2fnould's build log

[2fnloud]

With all Tang Band speakers on sale 25% off, I finally bought the raw drivers I needed to complete my audio install.

I have always been an audiophile nut, but my 3S is the first car that I have had to take weight into consideration.

Then my best friend threw down the challenge: "Why not do a "stealth" install in your Stealth, make as much of the sound system hidden as possible. Obviously you would notice the new radio, and sub woofer box in the hatch, but hide everything else."

I instantly responded, saying that would be silly. I mainly thought it silly because I always liked displaying my amps and sound processors for show purposes like this:



That was my 2001 Saturn SC2, back to now. I thought about this and the challenge that it would create and it actually sounded like fun, so the next time I saw him I called him a few choice words because my brain was working so overtime about this, it had kept me up at nights.

So the goals:
1.) Install a sound system that is going to satisfy my audiophile needs, and keep the weight to 150-200lbs.

2.) Install everything that once done you will only see the radio is different, and notice a sub woofer box in the hatch area with the hatch open.

Being that Michigan winter is right around the corner I suspect that this will be a slow process but I will only post updates here, no individual thread for every little thing I do, hope you enjoy.

Let the fun begin!

[2fnloud]

I decided that I would bring over the Pioneer equipment that I had in my Saturn, this meant I have 5.1 DTS and Dolby Music II available. So I start with the biggest stealth challenge, getting my center channel without just putting Pioneer's center speaker pod on the dash.

This is what I did with my Saturn and I hated how it looked. Sounded great, just looked too non OEM for my liking. I thought about installing my center channel into the center vents of my Stealth. I read about doing this on Suthnr's 212 HP Stereo page, thanks for sharing Eric, that install is inspiring. So I spent the whole summer with them closed to see if I could do without them, I didn't miss them at all so I picked up another center vent piece and went to work.

The biggest problem was to find a speaker that would fit there and give the fullest sound possible. I based my judgment against the Freq response that the Pioneer speaker pod had, according to Pioneer the speaker pod has a Freq range of 140Hz ~ 30kHz.

I found a Tang Band speaker that has a Freq range of 150Hz ~ 20,000kHz, I figured that this would be close enough plus the shape of this speaker is what appealed to me the most. It's dimensions are 2"x3" with a cutout of 1-13/16" x 3-3/8". I ended up sanding the long side of the speaker flanges down to get them to fit how I wanted but I think I achieved success.

I started by cutting the duct of the center vent like so:


I removed the metal clips that lock this vent into the dash before I cut it in two. After sanding, sanding, and more sanding, I was able to squeeze these into the opening of the vent, it is almost a perfect fit. The grills of the vent lock the speakers from moving forward.

Here is a couple pictures:



I will use Gorilla tape to join the two pieces back together once I get the back half of the vent sealed off and stuffed with Poly fill . I will also take non-drying modeling clay to seal off the backs of the speakers from the front.

Here is a rear shot:


Once I get baffle sealed off, I will wire them up in series and tape the two pieces back together. The best part is this will still remove like it should and I can replace the speakers should I blow them.

I would like to ask the forums opinion on this, should I put black speaker cloth behind the vent grills to hide them more or does this look fine like it is?

Please let me know what you think.

[spaceace60]

[QUOTE=2fnloud;44172]I decided that I would bring over the Pioneer equipment that I had in my Saturn, this meant I have 5.1 DTS and Dolby Music II available. So I start with the biggest stealth challenge, getting my center channel without just putting Pioneer's center speaker pod on the dash.

This is what I did with my Saturn and I hated how it looked. Sounded great, just looked too non OEM for my liking. I thought about installing my center channel into the center vents of my Stealth. I read about doing this on Suthnr's 212 HP Stereo page, thanks for sharing Eric, that install is inspiring. So I spent the whole summer with them closed to see if I could do without them, I didn't miss them at all so I picked up another center vent piece and went to work.
1st off nice install and some nice orions ect! just wondering if you were only using center channel while watching movies in 5.1 surround ect? as some people might not be aware that running a center ch. while listening to regular audio would probably kill the sound stage(would make it sound mono) due to the fact that even w/all todays technology most music is still on recorded the old fashion way simple left/right 2ch im not sure maybe some processors may have away around all this(by not playing center at certain times?)but if you don't have a 5.1 processor its deffinately detrimental to your stereo imaging! im glad to see that some owners are starting to put in some serious audio in these cars and not just putting all their $ into going fast! for yrs I wondered why few people put any real systems into this platform a cool car deserves great sound too!!

