Author Topic: Hub-car sound system  (Read 14960 times)

hdhardyb

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Hub-car sound system
« on: March 01, 2008, 20:40:12 »
I am installing the hub-car sound system in my car.
http://www.hub-car.com/pagode_w113_hifi/?L=1

This system is also installed in the Mechatronik car, which has been discussed in another forum. The installation takes some time but is quite doable. The system sounds and looks great. Will provide more detail later. Here are two pictures.

-Thomas







« Last Edit: March 02, 2008, 05:32:45 by 280SL71 »

hauser

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2008, 22:04:00 »
Thomas, would you happen to know if the footwell speaker system will fit with the Fridgeking A/C unit?

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

Kemal

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2008, 02:49:21 »
Thank you,Thomas

I would love to learn more on this.

kemal
280SL
manual LHD 69
Kemal
280SL
Manual LHD69

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2008, 15:24:04 »
quote:
Originally posted by hauser

Thomas, would you happen to know if the footwell speaker system will fit with the Fridgeking A/C unit?


I can't say for sure (car has no AC), but I doubt it. Here is a picture of the right side (still working on it), so you can see for yourself. If it doesn't fit, you could contact Christian Haag (christian dot Haag at hub-car dot com), to see if they have a custom solution.




Thomas
Cambridge, MA
280SL 1969, 4 speed, Red/Black

jameshoward

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2008, 11:01:26 »
thomas,

I've looked at their website and - incredibly poor translation aside - their stuff looks interesting if pricey. Do you know if it's possible to buy the speaker housings alone and if so how much? I am slowly moving towards putting in my amp; along with all the other stuff I need to do...suspension, sort out engine mounts, etc.

James
James Howard
1966 LHD 230SL

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2008, 20:07:37 »
quote:
Originally posted by jameshoward

thomas,

I've looked at their website and - incredibly poor translation aside - their stuff looks interesting if pricey. Do you know if it's possible to buy the speaker housings alone and if so how much? I am slowly moving towards putting in my amp; along with all the other stuff I need to do...suspension, sort out engine mounts, etc.

James



Don't know, you should contact hub-car directly. Please share their answer with us. What I can tell you from my own experience is that the housing is made of GFK fiberglass and comes naked. Hub-car will cover it with any leather or MB-Tex, and put a color-matched speaker grill in, but they charge 150 Euros for that (in my case). Like you said, it is not a cheap solution.








Thomas
Cambridge, MA
280SL 1969, 4 speed, Red/Black

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2008, 18:04:43 »
quote:
Originally posted by kemal shah

Thank you,Thomas

I would love to learn more on this.

kemal
280SL
manual LHD 69



Ok, here is more information, as promised.

I had two objectives:

1.   I wanted to get decent sound, and
2.   The installation should be “minimally invasive”, so that changes can be undone.

The only solution I could find was the Hub-car system . After some discussion with Christian Haag at Hub-car, I decided to buy the “Sound Konzept Eco”, which is their middle of the line system.

Here is an important piece of information, which I only learned after I opened the box: To install the Hub-car system, you normally have to cut big holes into the sheet metal for the 165 mm front speakers in the footwell.  I didn’t want to do that, because my car is very original, and it didn’t feel right. I was almost ready to send the system back, when Christian Haag told me that he had found and tested flat speakers that don’t require any cutting of metal. These speakers are the CW171 from the Italian brand Ciare:
http://www.ciare.com/pdf/catalogo/CW171.pdf
These are amazing speakers. The mounting depth is only 38 mm, so they fit exactly into the Hub-car footwell housing, which you can see on the previous pictures. They achieve the small mounting depth by using strong phase-opposed neodymium magnets. The sound may not be as good as from much deeper speakers, but in my opinion it still is quite fantastic.
 
Hub-car works with a few shops in Germany that do the installation of their system, but none in the US. I therefore installed the front speaker system myself. This was quite doable even though I am not at all experienced with such things. Actually, it was fun. However, Hub-car doesn’t provide any detailed instructions for the installation, so you have to figure out many things yourself. That said, Christian Haag has always answered questions very quickly.

The housing is made of GFK fiberglass and you have to cut out the openings for the tweeter and the lever for the hood (on the left side). This was easy to do. However, keep in mind that you should wear a mask when you work with fiberglass because the dust isn’t god for you lungs. I had to grind down the material a little here and there, to make it fit perfectly. I also had to bend (very slightly) the steel plate on which the speakers are mounted. To mount the steel plate with the speaker on it in the footwell, I had to drill 4 little screw holes into the sheet metal. This is the only “permanent” modification I had to make. I put weatherproofing material under the steel plate to further reduce/avoid vibration. The figure below shows the housing with cut-outs and the tin foil capacitor, which is the high pass filter for the tweeter.

I was a little concerned that the speaker housing would take away too much space in the footwell. The housing is about 4.5 cm (almost 2 inches) thick. This is noticeable but it doesn’t bother me, even though my car has a stick shift. It should never be a problem in Pagodas with automatic transmission.

