are mounted on. Since we're going on vacation 4 hours away next weekend, for now I threw a flat MDF board on the back to make the enclosure functional. I temporarily threw it into the car. So far I'm extremely impressed. The CDT cl-61s are very clean and dynamic, especially for their price. The system images very well, with a reasonably high soundstage and good centered vocals. The bass from these tangbands is very impressive considering that the box is only held together with a few screws, no glue for the front & back panels, and no sealant at all (it's got to come back apart in order to be finished). The suspension is still very stiff on the subs and I expect that as they losen up, the sound will improve. Right now they play very deep, and are very clean. You can hear the difference between bass drum and bass gutar. The system gets fairly loud considering the sorry condition of the box. When you start to crank on it, the port noise gets more audible (although it may be air leaking from the box). Once I get the box more solidified, I expect this to sound much better. SPL seems very good for 8" subs. I have the gains set so that even with the deck running wide open, the subs and amp aren't at their limits. I'll re-tune after they break in. Since this is my girlfriend's car, I want to keep it a little safe so that she doesn't blow things up. Even with the gains low and the subs not broken in, I'm impressed with the output. I'd say that right now I'd put SPL somewhere around 125dB. Hopefully I'll have it up near 130 when it's all said and done. If I can get 130 out of a pair of 8s in a sedan, I'll be happy. So far I'm extremely impressed with the sound quality of this system. |
Gold Member Username: SubfanaticWalton, Ky Post Number: 3934 Registered: Dec-04 | wow, i read that and love this, where did u find this sean? |
Gold Member Username: InsearchofbassPost Number: 2412 Registered: Jun-04 | just typed in tangband on google and looked to see what i could find lol |
Gold Member Username: SubfanaticWalton, Ky Post Number: 3949 Registered: Dec-04 | lol you google way to much |