kattawar

cmasten... looks NICE! Did your auto-installers have anything interesting to say about the possibility of putting the sub (up in the void-area) behind the backseat where the stock one is? Was there any way to build a super-custom enclosure to fit up in there. I really am trying to save as much of the trunk-space as I can. The guys in Austin have been waffeling on this point with me all week... any thoughts/ideas?

kattawar

cmasten... if you don't mind... what type/depth of 4" mid/tweeters did you use in your front dash? The focals I was looking at look really "deep". I have not started yet, but I didn't think there was enough depth in the space in the dash for the focal 4"/mid-tweets... ? Thanks again...

cmasten

the 165 v3 series is really slim, the mids and tweeters fit exactly into the existing brackets in the dashboard, almost no cutting, Josh will post the before and after pics, but the difference is night and day over the old stuff. the best pics of these and specs are probably here, http://signature.crutchfield.com/s_0...y=Focal&tp=106

The Sub was fitted into the left rear corner to keep the cable lengths as short as possible so we put the amp rack on the right side above the existing amp. Josh was able to shoot fiberglass into the corner to get an exact fit and then he built out the carpet face to match the trunk perfectly. in fact both the amp rack and the sub look like Lexus built them, they are spectacular. The JL was chosen for the small enclosure that we were able to get on the left side. It has a dedicated 300/600 watt Focal Solid 1 and the old woofer was taken out, the punch in the bottom end is just stunning, for only one 10" unit. The control for the 3sixty was mounted in the center console right next to the power and Aux.. looks factory.

You could build a box under the rear deck, but you would lose a lot more trunk space, the idea on my install was that I dont use those corner pockets so lets fill them up. It worked out even better than I had hoped. The sub is tuned with the 3sixty and then I have control over the gain from the drivers seat. If your guys have a stock box they just want to mount under the rear deck that would work also. What I like about Josh's arrangement is that it uses the entire trunk as a box and it is all tuned through the 10" opening in the rear deck, its drop dead solid base, everyone that has heard it so far cant believe its only a 10". The Focal Subs would have required a lot more enclosure, but the JL worked perfect.

We will work on getting the pics up so you all can see what was there and what is there now. I can tell you that it kicks the living crap out of any ML system I would have bought, its over the top good and I have an audio engineering background, so I am pretty critical with my sound quality taste. I listen to a variety of styles and various levels and the LS is just a superb vehicle to put a good sound system into , its roomy, has great speaker placement and a ton of dynamic range, its just quiet so a very enjoyable place to enjoy good sound.

I was really set back by the lack of quality that Lexus would put into this vehicle.. I have to tell you, the Pioneer stuff we took out was the worst of any vehicle I have ever owned and its all tuned in the electonics to get every drop out... the 3sixty takes good care of making that ruler flat so we could tune it ourselves with much better quality components.

cmasten

The sub we chose for punch and space saving for this application was the JL 10W1v2, its reasonable, easy to drive and very clean when coupled correctly. You could have your guys build something like this under the rear sub as its placed now, it would only come down about 8" total. I still like the corner placement but its more expensive to build out and your guys have to know how to work with glass....

The sealed box size recommended by JL Audio is 0.625 cu/ft. A diagram is provided in the owner's manual for a sealed box with external dimensions of 16.5" W x 13.5" H x 7.75" D, assuming 3/4" thick material. (If you are using 5/8" thick materials, you should subtract 1/4" from each dimension.)

kattawar

I went over a few more ideas with the custom sounds guys in Austin... I think I am going to go with a custom box positioned all the way in/deep against the wall closest to the front of the car in the trunk (if that makes sense. There is a JL sub they have that is super-thin with a reall big voice-coil... sounds good... the box should be able to cover fit in there nicely and since it is so thin, shouldn't eat up much space in the trunk & be out of the way/not real visible. the only real issue with mounting it up in the upper/existing area is vibrations/rattles... the installers thought there might be some risk mounting it up there and keeping it from any "noise" due to the position...

I think I will go with the JL sub there (12") and put the 5 channel amp up in the void space above the trunk (fully hidden). I spoke with another friend of mine and he vouched for the FOCAL 3-ways 165V3's... seemed to be 899 from just about everywhere... Do you know what size the speakers are in the back doors? Are those 4 or 6 1/2"'s ?? I will be swapping those out as well, I think with some Focal 2-ways; I am just not sure what size they are in the door; kind of hard to tell from looking through the grill... Any idea what size those are in the back doors?

I look forward to seeing your final pics... I am jealous!

cmasten

The mids in the back doors are the same as the mids in the dash 4", I didnt replace mine, in fact i have them running just for some fill in the back seats, and off the factory amp, the 3Sixty takes care of the attenuation, eq, balance and time delay, they are fine for just some light mid in the back seat, but honestly the Focals in the front with the sub behind you gets your attention, I guess some two ways back there would work. We took out the spacers in the front, you could just put in a custom plate for the front and use the spacers for the back doors if you wanted to, its just carpet on the bottom back there now you could use the Focal grilles and that would look ok. I didnt want anything in the car to look custom, it all appears factory .. until you get in and I turn it on, then the smiles all come out, most people thus far have been stunned with just how much clean, tight bass they were able to get out of the trunk. Its just a 10" but they really took their time to tune it.

