Mobile Audio: BRZ, FR-S, GT86

[Afghan Vet]

It is probably the same one Slade - used to be in Lawrenceville.....

[onbooSTi]

You definitely know your stuff! Thanks for the info. The first one, the discontinued one looks awesome! I'll have to ask you for audio advice if I ever decide to spend the money.

[2pt5RS]

It is probably the same one Slade - used to be in Lawrenceville.....

HA! Yep, that's him. I read somewhere that he got rid of the 1 and got a mini...

[flat black vw]

good to see another car audio guy here. Ive been working at a shop for 6 years now. I got into it when I was 16 doing systems for myself and friends and then got the job so I could have more money (of course) and discount parts (why not).
We actually dont get to do many actual sound systems, most of our business has become oem integration (bluetooth, back up cams, head rest monitors, sat radio etc.) but I still love doing all that type of stuff so im happy to help out with anyone's questions also, although Afghan Vet sounds like he knows what hes talking about.

In my Volkswagen I had:
2 12in Hertz Mille subs rated at 1000 RMS each
Rear Speakers were Hertz Mille 6.5 components
Fronts were Focal K3P components
2 Mobile spec 2000watt sub amps
1 Power acoustic 960watt 4-channel amp (got it for free)
12 Farad Cap
Dual Optimas
Old school Pioneer dual face HU (dont remember the model number)

Unfortunately nearly all of that got stolen a couple years back so that car has become my air ride project and I will be finishing it off with:
single 10in rockford fosgate Power HX2
Rear Pioneer Type D components
Front Focal K3P components
Pioneer DEH-p4100
Power Acoustik BAMF 1600.4
Power Acoustik BAMF 2000.1d


My single cab S-10 has:
Pioneer DEH-P4100
Door speakers are Pioneer type D coax
Dash speakers are Focal 3in with 1in tweeter
Single 10in pioneer slim sub
couple of old power acoustik amps I found lying around my shop

When I get out of school in the summer im gonna add another Pioneer 10" slim behind the seats and get some digital amps to conserve some space

For my BRZ I really dont plan on doing much other than a pioneer x930 ddin nav and maybe some speakers (probably either focal or pioneer depending on if focal will give another big discount like my last set). But I definately wont be doing a sub or any extra amplifiers, I plan to strip as much weight from this car as I can.

[2pt5RS]

^^ does your shop do any sort of 'return to stock' type stuff? I'm trying to get an idea of pricing to return the TL back to stock.

[Afghan Vet]

HA! Yep, that's him. I read somewhere that he got rid of the 1 and got a mini...

Well, technically he still has the i, but he did buy a mini for a new business venture.

I still love doing all that type of stuff so im happy to help out with anyone's questions also, although Afghan Vet sounds like he knows what hes talking about.

For my BRZ I really dont plan on doing much other than a pioneer x930 ddin nav and maybe some speakers (probably either focal or pioneer depending on if focal will give another big discount like my last set). But I definately wont be doing a sub or any extra amplifiers, I plan to strip as much weight from this car as I can.

Thanks! I hate hearing that stuff all got stolen....hate theivery. It sounds like you bounced back and got tunes again.

Weight will be a concern with a lot of guys - for some, if you are going to put a ton of audio gear weight in a car, might as well buy a Dodge Charger, but I think I can strike a balance. I'm not a track guy, but I still would like to take advantage of the fact that the car was designed to be a lower weight car. Fortunately my amps are relatively light in comparison to others with the same power output. I am also going to utilize an IB sub set up, so I won't have the box. Sound deadener.....meh.....probably 25% coverage with CLD tiles to stop ressonance where needed, but I won't go to 'sound proof' levels. From the videos I have watched, noise in the cab has been mentioned often. When driving - I'm going to turn the system up to overcome the noise (I don't really listen at a high volume) - critical listening will happen when the car is parked (usually in my garage) - so it doesn't need to be tomb like from hundreds of pounds of mlv, etc.

[flat black vw]

^^ does your shop do any sort of 'return to stock' type stuff? I'm trying to get an idea of pricing to return the TL back to stock.

yeah we do it all time. One down side to my shop is we charge 100 an hour for labor, so if you have a sub amp and radio removed your probably looking at around 150-200. Also it would depend on if you have the factory parts or if they need to be sourced, which can drive the price up like crazy.

[2pt5RS]

yeah we do it all time. One down side to my shop is we charge 100 an hour for labor, so if you have a sub amp and radio removed your probably looking at around 150-200. Also it would depend on if you have the factory parts or if they need to be sourced, which can drive the price up like crazy.

awesome, thanks! I kept all my stock parts (speakers), but we cut most of the connectors off...I'm okay with them soldering it back together.

[NERO]

So I haven't had a system in a car for 20 years, but I was hoping to have on in this car. Nothing to major but I was hoping to get a good head unit probably Alpine, Hertz speaking to replace the factory one's and a couple of small subs and an amp. To save on weight, I wanted to go with 2 good 8" subs like Hertz or JL Audio, but people keep trying to convince me otherwise and go to 10" and I'm not sure why? I don't mind adding a little weight because I'm going to cut weight and turbo the car so it will considerably more powerful. Also, what does "IB sub set up" mean?

[Afghan Vet]

It sounds like you have a good plan, and you can bounce ideas off of the members here. 'IB' stands for 'Infinite Baffle' which basically means the subwoofer (or whatever speaker you are talking about) is mounted on a 'baffle', but doesn't have a 'traditional' box enclosing one side (could be the side with the motor or the cone). So, in essence, you are using the trunk as the enclosure. The main idea is that you are separating the front waves from the rear waves. You can face the cone to the cabin of the vehicle or towards the trunk - it really is personal preference and whatever works best in the vehicle. So, for me - having the seats fold down gives me the option of building a simple 'wall' as a baffle, and mounting the driver on it - done.

There is debate about the merits and disadvantages of this design. I just know that I have heard several cars with IB setups (including my own), and I just prefer the sound.

Below is a shot of my false floor and IB sub. Since the back of the seats in my 3 series are solid and there was a ski pass, we just built a baffle (looks like a box) around the ski pass to essentially separate the front waves and rear waves. We did the best job we could at 'sealing' the rear deck, but my car really isn't a 'perfect' example of IB.



This is a friend's Audi