16psibrick Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Hey guys, Spent the last three month, on and off, working on a CES demo vehicle for Sinfoni amplifiers and Rainbow Speakers. Before i get into it, i want to note that the project suffered a series of unfortunately setbacks, resulting in me having to completely redo the interior rather than just working on the trunk as originally planned so time was a definetly not on our side. Also, all the equipment were given to me by the customer, who also gave me dictated, to a certain extent, what drivers to use in what format So please dont ask me why I did things a certain way hehe. But in the end, through hardwork and good communication, we got the project completed in time for CES. Oh and dont ask me how it sounds, i dont have the software to tune the processor, so its getting tuned in vegas in a few days. anyway, lets get started. the car is a 2007 BMW 530xi. and i am sure those who are famaliar wtih the car would think, oh noes! I-Drive interface! to answer your question, yes it does hvae I drive, and yes its just as bad as you can imagine hehe the goals: 1. being very high end gear, the goal is not to create crazy show pieces, at ces, most of the highend companies acutally feature simple and classy installs. and this is the same for this car, something that oozes class 2. great sound quality of course 3. a way to really showcase the amps and speakers for the audience at the show (so no stealth here ) here is the car: clean and classy throughout http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces1.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces2.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces3.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces4.JPG so...onto the interior...and onto the I-drive issue. the problem with I drive is that none of the dash parts can be removed without disabling it. meaning the stock cd player has to remain, along with all the other parts. and since we had to somehow fit hte Alpine F1 status headunit into the dash, i found the only open slot is the pocket on the lower panel. the pocket was cut out, a trim molded in and the entire piece, painted, was reinstalled with the headunit, it sure is tight but it fits well http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces5.JPG onto the front stage. for space and looks, we decided to do the midbass and the midrange in a door pod in the lower door. this, coupled with the center channel the customer speced, will do fine. I ordered a set of door pods from PM modifiche in italy, and then heavily cut and modified it to house a Rainbow Platinum 7" midbass and a vanadium 5.25" midrange. they are aimed slightly on axis. and the entire piece was molded, sanded and trimmed in dark grey vinyl like the two tone dash. the piece was REALLY hard to vinyl lol but came out decent: http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces6.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces7.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces8.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces9.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces10.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces11.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces12.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces13.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16psibrick Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 a pair of rainbow platinum tweeters were molde into the A pillars and covered in suede. when i got hte car, they were already in place but didnt look quite right, i modified them, sanded them down and recovered them. the slight dent on the passenger side housing was there when i got the car http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces14.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces15.JPG a few more shots of the front interior: http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces16.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces17.JPG the center channel features a rainbow vanadium 4" midrange and a 1" tweet, since both drives dont even come close to fitting in the stock location, i molded them out a bit, flowing onto the dash and sueded to match the A pillars: http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces18.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces19.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces20.JPG and the entire front area: http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces21.JPG moving towards the back, the rear deck was removed, cut, and a vent installed for hte bass to come through. http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces22.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16psibrick Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 okay, moving to the trunk. the idea i had from the very beginning, was to do a variation of the platform idea. i see a lot of platforms in show cars and it always looks kind bare and uninteresting...being a fan of Star Trek TNG, my idea was to build platforms that looked like the warp engines on the enterprice: http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STNGEnterprise/ST_Generations_0678a.jpg meaning wo pieces of mdf sandwiching a lit up piece of plexi in the middle. so that was the idea that was used. all three sinfoni amplitude amps sit on floating "enterprise" platforms. a big four channel sends over 100 watts to each midrange and tweet, a smaller four channel was bridged to send well over 200 watts to each midbass, and a two channel was bridged to power the subs with close to 1kwatt. the platforms themselves sit in their own well, and each well also carries the same theme, being a sandwich of two mdf rings and a routed plexi ring that lights up. the entire trunk is two tone suede, light for the platforms and around the subs, dark graphite for the covering panels. the subs are 12" rainbow profi, whcih will be switched to vanadium 12s at the show. here are the trunk pics: http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces23.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces24.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces25.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces26.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces27.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces28.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces29.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces30.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces31.JPG i also built a new trunk ceiling piece out of mdf and sueded it. it features a vent for the sub, and my logo, a feature that i doubt will get scene much but its there http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces32.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16psibrick Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 now lets turn on the lights. i used multicolor leds throughout, whcih fades through the whole spectrum of colors, the platforms and the wells fade at their own speed, creating even more color combinations about 600 ileds were used but the effect is pretty neat http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces33.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces34.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces35.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces36.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces37.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces38.JPG as a final touch, my logo on the ceiling of the trunk also lights up and goes through all the color phases http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces39.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces40.JPG to see the entire effect, you can check out the two videos i took, they are crappy quality but shows the color changes http://www.icixsound.com/iv/view_video.php?viewkey=712c49d51a18a32b39f0 http://www.icixsound.com/iv/view_video.php?viewkey=d466d6ec9a21b9ac34ff overall, came out just i had pictured in my mind cant wait to see how it sounds at ces. special thanks to my friend Kenny at autsoundspecialists in hayward, CA, who helped me with the project and ran the wires in the car, made the rear deck vent, and help with the door pod sanding. also marquies and Don for their good communication and assistance throughout hte project going to go out now and celebrate lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morning woodie wagon Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 That's one crazy and expensive sounding install. Quality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whobaru Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Great work. Better than any installs I've done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carter Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 peculiar, your warp nacelles are leaking plasma, the injectors may be fused. I think your headed for a warp core breach!!! Evacuate immediately, an anti-matter explosion could kill you and anything within 1 light year!! hey, I like to watch Star Trek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16psibrick Posted December 31, 2007 Author Share Posted December 31, 2007 lol here added some night time nad build pics *added a few night time pics and a few behind hte scene pics... to show hte wiring and how much routing is involved http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces41.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces42.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces43.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces44.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces45.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces46.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces47.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces48.JPG http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/ces49.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniStiGuy Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Good work but your customer really should have choosen to match the door mounted speakers and center channel to the interior. great install though. Its just the missmatch that I personally would have not gone with but you gotta do what they want so good job none the less. OEM HID's Rx330 Retro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whobaru Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 It looks kinda like an install I did on a beemer when we were out of the light-grey vinyl. That's what I assumed happened here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr. pepper Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 My god you do awesome work! If I had the money for a serious sound sytem, which I want more than anything, i'd find a way to have you do it. I agree that the center channel looks pretty bad, though, they should have told you to match it to the dash color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whobaru Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 ...and don't forget the gap between the vinyl and the door pocket on the driver-side j/k ...sweet install! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whobaru Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I agree that the center channel looks pretty bad, though, they should have told you to match it to the dash color. If the suede were on the doors and the vinyl on the dash, it'd b pimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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