Okay... so I've basically been in INTRODUCTION mode since joining... and now that my 'Lanche is sportin' a K&N filtercharger, single-to-dual Flowmaster and Black Bear Performance TUNE... it's time to rip that lame-o-Delc-O out... and sport some new TUNEAGE!


Managed to snag a few pics of my IN-PROGRESS action with a few new (and OLD) components I had laying around AND picked up for a MAJOR bargain at my local audio "surplus" store. Heh heh heh...











First... I TORE A BUNCH OF PANELS AND STUFF OUT.


















So... I had some good "old" Dynaudio component 6" w/x-net laying in my shed somewhere... and my local audio guy FORCED me to pick up the JL Audio ZR650 set of component speakers from his display board "off the books" at a cash price I can't disclose without taking a life or risking a broken leg... so let it to suffice to say, I've only got about half-a-grand in pieces so far!

...will post a pic later, but also snagged a Kenwood Excelon series for cheap... to weigh against my usual Alpine units of recent application in my other P/U truck and Solara. (Couldn't resist the deal... and curious to see the differences.) I USED to be a big Kenwood guy... but that was back in the eighties, when some of their mobile audio was the BOSS!


Anyway... that's a start. I'm "mix-n-matching" the Dynoaudio in the REAR with the JL ZR's in the FRONT. Going to use a "demo" Soundstream "Tarantula" 4 channel INITIALLY for the two sets of component speakers, but may put a 4 channel Boston Acoustic in a bi-amp configuration on the ZR's later, with a dedicated two channel on the rear Dynaudio's. We'll see if this amp has enough "guts" to drive this setup first. No clear plans on the sub(s) yet... but I'm interested in tracking down one of the bed/cab divider panel/SUB custom enclosures from JL Audio. I hear they are set up with a pair of W3 12"s and mount to OEM location, etc... but are pretty PRICEY! DOH!


Usually, I'd take more "step-by-step" shots of the install adventure... but I dove in and just started ripping apart and making mounts before I really had the chance to snap pic #1 this install! I'll circle back and do more on the other doors. I have the first component set of JL ZR's IN the driver door now. Factory speaker wire was so SORRY that I re-ran good digital audio high-strand 16ga. through the door harness grommet/apparatus... WHAT A PAIN IN THE ****! (Dang-it! I'll have to go back and do that again IF I bi-amp it!)

Planning on putting the cross-over nets in an ACCESSIBLE location INSIDE the vehicle, but on the door in a "not too visible" mount location. Maybe low and near the pencil tray in the door beside the seat cushion so it's not visible from the outside by WOULD-be system "snatchers"... but readily available for tweeter/level/presence/etc... "tweaking" without pulling door panels out etc...


More to come...



-crisp

 

im glad to see you mounded your components in your door panel, if you dynamat your inner door and put a baffle in the stock location you will be amazed at the midbass you can get from a 6.5'' component.

off to a good start.....caint wait to see the rest

 

here you can see i mounted mine the same way......brings so much more sound closer to you for better imaging

i dynamated my whole door skin and put a baffle in stock speaker location

 

Thank you! I agree! The "double-panel" setup CAN'T be a good acoustic influence in there... and the JL ZR's are LARGISH for 6" (6.5") speaker baskets, and would have required a lot of fabricating to mount otherwise. Also, the DEPTH into the door concerned me... as well as ability to "shelter" them with a good baffle. Didn't have the baffles on-hand over the weekend, (XTC, etc...) but I'll grab some and go back and do it along with Hushmat at a future date.

The REARS on the other hand... mount quite nicely into the door itself, but I'm still suspecting that I'll want to put them in the trim panel for similar reasons. I'm still "playing" with how I'll mount them. Only reservation I had was the relatively "flimsy" nature of the door trim stock, but with EIGHT mounting screws in the ZR's and a really solid basket, I think they'll be okay.


Thanks for looking! More to come...


PS, those speakers of yours look like the kevlar cone used by Memphis? (I had some coax of theirs in another project...) What model are those and how do you like them? Power supply you are using?



-crisp

 

LAST NIGHT!



So... I was beat from a busy day, and the kids were bouncing off the walls... (all FOUR of them! DOH!)

