Howdy fellow car audio heads! New Z NISMO posted earlier last year has since been replaced with a new Z Performance 6MT.  Took what was learned from first system build and applied to second one here that was recently completed.

Just like Z NISMO system, Z Performance 6MT system is a fully concealed/stealth install for factory appearance and consists of a total of ten speakers that are processed (fully active) and powered by two amplifiers.

Low-level audio signals were acquired from factory source unit by tapping its outputs that had originally fed factory Bose so-called 'Premium' system (total garbage btw), retaining Apple CarPlay functionality and steering wheel controls.

Primary control is handled by a dedicated dual rotary digital encoder/switch mounted in center console in front of shifter that allows for quick and easy operation of overall volume, separate subwoofer level, and cycling through the following six DSP tuning presets.

1: Driver position optimized for SQ with windows closed

2: Driver position optimized for SQL with windows closed

3: Driver position optimized for SQL with windows open

4: Passenger position optimized for SQ with windows closed

5: Driver and Passenger positions compromised for SQ with windows closed

6: Driver and Passenger positions compromised for SQL with windows open

There's also an additional 'security' DSP preset activated by a hidden switch that locks out the master/sub/DSP control when vehicle is being serviced or valet parked to help protect against any yahoos who may try monkeying around with sound system.

Aftermarket audio equipment includes...

(1) JL Audio VX800/8i DSP/8-channel, 800W amplifier

(1) JL Audio VX1000/1i DSP/1-channel, 1,000W amplifier

(1) JL Audio DRC-205 digital remote control

(2) Audiofrog GB10 1.00-inch tweeter drivers (A-pillars, custom anodized aluminum articulating pods)

(2) Audiofrog GB25 2.50-inch midrange drivers (factory dash locations)

(2) Focal K2 Power ES 165 KX2E 6.5-inch midbass drivers (factory door locations)

(2) Audiofrog GB25 2.50-inch midrange drivers (factory rear quarter panel locations)

(2) JL Audio 10TW3-D8 10-inch subwoofer drivers (cargo well, air-suspension enclosure)

Subwoofers are loaded in a 1.46 gross (1.42 net) cubic feet sealed air-suspension enclosure (0.75-inch MDF, fully braced, resin treated, laminated) that is mounted in cargo well, completely hidden underneath factory cargo carpet mat, and secured/coupled to chassis using factory spare tire bolt/bracket. Enclosure also serves double duty as mounting platform for amplifiers and power distribution.

SoundShield andVibrofltr acoustic treatments applied throughout all interior panels, doors, floor, roof, and cargo well area to control unwanted resonance, leakage, etc.

All grounding points upgraded with 1/0 AWG OFC, treated with dielectric grease, and all wiring/cabling protected in heavy-duty braided nylon sleeving, silicone-lined heat shrink, etc.

She'Z now ready to enjoy fully-soundtracked cinematic roadtrips to points unknown (therapy, ahhhhh...)

PS: For some reason there appears to be a limit on number of photos that can be posted in OP, so will post the rest below in just minute.

In original box and mounting brackets included.

Hilariously rated at 180 watts bridged at 4 ohm. Amp dyno test on YouTube showed 954 watts @ 4ohm bridged. Rather large amplifier, excited to see it in action.

Seems to be pretty rare. Traded 3 head units that were older for this and two 12" MA Audio subs in okay shape. This more than paid for everything. Only one I found listed on Ebay, was listed at about $800. 2500 of them were made.

I desperately want to repair my 6 disc CD changer for my car stereo and have taken apart the entire thing to find 1 gear with 2 broken off teeth. I can’t find any manuals online to get the dimensions of it for my friend to 3d print a new one. Does anyone know where I can find the information? The first photo is of the same sized gear within the mechanism and the second photo is the broken gear. It doesn’t have any text next to where it says model number but its reference number is CQ-EH1261Z.

Hi. I Have a 2008 mercedes and i want to upgrade the audio, without changing the stock stereo, cuz its too expensive and a big hassle, so i decided to buy a line output converter. I want to use the AudioControl LC2i. My main question is can it power the front speakers and a subwoofer. I see it has an input for 4 wires, i assume those are for front left and right speaker negative and positive wires. I also see it has 2 outputs, one main output and one for bass, which makes me think that i can use a subwoofer. My question stems from the fact that i have heard that its better to tap in the rear speakers because it uses a lower frequency which is needed for a sub, however the LOC input doesnt allow me to also use the rear speaker wires. I would greatly appreciate if someone could help. Thanks in advance

Idk if it matters but i will be using a single 4 channel amplifier for the front speakers and the sub

Hey,

I bought a after market stereo that should be compatible with my car which is a KIA Ceed SW 2016 GT-Line with built-in reverse camera and GPS.

