MEMORY LANE -- Where did you start?

nico boom · Post by **nico boom** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:07 am

Some in-between pics.

capitolj80 · Post by **capitolj80** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:18 pm

wow...how far we've all come!! the first time i ever threw some sounds in my ride was AWSOME...or so it seemed at the time. It was about 10 years ago in a 1990 dodge omni. At the time, i didnt even know how to install a cd player (or anything else for that matter). My buddy Joe, who had the rockin assed system I've ever heard, helped me with the h/u. That was a Kenwood, not sure what model...decent player, but looking back, I definitaly overpaid ($180 used). Anyone ever heard of the "Road Gear" brand? Wal Mart carried t for awhile...it basically makes Jensen look like JL! I made a BIG box out of plywood and threw 2 10" road gears in it....and then i threw in a..ehem...200...ehem...watt amp (prolly more like 50). I let the stock door speakers take care of the rest. the weird thing is that those subs actually had interestingly decent sound in that cabin...the spl wasnt huge, but i've heard weaker form more...and you couldnt located them acoustically either. maybe i got reeaaally luck with the enclosure size and amp settings since i didnt actually take any of that into acount... Yep... a $30 amp and $40 subs...ahhh...to be young and easily satisfied again

Post by **stipud** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:56 am

I think my favorite part of Nico's pics are the Dutch people from the 80's! Is that the Ijssel meer in the background of that one picture?

It's great. Every time I visit Holland, the only thing I miss is the "do it yourself" attitude that many people in North America have. All of my other friends and family over there are doctors, lawyers and scientists, and they are all scared of the things I can do by myself, like fixing computers or building stereos.

Fortunately I found Nico, who is even crazier about audio than I am. It gives me the hope, that I too can fit in one day, amidst all of the doctors.

tipracer · Post by **tipracer** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:48 am

I am so glad you made this sticky, do I have some stories....
I started hanging out at one of the local hack shops just cuz i was interested(didnt know they were hacks until much later), one of the cars I remembered was a honda civic hatch back with 2 rf punch 150s and it had 2 RF 18 pros, I just remembered how loud it was, thats when I headed down the slippery slope of car audio...
I started checking out the other shops in my area, this was when things were getting real interesting....One of the shops(AMS in norcal) was putting a zues w/2 15" m&m godfathers and some misc. zapco stuff in to an impala, I remember being in AWE, at that shop i saw my first pg amp, a ms275...the holy grail for me at the time...
Eventually I found AUTOPHILE in santa clara and I started dropping by everyday after class...thats when I met C

Eventually after bugging the hell out of them for like 4 months they said "well you're here all the time anyway why don't you be our parts runner" (they had two stores at the time)!
Good god!!! Was I in heaven, these guys had all the good stuff, Sony ES, Nakamichi(sp?), focal, ect...I even remember seeing one of the first audisons ever brought to the states.
next post will have more details

tipracer · Post by **tipracer** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:38 am

sorry for the long posts but there is more....
So after running parts for a while I started to work on customer cars...
I remember my first install so clearly, WAJ-- 79 datsun 210 the guys in the shop were ltao, the dash had to be cut-- I swear it was like 3/16" steel, there was no room to work, it was hot and to top it all off it was a mini(two knober in dash..no speakers). took forever....this was so long ago i had a pager, cell phones were the brick style....
I must have done an ok job cuz I still had a job...did some other small stuff on other projects, we worked on andre agassis's porsche 928, Mark Mcguires jeep, Jerry Rice's 300ce(that was sick 4 jl 12s w/ms2125s),
Dana Hall's matching MB, the sony jeep sahara that was at sonys hot summer nights show in vegas, A really bad ass bronco with full xes system, bunch of other shit, I remember one crx with 4-12's and a mps 2500, w/a ms2125, good times...to bad I dont have any pics...
In my free time I was able to save up and get a pair of mq430s, a three way focal set(the bad ass early stuff), a pld, an eq215x, alpine 7618 and matching 5959....i went thu more crap than I could shake a stick at...to bad I didnt keep it all...we had a relationship with kicker at the time and they would send us specs for boxs that the wanted us to try and give them feed back on, we did one tiny ass box for a 1st gen solobaric 8 that did 133db..off of the rear channels of a mq 430, !!!
I left for school that summer, worked at circuit city on weekends, that was a s hole, things changed but man what a time to have been involved.

Post by **Bfowler** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:56 am

haha, that's an awesome story! a tragedy you didn't have the pictures

nico boom · Post by **nico boom** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:41 pm

stipud wrote:I think my favorite part of Nico's pics are the Dutch people from the 80's! Is that the Ijssel meer in the background of that one picture?

