EMMA (PH) Experience

[dom_08]

So a few months back I joined the EMMA (European Mobile Media Association) just to see how my car audio fared against other car audio installations and I would like to believe it fared pretty well (or that's just me because I want to justify the cost LOL)

disclaimer #1: I have a high seating position because the Recaro NJoy seats installed on my Kia Prde is about 2-3 inches higher than stock height (which is good for driving, i have a high/SUV-like seating position, so i see more of the road, plus im not that tall), though driving experience is (good specially for long drives), it affects the imaging and soundstage.

my car was an entry for SQ Experienced 120k (120,000 Ph Pesos) I think that's EXP 2000 (or 2000 euro) and I got 1st runner up. the champion was a new Subaru Forester and was around 16 points ahead. I got 15point deduction for the imaging, had i had lower seats, i would have gotten the 15points, and would have gotten better overall sound experience. But oh well, it was my fault that I made a compromise on that part. The car after me was a Ford Explorer and i had a lead of 20 points i guess.

anyway, here are my scores:

Install Quality:
Presentation: 5/15 (the judge for our category forgot to place 10 points for presentation to public across all the competitors, so we can consider this 5/5)
Cables: 15/15
Installation: 50/50

Sub Total: 70/80 (or 70/70)

Sound Quality:
Imaging: 10/25 (got 15 point deduction because of the seating position)
Left: 5
Left-Center: 0
Center: 0
Right-Center: 0
Right: 5


Sound Stage: 31/45 (
Distance to soundstage: 10/15
Stage Width: 10/15
Stage Height: 11/15

Tonal Accuracy: 89/120 (Door Rattle, good subbass, midbass is not defined & too monotone but a bit peaky sounding, good clean highs)
Sub-bass: 22/30
Mid-bass: 21/30
Midrange: 22/30
High Frequency: 24/30

Overall Spectral Balance: 43/60 (Better midbass detail when louder)
Normal Volume: 21/30
Higher Volume: 22/30

Listening pleasure: 20/30

Deductions: -1 (turn on pop, i believe this is caused by my amplifier)

SQ Sub-Total: 192/280

Total: 262/360


This is what I got from the competition:

What I learned is that Hertz MLK is a really good SQ speaker set, i got less than half the original cost. I believe the newer MLK sets has a dedicated midrange speaker, that was one of the complaints of the judges, my current tuning felt as the singer has a surgical mask on his mouth or something, it needs more detail on the midrange section.

If you plan on installing a midbass speakers on the doors running at 63/80Hz - 250Hz (mine is up to 3.15KHz), you just don't need five layers of deadening (i had different layers of STP brand deadening), you also need to make sure that the window risers and other door parts are really intact. Hertz MLK midbass is very punchy, LOL.

If you ought to do a pure SQ car, make sure your aim and seating height is at optimum position, you change an inch or two and everything goes whacked. though everyday driving isn't affected, you'll hear it during critical listening.


overall, i had a good fight, and i had a good time.

here are some photos of the documentation i did for the car.

[william]

Wow very nice!! That is the cleanest audio install I have seen in a festiva /pride.
Would love more info on you A pillar tweeter and door speaker box. What you have done with the sub in the sub floor is what I would like to do with my 2 10. Inch subs.
Very nice ride. Keep up the awesome work.

[dom_08]

Hi William,

A-pillars are modified stock ones. You can check out DIYMA for guides, there are tons of guides and build logs that explain how to do it (better than I can do LOL). Just to give you an idea, a part of the pillar was shaved (a rectangular part of the pillar is removed, where the tweeter is mounted), then sticks and wood rings to do aiming of the tweeter, fiber covering, and then painted the whole pillar for the clean seamless look.

doors on the other hand, you won't find that much on diyma, since most cars have mounts for speakers already. it basically has two parts, the speaker mount and the "map pocket". Kia Pride CD-5 doesn't come with map pockets. the speaker mount, you have to stack a couple of wood panel (about 1" thick) as high as the the speaker, and then you use a rotary tool to cut so it'll look like a giant ring, where you can mount the speaker. map pocket is basically a thin panel, line up the speaker mount and the panel. wrap up everything with a nice leatherette cover. basically the door speaker box is still in infinte baffle configuration, what you can also do is add a panel at the back of the original door panel so you get better support.

the rear hatch floor needs a little bit of wood working precision, so it'll line up perfectly with the wheel well covers, but with the help of leather cover, it'll be a snug fit.

if you guys have any request for close up photos, just let me know.

[Twistiva]

Wow! Agreed!

Nice work on achieving a clean, professional look! :thumbs_up:

[sc72]

You have done a great job, your presentation of the sound system and your car are also very good, how much for the dash clock, joking and were did you say you are from.

[rmoltis]

hey dom where are you on diyma?
i havent seen you around?
ive tried finding you but cant.

[dom_08]

thank you Twistiva.

sc72, thank you! i'm from the Philippines

rmoltis, just a lurker on diyma, didn't post any builds.

would have wanted to add a midrange, but costs would skyrocket, MLK midrange (the one that i liked at least) costs 1k us$, plus i need to add another amplifier, LOL. i guess the 2-way + sub full-active will suffice. if ever a bigger tweeter, or a fullranger will help to fill out the gap between the midbass and tweeter speaker.

will do that after fixing up the engine bay and body.