Our first 370Z build.
 

Hello everyone here are pics from our first 370Z project. We did the project in 4 days total from start to finish. I could see that this car has a million possibilities for A/V systems. The client (SRR2449) expressed the need to have a stock appearance and sound amazing. Here are a few pics for you I hope you enjoy.

Radio: Kenwood DNX 8120 (ipod, bluetooth, nav) W/ (steering wheel controls & Boyo VTL351 back-up plate camera.

Front Spk: Hertz HSK163.3 (6.5" midbass, 3" midrange, 1" softdome tweets)

Subs: JL 10w1V2-8 (2) sealed box in spare tire well.

Amp: Audison LRX 3.1k ( 3ch amp 170x2 & 750 x1) custom amber logo and end caps and center trim painted white to match.

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that looks awesome! pics of the nav and the rear view videofeed on the lcd?

hi5 to life. very clean. an almost exact setup that i want.

Nice. So the 3" mids will fit in the factory tweeter location, cool. What are the crossover points please? Is the tweeter mounted in the pillar next to the mid location?

John

Wow. That is sick. You guys have set the standard for what I want my install to be. It's too bad you're across the country, or I'd see if you could just do this again.

Do you mind my asking how much it was? I'm just trying to gauge how much that would cost me out here...

The HL70 requires a lil modification to the dash. Nothing major. The tweets are about 1 " above the mids. The X-over points are:

Tweet 4.5K
Midrange 450hz-4.5K
Midbass 450hz-40hz
Subs 50hz

Kenwood DNX8120 has EQ and time correction in it. The car images and stages like crazy!

Thx. Well price would depend on your choice of equipment and the level of fit and finish you want in your system.

Thanks! Would I be correct the dash mod you speak of is under the factory grill, and not visible once the grill is re-installed?

John

Yes the mod is under the grill. There are 4 alignment tabs for the 2.5" square speaker and the opening for the speaker has to be enlarged. We wrapped the pillar and dash grill in black grill cloth so that they blend in like factory.

Jeff,

When should I come back in so we can get everything tweaked just right? I have been running the speakers a lot this week.

-Sean

Excellent job! Two of my favorite things in this install are a. Stealthiness of the install. Two thumbs way up :tup::tup: . b. change the color of the audison led to match the interior accent. It shows your attention to detail.

srr2449, enjoy the system and feel free to write a review (or post a video) of the system.

Jeff, as the custom install manager, what do you think about a custom enclosure that will fit inside the spare tire itself, for those of us that don't want to remove the spare. Something that would fit an 8" or 10" sub like the new slimline Pioneer series?

John

I personally think that the better choice is going to be removing the foam in the cavity just in front of the spare tire below the strut bar and installing a JL 6W3 ported in that location. It will rock the house! I just need another local car here to test this in. There is enough roon there to install amp and sub. Without going need the spare at all!

Saturday will be good.

Awesome install, great job on the dynamatt too. I wish I could cut better and had to tools to do that stealth install. Overall killer install and an Audison amp, SQ FTW!

man, the car looks really great. too bad i can't hear the results.

Hello Jeff. I have never heard of three way components. All the components at Crutchfield are 2 way (this is where i usually reference equipment i see on the web). How do 3ways compare to the 2 ways, and is there a big difference? I would think there would be a fuller range of sound. If you don't mind me asking you can you advise on some other 3 way Components, and how much and where the hertz speakers were purchased? After doing some looking around I found this set 2009 DLS UP36 3-Way 6.5' Component System which consists of a 6.5" and a 2.5" and a 1.1" tweeter.
http://www.dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_71
I've never heard of this brand nor Hertz, but they look like high quality speakers.

Unfortunately I already purchased the JL C5-650 components before i saw this thread. How do you think these 2 ways would sound in comparison?

Thanks

David the Hertz HSK163.3 3 way's sound amazing! 75% of your sound stage will rise from the dash and not from the doors like in a conventional 2 way set with high x-over points. The only way I could see a 2 way set coming close to this sound would be a large soft dome tweeter with x-over point around 1.8-2.8k The other benefit to this system is that Kenwood DNX8120 has separate front 13 bands and rear 13 band eq's with Time correction for speaker placement. Now step back and look at the system that I installed for SRR2449 and I'm gonna clue you in on a little secret. The rear speakers in this car are worthless (IMO) disconnect them. Using a 3 ch amp like the audison LRX3.1k allowed to to take the front L rca and connect it to the Left front input of the amp. Then take the right rear and run it into the right front input of the amp. This gives you independent left and right eq for the best possible SQ tuning!

Now this I am very interested in! Being able to keep the spare AND have a stealth sub setup so I don't loose trunk space. Please keep us informed when you have tackled this project.

John

Assuming all that you've done here, same equipment, etc...

As far as adding a 6W3 - would it be worth doing that if you *also* have the bigger woofer in the spare location? A sort of more-detailed mid-base woofer?

