- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Car
- 2007 FX35 RWD
ARC is like a high maintenance wife that uses a lot of your money. You better show her off to others so you feel like all that money was worth it.
Member's other Modded rides
- Thread starter jumbosrule
- Start date
- Location
- Portland, OR
I hear that. I'm going to update my intake thread so you and Dave can have your "I told you so"s without having to search for it. :tongue (2):
The Miata looks great though. I much prefer the DIY method to the more sterile (and expensive) pro route. More personality and character (Hellraiser Miata) if you ask me. If you were "flipping" it I may think differently, but you clearly aren't...
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Car
- 05 FX35 RWD
haha
We all thought you were a seriously crazy NEWB with all the laminar talk.
Now we know you're just plain crazee. Man, you sure tamed down. Must be old age.
We all thought you were a seriously crazy NEWB with all the laminar talk.
Now we know you're just plain crazee. Man, you sure tamed down. Must be old age.
- Location
- Portland, OR
I'm not an audio expert, but I have been actively involved in the design and build of every home and car audio system I have ever used. I'm an engineer that works in the manufacturing and production of new flight hardware so I certainly understand all the theory. That being said, I've always thought that most of the electronic gear out there is WAY overpriced. I visited an online parts mega-store looking for inexpensive components that work well together. Let me explain myself a little bit.
Let's take BOSE as an example. My opinion about this company is that they make decent gear. It is overpriced in my opinion, however Bose engineers to a really good job with tuning the gear they use. In general they use cheap Chinese manufactured components that perform very well within a limited range. Outside of that range they are crap, where most other speakers would still be performing well. How Bose fixes this problem is by using electronic cross-overs to simply restrict the poor sounding frequencies from ever reaching that particular speaker. Then they just add another cheap speaker into the system to cover the frequency ranges the first speaker is not capable of reproducing. This is why most Bose packages come integrated with a bunch of speakers and a head unit that contains all the amp and cross-over circuitry. They essentially "hard wire" the tune of the system into the electronics and then sell the package. This kind of approach has it's place - for people that just want out of the box sound they rarely ever have to tweak.
So all of that being said, I am taking a similar approach. I'm purchasing very inexpensive gear and then tuning it to sound as good as it can within the ranges it is best at reproducing.
Let's start with what I have. My 1995 Miata came from the PO with an older aftermarket head unit, aftermarket door speakers, and the rear channel and trigger wires already wired into the trunk. When I first bought the car, the stereo didn't work well at all. No headrest speakers (fine with me) and both front speakers were crackling in and out - just couldn't even listen to it at all. One of them has a broken speaker surround. The first thing I did was cut all the connections, re-strip them and solder them, along with some glue on the broken surround. Viola - the front speakers are working just fine now. Next up was installing a very cheap amplified sub in the trunk since the PO was nice enough to already have wires run for me. It has a built in crossover and volume control so I just played around with it until I stopped getting any kind of bass distortion. As of today, the system works just fine. I listen to CDs every time I'm in the car.
After doing a little thinking about my approach, I visited Parts Express. For about $225, I purchased all of the following:
PAC adapter
electronic crossover
4 channel x 100W amplifier
2 x 5/14 door speakers
2 x 4x6 rear speakers
speaker wiring
Power/ground wires
fuse holder & fuse
2 x power/Gnd distribution block
And here is how I planned it out. Just to see how it sounds, I plan on keeping the front speakers powered by the head unit. I'll send the rear channel signal to the crossover where it will be split between the rear speakers and the sub. Before going to the speakers, it gets amplified. The sub is already amplified.
And the power/ground/trigger plan
After I get it all wired up I'll see if the front speakers need to be routed to the amplifier first. I have a feeling I'll be able to get decent front/rear balance by playing around with the fader controls. If there is too much of a disparity between the front/rear, then I can change the wiring to power the front channel off the same amp the rear channel is using.
The only advice I could use is on my battery. I have an OEM battery and I'm close to needing a replacement. With the addition of the extra electrical loads, I was thinking I should get the battery at the same time as the install. Was thinking about an Optima but open for suggestions? Is an OEM battery in good condition good enough?
Let's take BOSE as an example. My opinion about this company is that they make decent gear. It is overpriced in my opinion, however Bose engineers to a really good job with tuning the gear they use. In general they use cheap Chinese manufactured components that perform very well within a limited range. Outside of that range they are crap, where most other speakers would still be performing well. How Bose fixes this problem is by using electronic cross-overs to simply restrict the poor sounding frequencies from ever reaching that particular speaker. Then they just add another cheap speaker into the system to cover the frequency ranges the first speaker is not capable of reproducing. This is why most Bose packages come integrated with a bunch of speakers and a head unit that contains all the amp and cross-over circuitry. They essentially "hard wire" the tune of the system into the electronics and then sell the package. This kind of approach has it's place - for people that just want out of the box sound they rarely ever have to tweak.
So all of that being said, I am taking a similar approach. I'm purchasing very inexpensive gear and then tuning it to sound as good as it can within the ranges it is best at reproducing.
Let's start with what I have. My 1995 Miata came from the PO with an older aftermarket head unit, aftermarket door speakers, and the rear channel and trigger wires already wired into the trunk. When I first bought the car, the stereo didn't work well at all. No headrest speakers (fine with me) and both front speakers were crackling in and out - just couldn't even listen to it at all. One of them has a broken speaker surround. The first thing I did was cut all the connections, re-strip them and solder them, along with some glue on the broken surround. Viola - the front speakers are working just fine now. Next up was installing a very cheap amplified sub in the trunk since the PO was nice enough to already have wires run for me. It has a built in crossover and volume control so I just played around with it until I stopped getting any kind of bass distortion. As of today, the system works just fine. I listen to CDs every time I'm in the car.
After doing a little thinking about my approach, I visited Parts Express. For about $225, I purchased all of the following:
PAC adapter
electronic crossover
4 channel x 100W amplifier
2 x 5/14 door speakers
2 x 4x6 rear speakers
speaker wiring
Power/ground wires
fuse holder & fuse
2 x power/Gnd distribution block
And here is how I planned it out. Just to see how it sounds, I plan on keeping the front speakers powered by the head unit. I'll send the rear channel signal to the crossover where it will be split between the rear speakers and the sub. Before going to the speakers, it gets amplified. The sub is already amplified.
And the power/ground/trigger plan
After I get it all wired up I'll see if the front speakers need to be routed to the amplifier first. I have a feeling I'll be able to get decent front/rear balance by playing around with the fader controls. If there is too much of a disparity between the front/rear, then I can change the wiring to power the front channel off the same amp the rear channel is using.
The only advice I could use is on my battery. I have an OEM battery and I'm close to needing a replacement. With the addition of the extra electrical loads, I was thinking I should get the battery at the same time as the install. Was thinking about an Optima but open for suggestions? Is an OEM battery in good condition good enough?
Attachments
- Location
- Portland, OR
"Jumbata", that's awesome.
In my experience and research, you are spot on about BOSE. Their incredible marketing has made them far more successful than their products warrant, but aside from that they do produce well above average designs. This is especially true considering the sub-par quality of most of their components. (It takes more talent to make a Pinto do 200mph than a Lambo...) That's the majority of the reason I opted to only replace the subwoofer amplifier in my setup. the speaker itself is far from the weakest link.
As far as the battery goes, I think what you should really be concerned with is your alternator. Unless you plan to bump the system for long periods with the engine off, the alternator will be doing most of the work. My GUESS is that you will be fine with the stock system running such a relatively small amp. Lots of people stroll into their local stereo shop and have a 1000W sub system installed without any issues. Sort of seems like maybe this is a better question for the Miata peeps though...
In my experience and research, you are spot on about BOSE. Their incredible marketing has made them far more successful than their products warrant, but aside from that they do produce well above average designs. This is especially true considering the sub-par quality of most of their components. (It takes more talent to make a Pinto do 200mph than a Lambo...) That's the majority of the reason I opted to only replace the subwoofer amplifier in my setup. the speaker itself is far from the weakest link.
As far as the battery goes, I think what you should really be concerned with is your alternator. Unless you plan to bump the system for long periods with the engine off, the alternator will be doing most of the work. My GUESS is that you will be fine with the stock system running such a relatively small amp. Lots of people stroll into their local stereo shop and have a 1000W sub system installed without any issues. Sort of seems like maybe this is a better question for the Miata peeps though...
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Car
- 05 FX35 RWD
Jumbata,
Hopefully you dont have to much Zoom-Zoom
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/aut...pider-webs-prompt-mazda-recall-of-50000-cars/
Hopefully you dont have to much Zoom-Zoom
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/aut...pider-webs-prompt-mazda-recall-of-50000-cars/
Ok seriously, this is why I am into the Miata. I just bought these wheels for autocross.
http://houstonmiataclub.com/index.php?topic=1246.msg9683#new
Picked up some 17x7 Konigs with Dunlop Star Specs (great Miata autocross tire) for a total of $300. To date I have purchased two sets of wheels and tires - the TRM wheels and Yoko rubber was brand new for $700. Add these Konigs and I have $1000 into my wheels and tires AND I still have the stockers. Three sets of wheels in five months.
Wish it were the same with the FX.
http://houstonmiataclub.com/index.php?topic=1246.msg9683#new
Picked up some 17x7 Konigs with Dunlop Star Specs (great Miata autocross tire) for a total of $300. To date I have purchased two sets of wheels and tires - the TRM wheels and Yoko rubber was brand new for $700. Add these Konigs and I have $1000 into my wheels and tires AND I still have the stockers. Three sets of wheels in five months.
Wish it were the same with the FX.
"LittleGagne"
Member
- Location
- Pot Falls
Sent from my iPhone
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Car
- 2007 FX35 RWD
Looks good! What tires are those?
- Location
- Portland, OR
I finally sold my racey little Integra today, and in doing so reclaimed my precious driveway parking space. No more searching for parking in the FX on Saturday nights, no more street parking paranoia. I'm officially back down to one minimally modded "other ride". It's funny, it was given to me to repay a debt that I had long considered lost, I hardly ever drove it, and it denied me the driveway spot for several months. Nevertheless, I was a little sad to see it go this morning. Parting is such sweet sorrow. :frown:
So long little DA...
So long little DA...
Attachments
"LittleGagne"
Member
- Location
- Pot Falls
They are bfgoodrich KDW 2's or something like that. Haha. The grip is insane.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
SexualChocolate
Member
- Location
- SE Houston
"LittleGagne"
Member
- Location
- Pot Falls
Sweetness
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
SexualChocolate
Member
- Location
- SE Houston
Pulled out these from the garage. Needed to do a testfit as they were made for my old E85 (Z4). Needed to make sure the rear will fit (18x9.5 with 255 on it), will need a fender roll as the coilovers will bring her down and it'll rub.
I'm skeptical (19s would look better) but after I refinish them they will work until I can afford something else. Excuse the condition of them for now...
I'm skeptical (19s would look better) but after I refinish them they will work until I can afford something else. Excuse the condition of them for now...
Attachments
Last edited:
Sydney
Member
- Location
- Seattle, WA
So I sold the FX due to relocation but still need a daily, actually looking for a high mileage (ie cheap) but well maintained 1-Gen to have fun with.
In the meantime, this is keeping me busy ... just got some new shoes on, actually just as wide as my old FX with 10" rears
The wife just got in on the action too, lowered and new wheel set up, shocked she's gotten into it so much but it's cool
In the meantime, this is keeping me busy ... just got some new shoes on, actually just as wide as my old FX with 10" rears
The wife just got in on the action too, lowered and new wheel set up, shocked she's gotten into it so much but it's cool
Attachments
ThE Fx 45 BeAsT
Member
- Location
- Seattle
Nice rides bro love the bimmer