Pete's install log

[Bigpete123 1]

those look sweet!!

and if you don't finish the trunk in a similar manner, we will hunt you down and takes all your sound quality!!

I know, I know... I think I'll get things up and running, and maybe a few months later I'll start putting together something fancy for the trunk. So I'll set up the relays for the fans and everything so that I can add those later. I'll probably just make some kind of covering around the sub and amps/eq. Cover it in the same vinyl, add some highly glossed walnut burlwood veneer accents (to match the interior), and slap a mercedes logo on it or something. I'm just running out of steam right now and my other projects are backing up...

Gonna redo those fake floors in our condo (shown in the pics) with real hardwoods and carpet, put our baseboard and crown moldings in, work on a restoring/refinishing/updating an armiore that's a family airloom on my wife's side of the family, etc etc, the list goes on. I'm more of a woodworker than a car audio guy. But I will use my woodworking skills to come up with something for the trunk eventually. Probably not right away though... I need something new to work on

[Bigpete123 1]

Got the door panels back on. Also finished up my sound deadening by doing the drivers' door.

Dude, getting the door panels back on had to have been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. Then, getting those damn speaker grilles on was so difficult. I was about to buy a plane ticket to France to find the engineer who designed those speaker grilles and kick is arse. So I ended up scratching the hell out of the driver's side grille. Oh well. And yes, the aren't straight. I'll have to take them off again and redo it later.

But enough complaining, I'm very happy with how they turned out. My only regret is that I didn't find a way to make them more shallow. My left leg pretty much rests against it. But at best I probably could've only made them 1" more shallow. I still have access to the e-brake pedal and my seat can still move up really far. I just can't wait to hear them!

Comments encouraged!

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Wow they look outstanding!

[vladd 26]

x2

what are you talking about not being straight? everything looks damn near perfect to me

[Bigpete123 1]

Well the passenger side grille wasn't on completely straight. I guess it's not obvious in the pics. Thanks guys, I'm overall quite happy with how they turned out. I learned a few lessons and thus maybe would've done a few minor things differently. But overall I've really happy.

To do list:

-Set up the front tweeters

-Set up the front crossovers (looks like the only somewhat easy place will be the glove box)

-Put the rest of my interior together in the front (Can't wait)

-Strip tons of wires in the trunk and install the amps and EQ

-Install as many of the trim panels in the trunk as possible

-Set up the bass knob for my sub channel in the ash tray

-Set up the omnifi HU in the glove box

-Get my hands on a spectrum analyzer and test/tune the system

And a couple of months down the road after I've regained some passion for this project, I'll address the aesthetics of the trunk set up.

I can't express how happy I am to have the door panels back on the car. I was so ghetto rolling around without those on for like 4 months! The car is much quieter on the road, too.

[Bigpete123 1]

oh yeah, and I'll give the car a deep detailing. I might even consider taking it to a shop. My poor car has earned it!!

[Bigpete123 1]

So most of the exciting stuff is complete in my car. The trunk (amps, etc) still needs to be set up and I need to do some tuning. I have spent the last weekend or two splicing, stripping, cutting, and connecting wires. There are still tons of cables hanging out in the trunk that I need to attend to.

And eventually, I'll get the trunk all prettied up with some matching vinyl and trim. But like I've said before, I'm ready to move on to new projects. I'll post pics of my progress when I have something worth posting.

Until then!

[helotaxi 46]

The doors look really nice.

[Bigpete123 1]

^^Thanks man.

So I finally got to listen to the system today. Overall, I'm pleased. The Focal tweeters sure are edgy though. My ears actually kind of hurt right now. So I'll have to lower the gains on my tweeter channel.

I am having a problem though, and I need you guys to help... When I have the volume turned all the way down, I'm getting some noise. It doesn't matter if the car is on or off. It's like a light amount of static. In addition to the "fuzz" sound, there's another sound... You know the sound all CD players make when they're searching for a track? I think its the sound of the CD spinning and the laser moving... I can hear that sound amplified through my speakers. It's faint, but I can hear it.

I also took it out for a drive just now for the first time and did notice that there is a bit of whine that fluctuates with my RPM's...

I don't think it's alternator noise, because like I said, I experience it (except for the whine sound) when the car isn't running also.

I haven't finished mounting the amps and stuff... cuz right now I'm actually wired up to bypass my audiocontrol EQS 6-channel EQ... Because the noise was actually unbearable when the EQS was connected. I think it's because the line voltage amplification on the EQS is amplifying the noise.

The power cables and RCA's are run down opposite sides of the car...

Do I need to do the big 3 or something? It seems like something coming from my HU... Do I need to check the grounds? I'm running off of the stock wiring for the ground and power to the HU...

So I'm a little dissapointed at this point. I need to connect my EQ and get that going so I can tune the system a bit better.

Thanks!

[vladd 26]

I've got the same problem. Check your amp ground, and your HU ground. My noise/whine started after i moved my amp ground to the main ass of the trunk.

I'll be investigating mine tomorrow and trying to fix it though i'm 90% sure it's the amp ground. If i discover anything i'll let you know.

[helotaxi 46]

The hiss that you hear is the noise floor of the system. Usually means that you have some really long RCAs, really weak preouts, gains set wrong, or a noisy component somewhere in the signal chain. This is one problem that a line driver might be of use on. If you have really long signal cables (over 20') combined with a weak HU and/or one with a really high output impedance your system can pick up thermal noise on the signal path. Shielding won't help this. Only getting a stronger signal and/or a greater differential between the output impedance and the input impedance of the next component in the signal chain.

