Conversion 2
This client really wanted his audio system to match the performance of his engine. So we got to work quickly with a practical, yet really integrated design. Upon researching options for his audio system, he found an installation on Joe Rogan’s Porsche GT3. It featured some simple carbon fiber enclosure behind the front seats. In effort to reduce weight, Porsche removes the rear seats in the GT3. This leaves a pretty large area in which we can use for integration without loosing any functionality. Adding weight with aftermarket product was not a huge concern for the client, but we took consideration in this when choosing materials for fabrication. The subwoofer enclosure was made from a skeleton of Russian Baltic Birch. Fleece was then stretched around the skeleton and saturated with fiberglass resin followed by fiberglass chop mat. The enclosure was body worked and a sprayed with Polyester Primer to prep for carbon fiber. The enclosure was then skinned in carbon fiber and vacuum bagged to conform the carbon fiber to the shape of the enclosure. The carbon fiber was then layered with multiple layers of clear epoxy and then finished off with several layers of clear coat. Two satin black racing stripes were painted down the spines of the enclosure which is complimented with two Porsche red pin stripes. The center insert for the enclosure was wrapped in matching Alcantara suede. It features a RGB backlit grille that is inset into the design. This is not a port, as both separate enclosure are completely sealed. Two Focal Utopia M 10” subwoofers were loaded into the subwoofer enclosure. Finally two leather matched end caps make the transition form the carbon fiber enclosure to the OEM rear panels. We used Sound Shield to sound deaden the rear panels surrounding the subwoofer enclosure. The enclosure is firmly bolted to the factory child seat brackets that were bolted to the upper rear subfloor. The A-Pillars were modified to house a set of Focal Utopia TBM tweeters and 3.5 Utopia M Midrange drivers. These pillars were rewrapped in matching Alcantara suede. We chose to relocate the midrange since it typically sits above the 8” midbass driver in the lower part of the door panel. As you sit in the drivers seat, your leg completely covers this area. We then fabricated 1/2” acrylic speaker adapters to house the Focal Utopia 8” mid bass into the factory speaker location. The door was fully sound treated with Hushmat and Sound Shield. Blackhole Tile was also used on the inner part of the door panel to eliminate any backwave reflections in the door cavity. Under the hood you could find two Mosconi Pro 5/30 and a Mosconi Pico 2 amplifier that ran our entire setup completely active. One Mosconi Pro 5/30 powered our front tweeters, bridged one mid bass driver and powered one subwoofer and the other 5/30 powered our front midrange, bridged one mid bass driver and powered one subwoofer. The Pico 2 amplifier powered our OEM rear speakers. An integrated design was implemented to incorporate carbon fiber, matching leather, red stitching, Alcantara suede, red and black acrylic, and RGB accent lighting. Two end caps were fabricated, carbon fiber skinned, then resin infused to create the finished part. The upper inserts were wrapped in OEM matching leather with a matching french stitch to mimic the dash board. All of these inserts magnetize for quick serviceability of our equipment. Amplifier settings are still 100% accessible without removing any beauty panels. A false floor was made to conceal the system fusing, Pico 2 amplifiers and Porsche tools. The entire amp rack was trimmed with acrylic and lit with RGB lights. All of our equipment runs through a Mosconi 8to12 Aerospace DSP. We are using 4 separate presets. Preset 1 is the OEM radio. A NavTV Zen-V interface replaced the OEM Bose amplifier to give us a clean digital signal directly to our processor. Preset 2 features an AMAS96K high resolution bluetooth streaming source for a phone up to 24bit/96kHz. Preset 3 uses an analog Audioquest cable that connects our Astell & Kern SP2000 DAP. Preset 4 is a source where all speakers are attenuated to act as a valet mode. All of these presets are controlled by a Mosconi DSP remote which was mounted into the headliner of the vehicle. Matching Alcantara suede trim was used to blend the mount into the headliner.
