altoncustomtech

Thanks guys!! Another small update. I got the brackets for the sail panel locations almost completely done today. If life cooperates I'll get them bolted into place this weekend and begin the fabrication of the baffles that will house the mid ranges and mount to these brackets. It will probably be real hard to tell how they're gonna work but if all goes well it will make more sense (and hopefully look real close to factory) when it all finally comes together. You can see the piston crown and skirt from one of our engines at work there under the sail panel brackets in that first picture too, just FYI.

Just out of curiosity, if he's trying to keep the budget down, would a good fullrange/dedicated midbass setup really not give the output he needs? Believe me, I know how loud horns can get and I know that the FR's couldn't begin to keep up with them, but he still wouldn't need all the output the horns are capable of would he? It might be my misunderstanding of just how loud his subs would be, or the fact that I've not had my morning coffee yet and things are just too fuzzy in my head, but damn the FR88's in my Jimmy are capable of output that FAR exceeds the output capabilities of the Mach5's and probably even the XCON. I'm just a little befuddled that it's not an option at least maybe with different FR's.

The problem with your dilemma is that "loud" is just as relative a term as "sounds good". What is loud to me could be just kinda loud to you, same with what sounds good to me could sound like ass to you. Having actually played with and heard a 15" ICON on a PPI BK1300 I can say the ICON does fantastic in the output department, in the right enclosure of course. I can't see how anyone could be disappointed with what it can do in both departments actually. The two 12's have more cone area and with nearly the same xmax do have the potential of giving you more output. Don't discount the ICON though, the 15 I've played with can almost take your breath away at the tuning of the enclosure which I find pretty impressive for a single 15 on a little over 1k of power. Being that it's also the cheaper of your two options, I would suggest keeping the order as is and going with the ICON. Make sure you build the enclosure as closely to optimal as possible and find the best orientation to maximize output in the vehicle. Then, if it's still not enough you can sell it and pick up the GCON's.

to the forum! You're gonna love that sub!

Wow, surprised you hadn't already done that. There's no way you could get any peace when on here, lol.

Anyone as bored as I am?

Hello, and to the forum! I think you'll find this one a little more refined, a little less childish, than pretty much any of the others. Facts and truth rule here, not egos and misinformation.

Thanks brother. I'm hoping it all works out well enough to keep the wifey happy! On another note, the DCON's arrived! I gotta say I really like the design on the new motor. Of course it's pretty much like the ICON and XCON motors, only smaller, but it just seems so fitting. I'm really looking forward to getting the install done to see and hear what the new motors do. Pics of the new DCON 10. Such a wonderful little sub. It's a shame they're not more popular than they are. I don't think people generally realize just how good they can perform for the price and power.

Oh yeah, and stay FAR away from anything in the Lambda platform, the Traverse, Acadia, Enclave, and Outlook. Worst damn vehicle I've had yet to deal with installing audio. Love the truck, hate the layout.

I've got a 2001 GMC Jimmy which falls under the same umbrella of 2nd Gen vehicles as the Chevy Blazer and the Olds Bravada. My personal opinion, formulated from what I've seen from most other guys rigs, is that they're simply not built heavy enough to withstand the rigors of the elite class installs, like Senchez's build for example. Again, that's just my opinion, but with the issues they have with the way door pins wear out, how light the sheet metal is, the unframed back glass, and with the limited amount of space on the inside that they just wouldn't be my first choice as a platform for a major build. That's not to say I don't love the trucks. God knows I do or I wouldn't have spent in the neighborhood of $4k to replace the engine and 85 miles later the trans in mine. While it's not built a great deal heavier, the Trailblazer is a larger truck with a larger interior that would be more suited to a larger build. Most people I've talked to the 4.2L inline 6 that's in those trucks is fairly stout and the transmission is basically the same 4L60E as has been in SO many trucks before it. The life of which depends on how it's treated and maintained, like any other. My little brother has an '06 TB that has gone through absolute hell (treated like shit, lightly wrecked on several occasions, and drove through a few ditches) and it's still going strong. Hell, last time I drove it the alignment was still good, by some miracle. I don't think the 2nd gen blazer platform is the best to use for audio, especially larger builds, but what the hell do I really know about it. I just got to driving mine again on a regular basis, LOL!

