New Noise-maker

[D'Ecosse]

Thanks for comps Guys
I hear you on the speedo BoneZ - I would have liked to do that but probably won't for very reasons stated. The lens filters on the clock & A/C are no big deal though, pretty easy job.
Incidentally I also stole the idea for the speaker baffles from your car, but modified it slightly by using the stock rear clam shells - then of course I had to cut them down because of the humungous crossovers! Credit where it's due, not quite original idea on my part.
System does sound good too - those CDT's are real nice - like to check it against yours for side-side comparison. Still a long way to go to match up with your trunk set-up & eventually would like to go with the sub in the floor too.

 

[D'Ecosse]

The saga continues .........
I did 2 stereo projects this weekend - put after-market speakers to replace the Bose set-up in the 300ZX (yes, same crappy amplifiers - 4 of 5 were blown!); did the same trick with having to replace the front Bose shells with home-made baffle plates, although the rears were actually 6 1/2" which dropped right into the stock Bose box. I used Dynamat for the first time, having read good reviews on it & since it was right there at the check-out at Good Guys, picked some up. I was pretty impressed with the results, so decided to do the NSX too, especially since there was some vibration in the doors present when the Watts were cranked up. I did more on the NSX than the ZX because of the higher power (200W vs 40W!) - installed some inside the door on the outside skin, as well as around the speaker enclosure on the inner skin & covered the baffle. I am very impressedwith this product - it made a huge difference & I can crank up the volume even louder now.
Here's how the project looks -

 

[D'Ecosse]

& with the speaker assembly re-installed:

 

[princxixor]

wow, i'm absolutely blown away by the craftsmanship of this install. especially since you moved the head unit under the console. when i saw the original pics, i did not like the look as the lines were just not right. it was too bulky looking. now, well now, i just love it. very very nice. great job on the speakers too, the custom baffles are superb!

p.s. hope to see (and hear) you at the lunch on sat.

cheers!
~eric

 

[nsxxtreme]

That looks much nicer!!

 

[NSXBenny]

Does anyone know how to make the dashboard light brighter?

I mean all the lights for the meters and the buttons

 

[STLNSX]

center console looks great! where did you get it painted? does the paint match the stock color perfectly, or is it just close enough?

i plan to install a mcintosh mx406 head unit in my dash, and would like to filter the color to look like the oem red/orange. It is blue green from the factory.. can anyone recommend a place to do this?

thanks for any info
Randy

 

[D'Ecosse]

center console looks great! where did you get it painted? does the paint match the stock color perfectly, or is it just close enough?

Thnaks much - Did it myself - this was metallic black (but really more like charcoal) aerosol spray paint from Home Depot - I think it was Rustoleum if I remember correctly? (or Krylon - those are the 2 predominant brands at HD)
It's not perfect match - I also did the surround of the vent assembly though; your eye doesn't really catch the slight difference between the console & the door panels
Sorry - can't suggest a place to take your mac head - you'll probably blow the warranty if you do, but honestly modern electronics are so reliable, probably not an issue. Open it up & see for yourself how feasible it might be!

 

[Ties]

Would you mind telling me how much you have into this install. It looks great and is one of the nicer jobs I have seen.

Thanks

 

[D'Ecosse]

Update 12-29-03 - New Amp (Arc Audio 4150XXK)
Next will be to add a protective (& cosmetic) acrylic panel across the face - maybe even add a few foo-foo neon lights at the top & bottom of the amp!

 

[GQ NSX]

Arc Audio makes a very clean efficient amp. Awesome install!

ravi

 

[D'Ecosse]

This Baby in a DIY custom NSX passenger footwell box will complete the project .......... for now!

Incidentally I saw from another thread you favour the Elemental Designs subs - excellent choice & one of my considerations, but pretty big piece of hardware - they are great prices though.

 

[D'Ecosse]

Latest addition to the "family" - Alpine DVA-7996 plus Alpine TME-M760 in Nav Pod replacing the Sony. I was sorry to see the Sony go, it was agreat set-up but I'm really pleased with the Alpine, both in performance & the additional features (of course DVD!)
I can add a navigation system to this at any time - very pricey though. I have a rear-view camera to install next!

