Hello. I recently purchased a 93 LS400 and I'm currently designing a stereo system for the car. Here are a few things that I have in mind:
1. Sound deaden entire car, including the roof (has anyone ever taken the headliner before? Is it hard to put back on?)
This is mainly to make this quiet car even quieter, and make the stereo sound to it's maximum potential. Please see my webpage for my previous install.
2. 6.5" A/D/S or KEF speakers in the front stock locations. The tweeter will be mounted coaxially along with the speaker so the factory tweeter location will not be used.
3. A single 10" A/D/S or other sub in a fiberglass enclosure firing through the 8" factory sub opening and completely sealed off from the trunk. I'm also considering a JL 10" or 12" free-air sub as a last resort.
4. A Pioneer Premier P1R head unit and in-dash 6 disc changer in the factory location. Also considering making a false faceplate to go over the source unit made out of an old Lexus cassette player if it's not too much trouble.
5. 2 amps under the seats and third mounted somewhere in the trunk?

The key to this install is to keep stealth appearance and produce incredible sound quality at the same time. Right now I have no clue on how to remove door panels, rear deck, factory sub, headliner, etc. Does anyone know if this information is in the Hayne's or Chilton's service manual? I would really appreciate if you guys have any pics of fiberglass rear deck enclosures as well as 6.5" speakers in the front doors. The rear speakers most likely will not be used. Please give me some feedback on what you guys think and if I should do something different to improve the overall design. Here is my old install website.

Thanks
Anton

http://www.cardomain.com/id/sweetsound2001

 

Anton,

You'll need to go over to the local Lexus dealership and take a look at their service manuals. That'll show how to tear down the interior of the car. Haynes or Chilton's will NOT have these available.

Your goals of "maximum potential" are very tough to reach! With well over 20k$ (equipment alone) in my system, I haven't yet reached it. What's your "ceiling limit" to the amount spent?

ads is a nice speaker. Smooth sounding. For maximum resolution I would recommend Dynaudio. I've had the 325im's before (ads) and they were quite nice. But on a subjective evaluation, the ads would still rank a distant second to the Dyns.

P1R is also a good unit. You may want to audition Sony's C90, newer Nakamichi head units and newer Clarion or McIntosh. In terms of subjective sound quality, the Naks and C90's take the cake. Or you could go with one of the flagship systems like the Sony XES Z50, Pioneer ODR (Optical Digital Reference) or even the new Alpine F#1 Status.

Percy
Krell, McIntosh, Dynaudio, Velodyne, Monster M Series, Sony ES, Deflex, Optima
GS400

 

This may not fit into your stealth plans all that well, but the biggest thing I'd do is kickpanels for the comps. Listen to as many sets as possible and decide what you like in your price range. I'm not familiar with the LS, but for maximum SQ, I'd try to squeeze the 10" in the front of the car.

 

hehe...you know you love that Rainbow Pro midbass and you want to trade your ADS for that

BTW...wanna hear something real messed up? When you were auditioning Rick's car his midrange did not play! Yes, the Rainbow Refferences were off...he messed something up due to the prompt install and did not find out about it untill the next day :eek: