Car Audio from Uk

[nige]

Hi chaps,

New member here, so i thought i'd share some pics of my car audio project.

Firstly, this is the car:

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1462.JPG

It's a 1994 525i Sport Auto. 97k miles on the clock, and generally good condition. Since purchase i've added the M Parallel wheels and clear indicators, and an M5 rear panel.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1500.JPG

This is the fabriaction for the custom dashboard. The midrange speakers will be mounted in the steel rings for maximum rigidity.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1503.JPG

Next, i wrapped the dash in fleece to get the general shape and then resined it.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1504.JPG

Back in the car, all seems to fit!

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1511.JPG

Next was to modify the centre console to suit the shape of the new dash an the sub box.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1486.JPG

Here is the sub box, 20 litre sealed enclosure, again with a steel mounting ring for the speaker.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1512.JPG

This pic shows the sub box in place.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1513.JPG

This pic shows the steel baffle for the midbass. These are welded in place for maximum rigidity.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1520.JPG

These are the parts to make the tweeter mounting

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1522.JPG

..and here is the part welded together.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1542.JPG

Here are some of the parts after trimming in vinyl and alcantara.

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1545.JPG

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1524.JPG

Here is the tweeter build in position

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCF1618.JPG

...and again with the shaping done to blend them to the car.

And finally, here are some pics from the EMMA European finals in Rotterdam last month!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1500.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1496.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1494.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1491.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1490.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101009_2356.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101009_2354.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101009_1947.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101010_1118.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotwheelss/euro/20101009_2329.jpg

[Ruffneck]

Looks amazing mate. Excellent work, love it!

[ShapeShifter]

Is that a mail box over the HVAC?

Seems the head unit is in a bad location.

[nige]

The 'mail box' is the CD slot, only the face has been re-located for better visibility while driving. The car has steering wheel audio controls for safe driving. :)

[darknezz7]

woah, thats alot of work :eek:

I cant say I like the cluster in the middle like that though.... reminds me of mini's, I mean I like mini's, aside from what I just said.

no rear deck speakers? All those amps for just that? What sub did you use? db hit?

I always wanted to move my battery and ebox under the back seat and put speakers in there :stickoutt

[cornflakecwl]

The 'mail box' is the CD slot, only the face has been re-located for better visibility while driving. The car has steering wheel audio controls for safe driving. :)
Amazing job on the work, beautiful car but I think the SPEEDO and TACH are more important to be looking at while driving!! LOL Amazing work man, I personally would have left the dash where it was, I hate centre mounted (a la Mini) stuff like that, otherwise sick!!

[nige]

TBH, the car doesn't get used much, other than driving to competitions. If the dash is symmetrical, it makes the staging and imaging easier to get right, hence why the clocks get moved. Also, in the category i'm in, we get points for the audio display being above the height of the steering wheel centre.

Regarding rear speakers, again, not necessary for a competition car, and also this car is in a 7 channel class, so more speakers = more amps and a higher class to enter. :(

[E34ührer]

Does anyone else find the center instrument cluster as awesome as I do?

Amazing custom job! How about some system specs?

[nige]

System specs:

Alpine F#1 head unit and processor
3 x DLS TA2 Tube amps
1 x DLS A6 sub amp
DLS Scandinavia 3 way front speakers
DLS Nordica 10" sub

[bam240sx]

major props for the creativity and work, but a weird & annoying spot for the guage cluster only because most people look at that more then they would the cd deck.

if its basically going to be a trailor queen or show car then it wouldn't be as annoying i guess

[E34ührer]

That's a NICE set up. I wish I wasn't in another country so I could hear it.



Alpine F#1 head unit and processor


I have only heard an F#1 once in a set up I built for a customer...and it sounded amazing...but only after 60-million hours of trying to tune the damn thing! But once it's tuned, I guess you really don't have to mess with it again.

VERY jealous!:buttrock

[darknezz7]

TBH, the car doesn't get used much, other than driving to competitions. If the dash is symmetrical, it makes the staging and imaging easier to get right, hence why the clocks get moved. Also, in the category i'm in, we get points for the audio display being above the height of the steering wheel centre.

Regarding rear speakers, again, not necessary for a competition car, and also this car is in a 7 channel class, so more speakers = more amps and a higher class to enter. :(

The only audio competitions I know are LOTS OF BIG SUBS AND DB. I know nothing about what kind of comp you are doing. Its very weird to me to have 1 10" sub and no rear speakers....

[E34ührer]

The only audio competitions I know are LOTS OF BIG SUBS AND DB. I know nothing about what kind of comp you are doing. Its very weird to me to have 1 10" sub and no rear speakers....


