A client from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contacted Audio Designs & Custom Graphics about his 1970 Chevelle. He was in the market for a great-sounding audio upgrade and had heard good things about us. He bought the vehicle in another state and was able to have it delivered to us on its way back home.
The Chevelle Build Starts With Client Contact
We could tell early on in the conversation that we were going to get along well, as he appreciated great-sounding music and he liked things done the right way. Once we took delivery of the car, we went over it from head to toe. Our team knows classic muscle cars quite well, but we tailor every audio system according to the needs of the client. Once we looked over the car, we worked up what we felt was the client’s best solution and presented it to him. He liked our idea, and it was off to the races.
Dashboard Remains Stock For A Clean Look
It was agreed upon early in the design phases that we could do modifications to the vehicle with the understanding that the finished product had to look like Chevy built it that way. In the dash, we changed nothing when it came to the stock radio and installed a Kenwood KMM-BT312U stereo system under the driver’s seat in a custom enclosure. The Kenwood unit is only used for the customer’s radio, as his iPhone 6 will be his main source of music.
Audison BitOne Allows Flexible Sound Contouring
The Audison BitOne DRC is conveniently mounted within the driver’s reach, giving him full control of his system.
We installed a Nav-TV Steer Blue to stream music wirelessly over Bluetooth to the Audison BitOne.1 processor. The processor has multiple inputs, so simply pressing on the volume knob on the BitOne.1 toggles between the radio and his iPhone 6. We installed the controller for the processor underneath the dash in a custom trim panel, giving the client easy access to the controls. This processor is a unique piece in that it is not only the hub for the music, but also allows incredible fine-tuning of the system. Each speaker in the front sound stage, including the sub, can be individually dialed in with 30 bands of equalization, digital time delay, crossover settings and gain levels. In the hands of a well-trained tuner, the BitOne.1 can take a normal-sounding stereo system and make it sound amazing.
Hertz And Audiomobile Gear Have This Chevelle Rocking!
The musical signal now flows downstream to three amplifiers, a Hertz HDP1 and two HDP4s. We installed two Audiomobile GTS2112 12” subwoofers in a custom enclosure under the rear deck that receive more than 1,000 watts of clean power from the HDP1. We aimed the subwoofers up at the rear deck, which we modified to allow the bass to freely enter the interior of the vehicle. We installed a set of Hertz DCX-170 6.5” coaxial speakers in the rear deck that get powered off the rear channels on the Kenwood head unit. They are only used on rare occasions—when rear seat passengers are present. We made a custom rear deck with our unique pressed metal grilles, giving it a clean, classy look.
Hertz Mille Speakers For The Ultimate In Sound Reproduction
We bridged one of the HDP4 amplifiers to supply 250 watts per channel of clean power to the Hertz Mille ML1650.3 6.5” midbass speakers that we installed in custom kick panels up front. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that they blend right in with the interior, from the custom-made grille to the black vinyl that matches the rest of the interior.
When it came time to choose midranges and tweeters, Audio Designs & Custom Graphics went back to Hertz and installed their ML700.3 3” midrange and ML280.3 28mm tweeters in the dash. If you are familiar with Chevelle dashes, you know they were never designed to hold speakers of this size. We modified the dash area extensively, including custom grilles to continue the theme we started with the kick panels.
For the ultimate in sound quality, we fabricated enclosures for the midranges and then used a D’Amore Engineering SMD signal generator to find the resonant frequency of the enclosure. That was to help determine the crossover frequency of the driver, keeping it in its optimum performance range. The second HDP4 amplifier powers the four speakers in the dash, giving each of them 150 watts per channel.
Compustar Security System With Drone Protects The Chevelle While Unattended
The Compustar security systems keeps the Chevelle safe while the owner is away.
As this Chevelle is very valuable, we installed a Compustar RFP2W901-SS security system with the optional Drone module. The customer can now monitor his Chevelle anywhere from his smartphone and receive alerts to any tampering of the vehicle. We added a backup battery for even more protection, and harnessed the system with Tesa tape for a factory appearance. If you look at the picture from underneath the steering column, you will see that the wiring looks factory and that the alarm brain is nowhere to be seen. We spent significant time on this aspect, since what good is an alarm system if it is easily found and defeated?
Vehicle Protection Is Paramount In This Chevelle Build
Finally, you will see that we go overboard in protecting the paint, body and interior of the vehicle from damage while it’s in our care. We aim to give every client the vehicle back in the same condition we received it.
Stop By Today To Experience The Audio Designs & Custom Graphics Difference
If you own a classic car, love music and would like to have a great-sounding audio system that blends well with your vehicle, we invite you to stop by Audio Designs & Custom Graphics. Our team of highly skilled and expertly trained staff will work with you to design and build the system you have always wanted. And, while you are here, ask us for a tour of our state-of-the-art fabrication center.
You can also contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.
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