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My full Audio install non-ML system

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Old Nov 6, 2015 | 09:04 PM
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Default My full Audio install non-ML system

Thought I would post my audio build here in case anybody is interested. I'm copying and pasting a lot of this over from my build log on diymobileaudio.com

This is a fully active 3-way Scanspeak front stage with a pair of Acoustic Elegance 15" subs installed infinite / trunk baffle.

Here's the full equipment list.
Scanspeak 18WU - midbass
Scanspeak 12M - midrange
Scanspeak D3004/6020 -tweeters
Acoustic Elegance SBP15 Apollo (pair) - Subwoofers
Mosconi 6to8v8 - DSP
Alpine PDX V9 (bridged front stage left-side) 200w x 2 (midrange / tweeter) 500w x 1 (Midbass)
Alpine PDX V9 (bridged front stage right-side) 200w x 2 (midrange / tweeter) 500w x 1 (Midbass)
Alpine PDX M12 - 1200w subs
CLD Tiles from Sound Deadener Showdown
Power / ground wiring and distro blocks are Stinger

The car is a 2014 Lexus IS350 AWD F-Sport with a mild drop on RS-R down springs.



And my goal with this install was to keep it clean, functional and retain the OEM look.
Car came with the standard non-ML audio system which consists of 8 speakers and around 500w total. Front door woofers, dash mids + center, rear doors and rear deck sub. Like previous 2nd gen Lexus audio functions, such as volume, are controlled in the pioneer manufactured amp located in the trunk. This means I'll tap the audio signal post-amp and run them into the DSP. From the research I did I needed to sum the front 4 channels + sub in order to get a full range signal. The Mosconi 6to8 has 6 ch inputs and I'll use 5 of those.

So on to the install. First, 0 guage Power cable was ran from battery to trunk through existing wiring grommet in the firewall located behind the battery. I mounted the fuse holder to the chassis and notched out the plastic battery terminal cover.



Back at the trunk I mounted the amps and DSP in the spare tire wheel well. The distribution blocks for the power/ground are mounted on the under side of the board.



Front L+R door, dash and subwoofer speaker wires tapped at factory amp and routed to the DSP.



I took the Alpine RUX **** apart and mounted it to an empty spot on the dash for sub bass adjustment.



Next up the front door mounted woofers. A shot of the stock door.



Out goes the plastic speakers and in go the Scanspeak 18WU (paper cone version).
The nice thing is they are roughly the same diameter. 7.1" this makes installation go a bit easier.








Baffles screwed together front and back with construction adhesive in between. Painted and coated with truck bedliner spray.



I treated inside of inner and outer doors skins with a moderate amount SDS CLD tiles.
For the larger holes I decided to cover them with some left over RAAMmat deadener I had from my previous audio build.



I attached scotch guard treated grill cloth behind the baffle. It's attached at the top so it will drape over the back of the woofer to help protect it from any water that might get into the door.



Scanspeak 18WU mounted and the door card put back on.


https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5750/2...d405b9c6_b.jpg


This is a shot of the oem 3.5" midrange on the left next to the Scanspeak 12m 4.5" midrange and Scanspeak D3004 tweeter. My goal was to mount them both underneath the factory grill.



Factory location with speaker removed.



Here it is with 12M and D3004 mounted. It was very tight getting both to fit in there. The baffle is made from 1/4" cutting board.



I cut the center portion of the oem grill out, leaving a frame and covered with stinger grill cloth. Still retains the OEM look.



The subwoofer baffle is two pieces thick of birch plywood with a thin layer of construction adheisive in between. Weight is just 7.5 lbs. Not bad for what is essentially the box for two 15" subs. If you never heard about infinite baffle it really is worth doing imo. You save on weight and trunk space. The AE subs play super clean and articulate. Response is flat all the way down to 20Hz and IB only needs about 1/2 the power of sealed boxes. I'm using a 1200w amp but 600w is really all that's needed for these.















How does it all sound? It takes some time to tune and it's still a work in progress but the outcome so far is very good to my ears.


Last edited by gregerst; Nov 6, 2015 at 09:09 PM.
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Old Nov 6, 2015 | 10:25 PM
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Sweet system. My car is a lease so I just kept all factory and added a signal processor with Sub, Amp, and wiring from the battery. The gromet behind the battery was nice lol.

JL Audio HO112-W6v3
JL Audio HD750/1
Remote **** mounted same as yours.
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Old Nov 7, 2015 | 05:52 AM
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Nice clean install. I like how you still have usable trunk space.
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Old Nov 7, 2015 | 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Paulf1
Sweet system. My car is a lease so I just kept all factory and added a signal processor with Sub, Amp, and wiring from the battery. The gromet behind the battery was nice lol.

