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As most of you know I had my DD 9518Z for sale. Well it sold, and I ordered two SSA ZCON 18"s for the PT. A good friend of mine and I started a "Team" but not a team. Lol. Were called "Southern Hertz". To get in our group wont be easy. But well worth it. Notice the shop I'm always working in LOL. This is just the start. :-) Well, I've always hated messy wiring, I know, I'm like the king of it. But it drives me crazy. So tonight. A friend and I decided to fix my issue. We started with this not to shabby. But could be better. Then went in order of these photos. Took everything out. Old amp rack. Batteries. All of it. Started work on amp rack/ battery box. Built it nice and strong. Putting it in. Nice fit. Wiring it all up. Mounting amps up. All done.

^^This. I watched it about a month ago and loved it.

The subs might be good but his ways of going about are bad...

I say dump him anyways. You sell good subs, he sells crappy subs. Its nice enough you let him use your forum for business.

Something that people can take into account, is the piece of mind with a JL product. JL set's themselves apart as they do actually do very extensive engineering and testing of their own products. They are not pointing to pictures in a Chinese build house catalog like many do now. They market very well and don't make major changes every 6 months to their products. So they know people will pay a premium for a premium product if that product has actual value and support behind it. JL is the Mercedes of the market place, they are doing it right. None of their products are the zenith of their respective segments, but all are very good and have lot's of development behind them. I know that I can walk into any dealer and buy a 300/2 amp and know I am getting an excellent product that I know if something went wrong, I would be taken care of, and to many people that is worth the extra money.

That's all he does: avoid any slightly technical question. He wants to divert any questions about his amplifiers to clamp results, which is great for the ignorant who can look and go "Oh aww it's underrated, its super good." I know there are several other companies in the same boat as far as how their products are produced, and I'm fine by that, but because of his business ethics, I would never spend my money with him.

My POV is that if you address it, then there won't be any issues. Trying to run from or cover up the problem does not solve anything. On a side note, every week, there is just one more thing that disturbs me about the online car audio industry. We (SSA) will never be on of the one's killing it because my ethics and moral's hold us back from being the cut throat - bridge burning - profit at all costs etc. type. I am not pointing the finger at anyone, but I know I have held us back from some bigger moves because I did not feel comfortable with it as a person, and I cannot own a company that lies to customers for money. Sadly, that is not the way to get ahead in this game. Not at all saying Mark's ethics and morals are different.

Ultra has seemed to have a mixed track record. They came on really hot two years ago, again another one of these better then all others based on some of the hype, but when some people started paying attention and using the products themselves, things changed a little. They had some big traffic on DIYma for a few months, and now there is almost no mention of them anywhere. We almost hosted the Ultra forum here on SSA, but then with the issues some customers had with the owner, right from the get go, we decided not to. From what I remember, supposedly the amps share a lot of bits from an ARC design.

check all connections. and i mean ALL connections. amp to battery in the rear and the front. check your ground at all points.

I did but I didnt have to go thru all the crap.I just wanted some straighht forward suggestions in case I am wrong. Crap huh. If you already bought speakers don't waste my or other peoples time with the lazy posts.

I have used it, it helps but not a lot. If you have a lot of flexing and rattling now and would like to dampen it substantially, I would skip it and do the full SDS treatment as using a layer of Roadkill will not do much.

I am declaring myself intelligible for the prize, but I feel I should add my peace. This is a very sad day that I knew was coming for a while, but did not want to admit to it. Mike was and still is, one of the best people in the internet based, high end audio business. He is one of the very scant few that puts honesty and service first while realizing that it is not about massive margins made from mediocre product under over promised pretenses and fanboy hype. So let me back up a moment, Kent (mrray13), one of our very valuable long time members of SSA as was a part of how we shaped this place in the beginning, shot me a PM back in 2004 I believe. That PM essentially brought my attention to this great little brand that I knew where it was being built and I had been very familiar with what had come out of that factory. We got a hold of Mike, and come to find out he is super laid back and a great guy that was not trying to make a quick buck or push product. Once I had the chance to use Soundsplinter in my own install, I was always supportive of the great product. It is a dark day in audio when someone like Mike, has to bow out, and slimy product pushing grease ball predators are thriving. One positive piece of car audio is no longer. During a transitional stage of the SSA forums, bringing on manufacturers to the forum, (something only SoundDomain and SIN were doing at the time and look how active they are now ) Mike and SoundSplinter was a no-brainer addition. Mike was excellent at providing great info and communication even when his personal affairs were far more important. I strive to get us (SSA) to follow the standard Mike has set. Mike would never settle for a less then top end product with his logo on it. For a good while, the RL-i and RL-p was the educated choice of many, the RL-s was the choice of the nutty in the head types, but in a good way. To this day RL-i 8's fetch great money used, nearly 2 years IIRC after the last one was sold. There are some things in my audio collection that will never get sold, even in the worst of times. A signed, limited run RL-p triple slug and a BNIB RL-i 8 are apart of that going to the grave category. One last personal note, through a few rough patches in my life, Mike was always there, and that means a great deal to me. I hope people snatch up these Orphan 8's as Mike is giving them away, seriously, at this price. Mike, we wish you the best of luck and health in your future adventures, and SoundSplinter content will always remain on SSA as a reference, PM me if you would like to discuss how. Soundsplinter will always have one of the coolest logo's:

I like DC Audio amps and wouldnt mind getting one along with Everest Sound Labs (they seem to be getting a lot of buzz lately). Im not to fond of Crescendo Audio and there customer service so I wont be using them again, I have nothing against there amps. I could care less about spending money or saving money, I buy what fits my needs (space, power, reliability, features and the companys' customer service). You cant talk about Sundowns prices, like Jacob stated plenty of times his company is not an internet based brand that sells directly to the customer. If he wanted to he could and his products would be a lot cheaper to fit some poeples needs or wallets. Not justifying his prices or his company just stating facts on why it is what it is. Dealer based companies will always have higher prices then internet based companies, no matter how much the products compare to one another. The one thing I do respect about Sundown is he was having great success with Zenon boards and then started seeing companies imitate for a cheaper price, and what does Jacob do about it. He just re-tools his amp to differentiate them, while other companies are sticking with the previous boards (where's the innovation?). Honestly who cares what the next person will run in there vehicle, I didnt know now days that I had to justify my product purchases with the next man.

Amp dyno Sit back and be amazed! Try not to chit yo-self ///M5

Hecks yeas brotha! Of the internet branded amps I have ran Crescendo and soon DC Audio. When I decide to buy an amplifier absolutely no factor has to do with brand name. The reviews and customer service speak for themselves. I will run Crescendo and DC Audio anytime if their product fits my build. Currently I am running JL Audio amps. Why? Because they fit my build log criteria for amps. Small. Personally I think Sundown amps are way overpriced. Here again, I am not going to buy them just because of the Sundown tag on them Hell my 3kwp was them same freak'n amp as the SAZ-3000D (ok you got me, the caps are slightly different and the voltage protection circuitry is slightly different) which costs over twice as much.

umm no.. thats not how to properly do rear fill. the op doesn't need rear fill, he needs a proper front stage. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Actually you dont, you stated how you want to limit the rear fill to speakers that dont play high pass frequencies. Then you totally go against that statement and suggest a sealed back midrange driver . Dont do any speakers in the rear deck unless you seal off trunk or your just gonna damage those speakers. For now dont waste any money on rear speakers until you set your system up and give it a listen. Like I stated about keep factory speakers in there on radio power and you will be fine. If your set on changing them out then you can get a pair of components for the front and coaxials for the back. Lol. Another clueless post.

umm no.. thats not how to properly do rear fill. the op doesn't need rear fill, he needs a proper front stage. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Actually you dont, you stated how you want to limit the rear fill to speakers that dont play high pass frequencies. Then you totally go against that statement and suggest a sealed back midrange driver . Dont do any speakers in the rear deck unless you seal off trunk or your just gonna damage those speakers. For now dont waste any money on rear speakers until you set your system up and give it a listen. Like I stated about keep factory speakers in there on radio power and you will be fine. If your set on changing them out then you can get a pair of components for the front and coaxials for the back.

I love a good soundstage. I am more SQ orientated than SPL and I do have rear fill. I like a slight presence of rear fill to add a little ambiance. You do want to keep your rear fill frequencies limited to low passed signals in the midrange. Higher frequencies are more locatable and can pull your soundstage behind you. Since you want a simple install for your rear fill I recommend sealed back drivers for the rear deck install. Goldwood GM-85/4 5" Heavy Duty Sealed Back Midrange 4 Ohm from parts-express would work well for your rear fill. You can buy or make adapter plates to mount them without modification to the factory speaker location.

You should spend some money on glasses. The ones in your avatar are ready to be replaced. It'll seriously help with the ladies.

I have my 18s temporarily wired up in a less than optimal enclosure right now (~11.75 cubes tuned to 40hz) wired to 2.8 nominal on an SAZ3500D just to try everything out and evaluate the electrical a bit. So far, with very minimal play/tune time, I am pleased with the output and definitely think these things have the potential to put up some nice numbers. I think they will be a force to be reckoned with in the MECA lanes next season. I predict SSA will be dominating in the lanes in 2012.

Money seems to be the driver in amp picking.

why do people think you have to use the same brand amp as the driver?

Do search on the internet and see what you find.

Fucking DC Power failing again! Jesus Christ you guys suck.