Search results matching tags 'JL Audio' and 'Hi-Fi 2.0'

Rear speakers, amplifier, and subwoofer

MLS — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:04:00 GMT

Now that the front door speakers were in -- and we could ably demonstrate the difference between the front aftermarket and rear factory speakers -- it was time to install the new rear speakers. Matt and I decided that this next phase would be big; not only would we be mounting JL Audio C2-650X full-range 6-1/2"s in the rear doors, but we would be installing JL's magnificent new HD 900/5 five-channel amplifier under the rear seats, adding a JL ProWedge 10" W7 boxed subwoofer, and wiring the whole system with Streetwires 12-gauge speaker wire. While threading the 12-gauge wire into the rear doors would prove to be challenging, the rest of the installation went quite smoothly -- thanks to the acres of room afforded the backseat area by GMC.

Choosing rear speakers
Since I do all of my listening from the front seats, and since our goal is to create a truly high-performance system without using top-of-the line components exclusively, we decided to put a set of mid-level, full-range speakers in the Yukon's rear doors. Since we went with JL Audio C2 components up front, it was a no-brainer to voice match the rear speakers as much as possible. A quick check of our installation database confirmed that the C2-650X models would fit.

At left, the Yukon's factory rear speaker; at right, the JL Audio C2-650X coaxial:

The larger magnet structure, better basket construction, and superior sealing of cone to basket flange give the impression that the speaker on the right will perform better when mounted in a door panel:

We knew we would have to run the speaker wire through the existing wire looming from the body of the vehicle into each door:

Exposing the flush-mounted wiring harness in the door jamb:

So we pull out the harness and discover that there's precious little room to run any additional wire, to say nothing of high-performance, 12-gauge speaker cable. Oops? Well, almost -- the brilliant Matt Freeman peeled back StreetWires' clear jacket and wrapped the positive and negative strands on either side of the plug, in the plastic grooves:

Major installation hurdle negotiated, the harness is once again in place and yes, we struggled (successfully) to wrap the looming back on top:

I should note that when screwing in the speakers, I had to be careful not to overtighten, as the bolt head seemed to stretch the speaker surround quite easily. Another small issue with the speaker design were the connecting posts -- they were thin and pliable and weren't stiff enough to scrape through some stray solder on the speaker wire's spade connectors, forcing me to re-attach new spade terminals. Neither of these were issues with the higher-end C2s up front. Relatively small concerns, as the speakers sound smooth and sweet in the back seat.

Choosing amplification
When we started this project at the beginning of the year, we didn't anticipate using JL's killer 5-channel amp, which wasn't to be on the market for several months. And we figured we'd be working slightly quicker than at the snail's pace into which we've seemed to settle. The original plan was to connect a four-channel amp to the main speaker system and use a mono or bridged-to-mono stereo amp for the subwoofer. By the time we were ready, however, the HD 900/5 was in house and seemed the perfect choice for our Hi-Fi 2.0 project. Audiophile-grade and Class D means efficient high-fidelity. These things run cool, never shut down, and control your speakers effortlessly. I’ve wanted one of these amplifiers ever since I heard them demoed at CES 2008 (Consumer Electronics Show – our industry’s biggest trade show, held in Las Vegas every January). JL had a Beetle wired up for true high-fidelity, and these amps were at the core of a mind-bogglingly accurate car audio system.

Amplification was the one gear category where we knew from the outset that we would go top of the line. That's because the power source is the heart of an audio system. When we later fired up the system, the difference the amp made was obvious; an amplifier is the force behind your speakers, similar to the way a musician ‘powers’ his or her instrument. We put the Keith Jarrett Trio’s latest disc “Yesterdays” in, and the tonal complexity, warmth, and level of detail was so pronounced it just made us laugh. I think the harmonic richness of Gary Peacock’s upright bass is what hit me first, followed quickly by the delicate sparkle of Jack DeJohnette’s ride cymbal dancing around Keith’s resonant Steinway articulations. You’re never really ready for that kind of experience in a car.

(A note about the power wiring: Since we realized that we would be powering the entire system with this super-efficient, low-profile technological marvel, we realized that we wouldn't be needing the 1/0-gauge power wire coming off the battery into a distribution box with multiple fuses, outboard capacitor, etc, and running individual 4- or 8-gauge power leads to each amp. All we needed was one length of StreetWires 4-gauge to stretch between the battery and the amp. So, we disconnected and removed the StreetWires PowerStation capacitor, pulled the 1/0 cable we had used to pre-wire the vehicle, and ran the smaller wire in its place. Sure, that was a bit of a drag -- unnecessary step -- but at least it was easy. We simply tied the new wire to the old wire and pulled the new 4-gauge through as we removed the 1/0-gauge cable. Such are the vicissitudes of spending a year on a vehicle overhaul.)

