altoncustomtech

LOL. Thanx for the vote of confidence. It seems like a solid plan anyway. We'll see how it works out. I've got pics of the continuing progress on the amp rack to post up but I think I'm gonna save that for after it's in tomorrow. Since the enclosure has now undergone a slight change I think I'm gonna forego the posting of a design and only upload a few teaser pics on it as well. For fun.

At this point I just have no idea. So many things are up in the air around here that worrying about making it up there for the finals is pretty much at the bottom of the list, unfortunately. I'd love to go but with everything going on with no real point of settling down in sight, I just don't know how to manage making it. Thanks for the link, read, re-read and re-re-read it again. It seemed like that was the way I remembered it somewhere in a dark corner of my memory, but I wanted to be certain. I did know that up or down was definitely not recommended.

Believe me brother, I know how that goes for sure. I'll be up that way again before too long for more doctor related stuff for the wifey. If she's feeling up to it maybe we can arrange a little visit time then. Also, amp rack is assembled. It's glued, clamped and awaiting the night to be ready for bedliner tomorrow. All I've got left to do with the truck is drill and bolt the grounds into place back there and when the bedliner is done curing Sunday It's INSTALL it time. I'll have power pumping them Bravox's then and it's on to the enclosure build. Which reminds me I still need to find out if it's okay to put the sub facing up and the PR's facing rear or not. I'm affraid of the affect of the weights on the PR's causing them to sag with all three facing up. Maybe someone can chime in on whether or not it's okay to arrange the dual PR's in that fashion or not. It's either that or face them all rear, which is doable, but no where near as neat to look at through the plexi. LOL

Thanx bro. It shouldn't turn out too bad, although I have to admit I'm having a couple of thoughts on some changes. Thank you man. In keeping with how I like to do things, everything, including the battery, will be hidden except where the wires poke through to the amps. Thanks brother. Missed you last weekend BTW. Thank you. It only seems appropriate to make sure the fit and finish is about as good as the function. Besides, that's dead space there between the wheel well and tailgate that's perfect for the battery and things of that sort. Helps keep as much of the cargo area as possible open for hauling stuff.

Okay, so I FINALLY got started on the amp rack this week while taking a little vacation time (when the wife isn't screwing it up that is). I'm down now to getting all the holes for the wires to pass through to the amps drilled, then I can do the final assembly and get the bedliner applied. After that it's as easy as installation, lol. Here I've got the bottom and side cut out and getting them assembled. Total length for the rack is just shy of 30" and it's 8.75" tall. Here's the picture of the mounting. I drilled 3 carriage bolts through from the bottom and put nuts and washers on them to compress the carpet. Then used a washer and a wing nut to secure the rack to the floor. Here I've cut out a template for the top of the amp rack to follow the side of the interior. Here's the amp rack sitting in place with the cut out for the XSPower XP950 battery for the rear. Finally here's the top and access door cut out and the amp rack mocked together to ensure everything fits snug together and looks like I had planned. Came out fairly close so far. Hopefully I'll get it done and installed before the end of the weekend so I can see what these Bravox components can do with some real power applied.

It just depends on the shop. I've seen a few that wouldn't do it if you didn't buy the equipment from them, and I think the same rules for whether or not you feel comfortable with the shop still applies. I would imagine if you brought everything to them that the install would be done, being done correctly is a different matter. That's why I said to go in and talk to them on several occasions, see their build books (most shops have them in some form), and most importantly ask them specifically about the items you're going to have them install. If they give you what sounds like a BS answer about something then chances are they either know nothing about it (and therefore probably never installed it) or they don't have enough experience with it to trust the installation can be performed correctly, or even the way you want it done. I've always done the work myself. I've never hired a shop to install anything, ever. The closest I've came to that was having Argent Audio build an enclosure for my sister's DCON because I simply didn't have the time to do it myself. It turned out perfect tho and if they still built enclosures I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if I had to. It was built to the exact specs I sent him and shipped to me in perfect condition. Otherwise I've always done it myself. The guided help I'm recommending above is the same questions I ask and such when I visit shops when traveling for the company I work for. It's taken years of practice, but I can get a general feel for a shops abilities and experience after about 30 minutes of conversation with sales and install techs. I use that simply to help educate myself about the kinds of work that's being performed, the common trends, and how it can translate into work back home. Even tho car audio work here has been at a near stand still for a long time, it's still nice to know what the high school kids are asking for, lol. (is joke, is joke) Hope that's some kind of help anyway.