I haven't built a good GAMING rig in years, mainly because I just don't hardly have the time to play games anymore. However, after working in a computer store from 7th grade until I was 21yo I ABSOLUTELY refuse to buy some off the shelf POS. I've always built custom rigs and the one I had previous to this one was a hell of a gaming rig, I just simply didn't use it for gaming so when the MB accidentally got ruined (my bad, ooops) I rebuilt it with a less gaming oriented mindset. However, it's still powerful enough to play the games I still have without dropping any noticeable amount of frames. Case: Kingwin KT-424-S-WM -- I've actually had this case for over a decade. It's just too nice, too well made to just get rid of without some really good justification. CPU: AMD FX-4100 processor Motherboard: ASUS M5A99X EVO RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 Video: ASUS EAH6670 - 1GB Radeon HD 6670 HDD's: Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB -- Windows/Linux drive Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB -- Storage PSU: Enermax 850W (can't remember the exact model # as it's from the previous build and several years old) Not a speed winner by any means but no slouch either. The rig before it was a killer in it's day though, thought I was going to have to water cool the thing but it was super stable clocked like it was. I had the biggest Zalman copper CPU, NB and GPU coolers that I could fit in the case and did good to keep the temps from going crazy. Scored at the top of the heap on 3DMark03 back in the day and had a lot of people chasing me on it. Of course as fast as things have progressed over the years it didn't take long to get left in the dust by comparison. As a matter of fact all the fans and such are how it got killed. Pulled in a LOT of dust, especially since I burn wood for heat in the winter. I was having problems with it overheating so I went to clean it out and accidentally knocked the NB cooler a little cogwobbled. Turned it back on and it didn't take but a few minutes for it to fry.

My thoughts exactly. OP you're going to lose a great deal of output from the 12's to the 8's. Why are you wanting to make a change like this? What is are the limitations in which the subs need to work within?

to the forum!

to the forum! I personally think this is the best place on the interwebz to learn and hang out.

I agree. Take it from someone who's tried to organize these kinds of things alone on quite a few occasions, it's A LOT of hard work and typically cost quite a bit out of pocket to do. Getting an organization like that to help will make a world of a difference.

oops, feel free to delete, forgot to switch windows before posting, LOL.

to the forum!

Little update. The Mach5 MLI's are absolutely unreal for 6.5" drivers. I'm about 100% sure I'm right about the harmonic distortion in the Bravox's making them seem louder. After installing the MLI on the passenger side and getting them broke in they absolutely decimate the reproduction quality of the Bravox's without any noticeable difference in output besides the fact they definitely have stronger output on the lower frequencies than the Bravox mids did. When playing Alice in Chains - Would for example, the bass guitar can not just be heard but felt throughout it's range, even in the upper registers. At full tilt you can just about feel everything which has impressed many more than just me, lol. I have a buddy who's a big heavy metal nut that's always asking to hear one song or another to hear the difference in it. I've played The Zack Brown Band's Chicken Fried for a couple of different people and it scared them when they felt the string plucks of the guitar at the very beginning of the song, let alone the rest of it. I also installed the FR88EX's I bought from Hondakilla98 into the little Logitech enclosures on the dash to see what kind of difference I could hear between them and the FE85's. Now, don't get me wrong, the FE85's were absolutely amazing for their modest $13 price tag but the FR88's aren't coming out of the Jimmy until the fiberglass work to permanently mount the full rangers is complete. Even then they're only coming out to be replaced with the next model up, the FR89's. Today I also got the opportunity to drop the Soundstream Harmony in the Jimmy to start using it for processing instead of the capabilities of the CZ702. I don't know how there's not more of units something like this more widely available than there is. Sure, the laptop is a little gangly and cumbersome to have in your lap the entire time you're making adjustments but damn is it ever worth it. I had only a couple of little problem areas that I couldn't quite adjust enough on the Clarion due to the restraints of the built-in DSP but they're about gone now. The biggest issue I had was with the crossover for the midbass only being adjustable down to 630hz. I had to use the LP crossover on the 125.2 to get it the rest of the way down to the 250hz region to blend properly with the FR's. I still had some issues with some frequencies being a little "bloomy" near the crossover points on the top and bottom. I couldn't get the crossover points and EQ to find a happy medium with it. Thanks to the independent EQ's and the infinitely variable crossover frequencies the Harmony everything I've played on it so far is so much smoother than before. It's really hard to tell where the beginnings and ends of everything lies now. It's all blending better, sounding so much smoother, and that's only after a couple of hours of tuning. I can't wait to spend more and more time with it dialing in every little thing until it's about perfect! Overall this thing is sounding more and more ideal the more I work on it. It's no SPL show stopper by any means but the way it sounds and FEELS when I'm listening to it is beginning to truly meet my expectations. It doesn't do bad on output by any means, but when you hear and feel EVERYTHING and not just the sub bass at the output levels this thing is doing right now it's a whole different kinda loud. Here's a few pics of the Mach 5 in the passenger door and the Harmony installed. I gotta say, I don't really care for the look of the grilles that came with the Mach5's on my doors but I gotta have them protected and the grilles to the Bravox's wouldn't fit so I'm stuck with this for now. I was able to tuck the Harmony in behind the glove box. It's a tight fit and takes a little push to get the glove box to close but at this point I don't really have any place else it can go very easily.