I decided to "chip away" at the "AudioLanche" project a bit after putting the circus-crew down for the night...





Picked up a couple XTC baffles...






^^^ I like to "pre-wire" as much as possible in the house (basement) since it's SNOWING and BLOWING and COOOOLD outside! The GM harness is fairly "generic", and as in many installs... you don't always need ALL the leads. I selected the notable one's for power tap, etc... and "terminated" all the powered speaker leads and such (I like to spread them and TAPE them off, so none of them SHORT OUT! TRUST ME, IT CAN HAPPEN!)





There's the head unit... just the harness tap for power, antennae, P-Con (remote for amps) and RCA's x3 (I like to "tri-amp" most of my systems...)







^^^ Modest price point on the deck, but ANYTHING that is 100db S/N or greater, and you should get good quality sound! (I'm doing this setup on a "bargain budget"... so nothing fancy in the dash.)



...that was all I could muster last night... with the exception of running the 4ga. power into the cabin from the battery. Hopefully, I'll have "dry-wired" front staging to test by end of TONIGHT!




-crisp

 

looks good man should sound real clean when you're done i love soundstream very quality product in my experiences....are you looking to run any subwoofer?

 

you are correct it is the memphis m-class component set...i had them on a alpine v12 2 channel but took it out awhile back for another project and they have been running on radio power and sound great still.....i plan on adding either a Focal solid amp or a Treo engineering 2 channel.....as i dont have any rear fill

 

Thank you! The Soundstream is an "experiment", and I may well go to a GT series Boston Acoustic amp. MUCH better signal-to-noise and damping! The OLD SKOOL Soundstream were really better than some of their newer stuff... but the most RECENT equipment from SS is getting better again. Still doesn't look as "stout" inside as my early-era high current Orion amps and such... but we'll take this one for a spin. It's SUPPOSED to be around 105rms/channel x4, but I suspect that's at about 16v, so more like 75w in reality. YES! I will be running a sub... but jury is still out on what to match with this setup. The stage and rear fill are such quality grade, I'll have to make sure the sub is up to task as well! JL Audio makes a REALLY nice piece for the Avalanche, I believe in either a 10" pair or 12" pair of W3 series that fits RIGHT in the cab/bed panel oem location and still "folds", but I'm not sure I can find one... even USED that I am willing to PAY for! VERY $'ey!

I am also looking at some options for the center console "hidden" sub series... also JL Audio as candidate... but initially, I may just place one of a couple options I have laying around in the bed tight to the panel for some sub-sonic "fill" until I get something figured out. I have a 12" G2 Boston Acoustic driver w/o box, Memphis Pro-series 12" in ported Memphis enclosure and the MTX 5400 Thunder Series 12" to "play with" while I figure out what I really want.

I've found the musical "signature" of the Memphis stuff is actually pretty suited to my ear and listening. I ran some MC 6x9 coaxials all around in my Solara for awhile, and with adequate power and configuration, they were better than many higher dollar speakers I sampled. Pretty decent bang for buck. Very BRIGHT compared to others... if just a BIT of screech if REALLY pressed on the highs. (I suspect the component set is better.)




-crisp

 

Glad to see you went with my two fav. audio companies. JL AUDIO, and Dynaudio. its going to sound so sweet! i had some JL XR components in my truck and they sounded amazing! i could only imagine what the newer ZR's will sound like!

 

Thank you!

I've had some VR's in my Toyota p/u truck off a 200w amp, and listened extensively to some XR's comparing to the ZR's... and I must say, the ZR series are pretty spectacular for full-range clarity and dynamic control in a front stage setup! Last setup I was sampling with them had too much mid-range "presence" to them, but I'll shape my setup to give a better low/high bias that focuses on musical transients over mid-range VOLUME... which tends to overwhelm the ear and "underwhelm" the clean highs and low punch I like to look for.

Ended up with some Pro series Boston Acoustic components in my Solara, and although they are GREAT on accuracy and clarity, they are really a bit bright (even for MY taste!) and NOT quite as deep as I would like in the low end. The ZR's should take care of that in the Lanche.



-crisp