sinewave
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2016
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 50
- Location
- STL
- Vehicle(s)
- 2016 CIvic EX W/Sense
- Thread starter
- #1
I bought my EX sense in January and it is my Mon-Fri commuter car. While the factory system isn't terrible I have never been one to be satisfied with stock audio. The goal of this system is to build it on a modest budget but with good quality components. I know "budget" not what most of us want to hear but adulting is hard sometimes.
A little background on me. I worked as a professional installer for over 16 years. I have built numerous car and home audio systems of various caliber. I now work as EE in consumer home electronics but audio is still a passion of mine.
The Gear: As I said this is a budget build so some of the gear will be from what I had laying around and some of it will be new.
5 channel amp- XR900-5
Front components- DSK165.3
Rear- Eliminator 6.5 pro drivers
Sub- JL 13TW5
Processor- Audiocontrol DQ-61
Cables/wires -what I have laying around
One of the biggest challenges most of us face is the source unit. The screen is cool but it is so integrated into the soul of the car, we are forced to keep it. That means we must also deal with with the sound it produces.
Factory speakers RTA 0db pink noise with factory EQ:
0db pink noise with EQ off (flat)
As you can see the factory EQ on setting flattens the response curve out a bit but it also kills lower Bass frequency. (I hope we can find a permanate EQ off solution someday).
In the meantime I am going to try and correct the signal output from the factory source with an Audio Control DQ-61 that I scored on the cheap. The DQ-61 has accubass restoration, EQ, time alignment, and a host of other features that made it my go to processor. There are other DSPs in the market that have truck loads more features but come at a premium $$$.
Time to build:
I want to maximize trunk space and functionality. So I am fiberglassing the sub into the passenger side wall.
Taped it off
Made a floor template
I have fiberglasses many times before but I wanted to try something new, UV resin! I have heard this stuff doesn't require mixing MEKP and has infinate work time until you apply UV light (Sun).
The verdict...this stuff is amazing!
I layed 2 layer in fraction of the time it used to take me. And I'm Old AF now.
A little background on me. I worked as a professional installer for over 16 years. I have built numerous car and home audio systems of various caliber. I now work as EE in consumer home electronics but audio is still a passion of mine.
The Gear: As I said this is a budget build so some of the gear will be from what I had laying around and some of it will be new.
5 channel amp- XR900-5
Front components- DSK165.3
Rear- Eliminator 6.5 pro drivers
Sub- JL 13TW5
Processor- Audiocontrol DQ-61
Cables/wires -what I have laying around
One of the biggest challenges most of us face is the source unit. The screen is cool but it is so integrated into the soul of the car, we are forced to keep it. That means we must also deal with with the sound it produces.
Factory speakers RTA 0db pink noise with factory EQ:
0db pink noise with EQ off (flat)
As you can see the factory EQ on setting flattens the response curve out a bit but it also kills lower Bass frequency. (I hope we can find a permanate EQ off solution someday).
In the meantime I am going to try and correct the signal output from the factory source with an Audio Control DQ-61 that I scored on the cheap. The DQ-61 has accubass restoration, EQ, time alignment, and a host of other features that made it my go to processor. There are other DSPs in the market that have truck loads more features but come at a premium $$$.
Time to build:
I want to maximize trunk space and functionality. So I am fiberglassing the sub into the passenger side wall.
Taped it off
Made a floor template
I have fiberglasses many times before but I wanted to try something new, UV resin! I have heard this stuff doesn't require mixing MEKP and has infinate work time until you apply UV light (Sun).
The verdict...this stuff is amazing!
I layed 2 layer in fraction of the time it used to take me. And I'm Old AF now.
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