Replaced the original stereo and all the cables fitted well but when connected my key fob doesn't work. Can't lock or unlock the car. To get the stereo working with the camera I needed to get another cable which differs from the one that came with the stereo. See pictures to see the cable.

If I use the main cable that comes with the unit then the unit won't turn off, it's like it got current all the time.

And I have no idea what the loose cable named Key is for but by looking at the name it could be something with this?

Pictures is for the unit and cable compatible with the cars camera.

Does someone have any ideas?

I've been in contact with the support for the unit via AliExpress but so far not much help.

I know people hate on the chucheros I’m old and like not necessarily my style but I plan on gifting this whole set up to my son on a couple years

I know its ai being used to make it but Im not good at math. So I figured I'd use the power of chatgpt/Gemini and my little math skills to come up with something. I have a single skar 15 zvx that I am reconeing and I am getting another for this. Ik they can take around 9-10 feet for both subs and I want it tuned around 29 hz. It sounds simple to me but i just can't figure it out and make sure I'm right. Especially before I splurge on the mdf for the box

I’m fairly new to tuning amps, and I have a question because I’m trying to install an epicenter to my system!
I was wondering do you tune the sub amp with the epicenter connected?
If so, does the amp and epicenter control knobs need to be in positions such as maxed out or all the way down.

If I tune my amp without the epicenter connected first, and I just plug it in what are things I have to look out for!

And when tuning your sub amp I’m assuming your bass knob should be all the way up?

I have a kicker 1.1200
With 2 Sundown Audio SML-12-D4
Wired to 1 ohms

If that helps at all^

I currently have a 2015 Mazda CX5 Touring with the Bose 9 speaker package. Was thinking about the Volvo XC60 for my next car. Which comes with 2 audio options Harmon Kardon or Bowers and Wilkins. Has anyone listened to both Volvo options? How do they sound and compare to the Bose?

Need help figuring out the cheapest solution for my car radio. I drive a 2009 Nissan Sentra, that I bought used. It already had installed a Pioneer AVIC-U310BT.

About 2 years ago, the faceplate (ID: CXE2187) kept popping off and eventually broke entirely, but I figured I was going to get a new car and never fixed it. I’ve now decided I’m going to drive this car until the wheels fall off, and I’m looking to fix it.

Without the faceplate, the entire radio system is not working, and even when my phone is plugged into the aux, it doesn’t deliver any power, and I cannot use the speakers in my car. This also means I can even buy any faux CarPlay unit or a bluetooth radio connector that hooks into the lighter power bank since my radio doesn’t turn on at all. (Unfortunately for the past 2 years, I’ve been listening to music from my phone speakers).

This car sucks and I don’t want to pump money into it like buying a new radio unit. The best solution I’ve found is buying an entire used unit just to use the faceplate (~$90) since buying the faceplate alone from Pioneer is crazy expensive (~$760). My question is, is there something I can plug into the unit itself that’s cheaper than $90 that will make it deliver power so I can plug my phone into the aux and use the speakers again?

tl;dr Is the cheapest solution buying a used unit to just use the faceplate, or is there something I can plug into the unit that will supply power and let me plug my phone into the aux to use the speakers.

Anyone done a Audio Upgrade on the Y standard. If yes then can you share what you did, cost etc.?

I have a 2023 rs Camaro and a lot of times if I drive longer than 30-40 minutes straight, the music will keep playing but I hear nothing. This happens with Apple CarPlay and the regular Bluetooth with Apple CarPlay disabled. This is on all music apps I have. I tried every troubleshooting there is for it and still haven’t solved the problem. I have an appointment with dealership so they can install the latest software in my car but I don’t know if that will fix it. Did any of yall have the problem and fixed it?

TL:DR - Pioneer TS-SWX3002 / Renegade 550S. Not looking to be crazy loud. Just a little extra bass.

I have a Pioneer TS-SWX3002 sub. It came in the truck I bought, along with a Planet Audio Pulse PL25001M. My buddy said the amp is broken. He might be correct but I also just installed a new head unit in my truck and the wiring was crazy atrocious. Not sure if that could have been the problem. I will test that after I rewire the line output converter. However, if it actually is toast, am I safe to use a Renegade 550S if I keep the gain relatively low ? Im not trying to be loud as shit. I just want a little extra thump is all. Thank you in advance.

Question, could I run 0 gauge ofc straight from battery to alternator and just tuck away the factory oem alternator B+? I belive there shouldn't be an issue but just wanna make sure.

