Angel's 30!!

So, I had way too much fun leading up to Angel's birthday. Granted, this was only fun as the younger one that has yet to reach that milestone. We didn't have anything extravagant planned, but we did mange to make it a good night.

Well, apparently I had executed an interesting faux pas prior to the day in question. Historically, I've only felt compelled to inquire against someone's desire for a gift in the event that I don't already know. Therefore, I knew what the gift would be and never asked. As to some additional logic, I knew the item in question would not be on the request list even though the item was a wishlist item. Therefore, since I knew better, I didn't feel the need to ask. Well, this caused all kinds of fears. I got an e-mail from Angel's mom saying that a comment was made regarding me forgetting about their birthday. I guess I never realized that it was an obligatory inquiry instead of a necessity. Of course I didn't forget.

Anyway, the enjoyment for me started the night before her b-day. I kept giving her periodic updates as to the impending midnight hour. I would give her comments like "you only have 2 hours left as a 20-something" or my favorite one, "you only have x time before you are OLD". There were a few others, but those were the memorable ones.

So, in typical fashion, I waited until the day before to go shopping. Thankfully I knew what I was after and where I was getting it from. Therefore, it wasn't a huge deal. I also had further reason for the delay. I knew if I were to have gone shopping earlier, she would have seen the transaction against our account. And it wasn't a particularly small transaction that would have been easily overlooked.

So, even with the periodic time updates for "crossing the line", I made up for it with my gift. I purchased her a set of Diamond Audio D363.5 component speakers. Back around April, I was looking for some more hardware for my car and Angel was with me. She had an opportunity to "view" several tiers of the Diamond Audio line. She instantly fell in love with them. I knew that I couldn't go wrong with them, even if I did stay with their lowest tier. So, at about 12:20 AM on her birthday, I delivered the gift. I couldn't wait. I wanted to see the reaction. I just knew I'd catch her off guard. And I certainly succeeded.

Well, of course, with the delivery of a gift as such, soon followed the installation of the speakers. Angel did the majority of the deconstruction of the dashboard and doors. I had to step in for a couple of things, but she handled the bulk of it. Once we were inside the doors we quickly found out that we would have to obtain an adapter to install the mid-range speakers. The mounting point was square and of course the round speaker was designed to be installed, well, round.

Well, it just so happened that we were taking a trip to Pittsburgh which allowed me to hand deliver the original speaker and the replacement speaker to Mike (proprietor of Car-Speaker-Adapters.com since photos and measurements provided over the phone were not ample to the identification of the correct adapter. He was unable to readily identify the adapter because Hyundia is a model that he hasn't worked with in the past. Therefore, while we were home, he was able to do the fabrication and send us on our way with our new parts.

When we got home, we cut the holes in the covers for the A-pillar, found homes for the crossovers (in the dashboard incidentally) and wired it up. It was such a pleasure to hear them for the first time in their new homes. The difference from factory to aftermarket is just so profound it isn't very funny.

Once we got the car reassembled, it was time to start cruising around to hear how traveling effected the system. Well, even without a 4 channel amp to push the component system, the results are great. I know that Angel is pleased with the results and that just makes me happy.

In closing, I highly recommend after market component speakers to anyone who is looking to improve the clarity and definition of their car stereo system. Please remember, you get what you pay for. Therefore, if you go to Wally-World and buy the $50 specials and are then not happy with their performance, don't blame me.

Additionally, the tweeter placement is also very important. I cannot give you pointers on this because I've only dabbled into this arena just recently. I have seen only two configurations with any real scrutiny and there are, by far, many more than that to choose from. I can say that there is a stark difference between my car and Angel's. This is not only due to speaker design & manufacturing differences (i.e. cost) but also from installation placement. My system has front to back depth whereas her's has a left-to-right depth.