Ice

[shiney]

Ok everyone, I'm new so please make allowances.

I've been trawling through the sections but don't seem to be able to find any sections dedicated to In Car Entertainment. Is there one at all?

Anyway, back on topic, I'm looking at installing an upgrade to my current basic stereo and I wondered how people have installled their subwoofers in the boot area? I hae an estate, so I'd particularly like to get some ideas of what people have done with their 850 estates or similar.

Thanks in advance.

[mulletboy2]

There's plenty of options mate, depends how much work you want to go to.

I've got an 854, and gone for cutting a hole out of my spare wheel well, moutning the sub above the wheel well, and venting the sub to the outside - a mounting known as "infinite baffle" (or "free air", if you read max power). There's huge benefits to this type of system, but I'll be the first to admit that not everyone wants to take a jigsaw to their metal work.

Failing that, you could fibreglass a 12" sub into the spare wheel well, in a sealed enclosure, or make a stealth enclosure at the side/rear of the boot. You could mount 8" subs in the rear doors, or a single 8/10/12 in the passenger kickwell, or... well, the options are endless really. You could go nuts and mount a 12" sub IB in the firewall if you wanted to be really clever.

Oh, this is the correct section btw - there's no dedicated ICE section, as there don't seem to be an awful lot of questions on it. Please feel free to ask more though, it'd make my day

HTH

Mark

[t5 stealth]

hi
i got sub in boot

[siamblue]

There's plenty of options mate, depends how much work you want to go to.

I've got an 854, and gone for cutting a hole out of my spare wheel well, moutning the sub above the wheel well, and venting the sub to the outside - a mounting known as "infinite baffle" (or "free air", if you read max power). There's huge benefits to this type of system, but I'll be the first to admit that not everyone wants to take a jigsaw to their metal work.

Failing that, you could fibreglass a 12" sub into the spare wheel well, in a sealed enclosure, or make a stealth enclosure at the side/rear of the boot. You could mount 8" subs in the rear doors, or a single 8/10/12 in the passenger kickwell, or... well, the options are endless really. You could go nuts and mount a 12" sub IB in the firewall if you wanted to be really clever.

Oh, this is the correct section btw - there's no dedicated ICE section, as there don't seem to be an awful lot of questions on it. Please feel free to ask more though, it'd make my day

HTH

Mark

So when the next install issue? we are all awaiting the next instalment

Gary

[shiney]

I've got these parts to go in the car:

Pioneer AVIC-X1R head unit
Pioneer 6 disc CD changer
Pioneer IPOD interface
Pioneer Steering wheel remote and voice control module

Genesis Profile 4 Ultra Amplifier (4 channel)

Focal 130 VR2 Polyglass Component speakers
Focal 130 CV1 Polyglass Co-axial speakers
Focal 27 VR2 Polyglass Subwoofer

My plans are to install the components in the front doors and dash using autoleads adapters and running them from two channels on the amp.

Installing the co-axials in the rear doors via autoleads adapters and running them directly off the headunit for rear infill sound

Fitting the sub somewhere??? and running that off two bridged channels on the amp.

[siamblue]

Hi Paul if you loook at Pedro's posts in the past he has some serious ICE ini his car, 3 12" subs at one stage,

Gary

[shiney]

Hi Paul if you loook at Pedro's posts in the past he has some serious ICE ini his car, 3 12" subs at one stage,

Gary

I just saw that post and I think you'll find that they were 15".
Its obvious that there are a few ICE afficionados (sp?) on here, so I can see myself asking loads of questions soon.

[mulletboy2]

Gary - not sure what the last I posted up here was mate, but I've been up to lots recently. My amp rack is half done.. will hopefully be finishing the rest of the welding this saturday. Sneak peak: http://www.devgeek.co.uk/myphotos/ic...k/dscf0097.jpg

I've got my own section on the ICE Cavern forums now, for my ickle install - http://www.icecavern.com/forum/index.php?showforum=46 . It's not 100% up to date, but there's lots of build pics. The SoundDomain site is now defunct.

I've done a stealth 8" sub in my mate's MGTF passenger kickwell: http://forums.mg-rover.org/attachmen...chmentid=22755 (yep, we need to cover over the bit of wood that's still showing.. main thing is, people can still fit in comfortably, and the sub is completely invisible)

Also been working on door builds for a mate's Citroen Xsara, which are turning out rather tasty.

Oh, and planning my visit to CES in the States (www.cesweb.org), where I'll be picking up my speakers, the remainder of my wiring, and various other bits and pieces. Can't wait

Paul - nice sounding system there Only things I'd advise/advise against are:

1) Don't use autoleads adapters - build up your own baffles, secure them to the door skins properly, then deaden thoroughly. Both for front and rear. Plastic isn't a great mounting medium

2) Don't use the stock position for the tweeters. The polyglass tweets are harsh at best.. putting them up there isn't going to help, particularly firing them off the windscreen. It'll probably wreak havoc with staging/imaging, and may even make your ears bleed, literally I'd either go for a custom a-pillar jobbie (easy job for anyone competent with their hands), or down in the kicks... lord knows there's enough space down there.

