Bad Ass Sound System Project

[Yellow Sexy Lotus]

I have decided to upgrade the speakers in my Elan starting this coming weekend. I will be posting the developing project here for all to see, share, give advice and opinions! Please feel free to provided feedback (good or bad) and if I should be d*cking around with such a classic at all.
I have skimmed through some of you guys projects on here and it has given me inspiration if not only to make knickers drop more easily
Here is the plan:

Originally the car had a set of Vibe QB69 square sub/tweeters behind the seats, 600w peak. Here you can see the fitting.


The cabinets are not very good with gapping holes in the rear, this was probably due to space? The new cabinets will be made from 10mm thick MDF or chipboard and have the most internal volume I can squeeze in. The seats will be adjusted slightly forward of maximum back as I (and protential drivers) don't need the leg room.

Here is the space I have to work with (dimensions to follow):

With the Sub out of the old cabinet here is the pontential layout with both room at the front for air movement (less with seat back) and space at the back inside the cabinet to increase internal volume.


Above is one of the JBL GTO936E 6x9 3 way speakers I intend the install (300w peak). The speaker will be angle approx 25-35 degrees upwards towards the head of the driver. Hopefully this will kick ass

There are a set of vibe 8" in the doors which I intend to keep.

The head is a Sony CDX-CA850 with 6 channels Front/Rear/Sub
The door speakers and vibes are powered from the head unit with x-overs and a mini amp behind the passenger seat for the QB69's. I intend to power the 3 way 6x9's with a 600w amp in the boot with the potential to add a 12" 600W sub in the boot

I want all component to be plug and play with the aim of removing the rear seat cabinets, amp and sub in under 10mins. Connections will be via level grip terminals or bananas. Hopefully instead of screw terminals on the amp all wires will be moulded into a connector block?

[Elanlover]

Here's something to consider..................

I'm in the process of moving my speakers around. I had custom enclosures built that rode up much higher than the original little speaker boxes with an 8" sub in the passenger side one. Over time I've found that the speakers were up so high that they've marked the back of the seats (I like my seats back as far as they can go). Nothing permanent - yet. Also, my "passenger" never liked the pounding in the back she gets from the sub. So.................

I'm looking at how I can fit the sub under the plastic tray in the tonneau. In my first Elan, I had a Bazooka tube in the tonneau. Unfortunately, while it sounded good, it also marked up the plastic window when the roof was down. So, I know from experience that bass will play nicely when emminating from the tonneau (unlike the trunk/boot).

Just something to think about.............

[Dave M]

I like the idea of having things be fairly removeable as there are just times when it's nice to have the space. My project car has a pretty decent system in it, but I'm considering removing one of the subs behind the driver's seat in the short-term merely for the legroom on longer trips. There are a few photos at:

http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8848

As far as the 6x9s, if it were me I'd keep them out of the system. Invest the money on a nice 2- or 3-way group of separates for the front that can handle the wattage your looking at. If someone squeezed some 8" drivers in the doors, that's a great start on midbass. You can either get a good full-range speaker for that location, or get creative as far as the location for the other speakers and go with two-way separates for example. The A-pillar base is an OK mount for tweeters.

By focusing on speakers in front of you, you'll have a lot better sound quality as well as a nice "sound stage". If the speakers meant to play the most music are behind you, you'll lose a lot of the mid- and high-range sounds into the back of the seat.

Also, on the subs: make sure you follow the manufacturers specs as far as a cabinet volume. I'm not familiar with the Vibes (could they be a free-air sub, hence the strange mounting you found?), but by creating an enclosure with the right space, you'll get tons better performance, even at a lower wattage.

Since you have the 6x9s already, if you're looking for sheer volume at times instead of sound quality, install them behind the seats pointed straight up. Wire in a volume control or use the head unit's fader to control them when you want to entertain those outside the car as much as those who are in. Having a rear-mounted full-range speaker can also improve the front stage. But then again, it's a convertible...while driving you can forget about perfect sound quality or ultimate sub response.

