[16psibrick]

ITS TRUE! I dont just work on Zs and Gs lol...got to do an install in a car I have never worked on before, a Honda Element.

It was a eccentric car, some aspects made it really easy to install, other parts did not...but overall it turned out decent

goals:

1. Great sound quality
2. Total stealth (ability to carry skis snowboards across the back)

kets get started:

A kenwood 6019 in dash double din headunit was installed in the factory location with factory brackets, the bracket that came with the HU was trimmed to fill in the space in between:



A remote bass knob was flushed into the lower center console to provide easy tuning of the subbass:



Front stage consists of a pair of DLS Ultiamte Iridium 6.5" midbass, and a pair of DLS ultiamte Nobelium tweeters. They are in fiberglass kick panels covered in black suede:









moving on to the back, i had the customer take out the rear seat so i can work on the car easier, so thast why they arent there here is the view normally, as you can see, nothing is showing, and the stock rubber mat provides stealth and protection against the elements:



take out the rubber mat and here is the new floor, flushed like the old floor was





remove the center vented grille cover though, and a DLS refernce series RA50 5 cahnnel amp and two Elemental 11kv.3 10" subs peer at you, trimmed in exterior matching copper suede the RA50 is active bi-amping the front stage wtih 75 watts per driver, while powering the subs with over 400 real world watts










overall,, sounds great, the stage is at right above dash level, and decently focused int he center considering hte tall interior, and the bass blends well overal

here are of course some behind the scene pics:

the spare tire well subbox and amp rack with the fake floor off, showing that the entire well is dampened and wires tied up neatly



dampening of all the doors, and the two piece tail gate is done by a combinatio of Edead v1se and V4

[Vestax]

Sweet!

[notacop]

Now to convince my wife to let me do that to hers....



All she wants is the screen in the dash though.


It would be a crime to have a nice screen like that on stock speakers though!

it's a crime the trim piece isn't painted sunset orange pearl, too...it's also too bad i broke up with the girl who's father painted it!

can't wait to hear it tomorrow

[~Magick_Man~]

amazing work as usual.

did you use the v4 to cover the holes in the door skin?
i am just curious as to why you put the v1se over the v4.

but either way you did a great job.

~Magick_Man~

[Typo_Knig]

Skillz, and lots of them. You got 'em.

The question is, can you still hose out the interior like Element owners claim they can do?

[aerodynamicsgo!]

Originally Posted by Typo_Knig

Skillz, and lots of them. You got 'em.

The question is, can you still hose out the interior like Element owners claim they can do?

AUGHHH!!!! You can't hose out the Element. People who do that are gonna ruin their car. It was myth perpetuated by stupid car salesmen and because of the plastic floor!!

ok...rant over.


Great stuff Bing! I just finished my own Element....took FOREVER. I'm most impressed with your trunk install. I couldn't do one with my equipment because of the spare tire bracket in the middle of the cavity without dremeling out the bracket. (two 9.2 and a 11Ov.2)


I could not live with the driver-side kickpanel tho. With my size 15 feet, I need all the footspace I can get right there. I'm glad you're able to get the soundstage above the dash with just kickpanels, though. I had to install a CDT upstage unit to be satisfied.

[Jacob Speers]

Nice looking, clean install. but those speakers really need to be run active to present their best sound. (and I don't know why they didn't go with a DLS A7 amplifier)

however, that install looks great!

how good is the bass (sq, output, whatever) with that rubber/plastic mat in place?

also, that copper suede looks amazing (at least in the pictures)

[16psibrick]

Originally Posted by Jacob Speers

Nice looking, clean install. but those speakers really need to be run active to present their best sound. (and I don't know why they didn't go with a DLS A7 amplifier)

however, that install looks great!

hmm...someone didnt read the post haha

they front stage is being run fully active, as you know, the all DLS 5 channel amps, from the CA51 all the way to the A7 is fully active capapble.

this particular RA50 is running the front stage running full active

as far as why not an A7, firstly even this 5 channel was a bit more than what hte customer originally wanted to spend, so A7 would be out, and secondly, its too wide to do this kind of install in i think

honestly, the bass doesnt get affect at all by the rubber mat, i havea f ull size mat in my own car over the sub and honestly, doesnt affect anything...believe it or not as i always say" bass will find a way"

b

[16psibrick]

yeah V4 is over the holes, and then V1se the rest, narturally there is some overlap, and as why the v1se is over the V4, common sense IMO, since ther is a lot more V1se, chances are if anyhing needs to be removed, its the V1se, so...if the V1se was under the V4, i would have to peal back the V4 everytime i need to get off a piece of the V1se

[Kast78]

Awesome job on that install. I love my 11kv.3s so much...they sound as great as they look.

[jpeaslee]

As a hardcore element owner, i must say you CANNOT hose out the interior, aerodynamics is is right on. Honda doesn't endorse that, but for some reason, most honda salesmen are not well educated on the element. You can actually screw up the car by doing this. They are easy to clean though. if you just take a sponge and don't get it too wet and don't get to much water under the back of the front seats you'll be great Oh, and dont' get silly string on the interiors and then let it sit in the sun for a few hours... you WILL kill the 'comedians' that decided to do it.

[jpeaslee]

speaking of which, 16psibrick, you should direct the owner of that wonderful car to elementownersclub.com so they can show off their new setup with some other people that will truely appreciate it.

already on elementownersclub, just wanted to wait to take my own pics so as to not use any of bing's trademarked shots

**** that orange suede looks siiiiiiiick

[Audiology]

bing, how long did it take for you to install all of that? do you have assistants helping you?

[Typo_Knig]

Just so all of you know....I AM AWARE THAT YOU CAN NOT HOSE OUT AN ELEMENT.

I was making a sarcastic joke, something a little difficult to convey outside of face to face conversation....

[jpeaslee]

my mistake. You'd be amazed at how many people really think you can. "oh, look honey, thats that car you can clean out with a hose." etc. I should know sarcasm when i see it, especially with as sarcastic as I am. Oh well.

[Typo_Knig]

Yeah, I think I need to be more obvious about my dry humor <sarcasm>.

[16psibrick]

hehe this install took 3 full days, working pretty late every day... next time though, knowing what to expect, 3 normal days would work...

off to pick up the customer

b