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TheGr33nNinja

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Everything posted by TheGr33nNinja

  1. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Hello all, I've been a motorcycle rider for 3 years, and am finally joining the cage crew. So, to get straight to the point, I believe an XCON will satisfy my desires. I want a sub that hits low and hard. "SQL" with heavy focus on the L. So, I have no idea what i'd need to run this setup. By this I mean big three, HO alternator etc, i'm not sure what i'm looking at. I don't really have a price range since I've been saving for a while (well, let's just say $2,000 so it doesn't get crazy), my main issue is space. I drive a 2013 Ford Focus Titanium, so I don't exactly have a huge trunk. Something I've discovered though is the spare tired is located under the trunk. So maybe if I took that out i'd be able to fit a bigger box in there. Not sure. All I know is I want a ported box so I can hit loud and low, i'm looking at the Sundown 1500 amp to push the XCON, but i'm open to suggestions. My question is, what will I need to support this amp and sub(mainly electrical system)? And which size should I get? I was originally wanting an 18 because that's louder than 2 12's, but I kind of want to be optimal in my setup. If an optimal setup on a smaller sub will be louder than a not optimal setup on a bigger sub? No brainer than. I'd go louder. Any advice appreciated! P.S I don't know how to build a box or anything and i'm cramped for time (work like 50-60 hours on slow weeks) so i'd take it to a shop and have them build everything for me.
  2. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Hard drive recently failed on me so I lost all my pictures. Good thing for YouTube tho. Here's a little video http://youtu.be/OxZybfEDKgo Right on, dude! Hows the sub firing up work out for you? I'm debating in keeping it firing backwards. Although, it hits pretty good right now. Sweet video. I can't fit a box as big as that because of my battery in the back, but I can work something bigger in the back.
  3. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Puscifer:"You're playing below tuning. If the port is only 32hz 23hz should be almost nonexistent. Ssf needs to be set a little higher." Thanks! I looked up a video on how to set it using a DDM. If I can figure it out, I think that way should be pretty simple. "most prefab enclosures made by local shop vendors are too small to begin with and also don't take into consideration port and woofer displacement and are tuned around 40hz...23hz is faaar below that and if you have an ssf filter adjustment on your amp it needs to be set at or right around 36-37hz untill you get your box you want that better suits your good woofer, be carefull what your doing at this point, any odd noise out of the sub could be damaging to it. And that is a very nice woofer. " Thanks, man. You're a great help! I want to set that and my lpf using my new dmm. I'm also thinking of building my own box. If I look up what tools I'll need and materials, I'm sure I could dedicate a weekend to it. Give my girl and I a little project that we both can participate in. Gotta get this sub going in a worthy box! Also...not to disappoint anyone, or you, THX, but I kind of already did damage the sub. It was a total accident. EDIT: The video is coming up as private on my phone. Thats weird. I can't change it to anything on my phone, but when I get home I'll change it for you guys. Unfortunate.
  4. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    "I have always tuned in the 30-34 hz range for my daily use enclosures. I personally found it to work well with my tastes. Generally with a larger lower tuned enclosure you get a flatter response over a larger range of frequencies, whereas a smaller but higher tune will give a much bigger spike or boost but to a very narrow range comparatively. For example I am currently running a single 15 in 4 cubic feet net tuned to 33Hz. And I find it has great range for multiple genres of music." So it would appear low 30's is a good tuning range. I'm thinking if I get a new box I'll bump it up in hz in a bigger enclosure. 32 or 33. Probably 33. "32hz is always a good tuning for these heavy duty subs I believe, however, I don't know what the XCON wants in terms of space and tuning, or rather, what it desires for best performance. If 32hz fits right around the middle of reccomendation, I would surely choose 32hz and use the max internal volume INCLUDING SUBWOOFER AND PORT DISPLACEMENTS!!! listed under vented specs. To quote Alton... " As Brendan mentioned you have to factor in the volume of the sub itself to the volume of the enclosure. So say you're going to build an enclosure that is 1.5cuft NET, be sure to add the .16cuft of driver displacement for a total box volume of 1.66cuft total." Your number's may be different but the same practice still applys. Your subwoofer's website/manual will list it's volume, or someone on these forums will know specifically." Thats cool, man. I think the shop I went to failed miserably. xD I understand what you mean about net volume. I believe the xcon is recommended to be tuned at 26-33 hz. So 30 would be in the middle if thats what we're going by to tune it. "nice. I too have a 2012 Ford Focus. Don't know what Im gonna be running yet tho. Had a DC Level 3 15" in a 3.25cf enclosure tuned to 30hz. Boy oh boy did it have my poor car shakin." Do you have any pictures, bro? My girl and I would like to see how you managed that! Replying through my phone. No multi quote sucks.
