Long-Term System Planning
Thread Starter
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,783
How many of you have a plan?
So many people think that the ultimate system get's installed over night. This is just silly guys. Get a plan, research it, and then replan. When you think you've got something that you can put in motion, leave as my doors open as you can when you start an install. There will always be changes.
I'm at that point right now...again.
Over the past year, I've gone from "this is everything I need for the perfect system" to "what have I done?". Things change, from your expectation of what a product should do, to what you are willing to live with regarding system comprimise. And don't kid yourself, there is always compromise.
So getting back to planning. Right now I'm at the edge of what some peices of equipment can do. I've literally pushed the envelope to the limit, and I'm still not where I wnat to be. What to do now? Well, I'm looking to the future with a long term plan. Every part of my system is being evaluated, and some parts aren't making the grade. So, from here I'm looking at where I am, where I want to go, and how to get there. Sometimes the best course of action is to just wait and see if your expectations change too. Being young, things can go in and out of style in your life. Heck, I know a 53 yr old thats still young like that. But my point is to have a plan, one that gives yourself room to enjoy what you've got, and to work towards making that better.
I've heard from many successful people that the secret to life is appreciating what you've got. For some this, should be the plan!
My plan is a little bit of that in the short term.
In the long term, I will be replacing every single driver in my car, upgrading 4 channels of amplification, and adding 4 more channels of amplification. All of my present interconnect and speaker wire will be modified or changed as well. It's a big endevour. It's not going to happen over night, and it's going to require a long term plan.
What's yours?
Adam
So many people think that the ultimate system get's installed over night. This is just silly guys. Get a plan, research it, and then replan. When you think you've got something that you can put in motion, leave as my doors open as you can when you start an install. There will always be changes.
I'm at that point right now...again.
Over the past year, I've gone from "this is everything I need for the perfect system" to "what have I done?". Things change, from your expectation of what a product should do, to what you are willing to live with regarding system comprimise. And don't kid yourself, there is always compromise.
So getting back to planning. Right now I'm at the edge of what some peices of equipment can do. I've literally pushed the envelope to the limit, and I'm still not where I wnat to be. What to do now? Well, I'm looking to the future with a long term plan. Every part of my system is being evaluated, and some parts aren't making the grade. So, from here I'm looking at where I am, where I want to go, and how to get there. Sometimes the best course of action is to just wait and see if your expectations change too. Being young, things can go in and out of style in your life. Heck, I know a 53 yr old thats still young like that. But my point is to have a plan, one that gives yourself room to enjoy what you've got, and to work towards making that better.
I've heard from many successful people that the secret to life is appreciating what you've got. For some this, should be the plan!
My plan is a little bit of that in the short term.
In the long term, I will be replacing every single driver in my car, upgrading 4 channels of amplification, and adding 4 more channels of amplification. All of my present interconnect and speaker wire will be modified or changed as well. It's a big endevour. It's not going to happen over night, and it's going to require a long term plan.
What's yours?
Adam
Adam, since you've joined this forum your system has been in a continual and perpetual state of change and various stages of construction. I don't think we will ever see a system from you more than 75% complete 
Not that it's necessarily a bad thing (don't think of that as a flame) but at some point you need to decide for yourself if you are one of 3 types of car audio owners:
1) You plan a system, buy the gear you like, install it, finish it and are happy with your results. You keep that system for multiple years in the same state as you first installed and may only change it when you sell the vehicle or have to replace gear that has failed. Permanent modifications to the vehicle structure itself may or may not have occured that you can't reverse without much expense and time. You are happy with how it looks, how it sounds but found working on it to be quite a large, sometimes not fun undertaking and would rather enjoy the fruits of your labor instead of doing it over again.
2) You are the ultimate rolling test lab. You like to have equipment in a never-ending state of temporary installation. It is easy to swap gear in and out of which is done often. It's nothing pretty to look at but has features built into it to make swapping gear easily. You tend not to permanently modify the car structure as you know what you just put in is coming back out anyway and that piece of steel you just cut out you might need later on. Your enjoyment comes from hearing the final product and how design ideas work or not work.
3) You are the show-stopper-for-a-season builder. You like to build elaborate systems involving much cost and time expended over a short period of time so that you may use, compete and display the system for a series of months until the season is over. After the season ends, you then completely gut the car again in order to buy (or receive if you are sponsored) new gear and perhaps a new car because you have so severely altered the structure of the car that you cannot sometimes reverse what you done, but did so without forethought in order to acheive your system goals for that season. You get great satisfaction just working the car and the system but not really so much on the completed product.