Chrome is my primary browser. Though I've tried it in IE and Firefox and had the same issue.

Is it giving you an error message, that you can't post an image with such an extension? If so, I run into the same damned problem with every picture in photobucket for me as well. What I found is that inbetween the two IMG codes, at the end of the address string is this "~original" right after the .jpg in the line. For some reason it's there and for some reason this forum won't accept the IMG code link with it in there. See if that's what's stopping you or not.

Okay, so it's been a little while since I posted up any updates on this. It's taken me awhile to come up with a good way to design a way in which to mount the midranges in the sail panel of the truck. I think I've finally gotten it figured out and began to work on the base plates that will hold the baffle to the location where the sail panel goes on the door. The base plates are made from 1/8" thick steel plate and they'll mount to the door itself by the two nuts/studs that hold the mirror on the door. Then the wood baffles will bolt to the base plate with three 1/4" bolts and house the midrange. If all goes well it should look about like factory except a little larger and with a speaker in it, lol. It should also be sturdy enough to last a long time. Also, in the future when the CS603CF's are retired the factory sail panel can simply be reinstalled and no one will ever be the wiser. Well, except maybe you guys since you'll see it in it's modified state. Onto a couple of pics. I snapped them real quick while cutting the base plates out. This one is of the template I made. I used some flat air duct material to cutout and fashion a template. It's easy to cut and manipulate but stronger than paper or cardboard and holds it's shape when you need it to. The two small pieces are the parts that will attach it to the door at the side mirror studs/nuts. This one is the first of the actual base plates that got cut out and cleaned up. Hopefully I can get them finished up tomorrow so I can start on the baffles this weekend.

Congratulations man! There's a BIG difference in the design of the two systems. I think it definitely speaks to the yet untapped potential of yours in a big way!

to the forum Dylan! I think the X would have served you just fine but you can't go wrong with the Z either.

Then those people are idiots. No such thing as underpowering.The way you've asked the question would tend to have me recommend the Z for you. Either will be fine however. I ordered the X12 already, supposed to be here Monday. Unless it's absolutely dire that I get Zv4 I'm guessing the X12 will do what I want it to at 2k rms. Also there will probably be some box rise so chances are it won't be seeing the full 2k. Maybe around 1700 considering the 2000d was clamped at 2400w @ 12.5v. You're reading WAY too much into the numbers. If you were trying to fit to some specific limitations for a competition class you might have to worry this much, but for daily it's just not necessary. The 2k may be a bit much so just watch it with the gain setting and volume knob. Listen/smell for stress from the sub and you should be just fine.

Happy Birthday!