djwozza
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Posts posted by djwozza
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New speaker cable ordered for the front soundstage. I need the cable for the other speakers to be tonally the same, and I will need to run new cables from the amplifier, into the doors, then from the crossovers to the drivers themselves. I need to buy over as I am not going to add bits or splice with the existing stuff, the cable is best bought in 1 complete length, then you cut off at exactly the point you need without wasting any, or coming up slightly short. As the cable I previously installed has gone up markedly in price, I have decided to shop around for the best stuff I can get for the same sort of price that around 12-14m of the existing stuff would cost me.
Without putting home HQ Hi-Fi cable in, I have kept with a car Hi-Fi brand I already know & trust, & have used before in my install. It's pretty chunky stuff, but it will ensure very little power is wasted along it's run of 4+m, and will ensure once these upgrades are done, I will be totally happy & no longer be burdening my flexible friend with any further debt. The picture at the bottom is the kind of thing I am after, smart but still stealthy.
KnuKonceptz Kord Speaker Wire Ultra Flex Blue OFC 12 Gauge
Core Material: 36 Gauge Bare Oxygen Free Copper - 294 Strands x 2
Dielectric: Ultra Flex PVC
A: 9mm
B: 4.5mm
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Yes I have, it was a bit of a hunt as most breakers don't want to split an interior, or some had minor damage, but £50 posted in the end so not too bad.
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But of a delay to the amplifier swap, due to me being pedantic, I needed to order some RCA "Y" leads to split the front soundstage into 4 channels (will give me loads more room for system tweaking/adjustment later). Should be back on one day next week & hopefully will have some spare door cards by then to modify.
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If it was an Integra or a Impreza or other fast Jap they would probably be the best place to go, but with a later model diesel Accord an eBay breaker would be a more likely bet.
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I have a couple of breakers on eBay checking against my supplied pictures for door cards, the cheapest so far is 2 door cards £50 inc delivery. Most breakers don't want to split up a full interior hence why it's more difficult than just a phone call. I gotta figure out a design as I'm pretty sure I will use the door cards just as covers, & bolt both sets of speakers into the doors. First step, get the amp in, & maybe sort out the battery box. Take measurements for the Perspex again as well, but that's another £30 that can wait until everything else is done & I can afford it.
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So next Wednesday is pencilled in (weather permitting) to do the amplifier swap & rewire the amp rack. Still looking for s donor set of front door cards to butcher tho, but that will be for later, & I'm not certain on wether I am mounting the speakers into a door build, or onto the door & just using the re fabricated door cards as covers as is the current set up. Much head scratching ahead.
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My demo did overrun slightly (lol) but wow what an experience! I've never heard any audio in a car that sounds anything even remotely as it does in Wozza's car - it really is mindblowing. It obviously has sufficient power to blow out your eardrums if required but that totally was not the point, the genuine surprise is cranking the volume up and it remaining completely crystal clear.
More surprising than anything was listening to songs I've heard so many times before but realising I've never actually properly "heard" them! Little accents in the background, or tuneful basslines which are totally lost without the sound system to build the complete sound image. It really was like hearing the music the way the artist/producer intended it which is amazing. Even more amazing was the fact the car internally looks like a bog standard Accord, which just makes all those crazy installs with custom builds look so unnecessary.
Thanks Woz for taking the time to go through everything, and as with anything just putting high end components together isn't even half of it, you have to set them up right to get it all working so perfectly. And that's where you've completely nailed it, the results speak for themselves.
Aw shucks cheers mate #Humbled
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I'm glad the results are living up to the hype, it's cost a fortune in man hours & just as much in cash building the system over the years, but with the results I have now, it really has been worth it.
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I'm off to pick up the speakers I won on eBay today, gotta beg the cash for some front door cards, then I can get the door builds underway. They will be my first, & I am buying the door cards so it doesn't effect the car until I am ready to fit them. I've never worked with fibreglass before, so not sure how my first attempts will go, but as you have seen from the modified fascia, fabrication is something I can usually do well.