I like to plan. I like to think and rethink how I am going to make something sometimes for months. Many times I get frustrated because I've thought about everything WAY too much and haven't actually built anything yet. I like to know how something is going to be built or get put together before I dive into it. I don't like 'building on the fly'. I find you get into spots you can't easily get out of without a lot of reconstruction. I'm just about done my own 'temp' system of which I wanted to get installed quickly but also use as an experiment to see how certain design ideas would work before I get into the second system of which will be more integrated but harder to change later.
[ October 31, 2004, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: SUX 2BU ]
Not that it's necessarily a bad thing (don't think of that as a flame) but at some point you need to decide for yourself if you are one of 3 types of car audio owners:1) You plan a system, buy the gear you like, install it, finish it and are happy with your results. You keep that system for multiple years in the same state as you first installed and may only change it when you sell the vehicle or have to replace gear that has failed. Permanent modifications to the vehicle structure itself may or may not have occured that you can't reverse without much expense and time. You are happy with how it looks, how it sounds but found working on it to be quite a large, sometimes not fun undertaking and would rather enjoy the fruits of your labor instead of doing it over again.
2) You are the ultimate rolling test lab. You like to have equipment in a never-ending state of temporary installation. It is easy to swap gear in and out of which is done often. It's nothing pretty to look at but has features built into it to make swapping gear easily. You tend not to permanently modify the car structure as you know what you just put in is coming back out anyway and that piece of steel you just cut out you might need later on. Your enjoyment comes from hearing the final product and how design ideas work or not work.
3) You are the show-stopper-for-a-season builder. You like to build elaborate systems involving much cost and time expended over a short period of time so that you may use, compete and display the system for a series of months until the season is over. After the season ends, you then completely gut the car again in order to buy (or receive if you are sponsored) new gear and perhaps a new car because you have so severely altered the structure of the car that you cannot sometimes reverse what you done, but did so without forethought in order to acheive your system goals for that season. You get great satisfaction just working the car and the system but not really so much on the completed product.
I like to plan. I like to think and rethink how I am going to make something sometimes for months. Many times I get frustrated because I've thought about everything WAY too much and haven't actually built anything yet. I like to know how something is going to be built or get put together before I dive into it. I don't like 'building on the fly'. I find you get into spots you can't easily get out of without a lot of reconstruction. I'm just about done my own 'temp' system of which I wanted to get installed quickly but also use as an experiment to see how certain design ideas would work before I get into the second system of which will be more integrated but harder to change later.
[ October 31, 2004, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: SUX 2BU ]
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adam, my question would be, you have never, from what i gather rom your posts, finished a system so how do you know how it really sounds. it seems as though you are in a constant state of testing and changing and never really get to the end of the install before you are changing it again, that all great and all but have you ever enjoyed your car stereo. have you ever had a system installed and spent the frightening amount of time that the pxah900 takes to optimize. i have spent probobly 30-40 hours trying different x-over points, phasing, levels, eq changes, i ask you have you ever spent the time trying to get a system that you have done in you car tuned as good as you think you can get it before changing or is the fun for you in car stereo in the change and testing, if thats the case, i appreciate that alot, for some people its in the constant change, for other the enjoyment of a completed system. to answer your question, how i finish at the usac finals in a couple of weeks will probobly determine the severity of the change, one thing for sure is that the trunk will be redone to be more of a traditional, leather wrapped with cnc aluminum trims and such, im quite tired of fibregalss painted blobs that consume alot of installs these days. there is a possibiltynif time alows to build a new top of my dash and relocate the guages to the center and put the alpine f#1 components on top of the dash and in the a-pillars, maybe.....
[ October 31, 2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: defro13 ]
[ October 31, 2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: defro13 ]
Thread Starter
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,783
Sux, and Defro.
It's like getting a car up to top speed...and it's only 150km/hr, having experienced 250km/hr.
The system will be finished as some point, it has to. I have other things I want to put time and energy into in my life. I hate to say it, but this is just a stage in my life. But, it is an extension of who I am, and that is striving for excellence in everything I do. I feel by compromising my ultimate goal, I'll have cheated myself out of the enjoyment I deserve for my hard work. The car is a keeper, so I'm not doing this as the flavour of the week.
I will say this though, there are some parts of my system that I have found a solution to fully optimize performance. So I'm getting there...
Adam
It's like getting a car up to top speed...and it's only 150km/hr, having experienced 250km/hr.
The system will be finished as some point, it has to. I have other things I want to put time and energy into in my life. I hate to say it, but this is just a stage in my life. But, it is an extension of who I am, and that is striving for excellence in everything I do. I feel by compromising my ultimate goal, I'll have cheated myself out of the enjoyment I deserve for my hard work. The car is a keeper, so I'm not doing this as the flavour of the week.
I will say this though, there are some parts of my system that I have found a solution to fully optimize performance. So I'm getting there...