FYI: my planned system is pretty similar to yours... Jap spec Pioneer headunit and processor, full Genesis amp array (3 * dual monos, 1 * miniblock and a custom one for headphones), 3-way front end and single sub.

Cheers

Mark

[shiney]

Thanks for the info Mark.

I've ordered and paid for the autolead adapters and had a feeling that they were metal?

Oh well, at least I'll have a decent pattern to work off for each mount then.

Not sure If you're interested, but here's a link to my BMW (http://www.e36coupe.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=51804) and below, you'll see my current install in the M3.

It was like this:




But I changed it to this:






Pictures aren't great as I took them on my phone.

By the way, thats one hell of an amp rack, it looks like its coming on nicely.

[mulletboy2]

Wow, that's a fantastic looking front end install mate, did you do that yourself? If so, you should be very proud - those builds are top!

Glad to have another ICE person on board Shame you're so far away from me, but if you ever need a hand, just say the word

I'm hoping my install will turn out nice... it better had, I've been waiting almost a year to get it all in (so far!)

[shiney]

Wow, that's a fantastic looking front end install mate, did you do that yourself? If so, you should be very proud - those builds are top!

Glad to have another ICE person on board Shame you're so far away from me, but if you ever need a hand, just say the word

I'm hoping my install will turn out nice... it better had, I've been waiting almost a year to get it all in (so far!)

Thanks. I have to admit that I cheated on the front kickwell pods, I bought them in. I was going to make some but in the end, I went and bought somer from a company called Audioscape based in the Ipswich area.

Funnily enough, I'm always up your way as I have many friends from the BMW forum up there. They are based in Sutton Coldfield, Redditch, Kidderminter and Stourbridge. Was actually looking into an ebay buy tonight which I think is from a forum member wobbly dave? He had some shocks and springs etc for sale and was fgoing to try and bid on them all and pick them up when I'm next up there soon.

I've decided on getting some coilovers instead.

[mulletboy2]

Aha, I knew it! lol

If you'd asked me to guess who'd built them, I would have said Audioscape. James' skills are tough to beat. There's probably only 3 or 4 places in the country that consistently produce work of that quality, particularly on the trimming front.

I don't make a habbit of posting my location on forums (for security reasons), but I will say that I live in one of the 4 places you just listed, so meeting up at some point shouldn't be out of the question Yep, Wobbly Dave is an administrator on the forum, and also lives pretty close. We have quit a few members around the area.. perhaps we should sort out a mini meet some time?

You should also know that the forum's primary preferred volvo servicing/mods place is up here too, Volvo Tuning, in Bromsgrove (just off J4/J5 of the M5).

Cheers

Mark

[shiney]

Aha, I knew it! lol

If you'd asked me to guess who'd built them, I would have said Audioscape. James' skills are tough to beat. There's probably only 3 or 4 places in the country that consistently produce work of that quality, particularly on the trimming front.

I don't make a habbit of posting my location on forums (for security reasons), but I will say that I live in one of the 4 places you just listed, so meeting up at some point shouldn't be out of the question Yep, Wobbly Dave is an administrator on the forum, and also lives pretty close. We have quit a few members around the area.. perhaps we should sort out a mini meet some time?

You should also know that the forum's primary preferred volvo servicing/mods place is up here too, Volvo Tuning, in Bromsgrove (just off J4/J5 of the M5).

Cheers

Mark

James and Lee are both great at audioscape, I'm forever in touch with them as I've offered these kickwell pods to other members on the BMW forum after they saw them in my car.

A mini meet sounds good for some time in the new year, but you'll have to give me a chance to start off some of my mods, I can't just turn up with a standard car.

[mulletboy2]

Lee, that's his name... I knew there was a second guy, but couldn't remember it. They're always getting praise on talkaudio.co.uk (a good site for you to check out if you're not already there).

Just a suggestion here, but the normal upgrade route is Stage 0 tune (can't remember where it's detailed, but it's somewhere on this site), then RICA/exhaust/ITG panel filter. The site entitles you to a discount from Volvo Tuning for the above.. I bought mine with RICA already added (from Justin, the site owner) so I don't know the full details, but I love her to bits.

Definitely worth looking through the preferred dealers/independants forum, members discounts etc... and looking in to RICA. The full 304bhp upgrade costs well under a grand IIRC, and will give great bhp/torque improvements. Nookie (my car) hit 308lb/ft torque at the wheels on the dyno day we did, with just the RICA/exhaust/panel filters upgraded (and she's covered slightly higher mileage than yours), and a replacement stock turbo which was fitted a year ago. You can choose from the cheaper 280bhp upgrade, or more expensive 304bhp one.. details are given on the Volvo Tuning website which is linked to in the banner ad at the top of the site. I think you'll find that some people recommend only going for the lower upgrade for higher mileage cars, but as I say, I've not had any problems.

