any of you did alot of installation before?

[corndogggy]

After this section of the forums came up and I answered a few questions, I remembered how much I used to love this stuff. Any of you other folks get into this stuff very much? I spent way too much money on it, but not nearly as much as you would think. I did alot of shopping around and bought stuff not by name, but by specs and real sound. I had a Beretta I put everything in. It ended up in Auto Sound and Security magazine in '96. Here was the final setup before I totalled it. Sounded amazing. Won me lots of trophies.


Four Rockford tweeters sitting in the air vents.

Two Fultron tweeters sitting behind the rear view mirror as a center channel.

One JBL 5" center channel in the ashtray at the end of the console pointed up.

Two Rockford 6.5" midbass in the kick panels.

Two Altec Lansing 5.25" midrange in the doors.

Two Blaupunkt 4" midrange in the dash.

Two Rockford 8" midbass in the quarter panels.

Two Sony 5.25" and tweet component set in the rear deck.

Two Rockford 12's in a bandpass ported box (forget the order number, 7th order maybe?).

The sub box was awesome. I had it custom designed by a Rockford engineer and tuned to 38 Hz. There were 3 chambers. I had to build it in 3 parts and assemble it in the trunk. Each sub had it's isolated chamber on the outsides, and fired in to the center chamber. I had 3 4" ports firing up through the rear deck and bouncing off the glass. It really cut down on rattles. The inside of the middle chamber was covered in vinyl. The top, bottom, and the front, which was angled, was covered in mirrored plexiglass. The back of the box was clear plexiglass. It was then covered by a gray panel, with a removable Chevy symbol in the middle that was covered in blue vinyl. You could remove the chevy symbol and see the subs. However, with the angles of the mirrors, it looked like 6 subs on each side were in there for a total of 12, but there was only two.

I had a Rockford Punch 40 on the subs and a Rockford Punch 60 on the highs. Sounds lopsided, I know, but it was a great setup for IASCA competitions, and I was already almost maxed out on the decibel measurement points.

For electrical, I had 3 250,000 mfd caps on one side of the trunk, and a deep cell marine battery on the other. Both were hidden behind removable panels and covered in plexiglass. I had 2 gauge welding cable for my main power cables. My alternator was rewound for high output. Lots of gold plated fuse boxes everywhere.

For signal processing, I had an AudioControl Epicenter, and an AudioControl EQX, I think it had 34 bands, 17 on each side, but I forget. I could get my frequency response flat as a pancake with that thing. Both were mounted on the inside of my trunk lid.

My amp rack was cool too. I had a molded mirrored plegiglass rack in the spare tire well. The rockford amps that I used had those end caps, so you couldn't see any wires, they just looked like they were floating there. It was covered by a false floor, and you could take out a panel and see it through plexiglass.


Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. In competitions, I have beaten some professionals. About the only people that did beat me were the guys that were able to sign a $15,000 check and have everything installed for them. It was fun while it lasted, but jeeps are more fun I guess. I'd like to build a kick ass system in my grand, but anymore I'd spend the money on 4wd stuff first. Believe it or not, I only had about $2K in all that. Still alot of money though.

[b1pig]

Never anything to compete with. This may sound really stupid, but I really had a awesome system in my old Metro. :D
1993 Geo Metro 4dr, Kenwood tape/10 disk CD changer, 2 Radio Shack 4" "mid-bass" spearkers in the back for rear fill on a old Sherwood 25w x 2, Rockford Fosgate 5.25 component set in the front doors on a Kenwood 75w x 2, 2 RF Series 1 10" subs - 1.15cu ft per side which I later ported on a Kenwood mono at 150w. I had a MTX 3way x-over. For a while, I had a 5.25 coax under the dash firing down as a summed mono center channel. Worked good. I had Dynamat on dang near everything. Th car was quiet, which made the stereo "louder". All mounted as a stealth system. You never knew any of it was there except the head unit.

I have had several other systems, but there were not any that were better than that one.

[Jason J Crawford]

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but when I was in college I used to have a 94 Chevy S-10...and it was slammed. And I mean SLAMMED. I had 3/4" clearance underneath it. I had a windowless ARE cap on it with a custom fabricated setup in the bed. I had 16-10" Phoenix Gold Sapphire subs driven by 2 Phoenix Gold Route 66 amps. The subs were arranged so that there were 4 in each corner of the bed-top and bottom. For a time I also had a hydraulic bed on it, but I kept breaking rams with all the stereo stuff in the bed so I scrapped it. I also had Eclipse mids and tweets with crossovers to round it out.

I used to be an installer, and at one time held an MECP certification. I was the head installer at a shop in Akron, and that was the only way I could even think of affording all the junk I had.

On top of all the stereo stuff, I also had custom paint and lighting. I had neons tucked up in between the frame rails, and a plethora of strobe lights. If I had the neon and the strobes on at the same time it looked like a lightning storm under the "truck".

Believe it or not, driving a low rider actually made me a better wheeler. I learned how to look ahead and pick out lines...even though at that time an obsticle may have been just a raised section of pavement in the road!

One fateful day I was going to work when a Sears delivery truck turned left in front of me. I hit him head on (his fault). The fist point of contact way my front bumper to his front cross member, then his bumper to my windshield. The impact pushed the engine through the fire wall :eek: I took the money and bought a 95 Mustang GT convertible, and that's a story for another day smile.gif

[Hoosier Daddy]

Originally posted by ABN82MP:
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but when I was in college I used to have a 94 Chevy S-10...and it was slammed. And I mean SLAMMED. I had 3/4" clearance underneath it.Does it feel good to finally come out of the closet? tongue.gif
http://home.earthlink.net/~deton8r/images/slammed98.jpg

[corndogggy]

Yeah I had those dumb neon lights too! I actually got my start by watching certification training videos. My mom went to high school with the owner of the local stereo shop and he made all his installers watch those videos. He let me borrow 8 of them one time and I watched them about 5 times each. Then I bought "The loudspeaker design cookbook". Dad had been a master electrician and maintenance engineer for 20 years and had a buddy that worked for Altec Lansing so that helped alot. Anyway, there's some pretty cool science behind all that. I always enjoyed the math. I wanted to be an audio engineer for the longest time until I figured out that I'd probably be working concerts or some other gig that would make me travel all over the place. I thought electrical engineering would be the next best thing, but somehow took a tangent and ended up a programmer.

I can't figure out how your subs would look, can't picture it. I thought you were going to say you had a diamond at first. You ever seen that yellow truck that was real popular a long time ago? He had the world record for the longest time, 157 dB. I think he had 16 15's in his truck. They were in a diamond shape, like the rockford logo, with four subs on each side. Then there was a mirror at the end, so it looked like 32 subs. Pretty wild.

[Jason J Crawford]

Just imagine where the floor of the bed meets the sides, and the top of the cap curves into the sides. I had 4 subs in each of those corners.

[Jeeper4Life]

/me raises his hand..

93 ford ranger splash - performance red (first splash in northern indiana - rush order)

15x10 reversed directionals with about 1.5" of skin stretched on..

ground effects, matching orange neons, tilt bed, custom bed kit, yadda yadda yadda..

never put much of a system in it, but damn do i miss goin to shows..

still got quite a few plaks n trophies from those days..

[tinknocker]

yeh me too!!!

92 ranger with all the lund accessories!!!

12" punch DVC powered by a 250a2 behind the passenger seat. eclipse head unit and the tweets and mids!!!

hit 136 decibles at a spl competition once!!!

used to call the passenger seat the rumble seat, told the girls not to leave any stains when they reached orgasm!!!

anyone else remember the fact that all the seals in the windows used to leak everytime it rained!!! :D

or how the rearview mirror used to have epilictic seizures!!! :D

[njjeepthing]

I also was an installer for many years. Did a lot of alarms on Honda's!! They were hot back than. I could knock out 2 Honda's a day, complete with door lock interface, shock, glass, and motion sensors!
My dealership sold Hi-Fonics as their "boom" line! Dana Dodson, what a hottie....
Had a Firebird Formula myself, custom box in the rear hatch, top of the line Sony Headunit, back than having a TV/ Video option was a big deal. No neon for me, installed plenty of Street Glo kits though.
The shops these days are making a killing on all those little ricers out there.

[we3jeepers]

Originally posted by tinknocker:

anyone else remember the fact that all the seals in the windows used to leak everytime it rained!!! :D

or how the rearview mirror used to have epilictic seizures!!! :D i remember the sunroof leaking and dripping on my head

driving to greensburg jamming out the hole way
remember the gmc jimmy in front of us
you woke up that chic that was sleeping in the back

i also remember my lesson of why not to stand up in the back of a moving truck going 25-35mph
:eek:

[ 01-16-2004, 03:31 PM: Message edited by: we3jeepers ]

[Jerry Bransford]

When I was in college back in the dark ages, I had an AM radio in my '57 Chevy that I added a monaural (non-stereo) Motorola FM converter to. The Motorola FM converter was needed because, believe it or not, am/fm car radios weren't yet commonly available then (1965). I tuned the AM radio to 1310 so I could listen to the local FM jazz station. It was way cool, I had one of the first FM car radios in my small fraternity. For speakers, I had the central dash speaker and a 6x9 in the rear deck under the rear window. Oh... and a Vibrasonic unit to make it sound cool by adding a reverb/delayed sound effect to the rear speaker. Springs inside the Vibrasonic delayed the sound for the reverb... but if you hit a big dip in the road, the springs would hit the side of the chassis and loud amplified SPROOIIINNNGGGGGG would wake the dead. :D

I did not win any sound contests with it. Come to think about it, there was no such thing then.

