| Author | Message | ||
| John Lee (Gjockey)
New member Username: Gjockey Post Number: 49 Registered: 12-2002 |
Hi Noel, I hope everything works out for you regarding the stereo. As I mentioned before, I was surprised to find out that the 360 Spyder made such a wonderful audio test bed. Using the same components, the imaging was noticably better than in my 2 previous coupes/convertibles and even my Cadillac Escalade! Who would've thunk it. Most people who get in my Ferrari for the first time are usually amazed by the stereo first, Tubi sound second, and the ride third 8^) . I highly recommend those MB Quart Q Series speakers (remember to turn down the factory tweeter settigns a couple notches) if you are agreeable to a B&W home audio type sound. Outside of the car being a Ferrari, there should not be much that is tricky about the install. Amp in the front trunk; swap out head unit; swap out door speakers; Subwoofer behind the seats on that ledge back there; aim the door tweeters appropriately; and fine tune the subwoofer level and crossover points. I got an email question regarding the subwoofer box, so I thought I'd post the answer here in case anybody else had a similar question. The fact that there is not a ton of room behind the seats neccesitated choosing multiple small woofers as opposed to larger cones. My installer (my 360 spyder was the second one he installed this system in) thought having 3: JL Audio 6 (actually 6.5") subwoofer speakers in the sub box downfiring would be a good balance with the MB Quart 6.5 inch door panel speakers. Once he decided on the 3 JL Audio speakers, it was simple to find the airspace that JL recommended for a sealed enclosure sub box with the 3 cones. For aesthetic purposes, he wanted the box to fit snugly on that ledge behind the seats so he measured the width and depth of that ledge for the box, and the only variable remaining was what height he needed to make the box to give the sealerd air volume that JL Audio recommended. From what I understand, figuring out the dimensions was fairly routine... most of the effort came in making the box. Here's a link to the Miami shop I had the work done at http://www.soundsgoodstereo.com . The number to call is the Biscayne Blvd. location, usually, the owner (Mark) or the manager (Angel) will answer the phone. Their head installer who did my car is named Sage. They'll know me by name, and if anybody decides to go ahead with this install and runs into problems, I am sure they would be willing to field a call and help you out with the situation. Best Regards---- John P.S. Noel, hopefully the next NYC/NJ get-together coincides with a day that your Sunseeker is in action. 8^) | ||
| noel smith (Noel)
Junior Member Username: Noel Post Number: 88 Registered: 2-2003 |
John, you are the man! that info is very helpful. I'm basically going to print the text that you wrote and take it to a local guy. price wise i was expecting to spend more, and the idea of getting great sound for less is obviously appealing. i'll probably start this project this weekend, the weather here in chicago is supposed to crack 60...whoo hoo. ps...i also work in the market(options), and i also have a boat(62ft. sunseeker manhattan). no biggie just thought i'd mention it....thanks again. | ||
| John Lee (Gjockey)
New member Username: Gjockey Post Number: 48 Registered: 12-2002 |
Noel, If you don't mind spending the money and can find an appropriate installer/stereo shop, you should be able to put a top notch stereo system that is surprisingly good. The type of sound I try to shoot for is the balance/tonality you find in B&W Nautilus 804 Home speakers. My 360 spyder with tubi is the 4th car I've put in a system of around $3.5K. The meat of each system was pretty much the same, and is a formula that most installers would agree with regardless of their bias. Phoenix Gold Amp, MB Quart Q Series speakers in front and JL Audio Sub. To be a little more specific about the Ferrari, I swapped out the Stock head unit for a Sony head unit that had an auxillary input... I had them run a wire from the head unit to near the parking brake so I could hook up my Apple iPOD to the Auxillary input on the head unit -why settle for a 6 CD changer when you can have a 2,000 song wallet sized jukebox-. The Sony head unit feeds into a 3 channel Phoenix Gold amp that is mounted in the front trunk -not on the floor- but on the side wall of the front trunk so no usable space is lost. 2 of the 3 channels on the Amp go to feed 6.5 inch (6.5 inch does fit without any cutting) MB Quart Q series component front speakers. The third channel on the amp (which I believe was something like 200 clean watts) feeds a custom subwoofer box that is covered in black vinyl. The box occupies the space behind the seats. It covers the entire width and depth back there and is maybe 1.5 feet high. The net effect is you lose 1.5 feet of vertical space back there. (BTW, everything I am telling you is off the top of my head as I am not near my car right now so I'm approximating). The sub box is raised off the ground 1 inch via pegs. It has 3: 6" JL Audio woofers that are downfiring to the floor of the car -it is very important they downfire agains a surface as opposed to shoot out to empty air-. The effect is rather staggering. The surface area of the 3 subwoofer speakers would come close to a 12" woofer. However, as most installers would tell you, the bass feels much tighter when you have a bunch of small cones working as opposed to 1 large cone. My experience bears this out. Having that much crisp bass output positioned roughly right behind your seats is ideal as you get the sonic and the physical transduction of the bass to you. This is not the annoying flatulent type bass you hear rattling down the street in most neighborhoods. It's the type of bass hit you would feel in a home system running on B&W Matrix 803 speakers pushed by a very powerful amp... Musically delightful, and very powerful. That is how my system is set up on the Ferrari now, and I have to say, to my surprise, the imaging and the sound on this car is the best yet out of the 4 cars I have done with similar setups. Not sure what it is about the Ferrari, maybe stock speaker locations or maybe how steeply the front windshield slopes, but my