Car Stereo Installs

[A1337STI]

Hello All,

yep i'm trying to pick your brains again for Info .

I'm wondering what stereo shops people recomend for really clean professional car audio work. I had my last system installed by Sound Solutionz and i was not 100% sastified. I didn't haggle over the price but it was a tad on the high side. paid $800 for a $250 subwoofer, wiring harness, power wire, ground, 3 Sets of shielded RCA's , other misc wires. I had a head unit installed, 2way component sets installed front and Back, a custom box made, amp racks , capacitor , distrobutition block. think that's everything

anyways The box they made me was a bit leaky , and the sides were not put together well (spaces in the wood work) They cracked something inside of my WRX stock 6-disc player (on the display) you could only see it with certain lighting conditions (didn't realize it until a few days after i put the stereo back to stock. and i'm pretty a very very small chip in my paint juts below the trunk was from them as well and they wouldn't own up to it when i was telling them i was fairly sure the car i had just bought a week ago didn't have that (it was about 1/4 the area of a pea maybe, very small)

Anyways Unique Sounds in Carson City has given me a good quote for a full install with custom box / amps mounted ($350 ish ) . I also checked area 51 audio, but a friend of mine had a really bad experiance there. (they also quoted the work at about $400 )
thanks

[M3n2c3]

There's always Best Buy. . .

[Bob Danger]

I trust nobody by myself.

[doubleurx]

Phil (day of pain) is the man with the install info.

[A1337STI]

cool i'll have to bug him then .

considering my woofer is 20 lbs. should i try to have this as far front in the trunk as possible ? would it make a difference in handling if the speaker is in the rear left corner (oposite side as the IC spray tank) i'm kinda thinking it will make a small but maybe not noticible different in handling .

Also the guy at Unique Sounds says they can do fiber glass enclosures, i could get a box installed where my spare tire is so that the weight would be centered and low (course then i won't be keeping a spare in my car)

[A1337STI]

So really though? not 1 person on here has any clue about the best placement for a big heavy object in the trunk ? Assuming you HAD to add a 25 lbs object into your trunk that could be fully secure as not to slide around , Where would you place said object?

Closest to the rear seat ? closest to the bumper ? center ? left ? right? i'm guessing i want it centered left/right, and all the way up to the rear seat. but maybe the spare tire area is best ?

if i only wanted to guess and use my own lack of knowledge i wouldn't be posting/asking. Someone here should know, or should i ask on nabisco?

[Kevin M]

It doesn't really matter where, as long as it's securely mounted and won't shift around. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the car's handling no matter where you put it in the trunk.

[Bob Danger]

A 25lb object is not going to make a difference in the weight distribution in a 3000lb car. Besides you don't plan on racing with subs and an amp in your trunk, do you?

[sperry]

Put it here. But it's pretty silly to be worried about where the weight goes when you're *adding* it to a car that's got no weight reduction or corner balancing...

If you're really concerned about weight distribution, get some coilovers and have the car corner weighted. That will make about 10,000 times more difference than picking a corner of a trunk to add a sub/amp to.

[doubleurx]

So that battery location is for shocking your trunck prinsoners in the wheel well?

[Kevin M]

Shock The (trunk)Monkey.

[tysonK]

^jesus christ kevin.

[Double Phister]

Originally Posted by sperry

Put it here. But it's pretty silly to be worried about where the weight goes when you're *adding* it to a car that's got no weight reduction or corner balancing...

If you're really concerned about weight distribution, get some coilovers and have the car corner weighted. That will make about 10,000 times more difference than picking a corner of a trunk to add a sub/amp to.

doesn't that battery need a sealed encosure with a vent?

[Kevin M]

No, because it's not in the passenger compartment. Scott, remove your trunk from your passenger compartment.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by R4ND0M_AX3

doesn't that battery need a sealed encosure with a vent?

The rule for SM is that the battery needs to be out side of the passenger compartment, which is anywhere behind the rear seats. SM says nothing about battery boxes.

The GCR though requires the battery to be either in a sealed enclosure, or a dry-cell battery, as well as bolted down independently of any enclosure.

Since I've got a dry-cell Optima, I should be fine in both SM and Trials with it bolted to the trunk in that location.

