My "not fancy" just for fun build

W

wheelieking71

New member
So, Seeing as how this seems to be the best strictly car audio forum going these days. And, maybe if I actually start a thread it will keep me motivated to finish a system.
Here goes nothing:

Ever since I started my own business two years ago, I have been sharing whips with the wife. We have a 2004 F150 SuperCrew (hers!) and a 2010 Camaro "ours".
I usually drove the Camaro because I drive more (she works from home), and the Ford gets terrible mileage. I hate that damn Camaro. Especially since we bought it
Because she wanted it. And, now she prefers her truck anyways. :daniel: Whatever!

I grew tired of that situation. And, finally a screamin' deal on a vehicle more to my liking fell in my lap. (and more importantly, I actually had the money to do something about it when it did!)
A 2004 Dodge 3500 4x4 heavy-duty. My kind of rig!



So, no more Camaro full-time. I have my own ride now that does not need to be shared. That means I can rip & tear in to it without worrying about momma getting pissed.
If I have to drive for a week or two with no door panels, so be it. A big, square, hard subwoofer box for a console? Fine by me! Momma would never let that fly in her truck, LOL.

You guys get the point. My truck. The other nice thing: I picked it up cheap (well, cheap for a one-ton 4x4 diesel anyways). It looks good in the picture. And, its not totally destroyed.
But, its nowhere near new either. So, a little cut here, scratch there, rig-job over here.......I wont care. No big deal, its not a show truck. I now have something I have been lacking
since I started the business. A great platform to tinker with.

Speaking of the business. I have done pretty much nothing but work for the last two years. Everything has been about the shop in one way or another.
Even the little bit of stereo play I have done, has been in the shop!
Don't get me wrong, I love the shop. But, I think my mind needs a little break. Hopefully this will be a nice stress reliever. Or I will just get crazy busy again, and never finish it LOL, time will tell.
Maybe if I have a build thread it will keep me motivated.
 
A little about me: I am a self confessed amp-junkie. Partially reformed. Not nearly as bad as I used to be. But, still, an amp junkie.
I have a handful of brands I like. Mostly "old-school". And, certain criteria I like. Like: an amp should be nothing more than a heat-sink with connections, and a gain knob (or two). I don't need no stinking processor in my amp. And, I like staggered power on my front stage. I have tried symmetrical power on mids/tweets, and just never can get a nice balance (my ears). I have the best results when the tweets have about 50% as much power on tap as the mids.
And, so on. I am an eccentric pain in the ass when it comes to system design! LOL

So, naturally, when I decided I was going to do a system in this here rig, I started hunting down some amplifiers.
 
What I ended up with is a pretty cool ensemble.
Two Linear Power 2.2HV's (both titanium, and only one serial number apart)
Two SoundStream D200II's
And, two SoundStream D100II's

All 6 amps will run bridged.
The LP's each on an Diyma R12
The D200's each on a JBL 660 GTi mid
And the D100's each on a Morel MDT-57.05 tweet.

Head-unit will either be an Alpine CDA-9887, or Clarion CZ702. All processing will be done by the head-unit.
Either deck should have hot enough outputs that I wont need a line driver.

Subs will be in a center console.
Mids in stock locations in well treated doors.
And tweets right smack on top of the dash in front of god and everybody! LOL

The morel MDT-57.05's are fairly large. And it will be ugly by most peoples standards. But, I don't care. I am keeping this simple so it actually gets completed.
I am a big Morel tweeter fan. I have used several different versions. And they never let me down. I have always been curious about these 57.05's.
I don't remember where I first saw them? And there is not a whole lot of info out there about them (hope they aren't counterfeit! LOL).
I did notice they are made in England, not Isreal. They are big and ugly. Ohh-well. The sound is what matters.

Yea, this redneck shit is happening! LOL







I will paint the bases, and grills to match the dash. There will still be a black ring (the actual tweeter body). But, that will have to be okay. I refuse to mask, and paint my tweeters.
The bases will also be screwed right down to the dash, with the screws going through the dash-mat that should be here next week. So they will do double-duty. And I wont have to use any silly Velcro stickies.

I have everything on hand now except the second D100II. It should be here Friday. After it lands I will start mocking up the amp rack (under the rear seat).

The sub-box, I think I will design, and draw up the plans. Then farm the actual build of the enclosure out. I don't have the right tools. Every time I build a box, they turn out great, but it takes me a freaking month!

