New Stereo Setup Installed (Stereo Integrity and Arc Audio)
 

I got the stereo install finalized today and started tuning it.

Setup
-It's a 3-way active setup, controlled by a Pioneer DEH-80PRS feeding into a Sundown Audio 1100.5 amp.
-Front channels are a pair of Stereo Integrity M25 Tweeters and TM65 MKII Midwoofers. 75W per channel. The mids could use more power. May wire up a second, smaller amp, just for the tweeters, and bridge the channels and deliver 150W to the mids. I'll see if I can adjust the EQ tomorrow to bring them up a little more. But so far, this is the best setup I've ever done on a car.
-Subs are in a Subthump box and are are pair of Arc Audio Arc 12v4s wired up for 1-ohm. About 1.1cf per sub which is optimal for them. Feeding them 800W RMS.
-Also, did Second Skin Audio throughout the car to help with rattles and vibration....

Sounds damn good so far.

Install
As far as install goes, I had to remove the metal bracket to fit the tweeters. So, I screwed them into the plastic of the door and that seems to be working for now. I may epoxy them in later if needed.

The midwoofers fit the delco baskets pretty well, but the integrated rain guard on the speakers interfered with the rain guard in the baskets. Nothing a cutoff wheel couldn't handle. I hated to hack them up like this, but good lord these speakers sound great and worth the effort.

The Pioneer installed no issue. I had a bigger issue with the hack job done by the previous owner on the stereo. So once I got that cleaned up, everything went together nicely.

I set the HU to 50 (max volume) and dialed in the gain on the amp. Max gain on the subs and midwoofers and no distortion. They can be driven hard. Tweeters can be too. I maxed them out without any distortion as well, but it was waaaaay too much. I had to dial it back to flatten the sound.

Impressions
The tweeters can play loud without any distortion and handle 75W RMS with ease. And I have them playing down to 2500Hz with a 24db slope. The mids I have running a 50hz 18db slope on the bottom and 2000hz 24db slope at top. Yeah, it was recommended that way from Stereo Integrity and sounds seamless. I have the subs set to play up to 100hz with an 18db slope. Drum kits are mean and punchy playing from both the 6.5" and the 12". Both of which can deliver... the TM65 can play down to 35hz or so. And the Arcs can hit 125 without trouble and go down to 20hz and rattle the shit out of everything.

What I love about the whole setup is how musical it is. It's very tight. I set my EQ to flat and played lossless FLAC through Tidal using the Pioneer's integrated DAC, which sounds very clear and detailed with no compressed sound. It was amazing how bright and textured the highs were and how tight and punchy the bass was on a variety of music.

First up, I played Blue Monday by Orgy, the single version. The electronic guitars and bass line send a wave of sound at you across the spectrum augmented by a punchy bass line. I heard all the details and felt the drums. Impressive.

Next, I played Katy Perry's Dark Horse to see if I could stress the bass setup and drown out the mids and highs. Katy's voice came through loud and clear. These tweeters are among the best I've ever heard. And the subs played everything without any sort of stress.

Switching over to King Kong by Jibbs was the test to see if the subs would get muddy or buzz with heavy bass. They were supreme.

I then cycled through a variety of other stuff and everything from rock to rap to pop all played clean and clear. Even over my loud exhaust I heard everything.

Now, the pictures:

Finished Sub Install
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...60&oe=5BDBD502

Running wires through the doors.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...96&oe=5BE2D556

TM65 installed.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...e5&oe=5BD316C8

Rear of the Delco basket removed for the TM65 rain guard.
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Picture showing the rain guard and inner lip keeping the TM65 from seating properly.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...97&oe=5BA41A81

M25 tweeter installed.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...fa&oe=5BD2D73E

Wiring mess I took out. It was like this everywhere.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...89&oe=5BEC6073

New wiring for Pionner.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f9&oe=5BDFECAE

Pioneer installed.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...2a&oe=5BEC700B

Second skin everywhere.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a7&oe=5B45D335

I also made a wooden shelf to install the amp to. Ordered some carpet from stock interiors after getting samples and picked one close to my carpet color.

I used the factory t-top bracket shade things to secure the board to the hatch floor.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6f&oe=5BA51FF8

Then I covered it and secured the amp to it. It's sturdy and looks a little better than just bolting the amp to the sheetmetal. I wanted to provide some insulation between the sheet metal, the amp, and the gas tank.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...db&oe=5BDB66E2

That's a great looking and I bet even better sounding setup! Great choice of components. The deck's distortion or lack there of is impressive. I'm so jealous of you Trans Am owners with your factory tweeter locations.

