altoncustomtech

It's official. Anyone crazy enough to not modify the door panel to get the mid out from behind it is wasting their money, especially if they have spent big $$$ on quality components. As the pictures indicate above I removed the factory grilles from the door panels so that I can get the mid out from behind the panel with the MDF baffles (still under construction). I drive the truck for an hour everyday to and from work so I get a fair amount of road time listening to it. Immediately noticeable was that the sound stage was up off the floor. It used to sound like almost all instruments were playing below the dash primarily and they also sounded stifled. With the factory grilles out of the way the sound stage has risen up to the top of the dash and every instrument, especially the guitars and vocals, no longer sounds like it's being forced through the wall of a cardboard box. The most impressive difference I noticed was in the response of the components. The PG RSD's have been known for some time as some very good budget components. Mostly due to how loud they can get and still sound decent, especially for the money. I noticed that they seemed to have a bit of a peaky response in the 1.5khz to 3khz region and figured it had to do with the cheaper build nature of the set. I'm proud to say that the peak in the response seems to have been caused by reflections off the factory grilles causing some sort of odd order harmonic interaction. With the grilles gone the songs I used to turn down due to the ear splitting response now play just as smooth and defined as the rest. At any rate, anyone ever debating on building kick panels, door pods or any other custom modification that results in the speakers not being stuffed behind the door panels should stop thinking about it and do it. I never imagined the factory panels hurt the speakers response THIS bad. I mean, logic told me it had to have some affect but I never imagined it was this dramatic. Sorry for the rant guys, just excited.

Thank you sir, want to keep the builds with the Team. Was too damn tired last night to realize I started it in the wrong section. I'm probably lucky all the pics worked, lol.

Thanks, glad I could help. No. Actually I used my dremel tool, a spiral cutting bit, and a VERY steady hand. I cut a rough hole out smaller than I needed first, then slowly went around it until I had a perfect hole for the tweeter. Yes this is a 2 door Jimmy AND stay tuned as I may be doing exactly what you're looking for without building a custom kick panel or pod.

Exactly as the title states, I have no idea how long this is going to take, but with the current free time rate I get between work and home it will probably take quite awhile. Good chance it will be next year before it's complete, much like the van. The Jimmy has the Kenwood HU installed already, as are the PG RSD's. The RSD's will be getting traded out for a set of ID CTX's I traded for, can't wait to play with them. Otherwise power will be an SAX 125.2 with an SAZ 1500 running three SA-8's. Today I started on the permanent installation for the components. I have planned to build an MDF baffle that brings the mid out from behind the door panel. Today I worked on removing the factory grilles from the panels to facilitate the opening for the baffles to protrude from. Next step is to build the baffles. You can see around the factory grille where I began grinding away plastic. More grinding Done grinding, the grill is gone. An angle die grinder is perfect for this kind of work. On to the driver's door. All done, ready to remove it. And it's out too. Cleaned up the edges on the holes and here's the end result, the MDF baffle will be just small enough to pass through the hole. Hopefully it will look real good when complete. Well, hopefully I'll be on to the baffles and have them done in the next couple of days.

This is almost EXACTLY what most of the kids' installs look like around here.

lol.... ooops..... I believe they have a standard cast basket..... If you know someone who has a 12" sub with a standard cast basket lying around you could use it, or if someone just had an one off a sub that wasn't any good anymore you could lay it in the holes and skip the template.... just an idea...

why not lay a sub face down on a piece of cardboard, then stick a marker, pen, pencil or something through the mounting holes to the cardboard to mark the holes, then go around the outside of it for the outsie cut out.....

I second this one. I've even found them online for around $200 as well. Very good sounding, clean system. It has impressed everyone who's listened to it, with a few people who have a hard time believing that it's only what it is. While the amp being built into the sub cabinet and the control box having limited cable length can be a problem when using it for HT, it's nearly impossible to buy a regular HTIB that can keep up with it. None of the HTIB's I've seen in Wal-mart, Sams, or Best-Buy with a price anywhere near this can touch it. Just my .02

Figured this needs posted. The address for the location where the show is held won't come up on Yahoo or Google maps for some reason they default off to another address. That address however, is right on the corner next to the parking lot where the show is taking place so that's alright. If you use this address: 1400 Chestnut St., Vincennes, IN (47591) it will take you right where you need to be, you'll see the show AND the parking lot right off to the left at that intersection. Just an FYI for those interested in coming by.

I have the issue of the mag before it went out of print with this list in it. I still want the Polk SR6500's. One thing is for certain, whether it's $5000 or $160, every set on that list is pretty much a good set it seems, good for their intended purposes for sure.

As a former Hifonics owner and user, I'll say to steer clear of them. They have more than their share of reliability issues. While most of the people who experience reliability issues are most likely running them outside of their design specifications, and I never had a functionality issue with mine either, the overall performance leaves a good deal to be desired. They do their job, but really only do it befitting their price range. I watched the ones I owned begin to distort the signal far before they reached full output on an o'scope, with or without a load. One of the biggest reasons I got rid of them as quickly as possible. There seems to be amps out there, similar in price, that are far more trustworthy performers. Since you ordered a dual 2 Q, that throws the Kicker out, the Audioque 1200 is the next best option. A lot of people are using the Audiopipe amps as well. They're price seems too good to be true to me, but they have a lot of users so without a bench test I'll wait for a chance to play with one myself before giving any opinions. I'll just toss out there that there are people selling amps all the time. You could find a great used SAZ-1000 or SAE-1200 or even a refurbished one. Used amps of all different brands and sizes are for sale all the time.

