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Competition Stereo install update

antarctica24

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#1
Ok before I get started, I know there are a lot of people who don't care for the Metra dash kit. I am one of those people. However anyone who has done a competition level sound system knows sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Choosing to deal with this kit in lieu of better sound quality the sound quality wins.

So, with that said, the alpine hd149 became the radio of choice. It offered the aux input in the rear for my tablet setup, steering wheel control adaptability Sirius radio, and Bluetooth. It has a 24 bit dac. Currently it's hooked up to the factory speakers. More on that in a moment. I ran the rca's for when I disconnect the factory speakers.

Now I have to remove the screen and install the dash hood from a regular 2012 fiesta. The space where the small screen on that console will be taken up by my iPhone 6plus for navigation. The tablet will be mounted below the radio. I will post pictures when I have that completed.

Car toys used a PAC adapter for the steering wheel controls. Everything was maintained except the Bluetooth button. That is now a source selector switch. The phone button is within reach on the alpine radio so I'm ok with that. Remember the purpose here was sound quality.

Now what I noticed listening to the alpine is it images the same as with the factory unit. That tells me as I suspected the radio behind the dash or box, houses all the electronics but does not house the tuning component. If you tap into the factory speaker wires you will not be able to get around the factory tuning without something like the JL audio piece.

Car functions 100% without the box.

I'll post pictures once I have the new dash hood installed.

As for the other pictures these are pictures of the 4" speaker pods that will be on the dash. If you have been following the install, there will be a tweeter and dual 4" midrange on each side of the dash. This is the prototype.

The radio is straight the factory screen is tilted making the alpine look off.


IMG_1275.JPG IMG_1256.JPG IMG_1257.JPG
 


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#2
Looking forward to updates. So you feel like the tuning is outside of the stock unit in some stand alone module? Trace the wiring and check i suppose. It could just be that even with time alignment the stock positions are difficult to shift imaging.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 


OP
antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #3
Looking forward to updates. So you feel like the tuning is outside of the stock unit in some stand alone module? Trace the wiring and check i suppose. It could just be that even with time alignment the stock positions are difficult to shift imaging.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
The more I think about it, it really makes sense. If your sony, you build lots of these radios. Now I'm referringg to the box underneath the screen that has the CD player, amp, and satellite radio. it's a universal box that can be used in multiple cars. Then you put the tuning in another module. Based on some reading regarding setting up sync 3, it's probably the bcm.

There are two boxes behind the glove box that the wiring harness goes to from the CD player. My guess is it's right there. If one of them is doing just the tuning it should be able to be unplugged and remove all the tuning from sony. That doesn't remove the junk sony from the equation, but it would be a start for sure.
 


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#4
Looks good so far! Those buttons under the alpine unit have any function?
Have you seen those new double dins that connect to the obd port and have can have gauges?
 


OP
antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #6
Looks good so far! Those buttons under the alpine unit have any function?
Have you seen those new double dins that connect to the obd port and have can have gauges?
I have seen the double din kits, but I am not sure they would fit or not, there was a bar that had to be cut out for this to work. I guess the only way to tell would be get one and install it.

The Door unlock and lock and hazard buttons work. The others will not do anything after I remove the screen.
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #7
I went ahead and made the final selection on the processor. I bought the Mosconi Aerspace 8-12. While it has 2 more channels than I need, it is arguably the best processor being built today. I got a deal on it at $1200 and that included the Bluetooth module. I will post pictures when it gets here.

I have not made a tweeter selection as of yet. I was going with the scan speak Illuminator and then thought about the Morel Piccolo and now I am back on the Illuminator. I am not at a point where I need the tweeters yet so I have time to think about it.

The tablet is turning out to be a challenge to pick one. I want something that is 10" and has at least 4 gb or ram. I can purchase an older Microsoft Surface but there are also a couple of Chinese tablets on ebay that could server nicely. I will keep you posted.
 


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#8
With Android bringing Android Auto to phones and tablets you may want to look into a well made Android Tablet. Link it through your phone for data for gps maybe?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 


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#9
It sucks that someone can't just come up with a dash kit for this car. I had the metra dash kit and a sound system installed in my 2012 Fiesta SE. The dash kit was so ugly and the dead screen at the top (only displaying the time), but man did it sound good.

