Guys!

The pics are accurate. I had no clue how much detail and work goes into making this type of upgrade and am thrilled I found someone with the knowledge and good nature to help me out. I saw my car ripped to bits, and put back together all in a 12 hour span. It was very educational.

I arrived Saturday morning and after the 12 hour marathon was over I heard respectable sound coming out of my car for the first time -- and we haven't even changed the speakers yet! This weekend's completion of the project should be fun.. I'm pumped up to hear what the final product sounds like.

George is truly the GREEK GOD OF AUDIO and a cool dude to boot. I'm not kissing butt when I say he's the best I've ever seen. He knows his **** inside and out, and was never stumped at any point during the day.

Check him out in action.

 

LOL Thanks for the compliments... I'm afraid of what other "action shots" might be lurking around in that camera of yours!

I have a couple questions for you, I'll shoot you a quick email.

Take care,

George

 

makes me want to tear mine apart finally...or add the amp to my 8's finally.

 

Well we spent another afternoon working on it, I'll update the thread later. But we have a few tricks up our sleeve. For now, here's a little teaser video.

YouTube - ‪Chris STR's Rear view mirror‬‏

Take care,

George

 

Looking good, I remember the fun I had when I changed mine, but I did not change the Radio, keep the stock one.

 

a quick question. How did you guys attached/bolt down the speaker box?

 

I was waiting to do part II once the entire thing was done, but I built a replacement trunk floor out of MDF, and it all fits together like a puzzle, now it's solid as a rock even with Chris driving "spritedly".

The last piece needs to be carpeted still - we ran out of carpet.

Plus we have a few more tricks up our sleeve that have yet to be disclosed








I don't have a pic of the box mounted, but its attached to the front part of the floor

Take care,

George

 

George,

A brief hijack here because I knew you'd be interested....

The factory foam edge surrounds in my 1975 Altec "Voice of the Theatre" woofers lasted 24 years until they fell apart in September 1999. I had a highly proficient local hi-fi shop re-edge them for about $100 back then (my woofers were out for nearly 10 days for the repair, and I was going stir-crazy for lack of being able to use my big system by the time I finally got them back)....

Noticed my Altecs were sounding a bit muddy this past Friday night. Removed the front grills and immediately saw that the 1999 re-edged foam surrounds were falling apart again after less than 12 years. I always knew they were generic because they were blue in color instead of Altec's charcoal color....

What to do? Pay the shop to re-edge my woofers again (and keep my monster speakers out of action for another 10 days or more), or go to Google and look for re-edge foam surround kits and do it myself? I chose the latter option, found a fantastic speaker repair and parts service in Florida (simplyspeakers.com), did a lot of reading and looking at repair videos on their site, and ordered an OEM Altec foam surround re-edge kit from them for the grand total of $27. Spent all morning yesterday removing all traces of dissolving foam edges and glue from both woofer frames and cones, so they are ready and waiting when the re-edge kit hits my door late this week. I figure it will take me a couple of hours to carefully and precisely re-edge my woofers and get them back to like-new condition again. The kit also includes the proper tube of flexible cement for the job. I'm really looking forward to finishing the project. The company also offers toll-free tech support if I need it while in the middle of installing the new foam surrounds. They seem to specialize in the vintage speakers that I love so much. So if you ever need parts for just about any vintage high-end speaker you can name, check 'em out....

I'll let you know how my Altecs sound once I've re-edged the woofers and have them installed back in the cabinets. My guess is that they'll be booming just like new again. The job is not rocket science, but it requires extremely precise foam-and-glue removal (easy on the aluminum woofer frames, but very difficult on the woofer cones). Per their videos, I used a small, sharp utility knife and plenty of rubbing alcohol-saturated Q-tips and paper towels, and really took my time so as not to damage the cones. Since the re-edge kit is OEM to Altec specs, I hope the lifespan will be closer to the 24 years that my original foam edge surrounds lasted. We'll see....

 

George,

My new foam edge surrounds arrived in Thursday's mail and are genuine OEM Altec edges just as advertised. They fit perfectly. Took my time gluing the inner edges to the cones, then let that dry for an hour. Then glued the outer edges to the woofer frames, and let that dry for an hour. Finally, I glued the cosmetic gaskets in place and let that dry for an hour....

I then re-installed both woofers into my cabinets and cranked them up for a test drive. Delighted to report that my Altecs sound brand spanking new again. I cannot speak highly enough of Simply Speakers (simplyspeakers.com) for the products they sell, the DIY info and videos they provide on their website, and the phone support that is there if you need it....

Rock on....

 

First off - this thread rocks. Great job George and Chris and keep it coming.

That is some really good info Jon - I had never even thought of re-edging woofers - now I know! Cool stuff. Got any pics of your handiwork you'd like to share?

Always amazed at some of the skills and know-how some of our members have on this board....

 

Chris,

Sorry, no pics. I'm not a photo-oriented guy. Rarely take them, and don't have any idea how to post them. My wife is the photographer in the family....

You can save yourself a ton of money by repairing your speakers yourself. As a lifelong home audiophile, I'm glad I found simplyspeakers.com on the web. I highly recommend them....

 

I gotcha Jon, I'm kinda the same way, and I forget to take photos until I'm done with stuff anyway.

 

Nice thread, I haven't seen this until just now. I'll have to share some pics of the 2x12" I installed a few weeks ago with a 600w amp, all Alpine. And like the video above, my rear view mirror is about all that rattles inside the car.... bloody annoying but only during some songs.

 

thats a lovely install , very professional , kudos and thumbs up to the installer , that shaking mirror )))) ,
congrats on great upgrade
cheers

 

around how long did it take to run the rca's? i have done subs in all my cars, but i feel like this one would be a pain, on the str with the alpine system and nav is there rca hookups on the stock system, or would i have to run them through a preout through the speakers somewhere? also how does it sound, i was thinking about running a 10w7 with a 500/1 amp and a nice little box.

 

Hey androulakis i need some info on how to wire the front speakers on my 2003 jaguar stype alpine none nav am new to this so help,is needed