The EQS will act as a line driver to a point. Make sure the levels on it are set correctly. Use test tones to set the input levels using the indicators on the EQS. Turn up the input gains until they come on and then back them off until they just go out.

When I was using my EQTs I had the gain on my amps set to the absolute min and then used the output level controls on the EQT to set my gain. Zero noise.

[Bigpete123 1]

Excellent information, thanks!

In terms of the EQS, I never really bought off on its "line driver" capabilities... mostly because it's mounted in the trunk, so it's just gonna amplify any noise that the RCA's picked up going back to the trunk... Which is somewhat proven from what I experienced yesterday- the EQS just made the system noise WAY louder. So I don't see the point in having a trunk-mounted line driver. I just wanted to be able to fine tune the sound in the car, so that's why I got the EQS...

My HU, the Nakamichi CD-400, claims 4v outputs. But I'm actually starting to doubt that's true... because when I was setting the gains on the EQS, I had to completely max out the input and output gains to get the 5v light to barely blink. If the EQS is truly capable of boosting the voltage to 13 volts, then I would say this indicates that my true HU voltage is much less than 4v. That's frustrating. Otherwise, I absolutely love the Nak unit.

My RCAs are approximately 15 ft long. I used Monster cable's interconnects, which cost me around $150... So I don't think it's the RCA's themselves, especially because I didn't have this problem with my previous installation... which used the same RCA cables (in the same locations), same HU, same amp and grounding locations.

I ran all new speaker cables. But again, this problem doesn't seem to be an amplification issue... because I get the noise even when the system us muted.

I'm confused about why I'm hearing the HU's CD tracking sounds through the speakers. It really seems like the problem is coming from the source- the HU. Line drivers sound like a reasonable solution.

Which line driver should I have a look at? Audiocontrol has a unit called "overdrive", is it any good?

[Bigpete123 1]

Actually it looks like the audiocontrol Matrix is what I want (it's 6 channels vs. 2 channels).

[ANeonRider 3]

Easy test, unplug the RCAs from the HU. If the sound goes away, the HU ground is the issue.

If the sound continues, just work down the signal path, remove the RCAs from the component, and see which one is introducing the noise.

[Bigpete123 1]

Easy test, unplug the RCAs from the HU. If the sound goes away, the HU ground is the issue.

If the sound continues, just work down the signal path, remove the RCAs from the component, and see which one is introducing the noise.

I'm not using the HU's amplifier. In other words, if I unplug the RCA's, of course there won't be any sound cuz the amps won't be getting a signal and therefore the speakers won't be getting a signal either.

I think I'll try to re-ground the HU first and see if that works. Cuz the more I think about it, the more I think it IS the HU itself that's causing the problems... not noise that the RCA's are picking up along the way. The sounds are mimicing the CD player's activity (the CD shuffling sound). So something is up with it... It's just strange that I haven't touched anything having to do with the HU since my previous installation.

[ANeonRider 3]

That is the point of the test... it figures out where you are getting noise introduced into the system.

[vladd 26]

it rained too much today for me to do a damn thing, so i still have alt noise and static.

[ANeonRider 3]

I'm experiencing an odd one myself... getting static in my tweets, and it oscillates with the turn signals, windows, etc then I turn the car off, then on, and it goes away.

[///M5 2,833]

I'm experiencing an odd one myself... getting static in my tweets, and it oscillates with the turn signals, windows, etc then I turn the car off, then on, and it goes away.

Check your non-stereo terminals, my 328 went nuts when they were sorta connected.

[ANeonRider 3]

Non-stereo?

[Bigpete123 1]

Sure enough, I unplugged the RCA's from the amp (too lazy to pull the HU), and the static is still present...

Maybe I have too many speaker cables in close proximity to my amp's power cables? I'll check the ground when I have time... it's kind of a biatch to get to since it's behind my amp rack. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea what could be causing this... Except for the amp itself... I blew my 500/5 a while back and sent it to JL Audio for repairs... The SQ is fantastic as long as I turn it up loud enough to drown out the static/buzz sound.

But it now seems like a line driver wouldn't help me here...

[helotaxi 46]

Sure enough, I unplugged the RCA's from the amp (too lazy to pull the HU), and the static is still present...

Maybe I have too many speaker cables in close proximity to my amp's power cables? I'll check the ground when I have time... it's kind of a biatch to get to since it's behind my amp rack. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea what could be causing this... Except for the amp itself... I blew my 500/5 a while back and sent it to JL Audio for repairs... The SQ is fantastic as long as I turn it up loud enough to drown out the static/buzz sound.

But it now seems like a line driver wouldn't help me here...

Sounds like there is something amiss in the amp. Speaker wires in close proximity won't be an issue. Does the hiss change with the gain setting? What about with crossover setting? You might have a tiny pit in a contact in one of the pots that adjust one of those things and adjusting it in and out of that spot might clear it up. You could also have damaged one of the preamp op amps when you blew the amp and they didn't notice it or bother to replace it when they repaired it.

[Bigpete123 1]

man, I sure hope that's not the case!!

Isn't it a little strange though that the noise is probabably 3 times as loud when I connect the EQ? The EQ and the amp share a ground... could that be causing it? ugh

[vladd 26]

moved my amp ground, played with my amp gains(in case of corrosion), and redid the HU ground and my static went away but alt whine is still barely present.

[helotaxi 46]

Do you have a different amp to try out for troubleshooting?