I am in the process of upgrading my entire sound system. I am going to have my friend who is a professional audio guy, install and tune the rockford fosgate 360.3 DSP. I know it will never sound as good as an aftermarket stereo, but hopefully it can get as close as possible.
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #10
This is the beginning of the template to make the sub enclosure. It is part 1 of 3 parts. The center section was cut to determine where the rings beneath the plate need to sit in relation to the spare tire well.

The two aluminum rings pictured will be the mounting baffles for the two 10" morel subs. They are 2 inches thick made from 6061-t6 aluminum. Why you ask? Because I could :) no they were for another install about 10nyears ago that I never finished and now I'm going to use them. Same reasoning then though.






IMG_1297.JPG IMG_1296.JPG
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #11
Radio Install Update

Car Toys finished the install of the top part of the dash last night. So for the Main Head Unit part of this install it is complete. The top of the dash is the piece from the 2012 Fiesta. The Screen that was part of the ST simply has four screws and literally plugs right into the CAN BUS Module. The bracket holding the touch screen and CAN BUS Modules was removed and a piece of the bracket in the very back was cut to move the CAN BUS Module below the head unit so the top would go on. Additionally, the temp sensor wires had to be extended about 3 inches to route properly. This is not a bolt in by any means. Car Toys did part of this and I did the other part. I will say Car Toys did not balk at the concept of getting in the dash. On a difficulty level of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most difficult I would rate this portion of the install to be a 3.5 to 4.

Now, knowing what I know about audio, and knowing now what I know about this install, if I was staring from scratch and contemplating doing it all again, YES, I would do it all again.

The Alpine head unit CDE-HD149BT has a Signal to Noise Ration of 105db on the CD section and USB section. It has HD Radio, Pandora, USB for Ipod and Android, Aux input, Sirius Radio, and Bluetooth Audio.
While I am using an external processor for my tuning needs, this head unit comes with many tuning options including the ability to tune from an APP on your phone.

I am 90% satisfied with the finished look of the installed radio.

As for the steering wheel controls, when tying into the CAN BUS, the steering wheel control adapter from PAC retained everything but the center phone button. It now acts as a source selector switch for the radio, which I actually like better. The radio has many Bluetooth features for the phone including dialing from phone book. I am somewhere in between 6'1" and 6'2" so the seat sits all the way back. I am able without leaning forward to touch the phone button on the radio which is in the upper most left corner of the radio so I can do it without looking.

I am 200% satisfied with the overall sound quality of the Alpine head unit over the Sony just simply powering the factory speakers from the Alpine deck.

Updates on other aspects of the system.
When I started this, I had purchased the Morel 6.5" midbass drivers, then purchased the 9" midbass drivers. I am going to install the 6.5" first because it doesn't require any modification to do so, which will speed up the overall installation. In addition, as you will see hopefully next week, the read trunk area is configured for 3 Alpine amps. The original install was for 2 tweeters, 4 midrange, 2 midbass, and 2 subs. This was all going to be powered by 2 Alpine PDX-V9 amps. That is 100 watts on each speaker and 500 on each sub. With the 9" I felt I needed more power and they are 8 ohm drivers, so I purchased a Alpine M12 to power the subs, and then power the two 9" with the 500 from each V9. That would have given me 250 on each 9". With the 6.5" midbass driver, I only need 2 amps which simplifies the install.

I am finally replacing the factory battery at 175,000 miles with a XS D4700. This is a AGP battery.

Plans this weekend are to finalize the subbox portion of the trunk. We have snow on the way and I am going all of this from my Apartment garage. So we will see how far I get. I am being told the Mosconi Aerospace processor left Italy yesterday and is in route to the store :).

Plans for the doors, regardless of speaker used, will be sound deadening on outside skin and inside skin of door and door panel on each door. That will take place in December and I will most like hire Car Toys to do that labor.
As for the Pods on the dash, work on those continues, I had to tweak the dimensions a little bit because I changed the thickness of the sphere which changes my cut out parameters. ARGH!!!!!!!! By-Gons.

I am still contemplating which tablet I want to use. I really need at least 4 GB of memory and would like 128GB of storage for apps. There seems to be an abundance of Microsoft Surface Pro 3's running around that are factory refurbished that I think will fit the bill for the rest of the source unit. I think the 10" is the better option, while the 12" will fit as I was going to use my Ipad pro, the 10" will be less intrusive.

Additionally, I think I will be installing a 1/2" plexigass cover over the entire trunk area so all of it would be secure and drill holes for the subs.


