I decided to touch up the kia by adding sync links, installing my own handmade LED light bar, 1/2" clear plexi light rings under the 12's, and 2 LED pods to add glow to the rings.
More to come...
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh21/kittleskia/
the main page is just random pics, if you click on the albums to the left, you will see the organized photos.
Replies (9)
SQLThump on 01/29/2008 00:17:09
Thats pretty tight. I like the way that the Diamont amps pick up light from the the LEDs and reflect it back much like their namesake....
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 02:02:12
Thanks.. That was one of those accidental things. I was using a laser level to get the amps aligned and the laser caught a few of the ridges on the heat sync. I grabbed our LED droplight and tried a few angles and went from there.
Right now there is no glass infront of the amps. When I get the glass installed it picks up the light and catches the bottom curve of the amps as well.
I am still working on the center channel pod. My wife is driving me nuts to finish it because there is an eggplant shaped hole in the middle of the dash right now.
SQLThump on 01/29/2008 16:45:21
HAHAHA, gotta love wifey telling you to finish things as opposed to not leting you do things. My family is always on my back because of some the stuff I do to the bucket. "it disgusts me" says my mom........
What made you decide to flip the subs to where the cone is out now? I remember you saying that it was for looks, and for perfect box sealing, what made you change your mind?
Those amps must be some chromed out mutha's to pick up thet much light. I would like to do something like that, but both of my amps have black heatsinks, so I dont think it would work too well. Fortunayely, though, my sub amp has places to internally mount a pair of neon tubes, I just need to get the tubes.
With mods to the center channel, I take it you finally got that wicked Alpine DSP unit? Have you decided what center channel you are going to use?
Damn, I wish I could hear that rig. I have only ever heard D6's in a soundroom, but actually had the pleasure of installing some D3's. Diamond gear rocks!
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 17:10:50
The inverted 12"subs were display models. The cones were all jacked up from people poking at them and letting their kids kick them. I found a good deal on a pair on ebay right before Christmas ($275 for the pair) They were brand new in the box. Some girl had bought them and wrecked her car before they could get installed. So I replaced the older ones with new ones. I am getting rid of the 10" D6 also. I am going to turn the gain down a little on the 12's and set up the car for SQ. The SPL scene is played out to me.
I am looking at buying a 96 300zx in the near future. My birthday is early march, so I might have some leverage on my wife "sweetie, you know what I want more than anything in the world besides you??? that 300.... please? " I will have to work on the puppy dog eyes a little.
Anyway, I have a Diamond D7 7056 (50w RMS x 6 @4 ohms) at home collecting dust and it needs a new car too. I think the 300 and the D7 belong together.
ttocs on 01/29/2008 17:14:48
not too bad man. It looks nice from the top and when everything is mounted, but you should do some cleaning on your wiring under the box. You have certainly progressed into a very good installer, now a great one makes it look good on top and bottom. Keeping wires organized is difficult and requires planning but is essential if something goes wrong and you need to start troubleshooting.
The D5 amps actually do not have that much chrome on them and that is why they light up so nicely My D9 amps don't do that as well, the polished chrome pieces reflect my lights and the black portions obsorbe them. I am still waiting to get the plexi to cover the amps and have it etched, that is the piece I plan on catching the light with.
One question I like to ask installers when they are done is what would you do differently if you did it again? What did you learn from this install?
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 17:28:01
There is a cover for the amps carpeted in black, so it is hard to see in the picture, but it hides the wires. The reason the wires are a mess underneath is because the amp rack is only on a slight angle off of the sub enclosure, so all of the wires had to go below it instead of behind it.
Here is a picture of the amp cover:
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh21/kittleskia/?action=view¤t=Picture024.jpg
I believe the D5 amplifiers are polished aluminum with a clear anodized finish.
I learned from this install that sometimes it takes 6 years and 4 overhauls to get it the way you want it. I also learned that if I want to get rid of bad breath either quit scratching my butt, or quit biting my fingernails.
ttocs on 01/30/2008 16:48:23
I understand that it is all covered, but what if you took that car to a shop and had them do some kind of work on it? I know that you do your own installs and would not take it somewhere to have it worked on, but what if you did? I have seen show cars that once you removed a couple of covers, or looked up in the dash suddenly it was not a show car. We call these cars good from far, and far from good.