Damn Chop.. that's purdy.... The wheels look fantastic on it, and that paint is amazing! Can't wait to see it in person.

If Jacob agrees, that is a really cool thing to do. Props for the good business character.

If it's dipping to 12.8 on the gauge at the dash, the voltage at the amp is probably below 11v. If you've already got your 4 gauge, battery here soon, and ready to do everything then you should be good to go when it's done. I would still limit my playing with it until it's done though. To maintain power output when voltage drops, current rises, thus creating heat. Between the heat and the current being choked voltage drops more, then current rises more along with more heat. It's a vicious cycle that can, and has, burned up many an amplifier and if you're not careful it can ruin yours as well.

I swore I'd never buy an IPod. Still haven't, though my lil bro gave me his old Nano. Gotta say, I love the damn thing. Got over 1,000 songs on it, and while I can hear the difference between it and the same songs I have on CD, to me it's not detrimental enough to stop using it. It's simply too damn handy to use, not having to switch CD's constantly, being able to listen to ALL my favorite music anytime I like, unlike the radio. Then, when I'm out of the vehicle working or whatever I can put the earbuds in and listen some more. While I do hate that the music quality isn't as good as it could be, the pros far out weigh the cons to me. With the headunits I have, USB control with the IPod's standard USB cable makes it a walk in the park. Now the only time I pull CD's out is for demoing purposes. Kenwood KDC-X991 in the Van, KDC-X492 in the Jimmy.

Is that 12.8v on a gauge on the dash, or with the DMM at the power terminals. If it's on the car's gauge then that is not a true representation of the voltage at the amp. If it's the DMM on the amp then, well, it's amazing it's staying that stable.

Eight gauge wire and a one ohm load sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The amp has BIG power wire terminals for a reason, and you simply cannot transfer the current required to make 1200 watts of power on a 12vdc system through 8 gauge wire. You should probably stop playing it at all until you can upgrade the power and ground wires. You're going to fry the amp allowing the input voltage to drop like we're all sure it's doing, and I'm surprised it's not shutting off on you. I believe the SAX1200 only has 4 gauge wire inputs, unlike the SAE's before it which had 1/0. You should get you some good quality 4 gauge wire such as one of the Knukonceptz Kolossus Fleks kits. Don't use any of the CCA (copper clad aluminum) for this application, you don't want to starve anything any worse than it already is. The amp is unable to output full power because it is being choked by that 8 gauge wire, and if it's a Wal-Mart 8 gauge wire kit chances are high it's really closer to 10 gauge.

I'd recommend getting a decent brad nailer and using the nail gun. I bought one a few years ago and have never looked back. Screws take so long with the pre-drilling, screwing and switching back and forth. Even with a second drill it's a pain. As bromo said, it would be best to leave the clamps on a little longer just for good measure. I think you'll find the investment well worth the money.

I have to agree with all the above. It has to be the box. I have a pair of 12" Q's that flat murder the low frequencies. There's no acceptable reason that 15 shouldn't except for the box. As Nick will readily say, speakers are stupid, they do what you tell them to do. The chances are high that the box isn't built and tuned to the specifications that were requested. That being said, get the measurements and we can tell you what it's true volume and tuning is. That includes the port length as well.

Welcome to The Forum!!

The above is very true. There's usually a big, easy to notice difference between manufacturing defect and user error and whether anyone knows for sure which it is or not demanding that it be repaired under warranty is a quick way to guarantee they will not go out of their way to help you out. Like you said, you were nice, explained the problem and even though the conclusion was that it was your fault they were still nice enough to repair it for free. THAT is a great example of how the business relationship should go and just because yours went so well doesn't mean everyone's will, but if a person jumps them right off the bat they can throw it out the window for sure. OP, do exactly as MKader has described and I can guarantee the fella's at Fi will take the best care of you they can within reason. I'm not saying they'll fix it for free, but if they would do anything special to help you out it will only be because you were courteous and respectful to start with and didn't hound them everyday demanding answers either. Also as jay-cee said, finding the real problem that caused the failure is absolutely necessary or it will definitely happen again. +1 to both of you

Man, you'll be asking yourself what the hell happened in no time when he's asking for the keys to borrow the car..... lol I was playing with a good friends 6 month old boy earlier today and it reminded me of how much I miss my kids at that age and size... enjoy and cherish every second you can cuz you'll miss it later..... the first few years are definitely the most precious.....

You may be getting an email tonight to discuss a different box design as JBLcamry is not getting back to me. im sure he's busy and i didnt really wait in line to get his help. Brother, anything I can do to help, anytime. I can't imagine how busy he probably is either. So I take it the last quickie design worked out okay except for the slight miscalculation in the fit?

You do realize the warranty does not cover misuse, abuse or anything you did to destroy that sub don't you? If you bought and starting using the sub back in March then the damage caused to the sub will definitely have been caused by user error. At this point you'll need to contact them about a recone and send it in for repair.

Lookin' forward to seeing this thing get done... Also looking forward to hearing your opinion on those Bravox components... I'm at your service should you need anything I can help with...