Dash.JPG
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #13
Did you take out the Sony 8.5 screen in that last picture? (The stock one)
The Sony screen is a 5" not a 8". That would have been huge. But yes, the Sony screen is finally gone. I think the largest screen in a compact car is the one that came in the Dart which was 8".
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #14
So here are some updated pictures, the subwoofer/amp mounting plate is coming together nicely. Aluminum Rings are now mounted and sub holes have been cut. I just got in the mail today my final revision on my midrange pods. The morels fit perfectly. They literally snap right into place, no screws required.

My XS battery got here so I have to install it, but the pod really for me is a 20 year dream come true, I am so very excited. This opens the door for so many possibilities for other projects not car related.

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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #15
Now that I have had some time with the alpine, I wanted to comment.

It may be the only fiesta st with an aftermarket radio in the world. As for the way it sounds it is 10000 time better than the Sony factory piece. I think I have mentioned pretty certain all of the tuning takes place in another box. If that wiring could be found, which I suspect is behind the glove box, you could take into that wire before the tuning box, and at least get a clean signal from the factory radio. Again, I suspected as much because thinking if I were a company making radios for factory cars each car would be different so make 1 radio and create separate tuning boxes for each vehicle. So just on alpine power the radio is greatly improved even with iPod music. With the alpine set flat in every setting everything sounds better which is what I also suspected. The sony radio source is junk and I think even though the effort was large getting the aftermarket radio in the dash it was worth it and if I had to do it again, the difference is so profound it would have been modification number 1 over all of the other modifications I did. Taking the signal from the factory radio and sending it to a processor just sends junk signal to be reprocessed. If your serious about sound the aftermarket radio is the only way to go.
 


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#16
nice to see other people also doing audio builts in their st's .. i was also running that ugly metra dash kit.. using a kenwood X998, JL 300/4 for my front stage (CDT audio) and a HD750/1 for my subs (CSS SDX10's) and a audison bitone DSP. I sold the car last year and regret it ever since
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #17
Wow, Snow and cold weather finally subsiding. I will be restaring my audio project next weekend, updates and pictures to follow.
 


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antarctica24

antarctica24

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Thread Starter #18
New Sub Install Pictures

With the weather finally out of my way, I have resumed progress on the stereo install. This is a work in progress, so the design is undergoing changes as I progress. I have decided to install the amps standing up. They will cut into slots like a video card on a motherboard in the upper right corner. The processor will be installed in the same fashion below them and the 15 farad cap will be installed in the space left over. In order to facilitate installing the amps and processor in this manor, the subwoofer baffle itself had to be extended from side to side and elevated. So I mapped out the shape that would clear the subs, and the wiring for accessibility and started created layers. This will raise the enclosure so that it can have a piece of plexi over top of it, and secured to the baffle itself with slots cut out for the subs to play acting as a grill. If someone were to break into the car, there will not be any snatch and grab with the alarm going off, and I can place a matt over the plexi and still put stuff in the trunk. With the plexi installed it will not be any higher than when the panel from the factory was in place. The bottom layer will extend into the opening of the spare tire well, then layers will be cut to go down the bottom of the spare tire well, and a hole will be drilled in the bottom of the enclosure to screw into the spare tire bolt hole the jack attached to. I'm in an apartment until June 2018, so I am a victim of the weather.

The top baffle will be wrapped in either black or red carbon fiber, or Kevlar. I haven't decided. The rings still need to be polished.

zpic1.jpg zpic2.jpg

Some might read this and ask why didn't I just use fiberglass?
Here's why. The difference between a good sub enclosure and a mediocre sub enclosure is the thickness of the enclosures. The walls of this enclosure are a minimum of 1" at any given point. The bottom of the enclosure will be 1.5" thick and the baffle in which the sub is mounted is 3/4" and the sub is mounted inside a aluminum ring that is 2" thick. When doing a fiberglass enclosure, the walls have to be extraordinarily thick. Why, because of energy displacement. When your playing your sub, if you can place your hand on the enclosure, and feel the sub playing, you are adding distortion that is being fed back through the sub. This is why all great home subwoofers are almost too heavy to move. The JL Audio home theater sub enclosure is 700lbs.

While this is a car, we certainly do not want to put a 700lb box in the back, and I will have to replace the springs to counter the weight to some degree. When all said and done, amps, subs, enclosure, I will probably have added 135lbs to the rear of the car. This will be countered by installing a aluminum ceramic coated exhaust on the car.

More pictures will follow next week.
 


LilPartyBox

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#19
Looking good. I like the idea of securing it using the existing spare tire bolt except I'd be weary of driving without a spare.
 


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