Trying to plan my audio installation, would love some guidance! (first post!) - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

TheDalton · 04-20-2013, 04:03 PM

Wall of text warning!
Hey everyone,

I've recently bought a 2013 Camaro and I'm trying to plan my audio setup. I've been lurking the forums for about a week and researching everyone's installs. I'll start by giving some details about myself and what I'm looking for, then hopefully I'll get some great advice/feedback from the more experienced guys here.

To start, I would like to keep my subs and amp.
Subs - Two Fi Q12 http://store.ficaraudio.com/q12/ (mine are ~5 years old)
Amp - SAZ-1500D (first version - again ~5 years old)

Experience: In ~2008 I installed a 300A alternator + these subs/amp + built a fiberglass box that formed to the trunk well of my 86 IROC.

What I want (I think)
I'd like to have a stealth enclosure box on both the driver and passenger side of the trunk. I know ******** sells a large driver side box, but I do not see anything for the passenger side. It seems like there is enough space to build one - but if ******** hasn't done it yet then there must be some issue I don't see. I'd probably mount my amp on the back of the rear seats.

Now as far as mids/highs go, here is where I'll probably get some flack.
I will admit that I'm a younger guy (23) and a bit of a basshead. I don't yet have an ear for tuning and SQ. For example, to my untrained ear, the factory sounds pretty good (I don't even have the Boston acoustics package).
I'd love some tips in this area, maybe recommend a song to listen to on a factory and aftermarket system and point out things to listen for?

Headunit
I do want to get the scosche kit and a double din dvd player headunit (don't really care about navigation, it'd be nice but the extra ~$300 is rough). I'm assuming adding an aftermarket HU will make the factory system sound better, which would be awesome to my untrained ear. If this isn't the case, I may just keep the factory HU.
I have no clue which headunits are good, never had a DVD headunit. Any thoughts or recommendations here?

Sound deadening
In my IROC, I only used 3M Double Sided Foam Tape to stop rattling in the doors and some panels. I'm pretty sure I did something with the license plate as well but that was it. I couldn't afford dynamat or anything at the time.
What do you guys think is essential for sound deadening? Road noise does bother me a lot but from reading another post to do the job "right" (vinyl sound barrier under the carpet, 25% coverage with CLD strips on the hood and door panels, foam layers on the hood and door panels, and dynamatting the trunk) costs ~$750 in materials (unless I did the math wrong when adding up everything he ordered)
Reference: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/ (From what I've seen, this looks like the "right" way to do it)
So again, which of this is essential (I'm sure the trunk has to have some kind of treatment, for example)

Electrical
Never had a car with a battery in the trunk - I had 0 gauge wire in my IROC that I still have ~15ft left of. Do I need to replace the factory wiring from the alternator to the battery? I have no clue what gauge it is.

TL;DR
I'm putting in two 12"s and one amp, I don't know much about SQ - infuse me with your wisdom.

Thanks to everyone who actually reads this gigantic post. This install will be a lot of money to me and I want to be happy with it for a long time.

mattyjman · 04-21-2013, 01:41 AM

first, i wouldn't "wish" to be someone that has a critical ear in music... it becomes expensive really quick, and it irritates you when things don't sound right... hence, the not wanting to develop that.

i can't comment on everything, because a lot of what you are asking is subjective.

i'm sure the amp and sub combo will work out just fine, and there is plenty of space on both sides of the trunk to do fiberglass enclosures. check out my build log, i should have some pics on there. as for the battery, this is a good thing. this means you don't have a spend a crap ton on wiring. 1 4 guage fused should do you just fine if you are only adding one amp. factory wiring on it is just fine... looks to be about 1/0 gauge too.

as for the sq music, critical ear thing, it may be that you don't listen to the type of music that is recorded well. tracks that are recorded and mastered have high dynamics, and spacial staging... by that i mean that if the artist walks on the stage from left to right, you should hear that in your music.

that's the whole point of this thing called stereo... it puts an image in front of you. picture a band playing a bunch of instruments. where they are sitting is where the sound should be eminating from. so, when it come to car audio (well, at least the nuts like me) the objective (also including the obvious stuff like tonality, equality, crisp and well defined sound) is to have the sound stage in your car the same as it would be in your listening room. the center of your car should be the center of the stereo image. it should also be above the dash, somewhere around the middle of your windshield. really good systems will project the "image" to be past the windshield, and extending outside of the side pillars.

that's more of the technical aspect that goes into stereos....

but for what you need, if you can't tell a difference, no harm no foul and be thankful for that.

however, if you did want a cheap way to train your ear, buy a decent pair of headphones (not Beats type headphones), turn on some well recorded stuff like Live Dave Matthews Band, close your eyes, and try to imagine the sound stage. imagine the instruments. do they sound like they would if you were at the concert? can you tell between instruments that are left or right of center?

