Pontiac G6 with 2 Ethos 18's

[nem 2,019]

Very nice!

[Jasonc13 33]

Great advice on the 31M (100Ah) Die Hard Platinum battery fellas!!  I'm getting just slight headlight dim on the BC2000 at half gain now. It's on sale at Sears right now, $251 after tax, which is over $100 cheaper than the XS D3100.  This thing is waay to tall to fit in my engine bay though.   I'm thinking a Die Hard 34M (68 Ah) up front will be a good match.  SInce I left my multimeter at Sear today, I may just buy the 34 tomorrow when I go back

 

Just a quick brace fab, but it fits perfectly under the box.  The guys at Sears said it was no problem mounting on its side.  Do you guys think this is a non-issue?

 

Had to crimp a 1/0 terminal on my existing power run.  This hydraulic crimper from Harbor Freight works great!   I grind out 1/4" of the terminal to gave the two rounds more room to collapse on the wire.

[Jasonc13 33]

I still need to buy good speaker wire. Any reccomendations?  I was thinking KnuConceptz 10ga for the subs, but what gauge for the front components?  

[puscifer2 27]

14-16ga is usually ok, however if your running a good amount of power and/or long runs I might go up to a 12

[Sencheezy 689]

16awg

[Jasonc13 33]

Wire bought from Knu, thanks!

 

Had to spend some more $$ today at Sears   Bought the 34M to run up front.  Only some minor dremmeling needed.

 

Bye bye Yellow nips

Hello Bass assistant  14.4 at idle with eveything off.  I had never seen 14.0 before.  The even better news is the car is not dropping below 12.7v at full tilt, which is a 1.5v increase. It seems like the Xcons are getting louder each day.  It also helps having good batteries now too

[Jasonc13 33]

Die Hard 34M was $186 @ 68Ah & 880cca.  

[Jasonc13 33]

Great news!! I decided to go nutz and buy an amp to keep for many years... a BC5500. Holy fawkin Crap this thing pounds!!
The windsheild wipers are starting to shake now....wooohoo!!!  . If you can't tell, I am very happy with this combo :-)

Little & Big brother:  BC2000 & BC5500     BC2000 is now for sale.  I'll post it in the classifieds. Amp is mint.

Takes up almost the full length of the trunk:

Edited April 9, 2014 by Jasonc13

[Jasonc13 33]

Upon arriving home, wife says, "You got another heavy damn package!"   HellZ yeah!!

 

Happy Happy Happy!!  I'd like to thank Aaron with SSA.  I ordered both this amp and Mechman alt exactly one week ago today.  Great service from SSA, thanks A TON!!

326.....Oh YEA 

Clean unit

[Jasonc13 33]

Gonna grab a new serpentine belt tomorrow before the alt install. I was surprised the stock alt did as well as she did.  I had to run the amp fairly hard to drop the voltage to 12.0.  I have to credit the 2 Die Hards for that.  I'm sure this rig 14v and full tilt is gonna be incredible.  It's already the loudest vehicle I've ever been in, so I'm easing my way up very slowly with the gains and volume.  Gain is at 1/4 right now.

 

Do you guys think 1 run of 2/0 welding wire is sufficient to link the front and rear battery?

[Jasonc13 33]

Very disappointed in the mechman alt.       1st and LAST purchase from mechfem by me. 

3 relatively important issues mechfem does not tell you:  

 

1) The rear mounting bracket was too narrow by at least 3 mil.    I had to bore out mounting holes to get bolts to finger start.   That is terrible quality control for a $500 alternator.

 

2) One of the the stock mounting M10 bolts is about 3/8" too short for mechfem bracket.........blame Korea??    Don't you think the part time engineers at mechman could provide that bolt with the alternator?    Nawww  I guess the local ACE had me covered.

 

3) Stock alternator belt is too long.  Again, very simple point of knowledge to pass along to the consumer.  Correct new alt belt length is 1" shorter.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Jasonc13

[Drew513Ryder 7]

Very disappointed in the mechman alt.       1st and LAST purchase from mechfem by me. 

3 relatively important issues mechfem does not tell you:  

 

1) The rear mounting bracket was too narrow by at least 3 mil.    I had to bore out mounting holes to get bolts to finger start.   That is terrible quality control for a $500 alternator.

 

2) One of the the stock mounting M10 bolts is about 3/8" too short for mechfem bracket.........blame Korea??    Don't you think the part time engineers at mechman could provide that bolt with the alternator?    Nawww  I guess the local ACE had me covered.

 

3) Stock alternator belt is too long.  Again, very simple point of knowledge to pass along to the consumer.  Correct new alt belt length is 1" shorter.

That suck about the alt not just bolting up, I just got my singer alt and it bolted right up I did have to get a smaller belt, but with a smaller pulley you should expect to have to get a smaller belt. But the rest of the build is looking good.