Thanks for taking time to answer questions!

Hello Jeff. Thanks alot for this information but I am kinda lost on a few points here. You mention that the kenwood dnx8120 has separate front and rear bands;however, you are not using the rear ones correct? Also you mentioned that it has time correction. If this is the case do you feel that we could add a set of rear speakers and use this time correction?

The part about the 3ch amp, I do not really understand this. Are you using the third channel? Can you ellaborate more about the inputs going into the amp. what happens to to the right front input coming from the head unit? and the left rear input from the head unit?

Also, can you let me know where and for how much i could get a set of the Hertz 3 ways.

I try not to quote prices over the internet because custom shops charge differently due and prices on equipment and customer relationships. But I can say that SRR2449 got a great deal.

As far as having 2 sub woofer systems I seriously doubt that you would want both. The 6w3 set-up has worked with great results in many Porsche 911 installs that we have performed. Now there may be enough room to install a shallow 10" sub in the spare tire itself but it may not give the best desired low bass effects.

Thanks Jeff. I was really just trying to get a ball park figure to see if it was in my price range. I didn't really want to be spending more than 400 for a set of component speakers, but I am pretty sure they would run more than this. I called up one shop and they gave me a price of 600. I am not sure if this is high or what not but i'm thinking for now I'll wait on these though they look really nice in you install. I was wondering for the pillar. Did you actually drill out all the little holes and then wrap it with the grill cloth? Also the black stuff holding the tweeters in place, is this like black hot glue? I really appreciate all your input and help. I still do not quite understand what you were trying to say about the three channel amp though. Now that I've given it some thought, I am assuming that the right front signal and left rear signal are not being used? I understand if you rather not go into detail about that.

David I'll send you a PM later.

Awesome work Jeff. The looks OEM. Congrats to the owner. :D

Where in ATL? I have a buddy that is big into car audio. He lives in the dunwoody area.

Chris

I do not understand this explanation, can you expand please.

What do you mean that the tweets are 1" above the mids???? I am a little lost....sorry.

the mids are in the dash.... and the tweeters are int he pillar which are about 1" above the dash.

Sound Sensations in Marietta

This is correct!

Could the factory tweeter covers have been left without the added grillcloth and still look stock, no modifications needed to the covers? And could the pillers have been left stock with no cloth wrap as well, just a small grill cover for the tweeter? Thanks.

John

I am curious about this as well. In my car there is no place for a tweeter in the pillar, you would have to cut into the pillar.

Yes the grill cloth could have been left off but the aesthetics of the car from stock made the grill cloth blend so much better. If you look at the roof of your car it's dark grey/charcoal grill cloth style headliner material. The factory plastic is black so it just made sense to add the grill cloth. Seeing speakers to me is uncalled for. I don't like for people to know where the sound is coming from but for them listen with their ears and not their eyes. I've been doing car audio since 1990 and judging and competing since 1993. The easiest way to teach someone about soundstage and imaging is to get them into a car where you cant see any speakers and ask them where the sound is coming from and to explain the sound of what they hear....As in depth, ambience, focus of what they hear.

Thanks. I am an audiophile, have been for about 30 years (old fart :icon17: ), so I am a little knowledgable about soundstage and imaging. Your install looks fantastic, didn't mean to sound critical of the added grill cloth. I have a tendancy to be a stickler about maintaining the stock appearance. Pictures can only do so much. I imagine in person it looks even better. Atlanta is only a 4 hour drive for me. Another reason I've asked so many questions, is that when the time comes, I would prefer someone with a high level of experience like you to do my install.

John

No harm taken man just trying to go into depth to explain the reasons behind my audio madness!

Smiles, I appreciate all the shared advice and experience you impart.

John

Hello Jeff. I would just like to say thanks for all the helpful information that you have shared with us on this particular install. I really liked how it turned out and used the idea of wrapping the pillar and front grill with speaker cloth. The cloth is a bit different than what you used and I had to cut out holes for the tweeters. Although, I am only an installer by hobby and my work is not nearly as professional as yours I am happy with the results I was able to achieve with your helpful information. I hope to post some pictures later. Btw I did get those 3 way DLS speakers. They were a bit of a pain to install but I managed.

There was one thing. Currently I'm using the pre-existing wiring for the speakers in the door. I had difficulty pulling out the plug that goes from the door into the car. Is there a trick to do this. I know that there is a lever that you pull down but i still could not pop it off. I would like to run thicker speaker wire to that 6.5" woofer.

Thanks,
David

The door molex plug is easy there is a push style locking tab on side facing away from you. Push it in to release the lever and the lever will come down. You will have to drill out the plastic on the empty side of the harness in order to run larger gauge wire into the door. I ran Stinger 16 ga into my door.

Just out of curiousity - was there a reason you didn't go with 10W3 or 10W6 subs other than cost?

The depth of the other woofer would have pushed the box and trim above the ledge of the hatch area.

aHA! Thanks!