The Max

...farted?

Hah. I didn't realise I already responded to this last year, thinking this was a new thread. Stupid me. And I meant to say HPR 5W40, not 10W40. Don't want to mess that up on a winter's day.

I happily use Penrite full synthetic 10W40 on my 3.7L.

After a whole year, I'd be surprised.

...and I just realised looking at the photo that I stuffed up the polarity on the right rear channel, which I thought sounded out of phase to me at the time. Those wires should be in the order of white then grey (9 and 8), not grey then white!!! Fark! Now I have to pop the plastics off one more time. DAMN IT! Yes, I know I can invert it in the DSP but bad wiring is still bad wiring.

My initial thought would have been to mount behind the seats off the car's metal framework, like I did with my old Maxima. However, being a coupe, that makes it considerably difficult to do neatly and besides which, I just don't fancy the idea of screwing things into the wood backing of the seat. The fact all the sedans and coupes have those M6 studs in the boot floor for the optional factory Bose systems made it all possible and way easier. I'm much more comfortable knowing I didn't have to take a drill to any of the bodywork, though I did need to whip out the Dremel on the plastic well for the cut out to mount the industrial connector and the step-drill for the Neutrik USB panel socket. I'd still keep the mono block above ground, as it were, given it will definitely produce way more heat than your four channel. Put the two close together in a stack like I made would be asking for trouble without a cooling fan to force some more circulation in there.

It's covered by all the standard items in there - plastic well to form the flooring and then the stock boot carpet over the top. No need for any fans and whatnot. The ventilation behind the left guard in that photo is more than enough. The Rockford Fosgate had a much larger heatsink so it dissipated a lot more heat than the Arc XDi v2 does and the floor never got more than just a little warm without deforming the plastic at all. The reality is though, I'd expect that much because this amp is only pushing frequencies above 150Hz so it's effectively using less power anyway and that translates to less heat dissipation compared to running full range. The sub amp (my trusty old Sony XM-1002HX bridged) is what gets considerably hot and that's the one which is bolted to the sub enclosure, which I'll show in photos of the finished product later. Keeping in mind though, the Sony amp is a class A and they invariably run much hotter than class D anyway. Nevertheless, heat was the main reason why I didn't want to go for the 6-channel XDi v2 amp. It would've been nice to throw all my eggs in the one basket and it would just fit as it is the same dimensions as the old Rockford Fosgate but the heat would definitely warp the plastic well not to mention the amp would fry the output stage for sure.

As promised, here is a photo giving a fairly general view of the install. Towards the back seat, you will see I have installed a 3mm polycarbonate sheet which has the positive power distribution block on the top side and the negative distribution block on the underside. The blocks are bolted to each other to minimise any likelihood of them breaking free from one another, even if the polycarbonate were to deteriorate over time. The 2GA cable is cable tied at the entry point of the block on the polycarbonate sheet for that extra safeguard. What you're seeing with the cabling is before I covered everything back up in mesh for neatness. The white connectors you see in the middle are part of the Han industrial connector for the external subwoofer enclosure connection. The larger is the 100A power connector, the smaller carries the remote turn on wire (green) and mono line audio output to feed the sub amp attached to the enclosure. The short USB lead is for the Neutrik USB panel mount socket that's part of the plastic flooring. The amp is significantly smaller than the Rockford Fosgate, which was held in place by those four studs still poking out. The reason why they were welded in place was because the plate would have to be affixed atop the other plate first before bolting in the amp as it covered the entire surface of the plate and the access holes for the fixing nuts. The power and speaker cables were shortened as they're located on opposite ends between the two amps. Ferrules had to be used on the 4GA power cables going into the amp because the one thing Arc Audio screwed up was the power connector block. The holes are sized with little tolerance for only the wire to just slip in if you can keep all the strands straight. Otherwise, shaggy copper mops will ensue. Pain in the arse. Besides which, I like for the insulation to slide in as well for more bite and friction. At any rate, using ferrules sorted that out. The length of the cable was cut such that with a little hot air to set the PVC sheathing at a right angle, it allows for the cable to push against the grommet, effectively sandwiching it between the amp and the grommet to ensure the cables stay in place and don't vibrate or wiggle their way out. Another gland is in place to clamp the speaker cable in place, terminated to the Phoenix connectors. Simple enough. Nothing moves, nothing vibrates, nothing about this is unreliable because nothing is less fun than having to take things apart again! Especially after I seem to have misplaced the flange nuts that hold down the plastic well. I thought I had everything sitting safely on the boot floor but as long as they're lost outside of the car and not going to be found rattling inside the boot, I'm happy enough to replace them. I sniffed around with a magnetic pickup tool and came up with nothing so let's hope. I'll have another photo next weekend when I finally get the covers back on to show the final product.