  5. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    So I'd just like to post an update regarding this. I removed an input one by one and each time the sub got quieter and moved significantly less. I also played a song at 23hz and I could of sworn it's moving out of sync. It may be out of phaze, or maybe I'm just paranoid. Not sure how to fix it if this is the case. It also sounds like a paper stuck in a bicycle wheel hitting the spokes as it hits bass. Pretty annoying. It also simulates a paper covering the port. But it's not the port. It's the sub. And I can hear it in the car when the bass is hitting. It's annoying. My girlfriend says it's not suppose to do that.
  6. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Great point. I have a feeling the sub box is poor. xD They carpeted it up real nice, but I think the sub needs a better home. Also don't forget there is a break in period of nearly a month on those subs before they reach their full potential of excursion and loudness, just go easy on her for a while and she'll start to open up for ya, and if your going to stick with a that particular sub look into getting the max sized volume within spec tuned to the lowest hz within spec Snaps! I took it easy for a week (even on 4ohms ) and thought that was good. Anyways, dope, we shall see how she opens up in a month or so. As for spec tuning, you'd really recommend the lowest hz? That'd be 26hz, I believe! I was actually contemplating getting it tuned higher like at 33. Because from what I've read that should give more output, no? I just hope I wouldn't lose a ton of lows. x) As for the max volume spec I have to look into that. Thanks again, everyone. I'll post up my 10 for a final time soon.
  7. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    My apologies on the delay everyone! Comparison video coming soon! Yo, I was skeptical on the difference it'd make, but woah. Instant holy excursion all of a sudden. And stuff actually moves around in my car a little bit now. Pretty epic! One little wire made all the difference. I've been at the beach.... waves... It was too short to work with for me. BUT, no worries, I didn't even have to purchase any wire. I just got another wire and hooked it up like his diagram. x) Midbass, eh? Good thing i'm starting to look into components...hehe As for the box, true. Once again, my bad for the delay. Thanks everyone! It was a long journey, but we found the issue after all. Most of this thread was over my head honestly. xD But I learned how to use a dmm now and how to wire a sub. Parallel and in series. But I now know parallel is the way to go for a single d2. probably hard to understand pic 1. perhaps slightly easier to understand pic Basically what ended up happening was the next day I went to best buy. I went to service and told the guy how I took my sub in to get installed at a shop and they ended up wiring it to 4ohms and I want to wire it at 1ohm but I don't have any wire. He asked me how much I need and I gestured about a half a foot of wire. He's like "i'll go cut you off a piece" and he comes back with like a two foot piece of wire! He's just like "do you know what gauge it was?" i'm all "no" he's all "was it thick?" i'm like "i don't think so" then he goes " will this work?" and i'm all "that should do the trick!" and he's all "here you go, man. You can have it" and I was on my merry way! Went to home depot and bought some wire cutters along with a new dmm (the last one I believe was faulty). In the home depot parking lot I ended up hooking up the sub with my girl. I took the old wire that was running negative to positive and ran it negative to negative. Then I took the new wire and joined it with the other positive and ran positive to positive. The pics are hard to see, but I had one loop running along the bottom of the sub, then the new wire I put above the sub because it was so long. Now there's some songs that actually sound beast where as before I was trying to turn up the bass the whole time somehow. Wishing the bass control went up higher. xD Anyways, that's about it, guys. It appears my sub has reached its full potential! Except, not as far as a "real" box goes. Plus, I still owe you guys a comparison video. So, this weekend (hopefully tomorrow) i'ma try and get some footage. Then hopefully by Sunday night I can have it up for you guys to see the difference one little wire made with my sub. Expect that soon. I am working (Friday is my monday) the next four days so I will have to squeeze it in somewhere. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to post in the thread. You guys helped out a ton. I hope the video will be accepted as a form of gratitude. Seeing what you guys helped accomplish come to life. EDIT: And of course...I have to add in here. Yes, my girl is very satisfied with the sub now.
