Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[Wicks]

so Wicks. ...any new thoughts on putting those 8's up front ....I was messing with my sedan today and was using cardboard cut outs and looks like all im going to get is a single 4 way set up in it without looking crazy. ...I was hoping to double up on a couple mids ...to get more out my amps

I was actually looking into that last weekend.

It would be an extremely tight fit and I would have to chop out a good piece of the corner floor carpet and padding, in order to get a custom pod all the way back to the metal.

I'm a little hesitant to cut up my floor carpet but it would be the only way to get enough depth.

I REALLY want those 8's in there though so I'm going to have to figure something out.

I already have some elaborate plans for the amp that's going to be pushing them so I better be able to fit them...

So what's your plans?

A tweeter, two mids and an 8 on each side?

That would be sweet. What are your thoughts on stuffing some 8's?

[Wicks]

I started another thread in the HU section but I'll update here as well.

The iPad install is not going as smoothly as I hoped it would.

I was intrigued by Soundman doing all the iPad installs and implementing a Pure i-20 converter to get access to an optical signal for an audio processor (Fosgate 360 / Bit10), so I dove in and bought both BUT I wanted the upgraded features of the iPad Mini with Retina display.

Sure enough I had already received my Pure i-20 when I saw Soundman state that the i-20 only works with the iPad Mini and not the Retina version...

WTF...thanks Apple changing yet another thing with your products that obsoletes a bunch more aftermarket devices.

So then I found the Cambridge Audio iD100. NOT cheap but if it worked then so be it.

I emailed their customer service and asked beforehand if it supported the iPad Mini (Retina). They replied back that it would support the music transfer so I went ahead and found a decent deal on eBay.

When it arrived, I hooked it up and sure enough.........................Not compatible

Sent another email to Cambridge asking WTF. Guess what? No reply.

My next endeavor was to use a simple HDMI to optical converter box since Apply makes an (expensive) Lightning adapter that gives you HDMI output. So I found a converter on eBay, ordered it, it arrived. Connected it all together and BOOM, audio was playing!

Then.......I tried to play a video/movie. Blaaaaaaaahhhh, the screen went blank and said a TV was connected.

So I wouldn't be able to play any live video with that setup.

I just can't win...

So it looks like my only option for the time being is to link the iPad Mini to my Fosgate 360 by Bluetooth which should work OK, but I really want that "wired" digital link so I don't have to worry about Bluetooth issues.

So, to the main question. Anybody using a "newer" iPad with a digital link to a processor?

[Robertvon]

so Wicks. ...any new thoughts on putting those 8's up front ....I was messing with my sedan today and was using cardboard cut outs and looks like all im going to get is a single 4 way set up in it without looking crazy. ...I was hoping to double up on a couple mids ...to get more out my amps

I was actually looking into that last weekend.

It would be an extremely tight fit and I would have to chop out a good piece of the corner floor carpet and padding, in order to get a custom pod all the way back to the metal.

I'm a little hesitant to cut up my floor carpet but it would be the only way to get enough depth.

I REALLY want those 8's in there though so I'm going to have to figure something out.

I already have some elaborate plans for the amp that's going to be pushing them so I better be able to fit them...

I agree that was my thought too.. about not putting them in the kicks ... even with extreme mods it doesnt seem to have enough room for good placement

So what's your plans?

A tweeter, two mids and an 8 on each side?

That would be sweet. What are your thoughts on stuffing some 8's?

Since my panels are not a rare color like yours cutting them up doesn't bother me as long as it's not overly crammed ,I'm looking to put my 8's in the spot of the stock 6's then I have PHD MF6.3 seperates with a 6.5"...4" ...1" tweeter ....I plan to put the tweeter in the upper factory spot . Running them active on a audiocontrol 4XS I actually bought a couple of the PHD seperate sets to put in the front but i think it's going to be over crammed ...so looks like I'll be using them for rear fill instead of the PHD 5.25"coaxials which are like seperates anyways

Thanks Wicks I just thought I'd pick your brain a little ...I respect and appreciate your thoughts

[scooter99]

ANDROID FTMFCSW!!!!!!!!!!!! See I told you to stay away from apple. Remember we had this conversation. Android tablet, covert all your itunes music to hard disk, and up load on google play. Android HDMI converter with a charger to an optical converter and BAM INSTANT DIGITAL OPTICAL CONNECTION!!! Wanna know how I know?!?! I'll post a video for you tonight!