I could give them to a shop to do, but I wouldn't feel like they were "mine", plus I'm not learning anything if I let someone else do it. It might take 4x - 10x longer as I have no workshop or even a garage, but if I'm patient, I'm pretty sure I can do a decent job that will be stealthy & functional. If I didn't think I could do a decent job (eventually), then I would hand the job off to a specialist.
I can see many fibreglass DIY plus custom door build videos on YouTube in my near future......
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Show was never the aim, the car screams "boring as feck" & hopefully attracts as little unwanted attention as possible...
A few minor things to finish along with the door builds and it will be complete. I have heard louder cars, but none have the clarity, the balance, the soundstage & imaging that this build has. For those who haven't had a listen that isn't an idle boast, as they guys from today will tell you, but it's cost a fortune in man hours & of course money over the years to reach this stage. Easy isn't a word to describe it, but I think the words focus & perseverance really do. I hope what I have said doesn't come across as smug, but it's really that good IMO.
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So quite a day at WIM, I hope my explanations of the install made sense, there is a lot of technical stuff to explain about path lengths, time alignment, tweeters, woofers, crossovers, sound deadening etc & you all now understand why I give system demos to one person at a time & it takes a minimum of around 10 minutes to get the explanations & the 20 or so demo tracks out the way. Some take even longer, Parthiban's in particular overrun badly as we just got into the zone of enjoying the music. "Oh let's try this one" etc lol
Many thanks for the positive feedback tho guys, after following this thread you have seen how much hard work has gone into this install, along with my own health tribulations on the way making it far more difficult. The looks on your faces during the demos was awesome, Rich just kept smiling & then just started giggling & couldn't stop. I take that as a huge grin factor.
So the plan is to swap out the front end amp, and construct new front door builds to house a second set of this C3-650's, then just tidy up a few lose ends to make it 100% complete. It's been a mission & a half, but it's thankfull nearly over now. True Car Hi-Fi perfection is very nearly upon us.....
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Either that or WIM on Saturday at 11am
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I will PM you. I have never seen any secondhand C3-650's on eBay or on the Budget Boomers classifieds or similar pages on FB where used car hi-fi is often for sale. Very rarely the C5's come up, there is a set of secondhand C5's currently on eBay for £375! Obviously he is deluded to ask near the new price but even so lol. I had one person say something similar to your comments about top end during an audition as to his previous experiences, but if you EQ the top end flat (or very near to), then he had no issues with my set up of C3's in the doors & C5 tweeters in the stock dash positions. He was that impressed at the Huets night with them he went in & bought a set. On the adjustable crossovers on both sets, they are on reference, in particular, the C5 crossovers have an enormous amount of adjustability to suit individual tastes/set ups. The C2's in the rear doors are also on flat.
I gotta go Basingstoke on Sunday morning/lunchtime or so to pick them up, maybe hook up for an audition if you would like?
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Yaaaaay just won these 2 sets of used JL Audio C3-650's for around half the retail price of one!! Get in!! I may well sell 1 pair later, but with the upgraded amplifier & the fact it can pump out 150watts R.M.S at 1.5-4ohms & I have 2 spare channels on the amplifier as well, I can easily run this 2 sets PLUS the existing set. The only thing holding me back now is cash, but soon I will hopefully be able to get 2 unmarked front door cards to modify. Might take a month or two to get sorted, but so long as this is all done including the last few jobs I already have to do by the end of the year I will be happy.
So here is the plan
Install the 450/4 to replace the 300/4 amplifier & adjust amp rack to suit
Construct the rear battery box & trim
Order a Perspex panel for the amp rack
Finish the last of sound deadening
Construct new custom front door builds
Sit back, relax, upset a few neighbours
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No mate, I just grabbed 2 examples to show the difference, so yes I'm aiming for nicely smart & stealthy.
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I actually meant the one with 3 speakers in it, still looks pretty stealthy!
It's not stealthy with the speakers exposed like that, the other picture here of a door card is a "stealthy" build
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The stealthy build looks really nice given what's hiding behind!
Yes that's just the factory Honda door card as it currently stands. A spare set from a breakers will be cut up & moulded, so whilst the upgrade/build is going on, the car will still look & sound as it currently does, then half a days work fitting the upgrades one the door card are built & trimmed up.
