# 1st pics of my Eos' new stereo system!



## M. Ce (Jul 31, 2007)

*1st pics of my Eos' new stereo system! New pics w/tint!*

I'm so glad to have the car back! Hopefully I will never have to smell that rental Cobalt again (really its smelt strange...,) The install took a total of 67 hours including tuning. A lot of it is hidden (like the subs), The component speakers are all in the factory locations, and the factory antenna works with the Alpine Sirius tuner, 









The wiring for the three helix amps.








View from the trunk into the cabin thru the pasthough.









From the cabin into the trunk, the lower portion is speaker grill cloth. The passthrough not-armrest thingy goes there for now. They are making a black ring to fill the edges but still leave an opening. I was getting impatient so when they finish that i'll stop by and get it.








The left and right 10 inch Subwoofers, this is the only way they are visible without removing the amps, which takes some serious work!
















The third battery, a Batcap 400 which works as a battery and a capacitor simultaneously.








Fiberglass-pod mounted 8 inch mid-bass under driver's dash.








Alpine IVA-W205 mounted in a custom dash kit. I told them it had to look either the same or better than factory, they made it better. The kit feels so solid, the dash will break before it will. Color and texture wise it's perfect! 








And lastly the tint, the pics make it look darker than it actually is, but regardless, it looks great!
























The whole thing sounds spectacular, every detail is apparent, there are no rattles, and i can't describe the imaging adequately! It is wide and deep and I am in the dead center sitting in the driver's seat, and at 90mph with the top down an upright bass or an 808 kick will make your chest get tight!



_Modified by M. Ce at 12:10 AM 8-9-2007_


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## vr6fanatic (Apr 5, 2003)

*Re: 1st pics of my Eos' new stereo system! (M. Ce)*

sweet http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif do you have room still back there?


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## Mr Fred Nerk (Jun 3, 2007)

I respect your right to do whatever you want to your car as long as it doesn't impinge on safety or the enjoyment of others.... But doesn't the engine and road noise mask the improved sound quality you get from such a system? I have spent well over $50,000 (Australian) on the sound system in my home yet I can't justify even to myself doing this to my car. I am not saying "don't do it", I'm just seeking an explanation. Perhaps I have to try it and go for a ride in a car equiped with on of these systems.


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## M. Ce (Jul 31, 2007)

*Re: (Mr Fred Nerk)*

There is about 6 inches of room (height) for stuff, but I'm not going to be using it. In my opinion the backseat is for stuff, the trunk is for stereo equipment, at least it's been that way for me since i was 16 (I'm currently 33)! Plus I have a Land Rover LR3 if I need to carry stuff - or want to go off-roading! The LR3 has a system too there is just room for stuff also!

And yes the engine and the road noise do cause some problems, as do the structural resonance frequency of the vehicle, all the absorptive and reflective surfaces at strange angles, and the fact that the speaker locations for the most part are worthless. Think about it, having speakers in opposite doors firing directly at each other causes wave cancellation, entire frequencies that basically disappear. Because of all of this getting true stereo imaging and hi-fidelity sound is much harder to achieve in a car than a house. But not impossible.
With spectrum analyzers and good reference materials, lots of quality parametric equalization (to compensate for most of the above problems), frequency based time delays (to compensate for the rest of them), lot's of anti-vibration materials (to keep the cars metal from shaking) and someone who really knows how to use all if it, Home, or even Studio quality (my goal) sound can be achieved in the car. It's not easy and it's not cheap, but it is possible. Really, you should go listen to a car with a truly great system and you'll probably understand, until then it's really just a bunch or meaningless words.
Or if you're ever in San Diego Ca. you can always hear my little slice of sonic nirvana! 

And sweet Eos on the way Mr Nerk, I wish we could get the red leather in the US, the pictures I've seen look incredible.
_Modified by M. Ce at 4:37 PM 8-5-2007_


_Modified by M. Ce at 5:51 PM 8-5-2007_


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## M. Ce (Jul 31, 2007)

*Re: 1st pics of my Eos' new stereo system! New pics w/tint! (M. Ce)*

Just spent a solid 4 hours in the car, it just keeps sounding better.