But, aside of that "I told you so", I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations. I have alt wine too, and I can't stand it and I have tried everything except just bypassing the head unit all together and going to the 360 with my phone via bluetooth.

Is the audio portion the only issue you're dealing with right now? Or is the rest of it not going well either? I know how much of a perfectionist you can be so I'm wondering.

Ok I'm going back to my hole now. Wish I had something to build on right now! I'll just watch you I guess, as usual!

[Wicks]

so Wicks. ...any new thoughts on putting those 8's up front ....I was messing with my sedan today and was using cardboard cut outs and looks like all im going to get is a single 4 way set up in it without looking crazy. ...I was hoping to double up on a couple mids ...to get more out my amps

I was actually looking into that last weekend.

It would be an extremely tight fit and I would have to chop out a good piece of the corner floor carpet and padding, in order to get a custom pod all the way back to the metal.

I'm a little hesitant to cut up my floor carpet but it would be the only way to get enough depth.

I REALLY want those 8's in there though so I'm going to have to figure something out.

I already have some elaborate plans for the amp that's going to be pushing them so I better be able to fit them...

I agree that was my thought too.. about not putting them in the kicks ... even with extreme mods it doesnt seem to have enough room for good placement

So what's your plans?

A tweeter, two mids and an 8 on each side?

That would be sweet. What are your thoughts on stuffing some 8's?

Since my panels are not a rare color like yours cutting them up doesn't bother me as long as it's not overly crammed ,I'm looking to put my 8's in the spot of the stock 6's then I have PHD MF6.3 seperates with a 6.5"...4" ...1" tweeter ....I plan to put the tweeter in the upper factory spot . Running them active on a audiocontrol 4XS I actually bought a couple of the PHD seperate sets to put in the front but i think it's going to be over crammed ...so looks like I'll be using them for rear fill instead of the PHD 5.25"coaxials which are like seperates anyways

Thanks Wicks I just thought I'd pick your brain a little ...I respect and appreciate your thoughts

Good info!

Yeah I had similar ideas to put a tweeter and 3-4" mid in the far covers of my dash and then a 6" mid in the door.

Randal convinced me to keep it simple (for SQ purposes) with just a tweeter in the sail panel and mid in the door so that's where I'm starting.

Who knows where I'll end up

I like your idea though of putting the 8's where the factory 6's are in the bottom of the door panel, though.

Uhhhhh, decisions decisions....

ANDROID FTMFCSW!!!!!!!!!!!! See I told you to stay away from apple. Remember we had this conversation. Android tablet, covert all your itunes music to hard disk, and up load on google play. Android HDMI converter with a charger to an optical converter and BAM INSTANT DIGITAL OPTICAL CONNECTION!!! Wanna know how I know?!?! I'll post a video for you tonight!

But, aside of that "I told you so", I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations. I have alt wine too, and I can't stand it and I have tried everything except just bypassing the head unit all together and going to the 360 with my phone via bluetooth.

Is the audio portion the only issue you're dealing with right now? Or is the rest of it not going well either? I know how much of a perfectionist you can be so I'm wondering.

Ok I'm going back to my hole now. Wish I had something to build on right now! I'll just watch you I guess, as usual!

What up Dude!

Yeah, yeah I figured I'd get some Apple comments I was never an Apple fan to start with and this sure ain't helping.