  8. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    HECK YEAH!!! Now I just have to actually wire it in that way. xD I know the shop I went to last time closes in an hour! So definitely tomorrow I will have this fixed!! Thanks for the help, everyone. Lets see how this pans out!
  9. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    So I just went out and disconnected my sub and all the wires. I put the prongs inside the terminals. 1.6 ohms each side.
  10. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Basically like the last diagram I posted, right? Little easier to understand.
  11. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Removing the sub WAS the key, frog! Thanks for cracking this case wide open! Are you able to run it to 1 ohm your self? No, I don't have wire laying around or anything.
  12. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Removing the sub WAS the key, frog! Thanks for cracking this case wide open!
  13. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Thank you. I will get on that. I have to disconnect it all again.
  14. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Okay, I will get on that after I take care of this other problem. After removing the sub, it appears it's wired at 4ohms. WHAT IS THIS! If it truly is then obviously i'd wire to 1ohm and see how that goes. I only overlayed music where the video cut audio. In my editing software when you slow down the video audio cuts. So rather than hear nothing, I put in some music both my girl and I like. I will check out those steps as well. I just want to figure out what kind of sub I have first and if it's wired to the lowest ohm possible. I was thinking the same thing. When I saw a 1ohm diagram, it made me kind of flustered. Like, "WHAT IS THIS! I have to get this wired to 1ohm now!" Correct. I was looking at that too. So you're saying disconnect all wires and just test the two that lead to the amp? Why would I take off the random wire from the positive to negative in that case? Or are you saying connect the dmm directly to the sub? So it's becoming apparent a new box is in order. A real box. Question is...how.
  15. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Alright. Did my best to get the readings. On the left it read 1.8 On the right it read 1.7 I believe that was all I needed to do. But just because I also did one from each opposite side at the same time. The top two gave me 3.1 And the bottom gave me .2. I will post the pics up after. Time to screw my sub in
  16. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Guys, I don't want to jump the gun or anything, but so you guys are in sync with what i'm doing. I got it removed now. Here are some pics. I'm working on the dmm now. Left: http://oi61.tinypic.com/imqu8g.jpg Right: http://i62.tinypic.com/nd7yp4_th.jpg Red to black http://oi59.tinypic.com/5js03p.jpg Enclosure/port http://oi58.tinypic.com/eqctnl.jpg Port: http://oi61.tinypic.com/2v8pyy8.jpg Box: http://oi60.tinypic.com/2uz2bnd.jpg Back to tinkering
  17. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    This can be a tricky situation, the signal from the stock head unit is NOT speaker level which is what you want to feed into the LOC. It can sometimes be within range to work and sometimes you can just connect RCA's directly to the stock head unit, it is all dependent on the output voltage from the stock radio. This is why it usually works better with LOC's to use the amp's output, this way you know you have a speaker level signal and that is what a LOC is meant to work with. Another thing OP may want to try is unplugging one RCA cable from the amp, if the LOC was wired out of phase it could cause the problems he is having and unplugging one cable will show it immediately. That was really over my head, man! I won't lie! So, say I figure out what the RCA cable is and unplug it. What am I looking for?