[Elanlover]

Never saw your post on your system before Dave. Looks nice. Like your choice of components. I've got BA all around with an 8" JBL sub. Tough to make anything sound good in a convertible (as you know) but their GT-50 amp sure works well.

Some pretty big subs you have though You musy be close to wearing out the leather in the backs of those seats

The sub YSL shows looks to be one that requires an enclosure (tough to tell from a pic and no specs). Put that in the right sealed box and it should deliver decent low range umpph.

[Yellow Sexy Lotus]

Hi ElanLover, the sub is one of a pair of Vibe 6x9s.....

VIBE have produced a unique rectangular shaped 6x9 car speaker. The rectangular IMPP cone has deep forms in its structure, combined with a radically designed surround suspension allowing precise lateral cone movement. A subwoofer motor structure supports the ultra stiff cone and formed suspension deliver exceptional low distortion and clean PowerBass™.

Overall size is close to a conventional 6x9 speaker but with the rectangular form providing more than 20% more surface area resulting in greater air movement and increased bass response. An aluminium tweeter diaphragm featuring a unique stepped dish effect allows an ultra extended high frequency response with excellent midrange performance. Controlled and diffused by an acoustically calculated horn to produce an immaculate sharp response.

Configuration: 2-way
Speaker Size: 6x9" Rectangular
RMS Power: 200w
Peak Power: 800w
Sensitivity: 93dB
Frequency Response: 30 - 25,000Hz
Impedance: 4ohm
Mounting Hole: 170x220mm
Recommended Amp: Vibe BlackBox II, III
Sold as Stereo Pair
Supplied with Grilles

Dave, you have some sound advise. Maybe I am going too over the top besides i'll just be advertising an already noticable car (maybe to the wrong crowd). The current system does kick but i'm used to a really low end 'hear you coming from miles away' subwoofer in the boot.

Maybe i'll build the JBL 6x9 cabinets as seperate (place anywhere) boxes so they can be wired in if needed as they are from another car anyway. After taking measurements I may mount the JBLs facing straight up? Although the angled space behind the seats may prohibit this!

I have done the walk away from car test on the current system and it sounds nice, only trouble is the door panels rattle slightly (so does everything else! )[/quote]

[Yellow Sexy Lotus]

Just removed the passenger seat speaker and found this behind it! I've never seen anything like this before but I'm sure it's an amp for the original speakers?
Its got a live/earth/remote - looks like a fuse holder, x2 inputs and x2 outputs leading to the original speaker cables?

I need a multimeter to see if the remote is spliced at any point into the head unit, other than this will I be ok to remove it?

[Elanlover]

Its not stock Lotus gear that's for sure. Probably need to see where it feeds to/from. Perhaps the manufacturer's website has a downloadable manual in which you can reference the part and its wiring?

[stevo]

an amp with no heatsink? don't sense no make think me.

[mikeydude]

I just stuck a huge jbl powered bin in the boot!!, I'll post some pics, I replaced the original speaker with high power versions of the same size and put crossovers in them to take all the bass out, they handle loads of power now with a thump coming from the boot!!

[Elanlover]

an amp with no heatsink? don't sense no make think me.

Crossover maybe?

[Yellow Sexy Lotus]

Random cabinet construction photos.....


Important cuttings done first

gluing and clamping of box

speaker connections and port

inside box with connections and x-overs (note: sounds better without ports so holes bunged with foam )

[Yellow Sexy Lotus]

I discovered that the sony head unit has been wired so that the Front/Rear outputs have been modified into inputs for an iPod. When plugging in the said iPod into the jack the radio or CD is muted and the signal from the iPod is amplified and sent to the front/rear speakers via the normal wiring . The only down side is that the only channel now avaliable to an amp in the boot is the L/R sub output (I hope!)


More wires than the FBI & KGB!


This afternoon I pre-wired a remote and L/R phono ready for a sub and amp in the @rse end at a later date!

[billythec]

How about using those Chassis "Holes" for a little more airpspace?