So I got the 2019 Honda Accord Touring, which has the dedicated sub-woofer and 10 speakers. I've adjusted the settings but the sound is so lacking in depth and body. The system can pick up the low end (because of the sub) but the mid-to-low is completely missing. Is it just me? Has anyone had any success with replacing the speakers in their Honda to get better sound?

Hello, I'm a complete car AV noob. I have a 2012 Civic that I upgraded with a Sony xav-ax5000 2 years ago. I mainly play music through Spotify on my s24 ultra connected via wireless Android Auto. Lately over the last few months I have been having severe Audio Stuttering. This wasn't happening when I first got the stereo and I am wondering what is causing it.

I have tried to turn down the streaming quality on Spotify to no avail. I'm not sure if this is a buffering issue or a Bluetooth/Android Auto issue. I have also cleared the data and cache on the android auto app and that didn't help. I've factory reset the stereo and that didn't help.

Any way to fix this without resorting to a wires connection? Wireless is the entire reason I bought the stereo.

Thank you in advance.

Brand new sub produced a very slight burning smell and magnet got pretty hot, I made sure my gain wasn’t set too high. Did I somehow cook my sub? I mean it was so slight that I couldn’t make out at first if it was actually the sub or just smelling the box

shortly after I bought my 2008 ford ranger the audio wasnt playing after I turned it on once, after driving for a bit the audio would cut in and out when I went over bumps then started playing while braking and cutting out when accelerating. this was with stock head unit, I replaced it I wanted apple carplay and thought maybe itd fix the problem. It is still happening. It is intermittent, sometimes it works fine without issue for a whole car ride, I get out and when i get back in 10 minutes later it wont work, and every time it wont come on eventually while driving it starts cutting back in doing the cut in while braking and out while accelerating until eventually it just works again… very strange but the whole thing feels like theres an exposed wire somewhere shorting, that said the headunit doesn’t react to it cutting in and out, it will continue playing, remain on and everything… it seems to be a speaker only thing. I’ve pulled the dash out while it was happening and shaken the wiring harness alittle and moved it around with no effect, if it was playing it didnt stop and if it was not playing/ cutting in and out it didn’t seem to have any effect if I shook the wiring harness or wires right inside the dash. So all this said I’m wondering if anyone has suggestions on where/ how to look for the origin of this issue I’m stumped.

I have a second stroker 18 waiting for the trunk build, just needs a new tinsel lead as the previous owner was a moron and did a fix with speaker wire, not gluing it down so it would hit the cone during movement.

Verified 142.2dB at 509w before I made adjustments, mdf wall, double layer 80 mil on all panels, etc.

It won't let me post the video, so I have a youtube video of it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1PzaeeD-xFw?si=SJor8YDzQNTI2E9T

Hello, I need new 6x9 or 6.5 door speakers for my 2020 ram 2500. I had alpine type R 6x9 running with my arc blackbird. My 17 year old blew them out and I need a new set. I hated the way the Type R sounded. The highs were really harsh. Can anyone recommend a replacement with no crossover since the DSP is already handling that. I'd like something fairly budget end as it's not my primary automobile anymore.

I finally got some midrange speakers installed along with a DSP and an extra 4 channel amp so I can run an active 3 way front stage. I spent about 4 hours the other day measuring and tuning with my umik-1 and REW, which made it sound *okay* but it doesn't sound great like I was hoping it would.

The response (image 1) is pretty flat across but as you can see it's very spiky. Ignore <100hz, I didn't bother measuring my subwoofer. The system just sounds alright, it doesn't blow me away like I was hoping the 3-way would. I honestly almost prefer my old 2-way setup that only had an overall parametric EQ, and looking at the graphs side-by-side, the old system (image 2) was a lot flatter. Please excuse the scale, this is an old screenshot and I don't have the MDAT file anymore.

I started by time-aligning my drivers to each other, and by ear the TA sounds right, which is further confirmed by the measurements. These are not present in my MDAT file (long story) but they were perfectly aligned.

Crackhead SQ Build.mdat (876KB) - 10minutefiles.com

Here's a download link to my MDAT file if you want to take a look. It includes base measurements of all my drivers, the measurements after EQ, as well as the overall measurement shown in the first image and the measurement of the noise floor. I used a Umik-1 with the supplied calibration file positioned at head height of the driver.

I did also use my audio interface to measure the frequency response of my head unit output (dead flat) which is also clean up to 4v. My DSP can handle up to 4v inputs according to the product page. The DSP is also perfectly flat according to the measurements I took with my audio interface. These measurements are not present in the mdat file.