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[[ Adam ]]

Stereo is one step closer to being "done" (for now)...

Today I replaced the front door speakers with Focal Auditor Evo 6.5" coax units. As with the rear door speakers, putting these in requires a few minutes with a Dremel and rotary sanding wheel to enlarge the opening in the OEM speaker mount. After that the speakers got a bit of 1/8" foam applied to the back of the mounting surface and a trimmed down Stinger FAST ring on the front (cut to depth for the door card).

As with the rear door, I don't think the door skin itself will have any massive improvement from adding CLD as it seems quite rigid, however, the door card was covered in SM200L Thinsulate. Below you can see the Focal speaker installed in the door. View attachment 7855017View attachment 7855018

The rear speakers didn't make any drastic difference over stock, minimally enough that I'm not sure I'd totally recommend replacing them (unless you are going deep into the weeds of chasing SQ or SPL). The front speakers, however, make a pretty drastic difference, especially with bass response. The lack of low end in the factory speakers was one of my biggest gripes (I felt like the highs were a bit muddy too, but the soundstage is low, so it'll never be "great"). If I wasn't chasing moderate bass (because I realize a single 8" will never be "big" bass), I don't know that I would go through the hassle of adding a subwoofer at this point.

My current EQ settings with the Focal's are 12,9,4,6,9, but, as with everything sound related, your personal preferences will vary. I have about 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow up to RDS and back to have the brake line replaced, so I'll see how it is and see if those EQ settings need to be adjusted at all. I may bump the 63Hz down to 10 or 11 as it was a bit boomy with some deep bass hip-hop tracks. My JL Audio powered sub was missing the high-level input harness in the box, so that'll arrive tomorrow, and either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday I'll try to have that installed with another audio review.

Of course no photos as of yet, but I also took a few minutes to add 3M Safety-Walk (2" in black) on the rungs of the ladder, no fancy angled cuts or anything, just rectangles on the top side of the rungs. I also added some vinyl to the lambda on the rear 30% door, I'm not 100% happy with how the 3M Knifeless tape cut it, but it'll work for now. I used 3M Scotchlite 680 vinyl in black, which matches almost perfectly with Donny Grey during the daytime. I'll try to remember to grab a night photo with a flashlight tonight

Interesting on the fronts - sounds worthwhile. I was cruising with all the windows down and safaris open today, pushing 12 on the vol dial.

 

[anand]

Interesting on the fronts - sounds worthwhile. I was cruising with all the windows down and safaris open today, pushing 12 on the vol dial.

Definitely something to consider, I'm not sure what other options exist that may drop in without any modifications to the original opening, but that would make it even easier.

Something that I think would fit would be the Audiofrog G62's, as they only require a 5.1875" opening vs the 5.6875" opening of the Focal's

 

[DaBull]

Stereo is one step closer to being "done" (for now)...

Today I replaced the front door speakers with Focal Auditor Evo Slim 6.5" coax units. As with the rear door speakers, putting these in requires a few minutes with a Dremel and rotary sanding wheel to enlarge the opening in the OEM speaker mount. After that the speakers got a bit of 1/8" foam applied to the back of the mounting surface and a trimmed down Stinger FAST ring on the front (cut to depth for the door card).

As with the rear door, I don't think the door skin itself will have any massive improvement from adding CLD as it seems quite rigid, however, the door card was covered in SM200L Thinsulate. Below you can see the Focal speaker installed in the door. View attachment 7855017View attachment 7855018

The rear speakers didn't make any drastic difference over stock, minimally enough that I'm not sure I'd totally recommend replacing them (unless you are going deep into the weeds of chasing SQ or SPL). The front speakers, however, make a pretty drastic difference, especially with bass response. The lack of low end in the factory speakers was one of my biggest gripes (I felt like the highs were a bit muddy too, but the soundstage is low, so it'll never be "great"). If I wasn't chasing moderate bass (because I realize a single 8" will never be "big" bass), I don't know that I would go through the hassle of adding a subwoofer at this point.

My current EQ settings with the Focal's are 12,9,4,6,9, but, as with everything sound related, your personal preferences will vary. I have about 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow up to RDS and back to have the brake line replaced, so I'll see how it is and see if those EQ settings need to be adjusted at all. I may bump the 63Hz down to 10 or 11 as it was a bit boomy with some deep bass hip-hop tracks. My JL Audio powered sub was missing the high-level input harness in the box, so that'll arrive tomorrow, and either tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday I'll try to have that installed with another audio review.

