maxwelhse

Be sure to include the driver and bracing displacement when you're doing your calculations.

$.02 coming at ya.. I've never seen an electric boost/vacuum gauge, but I'd bet if it's out there it will be expensive since it would require a sending unit (a MAP for my GM is $70) to relay the information to the gauge. Plus then you've got tons of stuff to diagnose if something goes wrong. Normally I'd be with ya, but in this particular case (and oil pressure) I see mechanical as being the way to go.

Don't put anything less than 6.5's up front - especially if you have to get the saw out anyhow. The difference is night and day - especially if you have subs. You'd be surprised how well a 6.5" will bring the bass "forward" in the car, and how much a 5.25" will leave it behind you. Anyhow, if a 5.25" driver will fit in the stock hole, then more power to ya. If you have to get the saw out, you may as well go another 1.25"

JL audio makes some subs that require almost no air space and actually sound good. I'm a big fan of their products. Although mine JL10W4s are an older (and unfortunately discontinued) model, they only require .60 cubic feet of air space in a sealed enclosure and have a mounting depth of 5 1/8". When I bought them they were the shallowest small box sub in the world. I have a trio of them in my car, and they pound just fine. 8) However, I still perfer 12's and I will be switching off when the money becomes available. Anyway, if it was me doing an install in a Starion and I had to have rear cargo room, I would probably go with a single 12" in a custom box that went across the back of the seat. You shouldn't lose more than 7" of trunk depth at the floor. If the installer was really talented you could probably get that cut back to about 5.5". Now, if it was me and I was me, I'd put 4 12's in the back of that thing and say hell with the luggage.

Your brother and I need to have a talk. I usually just wait until the equipment I want hits the used market, so I end up getting it for 50% off that way. It's kinda funny, by the time I had enough cash saved up for my ZPA 0.5 phoenix gold stopped making it! Used was my only option. Anyhow, I have to disagree with your head unit arguement. Your system will never sound any better than the signal coming from the deck. I don't care if you have $10,000 of McIntosh amps in your trunk, a $50 head unit in your dash will make your car sound like crap. My offical policy to to buy the best of everything. ;D Very few, myself included, can afford that. I just save up indefinately and buy it one peice at a time.

The BEST thing you can do, as far as hearing lots of different equipment, is to go to a few sound shows. If you're really serious about auto sound it's really the only way to go. Try to go to a show sponsored by a shop that sells LOTS of different equipment. That way every car that comes through isn't loaded up with all the same stuff. If you're not so serious, Best Buy quality stuff is probably good enough. Sometimes you can find some really decent stuff on Ebay too. Every once in awhile I see a PPI amp like Kev's go for about $250ish. The old good Fosgate stuff (ix and dsm series I believe) goes pretty cheap too. Like a Punch 200ix or 200dsm for about $200ish. I wouldn't buy speakers on ebay unless they were new in the box tho..

I've never heard that before, but it's entirely possible. It sure didn't affect the cost of the higher line stuff! For some reason the looks of all of the autometer gauges just turn me off, but I'm sure they are of good quality too. I know lots of people that run them.

VDO is legandary for making some of the finest gauges on Earth. $.02

Yeah, the old Art Series stuff is indestructable. I imagine that amp will be working for another 10 years or more. Just out of curiousity, white or black? I kinda like the black ones with the schematic myself.

It's generally not healthy on the amplifer to brown out it's power section either. That under voltage can cause distortion in the output sections and in turn cause the frying of voice coils. I think you've been getting away with that because the A404 is generally not considered a large amp, but I'd bet the stock alternator can't handle much more. btw - the A404 is a very nice amp. I commend your taste. I kept waiting for PPI to build an amp that offered what I wanted, but they just couldn't get it done. Nice stuff tho.

Fair enough JR. When it comes to my bangs I'm always asking "how much more over-kill can I add?" So that's where my question comes from. I've actually been eyeballing places for a 2nd alternator (not on a SQ). 200 amps is good, but 400 would be better.