How do you like the active setup thru the Pioneer deck? I have a set Perfect 600 waiting to go in and their x-overs are huge so running active is what i'm leaning toward.

With the mids producing that low, how much did you deaden the door?

The tweeter location is absolutely perfect in these cars. Then add in the hatch for the subs and these cars are really great for putting together a really amazing sound system.

I didn't deaden the door yet. No rattles. It seals up with the factory basket and gasket pretty well. I may add some fill and layer in some second skin in there. I imagine it will get worse when I add more power. Right now, there just isn't enough power. But I think the cf in the door panel matches up to the woofer pretty well. You can youtube some demos of the TM65. It plays full range and free air with aplomb. So I think it's forgiving.

Active is very nice. I went with it because I knew the front door locations would work really well without rear fill. You can tweak it as you sit there and can mute the subs or tweeters or mids and get each one tuned to your liking. I talked to Nick @ Stereo Integrity about the crossover points and he told me where to run them. And he was spot on. These boutique stereo shops like SI and SSA and such really do a great job with the products. I was leaning toward an SSA sub setup, but everything was backordered forever. But I may pick up the SSA evil mids and tweeters for my Toyota daily. They are similar in construction to the SI components but much less expensive.

I'm just amazed the EQ is flat and sounds great.

My wife hates the system... rattles the house when I'm in the garage. So that's a win!

Damn NICE i love it, but all that and then no Humount?

Nah. I didn't know what HU I was going with for a while. Then just decided to be less flashy. So I just used the stuff Crutchfield sends. Might do something with a Humout mounting plate later. Those are pretty trick.

Nice work! I bet that sounds amazing :cool:

It does.

I tell you what, getting those side trim pieces back on were the worst part. If the carpet holes and the trim and sheetmetal aren't all lined up... agh.

what is the P/N for a sub thump box with the TA lettering ?


edit...never mind...found it :)

Yeah, it's in the dropdown menu.

It's an excellent box.

Just make sure the subs you get work well sealed in ~1 cf of space. The Image Dynamics IDQ and the ARC Audio ARCs (built by ID) do very well in that size box, which is why I got them.

stereo integrity webpage shows the TM65mkIII....guess the new ver of the mkII ?

did not show much on the install of the tweeters....pretty much drop in ?

did you leave the sail panel mid bass empty ?

Sail panel bass is empty.

And yeah, I see they've now moved to the MK III. I bought these end of last year. Just got around to installing.

Tweeters...

They were much much deeper. I had to remove the metal support bracket.
https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...b0&oe=5BD6B569

This bracket I ripped out. And I just screwed it into the plastic. Fit that opening fine.
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I have been putting off and debating what speakers to get for mannnnyyyyy yrs !! you got me off the fence now in my speaker choice

I notice you are using walmart speaker cable ( would say radio shack but since they are out of biz ) I like the thicker monster stuff myself :)

i do have a lighted HU mount for my alpine HU....luv it

and i buy those same mesh polyester shorts from walmart :cheers:

That was the previous shit that was in there. I ripped all of it out. It looked like home speaker wire.

I ran 16-gauge OFC JY Power throughout the car for the speakers and NXT 12-gauge for the subs. Running an NXT 0-gauge power and ground to a 150A external fuse at the battery.

That's an awesome setup! I'm chipping away at mine right now. I'll take some pics this time! I see your from Pace? I was born and raised in Pensacola.

Yep. Me too. Moved out to the country for better schools for the kids.

Responded to your PM as well!

I will say to tune this, I had to take the tweeters down -6db on positioning because they are very detailed and bright. They would work awesomely off-axis. But since they are positioned right at your ears in this car, I had to take them down a level. This helped a lot with fatigue on the sound. I then used the EQ to massage the sound to my liking. But flat, it still sounds great. The subs don't overpower anything, but they can. So this just goes to show what tuning can do with any setup.

I have an NVX 1-Farard Digital Capacitor set to go in. With the subs really booming, I get a little bit of interior light fade. And I have 0-gauge wiring for my big 3 connections and an Escalade 145A alternator. It's just sucking a ton of juice on the big thumps. Hopefully the capacitor can help provide a little bit of reserve.