It's great. Every time I visit Holland, the only thing I miss is the "do it yourself" attitude that many people in North America have. All of my other friends and family over there are doctors, lawyers and scientists, and they are all scared of the things I can do by myself, like fixing computers or building stereos.

Fortunately I found Nico, who is even crazier about audio than I am. It gives me the hope, that I too can fit in one day, amidst all of the doctors.

You're right Tom!!
It's DOKKUM at the ijsselmeer, where we had a meeting, and SPL-contest; read this...

The guy who organized this event went to the local authority's, to get a permit for "playing loud music "on the particular camping-site.
***HE GOT A PERMIT FOR 300DB OUTDOORS***

The man in charge had no idea WTF he was talking about, and the organizer of the show left it that way.
They have noticed us FOR MILES AROUND those two days...
We made a lot of friends there, but even more enemy's I guess.

Tipracer; what a story

wish you had taken pics back then....

Post by **stipud** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:50 pm

300 decibels would turn you into liquid

Yay for dumb bureaucrats!

tipracer · Post by **tipracer** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 2:27 pm

God there is so much I left off, that was when ppi had just come out with their art series and one of the other shops(AMS) had gotten the nod from PPI to do this ridiculous install in a chevy astro, something stupid like 4 a1200's a couple of four channels ect...the cool thing was they were one of the first to figure out the antifreeze cooling thing, even though they were a rival shop I had a lot of respect for them, thats an install id like to see pictures from...hell i remember one time one of the guys was working on this elaborate install, but when it came time to put the amp in it was laying on its back with the bottom plate removed because all the amps (2 mps2500's and a ms2125) were going under plexi...long story short, he powers it up for the first time and one of the amps burst into smoke, holy crap did we scatter...ends up during the install he stripped the speaker wires ABOVE the poor unprotected naked amp, little fillaments of wire were all inside the amp...Cecil had his bench inside the office, and after fixing the amp, gave this guy a hard time for weeks!!!! We were a roudy group, at one point some genius bought some of those crappy little tasers and for weeks you would never hear it coming until it was too late....BZZZ WHACKK!!! That sucked, imagine... you're half folded under a dash and BZZZ WHACKk!!! To this day the hair on the back of my neck stands on end when I hear that sound...still good times!!!
Makes you wonder what happens to all the old kick ass installs....where are they now??? Hey C do you have any photos from those days???
Hey I almost forgot, it was at this shop I had a little stapler incident
I was shooting a box together stapler in right hand and wood in left(that sounds funny) and as I was stapling the edge together the gun got a little to close to the edge and slipped down onto my thumb...you guessed it BLAMM!!! !@#$%!@!!! god did I holler(I think Cecil was there that day), there I am with my thumb stuck to this fn box, the guys LTAO, i was so pissed !!! Ended up one clown handed me a pair of pliers and I had to yank the staple out of the wood and THEN pull said staple from my thumb (fffer had gone though the top just to the side enough that i missed bone, and into more than a 1/2" of wood) I still have that staple in my install box.... now im really gonna look for old photos!!!

nico boom · Post by **nico boom** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:31 am

WE WANT PICS!
When reading your story; all I think about is

.. would there be any pics of those days?
[Not thinking about your thumb

]
I remember the PPI art series oh so well; one of my members had a big one, stereo.. don't remember the type, but it was BIG.
I had great succes with the normal black AM 4200's.
The liquid cooled amps never made it really; but they were photographed A LOT on shows just for their looks.

tipracer · Post by **tipracer** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:23 pm

you know i've got to get in touch with the guys that owned the stores, I'm sure there are some around but...
I just might have to rattle C's cage and get some

Stryker · Post by **Stryker** » Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:57 pm

300db's rofl then wipes coffee off of cpu screen!!!!
now lets see i've had many different setup's in years past. sadly most i never thought about taking pic's and the one's i did have are gone in a cpu crash. i did have a 79'mustang with a lear jet booster and some tweeters on the dash and 4 6x9's in a HUGE box in the back. thing was crazy loud. 89 astro van with 8 10 inch explods which was run by my 400zx when it was new in 98 i had an old sony eq in that setup it was an MKll or somethin it was old as hell still have it in a box somewhere.
what gave me the fever was my brother's 84 monte carlo ss when it was new. he had a massive system. it contained one of the very first sony cd players all it did was cd's no radio nothin but cd's. can't remember much about the brands but it hurt to breath and that was 87. good thread tom....

bruther · Post by **bruther** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:03 pm

early system....early 1999

TiEcs · Post by **TiEcs** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:23 pm

@Bruther: Nice colors dude

Remarcable how things have changed, now they try to hide the wires (just kidding)

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:46 am

Not sure if this and the LANZAR should be in the install section or not. Move them if you need.