installer was able to get much better imaging in this car than in a 01 M Roadster, 01 Viper and even my 02 Cadillac Escalade. This is quite a feat as one would think the Cadillac Escalade would be the better test bed for mobile sound. No exaggerations, the sound embarrasses any "high end" factory system such as a Mark Levinson Lexus. You really need to hear a properly set up car that uses MB Quart Q Speakers... it can send chills down your spine on good vocal music. Anyway, getting the proper components is only half the battle, the other half is finding an installer that has a similar musical ear to yours. Once you have all the components in, you have to trust his judgement on where to set the crossover points and how to aim the tweeters. ie. point the tweeters at each other, aim them a little forward, aim them at the windshields to bounce the sound off the windshields... It's not as simple as setting up and positioning home stereo equipment. Also, the MB Quart tweeters can be adjusted dB wise,and that's another thing that needs to be tweeked. Most people have them taken down a couple dBs. Anyway, I'm quite happy with the results. There's something amazing about having one of the best sound systems around in one of the best cars around while driving top down. One of the added benefits of having a system that has a very clean sound and precise imaging is you can enjoy listening to it at lower dB levels. By comparison, I find most Bose factory systems to be so so muddy that I'm forced to crank up the volume to compensate for the flatulent sound. Pricewise, I forget how much this cost me as the amp I used was taken from a previous car and I also was refunded partially on a couple other items from a previous car. If this job was from scratch with everything bought at the shop, I think they would have charged $2,600 or so (this is my guess on the whole job with labor but not including the price of a new head unit... I chose an expensive head unit around $900 which I did not want to calculate in here). The stereo shop I use, like most high end shops, never give you a good deal on the cost of the components or labor, but the reason you are using them is because they have the expertise to make it all sound good, which is not at all easy to do.---- John | ||
| noel smith (Noel)
Junior Member Username: Noel Post Number: 83 Registered: 2-2003 |
I had a 355 and put an aftermarket radio in it. I had to have a very powerful system so it could be heard over the air and exhaust. with my 360 i'm willing to spend some money for a good system, i don't care that much about the space behind the seats, if i need to haul something i'll just make one of the interns at work jog along side the car with my cargo  I was just looking for some ideas on how to make this garbage stereo livable with the top down and the tubi. John, yes i really enjoy music so my home systems are pretty nice. ps...the sound in my BMW 745 is fantastic, i wish i could do that in the 360. | ||
| J.D. Smythe (Jeff)
Junior Member Username: Jeff Post Number: 152 Registered: 2-2001 |
Noel Save your money. With the top down the radio is useless. Plus I use all the extra room behind the seats for putting stuff. I have the spare tire kit and it leaves very little room in the trunk for anything else. | ||
| Nick (Nick_wood)
Junior Member Username: Nick_wood Post Number: 68 Registered: 3-2002 |
Noel, I did not buy the option in my 2002. As I do use the space behind the seats a lot and most of the time I do not listen to the stereo. When I do listen, the Becker system with stock speakers does the job.... however, I have the Coupe...you have the Spider? You may need the extra punch Nick | ||
| John Lee (Gjockey)
New member Username: Gjockey Post Number: 45 Registered: 12-2002 |
Hi Noel, How much are you willing to spend? Are we talking like less than 1K? ie. keeping most things stock and maybe switching the head unit and adding some more bass. Or are we talking like 3-4K if the results could produce Sonic Ecstasy? Are you big on home audio too? --- John | ||
| Nick Berry (Nickb)
Junior Member Username: Nickb Post Number: 70 Registered: 8-2002 |
Noel save your money. I put a high system in my Spider and it is a complete waste of money. Between the Tubi exhaust, roar of the engine and outside noise with the top down the sound system is completely compromised. In addition you lose some space in your trunk for the amplifer. I suggest you stay with a basic inexpensive system and enjoy the car for what it is. A high powered sport car designed to feel, hear and experience the road. It is not a Lexus,BMW,or Bentley. My advise may be different for a coupe but probably not.  | ||
| noel smith (Noel)
Junior Member Username: Noel Post Number: 81 Registered: 2-2003 |
Forgot to ask; is it possible to keep the stock head unit or if i were to add amp/speakers does that necessitate me changing the head unit? | ||
| Jason Fraser (Jfraser)
Member Username: Jfraser Post Number: 255 Registered: 3-2001 |
I knew that it was an option on the spyder, is it available on the coupe? Noel, There is a decent amount of space behind the door for a more robust speaker in the stock location....Biggest issue is the depth of the woofer.....I can't remember the diameter of the door grill, but if it's 5 inches, its easy to put a 6 inch speaker behind it. FYI I went with a Genesis speaker (English company better known for their handmade amps) It had a stronger bass capability to the ADS equivalent...Went with an ADS anniversary amp, sat nav etc. Its not a monster upgrade, but a massive improvement over the stock, and also fully reverseable, just in case I decide to sell the car and the new owner wants 'original' | ||
| Dr. Anthony Lizano (Docapl)
New member Username: Docapl Post Number: 35 Registered: 4-2002 |
It is a factory option from 2002 and is fantastic. Well worth the money, even though it can mute the real music further back. | ||
| noel smith (Noel)
Junior Member Username: Noel Post Number: 78 Registered: 2-2003 |
I've seen photos of the bass speakers with the matching leather cover that rests between the two seats. does anyone know where one of these can be bought and for how much? I'm looking to seriously upgrade the audio in my car and could use some advise on how to configure it...thanks. |