My install New Ice Install - Hertz, Audison, Alpine, Soundproofed, Bootbuild - new pics inside!

[gray52]

excellent install but why did you not have a power cap?

[psykik]

gray, Thankyou. The choice of power cap vs split charge was made on the suggestion of AiAudio. I wanted some sort of backup to the main battery and to be able to listen to it while parked, engine off - the split charge solution seems to work alright so far! I'm not sure of the benefits of powercap vs split charge, but i have seen some fantastic looking powercaps which even have neon lights on them!

[gray52]

yes i see your point if your sitting with the engine off, as the civic is prone to having a flat battery. how deep is your sub box? itake it the bass rocks te car, ive just fitted my old vibe sub box with built in amp, and added a power cap, i can now run a higher gain with no distorsion. the power cap will deliver power to the amp quicker than a battery can, yes mine has the voltage displayed in red with 2 blue leds either side, and is auto power on/off. with all your electronics enclosed like that it will run hot, a p.c fan would be a good idea to keep the air flowing.

[Christian 9ff GT2]

The main reason to chose a battery as an extra power instead of a capasitor, is that if you are useing a digital amplifire the discharge of the power source happens to fast if you are using a capasitor, it simply cannot keep up power use there fore a deep cycle battery is the preferred power source.

[illegalhunter]

£1200 Thats A Lot Of Cash

[Munro]

That is an incredible system. I like the neat sub install hidden in the boot

[coolice]

Hey Psykik,

Sounds like you are enjoying all the hard work & money you've put into the car which is is good to hear.

Originally Posted by Christian 9ff GT2

The main reason to chose a battery as an extra power instead of a capasitor, is that if you are useing a digital amplifire the discharge of the power source happens to fast if you are using a capasitor, it simply cannot keep up power use there fore a deep cycle battery is the preferred power source.

Hey,

This is not really the true reason to have a secondary battery matey.

The main reason of having a second battery is so that you can use the sound system without the car engine running and not worry about not having enough power to start the car again.
The clue is in Psykik's post as he has wisely fitted a split charging system.
Also, deep cycle batterys can deal with complete discharges better than normal car batterys and also have a higher CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) rating and so can deliver higher amps on demand.

A Capacitor can be compared to a battery almost but it isn't. It's role is to store a little extra power which is then called on during high power demands like as the bass hits. As the current demand from the amplifiers increases for those few seconds when the sub amp demands power there is an extra amount of power, stored in the capacitor to keep the amps running at full efficiency.

A good example is in a previous car of mine, when I was a major bass head while the car was idling if the bass dropped the head lights would dim A capacitor helps stop this, I also fitted a deep cycle battery in place of my main car battery to help with the current demands.

You can run a major ICE system off the stock car battery no worries as long as the engine is running, an uprated alternator will be of benefit for very high power systems but it can be done. It is known that Deisel cars normally have a much higher output alternator than their petrol equivelant.

Most car equipment manufacturers give two power ratings normally, one at 12 volts and the other at 14.4 volts, the latter being the voltage output of a healthy alternator.
A capacitor will then smooth the power supply going to the amp or amps.

Ian

[amronno]

Very nice install, Psykik!
It reveals it's done by professionals.
Wish they could have done my spaceship too.

[thomasz]

Look nice! try it.

[big-kim]

you lose 10 hp by all the extra weight

[vintagevrs]

That seems like a really good price considering all the equipment you got fitted! Does that include all the equipment plus fitting!?!

[fickel]

Originally Posted by coolice

Hey Psykik,

A good example is in a previous car of mine, when I was a major bass head while the car was idling if the bass dropped the head lights would dim A capacitor helps stop this, I also fitted a deep cycle battery in place of my main car battery to help with the current demands.

Ian

That's also a sign that the alternator and battery can't cope with the demand.
A healthy alternator with a deep cycle battery will help the problem and split charging is better for long term.
Caps were originally used in the early spl vans when big pitch drops would sometimes drop voltage so far the amps would switch off.
The best way is to put as big a gauge power feed(to the boot in this case) as you can afford.
O gauge is best but expensive.
A typical run from front battery to boot with undersized cable can cost a 1 volt loss.
The 14.2 v on idle measure is what the car electrics are designed to do and are rectified to enable this.
A healthy system with a good deep cycle battery should maintain a round 13 volts for some time with the engine off.
I competed in 96 and 97 with a Punto of all things and put in a bigger a/h alternator from a FIAT that had a/c (mine didn't)
That did the trick for me coupled with an Optima red top.
I also fitted an engine grounding kit to bin off what little electrical noise there was in the zero bit tests

Oh the happy memories of it all.......but it was an expensive time££££££££

[coolice]