Audiotechnica MT50 headphones are great, and cheap too, only 150. (sound better than beats too)

so, theory aside, i digress...

when i sold stereos, I always pushed the subs first. it, for some reason seems to make the most difference and impact on a factory system... something about filling out the bottom end seems to always make a smile.

if that doesn't suit you and you still want more, i'd buy an amplifier, and put it on the factory speakers if you can't afford new ones at the same time. an aftermarket amp, in most cases, will make more of a difference than changing out the head unit. Unless some functionality that you do want isn't in the factory system, it's money wasted in my eyes getting a deck now a days - especially when so many things are tied in with the factory HU's. But I wouldn't blindly assume that the HU is going to make a huge difference... normally what does is that the new HU has more power - you can negate that by getting an amp - which you'll probably do anyway.

lastly, sound deadening. you might be referencing my build... i haven't seen anyone else on here use mlv and ccf, in conjunction with the common dynamat.

the question you need to answer here is what do you want the "deadening" to do. what's the desired result? if it's just to keep things from rattling, often times its cheaper and much easier to diagnose rattles and address them as they arise than to rip out your entire car to lay down sheet after sheet of deadener, only to realize you still have rattles.

if you goal is to get the car quiet - eliminating road noise (well, as much as possible), yeah, you are going to spend a lot. if its to keep vibrations down, then do some on the trunk lid, address the pressure flaps in the trunk, and keeps some handy for when issues do arise.

hopefully this is helpful... i haven't really told you what to do... just some concepts behind some of your questions.

if it were me in your situation, based on your initial comments, i'd just add the subs and amp, and see how it does. if you want better clarity and dynamics all the way around, then add speakers and an amp for them. that usually does enough for the average joe.

matt

TheDalton · 04-21-2013, 12:07 PM

Thank you Matt, awesome response!

Your post is extremely helpful and is exactly what I was hoping to get - someone with more experience sharing their thoughts.

I think you're right about the type of music, when I was 16-19 I listened to mostly rap just for the bass pretty much. I'm over it now (I am still a huge Eminem fan though ;p) and looking to broaden my tastes so I will definitely take your recommendation on listening to a live Dave Matthews Band performance to try to pick up on the staging.

Are some youtube videos high enough quality for this? It'd be cool to see their locations on video and match it up to the sound I'm hearing.

Thanks for your advice about the head unit also - to be honest, I didn't really understand the post about modifying the PAC to run the input wire for the amplifier. I've only had to "plug n play" pre amp outputs on the back of an aftermarket HU. I need to reread that post.
Does this method sound as clear as the pre amp outputs?
Will I be able to add a second amp for the factory speakers in the future?

And yes, I am referring to your build about the sound deadening. I am extremely jealous of the sound deadening you did. I do not have an ear for "clear, crisp mids and highs" but I do unfortunately have an ear for the slightest little rattle + road noise. If I can find good MLV locally(to try to mitigate shipping costs) I will definitely go the route you did. And if I can save $700-800 by not getting the scosche kit + new HU then I won't feel as guilty dropping so much into sound deadening.
I'd really like to do this, have you been able to drive it yet with the carpet and panels back in to notice the difference?

Again, thanks for your response. You've helped a lot already!

SSMickey · 04-21-2013, 12:26 PM

There is just as much room on the right side of the trunk as there is on the left...however, to get it, you must relocate a fuse panel that is behind the carpet. IMO, that is why ******** does not make a large enclosure for the right side. To much work for most people.

Steve@Subthump · 04-21-2013, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSMickey

There is just as much room on the right side of the trunk as there is on the left...however, to get it, you must relocate a fuse panel that is behind the carpet. IMO, that is why ******** does not make a large enclosure for the right side. To much work for most people.

The gas fill tube is also on that side. Both that and the fuse panel take up a lot of space that you don't realize unless you actually look behind the carpet.