After I installed the front speaker I ran out of time. Gernold Nisius is now installing the rest of the system (mainly the amplifier and main capacitor) for me.



Thomas
Cambridge, MA
280SL 1969, 4 speed, Red/Black

Martijn

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2008, 13:34:06 »
Hello Thomas,

I am very interested in your project. I am also thinking about installing these footwell speakers from Hub-car. When I bought my car it came with some loose Pioneer speakers which are placed behind the seats. The sound quality is very poor. That's why I would like to upgrade my sound system.

Would you post some more pictures if your project is finished? If I understand you correctly, you also ordered the subwoofer. Please post some pictures of this too and tell us about your experiences with it.

Martijn
Martijn

1967 250 SL - 4-speed manual - dark blue 332

paulr

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2008, 14:09:22 »
infinity do the same footwell speaker set up, but it does not bulge out like this one. Sounds great too.

tdun824259

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2008, 20:41:21 »
Thomas,

Are you using an original head unit, or a newer radio?

Thanks

Tim Dunagan
1971 280 SL

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2008, 22:09:21 »
quote:
Originally posted by tdun824259

Thomas,

Are you using an original head unit, or a newer radio?

Thanks

Tim Dunagan
1971 280 SL


I am using an amplifier that is hidden under the covers behind the seats to drive the footwell speakers and the subwoofer. The amplifier is connected with an ipod in the console between the seats. Will post some pictures tomorrow. I keep the Becker Europa and the speaker in the dashboard for the looks and the original sound.

jameshoward

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #11 on: June 05, 2008, 01:40:21 »
I have also put an amp under my seat. I have used the original becker Europa and have taken the MP3 player lead from the back of the radio under the carpet and in throught the bottom of the ashtray.

Here's the thread with the amp. The way the ipod lead was installed was copied off (I think) Ed Cave's install. Do a search for the thread and you'll find it easily.

http://index.php?topic=7823
James Howard
1966 LHD 230SL

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #12 on: June 08, 2008, 22:24:59 »
quote:
Originally posted by Martijn

Hello Thomas,

I am very interested in your project. I am also thinking about installing these footwell speakers from Hub-car. When I bought my car it came with some loose Pioneer speakers which are placed behind the seats. The sound quality is very poor. That's why I would like to upgrade my sound system.

Would you post some more pictures if your project is finished? If I understand you correctly, you also ordered the subwoofer. Please post some pictures of this too and tell us about your experiences with it.

Martijn




Hi Martijn: Here is how it looks in the back of my car. The subwoofer is hidden below the amplifier. I can pull it out and take a picture, but you can see that also on the hub-car web site, I believe. I don't think the subwoofer is absolutely great per se, but I am very happy with the overall sound, and so is my wife, which is more important.

BTW, the big bottle is a capacitor. I haven't connected that yet. It must be charged and discharged carefully whenever you disconnect the battery, which is too much hassle for me, because I normally disconnect the battery when I don't use the car for a while. It seems that the capacitor is not absolutely needed anyhow. People say it protects the battery and improves the bass, but I think it is fine without it.  




Martijn

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2008, 14:03:37 »
Hi Thomas,

Thanks for the pictures. It looks nice. I see that the cables are going through the beams of the chassis. Did you do that yourself or were the holes already there? Another question: is the subwoofer box made out of wood or plastics?

The function of the capacitor according Wikipedia:
"Capacitors are used to store extra energy for the amplifier to draw on demand. Capacitors are useful because they can reduce the voltage loss (small margin) on the other electrical components in the car. These large capacitors may not cure headlight and/or interior light dimming as this is a sign of too little amperage from the alternator. A capacitor is only good so far as the audio system isn't trying to pull too much from the electrical system. A capacitor doesn't provide more power, it's designed to 'stiffen' the voltage to the amp, nothing else. If the current isn't there, a cap won't help. The alternator must have at least 20% more amperage power than the entire vehicle and sound system combined for a capacitor to be of benefit which is ironically the same requirements for an amp to be efficient. A rule of thumb is that 0.5 farad of capacitance is needed for every 500 watts of power in your audio system. A capacitor does not affect sound in any way. It is strictly for power conditioning."

Martijn
Martijn

1967 250 SL - 4-speed manual - dark blue 332

hdhardyb

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Re: Hub-car sound system
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2008, 18:48:17 »
quote:
Originally posted by Martijn

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for the pictures. It looks nice. I see that the cables are going through the beams of the chassis. Did you do that yourself or were the holes already there? Another question: is the subwoofer box made out of wood or plastics?

Martijn



Hi Martijn: Gernold Nisius of SL-Tech put the cables in and drilled the holes. I guess you can do it yourself but I don't have the right tools for that. Of course, you don't absolutely have to drill the holes. You can also put the cables between the chassis and the wooden covers. The subwoofer box is made of fiberglass, as far as I can tell. It is definitely not wood.

Thanks for the info on the capacitors. That is interesting and actually confirms what I also found. It may be a different story for a 1000 Watt amplifier, but mine has "only" 200 Watts.  

-Thomas