I ditched the DVD/Navigation unit idea and decided to upgrade the sounds in my Z71.... My current system uses JL Audio Slash amps and Diamond M661 mids.

I figured for the price I would pay for the Eclipse DVD/NAV unit I could get all kinds of new stuff and really make the truck sound good.

I decided to use all Diamond Audio components and keep my Eclipse CD8454 CD player (top of the line last year).

My new toys:



Model # D9800.2 MSRP $1999.99
TDX Technology TM
Fully Regulated Solid Rail Power Supply (SRPS)
Type: Full Range
Channels: 2
RMS @ 4 Ohm: 200 x 2
RMS Mono: 800 x 1 @ 4 Ohm
THD: 0.003%
Crossovers: Low Pass, High Pass, Subsonic
Amplifier Life-Time Warranty

It will put 200w x2 RMS to these in my front doors:


Model # D971 MSRP $1399
TDX Technology TM
Type: Component
Size: 7inch Mid 1inch Tweet
Power Handling NOM/MAX: 200/400 watts
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 92 dB SPL
Freq. Response: 35-30
Mounting Depth/Diameter: 2.7 in. / 6.3 in.

For the Subs I will use this:


Model # D61500.1 MSRP $879
Type: Subwoofer
Channels: 1
RMS @ 4 Ohm: 375 x 1
RMS Mono: 1500 x 1 @ 1 Ohm
THD: 0.10%
Crossovers: Low Pass, Subsonic
Amplifier Life-Time Warranty


I will use these subs under my rear seat in a custom slot ported box tuned to 32Hz: Build by Thunder550 (cool guy on LS1Tech.com)



Model # D910D4 MSRP $579
TDX Technology TM
Kevlar/Nomex Driver and Neodymium Magnet
Type: Bass Driver
Size: 10 in.
Power Handling NOM/MAX: 600/1200 watts
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 84.5 dB SPL
Freq. Response: 23-250
Mounting Depth/Diameter: 7.5 in. / 9.4 in.

In all I spent about the same amount on this stuff as i would the DVD player since Diamond has THE BOMB employee purchase program! I now need to upgrade all my wiring to 1/0ga and ditch my old RCA cables in favor of custom made units. I bought a 200amp alternator to help keep up with demand. As money dictates I will add more capacitors to the syste, I currently only have 2 1Farad caps. I'm just excited and wanted to share with ya''ll

 

Good choices all around.

I think that capacitors are a waste of money. With a 200 amp alternator, you will not need a cap. I run a fairly extensive setup in my truck- have a look at my sig.

Also, custom RCA's are snake oil. Get a decent set and you will be fine. No sense in wasting money.

Have you already done RAAMmat everywhere?

 

I keep the caps for quick response and that's about it. They shoulbd't be use to shore up deficiencies in your charging system which is what 90% of the fools who buy them are trying to do. I am just trying to create a larger reserve so when the tiny ones in the amp are drained from a hard fast note I will have backup. Batteries just don't discharge fast enough to make a difference. Hell even a different battery can make a diff. My buddy is an IASCA judge and does a ton of the Sony shows and he swapped form a regular interstate 1000CA battery to a Stinger 1000ca and he noticed a big difference in sound.


As for the RCAs. I have a budget set in there right now and they are of the real basic 2 strand design. I'm simply switching to a better shielded single type. This:


To this:


In general I agree that from medium quality RCA to a high quality one there is very little difference but from a low priced one to a higher one there is a noticable difference and since I get everything at cost it's kinda dumb for me to use a $2000 midrange amp with a $15 RCA. LOL The RCAs I'm using will be free anyway because my buddy still has a ton of wire left over from his car and I'll just solder the ends on.

As for deadening. I havn't done a ton of it because of weight concerns but the entire doors panels are done inside and out as well as the back panel. All in Dynamat Extreme (I'm a Dynamat deal). I really could use some on the roof for sure. It vibrates something aweful with real low frequencies. I just never got the courage to take down the headliner and the guys at the shop are always busy so I had to ask them for help.

Do you have pics of a list of what you run? Would be cool to see some new truck systems.

 

Have a look at my cardomain page. http://www.cardomain.com/id/sd04silverado

Ive spent alot of time on my system. Dynaudio, AudioControl, Kenwood, Eclipse, etc...

I agree with your stance on batteries for the most part, a bit less on the capacitors. Ive been to quite a few IASCA shows and caps are just not widely used anymore. They cant hurt, but I dont think they help, IMO.

When is this going to be done?

 

i agree with the no cap. if you are where you think you need one, make more power. i was running 6 yellow tops with 2 200 amp alts running 2 2250ds powering 3 18" jl w3s. and a 800.4 powering the components.

 

I think when you are only running on the one battery under the hood a cap will help. If you are running extra battery's just for your system I don't think you get much out of them.
Heres mine. I don't have half the money in mine. You went all out. I would to if I got employee discount.Nice stuff
Let me know how that sub sounds.

http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/683888/2

 

Hmm, I'll look more into the caps thing then. I'm still a bit old school on certain things. So SoundDomain is where you guys hang out for info?

I'll be working on it throughout the next couple weeks as time dictates. I still need to go through and upgrade all the wiring which will be the first project, as well as finishing off the few peiecs of Dynamat I still have left (I'll do the headliner later).

Thunder550 is making the box for me so that will take a while as he is doing it in his spare time.

My main goal is to the the wiring done and get the amps mounted and the mids in and start toying with the imaging a bit. I'm not concerned to the point I will start fabricating stuff just for the sake of imaging and staging. I want to keep the rest of the interior stock looking. This goes a long ways towards impressing my usual customer because they do not want anything modified orverly visual. LOL

I'll be sure to give a full report. maybe a couple pics but most of it is to be hidden so show quality is not my gig. If it were I'd just let my boss install all of it. hahaha

 

Good job bro.


Good job on the box. This is the first nice looking front firing box I have seen.

 

Sounddomain is good for hosting pics, but I dont go to the forums.

For audio forums I go to carsound.com and elitecaraudio.com.

I think keeping the interior stock appearing is essential. I am trying different speaker locations for my front stage as we speak.

Did you get the silk tweeters with your front stage? The silks are really nice sounding- the aluminum/ Ti ones can be harsh.

Although Grippy mentioned it in another thread, I will reiterate here that RAAMmat is a great product, with a great guy running the company. I would bet that you will get 2x as much RAAMmat for less money that Dynamat X- even at cost.

 

I really like the way the ports were placed in the rear. That should help with port noise. Did you round all the port edges too?

EyeP, I'll have to check out those forums and that RAAMmat should I need more deadening material.

As for the tweeters I'm not sure what they are. I am assuming silk because anyone that would spend $1400 for a set of mids/highs insn't going to be interested in the "sizzling bacon" sound as i call it. They are going to want smooth transitions and not that ultra bright sound so characteristic of aluminum dome tweets. I talked with Coop at Diamond about the speakers but I didn't go into real detail because I figured I couldn't afford them. Once the order sheet came in and I saw the price it was kind of a no brainer. My mids are should have came in today as they were 1 day behind my subs and D9 amp which showed up yesterday.

You'll have to let us now how your speaker placment ends up. I was decnetly happy with just using the Time Alignment feature on my Eclipse deck but I'd much rather have correct placement than have to rely on circuitry to do the work since we all know that usually leads to at least a small amount of degredation.