2015 Sport C/C Audio Build Log

[BCMark]

Ok, I'm finally about to start into this tomorrow. I have done the stereo myself in the last 4 cars I've owned so while I am still fairly new to this, I am not completely inexperienced. This will be the most involved build I have done, however still won't be as crazy as many I've seen. I just don't have the fabrication skills or tools to get into anything too wild.

I'll try to keep this log updated each night as I go, I may not get a lot done tomorrow because of family commitments but the next few days after that should go pretty well. I also have a cat-back exhaust system, S&B Intake, and some plasti-dip coming in the mail over the next few days so this may turn into more than just an audio build log

I plan on running the stock head unit to an Audison Bit Ten D which will control a simple 2-way active + subwoofer system. I'll probably leave the stock rear door speakers in for the ability to fade to the rear for some fill, if I ever find I need it for passengers in the back.

I am going to be sound deadening as much as I can, and have done a lot of research in this area. My plan is to do as much as I can with Dynamat, CCF (closed-cell foam), and MLV (mass loaded vinyl). I have 104 square feet of Dynamat Extreme and a 50 square foot roll of B-Quiet Ultimate in case I run out of Dynamat. I also have 2 - 50 square foot rolls of 1lb per square inch MLV. I am going to start with the doors, then the floor and back wall. After that I'll see how much I have left and if i can get some of it onto the inside of the firewall. Still debating pulling the headliner as I'm a little nervous tackling that.

For components:
Audison Bit Ten D Processor
Morel Virtus 602 2-way Component Speakers
2 x Image Dynamics IDQ10V3 10" Subs wired for a 4ohm load each
2 x Hertz HDP4 Amps
- 1 @ 150w x 4 (4ohms) for the mids/tweets
- 1 @ 500w x 2 (4ohms) for the subs
Fox Acoustics Dual-10" Sub Box for under the rear seats
Knukonceptz Wiring and Terminals
Dayton Omni Condensor Mic and HP Netbook for Tuning

I have run the Hertz HDP5 in another build and was extremely pleased with the power and quality out of such a small amp, looking forward to seeing how 2 HDP4s perform. I have also used Morel speakers in the past and loved the rich sound from them. They were the Dotech Ovations I used in the past and apparently the Virtus line is just the newer version of the same.

Here is my starting pic of the gear waiting to be assembled/wired/installed.


And one of my truck:

 

[Irongoats]

Subscribed although I told my wife no stereo upgrades yet haha. I like that Fox Box where did you get that?

 

[DavidRam]

Looking forward to this build! Nice equipment!

 

[BCMark]

Subscribed although I told my wife no stereo upgrades yet haha. I like that Fox Box where did you get that?

http://www.foxacoustics.com

Being that I don't have the skills or tools to build a custom box this was the best option I could find as far as price/quality. The other alternative was to go with a Netaudio box but at about 3x the price I couldnt justify it.

 

[THE HEMI MAN]

Im subscribe. Nice truck.

 

[R.L.K.]

Subscribed!

@ irongoats , tell the wife only what she needs to know , you know things like my glass is a bit low on beverage , my laundry basket is a little on the high side or one of my favorites " hey women ! wontcha be a sport and pull off my boots and rub my feet ! "
LOL Glad my o'l lady is only on the Dodge Magnum forum , LOL if she read the above she'd be using my nuts as doorknockers!

 

[NOcasio7]

I want to do my build so bad but the hardest part is choosing the parts and getting it all together. I'm up in the air between kicker speakers and rockford speakers.

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

 

[WingingIt]

Subscribed! Great equipment. Can't wait for more pics.

 

[linkbeat]

In for pics. Curious if you're able to get those Morels in the doors without too much hassle. I've got the KRX2's which are huge and I don't have the time to do the project yet. Have you decided on the tweeter location? Sails? Off-axis?

Good luck!

 

[BCMark]

Well I knew I wasn't going to get a lot done today so no pics yet. I managed to pick up the last few installation items I needed (MDF and Vinyl for the Amp rack) and get my garage somewhat organized so I have room to work.

I did get all the seats out though and omg those rear seat bolts!! Just need to look up how the center console comes out tonight and take care of that and carpet removal first thing in the morning. Also started tracing out my amp rack, nothing fancy just 2 amps and 2 distro blocks.

I'm going to try and bond a few larger pieces of Vinyl to the CCF tomorrow and let it cure overnight before hanging it inside the doors on Tuesday. Pretty tough to find a good adhesive for bonding vinyl to anything but from everything I've read Contact Cement is the best option. Hopefully this stuff works:


As for the Morels, I looked up the measurements for the mounting depth of the 6" woofers and they look like they will be alright. I also tried to find the closest matched speaker adaptor on Ebay for fitting them in a 6x9 hole. Going to test fit in the morning, might be one of the first things I do since I will have to order new or modify an adaptor ring for it if it doesn't fit.

