Recent content by Octave

Everything mounted and wired up the trim panels could be made. The front trim panel was wrapped in black carpet to match the carpet. Grille openings were made to allow the ports from the enclosure to vent through. The rear trim commanded more attention. The interior design and materials were...

Technically this is the second car I have done for Aaron but the first one I'm posting. Still waiting for his insane M3 to be finished up then I promise a build log of that beast……custom doesn't even begin to cover it. So when Aaron brought in his 2013 CLS 63 AMG he said he wanted it simple. Ok...

With the seats in the "Normal" seating position the enclosure clears them allowing them to fold away without issue. For some install flare the accent trim out for the Arc Audio XDi 1200.6 was mocked from the front cup holder area. The front cup holder area sports a chrome accent ring...

Outside view. The Explorer has a big dash and a big windshield so the pods really don't stick out or hamper the view. Front done the rear mounted subwoofer enclosure and amplifier rack could be attended to. The Arc Audio Xdi 1200.6 is mounted to the top of the enclosure and the Arc Audio PS8...

Between the door dampening and the F.A.S.T. rings I can say the doors have little resonance at regular listening levels and only slight resonance at high volume listening. You would think door mounted 9s would just make a door panel sing but not in this case. Next thing for the front stage was...

With the driver side done the passenger side was next. To add in directing the speaker's energy through the door panels Sound Connection F.A.S.T. rings were used. Their 6x9 models were used for the 9" Elates.

10-24 rivet nuts were used to give secure mounting point for the speaker mounts. The passenger door received the same treatment as the driver's doors. As mentioned before no real modifications were to be made like cutting the speaker opening to allow for mounting of larger midbass...

With everything ran to the rear I worked on the leads that tap into the OEM amplifier for audio signal. The RCA leads were soldered then heat shrunk then heat shrunk again for a clear look. After identifying that the OEM system wiring they were cut, soldered and heat shrunk onto the RCA...

Once the power wire was ran the speaker wire was next to be done. Straight Wire 4/15 TPR speaker cable was used through the install. Passing the wire through the door's molex plug wasn't going to happen so the door speaker leads were cut and soldered onto the new runs. The Morel Hybrid...

It's an honor when certain people take notice of your work. Like when Justin came to me to do a system in his 2014 Explorer. Justin is the a SQ MECA judge in Florida and former SQ/Install champ. So for him to ask me to do a system it was a honor to do so. With Justin being a judge. I give you...

And as a finisher an Octave brand lets you know this is an Octave install. So. On to the impressions. Remember what I said about this car having headroom……well it DOES!! Jerome wanted a system that got down but also could do solid SQ. The combination of Illusion Audio and Arc Audio do just...

When you open the trunk you are greeted with a carpeted panel. To a regular on looker this looks like the trunk of a hybrid since OEM uses a similar panel to hide the batteries for the hybrid. With the center panel removed (held in place with magnets) the beauty beneath can be revealed...

To keep things simple on the front side a simple trim panel wrapped in matching carpet was made. The subwoofer is also able to play through the sky pass for increased bass output. With the enclosure bolted into place the amplifiers could be mounted into place. The Arc Audio 2300se powers the...

The passenger got the same treatment. With the doors done I could now start on the rear. The subwoofer enclosure is mounted to the car using 1/4-20 rivet nuts. The subwoofer enclosure was filled about 50% with Black Hole Stuff enclosure fill. The leads for the Illusion Audio...

Quick disconnects were color coded heat shrunk. Then zip tied. Always use plexiglass to make my mounting rings. Never trust wood especially MDF in a door even its been treated or coated. Moisture will eventually get at it. The wire ends were treated with some solder to stop fraying...