altoncustomtech

I think it sounds like a GREAT plan!

Thats 13cuft total, plenty of room for a pair of 15's ported. I think 2 15" Dual 1 BL's in 7cuft (net) tuned to ~32hz would be fantastic for you. That will load that amp to 1 ohm, and give you some good power from it. Eventually you might want to consider upgrading the amp to a Sundown 3k, the new 2.5k when it comes out or something along those lines (a new Crescendo Audio 3KWP even). You'll have all the output you could want (I'd imagine) along with great sound.

Why in the world would you tune a BTL that high? Fi recommends 32hz as optimal, 30-35 is the best range, 40-45 is just way to high. A couple of Dual 1 BL's would be right up your alley IMO. SSD's would be great as well, but you could upgrade to a bigger amp down the road with the BL's over the SSD's. Now, whether or not you should go with 12's or 15's would depend on the room you're willing to use up. You'll need around 5-6+ cuft gross for a pair of twelves, 8-9+ cuft gross for a pair of 15's depending on tuning and port type.

What kind of 12's do you have? It could be that the box is not optimal for them and that's why they sound so bad.

That's a common myth. An 18 can sound just as tight and punchy as an 8, and an 8 can get loud and low like an 18. It's all in the installation and execution of the design of the system. 12's can get PLENTY loud, but in general 15's will get louder. As long as the enclosure is built and tuned correctly the subs will sound great no matter the size. Besides, moving into anything in the Fi line will most likely sound better than what you have now.

Where r u located, I've done lots of box mods like that, be glad to help you out if you were close. Also, what kind of depth do you have to work with? I believe most cast frame woofers have a 11.25" cutout diameter which opens the door to lots of drivers from lots of manufacturers.

This is about the best way to do it, follow along the edge of the baffle all the way around with a saw. Table would be most accurate, a circular saw would do IF you take your time. Also if you do this be sure to put the kerf of the saw on the baffle board NOT the rest of the box, otherwise you'll loose the amount of kerf of the blad from the total height of the enclosure. If you need a clearer idea of what I'm saying let me know, I'll draw a simple diagram.

You're correct about the cut-out (inside) hole, 7.25". The outside hole will be over 8.25" if you're going to use the gasket, go 8.5" or even 8.75" for that I'd imagine. On the countersink, how thick is your baffle going to be? I think most cast frame gaskets are about .5" tall, I"ll go measure my Q's real quick and let you know for sure.

I sure wouldn't try it. That's a quick way to smoke an amp. If you connect a 2 ohm load to that amp bridged, each channel would only see 1 ohm and it's definitely not designed for that.

thanks for the invite bro. chop You're welcome man, I got all this equipment lying around and most kids around here don't give a crap that things are set right. Most of them just turn it up to distort they way they want it to after I set everything for them anyway. It'd be nice to do it for someone who cared, lol. Hey Jacob, you got GPS on that ship? We could hi-jack a couple of tugs or another ship and tow it here faster?!? LOL

Thanks! I just might do that for some pointers. Hate to sound like an inconsiderate prick, but I do like doing my own work. I really appreciate the offer though. Like I said, I may give you a call for some info on the Plexi work. Looks like you really know your plexi well. X2 on the epoxy question, never heard of using epoxy before, though I can see where it would have the same benefits as resin with a little added flexability, maybe.

Man I'm tuned in for this build, it's gonna be great!! We did something very similar to the doors, around the mids (4 ea. door) on an EX club members car. Lit up, looked awesome, really sucked though as I fronted him the money and never got a dime back. As a result I'm VERY picky about who I help out now. /RANT (sorry) BACKLIT, FROSTED PLEXI FTW!!!!

THANKS GUYS!!

I have to say that new E8 is a fantastic looking driver. Although seeing it next to that SA-8 just makes me want mine that much worse . The suggestion of a Sundown mid-bass/mid-range is one of solid gold IMO, but even if it never comes to pass I'm sure it's been thought about. Keep up the great work guys, you continue to set yourselves apart from the mainstream brands and they have some real competition ahead of them trying to keep up with the quality products and A+++ customer service. Can't wait to hear these new E8's in action!

Okay guys, got the 100.4 today! Here's the pics as promised. Notice the Fi hoody there, Fi FTW! Gotta love that these are individually tested before shipping! Ahhhh... Now for the SA-8's and the SAZ-1500 to arrive, I'll be in car audio heaven!

You betcha, all the equipment is always ready to go, just let me know. You're breakin' my heart man. LOL j/k Hopefully it will be the first week in March, but it doesn't hurt me too bad, still need better temps to start on the enclosure. THANKS FOR THE UPDATE!!

Yeah I like Bromo's calculator. Me and him have compared each others before, both come out a little different and we each use our own. You should have good luck with the design, don't forget the build log.

I think I'm going to withdrawl from this one, I trust my calculations but they aren't panning out compared to the online ones. See if someone else can give you some good data. Sorry dude.

well I threw your dimensions into the cal on here PORT Size Calculations and Formulas for WOOFER and Subwoofer BOXES and It only comes out with 29.36 inches for the port? is this right? I thought it should be around 48-64sqin The answer is in bold, but that's only IF you're comparing apples to apples. All the data needs to be entered the same. Hell I got 27" I dunno, I know that the calculator I use and built enclosures by has always seemed good, just go with whatever you feel most comfortable with I guess.

Might want to recalculate those, I fail to see how you can have a 14"h port when the enclosure is only 14"h. No, the math is right, I'm just a damned goof for saying it was 14", the port height is 12.5". 5.25 times 12.5 is 65.6 divide that by 4.2 (net box size) that equals 15.6sqin per cuft. like i said earlier all the math is a little quick, but good enough to work by. The enclosure and the tuning are correct, I just wasn't thinking when I mentioned the port height.

It's not enough under 28" to matter. Forget I even mentioned it, but if you realy want to know its like .005" Yes the same dimensions for both, 14"x30"x28"

That's no problem, good luck with the build and post the build log

I'd go with the 33hz. Fi recommends 28-37 and 33 is right in the middle. Besides I like the lower tuning myself.

I'll tell ya, I'm not sure the eurosports calculator is all that accurate. I got 4.3cuft net, giving sub and port displacements it came to 5.43cuft at 14"H x 30"W x just under 28" D tuned to 36hz the port would be 5.5"W x 14"H and about 19.5" long. That keeps the max 16sqin per cuft recommendation from Fi. If we drop the tuning to 33hz, to keep the same dimensions you drop to 4.2 cuft net and 15.5sqin port area, port would be 5 1/4"W x 14"H and 23.5" inches long. These are pretty quick calcualtions, no bracing and still within Fi specs.

What was the target size for the enclosure? We need that and the actual number you'd like to have it tuned to. I know you gave 33-38hz, it would be handy to have a solid number otherwise we could give 6 different port lengths or a general length to tune to the general number.