Running RCA patch cable from the rear panel of the radio ...

... rightward behind the glove box ...

... down behind the right front kick panel ...

... along the floor trim ...

...and to the amp location, joining the power and speaker wiring (speaker wire not visible in this picture):

The controls are easy to access under the seat (and are nicely hidden behind an elegant, removable metal plate) and they give me total flexibility over each set of outputs. High- and low-pass selectable, continuously variable filters with adjustable slope, multiple channel configuration, input sensitivity, subsonic filter, etc.

Listening, evaluating, and making these kinds of adjustments is nothing but fun for me. It's like tuning a fine musical instrument.

Just after I made all the adjustments. Flip the seat down, turn on the stereo, and it's ready to pump:

Choosing a bass speaker
With respect to the subwoofer, I considered a few options. I gave very serious thought to replacing my front, between-seat console with a JL Audio Stealth Box, but ultimately decided against the idea as I would have lost my rear A/C ducts and front seat cup holders. The cup holders could have been remade with fiberglass, but sacrificing rear seat climate control was too steep a price to pay for low-frequency high fidelity. If this vehicle wasn't also the family road car, I would have done it in a heartbeat. A Stealthbox would have been a true hi-fi solution, as they're designed specifically for a vehicle's physical and acoustical environment, utilizing a high-end 10" W3v2 subwoofer in a super high-quality, handcrafted enclosure (which would be located in the listening area of the vehicle's cab).

So, what could be our great-sounding alternative? Matt and I explored the driver's side rear quarter panel factory subwoofer location to see if a stealthy replacement could be managed. We could have installed an entry-level 8" sub of some kind, but the results would have been less than ideal: moderately deep bass physically separated from our listening area. We decided to go with a high-quality loaded sub enclosure and position it right behind the rear seats. When I have passengers in the back, the woofer fires into the seat back; when I don't, I pull the seat back down and enjoy unobstructed low end. It takes time to gradually break in a new woofer, and this one sings a little sweeter with every passing day. I love it.

So, here again, we really are going top of the line with a JL Audio ProWedge: solid-as-a-rock cabinet construction loaded with the best subwoofer they make. From symphony music to slamming electronic beats, this woofer fills my enormous vehicle with bass energy -- and barely breaks a sweat doing it.

Note: while the picture below looks nice, it's not set up optimally. For safety, the enclosure should be secured to the floor. I've also discovered that if I position it in the middle of the left-hand seat back and turn it around to fire into the seat, the response tightens up considerably. And if no one's occupying the spot, the seat back can be folded down for greater clarity:

Next up: applying more Dynamat to previously untouched surfaces and Alpine IMPRINT [TM} signal processing. Stay tuned.

[Once again, installation photos were taken with Canon's versatile and fun EOS Digital Rebel XSi SLR camera]

Video: factory vs. aftermarket speakers

MLS — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:37:00 GMT

OK, so we finally got the video formatting worked out. It's very informal; Matt sat in the back seat with the Canon XSi camera capturing our back-to-front-and-back-again fading demo by moving the camera's built-in microphone forward and backward along with the fades. We're listening for sonic improvements (detail, tone quality, dimensionality) when we fade to the JL Audio components up front from the stock GM speakers in the back. Check it out and see if you can hear the difference.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Installing the front door speakers

MLS — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:04:00 GMT

In keeping with our goal of achieving high-fidelity sound without springing for the “high end” (JL Audio ZR series, Polk Audio Signature Reference, the crazy-good Focal Utopia Be, etc) we chose to install a set of the brand-new JL Audio C2 650 components in the Yukon’s front doors. For now, we’ll be powering them with the Alpine CDA-9887’s 18 watts RMS per channel.

Scoping out the mounting locations
Matt and I started on the driver’s side and quickly discovered that installing the new speaker system would require a minimal amount of customization. Pulling off the door panel and looking at the factory speakers, we realized that the tweeter was part and parcel with its mount. Removing it just left a big hole – far too big to accommodate the flush-mount adaptor that comes with the C2s. The factory woofer was snapped in place via mounting tabs at the top and bottom of the speaker. This mounting configuration would, of course, hold true for the passenger side door, so we now had a better idea of the scope of this part of the project.