  18. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Thanks for all the advice, guys. I really appreciate it! Unfortunately not! I have free time now though. So I promise you I will go open that dmm now and see what I can do. That would be super bogus if they did that to me. I hope it didn't happen either. I may take THX's advice and hit that shop up again and ask some questions. There's my problem then, not the sub. haha I have been considering a bigger box, i'm under the impression that can make the sub louder. As for head units and all that, if i'm going to spend money i'm thinking i'll get the other 10" IF I mistakenly got a D1 sub (Nice trick SSA ), however, if indeed there was no mistake, then i'll look into the upgrades you speak of. @the highlight: wow lol Real box though, that may be the issues. I think the video helped eliminate some factors. For instance, I believe we can see that I just want more SPL. haha I didn't even know you can do that. O_o Then how will I know if i'm clipping out the sub though? Because normally when it sounds good and loud is when it's clipping. Thanks a TON for the advice, man! And thanks for the compliment. I like it. On to the sub though! As for the DMM, do I have my car running with no music playing, or do I want music playing while testing? I'm not sure. Thanks for the walkthrough on it by the way. It takes a little bit of the overwhelming factor away from me! On my head unit I have everything zero'd out. I sometimes turn the treble up one notch and the midrange I normally have negative. Like negative 1 or two. My h/u unfortunately has no settings to calibrate which size sub you have to my knowledge. I'm fairly sure i've scanned through all the settings. I can walk in to the shop tomorrow most likely. I'll ask if they ran directly from my H/U to the new amp. Thanks for the advice, man. Say, worst comes to worst, I got the wrong type sub, will I notice an improved with the other sub running off the same amp at a lower impedance? I've got a lot of work to do! First time ever working with things like this for me. How do I do that! As far as moving things, it's because I want that "punch in the gut" or "hard to breath" effect. I just want to feel the bass. You know what I mean? Maybe i'm talking with the wrong people, but I don't want a nice sounding low sub. I want a banging sub tearing things up! xD However, maybe I've completely set my expectations too high. And if I would have a banging sub that you can't hear on the outside, great! As of now, i'd at least want a sub i'm satisfied with on the inside. Not left desiring more power and output. Thanks for being patient with me, guys. I got off work relatively early. Give me a little time, and I should be back with some numbers once I figure this out and disconnect the sub. One other thing I've been thinking of getting installed. A volt meter. So I can see what my sub is getting. Any advice on those, for instance, it's hooked up at the amp, right?
  19. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Hello guys, I've been really busy with work and hanging out with my girl, but today is my Friday. I will make a full on post responding to everyone after work. I currently am sneaking this post in at work. So my girl and I edited up this video footage yesterday, and I took the footage a day before that. It was shot at night, but I used my phone as a light to light up the sub. I hope it's decent quality. It starts off inside my car pretty much blasting (not sure the audio will do it justice) I have the volume set to approx. 73% volume. Higher than average listening volume. I showcase how like NOTHING is moving in the car. Review mirror, center console, side mirrors, NOTHING! Then I switch to outside the car so you can see how you can barely hear it outside the vehicle. Then I cut to with the hatchback open and showcasing the actual sub moving. Check it out, guys. It's not outstanding quality or anything, but I hope it helps a little bit. I don't mean to post so sparingly, but I'm free the next couple days, so I will take care of business then. Frog, thats when I'll try and check out that dmm. It's over my head right now, so it's why I've been putting it off. xD And guys. I kinda made a decision. If this sub turns out to be a D1, I can buy another D1 so I can wire two subs at 1ohm. Hopefully my amp would support that. I believe that'd be louder. I would be moving more air theoretically, just less watts per sub.
  20. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    The only subs I'd get from these shops are W7s. I've heard good things about those subs. That kind of setup is a small penis. lol Pictures will take longer, but I got you, frog!! Or it might be the way the amp is tuned. If I read that thread right. He said the box said dual 1 coils. Who ordered the sub? I ordered the sub. D2. But it's possible there was an error. Because when I got the box the D1 box was circled. I'm thinking it may be the way the amp is tuned. That, or maybe I should of looked into the biggest amp I could possibly push on a stock alt. Disturbing the peace is all the rage these days, bro. Me too, bro. Thanks a lot, frog. You've been a big help. I've found that some songs can hit decently, but it still leaves something to be desired. __________________________ My girlfriend says that she's not trying to criticize my sub, she says she loves my little sub. Just ever since I turned down the bass boost it's been an underwhelming sub.
