car audio in a super car

[Alex Carter]

so many have asked and dabbled in upgrading the sound in your toy , be it an esprit or an evora .

I thought id show you these currently on their way into my esprit for a sound upgrade . I have the stock 6 inch alpine door woofer with a tweeter at the top and alpine 5.3/4 two ways in the dash . I'm still deciding what speaker to go for but I have got these two for some decent amplification . Usually you are confined to the boot area as the amps take up too much space well problem solved . These are rail amps nano technology compared to the usual monsters you see in peoples trunks/boots. I have used these for vehicles where space is a premium I have installed these inside the dash area to save space in a vw camper . They do go just about anywhere .

 They don't need huge power cables but if you are using amps then source is key so a nice headunit with rca output is better .

1 is 300x1 watts for a subwoofer I shall add will be a 10" or 8" flat range to save space probably located in a box under the passengers legs .

2 is 300x4 which I shall be running all the internal speakers with .

price is good to the mono sub amp only £229 and the 4 channel £249

for size comparison

this one next to them is 250watts x1 and this is actually small for a normal amp

[JayEmm]

My JL is a similar size, if not smaller than that 4-way. It's amazing how much Class D has come on

[Alex Carter]

so true jay this is the size specs of the JL

Height (H)       45 mm Width (W)      220 mm Depth (D)        78.5 mm

Rockford is    40mm               x                  172mm               x             108mm .

I researched the jl but I prefer the look of the Rockford I still looks like an amp but tiny

also the jl has the audio control under the amp so if you mount it you have to remove it every time you may want an adjustment .

Edited November 28, 2016 by Alex Carter

[JayEmm]

The way my JL is mounted the controls are fairly easy to access, but the amp isn't! In the Evora we weren't sure what space we had, but as we knew someone had previously fitted a JL we went with that.

I will probably upgrade the sound in the Excel once I get it working, I might use it as a daily driver once I get everything sorted. I know these guys think all Lotus should be a minimalist paradise but I think Colin enjoyed a few creature comforts too

[Vanya]

Keep us posted on your findings. I view my V8 as a luxo-barge and also want to upgrade the sound system to match. I've heard from a few sources that it's difficult to get decent sound in the Esprits though. The NVH underpinnings are far from ideal with all the booming from the engine bay...

[JayEmm]

The Excel seems like a reasonable starting point as the NVH is pretty good. The issue I found with the Evora was when you start adding bass  to the system, you have to make sure it's a sealed enclosure - if your bass escapes towards the body panels they'll rattle and move easily, being fibreglass.

How much room do you have behind the seat in the Esprit, or in the passenger's footwell?

[Alex Carter]

You have no space behind the seat I'm 6ft plus and the seats way back . I'm also not about to start hacking up my car for the sake of a sub enclosure . I'll fibre glass a small pod under the passengers legs so they can still sit in but the dead space bellow their legs is used effectively . Or removed if I need it out .  The problem is its not so much nvh but frequencies I have a sports exhaust but inside my esprit its ok behind the car its noisy with loud cars the exhuast note changes as the car accelerates under load and the pitch changes . This can mess totally with your sound. If you have a loud car inside then stay clear of bass it will sound horrible . You can sound deaden the fire wall to aid the suppression but you won't do much with our types of car except add weight again something I don't want to do . So this leaves you treble mid and midbass you can achieve a nice sound . It will never win awards but that's not why I'm doing it . So it's about the right equipment not amount of equipment to achieve a good sound in a limited space . I shan't fanny around with staging or time alignment just a good sound with the limitations I have .

I would only ever use sealed enclosures for bass ported boxes although traditionally louder I find a sealed box tighter and more control able bass . Also I want sound not vibration ported boxes that are tuned right tend to move more air making the panels or car breath and flex like a lung again not what I want . 

Edited November 30, 2016 by Alex Carter