JL Audio HO112-W6v3
JL Audio HD750/1
Remote **** mounted same as yours.
Thanks. Yeah I was glad to see that I could route 0 gauge through the existing grommet without much trouble.
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Old Nov 7, 2015 | 08:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeremy1976
Nice clean install. I like how you still have usable trunk space.
Thanks. This is the 3rd car where I've installed subs infinite baffle and given the option I wouldn't go back to subs in a box. I'm really a convert when it comes to IB. It sounds better, needs less power, takes up very little room and uses less weight. It's really a no brainer. Two 15's in a traditional reinforced box would need half the trunk trunk or more and probably weigh 75lbs. Any sub that can play in a sealed box can be used in IB. The only real drawback is making a baffle that fits the car and mounting it. But in this Lexus it's not very difficult.
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Old Nov 8, 2015 | 11:17 AM
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Great job!, i wish i could do work like that.
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Old Nov 9, 2015 | 12:37 PM
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Nice job on the system. I have done something similar to my 2014 F Sport. But I am having a issue with a shutdown noise. Did you have that issue. If now could you chat with the guys who installed mine and maybe give them some ideals. We have been trying to trouble shoot the issue.
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Old Nov 9, 2015 | 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Wreckit
Nice job on the system. I have done something similar to my 2014 F Sport. But I am having a issue with a shutdown noise. Did you have that issue. If now could you chat with the guys who installed mine and maybe give them some ideals. We have been trying to trouble shoot the issue.
Turn off pop can be a different things. Commonly it can be a bad ground at the amp or because the amps turn off before a device upstream does, such as a DSP or LOC. If the Amps are still on and the DSP shuts off a loud pop or thump can be sent to the amp and out to the speakers. Solution is to make the amps shut off before any upstream devices. Relays can be used to help with this and is more complicated than it sounds.
But one of the benefits of using High level inputs into the Mosconi DSP is that will sense when to turn on or off based on the signal is sees from the HU. The remote leads on the amps are wired directly to the DSP. The DSP tells the amps when to turn on / off . For example when turning off the car the DSP sees that the music has stopped. So it tells the amps to turn off while the DSP remains on for 30 seconds, the delay is adjustable through the Mosconi application. I have no on / off pop.
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Old Nov 10, 2015 | 10:32 AM
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Great build man! And a very clean look.
You're gonna get some mad bass with that setup.
Do you plan on putting sound deadener on the trunk lid because those huge subs will make the rattling very annoying.
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Old Nov 10, 2015 | 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by 600rr
Great build man! And a very clean look.
You're gonna get some mad bass with that setup.
Do you plan on putting sound deadener on the trunk lid because those huge subs will make the rattling very annoying.
Thanks. I really like the clean stealth look. Especially with the front stage. I've had mids and tweets in custom pillars before and although it sounded great having them in the a-pillars felt a little too in your face and distracting and not to mention visible to every passerby when parked.
With regards to the trunk lid and trunk I did use CLD tiles on it. I think all told I used 3 on the lid, another 3 on the inside of the trunk behind the wheels and 1 or 2 on the rear deck. All cut into smaller pieces and strategically placed of course.
In terms of panel vibrations and rattling the IS is a solid car. Most of the noise actually comes from the rear seats. When the subs are turned way, way up and I"m playing something like Skrillex Right on Time. The foam inside the rear seats will start vibrating back and forth like crazy and it gets pretty loud and annoying. I discovered this by removing the back from the rear seats to see how they were constructed. There's quite a bit of play in there for the foam to move around. I'm not quite sure how I want to deal with it yet but It only happens when I have subs playing near full tilt. I'm not a bass head so most of the time I don't push it hard enough for it to be noticeable but even at moderate volumes I'm sure it's still moving and causing some noise so I'll probably need to look at fixing it sooner than later.

Last edited by gregerst; Nov 10, 2015 at 04:47 PM.
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Old Jan 14, 2016 | 02:19 PM
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Yeeeeaahh that's a lot of work lol
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Old Jan 14, 2016 | 02:25 PM
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It's a lot of work, but I'm rewarded accordingly
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Old Jan 26, 2016 | 06:46 PM
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Very nice build and great pictures. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, buddy!
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Old Mar 11, 2016 | 09:14 AM
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did you do anything with the center speaker? disconnected?
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Old Mar 11, 2016 | 11:20 AM
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Car came with the standard non-ML audio system which consists of 8 speakers and around 500w total.
Oh, thanks for this piece of information I was convinced (read somewhere) that the stock system in this car comes with 13 speakers.

Very interesting photos.

Last edited by Olasek; Mar 11, 2016 at 11:28 AM.
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