 

[racerX]

Amazing - looks great. very nice.
I hope you enjoy it. Let me ask you about the Alpine media expander that alpine claims

enhances the musical sparkle of CDs, MP3s, FM stereo, optional XM Satellite Radio — any source that has been compressed or transmitted. Three discrete settings per source plus "off" give you lots of sonic choices

So does it work? I trust your judgement. Also does it sound better than your Sony when playing a CD?

btw- looks like I get to rate you on the speaker door templete deal. Bet your quakin in your boots

 

[4AU4LIFE]

I have my door speakers in the same place. MB Quarts
However I wanted to conserve as much trunk space as possible so had amp(Xtant) mounted in tool space.
I like the fact of you color matching the illumination though. That is a nice touch that so many others overlook.

 

[ChrisK]

Latest addition to the "family" - Alpine DVA-7996 plus Alpine TME-M760 in Nav Pod replacing the Sony. I was sorry to see the Sony go, it was agreat set-up but I'm really pleased with the Alpine, both in performance & the additional features (of course DVD!)
I can add a navigation system to this at any time - very pricey though. I have a rear-view camera to install next!

Awsome. I think you will really like the 7996 I also like what you did with the console around the 7996. After my brother took a look at my set up he suggested I do something similar to make it more OEM like. He said he could tell it was done by me and doing some kind of bevel like you have or similar to how the OEM console is would make it look more like factor. I'll probably do that later when I get the rest of the system hooked up.

 

[ChrisK]

Amazing - looks great. very nice.
I hope you enjoy it. Let me ask you about the Alpine media expander that alpine claims

enhances the musical sparkle of CDs, MP3s, FM stereo, optional XM Satellite Radio — any source that has been compressed or transmitted. Three discrete settings per source plus "off" give you lots of sonic choices

So does it work? I trust your judgement. Also does it sound better than your Sony when playing a CD?

I have the same 7996 and also have used other Alpines with the Media Expander (MX) and I personally leave it OFF on everything but the radio. With my Alpine PXA-H700 the MX mode has 3 settings and can be individually set to the different sources (For example radio on MX2, CD MX off, DVD MX off, MP3 MX1 and so forth). I use MX1 for the radio and leave everything lese in the OFF. To me, the more you use MX the more artiicial the sound becomes. It starts to sound processed.

 

[D'Ecosse]

... Let me ask you about the Alpine media expander that alpine claims enhances the musical sparkle of CDs, MP3s, FM stereo, optional XM Satellite Radio — any source that has been compressed or transmitted. Three discrete settings per source plus "off" give you lots of sonic choices

So does it work? I trust your judgement. Also does it sound better than your Sony when playing a CD?

I actually like it - I think the name-game actually fits in this case - it really does "expand" the effect. The Sony has a very similar feature which they call DSO - Digital Sound Organizer, which is a processor similar to what you have on your home set-up for hall, teahtre, concert etc. Then Sony also has the graphic equalizer with one pre-set called Xplod - these features collectively are very similar to the effect of MX.
I've been running mine on 3 quite honestly - I like the fullnesss of the effect. I haven't tried with MP3 yet & that is supposed to make the biggest difference - I know that previously I could tell that the MP3's, althoug hconvenient, definitely lose something, although you can compensate somewhat with your EQ & DSO settings.
I do think the imaging is better with the Alpine - the staging is really up front & middle, even with the balance neutral. I always had to offset the balance on the Sony to keep the left side from being too dominant. One of main reasons I bought it was for the time alignment feature - I will ultimately probably run each tweet & mid off a seperate channel to get the ideal sonic path length from each component. I've yet to try that, although just delaying both of the left components as set currently (one channel from amp split by passive C/O) is probably what is giving me better imaging already.

btw- looks like I get to rate you on the speaker door templete deal. Bet your quakin in your boots

LOL! - I need to put the gold-leaf foil on yours now, I guess!

 

[Jonathan]

Wicked setup, Ken. When are you going to swing by my office on your way home so I can see it?

 

[D'Ecosse]

get your butt out of bed & swing by the meet today!

 

[ZEROBREACH]

Very nice setup. Have you considered center console placed sub? I really like the floor board as tight as it is.. I recall seeing one built but the sub was faced in and firing into the console with the magnet exposed and pertruding into the car. Kind of much for me.. Have you all seen any other attempts and console based sub enclosures?