TheDalton · 04-21-2013, 06:10 PM

Thanks for the warning, I finally got brave enough to take the carpet off (I've been pretty awesome at breaking rivets in the past) and did see the fuse box you mentioned.

The fuse box doesn't seem like (hopefully) a mounting depth issue though right, more of a volume issue? It looks far enough to the left to not be a problem.

Seems like the easiest way to get what I want is to buy a ******** box from you Steve for the driver's side and then trying to replicate that with a fiberglass box on the passenger side.

Will the boxes sound bad together if they're different - one being 1.2 ft^3 and all MDF while and the other maybe .8-1 ft^3 and being fiberglass? Fi recommends .8-1.5 ft^3 for each sub.

mattyjman · 04-21-2013, 06:58 PM

I'm not sure what space issues you guys are talking about...

left:

right:

the wheel wells are shaped differently but as far as something being "too" far in the way to build a fiberglass box... i've seen much worse.

Dalton,
If you do go the route of making one, buying the other (i'm a DIY guy so I'd just do both... I'm a big fan of quality control... I get to control it

) then you would have difference in the sound response of each sub given that each enclosure would be difference airspace... however, that's an easy fix.

the enclosure that bigger than the other, throw some items in there (excess wood material works great) to reduce the volume of the enclosure to match the other.

as for enclosure volume itself, i'd be surprised if you couldn't get at least 1 cube out of the passenger side of the car.

mattyjman · 04-21-2013, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDalton

Thank you Matt, awesome response!

Your post is extremely helpful and is exactly what I was hoping to get - someone with more experience sharing their thoughts.

I think you're right about the type of music, when I was 16-19 I listened to mostly rap just for the bass pretty much. I'm over it now (I am still a huge Eminem fan though ;p) and looking to broaden my tastes so I will definitely take your recommendation on listening to a live Dave Matthews Band performance to try to pick up on the staging.

Are some youtube videos high enough quality for this? It'd be cool to see their locations on video and match it up to the sound I'm hearing.

Thanks for your advice about the head unit also - to be honest, I didn't really understand the post about modifying the PAC to run the input wire for the amplifier. I've only had to "plug n play" pre amp outputs on the back of an aftermarket HU. I need to reread that post.
Does this method sound as clear as the pre amp outputs?
Will I be able to add a second amp for the factory speakers in the future?

And yes, I am referring to your build about the sound deadening. I am extremely jealous of the sound deadening you did. I do not have an ear for "clear, crisp mids and highs" but I do unfortunately have an ear for the slightest little rattle + road noise. If I can find good MLV locally(to try to mitigate shipping costs) I will definitely go the route you did. And if I can save $700-800 by not getting the scosche kit + new HU then I won't feel as guilty dropping so much into sound deadening.
I'd really like to do this, have you been able to drive it yet with the carpet and panels back in to notice the difference?

Again, thanks for your response. You've helped a lot already!

I wrote a response earlier today, pretty lengthy, and then my browser took a dump on me... so, here we are round 2, and unfortunately, you are going to get the cliff notes version.

music tastes evolve as you start to understand the complexities - and start trying to identify them in the music. i used to be a pretty big bass head, still am to a large degree, but I enjoy a widely varying musical genres. from classical to jazz, to rap to easy listening, to new age to alternative rock... anything that tells me the artist put some thought into the music... i like.

for staging... an easy song to pick the cues up on is from Alice in Chains - the MTV unplugged version. Check out the Video

, and then find a quality recording for it, and try to see how various stereo's stage. listen to it on your headphones, home theater, and then in your car. how does all this sound? Could you tell a difference not only in the staging, but also in the clarity and crispness moving from one to the other?

As for the HU, I can't help you much there. I don't know much about it. What you would want to find is what kinda signal it outputs, and if it's a clean signal without an EQ from the factory? If it's strong, and clean, then there isn't really a point to get an aftermarket HU, unless there is some functionality that you want that you don't currently have.

good luck with your plans.

JimE · 04-22-2013, 07:48 PM

The driver side box from ******** follows the contours of the wheel well (which is vast different on the passenger side). The fuse panel is also mounted at the rear of the squared off wheel well. That is what is being referred to.

So yes, you can put the box on that side, but to get the same size box, it will need to stick out further into the trunk.