Ok, now please let me cover my butt and say that I am not taking a shot at you or your work and not saying anything but constructive critisism to help you improve.
With that being said when I do installs I try to imagine what would happen if another installer poked his head in my install, what would he think? I will have to take a pic of the wiring I did for my amp rack. I wanted to be able to remove everything easily for when I go to the track so I have all 8 speaker outputs(2 - 4 channel amps) going through 2 - 9 pin hrns's(remote turn also) that I wired. The rca's and power are also neatly mounted to allow easy removal. I can say with confidence that if any installer were to take a look at it their reaction would be either "wow" or "cool". This was not easily done(I probably spent 2 hrs soldering the hrns's) but I know that I will not need to fix it unless somebody else messes it up.
Again I hope I did not offend, tryin to help ya to the next level.
cplkittle on 01/30/2008 23:05:16
no offense taken.
I understand exactly what you are saying.
I am normally really anal about wiring, and if it were a customer's vehicle all of the wires would have loom and be neatly zip tied and secured. Unfortunately, there is no next level for me. I found out the hard way after 6 years that there is very little money in car audio. I really enjoyed it, but I had to move on.
swez on 01/31/2008 03:58:25
Did not see your pics as the server is updating now. However, many DIY'ers aim to please ourselves first.
If a Pro Installer, asthetics are a concern and help build cliente if one is trying to build a biz doing so. However, it takes a lot of time and skill to get there plus a decent ROI.
Here, a blend of both will be sufficient. "If one is happy with the sound results, asthestics can be managed later". For now, get the sound right and tidy things up after the fact.
As ttocs said, "asthetics and a custom look" are key to high-end client satisfaction. If one is at that level and paid well to make it so, absolutely!
But if that is not possible demographically, most tend to shoot for a blend of quality performace, nice looks and minimal time to get there.
Basically, how much effort is "good enough" to suit our tastes? When doing this for a living, it's more about what the market will support. As most installers eventually learn, "Ultimate Perfection" is/or is not well compensated for. Those who have the demographics and a market to support perfection, will get a good ROI. Most will not.
Swez
PS "Pro Installers" in high market installs, do make a good buck. If not, they are in the wrong demographic market or the ROI is not that important.
More to come...
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh21/kittleskia/
the main page is just random pics, if you click on the albums to the left, you will see the organized photos.
Replies (9)
SQLThump on 01/29/2008 00:17:09
Thats pretty tight. I like the way that the Diamont amps pick up light from the the LEDs and reflect it back much like their namesake....
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 02:02:12
Thanks.. That was one of those accidental things. I was using a laser level to get the amps aligned and the laser caught a few of the ridges on the heat sync. I grabbed our LED droplight and tried a few angles and went from there.
Right now there is no glass infront of the amps. When I get the glass installed it picks up the light and catches the bottom curve of the amps as well.
I am still working on the center channel pod. My wife is driving me nuts to finish it because there is an eggplant shaped hole in the middle of the dash right now.
SQLThump on 01/29/2008 16:45:21
HAHAHA, gotta love wifey telling you to finish things as opposed to not leting you do things. My family is always on my back because of some the stuff I do to the bucket. "it disgusts me" says my mom........
What made you decide to flip the subs to where the cone is out now? I remember you saying that it was for looks, and for perfect box sealing, what made you change your mind?
Those amps must be some chromed out mutha's to pick up thet much light. I would like to do something like that, but both of my amps have black heatsinks, so I dont think it would work too well. Fortunayely, though, my sub amp has places to internally mount a pair of neon tubes, I just need to get the tubes.
With mods to the center channel, I take it you finally got that wicked Alpine DSP unit? Have you decided what center channel you are going to use?
Damn, I wish I could hear that rig. I have only ever heard D6's in a soundroom, but actually had the pleasure of installing some D3's. Diamond gear rocks!
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 17:10:50
The inverted 12"subs were display models. The cones were all jacked up from people poking at them and letting their kids kick them. I found a good deal on a pair on ebay right before Christmas ($275 for the pair) They were brand new in the box. Some girl had bought them and wrecked her car before they could get installed. So I replaced the older ones with new ones. I am getting rid of the 10" D6 also. I am going to turn the gain down a little on the 12's and set up the car for SQ. The SPL scene is played out to me.
