GTI :: Audio
August 04, 2007 / Saturday
Bikes And BOOM!!
Now that homework is a thing of the past, I have time to start knocking items off my to-do list. Today's tasks: car, bikes, and BOOM. I rolled out of bed at the leisurely hour of something past noon, grabbed some food, and slapped on some sunblock (gosh, it was nice out today!), and got to work.
Now complete, in order:
- washed new used roof top bike rack system
- washed outside of car
- installed new used roof top bike rack system
- washed inside of car
- fixed car speaker static again (I hope it sticks this time)
- re-installed subwoofer (BOOM!!)
- put rear seats back in
I'll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow with a couple bikes on top. :)
[ Update: Piktar! ]
07:52 PM | Audio:GTI:School:Shiny| Comments (2)
May 13, 2006 / Saturday
Bye Bye Boom
I took my subwoofer out of my car today.
But not before I drove around for 2 days with my windows down obnoxiously blasting my Gorillaz CD.
I'll miss the boom, but this is going to do wonders for bike and hockey gear transport. :)
06:54 PM | Audio| Comments (2)
December 01, 2005 / Thursday
Soaked Subwoofer
My coolant has been mysteriously disappearing, so for my San Diego trip last weekend, I put a poorly-sealed jug of distilled water (alongside a jug of VW's ever-so-special pink stuff) in my trunk.
And, wouldn't you know, sometime yesterday the jug of water tipped and spilled all over my trunk.
The good news: I have a trunk tray, so my car was spared.
The bad news: The lower regions of my subwoofer's fuzzy wooden enclosure is soaked. It dripped when I picked it up. Siiigh.
I think I'll be spending some quality time with my subwoofer and a blow dryer tonight.
I wonder if I have to take the speaker out to dry the inside. What if the stuffing is wet too? Agh!
And, of course, I have school tonight, which means I'll probably get home much later than is appropriate for extended blow dryer noise. I guess I'll just sit there and blow on it. Huff. Puff. Phooooo ...
10:48 AM | Audio| Comments (3)
November 04, 2005 / Friday
Boom Boom Buzz
I pulled my subwoofer out of the trunk tonight, to make room for boxes. Empty boxes North tonight, full boxes South next week.
At first, I felt free. I had an empty trunk! Think of all the gear I could fit in there!
I wondered how my subwooferless system would sound. I turned on the headunit. It spun up my Tears For Fears CD. Not bad! I put the bass-heavy Gorillaz CD in. It actually sounded pretty good.
Well, except for the RATTLE. My stock speakers produce decent bass, but because they're doing it from behind various panels, things move, and buzz. A lot.
So, for the sake of buzz-free boom, the subwoofer will be coming back in, and I will continue to play hockey gear tetris in my little blue backpack so that I can schlep my gear to and from games without dropping the backseat.
Boom boom boom.
09:59 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
October 10, 2005 / Monday
Clean Booooom
I'd forgotten how good non-static-y beats sound.
12:27 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
October 09, 2005 / Sunday
Finicky Wires
Pulled my headunit out yet again to try to fix the latest round of static. As with my previous attempts, I wiggled wires left and right, but everything sounded fine. So annoying! I did a total reroute, so no wires are bent near either of the harnesses. Sounds good in the driveway ... I hope it stays that way.
*crosses fingers*
04:27 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
August 14, 2005 / Sunday
Static Be Gone!
I haven't mentioned it here, but the speaker static in my car came back a few weeks ago, and finally got bad enough that I decided to pull the headunit out to try to fix it. This time, I figured out what the problem was, but I still can't reproduce it, and I can't think of a good way to permanently fix it.
Turns out the bad connection points are in the the wiring harness that goes into the headunit. There's not a lot of room behind the headunit, and the wires coming out of the back are immediately bent at a 90 degree angle and squished. Over time, vibrations from driving jar them loose. Strangely, once I pull the headunit out and straighten the wires a bit, I can't rebend and/or wiggle them to make them spit out the same static.
Since the only way they'll fit is in the bent and squished configuration, I bent them carefully, bunched them together, and squished as much as I could when I pushed the headunit back in. I hope that supersquishing them will keep them in place.