If you do decide to make the journey up and get either done, it would make sense to meet up in the evening, and I'm sure we could sort out a few other forum members for a mini meet

Cheers

Mark

[Martinr]

Mark just about covered it all. One other thing that is well worth adding is the strut brace. Genuine Volvo part costs about £75 and really improves the handling.

[arbee]

back to the ice...
I'm just about finishing a fairly basic install in the Gul, components in the stock locations (i know, i know...) and at the moment, a standard sealed generic box with a cheapie 12" pioneer. single din headuniit running via a 1/2 din equalizer in the glovebox. The amps are installed under the forwardmost boot floor panel and it keeps it nice and tidy. This alsomeans I have an uniterupted boot just by quickly removing the sub box

The amps are 2x 'old skool' phoenix gold jobbies and when the new 2ohm DVC sub comes (slot ported box will be built soon ) one will be running 1ohm bridged. That said, cooling may become an issue (amps are updside down) and so I may have to reposition/box/fan the amps in due course....

Looking forward to getting it running and set up saturday

[mulletboy2]

Sorry for the slight O/T..

arbee - amps upside down, running at a low impedence, and underneath the floor? That's a recipe for disaster mate (if you're planning on running them hard). The old-skool PG amps are great, and some of them can run to silly-low impedences (0.25ohms etc..), but if you do plan on driving them hard, I'd definitely look at getting some ventilation in there.

Could you re-build the panel out of MDF, cover it in acoustic cloth, and install some fans in it? If so, try building walls around the amp. Minimise the volume of air around the amps means that the fans can replace the air in the amp "enclosure" more frequently, which results in more efficient cooling.. which is contrary to what most people's logic would think. I'd put atleast one 8cm fan pushing air in to the enclosure, and atleast one pulling it out.

Good luck anyway mate

Perhaps it's time to ask Justin for an ICE section?

[arbee]

Appologies for the continued o/t talk.....

Yeah I thought you might say that....

They wont be run hard for long so I think i will see how it goes for a bit and monitor the temp down there.... The one that is running 1 ohm is one of those that can reportedly cope with .25 ohm loads (It is the same model as the one Marko is selling on TA - MPS2240 ) so it sont being stretched to its max....

I have some plans if it does require venting - basically, as you suggest - build a tight box enclosure on the underside of the panel. It will be constructed so that the false floor can effectively be made to not quite sit shut. I'll then provide an in and out fan assisted slot type vent along part of the lenght where the panel sits proud of the rest of the boot floor. Although I'd use 8cm fans the gap would not be anywhere near this big as the fans will sit 'Inside' the vent.

This way, If I need the boot for general junk etc i can close the panel completely flush and not crank it up - it may even provide enough cooling using the fans pulling and pushing from the air in the rest of the spare wheel well etc...

Sorry for the slight O/T..

arbee - amps upside down, running at a low impedence, and underneath the floor? That's a recipe for disaster mate (if you're planning on running them hard). The old-skool PG amps are great, and some of them can run to silly-low impedences (0.25ohms etc..), but if you do plan on driving them hard, I'd definitely look at getting some ventilation in there.

Could you re-build the panel out of MDF, cover it in acoustic cloth, and install some fans in it? If so, try building walls around the amp. Minimise the volume of air around the amps means that the fans can replace the air in the amp "enclosure" more frequently, which results in more efficient cooling.. which is contrary to what most people's logic would think. I'd put atleast one 8cm fan pushing air in to the enclosure, and atleast one pulling it out.

Good luck anyway mate

Perhaps it's time to ask Justin for an ICE section?

[mulletboy2]

Cool, sounds good mate

In the config you suggest, a crossflow fan would be more ideal than an axial (regular PC) one... they shift more air anyway, but are much lower in height too. Select Products do them cheaper than Stinger, which are the most common ones: http://www.selectproductsuk.co.uk/se...ml/page98.html

I picked up 6 last time I was in the states though.. $30 a piece (and yep, I will be using them all, sorry ).

HTH

Mark

[arbee]

Cool, sounds good mate

In the config you suggest, a crossflow fan would be more ideal than an axial (regular PC) one... they shift more air anyway, but are much lower in height too. Select Products do them cheaper than Stinger, which are the most common ones: http://www.selectproductsuk.co.uk/se...ml/page98.html

I picked up 6 last time I was in the states though.. $30 a piece (and yep, I will be using them all, sorry ).

HTH

Mark

Cool, yeah I like that fan suggestion! would certainly be more effective! - 6 is just greedy tho!