Of course no photos as of yet, but I also took a few minutes to add 3M Safety-Walk (2" in black) on the rungs of the ladder, no fancy angled cuts or anything, just rectangles on the top side of the rungs. I also added some vinyl to the lambda on the rear 30% door, I'm not 100% happy with how the 3M Knifeless tape cut it, but it'll work for now. I used 3M Scotchlite 680 vinyl in black, which matches almost perfectly with Donny Grey during the daytime. I'll try to remember to grab a night photo with a flashlight tonight

Hi anand, Thanks for posting your speaker install including the photos.
There are a couple abbreviations that I am not sure of....CLD, SQ, SPL.
Are the speakers just plug and pay or did you have to make up some connectors?
If you install the base, please provide install directions including how and where to wire to and photos.
Congratulations on the first part of your sound system upgrade. DaBulll

 

[anand]

Hi anand, Thanks for posting your speaker install including the photos.
There are a couple abbreviations that I am not sure of....CLD, SQ, SPL.
Are the speakers just plug and pay or did you have to make up some connectors?
If you install the base, please provide install directions including how and where to wire to and photos.
Congratulations on the first part of your sound system upgrade. DaBulll

Ahh my mistake on not being specific!!!

CLD = Constrained Layer Dampening, or more commonly, your average stick on sound deadening. Most frequently there is an adhesive layer, a weighted (dampening) layer, and an outer layer (often metallic for "heat shielding"). This is what Dynamat (original, and the basis of most of the different products they have now) would be. In my case I'm using Siless 80mil (2mm thickness), but similar brands include Noico, Kilmat, MAT66, etc.

SQ = Sound Quality, specifically in terms of those creating audio systems with the goal of very high quality sound reproduction in lieu of overall system volume.

SPL = Sound Pressure Level, or loudness; these would be systems that don't care about accurate and full range reproduction and instead focus on maximum sound output.

The speakers are more or less plug & play. In addition to enlarging the hole, the only other thing I needed to do was create a short (~8") speaker wiring harness with appropriate sized female spade connectors on either end (one end to the back of the speaker, one end to the plug for the factory wiring). If you look very carefully you'll see a blue/grey bonded wire coming out of the speaker recess, this is the short harness that I wired up. I guess technically you could either desolder the wiring off the back of the factory speaker, or just cut the wiring and add female spade connectors to connect to the new speakers; but for me it just seemed more simple to create a new short harness as I have plenty of speaker wire, connectors, heat shrink, etc.

I'll give a more in depth photo based write up of the subwoofer install as I plan on using the factory subwoofer plug (located on all models for MY24, whether or not you have the subwoofer, and giving 12v, Ground, and both sets of rear speaker wires) to get the audio input for the subwoofer, but running a new power/ground wire

 

[ADVAW8S]

i believe audiofrog is used in one of the audio upgrades offered

 

[DaBull]

Ahh my mistake on not being specific!!!

CLD = Constrained Layer Dampening, or more commonly, your average stick on sound deadening. Most frequently there is an adhesive layer, a weighted (dampening) layer, and an outer layer (often metallic for "heat shielding"). This is what Dynamat (original, and the basis of most of the different products they have now) would be. In my case I'm using Siless 80mil (2mm thickness), but similar brands include Noico, Kilmat, MAT66, etc.

SQ = Sound Quality, specifically in terms of those creating audio systems with the goal of very high quality sound reproduction in lieu of overall system volume.

SPL = Sound Pressure Level, or loudness; these would be systems that don't care about accurate and full range reproduction and instead focus on maximum sound output.

The speakers are more or less plug & play. In addition to enlarging the hole, the only other thing I needed to do was create a short (~8") speaker wiring harness with appropriate sized female spade connectors on either end (one end to the back of the speaker, one end to the plug for the factory wiring). If you look very carefully you'll see a blue/grey bonded wire coming out of the speaker recess, this is the short harness that I wired up. I guess technically you could either desolder the wiring off the back of the factory speaker, or just cut the wiring and add female spade connectors to connect to the new speakers; but for me it just seemed more simple to create a new short harness as I have plenty of speaker wire, connectors, heat shrink, etc.

