Sound Quality Installation

I'm in the process of designing and installing a killer SQ install in my 2011 package II. It will hopefully be the best one I've done so far(I've had a few so far)

My goals for this system are to retain a stock appearance aside from the headunit, keep the weight down and low in the vehicle, have great imaging and a soundstage out on the hood and have great up front bass impact.

Thankfully the Prius is setup perfectly for what I want to accomplish. The speaker openings in the dash are way out there and should help push the soundstage out on the hood, and they are big enough to house a 3" driver.

The front doors use the same speaker setup as the 05 Tacoma I had which will allow the use of a midbass speaker up to 8".

The other great thing about the Prius is that there is a lot of room under the front seats. A shallow sub and enclosure should fit no problem.

The headunit I am using is the Pioneer Deh-p880prs. It has 3 way crossovers, dual 16 band parametric eq's, time alignment 24bit burr brown Dac's and much more.

In the dash I am going to install H-Audio XR3M's. These are 3" full range drivers that play flat up to 20khz, so no tweeter is needed. They also are clean down to 200-300hz, right where the vocal range starts. This means that all vocals, mid range and the highs are coming from one source-up on the dash. This is important because you are not splitting vocal ranges between a mid down low and a tweeter up high. This will result in better representation of the vocals and it makes tuning much easier.

In the doors I will be installing a set of 7" Usher Audio 8945p's since I already have them and they are great mids, but I am most likely going to install a set of 8" midbass drivers after I pick out a set.

The entire vehicle will be deadened using Raamat BxtII, which is an Butyl Based deadener similar to Dynamat Extreme but costs a lot less.

On top of the deadener will be a layer of Ensolite closed cell foam decoupling a layer of MLV-Mass Loaded Vinyl. The mass loaded vinyl is used for blocking road noise, the closed cell foam absorbs road noise frequencies and also works to buffer two hard surfaces from rattling.

Under the front driver seats I plan to install two 12" Stereo Integrity BM MKIV's. These are known as the best shallow subs you can get. I haven't seen a review on these subs that has had any negativity.

Powering the whole system is my Audison LRx5.1k 5 channel amp. This amp has a class a biased front channel section, and class ab rear and sub channels.

The front channels will send the H-Audio fullrange drivers 70 watts rms. The rear channels will send the midbass drivers 160 watts rms and the subs will get about 500-550 watts rms each.

All the crossover points will be handled by the Pioneer headunit. I'll start the tuning at 315hz and up for the xr3m's. The midbass will be crossed over from 60 to 315 hz and the subs will play from 60hz and down.

I'll take pics of each step of the process as it occurs. The first step is sound proofing and running wires. Hoping to get the Raamat sometime next week.

Stay tuned...

 

If I was going To use a navi deck I would get the JBL MS-8 to handle all the processing.

May go that way in the future myself too.

 

Yeah I checked those out too, they look good. I think the xr3m's may have a bit more response above 16khz, would be nice to compare but I think I'll be happy with them. The BM MKIV's are supposed to be out late spring-early summer. I'll probably use another shallow sub until they come out.

I'd like the enclosure to be all birch to help keep the weight down.

 

Decided to use the Alpine SWR-T10 subs instead of the SI's. After measuring the area again I dont think it's possible to get 12's under the seats.

I found an underseat enclosure from Dimension audio on eBay that they can make a 1/2" shallower for 60 dollars shipped each. I'm going to order one and see if it'll fit.

I asked Mr Marv out of Monterey Ca to make me some baffles for the front doors. One for my Usher 8945p and one for the mounting diameter of a Dayton rs225-4. Both baffles are 1.25" thick.

My XR3M's arrived, I'll get some pics up later.