The amps (minus one):

 
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Thanks Al. It should be fun. And having good tunes sure will enlighten my monotonous commute every day.

Here are the JBL GTI's I scored for a song off my local Craigslist last week:





I have never seen a bad word written about these, so I am pretty excited to give them a shot.

And the Morels I grabbed from Glen:





I am hoping these do at least as well as my old MDT-12's.

And the Diyma R12's I have had for years. No pics right now. They are buried. We all know what they look like anyways. They are both brand new. I am finally going to break down and use them! LOL
 
Notloudenuf said:
I say 9887 for HU because I heard that you have my old one.
Click to expand...

I got it from bjayjr on diyma.

9887 has all the processing I will need. But, I really want USB and Bluetooth.

I thought I ordered a CZ702 the other night. But, I guess in my drunken stupor I didn't click the buttons right! Will have to try that again LOL.
 
if you are the same wheelieking on diyma, i really enjoyed your install on that dodge regular cab, especially the welding. Lookin forward to your new install. Nothing wrong with simple installs.
 
cadaver said:
if you are the same wheelieking on diyma, i really enjoyed your install on that dodge regular cab, especially the welding. Lookin forward to your new install. Nothing wrong with simple installs.
Click to expand...

That was quite a while ago! I'm surprised anybody remembers that, LOL. Yea, that was me.
 
The last amp arrived today (second D100). So I huffed them all to the truck to see if they were even all going to fit (easily).
And, it is kind of like a puzzle. They all fit, but only in one configuration:







The LP's are where they are because they don't both fit on the drivers side.
The D100's are where they are because they are the only ones that fit in front of the middle seat-belt assembly.
The D200's are oriented the way they are because it gets the gains (which are a pain to access on these amps to begin with) out front where they will be easiest to deal with.
There is less than 1/2" in any given direction (except the front obviously).

So, yea, they fit! Barely.

It looks like the passenger side seat is resting on the LP's in the last pic. Its close, but, it doesn't touch anywhere.
The amps will most likely get mounted to a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum (the amp-rack). It will get sandwiched between the seat-mounts and floor.
I will probably raise the amp-rack 3/8" off the floor to make room for cables underneath.
And I will probably raise the seat above the rack 3/8" to get it a little higher over the LP's.
So, the seats will effectively go up a grand total of 1". I don't see that being an issue.

I could ditch the middle seat-belt, and put the LP's side-bye-side. I may do that. I may not?

The real question is: Do I really need this much power for this system?! I am struggling with that.

I could cut the amp count in half, and not notice a difference up to moderate levels.
As it sits, its a solid 1800watts. I know that is nothing to an SPL guy.
But, I listen to music, not bass. And, 1800watts is a lot for me.

I am also having second thoughts on the Diyma's. If I scale back to one sub amp, I will probably look for a nice 15"

I would kill for an original 1500 GTi. But, finding one I wouldn't be afraid of buying would be tough.

Then back on the power, this is a noisy truck. 325hp 600lb/ft of torque is not quiet.
That 1800watts would sure come in handy on the freeway @ 70mph when "that" song comes on, if you know what I mean.
I like listening to that turbo when the tunes are off. But, when they are on, I don't want to hear no stinking turbo!

What to do?! LOL
 
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I learned years ago that it's better to have power and not need it. Stepping down to half the power would be like putting the anemic 3.9 v6 in that big truck of yours. I'm running about 2000rms in my Ram and wouldn't mind having more "just because" and half of that is on the 3-way frontstage.
 
Hmmm... I'm going to say keep the power, and as much as I like the DIYMA R12 subs, unless you can go ported, you might want to consider a subwoofer swap. I think output is going to be a bit... disappointing with those. Still one of my most favorite subwoofers of all time, but only in the right environment. AKA a heavily dampened and deadened automobile, or sitting still with the engine off.

A single 15" as replacement though? Now THIS I have to see :)
 
ClineSelect put a couple different 15"s between the front seats in a Dodge just like this one. I think he wedged a ID-max in there. And a W15GTi. His pics are sadly all gone though.
If I remember right the GTi was one of his favorites.

I would love to try the Diyma's vented, just not up to figuring it all out.
 
The DIYMA plays notes very cleanly but it has no 'OOMPH' , not known for making a car flex or taking one's breath away.
 
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