Adam
Thread Starter
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,783
Here's a couple of things a few people didn't know.
1.) I've built a couple of sets of fiberglass kicks. I just haven't posted what I did.
2.) There have been more drivers in the car than what I share with people. The Utopias are something to talk about, the others aren't.
3.) That power system was built for a reason, and it wasn't just testing.
4.) Every component that I will be changing to, I have already played with. The problem with some of it, is that it's not for sale to the public yet.
5.) I have a lot of free time when I'm home. I spend a good amount of it tuning the car. I'd say I've got a good handle on what my gear can do now.
6.) I wasn't joking when I said I have more cutting to do with the car...and I'm not talking about plastic.
7.) I'm waiting for a new structure to be built so I can really tear into the car for extended periods of time.
8.) I have a partner in the new fabrication work.
9.) I know it's hard to believe, but there is more sound deadening planned.
It's a big project, so I need to have a looooooong term plan.
Defro, I kind of hope you do something even more amazing with your car. It would be fun to build in tandem. I have probably spent more than 40hrs working on system tuning. I usually get sidetracked though, either by the joy of listening to good music, or in testing out some new theory. Last time I was home, I spent the bulk of my time working on symetrical tuning. (tuning for both seats) It was really different approach versus setting everything up for just one listener. I learned a lot. Still, there are some things in my system, that I feel don't provide the foundation I'm looking for. Some simple ones are top end extension, and bottom end extension. To acheive both of those, I'm going to need new drivers.
Sux, and really enjoyed your point by point explanation of your views. I can see you have far more experience with the typical enthusiast's build cycle than myself. In that, I'm still a rookie.
Anway, this thread is rambling on, and Yuli appears to be nodding off to sleep.
Adam
1.) I've built a couple of sets of fiberglass kicks. I just haven't posted what I did.
2.) There have been more drivers in the car than what I share with people. The Utopias are something to talk about, the others aren't.
3.) That power system was built for a reason, and it wasn't just testing.
4.) Every component that I will be changing to, I have already played with. The problem with some of it, is that it's not for sale to the public yet.
5.) I have a lot of free time when I'm home. I spend a good amount of it tuning the car. I'd say I've got a good handle on what my gear can do now.
6.) I wasn't joking when I said I have more cutting to do with the car...and I'm not talking about plastic.
7.) I'm waiting for a new structure to be built so I can really tear into the car for extended periods of time.
8.) I have a partner in the new fabrication work.
9.) I know it's hard to believe, but there is more sound deadening planned.
It's a big project, so I need to have a looooooong term plan.
Defro, I kind of hope you do something even more amazing with your car. It would be fun to build in tandem. I have probably spent more than 40hrs working on system tuning. I usually get sidetracked though, either by the joy of listening to good music, or in testing out some new theory. Last time I was home, I spent the bulk of my time working on symetrical tuning. (tuning for both seats) It was really different approach versus setting everything up for just one listener. I learned a lot. Still, there are some things in my system, that I feel don't provide the foundation I'm looking for. Some simple ones are top end extension, and bottom end extension. To acheive both of those, I'm going to need new drivers.
Sux, and really enjoyed your point by point explanation of your views. I can see you have far more experience with the typical enthusiast's build cycle than myself. In that, I'm still a rookie.
Anway, this thread is rambling on, and Yuli appears to be nodding off to sleep.
Adam
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,692
just to let you know our progression
i spent 1 year going to shows just to see what i have to compete against, then it took a whole winter to do a schematics and overall layout of what the product was going to be. next i work for about 3 months on design, and asked a million questions. once we started building. we worked for about 6 months, 3 of us and evening and weekends. i'm not fully sure on what your full goal is but our was to be the loudest car in our category in our area, and we did that. then came the rebuilds and right now we are on rebuild number 3. the guys above are right , finish one job and then move into the next. but do not let you deter from one goal until you accomplish it. i think that that is what defro and the others are sayingm, i could be wrong. but keep looking to the future. it is good.
my 2 cents , please excuse if it wasnt asked for.
i spent 1 year going to shows just to see what i have to compete against, then it took a whole winter to do a schematics and overall layout of what the product was going to be. next i work for about 3 months on design, and asked a million questions. once we started building. we worked for about 6 months, 3 of us and evening and weekends. i'm not fully sure on what your full goal is but our was to be the loudest car in our category in our area, and we did that. then came the rebuilds and right now we are on rebuild number 3. the guys above are right , finish one job and then move into the next. but do not let you deter from one goal until you accomplish it. i think that that is what defro and the others are sayingm, i could be wrong. but keep looking to the future. it is good.
my 2 cents , please excuse if it wasnt asked for.
