1994 Acura Integra GS-R

Thursday, November 18. 1999

We bought our '94 Integra GS-R almost immediately after the sedans became available in early '94. We couldn't believe the value and technology the car represented. I thought my '88 Supercharged MR-2 had a high redline at 7800 RPM, but the GS-R had it beat at 8100 and there was no doubt that the Integra was much smoother above 5000 RPM.

One of our projects for the new car was to build an audio system that would be representative of the years I'd spent in the consumer electronics business. With that in mind I had several goals for our system:

    * High output with as little strain as possible on the stock electrical system.
    * Excellent bass response, but most important, accuracy.
    * Imaging with a good front-center-stage and realistic rear-fill.
    * Stealth, as little equipment showing as possible.

A Nakamichi TD-500 cassette deck, Nakamichi CA-101 Pre-amplifier. The digital display / infrared receiver for the Alpine CD Changer is mounted where the ashtray used to be.The subwoofer array used 8 Audiophile 6" drivers mounted inverted in a custom enclosure under the rear shelf. A black grill cloth cover concealed the woofers (left) and the swivel halogen lights replaced the stock trunk light. The acoustic bass energy was channeled directly into the passenger compartment though the original rear speaker 6 x 9 grilles (the speaker removed of course).

The job of providing rear fill was handled by a unique speaker made by Imminent Technology. This bi-polar, planar-magnetic design radiates sound equally front and rear and that is what made the setup so effective. The rear wave reflected off the rear windshield and created the rear staging I was looking for. The front wave (which in this type of speaker is very directional) shot forward towards the center of the windshield enhancing my front imaging. The output was mono (L + R) so when it reflected off the glass it combined with the left and right front speakers to give me a wide soundstage (L + C + R)

The three pictures above show the left, center and right sides of the trunk. On the left I've got the dual Soundstream SX-2 electronic crossovers. One crossover handled the subwoofer to mid/high change with the output staggered to reduce the 70hz "boom". The second crossover ran from 300 hz up for just the rear speaker. The right side housed my custom built Monolithic amplifier (made by the owner of Monolithic himself). Rated for a modest 20 watts x 4 channels, this beauty was stable into .5 ohm. By careful wiring, the 8 6" subwoofers were getting about 160 watts and the front Audiophile 5 1/4" speakers about 80 watts.

The final result exceeded my wildest dreams. All the elements came together smoothly, my installer Roy Kuroda seamlessly integrated all the extra equipment into the Integra without making the audio system stand out (see two shots of the installation in progress). Definitely the finest system Fran and I had ever indulged ourselves with.

(below) The Kimber Cable I wanted to use for speaker wire, required removal of the doors.

Some of the components in the trunk prior to installation