Mounting the drivers
We marked the woofers’ mounting hole locations in the door frames and drilled through with an 1/8” drill bit. We would also be placing Boom Mat acoustic baffles in the opening, but they don't need mounting holes -- their foam construction allows for easy drilling anywhere on the baffle lip. The cavity behind the door frame was spacious – clearly enough to hold the woofer and the crossover network. The large opening for the factory tweeter/bracket, on the other hand, needed to be adapted down for the C2 dome. Before fabricating something, though, we worked with the factory bracket to make sure there wasn’t some sort of way to keep using it – either by cutting out the built-in tweeter and replacing it with the new one, or by surface mounting (2-side tape? Velcro™?) the tweeter on top of the factory tweeter, as it looked like it would still fit under the door grille easily. I thought the surface mounting idea was pretty clever until Matt astutely pointed out that there would be no easy way to route the wires back behind the door panel. Drilling into the plastic factory mount probably would not have been a successful experiment. Likewise, cutting out the plastic factory tweeter would have likely resulted in a mess. So fabricating a mounting bracket was beginning to look like the best solution. But how? Clearly, whatever material we used, we’d have to affix it to the door panel plastic somehow. Hmm. I looked around our installation bay, my eye catching the open box of Dynamat next to the truck. Eureka, the solution was apparent in my mind’s eye. Stretch a piece of it across the back of the opening, cut an “x” into it, push in the C2 tweeter’s surface mount cup, reinforce with more Dynamat if necessary, and violà: a secure mount.

Placing the crossover
Rather than simply tossing the crossover network into the bottom of the door cavity, we were inspired by our Dynamat tweeter mounting trick to do the essentially the same thing here. In this case it would be a simple matter of cutting into the Dynamat that we had already installed into the door many weeks previously, placing the crossover and reinforcing with some additional Dynamat. This would allow for a solid, easily accessible mount and minimize the lengths of speaker wire we’d need to add to the factory wiring.

Connecting and routing the wires
The Crutchfield-provided speaker wiring harness was helpful in giving us a snap-in connection to the Yukon’s speaker wiring system, but we were on our own making the rest of the connections. I cut off the harnesses’ speaker-side ends and crimp/soldered male spade connectors in their place. “Crimp/soldered,” you ask? Well, yeah. I don’t completely trust a crimp connection that’s going to live in an in-motion, difficult-to-access location; yet I certainly wasn’t about to solder connections directly into a crossover device or onto speaker terminals that I might want to remove in the future. So I crimped on the spade ends, but reinforced those connections with a little solder inside the metal sleeves that house the bare wire.

The C2s don’t come with any speaker wire, so I grabbed some from our installation bay and cut four pieces just long enough to reach the speaker locations without being taut or bunching up in the door cavities. Again, male spades on the crossover side, but females for the woofers and males for the tweeters. The tweeters had short lengths of wire already soldered onto contact points – rather than actual wire terminals – on the side of their housings. Unfortunately, one of those contacts had come loose in shipping, and we were faced with having to reconnect a wire with no actual terminal to use. We really didn’t want to take the time to send the tweeter back to JL Audio for an exchange, so Matt decided to join me at the soldering bench and solve the problem by soldering the wire directly back on to the lump of JL factory solder. The connection held.

Pet peeve: whoever’s making speaker wire without marking or color coding the strands so one can easily discern positive from negative at each end, this camper was not happy. ; )

The sound
Upon completing the driver’s side installation, we let the stereo play for a little while as we cleaned up the installation bay (we saved the passenger side door for another day). We had both front doors open and the difference in sound quality when we walked around the back of the truck was astounding. It was as if there were two different stereos playing. Walking left to right revealed a diminishing in presence, detail and tone. We knew we were definitely on the way to a major sonic upgrade. In the next couple of days, I will post a video a video demo to give you a sense of the overall improvement once we finished the passenger side.

Photo Gallery (Taken with Canon's hot EOS Digital Rebel XSi SLR camera)

Passenger side door woofer opening. Note our wiring harness (connected to factory wiring plug) with new spade ends, ready for connection to the crossover:

Matt (well, arms & torso, anyway) with baffle and JL Audio C2 650 woofer:

Matt drilling holes into door frame after using the speaker to mark hole positions:

Back of door panel view of tweeter mounting hole covered by a piece of Dynamat:

C2 650 tweeter with equipped wire connected via spade connectors to extra speaker wire (soon to be attached to the crossover):

Front of door panel view of tweeter mounted into the Dynamat strip:

The spot directly behind the dangling black connector is where we would cut through the Dynamat to mount the crossover:

Crossover mounted into Dynamat below the woofer:

Securing the woofer in place:

Closeup of the mounting area: