PureSound15
05-08-2010, 09:59 PM
The Cobra is stupid loud - but, as apparent by my username, I couldn't take the horrific Mach 460 system that was in it anymore. I had to turn it up REALLY loud to hear anything and by that point everything was muddy. :crying
Because I already blew my budget away for the car this winter, I figured I would throw something together with stuff I already had and see how cheap I could get this done.
Replaced the head unit with an Alpine that caters to USB drives or an IPOD. I can't remember the last time I used a CD anyway. I really like it now that I'm used to it.
http://www.audiospecialist.gr/images/Alpine%20-%20iDA-X303.jpg
I ripped out all of the factory amplifiers and speakers. I added my own Alpine amp. I've had a hard on for the Alpine PDX series amps since they're incredibly TINY and stackable
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/SSPX0020.jpg
http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/images/var/ALPINE-PDX-5-extra5.jpg
I'm using the 5 channel version. My birth certificate for the amp says that it tested at 463 watts @ 2 for the sub and 121/channel for the 4 channel portion. Definitely good enough for what I needed.
I added a Diamond 10" sub that I already had with the box to the trunk...
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/e3252161.jpg
IN order for that to fit, I had to remove the amplifiers that were mounted under the deck. With those came the enclosed 6x9s from the 460 system.
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/images/m15.jpg
It worked out really well actually. I used the mounting locations for the factory amplifiers to secure my box from moving at all.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/adddf0b8.jpg
I don't care about rear fill at all. So I'm not adding anything in the back of the car.
For the front stage I took a risk and used Phoenix Gold RSD6S Components in the factory locations. I'm on various audio geek board and these components are DIRT cheap ($60 SHIPPED on Amazon) and supposedly sounded great - i figured I'd try them.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/e7880f38.jpg
Made my plates for the factory woofer. Installed the tweeter in the factory location.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/ad808e9b.jpg
The Amp is going to end up being mounted facing the rear of the vehicle to a piece of ovaled Carbon Fibre that will float 1" away from the face of the box. I haven't got the far yet.
Over all - MUCH BETTER! Don't get me wrong, the $60 components do NOT sound anything liek the $3000 3 way set I have used - but they seriously sound MUCH better than a lot of the 200-500 dollar component sets. I couldn't be happier. They're running passive (I.e. utilizing the crossovers that came with the sets) since I don't have any other kind of processing in the car - it's not worth it.
Just though I'd share my project this past week. :thumbsup
Because I already blew my budget away for the car this winter, I figured I would throw something together with stuff I already had and see how cheap I could get this done.
Replaced the head unit with an Alpine that caters to USB drives or an IPOD. I can't remember the last time I used a CD anyway. I really like it now that I'm used to it.
http://www.audiospecialist.gr/images/Alpine%20-%20iDA-X303.jpg
I ripped out all of the factory amplifiers and speakers. I added my own Alpine amp. I've had a hard on for the Alpine PDX series amps since they're incredibly TINY and stackable
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/SSPX0020.jpg
http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/images/var/ALPINE-PDX-5-extra5.jpg
I'm using the 5 channel version. My birth certificate for the amp says that it tested at 463 watts @ 2 for the sub and 121/channel for the 4 channel portion. Definitely good enough for what I needed.
I added a Diamond 10" sub that I already had with the box to the trunk...
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/e3252161.jpg
IN order for that to fit, I had to remove the amplifiers that were mounted under the deck. With those came the enclosed 6x9s from the 460 system.
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/images/m15.jpg
It worked out really well actually. I used the mounting locations for the factory amplifiers to secure my box from moving at all.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/adddf0b8.jpg
I don't care about rear fill at all. So I'm not adding anything in the back of the car.
For the front stage I took a risk and used Phoenix Gold RSD6S Components in the factory locations. I'm on various audio geek board and these components are DIRT cheap ($60 SHIPPED on Amazon) and supposedly sounded great - i figured I'd try them.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/e7880f38.jpg
Made my plates for the factory woofer. Installed the tweeter in the factory location.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/puresound15/ad808e9b.jpg
The Amp is going to end up being mounted facing the rear of the vehicle to a piece of ovaled Carbon Fibre that will float 1" away from the face of the box. I haven't got the far yet.
Over all - MUCH BETTER! Don't get me wrong, the $60 components do NOT sound anything liek the $3000 3 way set I have used - but they seriously sound MUCH better than a lot of the 200-500 dollar component sets. I couldn't be happier. They're running passive (I.e. utilizing the crossovers that came with the sets) since I don't have any other kind of processing in the car - it's not worth it.
Just though I'd share my project this past week. :thumbsup