I Dont just work on Zs and Gs! lol Honda element intall pics...if you're bored :)
 

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:

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element1.JPG

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

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element2.JPG

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:

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element3.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element4.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element5.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element6.JPG

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:

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element7.JPG

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

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element8.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element9.JPG

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

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element10.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element11.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element12.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element13.JPG


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

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element14.JPG

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

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element15.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element16.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element17.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element18.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element19.JPG

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/element20.JPG

Awesome looking as usual.

Thats really nice!

Nice, clean install as always. Good work!

Bing, you're a madman!!! Looks great!

Might need you to install a nav unit for me in the near future :D


Kit

Great Job Bing,,,"as usual"....I always look forward to your next car so we can get pics here...."happy, happy", "joy, joy"...

Awesome

i wish i was in cali, dayum that's tight!! good work.

looks like you nicely elemented that element...

Bing, when you do subs like that on the floor, does the cover hold enough weight so that you can still use that areato load stuff onto, or would it damage the subs/amp. Is the cover for the subs hollow to allow the bass to go through, or solid?

thanks,
Peter

hmm i get this quesiton a lot, maybe i should take a pic of the grille from the bottom :) it helps to explain a lot of things.. its a wooden ring sort of with very heavy guage metal mesh stapled to it, adnt hen carpted over the top, so full yvented, and will support a decent amount of weight, prolly more thant he stock thin plastic floor, and unless you drop say a super heavy iron weight right ONTOP of where hte sub is, nothing is going to come close to histting hte sub, whcih sits below even the orange secondary floor below it

b

Why does it look like those comps are pointing up into the dash? Are their on axis response so bad that you need to place them like that? Or is it just the pictures?

I've noticed that you have done some really nice and stealthy installs with great components. Just out of curiousity, how much does this type of install cost? Lets just say a stealth install with a false floor, kick pods, custom dash(?), rewiring speakers, amp install, sound dampening, etc. With the product prices aside, how much can one expect to pay for just the installation & custom work?
Well, keep up the good work and keep the posts coming.

they are acutally almost completely ON axis, but as a function of the car's dash, when you aim them on axis, that what they look like, remember its a SUV, where you sit far off the ground and a LOT higher than say a Z, so if you think about it from a Zs perspective, yeah, htye kinda are pointing away from you, but thin of the seat is a good half a foot off the ground and you sit tall, :)

DLS speakres acutally excels On and OFF axis, whcih is why i love them so much :)

as far as cost, i dont charge as much as say a high end shop, labor to do this car, including the cost of all wiring, dampening, kick panels, etc etc...comes out to be around 1k

b

Id say you aren't charging enough. The kicks look really nice. I played around with my ADS speakers for a while trying to figure out how they best sounded, on or off axis. I really dont have much experience with DLS speakers but my ADS speakers sounded better(staging much higher) with the tweeters just off axis.

Anyway, looks good! Instal quality like that around Texas for that price is unheard of.

install quality around this price is hard to come by anywhere, i know this, infact, when i had a real shops, i would say our installers did poorer work for same money...1000 bucks would have gotten them dampening, and box with trim panels facing the back with maybe flush mounted amp on top of the box thast it, stock locations...we charged 400 bucks to do kicks a lone...and dampening this much would have been 500 bucks hehe

but no wi dont have an overhead to worry about and can do this becuase i enjoy it, so...if i can help people achieve something they normally cant financially achieve, and i can make a living at the same time, then why not ;)

+1

element? wtf??

lol j/p.

but its a tripple turboed 1500WHP element, bet you didnt know that alex ;)

b

Thats a really good price considering all the work that was "custom." Its really hard to find that kind of quality work for a good price. However, it is really easy to find mediocre to poor work for really expensive.