jroadtatts is using a pair of 12" Aura's for midbasses in his Honda with some great success. 3" full ranges are handling his highs and a 15" BTL sealed to the cabin is his sub. The car is very musical and gets loud enough to rattle fillings in your teeth. IIRC he's using the H100 with a 9887 for processing. It can be done, but not without much care to the installation and tuning adjustments. He had originally started with 10's but blew them trying to get too much out of them before he went to the 12's. It took him quite a bit of time to get it all right as well. It's definitely not something a person can just throw together and as ///M5 said, the Skar drivers may not be well suited to perform that task. I personally wouldn't tackle something like that myself until I had a fair bit more experience with active setups and getting used to the kinds of adjustments needed to make it work.

FINALLY got to work on the Jimmy again. Got all the boards for the amp rack cut today and the bottom and side assembled together. Will be working on the mounting tomorrow and if all goes well final assembly will be completed and I can begin applying the bedliner tomorrow as well. BTW, never heard anything this weekend Chop, missed ya.

It's really not all that complicated, it just takes a little time to do right. This is the log Aaron was talking about in his Mazda. It's really simple enough that you should be able to install this stuff on your own. As to finding out whether or not a shop can do it would depend completely on whether or not you feel comfortable enough with them after talking to them multiple times, seeing pictures of their own build processes, and talking to customers that they've done that type of work for before. If they're not willing to provide you with those three things then chances are its not a shop you want to be doing any business with at all. I'm pretty opinionated on that subject though as we've not had more than one shop around my area whose work was ever worth a damn anyway and the rest just ripped people off on a regular basis.

My sister has a 12" DCON in a 2.25cuft ported enclosure tuned to 33hz on a Cadence F100.5 5 channel amplifier that's running PG RSD 6.5" components in her front doors and JBL coax's in the rear doors. Impious is right, an amp like that does limit your upgradeability in the future, but in the same respect all the reasons you listed are the reasons a person would look at an amp like that in the first place. My sister's Durango sounds absolutely amazing, the output of that DCON in that enclosure and on that amp is seriously enough to have anyone who's looking for a serious daily listener quite happy. I've said it before and I'll say it again the sound and output of that single 12" DCON would be enough to make me happy and is quite comparable to the sound and output of my pair of 12" Q's on a Sundown 2k. Obviously the Q's will get a little louder, and the impact from them is much more intense, but if I were looking to buy equipment and didn't know anything about what my Q's can do I could have saved myself a considerable amount of money getting something like a pair of DCON's and a smaller amp and calling it a day. In my very honest opinion they're that good of a sub. Saving time, money and saving yourself some install time as well going with something like a 3 or 5 channel amp is not a bad idea if you're not one who is always buying and trying out new equipment. If you're wanting to make this purchase once and intend on it lasting awhile then I don't think it's a bad idea as long as the power of those amps meet your output goals.

Wow. I'm surprised by the responses. I've used the compression fittings quite a few times, including several fittings in the van and in my Jimmy. The nuts will show you exactly where you need to strip the wire at for the best possible connection and they definitely offer more surface contact. I do agree with shizz about the battery terminals. My first time using them was in my Jimmy and I've not been real impressed with them yet. If you slide the nut down over the wire with the jacket still on it, where the nut stops is where it needs stripped at. After that it all works pretty good. One big note is that the best thing to use to tighten them with is a good open end wrench or even a line wrench as the nuts can be easily collapsed with a crescent wrench.