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Agreed Tony but they are there purely for the sound value rather than visual astetics, & they will be hidden away, the aim is to mount the speakers securely in a functional way, whilst still drawing as little attention as possible from passers by.... until I turn them on that is
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It's a second set of these in the front doors, and probably use the existing door card as a mould and form fibreglass around it, then with lots of jiggery etc mount the second speaker to the left of the existing one. I will lose some of the door bin, or it may go entirely, but as you have seen previously, my fabrication skills will leave me with something functional, yet fairly stealthy/stock looking. At least that's the plan, I'm not certain as yet where I will be doing it as fibreglass is tricky stuff, and I can't do this indoors, oh yo own a large shed/garage!!
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I haven't fitted the amp yet, it will be louder in the front eventually with double the kick from the front doors with another set of C3-650's in some sort of fairly stealthy door builds I will have to construct. One build here is stealthy & subtle, the other is clearly not...
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So with the arrival of the new amplifier, I'm now scouring breakers yards for two cheap as possible front door cards to modify with MDF/Fibreglass/Filler etc & a second set of C3-650's either new or secondhand once I can find some funds from somewhere. When I install the 450/4 amplifier I will need to rewire the amp rack (which will require a somewhat removal, then I will be able to order the perspex cover to finish it all off. The sale of the 300/4 amp which I have now owned some 7-8 faultless years & currently sounds so good powering all my front end set up, will help pay for the perspex & the door build fabrication materials.
If you think it's sounding awesome now, you just wait......
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Niraj can't he's working until 5, neither can sadly Anees or Lak (Y2Kanjar) who is now running a Supercharger in his IS200.
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I think Gord is trying to make it
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Ha ha yes but without the masses of great unwashed & that #### Kanye West
Wozza's Honda Accord ICE Thread
in Car Blogs
Posted
Watching & learning over many years mate, plus doing a lot of research online with car audio forums. Watching people's mistakes or successes & soaking it up like a sponge, it becomes fairly obvious of the correct approach. The Door builds will be a first for me, but it will take my install to the best it can be (within reason), & be good enough that even a hyper critical bugger like myself is finally satisfied.
My system is the 5th or 6th I have had in my cars over the years, & each time it has got bigger, more complicated/costly, but ultimately better. Not only in the audio output, but also in the quality & safety of the installation. I remember at 18years old taking out the dashboard lights in my Ford Cortina whilst installing a Matsui tape/radio (& pioneer coaxials in the front doors). It had to be Matsui tape/radio at that point as ALL the main manufacturers had moved onto a standardised single DIN head unit, where my cortina dash only had a small cut out in the metal dash with two spindle holes for the volume & tuning etc. A beginners mistake, but hey you live & learn. Another mistake in that car was the door speaker installation. Firstly the window winder pressed against the speaker grill slightly on every revolution (remember wind up windows?), and also the cut out on the drivers side speaker I made slightly too large, & if I slammed my door fairly hard the speaker would pop out into my lap. I really had no idea
. Like I say, live & learn.
Old skool car radio fitment
My next car (Subaru) had a similar radio aperture, but luckily it was made of plastic & easily accessible, so my first single DIN Head Unit was installed, along with better fitting front door speakers (Pioneer's coaxials again), with Tri-Axial rear shelf speakers as well this time.
A slight disappointment with the Honda will always be that when there is a muppet in his Saxo blaring away at the lights with his windows open, my install doesn't blow his doors off, but then I sit in my nicely sound deadened cocoon, & know in comparison he gets a 1/10 for sound quality & mine is probably near a 9.... It's only after people get in, hear my install & I unleash the beast that the look of astonishment appears on my victims faces
It might take a month or two to finish off, but I've come so very far, a little bit longer to dot the "i"'s & cross the "t"'s will be well worth it.
An added bonus should be a fully healed foot in about 2 months if things keep on progressing the way they are, & I can finally be medically allowed to go for a walk again. The next year or so will be a tough road back to any semblance of normal fitness, but along with much needed dietary improvements, changes for the better are on the way.