[A1337STI]

Once i get a fiber glass box built into my trunk, and all my amps and stuff mounted. Yes i'm going to leave it all in there for autoX/RallyX the alternatives are just not appealing at all. either driving 3+ hours with no stereo (down from tahoe, and back up) and not to mention the removal of 2 amps (3 sets of RCA + audio 5 channels) Capacitor, etc, guess i could remove some of the gear down there, but i don't like the idea of a few thousand in stereo gear just hanging out , its just too easy to walk off with an amp (and they don't make phoenix gold amps in the usa anymore)

guess if the 25 lbs won't matter i'll just go for show/ trunk space install then

i was kinda thinking some bass hits would make my car go faster , or does playing loud music bump you up a class ? hehehe j/k i'll want to be driving with my stereo turned off (and i suspect its a rule no stereo's turned on) , and my windows open a slight bit (to better hear any out of the car noises, etc)

[cody]

Ideally you'd want to have a heavy object as close to the back seat as possible. The closer heavy objects get past the wheels in the front or the back, the more likely they are to affect handling.

I keep my amp and door speakers mounted and just remove the sub from the trunk for events. The stereo still works as long as I remember to tape the sub's speaker wires so they don't make contact with themselves or a ground.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

Ideally you'd want to have a heavy object as close to the back seat as possible. The closer heavy objects get past the wheels in the front or the back, the more likely they are to affect handling.

I keep my amp and door speakers mounted and just remove the sub from the trunk for events. The stereo still works as long as I remember to tape the sub's speaker wires so they don't make contact with themselves or a ground.

On a car that's about 60/40 f/r weight bias, you *want* weight behind the rear tires because that helps bring the weight bias closer to 50/50 the most. Adding weight over the rear axle, or worse in front of it, doesn't help as much.

The reason battery relocations are usually done to the extreme right rear of the car is so they help the f/r bias the most, as well as offset the weight of the driver on the left side of the car.

[cody]

That makes sense. Especially since Alex doesn't have an upgraded rear sway.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by Cody

Ideally you'd want to have a heavy object as close to the back seat as possible. The closer heavy objects get past the wheels in the front or the back, the more likely they are to affect handling.

Originally Posted by sperry

On a car that's about 60/40 f/r weight bias, you *want* weight behind the rear tires because that helps bring the weight bias closer to 50/50 the most. Adding weight over the rear axle, or worse in front of it, doesn't help as much.

The reason battery relocations are usually done to the extreme right rear of the car is so they help the f/r bias the most, as well as offset the weight of the driver on the left side of the car.

You're both right in principle, it just depends on the car and what kind of course you're going to be racing on. You don't want a lot of weight hanging out beyond the axles, especially when you're going through lots of quick transitions (read: auto-x), because it increases polar moment of inertia and the car won't rotate as quickly. On the other hand, static weight distribution has a huge effect on steady state handling balance and the further back you place a weight the more it will change the weight distribution. This is usually going to be more advantageous for larger tracks (read: road courses), where you're going to be spending time in a lot of relatively long sweepers.

YMMV.

[A1337STI]

wow Thanks !!! so as with many things how far back the weight goes is a trade off. better for long sweepers, but worse for quick transitions. (sounds like rear left would be a definate no no, since my weight is on the left side as well)
i'll have to plan out the stereo area carefully, and maybe i'll use extra fuses as well.

[SpecB#127]

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

I trust nobody by myself.

+1 for doing it yourself, but I have always had good luck with Exotic Car Audio in Carson City.

[JonnydaJibba]

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

I trust nobody by myself.

I don't even trust you.

[A1337STI]

I stumbled across this http://sparetirebox.com/gallery/gall...e%20Tire%20Box

which seems like a good solution, still cuts down on your trunk size, but it leaves whats left of your tunk safe for every day use throwing in bags, coolers, boots, etc. course now i'm thinking of adding a 2nd 12" ... hmmf. (the bass hits help your understeer, if you time them right, er something)
here's my last 100 + lbs box.

btw if anyone wants this box , and amp mounting boards i'de probably give it away for free. the box had about 2.8 cubic feet of airspace until i glued in about 1.8 cubic feet of wood, (that's why its so heavy, you could probably knock/ tear out the blocks of wood) and it would lighten up a lot. and or just remove it for autoX / track use .