I wish I knew what I was doing.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by rwest

Shaun,

That is one behemoth of an amp and might just be more than what you need for just the regular speakers.

I'm going to throw another idea out. That would be to just use the best pair of speakers in the front and get a 2 channel amp to power them. I think that rear speakers are a general waste especially in a noisy car like the targa. After all, when you go to a concert, you face the front, there isn't a band behind you too- now, a concert hall will have reflections that come from behind, but they are different then the original sound. Doing it this way will save a bunch of work and space, although you'll need to spring for another amp, but they aren't all that pricey for a good two channel.

Rutager

Thank you Rutager. I'm sorry I wasn't clear, this system was installed in an 84 Targa many many years ago. All this is going in my 84 now, a coupe. You know a lot of people say rear speakers don't do much but I can tell you earnestly, the JL 300/4 coupled with these speakers provided fantastic sound and the rears played a serious role as shown with playing with the fader. Even at high speed trips to NYC with the top off. Good days those were.

But you are right, I can get a JL Audio 360/2 for $125 right now at Onlinecarstereo.com - Wholesale Car Audio/Stereo Deals At Bargain Prices and it might be everything I need.

My issue is while that's short money, my budget is tight with a new leather dash coming and I just unexpectedly picked up a 76 tub that was priced too right to pass by. So for now, I think I'm using what I've got.

[SoCal911T]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

How does it all sound?

It sounds great.
In early summer of 2012, in addition to the stereo upgrade, I was trying to get the car ready for Monterey Week. I had never entered a car in a show but in 2012 I registered for "Legends of the Autobahn" so I was more focused on the cosmetics than the stereo. At the last minute I discovered I had an engine whine through the Ipod connection so I ended up listening to cassette mix tapes I had made back in the '80s for the 1000 mile round trip and it was somehow fitting. The Ipod- engine whine issue was since troubleshat (sp?) and I'm really enjoying it.
(BTW, I got 2nd in my class )



Monterey Week last year at the Laguna Seca Porsche/BMW Corral:

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Cool story. Let's see some more pics of your M5!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I plugged the amp into the Eclipse last night and it wasn't happy, thought I had fried it. You get a "GOOD MORNING" message on the screen when the radio goes on which became a random flashing G and GO. Unplugged it, let it sit, it seems to be working now. May be important to note that both the amp and radio RCAs are female, which must have been how the JL was since I already had the cables.

So I called Sound in Motion, local car stereo store and described what I had. Turned out to be a good call, talked with one of the owners who has a 964. He was impressed with the system, perked up when I mentioned the amp, understood the need to not cut the door panels up and offered the following:

He'll bench test the amp and if it checks out, wire the whole system up. Wants to see the car too.

Said that the MB Quarts won't react well to being mounted in a small box. He suggested I "go to Pelican and get some RS door panels" and use those to mount the 6.5s in the front.

Don't bother with the rears, he said in a coupe there may be too much sound and I should just focus on the front. I relayed my Targa build to him and he thought maybe the Targa glass helped.

Definitely nice to talk to a fellow enthusiast.

So I'm bringing everything over on Monday and leaving it there for a few days. Never a dull moment.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

And ear buds. Done.

And illegal!

[1990C4S]

Maybe where you live...

[fintstone]

Shaun
Glad to see a sound thread...especially for a targa as I need to do the same for one of mine and hoping for ideas. Appreciate you documenting what you do.

In your photo, I notice that you have not installed sound proofing. Do you not plan to do so?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I am generally against adding weight and do whatever I can to lighten a car. But for my old 84 Targa, I did line the insides of the doors with Dynamat and also around the speaker opening for the fronts. For the rear, I laid some Dynamat on the top of rear deck but deleted the factory found pad. I can't say for sure, but I think the Dynamat helped.

For this car I need to leave it as factory as possible so I am probably not installing any sound deadening, car is too heavy as it is. I have a ton of FatMat if you want me to send you some. Was going to line most of my 4Runner with it but sold the truck and went to the wagon before I got much done.

[rwest]

Shaun,

Sounds like you're it great shape now. Always nice to come across someone who is just as excited about your car as you are. Please post some pictures when done. On my Targa, I built custom enclosures in the kick panel area and used a set of MB Quartz co-axials that I could separately amp the woofer and tweeter.

Best,
Rutager

[Shaun @ Tru6]

New news here. 2 weeks ago I dropped everything off, they tested it and confirmed it was OK. They thought the power in my spare battery wasn't enough for everything and that's why the Eclipse was doing the G-GO thing. I can see that given how I hooked it quickly. Anyway, after two more visits to show them the car and talk about the job, they said they'll provide a quote for installing:

Head unit
Speakers in doors
Amp under seat
Crossovers
sound deadening

with Dynamat extreme and all necessary hardware and wiring.

Anyone want to take guess on how much the quote came to?

[Gogar]

$1250

[Shaun @ Tru6]

$2,112

20.5 hours of labor, some at $85/hr, some at $95/hr.

[Gogar]

Wow! What car?

Without knowing what you really want, I suggest that you blow off the dynamat, because that's probably half of that labor time.

If it's an open car like a Targa I say absolutely blow off the dynamat, and physics agreed with me.

[rusnak]

Good audio costs money. But that is a lot of wonga.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Wow! What car?

Without knowing what you really want, I suggest that you blow off the dynamat, because that's probably half of that labor time.

If it's an open car like a Targa I say absolutely blow off the dynamat, and physics agreed with me.

Pretty sure it is the '84 M491 coupe he bought from an idiot's mother

[Icemaster]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

$2,112

That might make a good album title.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Wow! What car?

Without knowing what you really want, I suggest that you blow off the dynamat, because that's probably half of that labor time.

If it's an open car like a Targa I say absolutely blow off the dynamat, and physics agreed with me.

For my 84, it's a coupe. And while I normally strip interiors out of cars, I want this to be a nice sounding system so will do it right. And the car is special, so no holes, everything has to be as factory as possible and has to be reversible to factory with little to no effort.

Dynamat was $160 for the material and 4 hours for putting it in, so $500 total. They have 6 hours of labor for installing just the speakers in the doors. I've got a new leather dash coming someday, so am on a bit of budget, and this quote went fairly well past that.

I have a ton of FatMat and mini-roller. And with Ian's thread, can do the doors myself.
Car Stereo Installation

New door panels I don't mind cutting up are on the way. I'll put the amp under the passenger seat on Al C-channel velcro'd (industrial) to the floor, crossovers in the doors as you suggested. The only tricky part is the wiring, that is the head unit to amp to crossover connections. If it weren't a big FU, I'd ask them to wire the system together or draw a schematic and charge an hour or 2.

I don't think I'll have time to do this until mid-August though. I might try to install just the Eclipse for a temporary fix. Have to get the correct pin-puller to get the Monterey SQR out first.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by id10t

Pretty sure it is the '84 M491 coupe he bought from an idiot's mother

Originally Posted by Icemaster

That might make a good album title.

[rusnak]

I would allow one big 1.5" hole or 2" hole with a grommet if you end up needing to run a lot of cables. If its a quality job then its a quality job. You have to have holes sometimes.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by rusnak

Good audio costs money. But that is a lot of wonga.

The audio itself cost next to nothing. I could see $1K for a top, professional job in labor and then whatever wiring, etc. costs.

This is double of the high end of the range of what I was expecting.