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## flheat (Sep 29, 2006)

*Re: 1st pics of my Eos' new stereo system! New pics w/tint! (M. Ce)*

Very nice, you've done us proud!


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## jgermuga (Jan 11, 2007)

Wow. Looks very well done. I am guessing you've put at least 4K into that system. Do you mind sharing some numbers on cost?


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## M. Ce (Jul 31, 2007)

*Re: (jgermuga)*

Thanks guys, I'm still getting over my giddiness, i never imagined someday I would own a car this great with a system this great, all for less than the price of a SLK 3.5 (the car I was going to buy till I met the Eos) 
The price gives me nightmares, but.... the total with parts and labor came to just under $10K and that's with buying the amps off of E-Bay (saved about $4k)! What can't be seen is what drove the cost up, the trunk, doors, and gas tank are all coated with a material a lot like dynamat but much lighter, to kill any rattles. They had to modify the trunk latch to keep it from rattling, surprisingly even when down the roof makes no noise though! All the speakers, even the ones in the stock locations are in sealed fiberglass pods. And you should see the way the Alpine headunit is mounted. They installed it in a freaking sub-frame! It is mounted crazy solid in an isolated sub frame in the dash, no way a disc will ever skip, they also modded the unit to play movies while driving, not that I care (it is kinda cool though) for me it really is all about the sound. The only reason I got the touchscreen was for the i-pod interface, which is just as fast as using the i-pod directly, and that's with my mostly full 80 gig!
Also the tuning, setting up the time delays and EQ's took about 15 hours, or so. This is the best system I've ever had (I've had some great ones, but I've been dreaming of this one for years) and the first I did not completely install myself. Even with my 03 330CI (sold) and the 05 LR3 I did the installs, but with the Eos, i wanted a warranty (lifetime on install), and someone who knew more than me setting it all up. I picked out the pieces after a lot of listening (literally years) and gave my requirements for sound and look, and the guys at La Jolla Car audio and video made it happen. It was more than I wanted to spend by a lot, but man is it worth it. Pure clean sound as loud as I could ever want with absolutely no rattles! They even figured out a way to keep the inside and outside rear view mirrors from vibrating!


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## ialonso (Aug 26, 2006)

Heck ! Congratulations on getting what you wanted !!! Sometimes when we are very specific on our wants, and they are outside the norm, it is very difficult to not be dissapointed with the results, when they don't match all that you wanted.
I'm happy for you that you were able to get awed by the setup, in spite of your high expectations !!!


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## themacnut (Oct 2, 2004)

*Re: (ialonso)*

Very nice setup. Thanks for sharing all the pictures. I especially like the 8" sub under the dash.


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## Mr Fred Nerk (Jun 3, 2007)

Thanks for adding the up-to-date pictures. That is much more than "sound system"..... more like a "studio". I hope you enjoy it to the limit. I would like to take up your offer of a drive, but I don't think I'll be in your area for the foreseeable future.


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## karloseos (Jan 24, 2007)

*Re: (M. Ce)*

Great setup!
Are you using the Sat Radio feature of that headunit? If so are using the concealed VW antenna or a seperately installed one?


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## passat06boi (Feb 1, 2006)

Anyone notice the temperature setting on both dials? ;-)


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## SoCalMan (May 21, 2007)

*Re: (passat06boi)*


_Quote, originally posted by *passat06boi* »_Anyone notice the temperature setting on both dials? ;-) 

Shame on you.


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## EosMosis (Jul 4, 2007)

*Re: (passat06boi)*


_Quote, originally posted by *passat06boi* »_Anyone notice the temperature setting on both dials? ;-) 

Even with my dyslexia.. shame on your!! ;D


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## M. Ce (Jul 31, 2007)

*Re: (EosMosis)*

Ha! 
My GF always sets the temp, blame her

And yes I am using the sat feature and yes the stock antenna works just fine with Alpine units! I did still have to get a new Sat radio tuner though.


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