05-09 Interior and Audio Mods Enhancing Your Mustang's Interior and Sound System

The (redfire) Cure for the Common Shaker.

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Old 5/8/05, 08:08 PM
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Shaker 500 not quite living up to its name? Unwilling to fork over an extra grand for an uninspiring Shaker 1000? Redfire owner to top it off? Ladies and gentlemen, behold the solution to your ills, available today for just under $400 in parts (okay my friend who's an audio engineer hooked me up), half of your trunk space, and about 8-12 man hours...

Ingredients:

2 Infinity Kappa Perfect 12 DVC
1 JBL BP1200.1 1200W RMS amp
1 Custom MDF Sub enclosure (30x16Xx10)
A few ripe grommets
Plenty of galvanized woodscrews
4 gauge power wire and 16 gauge speaker wire to taste...


Instructions:

Run your positive feed from the battery through the antenna hole in the firewall (must remove passenger tire and inner fender). STRIP your interior. Passenger seat removal is a must. Door sills, rear seats and all rear trim pieces should also be removed (most snap into place, some are held together with cheap plastic fasteners). Run your power cable under the interior carpet, beneath the rear seats and to the amp mounting location of your choice (I used the right rear seatback). Tie into your rear speakers using 3M Scotchlocks (no splicing required!). Mount subwoofer enclosure to the frame (I used the bracket-looking section just behind the decklid/rear speakers).

For you Redfire owners, Hancock Fabrics has some imitation leather (aka vinyl) in burgundy. Not an exact match but pretty close.

Serve and Enjoy!

Note: Will cause ridiculous vibrations at even nominal boost/volume levels. Soundproofing is a must (a lesson I learned the hard way). :bang:
Old 5/8/05, 08:20 PM
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Not my cup of tea.

I guess I like something a little more inconspicuous.
Old 5/8/05, 08:24 PM
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Looks good, but it appears to kill trunk space. Is there any left or does the box take it all up because this is just like the set up I am planning.
Old 5/8/05, 08:30 PM
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I've got rattles like crazy. Have you came up with any solutions? If anyone's worrying about space being an issue, one good 12 will be plenty. I don't even turn mine up because there's more rattles than I want to listen to.
Old 5/8/05, 08:31 PM
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Originally posted by Sonic Brew@May 8, 2005, 9:27 PM
Looks good, but it appears to kill trunk space. Is there any left or does the box take it all up because this is just like the set up I am planning.
From the trunk, put a measuring tape at the base of your back seats, and kiss off about a foot and a half rearward. Not the end of the world but not a trivial loss either. You WILL lose easy access to your spare, so be cautious with your mounting choices.

Good luck.
Old 5/8/05, 08:35 PM
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Originally posted by 05GT-O.C.D.@May 8, 2005, 9:33 PM
I've got rattles like crazy. Have you came up with any solutions? If anyone's worrying about space being an issue, one good 12 will be plenty. I don't even turn mine up because there's more rattles than I want to listen to.
There are three culprits in mine. The first was the rear seatbelts. Easy fix (tuck them or even buckle them!). The next are those plastic covers on the rear "shelf" (I think they are for mounting child seats or something). Finally, the interior trim pieces surrounding the rear windows (the lower pieces with the armrests) are awful. Foam insulation + thin plastic plus loud subwoofer = horrendous vibration. I'm going to remove those panels in a week or two and try insulating them....

I'll keep ya posted.
Old 5/8/05, 08:44 PM
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Originally posted by Purple Hayz+May 8, 2005, 9:38 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Purple Hayz @ May 8, 2005, 9:38 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-05GT-O.C.D.@May 8, 2005, 9:33 PM
I've got rattles like crazy. Have you came up with any solutions? If anyone's worrying about space being an issue, one good 12 will be plenty. I don't even turn mine up because there's more rattles than I want to listen to.
There are three culprits in mine. The first was the rear seatbelts. Easy fix (tuck them or even buckle them!). The next are those plastic covers on the rear "shelf" (I think they are for mounting child seats or something). Finally, the interior trim pieces surrounding the rear windows (the lower pieces with the armrests) are awful. Foam insulation + thin plastic plus loud subwoofer = horrendous vibration. I'm going to remove those panels in a week or two and try insulating them....

I'll keep ya posted.
[/b][/quote]


Please do. I've never looked that far into it. I'm lazy and it's easy just to turn the volume down. B)
Old 5/8/05, 09:35 PM
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How do you like the Infinity subs and JBL amp? How hard does it hit from the trunk?
Old 5/9/05, 12:02 AM
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Originally posted by emperorjordan@May 8, 2005, 10:38 PM
How do you like the Infinity subs and JBL amp? How hard does it hit from the trunk?
They make for a killer combo. Bass is tight, deep, and loud. You will feel the air pulse by your head at about 5/10. These puppies hit hard, and in a cabin as tight as the Stang's (especially with pass through rear seats), I will probably never have need to push it much harder. After an hour of hard listening, the amp is still cold to the touch. Not an ounce of dash/light flicker either. No need for a capacitor with this setup.
Old 5/9/05, 10:58 AM
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nice... what kind of music do you listen to? and is there any audible distortion that you have noticed from the amp?
Old 5/9/05, 11:05 AM
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Wow, that takes up a lot of room. Where do you put the nitrous tank?
Old 5/9/05, 11:41 AM
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Originally posted by emperorjordan@May 9, 2005, 11:01 AM
nice... what kind of music do you listen to?
I'm thinking mexican polka.