I'll give a more in depth photo based write up of the subwoofer install as I plan on using the factory subwoofer plug (located on all models for MY24, whether or not you have the subwoofer, and giving 12v, Ground, and both sets of rear speaker wires) to get the audio input for the subwoofer, but running a new power/ground wire

Hi anand, Thanks for the incredibly detailed info. Much appreciated. Looking forward to your sub-wolfer install and instructions. DaBull

 

[anand]

These photos do a perfect job of accentuating the bubbles that I did not take care of in the vinyl install.... But here's the difference with the 3M Scotchlight between "normal" and when light is applied to it

Normal

When lighting is applied

 

[MTNDOG]

"I have about 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow up to RDS and back to have the brake line replaced"

Details?

 

[anand]

"I have about 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow up to RDS and back to have the brake line replaced"

Details?

It isn't common, but a very small number of vehicles have an issue with the way the right front brake line was installed at the factory. It should be caught during PDI, but, as with any industry, sometimes things get missed. In my case, it was missed, and I forgot to check before the drive home. Ultimately, when I did check the line it was after 940 miles of driving, and the brake line was up against the inner sidewall of the tire, and subsequently had worn through the protective coating (but had not damaged the stainless braided line at all). The fix before it is damaged is simply loosening the line, repositioning, and retightening, but since mine is damaged, it's time for a fresh line.

 

[MTNDOG]

It isn't common, but a very small number of vehicles have an issue with the way the right front brake line was installed at the factory. It should be caught during PDI, but, as with any industry, sometimes things get missed. In my case, it was missed, and I forgot to check before the drive home. Ultimately, when I did check the line it was after 940 miles of driving, and the brake line was up against the inner sidewall of the tire, and subsequently had worn through the protective coating (but had not damaged the stainless braided line at all). The fix before it is damaged is simply loosening the line, repositioning, and retightening, but since mine is damaged, it's time for a fresh line.

So, likely should look like this.

 

[anand]

View attachment 7855050
So, likely should look like this.

Precisely, mine was up and over and rubbing on the sidewall at roughly the 1 o'clock position (if looking at the passenger front tire from the side)

 

[grenexplorer]

Definitely something to consider, I'm not sure what other options exist that may drop in without any modifications to the original opening, but that would make it even easier.

Something that I think would fit would be the Audiofrog G62's, as they only require a 5.1875" opening vs the 5.6875" opening of the Focal's

I had a shop quote some audio work and they were going to use GS62 if they went the coax route.

 

[Tom109]

These photos do a perfect job of accentuating the bubbles that I did not take care of in the vinyl install.... But here's the difference with the 3M Scotchlight between "normal" and when light is applied to it

Normal
View attachment 7855034
When lighting is applied
View attachment 7855035

I’m sorry, but I’ve re-read this post three times and all I can see is Scotchbrite!

 

[anand]

I’m sorry, but I’ve re-read this post three times and all I can see is Scotchbrite!

Same company, vastly different products... I do not recommend using Scotch-Brite on the paintwork

 

[Krabby]

Same company, vastly different products... I do not recommend using Scotch-Brite on the paintwork

It'll buff out

 

[Clark Kent]

These photos do a perfect job of accentuating the bubbles that I did not take care of in the vinyl install.... But here's the difference with the 3M Scotchlight between "normal" and when light is applied to it

Normal
View attachment 7855034
When lighting is applied
View attachment 7855035

I did something similar on the wheel box with an offcut of the same stuff. It's black until light shines on it.

 

[anand]

I was almost motivated enough to drop the headliner today, but instead got a few other bits finished.

I added 3M Minicell to all the floor areas (except the cargo area, no point in cutting a new piece for when the interior utility rails are pulled out in lieu of drawers). Sorry, no pics, but just imagine 0.4" thick black closed cell foam under all the factory floors. If I didn't have rubber floor mats I couldn't recommend the 0.4" Minicell due to how thick it is and how it causes the factory flooring to bulge a bit. If you want it to fit with minimal bulging I would recommend the 0.2" Minicell.

I also added a Blue Sea ST Blade split 12 outlet fuse block to the main battery. Since I don't have the OEM aux battery nor the inverter, I have 2 open spots on the 7 outlet fuse block; one of those now feeds the ST Blade Split (reusing the 60A fuse that was already there, but if I add more high draw items, I'll switch it out for a 100A that I have sitting here.