Got it all in today and as expected, it sounds significantly better than the old Rockford Fosgate amp. Much cleaner noise floor, no rough edges in the top end of the audio. I wish I had done this in the first place but then again, these newer v2 amps are reportedly a vast improvement over the v1, so perhaps it was worth the wait. Photos of the install coming soon.

Put it to you this way. If you like how it sounds right now and it's working as it should, there's no reason for my opinion to change yours after the fact. Stick with it, trust your ears.

I've worked with Italian electrical engineers, as in their home country of Italy, and it's safe to say that laziness is well ingrained in their work culture - half-arsed efforts, arrogance getting in the way of support. Cruise the forums and you'll find that people who have questions to ask about their Audison products either go unanswered or eventually, though poorly, answered. The processor is a bit of an unfinished piece of work, in my opinion. The Bit Play HD is an excellent example of how they got really close but not quite, considering they didn't even incorporate something as fundamental as gapless playback with FLAC files! What won me over with the Arc Audio PS8 was that there is a greater amount of adjustments available to the end user, particularly in the way of more crossover options and a parametric EQ as opposed to only a 31-band graphic EQ. The more options I have available to me, the more control I have over my sound and the happier that makes my ears. Furthermore, while the op-amps chosen in the original design are excellent to begin with, the designer has gone to the extent where he allows the discerning user to even replace the op-amps with something else that's pin compatible, all without voiding warranties. There aren't many players in the market that I know who will allow you to do this. My only disappointment with the PS8, the f**kers still haven't produced a remote display/control surface so I can perform adjustments on the fly without a laptop plugged in. That said, it's not a deal breaker and they're always quick to respond to any support emails, happy to get as technical as one can handle, no trade secrets, as was the case when I was initially setting up the unit. Along with their firmware update which was in response to all the bugs found out in the field, I'm impressed with how well they back their product.

I don't trust Italian electronics. I'm sticking to my PS8.

The headunit is definitely partly to blame but I've done side-by-side testing of this amp against my Rockford and the difference is chalk and cheese so I can only imagine the improvement it will be when installed.

After hearing this amp in action, albeit driving a different set of speakers, I expect the top end to lack that DC-offset type of white noise that's chained to the higher notes played. At the end of the day, a car is a harsh environment for audio but even my old Maxima sounded better, so I'm aiming for that old standard.

With the Aussie dollar continuing its steady decline against the US greenback, I figured it was now or never. Stay tuned. I'm replacing the shitty sounding Rockford Fosgate amp with this equally brutal (but cleaner) puppy.

Perfect. That's exactly what I have except previous owner gutter bashed them before I imported it. PM me your price.

I might be interested. Are the 19s in the same design as the second photo in the first post here or the first?

Furry nuts then. That answers that! I'll sit quietly in the corner now.

Nope. Rears are 245-40 and fronts are 225-45 - as specified by Nissan for the V36 SP. Keep in mind though, maybe the V36 SP has the good fortune of being designed with such an outer circumference and the V35s need to be a smaller outer circumference by contrast. I don't know the specs for a V35 so I guess it would have to be a lower profile and would harshen up the ride a little.

That's because it's a Ford. Seriously, the factory 19" rims on my V36 are just fine and comfy with 40 and 45 profile tyres.

Trust me, if anyone knew of a better source (or if there was a God), you would've been told by now. Not sure which dealership you spoke to but in Sydney, I know my favourite spares guy at Steve Jarvin gets stuff in for me within two weeks, typically. That said, I've never had to get any glass, so it could take longer being a more fragile and larger item. Like I said, if you want this sorted out in the least possible time, spend big at a dealership. Think of it another way. The longer you wait for a cheaper solution, the sooner you could've had one on the way over from Japan. Personally, I'd spend the big bucks because it's a protective component of the vehicle - keeps the water out - and I don't fancy the idea of a mouldy, smelly car.

I don't believe there ever was a how to. Only a who can as in whom to deal with to have it converted for you.

In my experience and very humble electrical engineer's opinion (i.e. I have no expertise in the field of tyres), Kumho don't produce anything high end when it comes to road tyres.

I'd say you're hearing the noise because it's pretty average rubber you have there. Once I got rid of my Kumho KU31s and replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres, no more screeching around bends.

That's it. I'm thinking of maybe sneaking a strong magnet behind the dash somewhere to hold up my phone as a means of eliminating the need for a phone mount. I'm not a fan of opening holes in the car wherever they can be avoided. What I am a fan of is keeping it looking as stock standard as possible. Even my alarm antenna/indicator is hidden behind one of the A-pillar panels and yet the LED is bright enough to shine through. I've ordered the MimicsX2 so we'll see how that pans out. All going well, this will be the second last piece in the puzzle. What I'd like ultimately is for Sony to release a ZX series network walkman that has an Android OS version of at least 4.2 so that I can control my tunes remotely for once.