High end audio in the Sliing

I finally got my battery installed and finished my wiring. I used the factory battery hold down, but I had to cut it to clear the second set of positive and negative terminals. I powered up my system and have been tweaking the settings in the DSP. My mid-bass speakers are awesome. The horns are really efficient, and I have been dialing them back to match the sensitivity of the mid-bass. The height of the soundstage is where the radio would be in the dashboard.

The owner of the company that I bought the horns from, stated that he would help me with the tuning, when I told him the vehicle I was installing them in. Aside from balancing them with the mid-bass, I am hoping that I can lift the soundstage a little and move it above the dashboard. I also want to find a shop with a Real Time Analyzer, to help me dial it in the last little bit. I can't justify buying one, since this is the last stereo I plan on installing in a car.

I have the mid-bass playing down to 40Hz. The boxes are tuned to 37Hz. They have 125 watts driving them, and they are punchy. This is why I didn't plan on installing subwoofers, and I don't think I will end up installing any. The mid-bass play from 40 to 1.2kHZ, with 24dB crossovers on both ends. The horns play from 1.2kHz and up, with 24dB high pass x-over.

I mounted my fuse for the amp just above the battery. I drilled holes thru, into the storage compartment, and attached it with zip ties. I did not want to have bolts protruding into the storage compartment. I also made it less intrusive in the storage compartment, by 3D printing a half round guide for the zip ties to run thru. Nothing to get caught on.

I bought a calibrated microphone ($40), and the recommended app ($8), so I can have a Real Time Analyzer on my tablet. Hopefully, I will be able to finish my install tonight, and put all the body panels back on.

Quote from Edward Neal

Personally I never saw much point in making changes to the stock stereo that came in my slingshot - seriously with my double bubble windshields and the airflow I get I cant even hear the stereo except at very low speed or at a stop - - especially when I wear my winter 3/4 helmet - - considering that in CA a helmet is required I would probably be better off putting the sound right into the helmet or headphones with my regular 1/2 helmet.

But please dont take this as criticism one of the things I love most about the Slingshot is that we all get to do whatever we want to make it our own

You Sum-bitch...................Sike.

When I originally bought the Sling, I got the base model, with no radio. I didn't care about the radio or GPS or any of those things. When I looked into the pods and speakers being sold for the Sling, I was not interested in installing a system then either. Too many compromises. Legs blocking the speakers was the main reason I was not interested. Eventually I bought earbuds, and I was satisfied with that. I rarely use them, because I enjoy the sights and sounds of driving the Sling. I also bought intercoms for my helmets last year, but have not used them yet, because I really only got helmets in case I have a passenger, or going into a state that requires them.

Every system I have installed in my personal vehicles, has been sound quality based. I never cared about "I have this many speakers", "my system makes this much bass", or "my amps are this big". Over the years I focused on the details, and refined my setups, and minimizing the amount of components. I didn't build this system to impress anybody but myself. I mean that in regard to I am not going to be driving around blasting it to be showy.

Overall, In this project, I have CNC machined parts, 3D printed parts, etc. I also built a system outside the norm that you will see in a Slingshot. That all made it more fun and interesting.

I have spent a few hours dialing in my setup. The RTA was helpful in dealing with the sensitivity mis-match between the horns and woofers. I have a 9.5 decibel spread of the input signals between the two. So, my woofers are getting 125 watts, and theoretically the horns are only getting 15 watts.

I put in about two hours every night this week tinkering with the EQ settings. I am going to stop tinkering, and adjust the EQ again after I put a few hours of use on the system. I really like the amp, and the DSP interface. After two hours of tweaking, and pushing it hard, the hottest part of the amp is just 90 degrees.

For reference, I listen to a wide range of music when tuning. Everything from pipe organ to zydeco. I play some Santana, and I can tell you that the keyboard player is where my speedometer is, and Carlos is just to the right of center. Music with a solo piano spans the width of the dash.

I am glad that I focused on the internal cu/ft volume of the woofer boxes, and bought woofers accordingly. The bass is more than I expected. Right now, I have the high pass on the woofers set at 48hZ, with a 24dB crossover. I am going to have to convince people that I don't have subwoofers.