Audiophile SQ Setup: Corolla Build Log

[pwuser164818480359]

MashAllah, I love it how you are slowly building towards your goal, you attention to detail and quality of work is shown in pictures, I think its going to be a great sound experience when its finished.

[devils_smile]

It's the little things that make all the differance. If you're doing it once, do it the right way

1) Heat Shrinks

My collection of multicolored heat shrinks currently has everything from 18 awg speaker wire heatshrinks to 2/0 awg power/ground heatshrinks ( A few even larger ). These include both 1:2 ratio and 1:3 ratio heatshrinks

2) Nutserts (Threaded rivet nuts)

This is something that's totally overlooked. And why wouldn't it since its just more work. The way these work is that you insert them in the metal door panel where the speaker ring goes on. Using either a manual winder or a nutsert gun you squeeze the threaded nutsert and Voila, you now have a permanent threaded rivet. You can install and uninstall the speaker/speaker ring as many times as you want without the screw ever slipping. The manual winders are pretty cheap as compared to the nutsert gun which costs anywhere between 7-10k for entry level ones

3) Quick Release XT60 Connectors

These quick release connectors are great if you ever need to service your speakers/tweeters/subwoofer etc. Rather than pulling the cables from the main connectors on the drivers themselves, simple disconnect the connectors and put them back. These are also far superior to the regular inline connectors since they won't loosen up over time

4) Wood Threaded Rivet Nuts

These are great for your subwoofer boxes. It's the same concept as the regular nutserts. These are tightened into the subwoofer box with an Allen key and once they are flush, you can install the provided screws. The only difference is you don't need a nutsert gun. It's a straight forward install

5) Wire Ferrules

If you dont know what these are, trust me they are a life saver. First of all, they make the wiring look super nice & sexy. The Ferrules go over the wire ends and prevent any loose strands of copper from sticking out causing a potential short circuit. Secondly, they protect the strands from breaking everytime you tighten the pwr/gnd screw on the wire itself. These are held in place by crimping it properly and covering it with heatshrink. This makes the wire not want to just pop out in a tight place when the wire needs to be rotated at an angle very close to the amp

Got these for the 14, 12, 4, 2 and 0 AWG wires that will be used in this setup

[saadaqib00]

Had fun reading your thread, keep up the good work and good luck with the project!

[devils_smile]

BRAX eXvibration Pro Anti Noise Paste

Introducing the Brax High-End Anti-Noise Paste. The Paste is extremely flexible due to the high glass fibre content and is solvent free. The Paste itself is very easy to use either with a brush or even by hand using disposable gloves.

This is a great product to lay down on panels where a normal sound deadening sheet won't stick (hard to reach corners and crevices). It'll also stick to almost anything including abs plastic, wood, metal etc. The aim is the same, minimise driving noise and eliminate resonance

The 5 Kg bucket will be enough to do all 5 doors, the trunk and any spots missed when laying down the deadening sheets

[Djaymx]

Attn to detail
Bro what kind of music do you listen iydmma

[devils_smile]

And Just on Time, we have 2 kartons arriving from Deutschland

[devils_smile]

[devils_smile]

Appreciate it. I honestly listen to almost everything. I listen to random albums on Spotify and just like music I would love listening to again. That's how my albums are made. The only urdu songs I do hear are from the old pakistani bands like noori, strings, call etc back when music and lyrics actually were good

[devils_smile]

4 Awg VS 2 Awg VS 1/0 Awg

Before installation begins, here's a quick run down on the size comparison of all three cables

Tsunami 4 Awg 0FC Powerwire (Red)
Audiosystems 2 Awg OFC Powerwire (Red/Brown)
Nvx Tinned 1/0 Awg OFC Powerwire (White)

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Straight up from the pictures, you can tell the 2 Awg cable is only slightly larger than the 4 Awg cable. This is due to the fact that the insulation jacket on the Audiosystems cable is thinner. This is done purely to allow the cable to be extra flexible and to allow it to be routed through the car with ease with the insulation being consistant on all sides. The NVX 1/0 Awg has a thicker than standard insulation. A good thing since this is a cable mostly used for Big3s and even without any additional tubing, the insulation is thick enough to protect the wire from the heat and any chemicals while at the same time being extra flexible

On the 1/0 awg wire, the 1/0 awg ferrules isn't big enough due to the Oversized insulation covering. However, these are insulated ferrules and the plastic ring can be cut off. The metal sleeving can easily slide over the exposed copper strands

[devils_smile]

Electrical Upgrade: Big3/4

For anyone wondering what the Big3 Upgrade is, it's basically upgrading the live and ground wires for a better flow of current and more stable voltage. The factory wires used by most manufacturers max out at 8 gauge. The disadvantages of this can be found all over the Internet.

For the Big3, we are going to Upgrade 3 essential wires

1) The +ve wire from the alternator to the +ve battery post. Its best to put a fuse on this wire to protect the wire from any short circuits

2) The -ve ground wire from the battery to the chassis of the car

3) The -ve ground wire from the battery to the main engine block

Technically, this should be it. You'll see a day/night differance when it comes to the results (provided you have a good alternator and a healthy battery and its just the thin flimsy factory wiring that's restricting the flow of current)

So what's the Big4 then?