SQ+

[cornflakecwl]

The only audio competitions I know are LOTS OF BIG SUBS AND DB. I know nothing about what kind of comp you are doing. Its very weird to me to have 1 10" sub and no rear speakers....


SQ+
Unfortunately over the years, the bass heads seem to have taken over. I remember being younger and being around the car-audio scene it was MORE about sound-q and trick / stealth installs. Now it seems all I ever see, at least in NA anyways is pure DB Drag style comps. I miss the old days of car audio. (Guess I am aging myself a bit here!)

[TheCleaner]

Holly Crap do ever know what your doing. I usually don't like that sort of thing. Quite often too over the top. Looks great! If I was into sound I would use your car for the blue print.:redspot

[nige]

Cheers for the comments guys, much appreciated. I know the central clocks aren't to everyones taste, but everything in the car was built for a reason, either to comply with the rule book or make the sound as good as possible. The car also runs a high voltage system, with 14 volt batteries and modified alternator to charge them with. This again is to improve the sound quality.

Over the winter i will be working through all the gremlins in the car, and if money allows, hopefully giving the car a full re-paint with some subtle modifications.

[sfgearhead]

Wow, I'm impressed with the level of detail.

I think the center mounted gauges look great, I'd love to see them a bit more vertical like the OEM gauges, but still, wow.

So how'd you do in the competition? Any plans to tweak and reenter next year?

Oh, the exterior looks fantastic too, great stance, can't go wrong with Mpars, and love the blue.

You've given me some ideas for my Berlina on how to recover the dash.

What do you use on the top of the dash? A rubberized paint, or just regular paint?

[bfp9]

I want that exterior color.

[nige]

The dash is trimmed in Alcantara. I like Avus blue too, it's probably my favourite colour fro E34's, took me a while to find this car when i was looking for one, there were some right old rough ones around in the Uk.

Regarding the stance, the back is dropped due to the weight of the audio, so the front needs to come down a little to match i think, that will another job for the winter months.

I'm waiting on some new speakers from my sponsors right now, should get them the beginning of next year, so the car will be back for the European finals again next year. Took 4th place this year in Master 7 channel, so that's quite respectable for it's 1st time out.

http://www.dls.se/econtent/418/nigel_skingley.html

[E34ührer]

What do you use on the top of the dash? A rubberized paint, or just regular paint?

I'd be willing to bet it's a wrap. :eatpop:

Ian, are you recovering the OEM dash or 'making' a new dash? Either way, I know an installer at Car Toys that can wrap ANYTHING...talk to me about it.

/threadjack

[BigM62]

Simply outstanding. Much love went into this project.

[uk525td]

loved this build ever since i seen it on bmw5.co.uk
:)

[attack eagle]

should have posted in Car Audio. :)

you must be TA'ing like an SOB with the speakers in those locations

[ross1]

When a machine's primary purpose is to play "music" loudly it stops being a car in my view.
Having said this it appears very nice work. Not for me but I appreciate the amount of effort.

[uk525td]

yer its not designed to play music loudly
its designed to play sound clearly, perfect reproduction

[eightynine535]

Very impressed!

[5271990]

I know the cluster is there for symmetry but too bad you couldnt angle the clocks inside the cluster to be angled at the driver while the main shell of the cluster remained directly facing out.

[curbsideprophet]

i know just about nothing about audio so don't hate me for being out of my element and asking a dumb question...

with everything up front like that how is the staging? i thought you were supposed to have something in the rear to balance it out?

[E34ührer]

i know just about nothing about audio so don't hate me for being out of my element and asking a dumb question...

with everything up front like that how is the staging? i thought you were supposed to have something in the rear to balance it out?

Most SQ+ set ups don't have rear speakers. If you have a properly time aligned and powerful front stage, rears will just muttle things up. I personally have rears in my car...they are entry level Focal coax, faded down to about 20% just so my rear passengers (my kids) have a little sound too...

For everyday use, it's kind of a personal preference thing...

[nige]

Rear fill at low level can work very well for ambience and also help improve stage depth. Unfortunately with running a 3 way front end the processor runs out of channels to control rears as well. With the F#1, you can add a second PXI-H990 processor for 5.1 etc, but the processor alone is £1.6k!

Regarding the dash, i am considering a rebuild for cosmetic reasons, i had quite a tight time schedule when i built the car this year to get it ready for the Euro finals, but now i have some time i can go back and make some changes.

[Trasportador]

That's a lot of customization, and if you got that to all come together smoothly, my hat is off to you Sir. Beutiful finishing. I understand your logic in the placement of the guages. We here look at things from our standpoint mainly, but if this is just a show car, dangnabbit it shows well.!