01:48 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
March 05, 2005 / Saturday
Phantom Static
I finally got around to fixing whatever it was that was causing speaker static in my car. I pulled the head unit out and wiggled the connections that I suspected to be the cause. Nothing. Crisp sound, but no static. I wiggled some more. Still no static. I put everything back together. No static. I drove up and down the bumpiest street in Outer Sunset. No static. WTF?
The static will come back the moment I put my tools away. I just know it.
The upside: no static, even though I don't know where it was coming from.
The downside: now my engine is hot, and I can't replace my sparkplugs like I had planned.
01:52 PM | Audio| Comments (2)
December 10, 2004 / Friday
Blips & Boooooms
Up until this week, I only really liked (albeit a LOT) a handful of Chemical Brothers songs. I remember I used to play their CDs in my car and not really care for most of the tracks. I realized today that it's 'cause I wasn't hearing everything. I was missing all the cool stuff, like the booming bass and the random little sounds here and there, that make the songs so darned good.
I don't have that problem anymore. *big grin*
10:18 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
November 27, 2004 / Saturday
Bump Bump Bump ... Fzzzzz!
With new wheels come lower sidewalls and more road vibration. I ran across the Muni tracks along Taraval on my way home tonight and my front left speaker started spewing static ... again.
Damned Birds
Stupid birds! Don't be poopin' on my car the day after I wash it!
10:44 PM | Audio:Shiny| Comments (0)
October 31, 2004 / Sunday
Where'd The Static Go?
Pulled the DIN and headunit out before my game today to try to get rid of the static. Problem was, once I did that, the static went away. Good that it's gone, I suppose, but puzzling 'cause I still have no idea what the problem was. I was hesitant to put everything back together before locating the problem, but after crystal clear sound the entire way home from the rink, I gave up and reassembled.
One down, nine to go.
06:56 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
October 30, 2004 / Saturday
Car Blurb 1: Static! Aurgh!
I joked before I installed my new suspension that the ride would be so rough that it'd jar my stereo connections loose. I don't know if that's what's happened, but I have yet another loose speaker connection, this time to my left front speakers. I'm not looking forward to pulling everything out to fix it. Maybe this time I should glue everything in place.
Car Blurb 2: Motul!
I finally found a place to buy Motul brake fluid. I'd been having trouble finding the stuff at car shops, but once I figured out that motorcycle shops were the way to go, I located some on my first try.
Unfortunately, being more of a motorcycle brand than a car brand, they sell the stuff in half liters, which means 3 bottles for one bleed. Ouch!
Car Blurb 3: Mmm ... Micro DEs
My Micro DE fogs are here! Picked up the package (along with my ss brake lines) from UPS on Friday. Amazingly, I haven't opened the box yet. Too many other things to do!
I go do other things now.
08:00 PM | Audio:GTI| Comments (0)
October 01, 2004 / Friday
Secure Boom
Installed my subwoofer grille and finally got to strap the thing down. Goodbye sliding subwoofer, hello cornering like a hooligan! Good thing, too, since I'm still on my rapidly diminishing hooligan tank and all.
Readjusted the boom level on the amp while I was at it. I actually had to lower it some. Yes, there is such a thing as too much boom.
Wow, did I just say that?
06:12 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
Grillllle
My new subwoofer grille is here! It's silver, though, and clashes with my gunmetal amp.
I think I'll live. Just wanted to waaah about it a bit.
Waaah.
11:53 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
September 24, 2004 / Friday
Crutchfield Is The Rox0r
Have I mentioned that Crutchfield rocks, and not just rocks, but rocks^2?
Yes, I believe I did.
09:27 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
August 05, 2004 / Thursday
Well, That Explains The Missing Left Channel
Pulled my headunit out before the hockey game, with the hope of finding an easily remedied loose connection. Instead, I found this:
Drat.
12:35 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
August 04, 2004 / Wednesday
Will I Ever Get All My Stereo Hookups Working Simultaneously?
This morning, in an attempt to listen to a song on my mp3 player, I switched my stereo over (car, of course!) to auxilary input mode. I heard music, but only out of the right speakers. I had forgotten to test the aux line when I put everything back together after my last rewiring (my rear left speaker is sounding great, though!). Dammit.
How am I going to enjoy playing Mario Kart in my car if I can hear only the right half of my kart?
09:49 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
July 18, 2004 / Sunday
Static Free Boom
Finally got around to redoing my car stereo wiring. I'd been having trouble with a faulty harness connection to my rear left speaker. It turned out to be a much easier (once I actually got the harness out) task than I had feared. All I had to do was push the loose wire back into the harness. It seems to hold as tightly as all the other wires in there, so I hope this takes care of it.
