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Car audio... Lol

That looks similar car wise to the 86 c4 corvette I had and the 87 convertible I have now.
 
This was the "best" system I ever had sq wise. I had people come miles around to sit in this car to listen to it. All of the components came out of a competition vehicle that won tons of awards. Its been so many years ago that I don't remember the details now. I still have the car and the system.

Sorry for the crappy pics but cameras weren't that great in the 90's.

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My current install

This amp rack under the seat (JL Fix 82 removed now as i replaced the head unit)
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Driving a custom built fiberglass stealth box with a Memphis Audio s class 12
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As for power usage those 2 amps pictured above by themselves could drain a pair of optimus batteries in about 20 minutes of listening at moderate volume level. It has 2/0 power wires pushing the 600 watts atlas and I think the gemini amp is 375 watts or 400. I can't remember. The car is at the other house so I can't go look.

Also it had amps up front too but I can't remember that they are.

The sound quality of that thing is unbelievable but I know everyone claims that.
 
Of all of the vehicles I have had and I have had 100's that 85 trans am is the best platform I have ever dealt with sq wise. To me its all about "shape" of the interior that achieves the sq effect.

The bmw x5 I have now has the high end factory system which sounds decent and hits hard too but it can't hold a candle to the pure sounds quality that old t/a has.

My corvettes are the absolute worst sound platform for surround sound chamber wise I have ever owned. I can do loud with them but they lack the space to achieve the same effect the t/a has.
 
That looks similar car wise to the 86 c4 corvette I had and the 87 convertible I have now.
86 z51 coupe. I bought it in 1987, sold it in 2014. I put 175k miles on it. It was silver beige from the factory. Painted it black after running from the cops one night, successfully.
It was a love/hate affair, everything on the car except the hard parts in the drivetrain broke at least once or more... but in the late 80s it outhandled ANYthing on the road. 86s are a weird one, as you may know they were supposed to get aluminum heads and some did but all were recalled due to cracking. Road and Track subsequently tested an iron head coupe and stated the car was "in phenomenal tune" and clocking consistent 5.7 second 0-60 times- almost a second faster than an 85. My car also seemed a lot quicker than it should have been. My theory was that either A: the blocks meant for aluminum heads had higher compression when fitted with iron heads... Or B: GM did something to tweak those cars so they would perform so well owners wouldnt feel screwed for not getting the aluminum heads they were promised.
86 was also first year of VATS which I endured years of issues with until I changed the ignition switch.
I spent about a year putting that sound system in including about 3 months gutting the whole inside and dynamatting everything and tightening every nut and bolt on the car. The HLCDs on top of the dash worked amazingly well and the cd changer on the passenger side took a lot of work to fit in but really paid off because the steel reinforcements silenced all those annoying squeeks and rattles. I had a rear view camera mounted in the roof brake light and another camera in the front bumper with a high power IR illuminator connected to the Clarion TV screen. The intent was for high speed running with the lights off but in practice it was scary as hell. Dont let me start on the parts I was collecting for the next addition but I already had a high power (for the 90s) IR laser module and a joystick servo controller... Was going to put it in the dash to blind abel pursuit helicopters' night vision cameras.
About that time I got my license back so didnt feel the need to keep smoking cops.
About 20 times in one lifetime was plenty. (Mostly on motorcycles)
Funny thing I havent had a moving violation now in 35 years. In the 80s I collected tickets like baseball cards.
 
Of all of the vehicles I have had and I have had 100's that 85 trans am is the best platform I have ever dealt with sq wise. To me its all about "shape" of the interior that achieves the sq effect.

The bmw x5 I have now has the high end factory system which sounds decent and hits hard too but it can't hold a candle to the pure sounds quality that old t/a has.

My corvettes are the absolute worst sound platform for surround sound chamber wise I have ever owned. I can do loud with them but they lack the space to achieve the same effect the t/a has.
We must be soul brothers because before my C4 I had an 85 trans am. Burgundy 5.0 TPI with t-tops. ebay857304.jpg
Not mine but close. Great car, pretty reliable. Before that, 72 240z, 79 firebird formula, 72 porsche 914, 6 motorcycles in random order. I burned the most cops in the 240z and this:FJ84.jpg
Which was my last motorcycle. Got out while I was still ahead.
 
We must be soul brothers because before my C4 I had an 85 trans am. Burgundy 5.0 TPI with t-tops. View attachment 205802
Not mine but close. Great car, pretty reliable. Before that, 72 240z, 79 firebird formula, 72 porsche 914, 6 motorcycles in random order. I burned the most cops in the 240z and this:View attachment 205803
Which was my last motorcycle. Got out while I was still ahead.
Thats scary I have owned or own every car you listed :)
71 firebird sold
97 formula firebird with lt1 and 6 speed stick (still have)
Bike you listed looks alot like the suzuki I had.
914 porsche but I don't remember the year it was (sold)
240z 70something sold
1984 300zx still have
85 trans am still have
87 convertible vette for sale :)
 