1 12" driver will displace more air than 2 10" drivers. Most 10s, even good ones, roll off at around 30Hz, which isn't nearly low enough for my personal taste. I feel that a 12 in a sealed box is a nice mix of tight frequency response and space constraints. But like Jolyrgr said, go around and pick out what you like. You're the one that's going to be listening to it. And, sub bass is omni-direction to the human ear, but the acoustic environments inside the car will produce different distortions or colorations on the sound. My car tends to sound better with the subs facing forward but "hits harder" pointing back ward. My experience is not unique in a conventional trunk bearing vehicle. However, hatch backs get a 3db (2x as loud by IASCA rating) cabin gain because of their shape when the drivers are pointed straight up into the glass. Most of the hatchbacks I've seen with subs have that arrangment and sound pretty good. Just experiment with placement until you find what you like. As far as the alternator goes, I'm of the opinion that you can never have too much. Your head lights will be brighter, your battery will charge better on short trips (that most of us make), and of course you'll have more power on tap for accessories and stereo gear. The only question I really have about Tim's alternator is why he doesn't use an even higher output model. From what I understand he's using a GM alternator and there cases are more or less all the same since the 70s. The alternator on my '97 88 was 140 amps stock and I had it built to 200 amps for $100. Just wondering why he doesn't start with a higher output model to begin with.

Looks pretty nice in the pics man. Very impressive. But, why didn't ya stick the EQ and Deck right on top of each other? It looks a bit funny with the heater controls stuck in between them.

FYI - The scoche kits are usually of pretty nice quality. I'd stay away from anything made by Metra tho.. Every metra product I've seen is crappy IMO.

What do the switches operate?

My '74 GMC Heavy-Half Ton 4x4 (read: rides worse than a log wagon - seriously) NEVER skips with a 10 Disc sony. I didn't do anything special at all, I just screwed it down. I'm guessing maybe your changer is dirty, failing, or of poor quality. If all else fails get some soft rubber mat from a hardware store and make coushins for the mounts.

The diamond audio stuff I heard was "ok", but not anything very great. I have no idea what series it was tho...

For the money, the JL coaxials aren't bad at all. In fact, I'd put them at the top of the "cheap" list. Way better than any Sony or Pioneer stuff of that price range. Sometimes the most ghetto equipment will get you by if you're desperate enough to try it out.. I had a Power Acoustik amp that I competely abused for a year and it sounded "ok", then I sold it for just about what I had in it (sold for $70, paid $100). As far as I know it still works to this day. I kinda miss those days.. The last amp I bought retailed for 16x what I paid for the Power Acoustik... :-/

Depends what series. My 10W4's take .70 Ft^3 each in a sealed environment and the mounting depth is only 5.25". They are by no means a space monger. One of my complaints about my subs IS the price. I paid $155/ea (x3) for them 4 years ago. They were salty at the time.

As I recall CA&E said 172 db is the point at which body panels bend and glass breaks. Most of the body armored cars out there (except for the top dogs) are just to keep engery in the car for higher SPL. I've seen a totally stock truck hit 162 db without any trouble. Granted it was only about a 3 second burp. To the rest of you guys, if someone says their subs broke their window, they are lying (call them out on it, it will be fun!). Unless, as Jack said, they had a crack to begin with.

That is a really good idea. LOTS of the shops in this town really upset me by getting snotty when I would ask questions (usually when I was in my teens). Some shops act like they're the only place on Earth that can sell you brand X. I make it a habit to ask lots of questions (good questions, not questions just to annoy them) when I go to a shop I've never been in before just to see how friendly/helpful the staff is. I don't want to spend a months pay in a place that's going to give me problems if something goes wrong 2 weeks later. Also, whenever I go to shop for speakers I typically ask the salesman to play everything on the board and NOT tell me their price or brand. Walking into a store with an opinion of "MB Quart rules!" or "Pioneer sucks!" will get you no where. If you like something cheap - great! If not, save up for it! If you're in the area I would recommend Custom Audio Concepts in Van Wert Ohio (Their big claim to fame was being the first car to hit a perfect 40 in IASCA RTA back in '96). Very excellent shop. It's kind of what I imagine all stores being like 50 years ago. $.02

IAC = Idle Air Control (Valve) - A stepper motor that controls the amount of air allowed to bypass the throttle plate. (A choke) PFT = Pretty $%^ing Tight - A torque specification used by rednecks and shade trees when tightening fasteners. Usually results in finding the failure tolerance of the fastener or casting. That what you had in mind?

I've been silly happy with Loc-Tite epoxy.

What cable company do you have down there? We only have Comcast available in my area and they cap my out-going speed at 15kb/sec.. Which really really really bites.

So that's why you guys hollow out your precats... :-*