I am looking at buying a 96 300zx in the near future. My birthday is early march, so I might have some leverage on my wife "sweetie, you know what I want more than anything in the world besides you??? that 300.... please? " I will have to work on the puppy dog eyes a little.
Anyway, I have a Diamond D7 7056 (50w RMS x 6 @4 ohms) at home collecting dust and it needs a new car too. I think the 300 and the D7 belong together.
ttocs on 01/29/2008 17:14:48
not too bad man. It looks nice from the top and when everything is mounted, but you should do some cleaning on your wiring under the box. You have certainly progressed into a very good installer, now a great one makes it look good on top and bottom. Keeping wires organized is difficult and requires planning but is essential if something goes wrong and you need to start troubleshooting.
The D5 amps actually do not have that much chrome on them and that is why they light up so nicely My D9 amps don't do that as well, the polished chrome pieces reflect my lights and the black portions obsorbe them. I am still waiting to get the plexi to cover the amps and have it etched, that is the piece I plan on catching the light with.
One question I like to ask installers when they are done is what would you do differently if you did it again? What did you learn from this install?
cplkittle on 01/29/2008 17:28:01
There is a cover for the amps carpeted in black, so it is hard to see in the picture, but it hides the wires. The reason the wires are a mess underneath is because the amp rack is only on a slight angle off of the sub enclosure, so all of the wires had to go below it instead of behind it.
Here is a picture of the amp cover:
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh21/kittleskia/?action=view¤t=Picture024.jpg
I believe the D5 amplifiers are polished aluminum with a clear anodized finish.
I learned from this install that sometimes it takes 6 years and 4 overhauls to get it the way you want it. I also learned that if I want to get rid of bad breath either quit scratching my butt, or quit biting my fingernails.
ttocs on 01/30/2008 16:48:23
I understand that it is all covered, but what if you took that car to a shop and had them do some kind of work on it? I know that you do your own installs and would not take it somewhere to have it worked on, but what if you did? I have seen show cars that once you removed a couple of covers, or looked up in the dash suddenly it was not a show car. We call these cars good from far, and far from good.
Ok, now please let me cover my butt and say that I am not taking a shot at you or your work and not saying anything but constructive critisism to help you improve.
With that being said when I do installs I try to imagine what would happen if another installer poked his head in my install, what would he think? I will have to take a pic of the wiring I did for my amp rack. I wanted to be able to remove everything easily for when I go to the track so I have all 8 speaker outputs(2 - 4 channel amps) going through 2 - 9 pin hrns's(remote turn also) that I wired. The rca's and power are also neatly mounted to allow easy removal. I can say with confidence that if any installer were to take a look at it their reaction would be either "wow" or "cool". This was not easily done(I probably spent 2 hrs soldering the hrns's) but I know that I will not need to fix it unless somebody else messes it up.
Again I hope I did not offend, tryin to help ya to the next level.
cplkittle on 01/30/2008 23:05:16
no offense taken.
I understand exactly what you are saying.
I am normally really anal about wiring, and if it were a customer's vehicle all of the wires would have loom and be neatly zip tied and secured. Unfortunately, there is no next level for me. I found out the hard way after 6 years that there is very little money in car audio. I really enjoyed it, but I had to move on.
swez on 01/31/2008 03:58:25
Did not see your pics as the server is updating now. However, many DIY'ers aim to please ourselves first.
If a Pro Installer, asthetics are a concern and help build cliente if one is trying to build a biz doing so. However, it takes a lot of time and skill to get there plus a decent ROI.
Here, a blend of both will be sufficient. "If one is happy with the sound results, asthestics can be managed later". For now, get the sound right and tidy things up after the fact.
As ttocs said, "asthetics and a custom look" are key to high-end client satisfaction. If one is at that level and paid well to make it so, absolutely!
But if that is not possible demographically, most tend to shoot for a blend of quality performace, nice looks and minimal time to get there.
Basically, how much effort is "good enough" to suit our tastes? When doing this for a living, it's more about what the market will support. As most installers eventually learn, "Ultimate Perfection" is/or is not well compensated for. Those who have the demographics and a market to support perfection, will get a good ROI. Most will not.
Swez
PS "Pro Installers" in high market installs, do make a good buck. If not, they are in the wrong demographic market or the ROI is not that important.
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