Went Deeper(er) off the Deep End

Within a few months of purchasing my ‘21 KDSS Venture I went ahead and pulled the speakers, added amplification, subwoofer, and finally DSP.

Went with Morel Tempo Ultra 692’s in the front, Morel Tempo Ultra 602s in the rear, Morel MPS 400.4 amplifier, Gladen RC1200 C1 for the amplifier, and ARC Audio PS8-Pro DSP. Tried multiple subwoofers beginning with a Focal and ending with a JL Audio 12W6 HO Wedge.

Owing to a pretty janky initial install of the Morel and Gladen stuff, went to a shop here in Hawaii to have a complete rewiring and sound deadening of my system as the subwoofer channel kept dropping out which was driving me batty.

Stayed with Morel as honestly the Tempo Ultras are amazing and I think untouchable for the money, but with our 5G’s being able to accommodate a 9 inch midbass with little modification, stepped all the way up to the Morel Elate Carbon Pro 93a’s, a Mosconi One 100.6 to drive the front stage (3 way active), a Mosconi Pico to drive the rear Morel Tempo Ultra 602s, and a retuning of the ARC DSP.

While I just got my 4Runner back Friday, all in all it is pretty great. I will honestly say that the Elate’s are not 6 times better than the Tempo Ultras, but knew that going in. However, the blend from the 9 inch in the doors to the 12W6 is utterly superb.

Pretty soon I am going to go ahead and pull the factory H/U and replace it with either the Sony ES 10 inch or Stinger as it offers an Optical output to send to the ARC. Thanks to Hawaii being the land of 4Runners, they have tons of experience pulling the H/U from post ‘20 4Runners.

Also, going to have pillars made once I have more time as currently the MM3 midbass is in the factory tweeter location and the Carbon Alto tweeter is on the A Pillar.

 

Glad to know the Morel Elate Carbon Pros fit! I have a 2016 4Runner and planning on doing the same, including squeezing in the 9" up front.

I see the adapter for the 9". Anythings to keep in mind when putting them in? Space being ok for sound absorption, window?

How do you like the tweeters off-axis on the panels? Looks pretty clean! I was thinking of the 3" on the factory dash location and using pods right on the A-Pillar, closer to the windshield aimed at the listening position.

 

All in all it really sounds incredible. I too wrestled with the tweeter position, but as a stopgap until pillars are done, it is really good. Guessing the ARC DSP no doubt helped.

Will have to ask the shop here about the adapter and deadener. Really took their time and did it right.
It ended up taking 9 days (7 days working) to get my 4Runner back, but the initial install is trash. I should upload the video the shop did of the install done back in ‘21.

 

Just to make sure, it is the tweeter that is on the A Pillar. The Carbon Alto tweeter is huge. The MM3 midrange is where the factory tweeter is on the dash.

 

Yeah, totally! I already have the three-way set waiting.

Here's a thread I started where I tried to look at different amp combos just in case you're interested. For future use, of course. Lol.

I'll start a build thread at some point. This will be the 2nd time I've gutted the interior to start a fresh.
Here are some pics from the 1st time.

I'm still early in the 2nd build. (Pics)
So far:

• Dynamat Xtreme
• 5 layers of Second Skin Spectrum brushed on

Next up:

• Adding Resonix Closed Cell Foam
• Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV)
• Resonix Fiber Mat for the absorption

We'll see what fits where.

 

I totally read that thread! Holy crap have you been doing some work. That is super impressive how much deadening you have done.

The shop wanted to do two Mosconi Pros along with the Elates, but with all of it, it was getting pretty close to $15000. That said, spoke to them yesterday about swapping to the Pros or maybe keeping the Mosconi One 100.6 to drive the tweeter, midrange, and rear Tempo Ultras and find a stronger Mosconi Pro to ideally drive the MM9’s and the subwoofer which I am gonna switch to a Morel Supremo pretty soon.

 

I like the idea of exploring the (new) Mosconi Ones. Interested to see how the compare to the Mosconi Pros.FWIW, I've heard the Mosconi Pro 4|30 are a step above with the Class A bias in their A/B setup.

I'll circle back on the DIYaudio thread on which amp setup I go with.

Enjoy paradise! I spent a few years living on Oahu. I'd go back in a split second.

 

Will totally keep an eye on your thread and look forward to seeing your build.

Live on the Big Island and it really is amazing.

 

This is truly the deep end! Best wishes on achieving your desired result.

 

Thank you truly! It really is pretty amazing. Especially as the speakers break in.

 

am I reading this right? $15k for an audio install?

 

That was the initial idea. I didn’t even spend half that. However, a decent bit of that cost was for reinstalling a pretty bad install and DSP tuning.

I will say, including the equipment I got in 2021, my setup is right around that number.

 

Dang. Good on you for going for it.

I had the big stereo system in my vehicle back in highschool. But in college, someone broke my drivers door and stole it all. After that loss, I said never again. I do miss having a nice audio setup though. Didn't realize that's what it cost now for a pro audio setup for the auto. Wild.

 

I would reckon for around $5000 you can get to really, really high level. For instance, the Morel’s I had prior (Tempo Ultra 692 MKII) sell for around $500 sound utterly fantastic.

 

Holy cow, that's awesome