IncrediblyX in Los Angeles

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Los Angeles Zoo

Vicky blowing out her birthday candles. She turned 3 this year.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Vicky's 3rd Birthday is Coming Up

Happy to be leaving the house.

Infinity Basslink II Install for the RAV4

Infinity Basslink II Installed on my 06 Toyota RAV4

The Idea
I had a challenge of having 3rd row seating and VERY limited space to install a subwoofer. The project actually started back in October after being sick and tired of having lousy sounding music coming out of my speakers. If I'm going to drive thousands and thousands of miles, I might as well go all out. With previous experience installing Infinity speakers in my old Saturn, I wanted to buy the very best speakers for the doors. I was very limited because I didn't want to hook those speakers up to an amplifier... that would cost more money. So I settled with some Sony X-plods (40W). After driving around for a couple of weeks with NO BASS, I needed an upgrade. Days of research turned into weeks and I finally settled on the ultimate little amplified speaker, the Infinity Basslink II. It is the most wattage for a tiny little speaker, with an eardrum bursting, 250 Watts of power!

The Process
Actually acquiring the speaker was painstaking. I searched Craigslist everyday until I found one. The 200W Basslink was available everywhere... but I DIDN'T want to settle for that one, I WANTED 250W. I HAD TO HAVE 250 WATTS OF POWER!!! And I didn't want to pay Best Buy's pricetag of $399. I wanted to pay $150. So that's what I got.

Where I stashed the Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad Capacitor and Fuse I put it in the center of the back seat.

The capacitor is also sitting on particle board and I wrapped the front of it with grey fabric.

Particle Board

I covered the particle board up with fabric from a Dodge Durango seat cover from the junk yard. With good scissors and a hot glue gun, you can achieve quality results as you see in the top picture. Everything blends in nicely for a professional, installed look.

UPDATE:
I'm adding in this comment dated July 6, 2013.

The subwoofer is still holding up. My kids are growing up and there is still room in the back. I'm still able to move my seats forward for my 3rd row seat occupants. My only gripe with the Infinity subwoofer is that it doesn't seem to work in hot temperatures above 90 degrees. I would have to cool down the cabin with AC and it would start to work again. The bass is still deafening and the sound my 2006 RAV4 makes is better than my 2012 Camaro.

February 4, 2014 - Bass is still bad ass. Plenty of boom, no flaws however I am planning on trading in the RAV4 for something newer within the next couple of months.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Changing out the Speakers on the 2006 Toyota RAV4

How to Change out the Speakers on a 2006 Toyota RAV4

Vicky helping change out my speakers

2006 Toyota RAV4

First, I went to Crutchfield.com to find an appropriate speaker that would be a snug fit for my RAV4. I decided upon the Sony brand because of the positive reviews and low cost of upgrading.

Here are the things you would need.

Plastic Pry Tools

#2 Philips Screwdriver
Drill
Fiberglass
Pen or Pencil
Large sheet of paper (to trace out the holes)
Saw
Solder
Soldering Iron

Here are the steps:

Step One: Remove the Handles

Step Two: Remove the two screws on the top and bottom.

Step Three: Pop off the inside handle cover.

Step Four: Remove the Screw

Step Five: Pop off the Controls. It is easier to do if you start on the top.

Step Six: Disconnect the Controls

Step Seven: Disconnect the Top Door Panel by the rearview mirror.

Step Eight: Remove Door Panel using Plastic Pry Tools. I found it easier to use the biggest one.

Another View of Step Eight

Step Nine: Pop off the Handles from the Door Panel

Step Ten: Drill out the Rivets that hold the old speakers.

Step Eleven: Disconnect the wire and remove the speaker.

Step Twelve: Trace out the holes using a pencil (Viagra Pen) and paper.

Step Thirteen: Using Fiberglass, cut out the shape.

More of Step Thirteen: Fabrication of the Fiberglass

Step Fourteen: What it should look like when you're done. Note that I placed an extra hold to feed the speaker wire thru to the outside.

Step Fifteen: Put in new screws and rivets to hold the speaker in place.

Step Sixteen: When wiring your speakers, check to make sure you don't have your wires mixed up by listening to it. When it sounds right, solder your connectors together and cover it up with electrical tape.

Step Seventeen: Place electrical tape to hole the excess wire so that it doesn't get caught.

Step Eighteen: Place everything back together in reverse order and enjoy your new speakers!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Children's Museum at La Habra

There is a Triceratops behind you!

We went to the Children's Museum at La Habra, California. It was a nice place to take the kids for a small price of 7 bucks a head. The kids seemed to love it. They really liked the small village and play house. There were other kids for them to play with. Vicky held on to a stuffed chicken for the duration of our stay that she found in the chicken coup.

Riding a Fish

The museum has a carasel, model trains, live animals and other kid stuff for them to play with. It is also a good place for moms to converse about life and stuff. The museum always has new stuff and activities going on, so what we saw today will not be there in a couple of months. I'm a little bit curious what the next exhibits are going to be.