The Big4 involves grounding the alternator directly to the -ve post of the battery or the main chassis.

Now since I had a bit of wiring left, I also decided to ground the alternator directly to the frame of the car. Just note that 2 points where the ground wiring mounts to the frame/chassis, its best to take away the paint and expose the metal for a solid ground. You can either cover the points with dielectric grease or paint/primer to stop any exposed metal from rusting

These are the alternator to battery +ve (probably an 8 gauge) and engine ground (12 gauge maybe, or a 10 bit not an 8 for sure) wires.

[devils_smile]

Step 1 is to measure the lengths of the cable needed for the Big3/4 Upgrade. I ofcourse had Sherry bhai help me out with this

We decided to make a mounting plate for the 2 inline fuse holders ( 1 for the big3/4, 1 for the amplifier power wire ) rather than letting them sit around loosely ziptied to random places inside the engine bay. Going to use this 3/4 inch thick plexiglass and laser cut it to mount it over the battery.

So this is it. All the wires are cut to length, covered in Alextech braided sleeving with 0 Gauge lugs and heatshrinks.

[devils_smile]

Wire #1: Alternator to Battery +ve

Had the wire run along the factory wire, hidden under the plastic valve cover

Test fit the mounting plate along with the inline fuse holder. You can see the ferrule was sticking out. A connection like this could mean water and dust entering the fuse holder. The issue was later rectified by Sherry bhai by shortening the length of the ferrule itself

Wire #2: Battery-ve to chassis

This is a pretty straightforward wire. The factory grounding point is right beside the battery. I had the spot cleaned, sanded and just installed the new ground wire. I also had to cut a bit of the battery plate so it wouldn't crush the wire. The golden foil sticker on the bracket itself is to protect the plexiglass until we do something creative with it

Wire #3: Battery -ve to Engine

I still need to find a better suited bolt which directly screws into the block itself. Currently the wire is grounded to the engine block at a spot where there is a component attached to the main block. Will tackle this soon

Wire #4: Alternator GND to chassis

There are 2 bolts through which the Alternator can be grounded. I chose the lower bolt which attaches the alternator to the engine block and had it retorqued with some threadlock

The other end of the cable gets attached to the main frame of the car. Had the paint removed, and put threadlock on the bolt. Will cover the surrounding area with some primer and paint

The cable isn't touching any of the other pipes and has a easy bend meaning no unnecessary stress

[pwuser150834374557]

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
I need help/advice on a setup like this in karachi.
Any leads?

[devils_smile]

Get in touch with haroon radio karachi

[pwuser150834374557]

Been there.cant seem to resolve the problem im having

[devils_smile]

Send me a pm with what the issue is in detail. Let's see if we can find a solution for it

[bym007]

Really nice build work there, and you have nicely captured the finer details to show your planning and work that went in this.

Appreciate it. I honestly listen to almost everything. I listen to random albums on Spotify and just like music I would love listening to again. That's how my albums are made. The only urdu songs I do hear are from the old pakistani bands like noori, strings, call etc back when music and lyrics actually were good

2 things I thought I would mention here.

If you are listening to Spotify (even Spotify Premium), you will never be able to get Audiophile level of SQ out of your investment.

Secondly, what does all the sound dampening and foam do with the weight of the car ? Surely, your car is far heavier now, compared to factory stock?

Not thread crapping or anything, as the quality of your work is definitely high up there..

[devils_smile]

AoA Babar. Appreciate the post. So to clarify, the reason why I spent so much time and effort into the deadening is that I'm planning on keeping this car here in Pakistan. And now that the deadening stage is done, it has had a big impact on the cabin noise. Has it added weight? Sure. But I doubt it's more than the weight of a teenager (10 deadening sheets weigh ~12kg / 32 sheets = ~40kg - Ccf sheets hardly weigh anything so let's say 20 ccf sheets ~ 5-6kg). That's about ~45kg of added weight. I'm still averaging 17-18 on the highway at speeds between 90-110 with 2 people and light luggage

Regarding my music streaming options, I usually listen to Spotify premium but the setup isn't yet installed ( havnt had the time to do so ). There are a few options I can go with for flac and dsd files. I had a great opportunity to grab a sp2000t which was being sold for less than half value but I put a hold onto that deal cuz I'm not sure if this setup will stay or get sold off soon. Im gonna subscribe to Tidal hifi to test out their interface since it has a lot of praise on diyma.

Btw, what ways do you go about listening to HD music. The other option I can go with is Pandora one with a lightening cable

[pwuser164818480359]

I'm using Tidal HIFI from last 2 years and highly recommend it, even with bluetooth streaming its quality is very good. Although the library is not huge compared to Apple Music but sound quality makes up for it.

[bym007]

So to clarify, the reason why I spent so much time and effort into the deadening is that I'm planning on keeping this car here in Pakistan. And now that the deadening stage is done, it has had a big impact on the cabin noise.

Walikum Wasalam. Fair enough. Totally understandable.

what ways do you go about listening to HD music.

Yeah, I have given up on that. I mostly listen to podcasts nowadays, so SQ is not really an issue for me personally. Having said that, my mind is accustomsed to the fact that a car can never be ideal sound stage. Some of the people in my circle rip music to FLAC files.