Gawd does this stuff make me feel and look old to you guys or what??? Ask me if I care heheh. ;) :D

[KCaminitti]

Wow, you guys got me beat. In college I drove a 98 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, pretty much stock. Other than a 2 inch bb 31 1050's with 5 1/4" pioneer speakers in the rollbar. smile.gif .

P.S. I just graduated in december smile.gif

[kwtjx]

Got me beat too...when I was in college...uh...im only 16...never mind. I've got a good idea of what I will be driving though ;) :D

[Jhonyquest97]

I miss my Z ....... I should have never sold it. I had 3 10" Rockfords placed where the back seat would be and 2 12"ers in the trunk all powered by 3 precision power amps.... ahhhhh old school ppi.
MY baby...... (http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/464000-464999/464574_13.jpg)

[kizer]

Originally posted by Jerry Bransford:
When I was in college back in the dark ages, I had an AM radio in my '57 Chevy that I added a monaural (non-stereo) Motorola FM converter to. The Motorola FM converter was needed because, believe it or not, am/fm car radios weren't yet commonly available then (1965). I tuned the AM radio to 1310 so I could listen to the local FM jazz station. It was way cool, I had one of the first FM car radios in my small fraternity. For speakers, I had the central dash speaker and a 6x9 in the rear deck under the rear window. Oh... and a Vibrasonic unit to make it sound cool by adding a reverb/delayed sound effect to the rear speaker. Springs inside the Vibrasonic delayed the sound for the reverb... but if you hit a big dip in the road, the springs would hit the side of the chassis and loud amplified SPROOIIINNNGGGGGG would wake the dead. :D

I did not win any sound contests with it. Come to think about it, there was no such thing then.

Gawd does this stuff make me feel and look old to you guys or what??? Ask me if I care heheh. ;) :D Man you had FM back then? Thats when **** clark was actually on TV too. ;)

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally posted by kizer:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jerry Bransford:
When I was in college back in the dark ages, I had an AM radio in my '57 Chevy that I added a monaural (non-stereo) Motorola FM converter to. The Motorola FM converter was needed because, believe it or not, am/fm car radios weren't yet commonly available then (1965). I tuned the AM radio to 1310 so I could listen to the local FM jazz station. It was way cool, I had one of the first FM car radios in my small fraternity. For speakers, I had the central dash speaker and a 6x9 in the rear deck under the rear window. Oh... and a Vibrasonic unit to make it sound cool by adding a reverb/delayed sound effect to the rear speaker. Springs inside the Vibrasonic delayed the sound for the reverb... but if you hit a big dip in the road, the springs would hit the side of the chassis and loud amplified SPROOIIINNNGGGGGG would wake the dead. :D

I did not win any sound contests with it. Come to think about it, there was no such thing then.

Gawd does this stuff make me feel and look old to you guys or what??? Ask me if I care heheh. ;) :D Man you had FM back then? Thats when **** clark was actually on TV too. ;) </font>[/QUOTE]Yeah but even way back then, **** Clark was still old! :D

[Reggie87]

I drive a 1991 Mazda B2600i on airbags, I will be competing at Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach this March. I have been featured in a couple magazines already, but I want to sell it and get another jeep. Please don't stone me.
Mike

[eldog]

I'm guilty too!
http://www.mcbrideweb.com/carsonboy/1-gmc2.jpg
http://www.mcbrideweb.com/carsonboy/1-gmc1.jpg

'87 GMC S-15, 3" drop spindles front, 3" blocks rear. Snugtop, custom seats and interior. Kenwood Tape/10 disk changer, 2-15" Kickers in bed, polk 4x6's, pioneer 6x9's, coustic amps.

[sasquach01]

every one has a few low riders in their closet. I had an 88 Tbird with 3 mtx 15s where the back seat used to be, pushed my the then new mtx 750 watt amp. It was way loud and way expensive. The damn subs were the thunder cast 5000 series, that was cool at the time. Now I got the ol cj, cant beat it.