More Amplifier Madness...

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:50 pm

I have a subwoofer that I'm going to install in the Tercel. As some of you know, I have the sub box from hell in there now, a ProBox Super Bass with 2 10" Fosgates in it, driven by a small JL Audio amp. It's loud, no doubt, but it's just not what I was aiming for. I'm going to replace everything in the system, deck, speakers, sub, and amp. I have a single sub that's designed to run on a real 1000W RMS (3kw peak), it was built by TC sounds, has 3" Xmax, and weighs about 45 pounds by itself.

So... In my quest to find an amp that wouldn't be 3 feet long and take up the entire cargo area, I finally found it. Since I found one high-end Chinese amp manufacturer by searching the new, I decided to look through every one I could find. I came across one that had it all; the right look (clean and understated), the right numbers (3kw RMS @ 1 ohm, but the real biggie- 1.25kw RMS @ 4 ohms before the thd starts to move off the baseline)... and it's 14.8"x9"x4.1"... just exactly the right size to mount to the right rear interior panel, under the shelf for the cargo cover, without sticking out at all. This same amp is sold in the US in a 32" long heat sink, but the unbranded version, not sold in the US, stacks the same 2 boards used in the branded version in 2 heat sinks, thereby taking up half the real estate. Best of all, it'll cost me less than $300 to have one shipped from the manufacturer vs. over $600 plus shipping to get the US version.

I'll never use that much power, but I'm going to buy too much this time so I won't have to think about it again. Considering that a tester got 134.8db out of the same sub, in a 1 cu. ft. sealed box, using only 800w RMS @ 4 ohms, this thing ought to loosen up the old Tercel a bit. All that, and it'll take up about 1/4 the space of the current box.

thebigbread · Post by **thebigbread** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:39 am

heh... that actually scares me

I put the sound system from my tercel into the isuzu, because the tercel has no tag or insurance. i eventually build a new one for the tercel when thats sorted out

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:54 am

Before I do the install on the new system, I'm going to gut the interior and cover everything in Rattle Trap sound deadener. I need to spend some time with a tape measure to figure out exactly how much I'll need. Hopefully 100 square feet will do it. I've also been giving some thought to cutting a piece of 1/4" Plexiglass as an amp cover, mounting it on standoffs to allow circulation, then using a couple of PC fans to force air through. I just want to protect the amp from whatever I carry in the back, which is liable to be almost anything.

I've also been looking at a Volvo 240 armrest I have sitting around, and it'd be easy to modify it to work in the Tercel. This armrest is the style that bolts to the tunnel and sticks up between the seats, and it can be folded straight up when you're not using it. That would make things a bit more comfortable on long drives.

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:49 pm

Things were much simpler 15 years ago. Back then, when I was installing the system in my Merkur, I went to Circuit City and bought 16 gauge Monster Cable speaker wire for 15 cents a foot. No problem, today I went to Wal-Mart to get some wire. First, I had to decide whether I wanted the store brand or Monster Cable. That's fairly easy, the name brand is now made to look good, at double the price. Since I'm not hung up on what it looks like, I decided to go the cheaper route. This also opened up another possibility, since the store brand is available in 14 gauge. While I'd be the only one who knows what I use, I decided the heavier wire would make me feel better, so I went with that.

Now if only I could find the speaker plug for my Hafler amp...

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:24 pm

Mentioning the Merkur...
A couple of months ago I was at a gas station and a pristine Merkur pulled in. The young driver got out and we "met halfway" between his car and Goldie - each wanted to chat about the other's car!
He had just bought it from his GF's Father, who has three (!), and who has said he always wanted a T4WD! We laughed about it, and he thought he'd get some points with the Dad if he could bring him back a possible T4WD lead.
That Merkur was a pretty hot car, as I recall - wonder why it didn't do well?
Tom M.

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:27 pm

The biggest issue with the Merkur XR4Ti was that Ford didn't know how to market it. In Europe, the Sierra (same car) was the biggest seller. It was offered in several levels of trim, with anything from a small 4 cylinder to the turbo Cosworth engine. In South Africa, it was even available briefly with a 5.0 liter V8. Here it got the turbo 2.3, which wasn't a bad engine, but it wasn't up to the nature of the car. Parts were never easy to get even when the car was new, and dealerships didn't like working on them. It was aimed at the BMW 325i. With the Merkur, you got more performance, at a lower price, but BMW owners don't buy Fords. While Ford had planned to continue importing the cars, and even had updates and new features planned, the mandating of passive restraints on all 1990 and up passenger cars killed the line. There just wasn't enough money in the budget to retrofit automatic seatbelts, and an airbag system was out of the question.

That's also the reason Maserati disappeared after 1989. A couple of shiploads of 1990 Maseratis were turned away by the feds at the port.

The Merkur Scorpio failed for a different reason. It also had it's weaknesses, but the biggest one was resale value. Unfortunately, Ford had tried luring Mercedes buyers by touting the car's German build, and by hinging the car's value to the resale value of a Mercedes ( I forget, but I think it was the 300). If you bought one new, Ford guaranteed the same percentage of resale as the Mercedes for 2 years, and they paid off in cash. Bad idea.

I bought my one-owner 1986 XR4Ti in 1990 for $2500. It was bright red with gray leather (the leather in all XR4Tis turned stiff and shrank) and a 5 speed. It had about 40k miles on it. I transferred the warranty, took it to the closest dealership, and they promptly performed about $4000 in warranty work on it. They refused to replace the transmission, however. I drove it for 2 years, and sold it for exactly what I paid for it. A week later, the transmission blew up.

neonsport · Post by **neonsport** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:30 pm

Alright, I've been looking for the plug for that Hafler for about a year now. I knew exactly what it looked like, it's an 8-pin Molex connector, and the wires have never been stripped to connect them to anything. Tonight I started looking again, and I actually found it this time. Now if I can find a source for the plug, I can make another one for an identical Hafler that I bought without the plug.

And somewhere around here I have still another identical Hafler with the plug, and 4 more of the 2-channel model.