TechSys

I have been through the drug addiction and now work for a substance abuse rehab. Did everything except for shooting up. Spent 4 years doing it and did not know of any rehabs at the time. I have to kick it on my own. It takes ALOT of will power to do it. You have to change quite a bit of your life to accomondate. It's no an over night thing, it can take a long time (took me 4 years to overcome all but nicotine which I'm still using). You've done the first step, admitted you were powerless over your addiction - that your life has become unmanageable. That, my friend, is a very good and important step. Now follow through with it. It'll be hard at first, but over time it's gets better. Just to let you know after 20+ years of being clean, I still have some trouble with the want. Especially whne I get under a lot of stress. There is plenty of help out there for you if you think you can't do it alone. Groups are great for support IF you find one that you can fit in well. A lot of groups tend to have clicks and some people just don't feel they are in the right place. Then they go back out and use again. Don't let that happen, if possible. Addiction is a disease. whether anybody wants to believe that or not is their problem. Anything can be additcive. I'm addicted to computers, car audio, nicotine, and caffeine. I am slowly kicking the addiction of most of them, one by one, but car audio will be the one I won't ever try to kick. You can do it and if you need some support, I am holding my hand out to you. PM me if you need to and we'll see if we can get you on the right track. Basically I am offering to be your sponsor.

I had to change back to the dark skin. Everything was slow with the new skin using Firefox. I also like having a full sized forum instead of something scrunched up in the center.

The Story on TecTrends And another story. I'd believe this one first though.

I'd go ahead and install the second alt. You know the saying, "It takes power to make power"? It's very true.

Yes, Shuriken Batteries is owned by Metra Electronics. Both have the same address listed on the websites. I've been thinking about running a few soon, just haven't had the time to order yet.

You're trying to save weight, but want a loud audio system. The two do not go hand in hand. As everybody mentioned, the biggest alternator you can get made for your vehicle. Big 3. 3 Kinetik KHC1800 (or equiv.) in the back and 1 KHC1400 (or equiv.) in the front. I would go with the biggest wiring you can afford. 3 runs of 1/0 or 1 run of 4/0. It'll probably equal out about the same on price, but the 4/0 will give you quite a bit more headromm (in my opinion) than 3 runs of 1/0. Just my .02

^^ What he said. I've got the loudspeaker cookbook. When I started studying it I was pretty much overwhelmed by it. Lots of info and yes, you could get all your questions answered out of it. There are a couple other books that you could still get info from, but I can't remember the names.

EPSILON ELECTRONICS, INC is: SoundStream Precision Power Power Acoustik Kole audio SPL audio Farenheit Elite

I smoke Marlboro medium 100s, unfortunately. I've been smoking since I was 14 (40 now). 26 years of the crap and I want to stop, but have a very hard time doing it due to some other things going on in life. I just recently got diagnosed as having something called Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Something I've lived with all my life (thanks dad). Smoking, right now, kind of helps to keep me calm. At least until I can find a good replacement for it . Just for info about those wondering what IED is, here is a brief explanation:

Yep, Mike is the judge. At least that's what I was told.

If I'm not mistaken there are one or two sanctioned judges down that way for Iasca, Meca, and dBDRA. If the event, audio part of it, is gonna be sanctioned, you'll probably need t contact them. Just figured I'd give ya a heads up on that. But yea, even though I'm up here in Jax, if it's right before SBN AND my van is fixed, I'll definitely try to be there.

That's a good idea right there.

Nah, wasn't there for 2009. Was there for 2008. I figured I would try to take a break for a while and work on some other things in life. I don't plan on having any issues like I did in 2008. I couldn't keep the 6500d powered up on 19.5 volts. Found out it was my remote turn on not giving the proper juice and I had a shorted positive wire that was VERY hard to find. It'd only short when I was in the lanes (weird). I want to see this other black astro. But I think I know who's it is.

Hopefully the black primer SoundStream Astro will get done. Would love to get in the lanes with some of the Team Sundown people. At this rate though.. I won't be finished. All Ive got is a plan with no money.

SouthEastSPL.com has a section for Sundown audio. Not sure how active it is though. I do believe that FloridaSPL.com has a few Sundown people.