This is what I had in my wifes car back in '99.

HU: Clarion DRX9175R
Sound proc: Clarion EQH5100
Amp: Clarion APA4160- Oh how I miss that amp.
Fronts: Clarion ##????## 5 x 7 plates
Subs: 2 PG XS104 at 2 ohms mono on chs 3/4 on said amp.

Never had any issues, heat, distortion, what be it w/that amp running it that way.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:01 am

hehe, i still have 3 of those clarion plate speakers...dunno what i will do with em!

gkitching · Post by **gkitching** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:26 am

Aahhh! I've sold more then a few of those exact same set-ups. haha That was THE set-up for chevy S-10's. A pair of 4x6 plates in the dash and 2 - 10's behind the seat.

I still love those XS series subs.

5.9Limited · Post by **5.9Limited** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:35 pm

My very first install was during my sophomore year in high school. I knew NOTHING about car audio, what was good and what wasn't. I was rocking a Sony Xplode headunit, a cheesy one at that with one set of pre outs and hardly any mixing options other than the "xplode" setting.

a cousin of a buddy of mine had a beat rockford 15" in a best buy bought box, with a 250 watt jensen amp. I bout the set up off 'em with a set of bottom o the barrel monster rca's for $150....

now like I said I knew nothing about car audio...and neither did the kid who sold it to me. when I asked him what a remote wire was...he told me " its so the amp doesn't drain your battery too much.." and followed taht with the wise instruction to NOT bother running a remote from the HU, and just use a little 3" jumper wire from the remote port , to the power port,,, and to not worry about the sparks. "Its no big deal" he said..

so I rocked the sub for a while, having to make sure to unplug the "remote wire" so that my battery didn't die.... I killed my batt. a half a dozen times before I asked someone knowledgable enough to know better why it was happening.

about a month or two after having the set up, I started the car, and went to plug in the system and ***POOF*** .. green sparks, puff of smoke, no more sound ... totally fried the internals of the amp. so I replaced it with a 250 watt Xplode amp and RAN A REMOTE WIRE.

so I thought I'd be the coolest kid at school right, I mean come on...a cheap rockford rocked by a xplode, in a '92 GMC Jimmy??/ thats kick a$$ right???????

sure enough...first day of school I roll in bummpin that thing to its max, and just as a crowd gathers.... my kid who lived up the street rolls in in his project car... a brand new jetta in electric blue, lowered , rims, custom interior, engine mods, Clarion HU, 3 vid screens, and a complete Lanzar set up that POUNDED.

needless to say he shut me right down...and I sold my sub the next day to start towards and upgrade. the kid who bought the set up installed it in his ride an blew the sub 2 days after it was in ..

I learned my lesson to say the least.

Post by **Wakeup** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:59 pm

5.9Limited wrote:My very first install was during my sophomore year in high school. I knew NOTHING about car audio, what was good and what wasn't. I was rocking a Sony Xplode headunit, a cheesy one at that with one set of pre outs and hardly any mixing options other than the "xplode" setting.

a cousin of a buddy of mine had a beat rockford 15" in a best buy bought box, with a 250 watt jensen amp. I bout the set up off 'em with a set of bottom o the barrel monster rca's for $150....

now like I said I knew nothing about car audio...and neither did the kid who sold it to me. when I asked him what a remote wire was...he told me " its so the amp doesn't drain your battery too much.." and followed taht with the wise instruction to NOT bother running a remote from the HU, and just use a little 3" jumper wire from the remote port , to the power port,,, and to not worry about the sparks. "Its no big deal" he said..

so I rocked the sub for a while, having to make sure to unplug the "remote wire" so that my battery didn't die.... I killed my batt. a half a dozen times before I asked someone knowledgable enough to know better why it was happening.

about a month or two after having the set up, I started the car, and went to plug in the system and ***POOF*** .. green sparks, puff of smoke, no more sound ... totally fried the internals of the amp. so I replaced it with a 250 watt Xplode amp and RAN A REMOTE WIRE.

so I thought I'd be the coolest kid at school right, I mean come on...a cheap rockford rocked by a xplode, in a '92 GMC Jimmy??/ thats kick a$$ right??????? sure enough...first day of school I roll in bummpin that thing to its max, and just as a crowd gathers.... my kid who lived up the street rolls in in his project car... a brand new jetta in electric blue, lowered , rims, custom interior, engine mods, Clarion HU, 3 vid screens, and a complete Lanzar set up that POUNDED.

needless to say he shut me right down...and I sold my sub the next day to start towards and upgrade. the kid who bought the set up installed it in his ride an blew the sub 2 days after it was in ..