Way to go my fellow Redfire owner. I will be putting my system in come summer.


Also, I think this should be in the Audio & Interior Dress-Up Mods forum?
Old 5/9/05, 03:30 PM
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Originally posted by Purple Hayz+May 9, 2005, 1:05 AM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Purple Hayz @ May 9, 2005, 1:05 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-emperorjordan@May 8, 2005, 10:38 PM
How do you like the Infinity subs and JBL amp? How hard does it hit from the trunk?
They make for a killer combo. Bass is tight, deep, and loud. You will feel the air pulse by your head at about 5/10. These puppies hit hard, and in a cabin as tight as the Stang's (especially with pass through rear seats), I will probably never have need to push it much harder. After an hour of hard listening, the amp is still cold to the touch. Not an ounce of dash/light flicker either. No need for a capacitor with this setup.
[/b][/quote]

WOW, I've got a 1000 watt amp and my map lights nearly go OUT when the bass hits... I'm not going to put a cap on it, but is there potentially something wrong w/ my car?

Soundstream Rubicon 1000 and Kicker L7 SoloBaric 12

... for the Torch Red owners:
Old 5/9/05, 09:34 PM
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Dude..if your lights are dimming that badly you really should put a Cap in there.....If you don't you will be blowing through alternators & batteries like no tomorrow. I went through 2 alternators in my previous grand prix with my 600 Watt PPI amp driving a 12" DEI DVC sub.
Old 5/10/05, 05:00 AM
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WOW, I've got a 1000 watt amp and my map lights nearly go OUT when the bass hits... I'm not going to put a cap on it, but is there potentially something wrong w/ my car?

Soundstream Rubicon 1000 and Kicker L7 SoloBaric 12

... for the Torch Red owners:
[/quote]



im sure theres nothing wrong. your amp is just pulling alot of power away from your electrical system thats why the lights dim. the soundstream amp you have is a true 1000 watt rms amp and pulls alot of juice. the jbl 1200 watt amp is only putting out about 300 true rms watts and thats why theres not as much power drain on the cars electrical system. theres alot more involved in it and i would be more then happy to share my knowledge with anyone who would like to send me a message or if you just have questions, ill also give any one my number if you want to call and talk about car audio
Old 5/10/05, 11:05 AM
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Originally posted by emperorjordan@May 9, 2005, 12:01 PM
nice... what kind of music do you listen to? and is there any audible distortion that you have noticed from the amp?
No distortion whatsoever, though the vibration/rattle can get a little annoying at certain frequencies (dynamat soon). I listen to everything, though blues, rock, and hip-hop comprise about 90% of my 12K track collection....

oh yeah and don't forget Mexican Polka
Old 5/10/05, 11:54 AM
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Originally posted by vc4life@May 10, 2005, 6:03 AM
the jbl 1200 watt amp is only putting out about 300 true rms watts and thats why theres not as much power drain on the cars electrical system.


Please post the results of the lab tests that warrant this conclusion. Frequency range (if you used test tones you should be slapped), THD, RMS/DIN, Resistance of the loads tested etc. etc.

That JBL is stable down to 1 ohm loads (yes, I have seen it. As I mentioned, my hook-up is a sound engineer), and I have no reason to believe it won't drive a two ohm sub at the posted continous power levels, from 10-320 cycles, at less than .1% distortion. Clearly, you know otherwise, so kindly enlighten us with the basis of your assertion. :scratch:

I'll assume you know the JBL is a class D amp with a highly efficient power supply. It was designed to make maximum power without drawing a huge current from the electical system. That combined with the fact that I have no need to push it very hard (my interior feels like it will crack as it is), and the lack of fading lights is, if anything, unsurprising.
Old 5/10/05, 03:47 PM
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No offense, but that setup looks like the quality I was putting out in high school. Anyone can build a cheap box and drop it into a trunk, but it isn't very friendly when its time to pull the spare tire or haul anything bigger than a 12-pack of charmin.

No thanks, I prefer the integrated seamless look. Takes a little more time and money, but in the end it pays back in spades.
Old 5/10/05, 03:57 PM
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Dude, how can you start a post like that with the words 'no offense'?
Old 5/10/05, 04:52 PM
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Originally posted by 05GT-O.C.D.@May 10, 2005, 5:00 PM
Dude, how can you start a post like that with the words 'no offense'?
Ok, that actually sounded more harsh than I intended. What I mean is, that isn't the sort of thing I would want in my car, but if it works for him....more power to him. I just hate to see someone not think things through, because I know when I first got into car audio, I made countless boxes just about like that one, and although they did the job, there were better ways of doing it.

Not everyone has the cash for a custom fiberglass enclosure of course, but there are other options as well like the custom boxes currently being developed by Q-logic and others. I just want to ensure everyone knows there are other options out there......no harm intended, just expressing my opinion.


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