When most people consider their next car purchase, the criteria consists of things like performance, fuel mileage, insurance costs, price, size and/or its overall status. Not so for Christian Clayton. "I was in the market for a new vehicle and when I saw the Chrysler Crossfire, I knew it was the one," says Clayton. "The aggressive and sleek lines drew me to the car. The hatchback style for bass response, as well as abundant speaker locations in the front, sold me. I knew that there was room for me to build kick panels, which would allow for a three-way front stage. There was also enough room in the rear for a custom enclosure for the subs and amprack."
Control central for Clayton's system, rated at 2,000 watts at 4 ohms, is an Eclipse AVN7000 installed in the factory location. Clayton modified the mounting brackets by drilling new holes to recess the radio into the dashboard. Power comes by way of an MB Quart QAA4250 4-channel amplifier that powers both the front and rear channels and a QAA1000 monoblock on the subs. While Clayton used the crossover set on the QAA4250 for the mids and highs, the sub amp was fed pre-filtered signal from the AVN7000 because of its on-the-fly adjustability.
A set of MB Quart QSD's 6 1/2" midbass drivers and the tweeters from an MB Quart QSD 213 set were installed in the factory door locations, which, like the remainder of the interior, received a helping of Dynamat sound-damping material. Clayton built custom kick panels to house the 5 1/4" speakers from the MB Quart QSD 213 set. The original kick panel was used as a guide for the custom designed kick panels. "Starting with the factory kicks, I mounted the MB Quart 5 1/4" speaker mount by using various size wood sticks and hot glue to secure them in place," says Clayton. "After achieving the best angle for the speaker, I removed the kick panel from the vehicle and wrapped the entire thing with t-shirt material." Clayton feels jersey is the best material for this application because it is neither too thick nor too thin. After applying alternating coats of resin and fiberglass material, he let it dry before finishing. When covering a custom panel with vinyl, the panel must be completely smooth or the highs and lows will show through. To that end, Clayton hand sanded the enclosures. "Using upholstery glue and vinyl, I pulled and stretched using a heat gun to make the vinyl more pliable for the curves of the kick panel."
For bass, two JL Audio 10W6 subs mounted in a 2ft3 box were used because, "I wanted a sealed enclosure for punchy hard-hitting bass response," says Clayton. "The choice was great and I am totally pleased with the performance and sound quality produced from the subs. It truly moves your hair and blurs the vision."
But it wasn't all about sound, as the custom box made of a combination of MDF, fiberglass and body filler was painted silver to accent the dash and console, adding an extra element to its appearance. As an extra measure, the box was bolted through the bottom of the Crossfire for both safety and security purposes.
Clayton called on an MB Quart QAA4250 to run the 3-way front stage. "I wanted to use the Q-series passive crossover networks, so four channels would do the trick. With the amp producing 1,000 watts I felt I could not go wrong," says Clayton. He reports the front channels of the QAA4250 run the QSD 213's at 250 watts per side. The rear channels of the QAA4250 run the QSD 164's at 250 watts per side.
The MB Quart QAA1000 was chosen for the sub amp to run the JL Audio 10W6's, which delivers 1,000 watts mono to the subs. In the rear of the Crossfire, Clayton mounted a custom-made aluminum amprack via factory bolt-holes. Clayton said using aluminum instead of steel saved on weight, because, as it turned out the amps and subs weigh about 100 pounds all together.
Clayton performed the entire installation in a hanger at the Santa Monica Airport, with exception of the sub enclosure and aluminum amprack that was constructed at Audio Concepts. He reports the Crossfire project took about two months to complete but, judging by the detailed installation and the quality of the components, it should keep a steady beat for years to come.
Driver ProfileCall it traditional Americana or a youthful rite of passage, but it seems we all remember that one guy in the neighborhood who had all the trick stuff first and the guts to learn its intricacies. Christian Clayton was that "go-to" player in his neighborhood. Clayton, now 35, hails from Pacific Palisades, CA. He says he has been into music all his life, taking up the drums at age 12. With such an appreciation for music, it's only a natural progression that he had expectations in the sound quality department.
"When I turned 16 I got my first car, a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am," says Clayton. "I wanted to feel the drums when they hit so I installed a 4-channel amp (Kenwood) and four 10" MTX subs. The car had a Sony two-shaft tape deck, 5 1/4" front speakers, and 6 x 9's in the rear. During high school, I installed most of my friends' systems and developed the technique that led to my first full-time job out of school as an installer for a custom car audio shop. My love of music, the drums and that first stereo install ignited my passion for car audio."