81 Camaro

Here are some PICS of the install we’re finishing up this week, just seats, window tint, and a few small trim pieces to put back in. This is a good example of a three week project. I spent about a fourth of that time restoring and/or modifying some of the factory pieces that were not going to be totally fabricated from scratch. Doing this helps keep the cost and the turnover time of the install down, but still give a custom look.






Rear fill comes from the fiberglass pods that I molded into the factory rear panels. The dash and trim pieces are factory, wrapped in flat finish vinyl. The dash is accented with perfed black vinyl around the aftermarket gauges. The console is also factory, wrapped in padded vinyl with a custom fabricated arm rest and storage compartment.

The doors were completely custom fabricated. I went with a 80’s sporty look for the doors. The fiberglass speaker pods are flush mounted in the MDF and fiberglass panels with a black perf insert. The arm rest is constructed of laminate bent wood. The mounting bolts are recessed and fiberglassed into the arm rest and run through the panel then into the door skin with custom fabricated mounting plate steel brackets.Any questions about this post, email me!

64 Impala

Just a bit of background about the custom install in the 64 Impala that I did about a year ago at the Monaca store. The car had already gotten it’s retro hopper custom paint before I did the install. I followed that direction on the interior with the twist of the hip-hop style using the Louis Vuitton material that the customer chose.


This is the mold made from the mock for the speaker pods. Even though there were only two castings that would ever be made, a fiberglass mold is necessary because the pod needs to made out of one type of material so that the stress of temperature changes over time won’t cause cracks in the paint. Also being made out of fiberglass makes them very light.




The castings seen here were reinforced by adding MDF rings and a frame that was fiberglassed in making the pod rigid.

I molded the Memphis grills into the piece….

And added the final touch of the retro Impala emblems that I carved, molded, and cast. Back in the day, the little star projections on the sides were typical design elements used to show the coming of the "space age".

More on this install later...

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Ported VS Sealed enclosures

Ported VS sealed enclosures; I often get asked which I recommend? There are characteristics of each that make them both suitable, sometimes for the same situation. Let me give a breakdown of a few things about each to explain.

Sealed Enclosures;
Sealed enclosures first off are as much as half the size of a ported enclosure, but that varies according to not only the speaker, but the tuning of the box. A larger sealed box will have a deeper resonance which means it will produce deeper bass than the same speaker in a smaller box, but a large box has less power handling ability. The smaller box will also have less output, but a higher Q which is the tendency for the speaker to resonate or vibrate more at its resonant frequency. The resonant frequency is the frequency at which all objects are most sensitive to vibration. A tuning fork is a good example of something that has a very high "Q". If your goal was to build a SPL (sound pressure level) vehicle your best bet is usually small sealed boxes. The speaker will handle lots of power, and have a high tendency to vibrate in a narrow band. If you have ever actually "listened" to an SPL system you know they sound pretty nasty, no deep bass at all.

Ported Enclosures;
Ported enclosures in the past were thought of as "boomy", but it is possible to design one that has a smooth response, in fact some of the best studio monitors which are designed for a true and smooth linear response are ported. The amount of gain that the port produces can be adjusted up to 24 DB, although that much gain would be very boomy, not to mention abusive for the woofer. One of the problems of a ported enclosure is the tendency of the speaker to vibrate wildly one octave below the tuned frequency which is usually a little below the resonant frequency of the speaker. For that reason, all ported speakers should be driven with an amplifier that has a sub-sonic filter that cuts out these frequencies which are too low to be heard anyway and just waste amplifier power. Ported enclosures are great to give a little more bass in medium to lower powered systems, assuming it’s a good amplifier; ported speaker’s need the control a quality amp has. Besides the much larger size of a ported box compared to a sealed box, there is the tendency for more blown speakers. That down side is aggravated by the fact that most people who want a ported enclosure are more likely to abuse their equipment. If your reason for wanting a port is strictly lots of bass, you are better off getting a larger amp and a better woofer in a sealed box that is slightly on the large side.

