Ok, update for the weekend, I woke up in not much better shape than yesterday, so again woodworking was out and I just decided to finish up the interior and get it just right.
There's not many pics here, mainly because the last round of shots you saw told the whole story. But I did rearrange the processor and distribution block on the driver's side, and I think it looks a lot better overall. I also have much easier access to the critical "microphone" port to do calibration/tuning for the MS8, so that's a plus.
Here's the results, pardon the tight quarters and meh shots here, but essentially that's what you get when you install your gear under the seats....they pretty much just disappear.
This is with the seat all the way forward
A little anti-climatic, I know.
But fear not, at some point new carnage from the attempt at installing 8" midbass in the doors will result soon. Maybe next weekend if I'm lucky.
In case you were wondering, all this interior work had a serious payoff. With this teardown and rebuild, I was able to change the wiring so the 4ch amp now powers the pillars and the doors, whereas the MS8 powers the center, and the rears. This change gives the pillars WAY more power and they use it well.
The center is a pretty efficient setup compared with the pillars, just due to the cone area and the speaker's design. Yes, they are all from the Dayton RS family of speakers, but they have different efficiencies.
The crossovers all do their job and do it well. Each speaker is responding properly and playing the frequencies intended. The stage is more anchored, more realistic, and the speakers "disappear" from the system because they are no longer playing outside of their intended, optimal ranges where distortion is least. In effect, they just reproduce the sound stage as they are supposed to.
I must say, the XT60 connectors were a good choice, and I'll be using them again and again in the future. I had no problems soldering them on, other than it all being a little tedious and I needed to use my "helping hands" tool (a jig with needle clamps and a simple adjustable armature.) Really good product and they made installing the crossovers into the system a breeze.
Right now, the system is by far the best sounding car I've built. Is it best sounding I've heard? No but I haven't put $3000 worth of speakers in the front stage, either. In fact, I haven't even put 1/10th of that. Pretty amazing for the money I have spent, but I do admit if time is money then this build would be worth a lot.
Auditions are always welcome!