The ST Blade Split is unique in that it has a common ground bus, but two separately powered 6 outlet fuse blocks. This will act as the power distribution for anything to be powered off the main battery within the vehicle with one block being constant power and the other being ignition switched power. Ignition switched power will be through a 30A normally open relay that is triggered by a switched 12v source.

Currently there is only one item on each bus; on the constant power bus, the JL Audio subwoofer. On the switched power bus, a feed to the dash to power the Valentine 1 and dash cam.

Getting to the JL Audio sub, I used the rear speaker outputs that are part of the factory subwoofer harness under the passenger side rear seat. Even if you don't have the subwoofer, you have this pre-wired harness. It is a 10 pin harness (I think it is a standard Molex 10 pin), which is intended to provide up to 15A of power to the factory subwoofer (that is what the OEM sub is fused at) as well as +/- for each rear door speaker. It does this through 2 12v positive (constant power), 2 grounds, and then the 4 speaker wires; leaving the middle 2 pins empty.

Since I knew I wasn't going to use the power/grounds, I chose to not use the connector, and instead just isolate the speaker wires and extend those as needed. After removing the tape on the harness and separating out the speaker wires, I rewrapped it with TESA tape and then some flexible loom to protect the connector, and placed it back in its resting spot. This is on the passenger side (LHD) of the center tunnel, easily found by flipping up the passenger rear seat base. From the factory this connector has foam wrapped around it to protect it. Ignore the bits of Thinsulate, this space will be laid out differently once I install my second battery.


The speaker wires as well as the power and ground for the subwoofer run under the rear seat back and into the cargo area where it is temporarily just strapped in place. Eventually this will either live vertically behind the fridge (once the drawers are installed), or along the driver's side cargo panel (between the fridge and the side wall).


Again, this is temporary so please don't mind the (obscenely) long ratchet strap or the non-dressed speaker wires (grey/white). This also is a good example of the space gained by moving the rear seat forward to the N1 position as normally the mat covers the edge of the black trim on the back of the seat.

Because I'm using the high level speaker wires as the input, triggering the sub via DC Offset works fine, so no remote wire is needed.

After the install I popped on a 50Hz bass track, turned the radio volume up to 12, and spent a few minutes messing with the gain and cut off. For me, a gain around 60% and frequency cut off just shy of 100Hz seemed to work the best. These settings will not translate to the OEM subwoofer!. I ordered the $55 bass knob, but I'm unlikely to actually install it as it doesn't overpower the speakers at low volumes. I did end up bumping up the mids and upper end of the factory EQ slightly as the sub fills in the lows very well for only being an 8".

Other miscellaneous bits handled today included building up all the "bags and pouches".... "Roadside" stuff in the rear cargo door cubby (a Noco Lithium jump pack, flashlight, and some LED road flares in a Blue Ridge Overland Gear 12x4x2 pouch; also have a BROG 12x6x2 pouch under the drivers seat that's still empty, another 12x4x2 pouch under the passenger seat with USB battery pack, cable organizer with all different charging cables, and misc. charging bits and bobs; a BROG IFAK Pouch Small in one of the rear door pockets (everyday stuff like bandaids, gauze, bite/sting stuff, and a wide selection of over the counter medication); a MyMedic Recon Pro with a few things added in the back; and a BROG Tool bag full of an assortment of sockets/spanners and a lot of Torx/Tamper Torx and even a Torx Plus.

I believe the BlendMount for the V1 arrives tomorrow, so maybe that'll get installed along with the Dash cam

 

[anand]

The last of the rapid fire upgrades are getting close...

BlendMount mount for the Valentine1 Gen2 - for how complicated it looks with all the adjustments, this was one of the easiest things I've installed and positions the V1 just under the mirror



Also mounted my dash cam, Rexing V1P-SE... 4K front recording (with a 1080p rear cam that I didn't install), GPS, etc. I've used these in the last 5 vehicles, always with good results


For those keeping track, the fuse I used to grab ignition switched power to trigger the "switched power" side of the ST Blade fuse block was the power mirrors fuse (5A). I figured if the piggyback fuse holder that I added to it was going to fail I wanted it to render an insignificant circuit out of service.

Also found that, while my normal "quick grab" first aid kit lives in the pocket of the passenger rear door, my bigger kit found a perfect home. It is wedged into place and not going anywhere, that is, until the fridge moves to on top of the drawer system in the coming weeks

 

[Krabby]

The last of the rapid fire upgrades are getting close...

For 3.0 ... Glaurie awaits!