You could always start with a single sub (drivers side) and see how you like the sound. I'm not as hard core as many of the stereo guys seem to be, but the large box kit from ******** has a lot of bass. I'm very happy with mine.

jhiiidoc · 04-22-2013, 08:28 PM

Sub-thump has both drivers and passenger side boxes. The passenger side box is only good for a 10", so I used both a 12" on the left and a 10" on the right.

As far as head units, I would ditch the factory unit for any aftermarket hu that has all the features you want without busting your budget. Factory hu are designed to attenuate bass frequencies as the volume goes up because the stock amps are cheap and do not produce clean power, and high volume with high distortion will quickly destroy a speaker...same reason why putting better speakers on a stock stereo only yields nominal results. The BA system does better than most, but it still falls short.

I did the stealth upgrade from sub thump. Worked great, but when I pulled the head unit and installed a Pioneer Nav unit, that really got the system closer to where I wanted it...and now with the the 10" and a separate amp powering just the subs, the system has both the sound quality and the bass to keep a smile on my face.

mattyjman · 04-22-2013, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhiiidoc

As far as head units, I would ditch the factory unit for any aftermarket hu that has all the features you want without busting your budget. Factory hu are designed to attenuate bass frequencies as the volume goes up because the stock amps are cheap and do not produce clean power, and high volume with high distortion will quickly destroy a speaker..

while i don't disagree with this, I want to clarify that it's not a "one size fits all" type solution. some HU's don't do a damned thing to the signal, so there is no benefit, none, to upgrading the HU for sound quality if you plan on using an amp.

it's better to check and see what's happening at the factory deck before making an assumption that "all" factory HU's do this...

jhiiidoc · 04-22-2013, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattyjman

while i don't disagree with this, I want to clarify that it's not a "one size fits all" type solution. some HU's don't do a damned thing to the signal, so there is no benefit, none, to upgrading the HU for sound quality if you plan on using an amp.

it's better to check and see what's happening at the factory deck before making an assumption that "all" factory HU's do this...

While I never said "all"....most, even high end factory systems, do.

As I said, I had the factory deck with the sub thump stealth system that added a five channel amp in place of the stock amp...dramatic improvement to the stock BA system (which the OP does not have)...but the hu still limited bass response at high volume...I went with my Pioneer unit because I wanted in-dash nav, and the bass response across the entire volume spectrum was improved. So I'm not speculating...the difference was obvious at moderate volume levels...

JL audio makes a signal processor specifically to deal with the built in processing of factory head units.

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Mobil...essors&tp=6870

I wouldn't recommend a change in the hu unless there was an advantage to be had. The OP said he was interested in bass response. If he changes everything else as he already planned the only limiting factor to bass response at high volume will be the hu...

Also, take a look at what comes out of the back of the stock hu and runs to the amp...these are speaker-level wires, not RCAs going to the BA amp. I'd like the experts at sub thump to chime in...when I look at the adapter they sell for the BA system, it looks like a line-level to RCA adapter.

TheDalton · 04-22-2013, 10:12 PM

There is no difference between the HU on the BA and non BA system right? From reading other posts where they've kept the stock HU I feel pretty comfortable that the source is clean enough.

Right now I'm leaning towards:
Keeping stock HU by following http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213330
Adding my subs and amp.
Adding a lowish power 4-Channel amp to the factory speakers.
I'll see how this sounds, most likely it'll be plenty for me.

My remaining questions - is dynamat/other products similar to the CLD tiles from sounddeadenershowdown; in that I can do the 25% coverage on doors, roof, and trunk to kill most of the panel resonance - or do I need to coat the area like you see in most applications.
Lastly, anyone recommend any must do areas for sound deadening for the Camaro? It looks like everyone at least coats the spare tire well and puts dynamat under the 6x9s.

TheDalton · 04-22-2013, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhiiidoc

While I never said "all"....most, even high end factory systems, do.

As I said, I had the factory deck with the sub thump stealth system that added a five channel amp in place of the stock amp...dramatic improvement to the stock BA system (which the OP does not have)...but the hu still limited bass response at high volume...I went with my Pioneer unit because I wanted in-dash nav, and the bass response across the entire volume spectrum was improved. So I'm not speculating...the difference was obvious at moderate volume levels...

JL audio makes a signal processor specifically to deal with the built in processing of factory head units.

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Mobil...essors&tp=6870

I wouldn't recommend a change in the hu unless there was an advantage to be had. The OP said he was interested in bass response. If he changes everything else as he already planned the only limiting factor to bass response at high volume will be the hu...