So back to the question, which do I recommend? I make recommendations based on these questions and situations;
What kind of enclosure is the woofer you want to use suitable for; not all woofers work their best in both sealed and ported boxes.
What kind of music do you listen to; rap or hip-hop or anything with a generated tone or drum machine producing bass? A ported enclosure might be the best choice for you as long as you’re willing to give up the extra trunk space and are going to use an amplifier that has a sub-sonic filter. But if you listen to this type of music but don’t need or want bone shaking bass and prefer tight punchy but deep bass, a sealed box designed slightly on the large size may suit you better.
For any music with bass that is not electronically recorded like most country, rock, alternative rock, or jazz, a sealed box would be a better choice, its size determined by the speaker choice and the amount of power and deep rumble you want.
Is your goal a serious street pounder or all out SPL vehicle? And then there’s the bigger question; what size woofers to use…….
Dan

Any questions about this post, email me!

How do you design a great custom installation?

From time to time I’m going to post my views on things like car audio system design, the industry, enclosure design/construction, and the occasional random idea.
This may be a good subject to start with; how do you design a great custom installation? Everyone in the industry has an opinion on how to design one, here’s mine.
First and most important, it’s a car first, I never recommend doing anything that compromises safety, this includes the ergonomics. Good ergonomics of an install means that everything is placed within reach or clear view and won’t distract or hamper the safe operation of the car.

Secondly, it’s an audio system with the proper choice and placement of components to accomplish the design goal, what ever that is; SPL, pure sound quality, all show, or a combination. A great custom install should choose a direction and follow it throughout the install, bumper to bumper.

And thirdly, it’s a work of art. Weather it’s the art of concealment behind an original factory cover, an all out exotic custom appearance or theme install.

Dan

Any questions about this post, email me!

The Design Process...

I'd like give you an idea of how the creative process works when designing a theme custom vehicle. The custom install that we call "the Gator car" started with the customer showing me a Florida Gator’s logo to show the color combination he wanted to use in the building of his dream street custom car. He really had no idea of what he wanted it to look like, something that actually helps me more than you may think. This Gives me the opportunity to suggest the direction of the install based on a few simple questions. He wanted something wild, not necessarily "old school retro" or the typical street rod "modern" look.



I came up with the idea of not only using the Gators colors, but doing a Gators theme install. These are some of the sketches I did to illustrate some of my ideas starting with the dash.

This is one of the plaster carvings that I did that I later cast in resin and chrome painted.




The trunk was to include a three dimensional Gator’s logo. I carved each piece, individually wrapped it in vinyl, and then assembled them together.


The doors were to be 90 degree and motorized. In this sketch you can see the monitors that were originally to be in the doors. That changed to a single screen on the outside of the car "C" pillar. Speaker placement and a few other design ideas changed along the way. By having the customer understanding that nothing is set in stone, I have the ability to create and change elements of the design ensuring the most creative and eye grabbing installs.

Then it begins using the sketches as a rough guide.

Any questions about this post, email me!

Welcome to my blog.......

First I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a bit about my history in car audio. My name is Dan Matuschek. I’ve been doing professional installations since 1989. I was fortunate because I started right in on custom because I had woodworking, electronic, and cabinet making experience. I worked for one of the top custom shops in the Pittsburgh area for about eleven years with some very talented installers and fabricators, a great learning experience.

I’m an artist and like to work in a variety of mediums, from water color and airbrush painting, to sculpting, carving metal casting. I also like to work with casting resins and fiberglass molding from original relief sculptures and carvings. All of these help me with the Auto Effects way of approaching custom fabrication. We can offer the opportunity for a “theme” instillation that utilizes my artistic abilities giving you a truly original world class custom instillation.

I’ll be posting a few pictures of my work in this blog here and there as time goes on that will give you an idea of the endless possibilities of what a truly custom install can be; something that few shops can really offer.

Look around and check beck from time to time and see what I got going on, there’s always something cool happening in my install bay.

Dan