With the tweeters I am going in the sails and because I am already somewhat familiar with Morels I know they are very prone to beaming. Because of this I'm going to shoot for only 10-15 degrees off axis. They came with 3 or 4 different tweeter pods for mounting them at different angles. I'm not going to get too carried away with custom fiberglassed sails yet. It may be something I play with in the future, but for now I'll just drill into them and use the supplied pods.

 

[BCMark]

Definitely made a bit more headway today. Got the rest of the interior stripped and almost all of the floor dynamat'ed. Removed Door panels and after looking at the door skins I'm going to just go with reaching through the speaker opening and access holes to get some dynamat on the inside of the outer door skin. Not going to tear off that panel, looks far too frustrating a job for what I would gain with going for 100% coverage of Dynamat.

Here's a couple pics of the interior stripped:



Also cut my amp rack and traced it out to see how it's going to line up. Will wrap it with vinyl and install it tomorrow. Tried to test fit the Morels in the doors and there is no problem at all with depth, however the cheap ebay 6x9 to 6" adapters I got aren't even close to fitting properly. So I got out the jigsaw and cut some new ones. Not really pretty but no one will see it behind a door panel anyways





I decided to try and bond the MLV and CCF together first and then I am going to hang/seal them inside the doors as one piece. I tried that contact cement and wow does it ever hold! I had my doubts after trying several other adhesives on vinyl, but I was very impressed with this stuff. I will say though you better lay it EXACTLY where you want it because the second the two pieces touch they are permanently bonded, there's no "adjusting". I tried to adjust a bit and as soon as I attempted to pull them apart the foam layer just started to shred apart. I did 4 pieces a little larger than the door panels and tomorrow I will cut them to fit and hang them in the doors using the inner door skin screws and a bit of glue.



I had some help today too from my 4 year old


And lastly this showed up late this afternoon and will be sitting there staring at me as incentive to get this build done so I can install it as well. It's the Magnaflow 15363 Black Cat-Back.

 

[DavidRam]

Nice progress! You're right about the door skins, they are real pia... I had them off once and I'll never do it again. Smart move on not taking them off!

 

[WingingIt]

I'm jealous of this build. I was considering doing sound dampening mats but I'm gonna wait until I'm in a hemi to do that. I'm in a 4.7 for a while. Looking good!

 

[BCMark]

Ok another day, a little more progress. My sound deadening panels that I made for the doors didn't work out like I hoped because of clearance issues. There just isn't enough room to put them in between the inner and outer door panels. There is next to no clearance where the door pockets are. So I just dynamat'ed the hell out of everything (inside of outer door skin and inside of plastic door panel) and put up some vinyl where I could.

No matter how many times you see someone mention to be careful around Dynamat because of the sharp foil you never really believe it until you do it yourself. Tried wearing gloves but just couldn't get enough of a feel of where I was when reaching inside the small access holes on the inner door skin to place strips inside. I must have a dozen cuts on my fingertips now from that stuff.

The floor went much better though, Dynamat + CCF + MLV, taped the MLV strips together to give it a good seal. Probably should have done a better job marking seat bolt holes as I'm sure it's going to be a PIA putting those back in and punching a hole through the Dynamat.

Opened up the dash and removed the Head Unit. Spliced into the Front Left and Front Right speaker wires to run new ones for the Bit Ten signal input. Saw someone else's build where they mentioned Posi-Lock connectors so I had to try those out. Very impressive, they are by far the best butt connectors I've ever used.





Put the Center Floor Console back in and drilled the holes through it for the signal input wires and the RCA outs. Going to put the Bit Ten in the big storage bin inside the console and then make a cover for it so that I can still use the top half of it for storage but have easy access to the DSP if I need it.

Ran my Power Wire and RCA's to the back wall for the amps. Also finished up the Amp rack and wired what I could on the board, rest will have to be wired after I mount it to the wall.

 

[WingingIt]

Looks great! Sure is coming along nice. Can't wait to see how the bit ten placement turns out.

 

[Jmhm17]

Random question... What are the vents for under the front seats? I didnt have these in my QC but do in my CC. I have a center HVAC vent but the ones under the seat dont seem to push air. Is it a return or somthing? All i know is they are ugly as hell on the expresses as they just poke out of the carpet.

 

[BCMark]

They might be a return for circulating air, never checked to see if they blow air or not. There's a separate vent system that comes out of the rear of the center console that i know for sure blows air out.

 

[John94z]

As far as you've torn down the interior in surprised you didn't opt to remove the under seat storage. Removing this would greatly increase your options and flexibility for under seat subs!

 

[BCMark]

As far as you've torn down the interior in surprised you didn't opt to remove the under seat storage. Removing this would greatly increase your options and flexibility for under seat subs!

Are you referring to under the rear bench seat? If so I do have a dual 10 " fox box going in there.

 

[WingingIt]

I'd imagine those vents are for when you have the heater blowing on your feet. So backseat gets some too.