Also, take a look at what comes out of the back of the stock hu and runs to the amp...these are speaker-level wires, not RCAs going to the BA amp. I'd like the experts at sub thump to chime in...when I look at the adapter they sell for the BA system, it looks like a line-level to RCA adapter.

Thanks for the second opinion, and making the decision process harder ;p. Before I finally make up my mind I'll have enough saved up to just do everything!

04-20-2013, 04:03 PM	#1
TheDalton Drives: 2013 Chevrolet Camaro LS, RS Wheels Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 6	Trying to plan my audio installation, would love some guidance! (first post!) Wall of text warning! Hey everyone, I've recently bought a 2013 Camaro and I'm trying to plan my audio setup. I've been lurking the forums for about a week and researching everyone's installs. I'll start by giving some details about myself and what I'm looking for, then hopefully I'll get some great advice/feedback from the more experienced guys here. To start, I would like to keep my subs and amp. Subs - Two Fi Q12 http://store.ficaraudio.com/q12/ (mine are ~5 years old) Amp - SAZ-1500D (first version - again ~5 years old) Experience: In ~2008 I installed a 300A alternator + these subs/amp + built a fiberglass box that formed to the trunk well of my 86 IROC. What I want (I think) I'd like to have a stealth enclosure box on both the driver and passenger side of the trunk. I know ****** sells a large driver side box, but I do not see anything for the passenger side. It seems like there is enough space to build one - but if **** hasn't done it yet then there must be some issue I don't see. I'd probably mount my amp on the back of the rear seats. Now as far as mids/highs go, here is where I'll probably get some flack. I will admit that I'm a younger guy (23) and a bit of a basshead. I don't yet have an ear for tuning and SQ. For example, to my untrained ear, the factory sounds pretty good (I don't even have the Boston acoustics package). I'd love some tips in this area, maybe recommend a song to listen to on a factory and aftermarket system and point out things to listen for? Headunit I do want to get the scosche kit and a double din dvd player headunit (don't really care about navigation, it'd be nice but the extra ~$300 is rough). I'm assuming adding an aftermarket HU will make the factory system sound better, which would be awesome to my untrained ear. If this isn't the case, I may just keep the factory HU. I have no clue which headunits are good, never had a DVD headunit. Any thoughts or recommendations here? Sound deadening In my IROC, I only used 3M Double Sided Foam Tape to stop rattling in the doors and some panels. I'm pretty sure I did something with the license plate as well but that was it. I couldn't afford dynamat or anything at the time. What do you guys think is essential for sound deadening? Road noise does bother me a lot but from reading another post to do the job "right" (vinyl sound barrier under the carpet, 25% coverage with CLD strips on the hood and door panels, foam layers on the hood and door panels, and dynamatting the trunk) costs ~$750 in materials (unless I did the math wrong when adding up everything he ordered) Reference: http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/ (From what I've seen, this looks like the "right" way to do it) So again, which of this is essential (I'm sure the trunk has to have some kind of treatment, for example) Electrical Never had a car with a battery in the trunk - I had 0 gauge wire in my IROC that I still have ~15ft left of. Do I need to replace the factory wiring from the alternator to the battery? I have no clue what gauge it is. TL;DR** I'm putting in two 12"s and one amp, I don't know much about SQ - infuse me with your wisdom. Thanks to everyone who actually reads this gigantic post. This install will be a lot of money to me and I want to be happy with it for a long time.

04-21-2013, 12:26 PM	#4
SSMickey Drives: 2010 IBM 2SS Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Columbia S.C. Posts: 1,455 View My Garage	There is just as much room on the right side of the trunk as there is on the left...however, to get it, you must relocate a fuse panel that is behind the carpet. IMO, that is why ******** does not make a large enclosure for the right side. To much work for most people. __________________ ProCharger P1X, Vengeance Racing Kaotic Cam, ARH Headers and Exhaust with Borla ATAK mufflers, MGW Shifter, MTI Drop Springs, Forgeline RB3C Wheels, 3.91 gears, Night Owl LED Control System

