SS Teacher

Max dimensions I'm willing to consider is 36 deep, 20 wide, and 15 high which (according to BCAE1) gives me a hair under 5 cubic feet using .75" wood which should be plenty for a bottom firing 15". What I'm not making clear is.. Is there a way to determine which speaker is louder by using T/S parameters, most notably XMax and Sensitivity. For example, is an XCON louder than an ICON or GCON on the same 500 watts if I have the box designed, modeled, and built by a reputable shop using good software (i.e. Audiophile Engineers in Tamps).

I'm very flexible on width and length, just as long as i have some room to stow kayak paddles, camping gear, or recovery gear. I'm still torn, I might get an 12" XCON and get a bigger amp down the road if I want more volume. I'm getting excited about going to AE tomorrow (Monday), I've been very excited to see some of their stuff on FaceBook.

Florida is a pretty big state... If you buy the wiring harnesses hooking up head units isn't that hard, nor is hooking up an amp. I understand if you have a new car and no tools, but it's kinda fun to get into the hobby and figure this stuff out on your own. Good luck!

Thanks for all the replies, I've searched a little more and found Audiophile Engineers in Tampa. They really seem to know what they're doing and know Robin Butler who was recommended here (again, thanks!). I'm going to their shop next week and pick their brain. I know (is it Mark?) is super busy and that's the holdup on the DCON 10"s, I might just wait a few weeks and see if they're back up to production and have AE build a good box. I've spent a little time on the 12volt and bcae1.com to learn a little more, I might just get "The Loudspeaker Cookbook" this summer. As far as max dimensions the biggest constraint is height, no more than 14" tall which makes a 12" driver a tad more challenging.

Its in the prefab box, eXcelon Series KFC-XW1000F Subwoofer, and only handles 250 watts rms. I doubt it would perform well in a ported enclosure, but thatnks for the advice. A good box is just as important than the driver.

Thanks, I see he's a member. I'll shoot him a PM about where he's located.

I looked at the PAC website, but I didn't see anything that fit my needs. I'm keeping the factory HU so I don't want to spend $100 for an unneeded canbus. If the Metra stuff is that bad I'll just borrow a friends soldering iron and chop up the factory wiring, I didn't want to do that, but I'd rather go slow and do it right than use garbage harnesses.

I'm almost embarrassed to be asking this but I want to do my own instal for the first time since 1995 and I know there are some major pros on this site, here goes... I'm keeping the factory radio, no NAV, no amplifier on my 2013 JEEP Wrangler with the stock 6 speaker system. I plan on using my Audio Control LC2i as a line driver and purchasing a PPI 900.4 and mounting under the dash. I bought a Bravox component system from this forum for the front and have replaced the sound bar coaxles with a pair of Alpine type S's I picked up for $25. I'm using deck power for the sound bar, I hated the idea of rear speakers at first but a Jeep is a rolling compromise, and will use 2 channels of the PPI for the components and the rear 2 channels bridged to a 10' sealed sub, the enclosure coated in bed liner of course. I want to cut factory wires as little as possible, what do you guys recommend in the way of wiring harnesses? Metra or Scoshe part numbers? or should I just man-up and start cutting, splicing and soldering. I've got a buddy who helped me make custom baffles for the sound bar and will help with the front speakers, I will deaden the speaker pods with CLD tiles, and experiment with polyfil. Wranglers do NOT have speakers in the doors, which is good because I roll with no doors as often as possible, the tweeters are mounted on "tombstones" on the dash and the woofers are in speaker pods in the lower dash, not optimal, but it is the safest place to put them in a JEEP. Thanks guys.

I'm going to recommend NOT running a 1 ohm load on a daily driver, much harder on your electrical. I'd stick to a 2 ohm sub and amp.

///M5 isn't kidding about the instal, I don't regret paying $300 putting in a pair of $140 components on clearance. Well, I do regret not doing it myself, that's why I'm going to do my own instal on my new JEEP. Baffles and sound deadening make all the difference in the world.

I get paid Friday! I'll shoot you a PM then.

Those component sets look damn fine for $75!

OP, any updates? I just traded in my beloved Challenger and bought a Wrangler. My shop plans to put CLD tiles on/in the speaker pods, but wondered if it would be better to reinforce the pods with fiberglass. They told me the pods are in there snug and adding baffles on anything on the outside would be really tough (i.e. expensive). I'm thinking about those IA comps as I've found one out of the 7 shops I went to had a working soundboard. I was going to just join the Zombie masses and get Alpine type r's, but would rather spend more on instal. I've got $500 budgeted for an instal of comps in front, Audio Control EQL on a custom bracket mounted under the seat, Arc Audio 4 channel amp bridged to a bedliner coated sub in the cargo area.

You have no rear stage, that's a plus!

Damn Big John, that was fast!

I'm guessing you mixed up the crossover switch on the amp, did you set it to low pass instead of high pass?

Thinking about going IB with 2 15"s, but I'd totally rock this if I won. Love SSA!

