# Install done ..... for now



## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

After a couple of weeks of work here and there, I finally got a semi complete ICE upgrade. Picked it back up tonight  Included thus far in the system:

Head Unit - Clarion VRX935VD, MB Quart PCE 213 (in factory woofer and mid locations), MB Quart RCE 216 (in rear deck factory location as coax), Eclipse SW8122DVC 12" Aluminum sub, Zapco 360, Zapco 500, 2 Zapco SLB-TP4, Symbilink wire from convertors to amps, Stinger wires (power, ground, speaker, 1ft RCAs from brain to convertors), custom bow w/ plexiglass face, trim panel to encase box, amp rack to mount amps behind fold down seats and 4 neon blue accent tubes. Next week adding aux feed to video brain so I can plug stuff in quickly to the monitor and adding some insulation/mat to doors, as well as readjusting the tuning after some ear time.

Pics from tonight :thumbup:


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

The second attachment above shows the neon lighting the plexiglass. A few more pics that show head unit illumination ...


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## nealh (Oct 4, 2003)

Dr. Phil said:


> The second attachment above shows the neon lighting the plexiglass. A few more pics that show head unit illumination ...


Is the whine gone???


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

nealh said:


> Is the whine gone???


!00% gone  With the new hed unit and Zapco convertors, the sound quality has jumped off the charts :thumbup:


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Horry Morry !! :clap:

It's looking damn good !! :thumbup: 

How do you like the sound ? Is it :str8pimpi ? 


Congrats ! :fruit:


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

Alex Baumann said:


> Horry Morry !! :clap:
> 
> It's looking damn good !! :thumbup:
> 
> ...


The sound is fantastic :thumbup: I need to tune it a bit to bring the staging up to the front a tad more and also need to figure out all the adjustments on the head unit.

As for SPL :yikes: I can get pretty loud if I desire :eeps: :banana: :smokin:


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## nealh (Oct 4, 2003)

Dr. Phil said:


> The sound is fantastic :thumbup: I need to tune it a bit to bring the staging up to the front a tad more and also need to figure out all the adjustments on the head unit.
> 
> As for SPL :yikes: I can get pretty loud if I desire :eeps: :banana: :smokin:


BTW what is a zapco converter is this a Hi/Lo converter?

I have no desire to change the HU..though the clarion you picked is awesome but the HU would cost almost as much as my entire upgrade....


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

No matter how much :tsk:  I do hope that you enjoy it.

:tsk:








:angel:


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## Plaz (Dec 19, 2001)

Congrats!


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

Congrats! :bling: :bling:


 :angel:


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

nealh said:


> BTW what is a zapco converter is this a Hi/Lo converter?
> 
> I have no desire to change the HU..though the clarion you picked is awesome but the HU would cost almost as much as my entire upgrade....


The convertor is a balanced line unit that takes short RCA runs from close to head unit and changes it to a Symbilink (basically firewire technology) cable to feed into the Zapco amps. It boost the signal up to 18 volts :yikes:

I had no intention of doing head unit change but got bitten by the bug and I wnated to maximize sound quality and blinage :bigpimp:


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## nealh (Oct 4, 2003)

Dr. Phil said:


> The convertor is a balanced line unit that takes short RCA runs from close to head unit and changes it to a Symbilink (basically firewire technology) cable to feed into the Zapco amps. It boost the signal up to 18 volts :yikes:
> 
> I had no intention of doing head unit change but got bitten by the bug and I wnated to maximize sound quality and blinage :bigpimp:


Thanks


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## mquetel (Jan 30, 2003)

Congrats, Dr. Phil! It defninitely looks (and I assume sounds) :bigpimp: 

When you have a chance, I would be interested in seing a daytime shot of the HU to see how it integrates with the dash.


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

mquetel said:


> Congrats, Dr. Phil! It defninitely looks (and I assume sounds) :bigpimp:
> 
> When you have a chance, I would be interested in seing a daytime shot of the HU to see how it integrates with the dash.


Will do


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

Phil -

The system looks great!  I haven't posted in awhile so I never saw this post. I also like your avatar 

Have you setup the equalizer on the Clarion unit? You can mess with the Q setting and really vary the sound.

I'm itching to get my car back on the road. Only about 6 weeks left.


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

Ack said:


> Phil -
> 
> The system looks great!  I haven't posted in awhile so I never saw this post. I also like your avatar
> 
> ...


Glad to hear from you. I am still not 100% sure of the Q settings  What is the main purpose/affect on sound/etc :dunno: My user custom setting is great up to ~ 25 volume and with non burnt CDs. In the 30 range or mp3's I find Impact to be better, not sure why.

I need to get my box tightened up a bit. My backroad adventures caused a slight shift :angel: In retrospect, I should have went fiberglass :tsk:


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

Dr. Phil said:


> Glad to hear from you. I am still not 100% sure of the Q settings  What is the main purpose/affect on sound/etc :dunno: My user custom setting is great up to ~ 25 volume and with non burnt CDs. In the 30 range or mp3's I find Impact to be better, not sure why.
> 
> I need to get my box tightened up a bit. My backroad adventures caused a slight shift :angel: In retrospect, I should have went fiberglass :tsk:


Truthfully, I have no clue what the Q even stands for. It took me awhile of messing around with the different settings to get it where I liked it. Now that my battery died though, I'm going to have to redo it. I think I'll write down my settings next time just in case this happens again.

Damn, you're listening all the way up to and over 25! :yikes: My system is deafening at those volumes, esp. with DVD's. I usually listen at about 10-15 and maybe up to 18 or so in the summer with the windows down. Then again, my amp levels might be set at a higher level than yours.

I'm not surprised that your box is moving around; you do own a ZHP! 

I'll be ripping my trunk apart in the spring and doing some custom fiberglass work with a buddy of mine. I want to recover some trunk space and reduce the amount of weight back there. I'm thinking of moving either the subs or the amps to the spare tire well. I'm still not sure though.


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## Boston Bimmer (Feb 7, 2004)

Very nice setup !
I am going to have a similar setup, but a different head unit , installed soon
I was going with a subbox in the trunk, but i still have a nagging feeling that a nice fiberglass box along the right driver's side in the trunk would be nice - except the price is high!  
There is a ton of wasted space behind the driver side trunk panel if you don't have the nav or cd setup


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## jvr826 (Apr 22, 2002)

Dr. Phil - 
Very impressive install and setup you have there. I can't imagine how incredible it sounds. 

For my more modest system, I'm looking for matching carpet/material for the trunk liner in my 2002 E39. Were you able to find a match or did you cover over the entire trunk with new material?


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

jvr530i said:


> Dr. Phil -
> Very impressive install and setup you have there. I can't imagine how incredible it sounds.
> 
> For my more modest system, I'm looking for matching carpet/material for the trunk liner in my 2002 E39. Were you able to find a match or did you cover over the entire trunk with new material?


The fabric is not an "exact match", I would say it is ~ 95% matching. As I plan on eventually redoing the trunk, I did not invest in a complete recovering :eeps:


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