The biggest problem was to find a speaker that would fit there and give the fullest sound possible. I based my judgment against the Freq response that the Pioneer speaker pod had, according to Pioneer the speaker pod has a Freq range of 140Hz ~ 30kHz.

I found a Tang Band speaker that has a Freq range of 150Hz ~ 20,000kHz, I figured that this would be close enough plus the shape of this speaker is what appealed to me the most. It's dimensions are 2"x3" with a cutout of 1-13/16" x 3-3/8". I ended up sanding the long side of the speaker flanges down to get them to fit how I wanted but I think I achieved success.

1st off nice install and some nice orions ect! just wondering if you were only using center channel while watching movies in 5.1 surround ect? as some people might not be aware that running a center ch. while listening to regular audio would probably kill the sound stage(would make it sound mono) due to the fact that even w/all todays technology most music is still on recorded the old fashion way simple left/right 2ch im not sure maybe some processors may have away around all this(by not playing center at certain times?)but if you don't have a 5.1 processor its deffinately detrimental to your stereo imaging! im glad to see that some owners are starting to put in some serious audio in these cars and not just putting all their $ into going fast! for yrs I wondered why few people put any real systems into this platform a cool car deserves great sound too!!

[2fnloud]

[QUOTE=spaceace60;305355]

I decided that I would bring over the Pioneer equipment that I had in my Saturn, this meant I have 5.1 DTS and Dolby Music II available. So I start with the biggest stealth challenge, getting my center channel without just putting Pioneer's center speaker pod on the dash.

This is what I did with my Saturn and I hated how it looked. Sounded great, just looked too non OEM for my liking. I thought about installing my center channel into the center vents of my Stealth. I read about doing this on Suthnr's 212 HP Stereo page, thanks for sharing Eric, that install is inspiring. So I spent the whole summer with them closed to see if I could do without them, I didn't miss them at all so I picked up another center vent piece and went to work.
1st off nice install and some nice orions ect! just wondering if you were only using center channel while watching movies in 5.1 surround ect? as some people might not be aware that running a center ch. while listening to regular audio would probably kill the sound stage(would make it sound mono) due to the fact that even w/all todays technology most music is still on recorded the old fashion way simple left/right 2ch im not sure maybe some processors may have away around all this(by not playing center at certain times?)but if you don't have a 5.1 processor its deffinately detrimental to your stereo imaging! im glad to see that some owners are starting to put in some serious audio in these cars and not just putting all their $ into going fast! for yrs I wondered why few people put any real systems into this platform a cool car deserves great sound too!!

The biggest problem was to find a speaker that would fit there and give the fullest sound possible. I based my judgment against the Freq response that the Pioneer speaker pod had, according to Pioneer the speaker pod has a Freq range of 140Hz ~ 30kHz.

I found a Tang Band speaker that has a Freq range of 150Hz ~ 20,000kHz, I figured that this would be close enough plus the shape of this speaker is what appealed to me the most. It's dimensions are 2"x3" with a cutout of 1-13/16" x 3-3/8". I ended up sanding the long side of the speaker flanges down to get them to fit how I wanted but I think I achieved success.

1st off nice install and some nice orions ect! just wondering if you were only using center channel while watching movies in 5.1 surround ect? as some people might not be aware that running a center ch. while listening to regular audio would probably kill the sound stage(would make it sound mono) due to the fact that even w/all todays technology most music is still on recorded the old fashion way simple left/right 2ch im not sure maybe some processors may have away around all this(by not playing center at certain times?)but if you don't have a 5.1 processor its deffinately detrimental to your stereo imaging! im glad to see that some owners are starting to put in some serious audio in these cars and not just putting all their $ into going fast! for yrs I wondered why few people put any real systems into this platform a cool car deserves great sound too!!