04-21-2013, 01:41 AM	#2
mattyjman Drives: 2013 2SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: United States Posts: 134	first, i wouldn't "wish" to be someone that has a critical ear in music... it becomes expensive really quick, and it irritates you when things don't sound right... hence, the not wanting to develop that. i can't comment on everything, because a lot of what you are asking is subjective. i'm sure the amp and sub combo will work out just fine, and there is plenty of space on both sides of the trunk to do fiberglass enclosures. check out my build log, i should have some pics on there. as for the battery, this is a good thing. this means you don't have a spend a crap ton on wiring. 1 4 guage fused should do you just fine if you are only adding one amp. factory wiring on it is just fine... looks to be about 1/0 gauge too. as for the sq music, critical ear thing, it may be that you don't listen to the type of music that is recorded well. tracks that are recorded and mastered have high dynamics, and spacial staging... by that i mean that if the artist walks on the stage from left to right, you should hear that in your music. that's the whole point of this thing called stereo... it puts an image in front of you. picture a band playing a bunch of instruments. where they are sitting is where the sound should be eminating from. so, when it come to car audio (well, at least the nuts like me) the objective (also including the obvious stuff like tonality, equality, crisp and well defined sound) is to have the sound stage in your car the same as it would be in your listening room. the center of your car should be the center of the stereo image. it should also be above the dash, somewhere around the middle of your windshield. really good systems will project the "image" to be past the windshield, and extending outside of the side pillars. that's more of the technical aspect that goes into stereos.... but for what you need, if you can't tell a difference, no harm no foul and be thankful for that. however, if you did want a cheap way to train your ear, buy a decent pair of headphones (not Beats type headphones), turn on some well recorded stuff like Live Dave Matthews Band, close your eyes, and try to imagine the sound stage. imagine the instruments. do they sound like they would if you were at the concert? can you tell between instruments that are left or right of center? Audiotechnica MT50 headphones are great, and cheap too, only 150. (sound better than beats too) so, theory aside, i digress... when i sold stereos, I always pushed the subs first. it, for some reason seems to make the most difference and impact on a factory system... something about filling out the bottom end seems to always make a smile. if that doesn't suit you and you still want more, i'd buy an amplifier, and put it on the factory speakers if you can't afford new ones at the same time. an aftermarket amp, in most cases, will make more of a difference than changing out the head unit. Unless some functionality that you do want isn't in the factory system, it's money wasted in my eyes getting a deck now a days - especially when so many things are tied in with the factory HU's. But I wouldn't blindly assume that the HU is going to make a huge difference... normally what does is that the new HU has more power - you can negate that by getting an amp - which you'll probably do anyway. lastly, sound deadening. you might be referencing my build... i haven't seen anyone else on here use mlv and ccf, in conjunction with the common dynamat. the question you need to answer here is what do you want the "deadening" to do. what's the desired result? if it's just to keep things from rattling, often times its cheaper and much easier to diagnose rattles and address them as they arise than to rip out your entire car to lay down sheet after sheet of deadener, only to realize you still have rattles. if you goal is to get the car quiet - eliminating road noise (well, as much as possible), yeah, you are going to spend a lot. if its to keep vibrations down, then do some on the trunk lid, address the pressure flaps in the trunk, and keeps some handy for when issues do arise. hopefully this is helpful... i haven't really told you what to do... just some concepts behind some of your questions. if it were me in your situation, based on your initial comments, i'd just add the subs and amp, and see how it does. if you want better clarity and dynamics all the way around, then add speakers and an amp for them. that usually does enough for the average joe. matt

04-21-2013, 12:07 PM	#3
TheDalton Drives: 2013 Chevrolet Camaro LS, RS Wheels Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 6	Thank you Matt, awesome response! Your post is extremely helpful and is exactly what I was hoping to get - someone with more experience sharing their thoughts. I think you're right about the type of music, when I was 16-19 I listened to mostly rap just for the bass pretty much. I'm over it now (I am still a huge Eminem fan though ;p) and looking to broaden my tastes so I will definitely take your recommendation on listening to a live Dave Matthews Band performance to try to pick up on the staging. Are some youtube videos high enough quality for this? It'd be cool to see their locations on video and match it up to the sound I'm hearing. Thanks for your advice about the head unit also - to be honest, I didn't really understand the post about modifying the PAC to run the input wire for the amplifier. I've only had to "plug n play" pre amp outputs on the back of an aftermarket HU. I need to reread that post. Does this method sound as clear as the pre amp outputs? Will I be able to add a second amp for the factory speakers in the future? And yes, I am referring to your build about the sound deadening. I am extremely jealous of the sound deadening you did. I do not have an ear for "clear, crisp mids and highs" but I do unfortunately have an ear for the slightest little rattle + road noise. If I can find good MLV locally(to try to mitigate shipping costs) I will definitely go the route you did. And if I can save $700-800 by not getting the scosche kit + new HU then I won't feel as guilty dropping so much into sound deadening. I'd really like to do this, have you been able to drive it yet with the carpet and panels back in to notice the difference? Again, thanks for your response. You've helped a lot already!