  21. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    I will take the sub out today and take some pictures. Hopefully that will clear this up.EDIT: Guys, typing on my phone takes too long. I AM A go to my girlfriends and use her laptop so I can better respond. On the up and up, I bought a DMM. Just gotta figure out how to use it. It was on sale for like $12 too. Beast.
  22. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Thanks again, THX! That will come in handy as soon as I have the courage to open up the sub. xDIts not that hard. Just need to unscrew all the screws around the sub and take it out of the enclosure. And take some pictures of the sub and inside the enclosure if you can Why does he need to take the sub out of the box?Good question, if I go by your way with the dmm we would know wiring is an issue with me not taking out 6 screws or whatever it is. o.o
  23. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Thanks again, THX! That will come in handy as soon as I have the courage to open up the sub. xD Disconnect the speaker wires from the amp and see what ohm reading you get at those wires.Pretty straight forward! Thanks, pmureika! I'll post results as soon as I buy the dmm. Thanks again, THX! That will come in handy as soon as I have the courage to open up the sub. xDIts not that hard. Just need to unscrew all the screws around the sub and take it out of the enclosure. And take some pictures of the sub and inside the enclosure if you canWill do!Sounds easy enough. I can do all this as soon as I get off work. Should hopefully be a ten hour day today (possibly 12) but if I have the strength when I'm out, I'll get all this done for you guys. I really wanna start with the process of elimination so we can find out if it's me...or the setup! Expect a full on update of my attempts this night. I only hope I have enough time. If not, this weekend works much better for me. I work more like 4 hours sat/sun lately, so I could get pics for you guys then, and most likely a video of the sub in action. I had some downtime at work this whole time. I'm going to see if it's picked up. If it has, I'll reconvene with you guys when I'm free. Should be about 7 hours from now if it's time for me to put in work before clocking out.
  24. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Found a work around to multi quote Yea that's how it is around here. I dont understand it. Why work at an audio shop if your not going to learn about audio lol. There mostly just cocky sales peopleExactly, frog. They're lucky I'm having a hard time with this or else I wouldn't need them. I have a stock head unit. I drive a Ford Focus Titanium and the headunit is already touch screen so I didn't wanna mess with any of that. So I can't say specifically because they didn't talk to me about this, but whatever is stock, that's all I can say is how it's reaching the amp. My stock headunit setup is very similar to this, so it was hard for me to want to mess with the housing and all that. Not sure what my options are. I just found this image on google images real quick. The reason I was asking about the head unit was because some factory OEM headunits can attenuate the bass as volume increases. Im just curious how they took the signal from the head unit, Line Output Converter? If so which one? LOC's also have a gain setting, maybe its not correct? Did your car have a factory amp already in place? Did they tap the signal from the factory amp or directly from the head unit? Wow, crackin, good question! You know, it may be possible they tapped a factory amp, because this car did come with a stock rinky dink factory sub. Now THAT one you for sure couldn't tell it was there. I think I have to go back to the shop now. I only hope they can remember what they did. I'll ask what they wired the sub to while I'm there, and ask how they took the signal from the factory head unit to the amp. I believe that should clear some things up. These guys aren't too fun to work with though, so this should be interesting. Haha They originally tried to get me to upgrade my head unit. I just didn't want to because I didn't know my options. This sub setup is more overwhelming than I originally anticipated! Haha I wish I could answer everyone's questions, but these guys were like "here's your keys, we're done. Everything is as you asked" pretty much. I tried asking questions and they were just like "yeah, we did that. It's all set" Took two days for the install
  25. TheGr33nNinja

    First car, desiring first sub

    Thanks again, THX! That will come in handy as soon as I have the courage to open up the sub. xD
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