Thank you, and yes I have the pioneer 5.1 processor, I also have the Arc Audio PS8 to control X-over, Timing Alignment and EQ. (Think of this as the AEM of car audio tuning) I Let the 5.1 processor run dolby music mix ran it it the past and yet to have a judge tell me that my imaging was wack.

[spaceace60]

I decided that I would bring over the Pioneer equipment that I had in my Saturn, this meant I have 5.1 DTS and Dolby Music II available. So I start with the biggest stealth challenge, getting my center channel without just putting Pioneer's center speaker pod on the dash.

This is what I did with my Saturn and I hated how it looked. Sounded great, just looked too non OEM for my liking. I thought about installing my center channel into the center vents of my Stealth. I read about doing this on Suthnr's 212 HP Stereo page, thanks for sharing Eric, that install is inspiring. So I spent the whole summer with them closed to see if I could do without them, I didn't miss them at all so I picked up another center vent piece and went to work.

The biggest problem was to find a speaker that would fit there and give the fullest sound possible. I based my judgment against the Freq response that the Pioneer speaker pod had, according to Pioneer the speaker pod has a Freq range of 140Hz ~ 30kHz.

I found a Tang Band speaker that has a Freq range of 150Hz ~ 20,000kHz, I figured that this would be close enough plus the shape of this speaker is what appealed to me the most. It's dimensions are 2"x3" with a cutout of 1-13/16" x 3-3/8". I ended up sanding the long side of the speaker flanges down to get them to fit how I wanted but I think I achieved success.

I started by cutting the duct of the center vent like so:


I removed the metal clips that lock this vent into the dash before I cut it in two. After sanding, sanding, and more sanding, I was able to squeeze these into the opening of the vent, it is almost a perfect fit. The grills of the vent lock the speakers from moving forward.

Here is a couple pictures:



I will use Gorilla tape to join the two pieces back together once I get the back half of the vent sealed off and stuffed with Poly fill . I will also take non-drying modeling clay to seal off the backs of the speakers from the front.

Here is a rear shot:


Once I get baffle sealed off, I will wire them up in series and tape the two pieces back together. The best part is this will still remove like it should and I can replace the speakers should I blow them.

I would like to ask the forums opinion on this, should I put black speaker cloth behind the vent grills to hide them more or does this look fine like it is?

Please let me know what you think.

just curious is the center channel just for dvd/video?? as back in the 90's everyone tried experimenting w/center channels and most came to realize most audio(cd's ect music in general is only recorded in 2 channels(left/right) so trying to play audio(not movie audio) through a center channel will kill your stereo imaging! it kinda takes stereo and makes it sound more mono! but ya center channel is cool for dvd/movies ect! also if you get a chance check out the Pioneer stage4 062Prs(2-5/8" mids) they sound awesome and fit perfect in our dash's!

[J_Parker]

Personally, I'd put some grille cloth over them, it'll give it a more stealthy look as if there wasn't anything there unless closely screutenizing. The speakers just look a little bit "too busy" with the grille of the vent being kept in place. Just my $0.02 This sounds like a promising thred, keep up the good work man!

[x2percentmilk]

Well now, someone knows what they are doing, (orion and tang band :P)
I almost sold my brand new still in the shrink wrap orion hcca 225 a bit ago, but I just cant part with it.

Super great idea on the center channel, I wonder how it will all image. +1 on the speaker cloth, behind the vents, infront of the speakers.

[2fnloud]

Well now, someone knows what they are doing, (orion and tang band :P)
I almost sold my brand new still in the shrink wrap orion hcca 225 a bit ago, but I just cant part with it.

Super great idea on the center channel, I wonder how it will all image. +1 on the speaker cloth, behind the vents, infront of the speakers.

Well I am running the now older Orion HP / HCCA amplifiers, they can not be THAT bad because thier price went up like 25% on E-bay AFTER the latest Orion stuff was released.

I am not too concerned about imaging the Pioneer DEQ-P8000 also has timing alignment.

[DrGonzo]

Agreed with the black cloth! It will definitely hide them and give that "Stealth" appearance overall.

[2fnloud]

On it I was leaning that way even after the post, will not be hard to do.

You like TB speakers huh? wait till I reveal my Sub box