I would really recommend a 3sixty or other processor to give you some tuning ability, the controls just really bring out the life of the music in the car and allow you to adjust your imaging and depth of field. Its pretty impressive when its done right. Also you will want to make sure that your guys run some serious power cabling to the back. Josh ran a pair of 4 gauge strand to the back, with the voltages all set correctly there isnt the slightest trace of whine or noise in the system, which is important as the LS is an amazingly quiet sound area. Its perfect for serious audio.

I paid 650 for the 3 way PolyGlass speakers, You can get them around for that or less. I would not pay 900 for them although I dont think I have ever heard such a precise combination for under a grand, Focal just makes superb drivers, crossovers and amps. I like their subs, but they are pricey and need a lot of room. The JL is about 129.00 and I like its signature and efficiency. I dont know if Al and Eds ships but if they do you may cut you a deal with shipping that may save you some money.

Enjoy the journey, its fun to get in there and see what is possible. I am really pleased with mine, I just need to get the 3sixty replaced with one that doesnt act up, Ill ask Josh about the pics tomorrow and see if he can get those posted.

also to note, if you build out a box against the back seat you may lose your access to the pass through. Just a thought. I know people that use that in other vehicles to couple a sub to also. I just like the way the bass comes through the top deck , coming through the pass through may annoy back seat passengers but you could play with that idea also.

kattawar

One more question, sorry about these... Do you recall what depth was available in the rear doors (for the 4" mids)? I wanted to see about the 2-way focal 4"s... Looks like their depth is 2 5/16's.. I think they are a special order as well as the other focals I am looking at... I am really trying to minimize how many days they have my car while putting all this in... I would hate to order these and then find out they don't fit (depth) in the rear door. I would think 2 5/16 would fit, but I am not really expereinced with this stuff. My big chevy truck had room for just about anything... this car is clearly going to be a bit more tricky! Thanks again for any info you can provide.

cmasten

I left the back mids stock, and driven by the factory amp, I just control its output from the Rockford 3sixty.

I know they are shallow, I can look over the service manual and see if that talks about anything, but the mids in the front were really shallow I am guessing its the same mid driver. The Focals are really slim, they use a very strong magnet and are precession aligned, I would imagine your guys can make them fit, but you wont really know what your getting into until they take the door panels off. The Focals have really nice grilles too so if they need to they can just put in a slim spacer and use the Focal grilles. I considered putting in the 2 or 3 ways in the back doors and may some day, I have another 2 channels free on the Solid 4, but right now it sounds so good from the front that I dont even worry about it, plus I dont have people rocking out in the back, its mainly just me.

jarm

Any pictures anyone of the speakers or install?


jarm

cmasten

I was waiting for my guys to post these.. but I dont see it happening, Ill call them tomorrow and see about getting the shots and just post them myself

cmasten

finally got some of the pics off the camera.

http://gallery.me.com/cmasten#100244...lack&view=grid

few good shots of the separates in the dash, the before and after 6.5 in the front doors, the power and ground (4gauge) from battery area to back, amp rack and sub fiber-enclosure. I also just added the stock drivers so you can see just how crummy they are, the ML are just a touch better.. but not by much, most of the sound is achieved with EQ, delay etcm which is what I am recreating and sculpting with the 3Sixty.

We are still waiting on the 3sixty to finish if off, we got a bad one out of the gate, but I am looking forward to how it will sound balanced, delayed and tuned. Its good now, it will be great once its balanced.

kattawar

cmasten... SCHWEET! Nice pics. Thanks for posting them. I REALLY like the way your sub was installed. Looks like it came that way. I am jealous... I hope to get my focal-project under way sometime late next week with the custom-sound guys here in austin. I am sure your system is thumping... What size sub did you end up going with? Is that a 10"?

kattawar

I noticed you posted the pics of the old speakers? Can you tell if they were of any real quality or are they "your basic paper speaker"? I have heard mixed comments on the existing speakers... ?

cmasten

Thank you, it came out well. I am pleased, cant wait to tune it with the 3sixty. The goal was max, clean sound, but also keep it all looking completely stock which it does. The LS is clearly the quietest vehicle I have ever owned even over my Benz's and that is saying a lot. The noise floor is so low that even matching the inputs and outputs is critical or you will pick up whine or hiss.

The Sub is a 10" JL, if its tuned right its about all the bass I could handle as the interior is so air tight, it just grips you as your driving. Lots of bottom end that you can feel but not necessarily hear, just like you would get at a concert that was well mixed. If you also notice they really did nice job on the facial plates for the 6.5 mid bass drivers up front, that allows them to punch to perfection in their range. My guys took the back apart and took the existing sub out.. what a pathetic piece of technology that was upon further review. The front mids and tweeters were decent, but the 6.5s in the doors and the 10" sub were just pathetic...

cmasten

I have seen a lot of stock drivers in my day, but I have to tell you what Lexus puts in here for the price is a total rip. They are just junk. The intelligence here is they EQ the car and add the time delays to put up the perception they are better then they are. The ML is better , but not even in the same league as a well installed DIY and the DIY will cost you less money.

The drivers I lined up on the work bench with one face up and one face down. I didnt keep them, but the tweeter and mid was fair the mid bass and the sub were just junk...

If your going to put a system together just make sure you utilize a sound processor to unify the gains and EQ out of the head unit, they play with every channel out.. then you can add your amps and add the time delay and EQ the way you like it all balanced out. I am keeping the rear mids just for some simple fill in the back, but have all the synergy up front. Although its kicking in the back too.