I learned my lesson to say the least.

hehe...nice story! Loved the story!

5.9Limited · Post by **5.9Limited** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:11 pm

yeah Its always good for laugh among audio guys... its funny I've told the story to other guys taht have "kickin systems" and I usually get " so whats the big deal? thats not THAT bad right??"

my next install was much nicer..much better and got some respect from the lanzar king up the road from me.... he as a cool kid, set me straight on some stuff in my early days, and actually was doing competetions back then and was throwin me garb like shirts and banners and stuff... nice guy... , and I have pics to scan for that system story including my outlaw coming soon.

Post by **Wakeup** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:16 pm

nice...would love to see pics!
And BTW again, grats on your new setup!

xclusive · Post by **xclusive** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:23 am

Haha I new to forums but been doing my own installs for awhile. First car I had was a 1982 Nissan Stanza hatchback. I first started this when I the summer after my soph year in high shcool, 1989. What even got me into car audio was I went to a shop and priced out subs, a box, an amp and then installation and I thought the price was ridiculous so I figued I would try myself and see what happens.

I think I lucked up because of the hatchback and system actually came out pouding. My first subs was 2 Realistic 15's subs from Radio Shack (this is dating me...lol). I didnt even take into account cubic ft, I just removed the spare tire and measured as big as the hatch would take and height was as tall as it could go & still have covers for the hatch. I also added 5in midrange and tweeters in the same box as well and had some 3 way passive crossover

Next I had some 4in pvc pipe & just figured cut to 6inches in length would be good (no calculations what so ever). I put some home fiberglass insulation inside of the box and found some grey carpet on the side of road which I covered it in. It was being pushed by a sherwood 180 amp screwed to the box.

I had had one of the new alpine cd players which I just come out which back in those days I felt wiring harness was a waste of money since I didnt have any so I would just cut the factory wiring harness and hook up the radio. Well all I can say was that system pounded and I know I had to be helped out tremendoulsy by the hatchback. It could be heard coming down the block for sure.

Haha those were the days in high school. Well this was how I first got into car audio and havent looked back since!

Im trying to find some old pics of the car becasue I would love to see them again.

cyberpunky · Post by **cyberpunky** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:52 am

My first install was in 1979. I grew up pulling electronics apart but was lucky to have 2 neighbours who where seriously old school techs. One built his own TV in the 1950s and the other was professional tech, who had the most amazing hifi that he also built in the 1950s. it still pumps today. Anyway these guys took me under their wings and got me into basic electronics.

My brother got a car stereo for his 21st Bday, but he had no idea, so I had to fit it. It was a pioneer system that was component set up. Radio(1 unit) with separate cassette deck and an outboard amp(2 x20w). The radio was a shaft mount, but the cassette was a slimmer unit desgned to be mounted under dash. It was top of the range set up.

My first system was Pioneer keh-8000 cassette. At first I ran pioneer 6 inch 3 ways at front, but later added Alpine 6380(8 inch 3 ways) in the rear. II hadn't heard of Alpine then but salesman convinced me to have a listen. They had awesome bass for that era(before subs).

I later added an Arrow booster EQ/amp, that had led lights instead of sliders, and an auto EQ that totally messed up the sound. Was C cool though for the time. I think it was rated at 2 x 30w front and 2 x 80 w rear. It certainly got system pumping.

I may have won the first sound off in my country that year. A guy had his system pumping in the car park (on NYE at a beach party). Curious about his gear I started chatting. He had spent 3 times what I had but had no bass. Anyway next thing you know he wants me to crank mine, and he then turns his car off and we ended up all partying round my car that night. He couldn't believe how good my car sounded with the amount I had spent.

Anyway I don't have pics from back then, but I had that system for years.The Alpines I used for 17 years before foam surrounds died.

peace
Cyberpunky

M.Hendrix · Post by **M.Hendrix** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:20 pm

Hello all! I am new here (Thanks Bogart & dgoodhue) and have really enjoyed reading the last few days. I worked a stereo shop a couple yrs. back in the early 90's. Never could afford Phoenix Gold but knew they were nice! Well I have picked up a couple the last few months and look forward to experiencing the best first hand. Anyway I figured I would start with my first install back in '89. Eight 10" Kicker freeairs powered by 2 Series vii HiFonics Zeus amplifiers. All kinds of mids and highs powered by a Gemini and a Thor. (series vii also) Not much of an install but it was loud. LOL

deathcloud · Post by **deathcloud** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:23 pm

damn that looks oldschool. and the picture quality proves it hahah

MEMORY LANE -- Where did you start?

My old school pics