86 z51 coupe. I bought it in 1987, sold it in 2014. I put 175k miles on it. It was silver beige from the factory. Painted it black after running from the cops one night, successfully.
It was a love/hate affair, everything on the car except the hard parts in the drivetrain broke at least once or more... but in the late 80s it outhandled ANYthing on the road. 86s are a weird one, as you may know they were supposed to get aluminum heads and some did but all were recalled due to cracking. Road and Track subsequently tested an iron head coupe and stated the car was "in phenomenal tune" and clocking consistent 5.7 second 0-60 times- almost a second faster than an 85. My car also seemed a lot quicker than it should have been. My theory was that either A: the blocks meant for aluminum heads had higher compression when fitted with iron heads... Or B: GM did something to tweak those cars so they would perform so well owners wouldnt feel screwed for not getting the aluminum heads they were promised.
86 was also first year of VATS which I endured years of issues with until I changed the ignition switch.
I spent about a year putting that sound system in including about 3 months gutting the whole inside and dynamatting everything and tightening every nut and bolt on the car. The HLCDs on top of the dash worked amazingly well and the cd changer on the passenger side took a lot of work to fit in but really paid off because the steel reinforcements silenced all those annoying squeeks and rattles. I had a rear view camera mounted in the roof brake light and another camera in the front bumper with a high power IR illuminator connected to the Clarion TV screen. The intent was for high speed running with the lights off but in practice it was scary as hell. Dont let me start on the parts I was collecting for the next addition but I already had a high power (for the 90s) IR laser module and a joystick servo controller... Was going to put it in the dash to blind abel pursuit helicopters' night vision cameras.
About that time I got my license back so didnt feel the need to keep smoking cops.
About 20 times in one lifetime was plenty. (Mostly on motorcycles)
Funny thing I havent had a moving violation now in 35 years. In the 80s I collected tickets like baseball cards.
The 86 z51 I had was a good car but was a royal pain on bad roads. The suspension had no give. Could pull over a G laterial so handling was off the charts but a pebble in the road hurt driving over it. Put holes could put you in the hospital :)
 
fuck me, 1997 japan IASCA 3rd place in the nationals for the 600 watt class! two image dynamic horns, 4 kicker F6.5 in the doors and 8 orion 15" XTR DVC's... two 2100's for the subs, two HCCCA 250's for the mids and a NT 100 for the horns. 3 single wire alternators driven by a hydrualic pump. and 12 optimas on bussbars... god i miss those days!
 
fuck me, 1997 japan IASCA 3rd place in the nationals for the 600 watt class! two image dynamic horns, 4 kicker F6.5 in the doors and 8 orion 15" XTR DVC's... two 2100's for the subs, two HCCCA 250's for the mids and a NT 100 for the horns. 3 single wire alternators driven by a hydrualic pump. and 12 optimas on bussbars... god i miss those days!
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This is the equipment card I displayed on my dash. Those are image dynamics horns on my dash. I ran them through my table saw and shaved off the bottoms so the dash became the bottom of the horn. Worked great and made em 5/8" thinner. Image Dynamics headquarters was in Los Angeles near me. When they saw the mod I had done they wouldnt even talk to me. They were pissed. It made em easier to tune and got rid of that honk effect. (Also because they were so close you didnt have to play them loud)
Horns are a pain but I used an a/d/s p840 for the front stage, and its mounted in the lower middle of the sub box. So from the drivers seat you just turn around and have access to the gain and crossover controls for those channels.
I also had mixed subs- a pair of 10s and a 12. Just because everyone said you cant do it. If each set has a gain control to balance them you can!
I won SoCal division on points and the regional championship meet. Got invited to the world finals in Dallas. Rented a trailer, took a few days off work, and packed up my van. It waa 100 degrees the day we left and the van blew a head gasket going over the mountains before we even got 100 miles.
I was actually relieved.
The next year I started building a system in this:
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65 cadillac. You could stand up in back there was a disco dance floor a fog machine and neon everywhere. Had 5 amps, veritas aluminum horns, 8"s in the kicks, pair of 15s in a sand jacketed box. That absorbed all mechanical vibration so the bass was pure air movement.
The floors had rust through holes when I got it so I put aluminum plates over that with adhesive and bolts. But you can see the 8s. I built enclosures into the vent boxes. Plywood forms screwed in with brackets then fiberglassed inside. Then covered with modelling clay then sikaflex. Since I didnt have the vents any more, the sliding controls on dash were connected to the horns so you could adjust their angle up and down.
There were 2 systems in the hearse one in back and in front. You could switch the 15s to play with either system.
 
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i always wanted to try the veritas horns, but they never made it over to japan back then. met eric stevens in 87 when he traveled over here to check out the scene. was a lot of fun back then.
 
The set of horns and 8" mid bass were $1500 around 2000. I just sold the mid bass drivers on ebay for $200. They sold an hour after I listed them, I guess someone was watching for them. They were sturdy but nothing exotic. 20240226_131042.jpg20240226_131120.jpg
 
Shoot I have been looking for a set of the ID cd2 comps for forever, I sold my last set in 98 as I was going through a divorce and to sell all toys to survive
 
Shoot I have been looking for a set of the ID cd2 comps for forever, I sold my last set in 98 as I was going through a divorce and to sell all toys to survive
I still have mine with the modified horn bodies but cant find the titanium drivers. I have them buried in a 10x20 storage locker somewhere. Cant remember if they were cd1 or cd2 but they were comp and about $950 a pair in 1997.
 
This was fun. This is the enclosures i made for the rockford fosgate symmetry epx2 that was my signal processor. The main unit has a blower and the remote or rdat had aircraft quick disconnect pins that mated with receiving holes in the corvette dash. That processor was cool 31 band eq a lot of settings.

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