04-21-2013, 06:10 PM	#6
TheDalton Drives: 2013 Chevrolet Camaro LS, RS Wheels Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 6	Thanks for the warning, I finally got brave enough to take the carpet off (I've been pretty awesome at breaking rivets in the past) and did see the fuse box you mentioned. The fuse box doesn't seem like (hopefully) a mounting depth issue though right, more of a volume issue? It looks far enough to the left to not be a problem. Seems like the easiest way to get what I want is to buy a ******** box from you Steve for the driver's side and then trying to replicate that with a fiberglass box on the passenger side. Will the boxes sound bad together if they're different - one being 1.2 ft^3 and all MDF while and the other maybe .8-1 ft^3 and being fiberglass? Fi recommends .8-1.5 ft^3 for each sub.

04-21-2013, 06:58 PM	#7
mattyjman Drives: 2013 2SS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: United States Posts: 134	I'm not sure what space issues you guys are talking about... left: right: the wheel wells are shaped differently but as far as something being "too" far in the way to build a fiberglass box... i've seen much worse. Dalton, If you do go the route of making one, buying the other (i'm a DIY guy so I'd just do both... I'm a big fan of quality control... I get to control it ) then you would have difference in the sound response of each sub given that each enclosure would be difference airspace... however, that's an easy fix. the enclosure that bigger than the other, throw some items in there (excess wood material works great) to reduce the volume of the enclosure to match the other. as for enclosure volume itself, i'd be surprised if you couldn't get at least 1 cube out of the passenger side of the car.

04-22-2013, 07:48 PM	#9
JimE Drives: 2013 2SS/RS/1LE Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 3,087	The driver side box from ****** follows the contours of the wheel well (which is vast different on the passenger side). The fuse panel is also mounted at the rear of the squared off wheel well. That is what is being referred to. So yes, you can put the box on that side, but to get the same size box, it will need to stick out further into the trunk. You could always start with a single sub (drivers side) and see how you like the sound. I'm not as hard core as many of the stereo guys seem to be, but the large box kit from ****** has a lot of bass. I'm very happy with mine.

04-22-2013, 08:28 PM	#10
jhiiidoc Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS SLP Supercharged Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 319	Sub-thump has both drivers and passenger side boxes. The passenger side box is only good for a 10", so I used both a 12" on the left and a 10" on the right. As far as head units, I would ditch the factory unit for any aftermarket hu that has all the features you want without busting your budget. Factory hu are designed to attenuate bass frequencies as the volume goes up because the stock amps are cheap and do not produce clean power, and high volume with high distortion will quickly destroy a speaker...same reason why putting better speakers on a stock stereo only yields nominal results. The BA system does better than most, but it still falls short. I did the stealth upgrade from sub thump. Worked great, but when I pulled the head unit and installed a Pioneer Nav unit, that really got the system closer to where I wanted it...and now with the the 10" and a separate amp powering just the subs, the system has both the sound quality and the bass to keep a smile on my face.

04-22-2013, 10:12 PM	#13
TheDalton Drives: 2013 Chevrolet Camaro LS, RS Wheels Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 6	There is no difference between the HU on the BA and non BA system right? From reading other posts where they've kept the stock HU I feel pretty comfortable that the source is clean enough. Right now I'm leaning towards: Keeping stock HU by following http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213330 Adding my subs and amp. Adding a lowish power 4-Channel amp to the factory speakers. I'll see how this sounds, most likely it'll be plenty for me. My remaining questions - is dynamat/other products similar to the CLD tiles from sounddeadenershowdown; in that I can do the 25% coverage on doors, roof, and trunk to kill most of the panel resonance - or do I need to coat the area like you see in most applications. Lastly, anyone recommend any must do areas for sound deadening for the Camaro? It looks like everyone at least coats the spare tire well and puts dynamat under the 6x9s.