Just checked out Google Play. Interesting, but I'm not a fan of streaming from a cloud. What if your cell signal sucks...or the fact that you're using your data plan to play music. I was on an unlimited plan but that changed when I picked up the iPad (and new iPhone).

Maybe I'm just old school but I like the music in my hand and under my control.....

So I bought an HDMI converter and have the Apple HDMI Lightning Adapter and it works fine. I got optical music out so that is a possibility.

BUT... HDMI converters will tell your phone/tablet that you are connected to an HDTV. Therefore when you play video/movies, the screen on the tablet goes black, thinking that you're watching on another monitor.

THAT is a deal breaker for me. I'd like the ability to play videos/movies in the car through the tablet and have the sound seamlessly linked to my system.

After more research it looks like I'm not going to have any options other then Bluetooth since every dock appears to have video out capability which will screw up my tablet video.

Apart from that snag everything is going along fine. I have a lot of other "ideas" brewing in the background that I'm working on and haven't had a chance to post about them

I also have a competition coming up this weekend so I can't tear apart too much yet as I need my temporary system (old Alpine CD player in the dash) working for it.

Then I'll tear it apart, have the tablet dash piece done and assemble another thing I'm working on.

The bummer is that to get to certain areas of my system, I have to rip out a ton of trim panels and whatnot. With how crammed everything is in my trunk, sometimes that's an all day project. So many panels are interlinked, so to remove an "inner" panel, I have to tear out almost the whole trunk.

Yet another thing I'm thinking about changing...

Glad to see you out and "about", Sir! Now get that other system rolling!!!

[Leo1103]

with google play music you can have the songs saved on the device if you want

[Wicks]

How about a small update to switch up the topic.......?

Decided I could use my stock trunk trim piece, cut it up and use it as a template for my final trim piece.

Test fit

My plan is use this black plastic piece and just apply body filler to it and smooth it out, then vinyl wrap it. Much easier then fab'ing up a new part.

I also need to kick myself into gear and get some of the trunk panels wrapped and get this thing closer to finished.

The center insert will require a bit more work before wrapping as I have to remove some material all the way around it. So that it fits in the hole with a layer of vinyl wrapped around it.

[Mtnbikecrazy55]

Lovin the updates. Can you just pull the HDMI pin that tells the iPad that a tv is connected, but still will send the audio signal?

No idea if that's even a possibility but perhaps worth a shot.

Keep it up man!

[scooter99]

with google play music you can have the songs saved on the device if you want

^^^^ THIS! I was going to say this but Leo beat me to it.

With my android system, the tablet into the hdmi converter and out, is a mirrored signal. So it doesn't black out the screen, you just mirror it onto the tv, or in this case there's no tv to mirror so it's all audio. I tried it on the tv and tried it on a stereo. It works both ways.

I LOVE, btw, that black and orange look. Nice work!

As far as the other system, we're waiting on my parents to get their new car, so we can do the exchange. I'm going to start the tear down very soon though.

[Wicks]

Lovin the updates. Can you just pull the HDMI pin that tells the iPad that a tv is connected, but still will send the audio signal?

No idea if that's even a possibility but perhaps worth a shot.

Keep it up man!

Thanks Man!

I'll dig around but HDMi is a full digital signal so I don't think there's a separate wire to pull but that would be nice.

with google play music you can have the songs saved on the device if you want

^^^^ THIS! I was going to say this but Leo beat me to it.

With my android system, the tablet into the hdmi converter and out, is a mirrored signal. So it doesn't black out the screen, you just mirror it onto the tv, or in this case there's no tv to mirror so it's all audio. I tried it on the tv and tried it on a stereo. It works both ways.

I LOVE, btw, that black and orange look. Nice work!

As far as the other system, we're waiting on my parents to get their new car, so we can do the exchange. I'm going to start the tear down very soon though.

Yes, the tablet screen output is mirrored.....until you play a video or movie. Then the tablet screen goes black.

Try it and let me know, I'm curious.

HA, I figured you'd like the orange. . Good combo huh?