When I close my eyes I want to feel that I'm sitting in the audience and the stage is elevated and in front of me. The truck install with high tweeters made me feel closer to that. With the tweeters low, mounted next to the woofer in the Challenger, it sounded like the music was a little lower than me, when I placed the tweeters in the dash, firing up and reflecting off the glass it "lifted the sound stage", but the 20mm metal tweeters can get really harsh and produce fatigue. The Scion Xb is really open and it has 6 1/2"s in the doors and 3 1/2"s in the dash, its brighter and produces a better balance between the mids and highs. The stock HU has 3 simple processor options- hear, feel, and something else, I don't remember, but the feel setting was much "brighter" in my opinion. It's probably just a simple graphic or parametric EQ, but huge difference from the Challenger's stock HU which just has bass, treble, and mid adjustments- all of which did little to help. When I run CDs or my iPhone in the Challenger it sounds so much different than when I run the radio. The radio is terrible compared and I still enjoy radio so upgrading to the Pioneer will hopefully sound much better. Satellite radio sounds like tinny ass, radio is meh.., Digital content is best in terms of clarity and not that "muddy or flat". Too much mid maybe? I'm heading home now, I'll pick a few songs and listen to them several times and describe some of the instruments. Music is indeed subjective and a little difficult to describe. Thanks //M5. The Audio Control was installed at a local shop, no boost only cuts to several of the high frequencies.

I have a 2011 Dodge Challenger with the following audio gear: Stock HU, base model Audio Control LC2i Audio Control EQL Boston Acoustics GTA 1005- 5 channel, 50X4 + 250X1 JL Audio 12W0 in a 1.4ft3 sealed enclosure MB Quart 6X9 components up front woofers in stock doors with CLD tiles, tweeters in stock dash location aiming up. In boxes in the closet BA GT 275 BA GT 2125 Sundown E-15 My goal is going active to get much better SQ, keeping stock speaker locations, sorry I just can't chop up my beautiful car. Budget around a $1,000 or so, I'm a teacher so I'm totally loaded . What I've learned so far... everything is a compromise don't buy anything else before I actually listen to you guys I was thinking of a processor like the Rockford 360.3 which I can get for a little over $400 to take advantage of the time alignment and EQ's to compensate for the tweeter location. Do some parts express woofers and tweeters, I'm liking the $50ish Dayton Audio 7" woofers, and a small format tweeter in the $50is range. Get some MLV for the doors from Don at SDS and have some good baffles made. Getting a BA GT2300 to power an XCON 10 in a ported box made by DC creations. Lose the spare tire (I'm scared!) and have an amp rack made, consider getting a 2nd battery, those BAs are class A/B, and definitely start with the big 3, keep the stock 160 amp alternator. I've done some reading and don't mind going with 8ohm mids, highs, and 4ohm on the sub. I'm a hell of a good teacher and a damn fine student, please teach me!

The best way to describe it was the sound stage was too low. I was satisfied with the JBL power series components, but I greatly preferred the Boston Acoustics Rally series components in my truck from 1995, I had the tweeters mounted much higher in the door, but I had the top of the line Alpine DSP EQ- the unit itself was under the seat and it came with a DIN sized control unit, I was very happy with that, but this was the first install where I used the factory HU and I just don't like it. The mids are muddy and flat, the Audio Control EQ has helped a lot, but it just isn't that crystal clear, bright, but not harsh sound I've enjoyed in the past. My Scion Xb's base Pioneer HU with 25X4 bazooka amp and bazooka coaxles sounds much better to me and those are seriously inferior products. With the 80PRS I'm going to power and EQ and X-over my current speakers, I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to try it myself this summer.

Yeah, I'm going to take it slow this time and not throw money at equipment I don't need. A little discipline goes a long way. I'll start with the Pioneer 80PRS first and fool around with what I have to enter the world of active slowly. I was intrigued to learn that mounting tweeters next to the woofers in the door is an option, I didn't like the results passively, but active results could prove different.

The masters have spoken, thanks a lot gentlemen, I'm starting to get a good picture. 1. I'll start by getting the Pioneer DEH 80prs and use the front and rear channels of my 5 channel Boston amp to power the component system I already have. I might replace the 6X9 MBQuart woofers with a pair of JBL power series 6 1/2 woofers- they are better quality and will get more power as they are 2 ohm drivers. This will be temporary just for experimentation purposes as I run active for the first time (my first system consisted of 2 Cerwin Vega 12"s on 75 watts each and 5 1/4 coaxles run off the deck power- it was 1989). 2. The doors are deadened, but I still need to add a layer of MLV. Big, nice heavy doors with lots of room, could probably run an 8". 3. Figure out what tweeter location I like and am willing to compromise on. 4. Then I'll take a long hard look at mating woofers and tweeters before I buy anything. 5. I'll try to get some pictures up, I generally suck at that though. They are fairly similar to Chrysler 300s and Dodge Chargers, they are sister models.

So if I really want a good SQ setup, will I have to abandon the tweeters in dash bouncing off the glass and woofers in the door? I had a JBL power series component set in a custom baffle in the stock door location but the sound stage was so low, much happier with the tweeters in the dash, they are just harsh metal tweeters with only 13 bands of EQing and no time alignment. It looks like the Pioneer DEH-80 PRS is winning out over the Rockford 360.3 so far. Any other recommendations for midbass. If I remember correctly M5 likes the SEAS prestige? I'm willing to do $100 per mid if I can cross them over at 80hz.

Ok, I get the message. I know a guy from this forum and the Challenger forum who is an MECP certified installer who has done great work on his Challenger. I PM'd him and will meat up this summer. We can do the work together and I can test and set the way I like it, BUT I still have to purchase drivers and equipment. He and several others like the JBL MS8, but the Rockford 360.3 is almost half the price and much more in my budget, or will a Pioneer DEH-80PRS be a better choice, but than there's the dash kit, steering wheel controls, CANbus, I'm thinking the 360.3 might be cheaper, any insights?

I've been to the shop a bunch of times and like them, I would of course sit in the car and have input, but I don't have a laptop. I might, after they initially set everything up see if I can borrow one from a friend and do a little fine tuning, but the professionals use the pink noise generators and microphones, all of which I don't have.