[Jasonc13 33]

Thanks, I'm slow going but overall it's a fun work in progress.  Sorry to rant about the mech alt, but when I spend $500, I expect high quality in all the details. Voltage is very strong now.  Cruising on the highway (1600 rpm +), where I play the loudest, I haven't seen under 13.4v.  

 

So the sub stage went WAY above & beyond what I had originally planned, but I'm very pleased with it's output.

 

Now to start on the very anemic front stage.   Against my original plan to keep the stock HU, I have decided to replace it.   I will miss the tire pressure sensors the most, but I do realize starting with a poor signal makes the entire process much tougher and costly.

 

I have an older Panasonic HU CQ-C9801U with a 9 band eq and bass level control built in, which I would like to use until I get the 2/4 ch amp and components purchased and installed. I'll get a new HU shortly after. I'd really like to stay below $800 on the front amp and components if possible.  Does this sound reasonable to keep up with my sub stage?

 

Please give me any thoughts & opinions you have here.  I'm also open (maybee even leaning) toward going active, although I'm not sure the old Panasonic HU would support this.  

 

Thanks

[Jasonc13 33]

Front door.  There is a small plastic cover that could be a perfect custom built tweeter enclosure I can aim. I'll snap a pic tomorrow.

 

[Sencheezy 689]

WOW, I can't believe this build hasn't gotten a even more response, great job on all the updates! Seems like someone got stung by the bass bee BIG time lmao! wow. I would love to hear that setup now!

[Sencheezy 689]

as far as your front stage is concerned, if you'd "want" to, you could grab some raw drivers from a site like Madisound, and grab an amp like the Zed Levithan, then an headunit like the Pioneer 80prs. I say this because, it would offer you a lot of flexibility, and would be an robust system to allow some le-way when installing if you're not familiar with full active systems.

[Jasonc13 33]

WOW, I can't believe this build hasn't gotten a even more response, great job on all the updates! Seems like someone got stung by the bass bee BIG time lmao! wow. I would love to hear that setup now!

YES I DID!    haaa!!  I had planned all along to go with the BC3500 for the Xcons, but then I figured wat the hell?   The 5500 can run the Xcons with ease & I'll have more juice on tap once I get the next larger vehicle.  

[Jasonc13 33]

as far as your front stage is concerned, if you'd "want" to, you could grab some raw drivers from a site like Madisound, and grab an amp like the Zed Levithan, then an headunit like the Pioneer 80prs. I say this because, it would offer you a lot of flexibility, and would be an robust system to allow some le-way when installing if you're not familiar with full active systems.

I really like the sound of that. Thanks for your input!   The Leviathan really is a little more than I want to spend right now.  Do I really need 6 channels?  I am completely new to the active world, but I enjoy research.   Do you have any good links I can learn from?

 

On Pioneer's website, the 80prs is no longer listed.  Is it replaced with a different/better model this year?  I do see it for sale on Amazon still for $270

[jcarter1885 994]

 

as far as your front stage is concerned, if you'd "want" to, you could grab some raw drivers from a site like Madisound, and grab an amp like the Zed Levithan, then an headunit like the Pioneer 80prs. I say this because, it would offer you a lot of flexibility, and would be an robust system to allow some le-way when installing if you're not familiar with full active systems.

I really like the sound of that. Thanks for your input!   The Leviathan really is a little more than I want to spend right now.  Do I really need 6 channels?  I am completely new to the active world, but I enjoy research.   Do you have any good links I can learn from?

 

On Pioneer's website, the 80prs is no longer listed.  Is it replaced with a different/better model this year?  I do see it for sale on Amazon still for $270

 

 I made that mistake the other day and thought it was discontinued as well cause I didn't see it on the site as well. But after you click on cd receivers, you have to also click on the products tab. Otherwise it is just going to show you the units that came out this year in 2014 only.

 

A pioneer dealer on another forum told me it was just on back order at the moment. Hopefully that is true and it is not discontinued.

 

No six channels are not needed, just depends on what you want to run as a front stage. Usually a 2 way, mid and tweeters is how you want to start out. if its your first time going active. A four channel amp will do what you need it do, but if your planning on running a high powered front stage then yeah a six channel would work or (2) 4 channel amplifiers.

Edited April 16, 2014 by jay-cee

[altoncustomtech 773]

Beautiful build going on here.  Wish you were local, I'd love to check out those XCON's in your ride and go over some stuff to do with your front stage.  I second the thought on the RF 3sixty, or the JBL MS8, or the JL Cleansweep.  They're all good DSP's designed specifically for integrating a factory HU with aftermarket audio equipment.  Of course they're all a little pricey, all the DSP's seem to be, but they can do WAY more for you than the LC6 was ever capable of doing.