The good thing about LEDs is if you wire them backwards they won't blow. Just reverse the wiring and they'll work. You'll need to either get prewired LEDs (they already have the resistors oldered) or figure out what size resistor you'll need for the LED you'll be using (this can be a pain). I'd suggest visiting oznium forum. They can help you out a lot better. I've done something like you want in a vehicle. Really wasn't that hard.

Liquid nails doesn't really "bond" the wood together. Yes it may hold it, but not bond it. Wood glue will do a lot better at bonding the pieces. Gorilla glue is good, but I would not want to use it on MDF. To get the best result of Gorilla Glue, you have to dampen both joining pieces of wood with water. As Gorilla Glue starts to cure, it'll expand, much like expanding foam (no where near as much though). I use Titebond I, II, or III. Depends on which one is more available at the time. I have also use tile adhesive for layering 2 pieces of MDF on top of each other. My current wall is done that way. 2 layers of 3/4" MDF all the way around with tile adhesive between them. Works great. Screws and/or brad nails are only to hold the wood tight together until the glue dries. The weakest point of the enclosures will be where those screws are. At least that's what I believe.

After putting a wall in the Astro, I'll never own another vehicle without a wall. Right now I'm thinking about getting a newer crown vic and walling it with 4 15s. I've even thought about a Saturn Vue with 4 18s. I just like the feeling of getting hit in the back of the head with pure all out SPL.

I have never heard of a wall being illegal. I've ran one in the Beretta GT, Chevy Astro, and soon to run one (hopefully) in a Crown Vic or Saturn Vue. And before it's asked. I have also painted the inside of my windows. Been driving like that for a few years now without any problems.

Deadener can raise or lower score. Depends on the install. I've heard of people losing 4dB by using the stuff. Others have gained that and possibly more by using it. I gained 1dB just by doing the very front of the cabin. 96cu.ft of deadener if I remember right.

I use a pair of side cutters. It takes a few tries with it, but works good. For crimping I use a screwdriver and a hammer. Then I drop some solder down inside the crimp just to try and make sure the connection is going to be good. And yea. You have to make sure the wire is placed where nothing can really rub against it. I just found out today that mine is rubbing against part of my steering. This causes me to sometimes not be able to turn the steering wheel all the way to the left. I'm gonna work on that during lunch tomorrow since it's getting to dark to work on things tonight. If you're gonna run a battery bank of any kind try to use either a buss bar or 4/0 between the batteries. Don't go to a lower gauge wire. Kind of help even out things a little (bigger the connection = more juice, of course). Be extremely careful if you put the 4/0 crimp lug on the back of an alternator. I did this once and had to tighten it up about every 4 or 5 days. I even tried doubling the nuts, but that didn't help. I would advise to put it on the battery instead (unless you're going to run a secondary alternator and don't have room for another battery under the hood).

I am using 4/0. Didn't get it from weldingsupply though. When I bought it the cost was $5 a foot. Easy to work with? Not really. It's flexible as hell but it'll still be hard to run in certain places. I've got mine run under the van right next to the frame. All intentions to one day run it through the frame. Expect one hell of a hump if ran under carpet.

3/4 to 1" square tube welded to make a frame for the enclosure. 2 layers, minimum, of 3/4" MDF for the enclosure. 3/4" all thread for even more bracing. It'll take one hell of a lot of welding for the sides, top, and back. It'll take even more to do the baffle. I'm talking framing in around the sub holes and joining those together. (picture a pair of sunglasses. Lens frame are the sub holes, nose piece is the joiner). That will make one hell of a stiff walled enclosure, IF done right.. I have actually thought about buying a welder and doing the Astro this way since the next build will be the last build for the van (going to probably get a crown vic walled)

Test tones provided by shizzzon there ya go

Hey Shizzzon, you got pics of said wall? I might have missed it, but what's it hitting right now? music or burp? I've done 148.2 on music with 4 15s and 4kwrms in an almost complete wall. Yea, I still want that 1.8db and think I'll get it with a little bit of playing and/or finding a better song. Wanna see my almost complete wall? Here it is. Can't remember the ft^3. I think it's around 20 before port and sub displacement. Tuned to 35Hz. Shakes the hell out of everything around it