Escape From Normal Sound

Rob Hephner rolls out the latest CAR SOUND & PERFORMANCE demo vehicle, a screaming yellow 2001 Ford Escape.

Most builds start with a vehicle that’s bone-stock and we give the explanation of everything that will be happening along the way. This particular vehicle, however, will be handled differently. That’s because, for the most part, this is the discussion and explanation of a new type of mobile music experience, one that even some of its creators have yet to experience, one that will shape the experiences that we all have had to something completely new and exciting, quite literally, an “Escape form normal sound!”

By now you know that we have a pretty cutting edge position with the number one creators and promoters of discrete 5.1 channel music. With our partner, DTS Entertainment, we’ve brought a message that the vehicle is the place for 5.1 music and that the experience really is the ultimate entertainment experience to both the mobile enthusiast and the music creation industry. Let’s face it, even the best drivers in our group know that a video screen is not the best thing in the front of a vehicle, and that it will never be the primary source of entertainment in a vehicle. The sound system, on the other hand, will be. For years, we’ve fought to make two-channel work in vehicle and, at its best, it’s entertaining, but only sitting still. The illusion quickly disappears when we start moving —even in the best-built vehicles! If you want a solid front stage and would like to have more of a musical experience in a vehicle, 5.1 is here! But enough about content for now, we’ll get back to that later. Let’s talk about the vehicle that we’ll be showing this year and the system that will evolve in it.

On To The Vehicle
The vehicle chosen for this project is a 2001 Ford Escape, which is new to the Ford truck lineup. The specific vehicle that we’ll be building is a Yellow XLT version with a DURATEC V6, 4-speed automatic transmission with Control Trac II, and automatic 4WD (4X4). The truck, in factory stance, is rather attractive and very peppy. In fact, some of the plans for engine upgrade were actually not needed due to the power of the Escape’s V6. The vehicle handles well in all conditions and actually fairs well off-road (although, I must admit, I’ve been unwilling to put it into very precarious situations). The goals of the vehicle build were to maintain the vehicles overall usability, including off-road applications, while implementing a full 5.1 music entertainment system.

The first step was to install a music system with very little customization. This was done to show that an average person, who is not interested in flashy looks or competition, could obtain such a system. From there, it would evolve. The truck itself, however, needed to be taken to a much more aggressive and off-road look, while maintaining its show-ability and usefulness (sorry, no six-inch lift.)

Step One, The Basics
With any vehicle that’s going to receive a sound system, sound deadening should be addressed. I don’t care how little equipment you put into a vehicle, it can always be made better by added deadening. The other benefit to the addition of sound and vibration control is that you get a more solid and quieter vehicle. Nothing makes a vehicle better than a quieter interior cabin — it helps you to enjoy everything about the vehicle.

With the Escape, I did the same as I have before, and always will when given the chance — I deadened the roof of the vehicle. There are many places that you can add a product such as Dynamat to a vehicle, but none will have the same impact as deadening the roof. The roof is the largest, most flexible, piece of metal in the vehicle, so the addition of Dynamat keeps it in control. Remember that the addition of damping such as Dynamat Xtreme is just the first part — to complete the job you must also add a product such as Dynaliner so that the space is sealed and reflections are controlled.

For this vehicle, the extensive installation of Dynamat (which plays a major role as mentioned above) was the most work beyond the normal. From there, most of the installation was very straight forward, starting with the installation of the Boston Acoustics Rally RC820 5x7 speakers into the four factory positions. These speakers would serve as the front and rear right and left discrete speakers. The center, of course, didn’t have a factory home, so it did require some custom labor.

Now, when I call this “custom labor,” I want you to understand that all that’s really required is that a hole be cut in the dash. With proper checking of clearance, time, patience, and the proper tools, the hole was cut in a matter of about 45 minutes. Nothing other than the cutting of the hole was custom — no fiberglass or special installation techniques were used. This was done to prove a point — that, sonically, no extra customization was needed, and that the provided provision of a grille and tweeter mount actually would be universally accepted as correct.

Keeping It Simple
A Panasonic CQ-DVR909U was installed in the dash using a Metra installation kit and the signal was run to the rear of the truck along the roof (yes, the roof) via a Monster Cable Micro XLN 6-channel single cable. The signal was then split among four Kicker amplifiers that were mounted on a specially-created roof mounting system (I will explain this in a minute). Two Kicker ZX460 amplifiers handle the front and rear speakers, respectfully, and one ZX260 handles the center channel. The subwoofer is strictly controlled and powered by the DX700.

Looking at option packages featured with a new vehicle, a simple 5.1 system could be started with the factory speakers, so the entry-level cost of a system would be around $3000. If you priced out this system without the roof amplifier rack, you would probably find yourself in the $6000 range. True, it’s a little more than a two-channel system, but the sound you get is much, much greater!

I enlisted the help of Rick Jones of Dynamic Marketing to help me create a simple amp rack that could to attached to the roof supports of the vehicle. He made an aluminum rack that we affixed to the roof with threaded inserts. When the job was done, we both could hang off of the rack, assuring us that it would go nowhere, regardless of the situation.

With most of the hatch area kept free, I moved onto the next problem: where to place the subwoofer. We’ll discuss the creation of the enclosure in a future article, but the decision was made that the woofer would go where the spare tire was housed. That moves us to the outside of the vehicle and all the cool stuff.

A Real Escape
The off road look is created in a couple of different ways — the first is style, and the second is stance. For style, I selected a few products from Waag. The front and rear guards, along with sidesteps and rear light guards immediately helped the Escape stand out from the crowd. After the guards were added, a Yakima Road Warrior rack with extension was added to the roof to increase the versatility of the truck, and to provide a place for the spare tire. A call was then made to KC HiLites to give the Escape more vision then was ever needed. I installed two sets of Titanium lights, along with the wide angle projector lights, coupled with the upgraded Eurolight H4 headlights to give the truck (in my best Dr. Evil voice) “one billion candle power!” Additionally, on the rear of the rack, KC HiLites reverse lights were added to help light the path behind. A final style touch on the front of the truck was the addition of the Street Scene custom grille, which adds just a touch more difference to the vehicle.

Getting A Raise
Choosing the route of raising the truck instead of lowering means larger tires and wheels and the need for a full size spare. H & R Springs were the creators of a set of springs that actually work with the factory struts and shocks to help give the Escape a 1-inch height rise. From there, the completion of the look required five (four and a spare) 18-inch Momo Pulsar II wheels wearing Falken ZIEX S/TZ 01 (265/60R18) tires. The tires are not the new silent tires from Falken, but they blew away any expectation that I had regarding noise level. In fact, I cannot wait to see what a quieter tire from them will do.

The Next Step
From here, we’ll be discussing some of the ins and outs of the 5.1 system and how we can improve upon not only the design of the system in the Escape, but also how the Escape is actually helping to mold the music created for 5.1.

Next time, we’ll discuss the creation and placement of the subwoofer and its importance, along with the addition of video and possibly an equalizer. ‘Till then, go and check out your next system — one with many more options!