While I was reprogramming my radio, I realized it had high and low pass filter settings. That made my day. I can now forget about splicing crossovers into my 4 main speakers. Hooray for newly discovered features!
01:13 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
June 16, 2004 / Wednesday
Beastie Bass
I'm diggin' the new Beastie Boys album. I had the bass turned up so high last night I think I could feel the air in my car vibrate. Coool.
09:34 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
May 01, 2004 / Saturday
More Car Audio Fun
In a fit of car audio mania I took my Game Boy out to my car and played a round of Mario Kart just now.
I didn't know Game Boy could sound so good! I heard parts of songs my ears had never been able to pick up before. Cool.
I hope it'll sound even better when I get crossovers for my woofers.
06:29 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
April 29, 2004 / Thursday
Car Blurb 1: Sprinklers Suck
My shiny clean car is now a sprinkler spotted car. Stupid sprinkler. Stupid lawn!
Car Blurb 2: FNM! FNM! FNM!
I love that I can now play mp3 CDs in my car. My entire Faith No More collection on one CD! That is cool beyond words.
12:29 PM | Audio:Shiny| Comments (0)
April 25, 2004 / Sunday
Boom Boom Boom!
After all of Saturday and half of Sunday, my car now has a new headunit and subwoofer. Oh, how it booms! Every time I turn it up I smile from ear to ear.
I didn't realize car audio installation was such hard work! I am exhausted. I have no idea how I'm going to skate tonight. I can barely walk up the stairs without feeling tired. Ugh!
A few notes:
- Radio removal keys are sharp. Ow.
- It was really really scary pulling all those panels out of of my car. Two hours, 10 panels, one lever, the backseats, and several bruises later, I was finally at the point where I could start wiring.
- I was good and took the time to run my subwoofer signal and power wires down opposite sides of the car.
- Wire crimping / soldering is a pain.
- Getting the power wire through the firewall was suprisingly easy. All I had to do was find the magic grommet.
- There are so many wires behind my new receiver it took me an hour to figure out a way to fit everything in.
- After I thought I'd managed to get everything to fit, I found out I'd knocked something loose with all the shoving. I shoved some more and finally got my rear left speakers back.
- I have cuts all over my hands and bruises all over my legs. I think it just means I don't do enough manual labor. Yes, it's fairly cushy being a programmer. I don't do much off the computer so I don't even get papercuts anymore.
- My back is sooo sore. Car audio installation, not very ergonomic.
- Finally, I have mp3 CD playback.
- Finally, I have an auxilliary input jack.
- BOOM BOOM BOOM! Yeah!
03:06 PM | Audio| Comments (0)
April 19, 2004 / Monday
92.7 Morphs Again!
No more Tupac Radio (a.k.a. Pac FM). It's now "POWER 92.7". What kind of power? Hip-hop power, apparently. I must have known this was going to happen when I put the 92.7 preset next to the 94.9 and 106.1 buttons a few months back.
Mini Audio Upgrade For My Car
Speaking of car radio presets, I'm getting a new headunit! Gonna hook that up to a sub, too. That, and when the XM folks finally standardize on a new tuner/antenna setup I might hook up the new HU with satellite radio.
Hooray For Crutchfield!
Speaking of my new HU, I'd like to share with the world how much I think Crutchfield rocks. All I had to tell them was car year, make, model, sound system option, plus the HU I wanted, and they had every hookup detail figured out. I called them with a list of things to make sure they had, and their answer to every one of them was, "Yup, it comes with the receiver." So much for worrying about getting connected to VW's Monsoon system properly. When I asked about getting a single din pocket for the new spot opening up, I was told that was part of the package too. How cool is that? Way, way cool.
01:43 AM | Audio| Comments (0)
December 27, 2003 / Saturday
Subsonic Countdown!
Top 50 electronic songs of the year! Music to my ears, quite literally! I had it on in the car earlier and was driving around with a huge smile on my face.
11:19 PM | Audio:Music| Comments (0)
December 05, 2003 / Friday
Time To Go
Happy Friday, everyone! I'm going to go hop in my car and listen to my CD on RANDOM now. Oh yeah, that is just too cool.
