Up Front Stuff

When I say it took years to decide on what to do - I was serious. Of course, most of that time was researching and dreaming since I didn't have the funds to actually do anything until I paid the car off. Why Winter? because I was planning a big US trip the following summer and wanted the system ready - plus, what else do you do when it's snowing?

Contents

Mach 460 System	Gathering Information	Amps	Main speakers
What to do	Head units and Changer	Tools	Car Preparation
	Design	Bass

As far as car stereos go, the 460 provided some decent punch - loud enough but...

In addition, everything rattled with anything close to good bass - but that's all about the car, not the stereo, and that was resolvable.

Knowledge is power - a cliché for sure, but with good reason. What ever you do, learn everything you need to by reading and searching the web - learn from the mistakes of others too and don't be afraid to ask for help. I spent 6 months on this install and thousands of dollars - there's little room for mistakes.

I subscribed to the Car Audio and Electronics magazine which provides inspiration, product reviews and some sage advice. I read this for several months before deciding on what I wanted to do.

There's plenty of web sites that offer everything from the basics of audio electronics to constructing your own bass box. Before I undertook any stage of the install, I tried to get as much information together as I could.

My first question was "what was my intended use of this system?" - easy, listen to thumpingly good Drum and Bass but still allow for great sound across all Genres. Let me say this - you get what you pay for and I wanted quality components but I'm also not an audiophile so top of the line was not necessary.

It's important to see the big picture of this install - since each stage takes time it pays to think ahead to the impending stages and ensure things you do now don't impact things you need to do later. As I got down to the last few bits of metal and component fitting, it became difficult to bolt things in due to awkward angles and tight spaces. I'm not looking forward to taking anything apart - it will be a lot of work.

I also needed to decide on an overall look and feel. Most installs I have seen are either slick looking shiny fiber glass or simple yet elegant carpeted in systems with just the components showing. I wanted something completely different and decided on an industrial look for the trunk and minimal impact on the interior. The stainless steel mesh is yet to go into the trunk, but it will semi-cover all the components and wiring and provide a small amount of usable trunk space while protecting the install.

Bass is where the power goes - the amps are huge, the currents are ridiculous and if you can't feel it - it ain't got enough bass.

I could have used 8" subs, 10" subs or 12" subs (15's were too large for my limited height trunk). The basic decision was smaller = tighter and larger = move more air but at the sacrifice of a tight response. I decided on the middle of the road - 2 10" subs can generate plenty of bass for D&B and still be tight for rock and techno.

Okay, so off we go to the internet to buy subs. I spent many, many hours on line researching, reading articles, reviewing other peoples installs and opinions and hunting for the best prices.

Replacement of the 8 cabin speakers (4 in the front doors, 4 in the rear side panels) was an easier decision. I selected a set of Component Infinity 6800 for the front and another component set (Infinity 50.5cs) for the rear. The main decision factors were...

My primary desire for a head unit was that it had a volume knob! I hate the rocker switches used in the 460. After that, I wanted some cool graphics and nice lighting with Preamp and sub outputs, able to play MP3 CDs at minimum and be able to control a changer directly - none of this FM modulated connection stuff.

Almost all units these days have removable face plates so that came with the unit. Most also come with a remote turn on line for powering up your amps quietly - I recommend this, amps powering on under no control can damage cones.

I decided on the Pioneer 7500 because it had everything I wanted and was the right price for the desired feature set - it even came with an IR remote which I didn't think I would use but when you don't have to even look at the head unit to change volume or jump to another disc in the changer - I would recommend getting one.

The unit has a myriad of control surfaces - like Automatic Volume control - works very well in a convertible (but has problems with techno due to the radical changes in the presence of powerful bass - it makes the first few beats after a quiet session overly loud), filter cut off control and a basic 3 band equalizer, boost this and boost that, different presets and the one thing I didn't expect I would ever want - it is XM ready. I've bought the XM receiver and installed it in June.

Power output capability was meaningless to me since all power amplification would be done by dedicated amps - all I needed was pre-amp outputs for front, rear and subs.

The changer was easy - it was the biggest one that was directly compatible with the head unit - CDX-P1280 - a 12 disc changer with the added benefit of 100 disc memory that allows for disc titles to be displayed on the head unit. Most people complain that they are always changing discs but I find I like a few discs for a long time and the stuff I sometimes listen to ended on 6 slim case MP3 CDRs - and we are talking 100's a tracks here.

Finally I wanted full control over my music - that meant some form of equalizer and with that I wanted more cool graphics. The Pioneer gives me 15 frequency bands, multiple display modes, 5 built in presets, 5 venue enhancements, 3 user presets and sub level control. In addition, the push of a button can move the sound stage around the car - which means I get perfect stereo imaging when I'm driving alone or I can set it up so everyone gets a good image - and it works well. It has other things - but you can go check out the specs yourself.

Great quality speakers mean nothing if the amps driving them cannot deliver a strong clean signal at all times. I needed 2 amps - one to drive the front and rear channels and one to handle the subs by itself.

Selecting the bass amp boiled down to the cost and power output capability. Most decent amps have all the necessary overload and thermal shutdown circuitry, various HF and LF cut off control, input sensitivity control, 1, 2 and 4 ohm stable and whatever other gimmicks they choose to use to try and differentiate themselves with. I also wanted a name brand. Given my subs are good to 250W RMS each and they are dual voice coil I could select just about anything and be able to wire it up in whatever configuration was easiest.

I ended up with the recently released Kenwood Excelon ... power amp. By wiring the DVC's of the subs in parallel and then the two subs in series I attained a 4ohm load which according to the specs is roughly 340W RMS in a bridged output - plenty of punch. The subs peak handling capability exceed the amp so I'm not worried about ever blowing the subs.

In keeping with the same manufacturer I simply found the best 4-channel amps Kenwood made and got the one whose RMS power was under the capabilities of the component speakers - this gives me 240W RMS into 4 channels - again, much more power than one can actually listen to but the match up ensures clean linear output all the way up.

I needed some where covered to perform the work of course and since all I had was a canvas garage - no heat and a power cord run across the parking lot on an as per needed basis. I also wanted to run the car while it was sitting around so vented the exhaust so I could still work.

Given I was doing the entire install myself, I needed tools, so as each stage was unwinding and I discovered what tool I needed, I would run off the Home Depot and get it - and invariable more bolts and screws as well. The best decision was a 12" drill press, followed by a vice, a grinder and a skill saw. I already had a large Craftsman socket set and a new tool box topped it off.

A critical decision was where on earth would I put the massively sized bass amp. It basically only had a single place it could go - the spare tire well. Yep, I sacrificed my spare tire for my bass - I am either dedicated or stupid. Anyway, everything needed removal and cleaning in preparation for the Dynamat. I also needed to remove the old system amps and get a good look at the overall layout of the rear half of the car.

The design was put together in stages and depended on what component I ended up buying and what configuration it needed to be in to achieve my desires. For instance, given the possible output power of the amps, I could determine the necessary power wire gauge to run from the battery to the rear. I also figured out what connections needed to be made from the head end to the amps and changer in the trunk. Given the power capability of the component speakers, I could determine the necessary speaker wire gauge and roughly measured the necessary distances all such cables would need to run.

I bought high quality cables - no point in skimping out on cheap wire - the system has to last and good quality cables are easy to run and have excellent protective sheathing. Power kits (one 4 gauge and one 8 gauge) were purchased as complete packages with the necessary connectors.

I have a single sketch book into which I drew up all my designs for mounting brackets, wire locations and wiring diagrams. I determined where all cables would run, taking into consideration that the convertible top must not be impeded in any way.

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