hey everyone! sorry for the delay, it's been a really busy couple of weeks, and i just haven't been up to posting the updates. so, i did end up getting the car last Thursday after applying some gentle pressure on the installer as i was talking a couple days off of work and didn't want to have my work van for yet another weekend. he did call me at noon on Thursday to let me know that he did receive some darker carpeting, so he'd be able to complete the install. i got to the shop just before 6 (they usually close at 5), as he was really working to get the dsp programmed on time for me. they had washed the car and had put all my stuff in a box for me.

i unfortunately didn't have much time to talk to him that evening as i was running late for a dinner, so i told him i'd get a list of questions and concerns together and call him the next day. my first impression was that the install was really clean and well done. he decided to use some industrial grade velcro to attach a piece of mdf to the bulkhead behind the passenger seat because of the fuel tank, hid it behind the stock carpet, and then attached the amps to it.

the dsp is under the passenger seat, and the sub enclosure sits nicely just behind the seats. he installed the control **** for the dsp next to the ashtray where the lighter socket was. i really like that location for it. unfortunately, the led for the jbl drc-100 is pretty distractingly bright, so it's nice that the door can be closed to cover it up at night. I'm going to have him put some kind of filter over it to help dim it a bit, but having it visible is nice as it lets me know right away if my HU volume is too high and there's clipping.

he ended up using a pair of the infinity kappa 5.25" coaxial speakers with the pivoting tweeter for rear fill. i don't really have anything to say about them as they are barely audible and just along for the ride.

the sub enclosure is 3/4" mdf w/ about .625 cubic feet per sub with 2 of the 10" jl tw3s used, mated to the alpine pdx 1000.1 amp.

the dsp is the JL TWK-88, and we're powering the 8 speaker channels through a pair of 4 channel amps. one is the alpine pdx 4.150 and the other is a JL XD 400/4.

in the doors we have the stars of the show, the Morel Elate 903 Ti 3 way component system. the installer, Marco, built custom abs pieces to properly seal the doors and used sound deadening to really get it nicely solid. the doors feel completely different now, and close with a much more muted THUNK now. he made some thick spacers to mount the 9" mid-bass divers on the lower stock locations, and built a custom mount to allow both the 3.5"mid and the tweeters to reside behind the door panels where the stock 3.5s used to live. so, except for the sub enclosure, there's really no way to tell that the car has such a crazy system in it, which i REALLY like. it looks super clean, and there's no vibrations or rattles in the doors even at higher volumes.

that brings us to the sound. well, it's amazing. there's so much power available to all of these amazing components that even when the volume is pumped up to really uncomfortable levels, there's no distortion and there's a feeling of limitless headroom. it just creates effortlessly clear sound. i adore the clarity, and there's no feeling of sharpness in the high frequencies. it's just crisp and clean.

that being said, i bet that Marco could probably get a bit more out of it with a bit more time to set up the dsp. he went for as flat as possible and didn't really have time to do anything else or create any other presets. I'm gonna have him asked a bit more time fine tuning everything when i bring it back.

also, i think the chosen location of the tweeters is a bit of a compromise. if he didn't have room behind the door panel, i was going to have him do a surface flush mount above the stock grills for the mids. I'm wondering if that might actually be a better location as the imaging feels like it comes together a bit below my ears. if i duck down in my seat a bit, i feel much more immersed in the sound. maybe that's something he can remedy through the dsp, but I'm going to talk to him about potentially moving the tweeters, though I'm not really sure it's worth it. it sounds so good and looks so clean. i don't have all of the pics of the install process, yet. I'm going to get those when i take the car back in a few days to resolve those little issues i have.

I'm not sure what else to say here. any questions or suggestions?

here are some pics that i took a bit ago. the lighting isn't great for seeing what he did for the mids and tweeters, but I'll share the install pics when i get them.

 

The only question to ask is, Are you happy with it? If so, jam out and enjoy it. Give it some seat time. Let the speakers break in, re-tune after that and see how you feel. Answer the question of whether or not to change something then...not right now.

 

I think the factory door panel has a slight angle that aims the mid towards the head. Perhaps by modifying that, the angle was eliminated.

infinity kappa 5.25" coaxial ... that's what I had in my C6 and going to put in my C7. Turn them up a bit. Glad you like the sound. Thought you were going with a different style for the box. Where is the dog going to sit now?

 

Glad to hear it sounds good. I really like the 903's in the doors. I am surprised they were able to fit both, the tweeter and the 3" mid, behind the upper speaker grill. My only complaint would be that I am not overly impressed with the box design. But that's just my opinion. Overall, looks like it should be a killer system.

 

hey everyone, just wanted to give some updates:

i drove it a around up until about 3 weeks ago and then i took it back to have him retune it a bit, as the passenger door was a bit too dominant in the soundstage. rent character of the sound had warmed up and filled in quite a bit, too, so having Marco redo all the levels to compensate seemed to be a good idea.

i have to say, if you can afford these speakers, it's so so so so so worth it. just, wow... the clarity and headroom in the system is simply unreal. it never feels stressed even at ridiculous volume, and the sound is just so big. I've never heard another car system like it (which isn't necessarily a massive claim, as i have never had any friends much in to car audio)

all that being said, i never did become satisfied with the soundstage. it always felt like it was too far below my ears, and i just couldn't shake the idea that i compromised on the sound quality to save a bit on install cost and stock look by not modifying the a pillars. so, when i took it back, i had a long talk with him and we decided that we'd love the tweeters up to the a pillars.

so, i just picked it up after having that done. he modified the pillars and recovered them, and repositioned the mids in the doors to be aimed at my ears a lot better now that there was more room.

holy... f-ing... ****... just, WOW... talk about a profound difference in sound. i was really missing out on so much from the tweeters by having them so far below my ears. now they are positioned perfectly for me, and they are so much clearer and brighter, now. it's just awesome how they make highs sound, as well as how they assist in the vocals, now.

plus, with the mids repositioned, everything just feels correct, now. if i duck my head down a little, i get almost exactly the same sound as when I'm sitting upright, unlike before. it's terribly amazing...

here are a couple pics of his install. i didn't even notice until i looked at the pic, but there appears to be a little line of adhesive or something next to the tweeter, so I'll drop back by this week and have him clean it up, but i think he did a great job on it.

and to the other poster,i don't disagree about the sub enclosure. it is really basic and isn't all that great to look at, but i told him to not spend much time on it. i just needed something to hold the components and sound correct.

and as fit the design, Vince,i know we had talked about a rear facing one, but this is what we went with, and there is room for the sub amp inside of it, which i like, and there's enough space behind it for the dog to hang out, do it all worked out.

so yeah, if you can afford it, GET THE MOREL 903s. they are so worth it, and absolutely put the tweeters in the a pillars.

 

Those tweeters look nice. I'm glad you were able to get him to redo the position of the mids and tweets to better align with your listening position. Also glad those amps are performing well. Those Alpine PDX are powerful. Really surprised two subs are handling that monster amp.

 

Glad to hear about the changes the installer made. Reading between the lines of your original update, it didn't sound like you were overly pleased with the system. My thoughts were that it was more of an installer issue than equipment. I also didn't like the idea of the tweeter and mid being stuffed into that small space together in the upper door. I was surprised the installer went that route. The new tweeter location looks great. Now with the tweeter and with some additional tuning, sounds like you are super thrilled with it. Glad it worked out and thanks for the new update. I really like those Morel 903's. If I was doing my system today, I would definitely want those.