[Jasonc13 33]

@ jay-cee, good tip on Pioneer.  I just looked at the Silver Flute W17RC38-04 in your sig.  That looks like a hell of  lot of speaker for $30!   Did you make enclosures in the doors for those?  

 

A strong 4 channel amp sounds like a good simple start for me. I really would prefer to keep this on he smaller side.  Gotta be some pretty good options under $500 right?

 

 

 

@Alton;  I've finally given in to putting in an aftermarket hu, which will most likely be the 80prs. I can't justify buying a DSP, when a better HU solves the sound quality loss for less.  

[altoncustomtech 773]

Oh definitely is the HU a cheaper and easier solution when starting on a first active setup. I would also toss the recommendation of the Clarion CZ702 out there as well. It's slightly more capable as dad as the amount of tuning that can be done on the crossovers and the frequencies therein and of the EQ. The only real limitation is it's lower number of bands of EQ and the fact it's not separate for left and right. It's been said before that if someone could combine the best capabilities of both units it would be the ultimate active capable HU.

[Sencheezy 689]

lol, You could literally spend an entire work shift or two researching running active.

 

You don't have to use six channels. As I stated, I recommended it for its flexibility. Controls, are you friend in the game of running active. I believe the Leviathan has some odd 12 different configurations? lol. And, it's an absolute power house at an extremely small foot print. 

 

To put it in lamen terms. The easiest way for me understand running active. Is if you were to simply replace your stock speaker locations, and utilize them. You could use the leviathan and bridge each pair. So ch1 and 2 would be your tweets, ch2 and 3 would be your midrange, then ch5 and 6 would be your midbass. At this point, you would use your available crossovers, either via the amp, your new radio, or an external processor. 

 

What this means, is that, ch1 and 2 would play everything from 4.5khz and up, ch3 and 4 would play 300hz to 4.5khz, and ch5 and 6 would play everthing from 300 and below.

 

Now, I emphasize, this is just an random example I pulled out of my head while typing this, just to give you a stepping stone sort of speak. I hope this helps. 

[jcarter1885 994]

I wouldn't advise anyone to do a three way active setup their first go around.

Active vs Passive (quick info)

Passive means the crossover points and slopes are fixed for each speaker, normally in a crossover box. All the work is done by the crossover box and comes in between the speaker and amp. Just like your traditional component set.

Active means the crossover points and slopes are variables for each speaker, until you find what sounds best to you. The crossover points and slopes can be adjusted or tweaked by using an active capable head unit, dsp or active capable amplifier. The head unit is the best because its at your fingertips for on the go changes. A dsp can be fun and packed with a lot of features. An amplifier can be used as well until you get more equipment, it will be harder to know exactly where you are crossed over at. Basically your turning your head unit, dsp or amplifier to a crossover box that comes with a component set if you went that route. Hopefully that makes sense this early in the morning.

This way your not stuck buying over priced components and it allows you to pick drivers based off your needs and wants. Sites like madisound.com, parts-express.com and usspeaker.com are great sites to choose raw drivers from. Im no expert in choosing drivers but once you get a better handle on running active, make a topic and their are plenty of members here who will lend a hand.

The silverflutes are nice budget beginner drivers but depending on your listening habits may or may not be enough output for you. Would it hurt to grab a pair for the price and practice going active, no it wouldnt. No, I only have them in the door in the factory location.

[jcarter1885 994]

Here is an easier way to understand running active and believe it or not your running a certain speaker in your setup now active, yes your subwoofer. You have two fixed points picked on your amplifier to control what frequencies are played when using a ported enclosure. The low pass filter (lpf) which limits how high you want your subwoofer to play, usually set anywhere from 50-80hz. The sub-sonic filter aka high pass filter (ssf/hpf) which limits how low you want your want your subwoofer to play. These are known as band passed filters or running active.

Applied to mids yes you want band pass filters. You need a low pass filter to control how high you want your mids to play, usually no higher than 2500hz (depending on mids and setup on hand). You also want a high pass filter to control how low you want your mids to play, usually 60-80/100hz (depending on mids and setup on hand).

Applied to tweeters no you dont need band pass filters but you need a crossover point low enough to help mate with your mids. You simply just need a high pass filter to control how low you want your tweets to play, usually around 2000-2500hz (depending on tweeters and setup on hand). No low pass filter is needed because you will lef your tweeters just roll off naturally.

That's kinda simple once you understand it, the hard part is gonna come down to tuning your system. Learning how to adjust the crossover slopes (6db, 12db, 24db) with the crossover frequencies at the the power levels your running is where it gets tricky. Your mids may love a 60hz at 24db setting but once you turn the volume knob up some you may find that it needs a 80hz at 24db slope to perform well and not distort on certain songs. Thats why you usually play tweets alone to test and find their limits, same with mids.