Originally Posted by fickel

That's also a sign that the alternator and battery can't cope with the demand.
A healthy alternator with a deep cycle battery will help the problem and split charging is better for long term.
Caps were originally used in the early spl vans when big pitch drops would sometimes drop voltage so far the amps would switch off.
The best way is to put as big a gauge power feed(to the boot in this case) as you can afford.
O gauge is best but expensive.
A typical run from front battery to boot with undersized cable can cost a 1 volt loss.
The 14.2 v on idle measure is what the car electrics are designed to do and are rectified to enable this.
A healthy system with a good deep cycle battery should maintain a round 13 volts for some time with the engine off.
I competed in 96 and 97 with a Punto of all things and put in a bigger a/h alternator from a FIAT that had a/c (mine didn't)
That did the trick for me coupled with an Optima red top.
I also fitted an engine grounding kit to bin off what little electrical noise there was in the zero bit tests

Oh the happy memories of it all.......but it was an expensive time££££££££

Hey Matey,

I was running an Optima Yellow Top battery with 1/0 guage power cable into the boot
But then again I was also running 3 amps, one of which was a Phoenix Gold ZX500 in bridged mono so it was certainly not shy at pulling the amps.

The cap made all the difference as like you say it is the sudden bass drops which catch the power system out, adding the diesel alternator to match my car would have helped more but the cap sorted my issues out combined with the spec of the system.

Earth connections can play a big part as well as power, as if the earth isn't good with as little resistance as possible then the system will not function as well as it could.

I was into the SPL side of it, more by the setup I had choosen for my car at the time.
As you say good fun but if you were serious could get expensive, but then again what good hobby isn't

Ian

[fickel]

Originally Posted by coolice

Hey Matey,


I was into the SPL side of it, more by the setup I had choosen for my car at the time.
As you say good fun but if you were serious could get expensive, but then again what good hobby isn't

Ian

Tell me about it being expensive......
I was running 2 x polished Xtant amps, Audiocontrol EQ15 x2, 3 way Clif designs front end and a sweet 10" Cliff small enclosure sub that was swopped out for a velodyne
Oh and an Alpine 7939
The cabling and soundproofing cost over a grand
There again it earned me the IASCA amateur 3 championship in 97
It was immense fun and I made a shed load of friends
It's a good job I didn't have kids then

[coolice]

Originally Posted by fickel

Tell me about it being expensive......
I was running 2 x polished Xtant amps, Audiocontrol EQ15 x2, 3 way Clif designs front end and a sweet 10" Cliff small enclosure sub that was swopped out for a velodyne
Oh and an Alpine 7939
The cabling and soundproofing cost over a grand
There again it earned me the IASCA amateur 3 championship in 97
It was immense fun and I made a shed load of friends
It's a good job I didn't have kids then

Hey,

I was running an OLED Pioneer head unit, Pioneer DEQ-9200DSP active crossover/equaliser, Pioneer 7" Flip Out TV, JL Audio 6.5" components up front, 2 JL Audio 15W4 (8ohm spec) on the bridged mono output of the amp, a Calibre CA150 on the mids, CA70 on tweeters, Phoenix Gold Pro Line Driver, Phoenix Gold Bass Cube, 1 farad power cap, 1/0 guage power.

I got into the SPL by accident really, started to attend a few cruises and then entered at Mean Street. Was averaging the 146Db while retaining my back seats.
The OLED head unit I won at Max Power Live and got the car featured in REVS magazine.

With the Civic I'd love to do what Psykik's done to his but 1. I want the spare wheel and 2. I also need the boot space. One small 12" sub saved from previous car will go into it at some stage as I need a little bass atleast

Ian

[scottie]

Neat install, i was going to ask about vents, but i have seen the pics with them in, a wise investment.

[jungalist]

Psykik;

Where did you get the matching colour grey fabric that you've recovered your hatch cover with? Thanks

[psykik]

jungalist, the guys who did the job for me took care of it. I reccomend them highly!

Drop them a line
AiAudio - Contact form for more information
Unit 4 Mill West, Mill Street,
Slough, Berks,
SL2 5AD.

Telephone: 01753 575 220

[arif 123]

hi i must say this looks great, just one quick ? i are all your speakers and the sub runing thru the standerd head unit that comes with the honda civic also can you add the i pod adpator to it?

i want to add a sub more speakers to my civic and the ipod adpator but dont want to change the main head unit in the car is this posiible?
i would appreciateit if some one could reply and tell if it can or cant happen.

thanks

[psykik]

Originally Posted by arif 123

hi i must say this looks great, just one quick ? i are all your speakers and the sub runing thru the standerd head unit that comes with the honda civic also can you add the i pod adpator to it?

>>YES! this was a basic requirement of the job. I demanded this upfront since i love the factory satnav unit esp with the new 3.23 update

i want to add a sub more speakers to my civic and the ipod adpator but dont want to change the main head unit in the car is this posiible?
i would appreciateit if some one could reply and tell if it can or cant happen.

thanks

and YES again, the main head unit doesnt need changing. The quality of sound im enjoying is proof, you dont need to change the head unit to make your spaceship rock, provided youve thought carefully about the parts and how to integrate them!

Good Luck Arif