Up for sale here is my little brothers fully loaded Fi SSD 18" D2 subwoofer. Like the SAE-1200D it's NEVER been connected, not for any reason ever. It's been stored in my closet since it was received except for taking it out to show to others. I'm not sure of the options that were available for them back then except for BP Power, but I do know we ordered it with all the options that were available and one of the pictures shows the BP Power plug at the top of the pole vent. Fi Car Audio SSD 18" D2 fully loaded. 10/10 cosmetically and mechanically - it's only ever been handled by hands, NEVER mounted, NEVER powered. He's asking $230 + shipping, 47557 is our zip for those who want to price shipping. Here's the pictures of the sub.

Up for sale is my little brothers Sundown Audio SAE-1200D. He bought it used from someone on CA.COM a couple of years ago. We never got around to getting it installed and now he's hurtin' for cash. When he received the amp it was not in the original packaging and did not have the remote bass knob included with it. The amp is rated 300wrms x 1 @ 4ohms, 600wrms x 1 @ 2 ohms and 1200wrms x 1 @ 1 ohm. It's 6/10 cosmetically with scratches on the top and corners and is also missing the little white disk for the left RCA input, but as you'll see in the video it doesn't affect the connection. It's 10/10 mechanically with all the setscrews in it and it worked great. In the video I had it connected to an old 8 ohm Logitech sub from my old Z-580 set that the amp went out of and I also connected it to my XCON at 1 ohm and it drove both with no issue at all. He's asking $150 + shipping, we're in 47557 for those who want to figure shipping on their own. I temporarily hooked it up to the Jimmy for testing since it was NEVER connected to anything after he got it, picks and a vid of that were taken and the vid will be posted up as soon as I can get it sized down, its 27Mb now. This missing white disk. Pics of it connected and working.

That I knew, I just figured there were more like 6, 8 or 10 people there to build stuff. It's hard to fathom how 3 people can keep up with the number of orders. They must have the build process down to a fine science is all I can imagine.

Only three? How the hell can they even begin to keep up?!?!!???!!!!? Ah, well completely disregard my response. I thought there were more people than that. Not alot more or anything, just more, lol.

That will be sweet! I love these cars. Is that a crate motor or custom built? 350 or BB, looks like a SB in the pics? What trans are you running? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm an old school gear head at heart. My dad was a big time motor head.

X3 it sounds like the dustcap isn't properly attached to me as well. I LOVE SSA and Fi products, but it sure as hell seems like there's someone over at Fi who's not doing their job right during production. It's too bad there's no serial numbers on the units, it might make it possible to track down who did what on which units and who it might be that's slacking.

Doing just your doors does help a noticeable amount. Of course, as you mentioned, cocooning yourself/vehicle in it is obviously the best way to go and yields the best result, but you'll definitely notice the difference with just the doors done. In my Jimmy for example, I've done just the sides and doors with CLD & CCF so far and the results are beyond amazing. The first thing people notice when they ride in it is the nearly non existant squeaks and rattles that usually accompany the major road noise which is quite reduced as well. The trucks are just pretty notorious for being noisy rides. I plan on finishing the sides and doors with MLV as soon as funding and time allows, followed soon thereafter by treating the rest of the truck and I can't wait to get it done. For now though I'm very happy with and impressed by what it's doing for it so far. Hope that helps to put some perspective on it.

If it were me, I'd definitely remove the plastic panel and put the CLD tiles on the sheet metal of the outer door. I would also put the same CLD on the plastic as well as it will resonate just the same as the sheet metal can, albeit at a different frequency. Then, as M5 said, treat the rest of the door with the CCF and MLV for the quietest results you can get. That's of course just what I would do.

Dynamat makes their own CCF and MLV called DynaLiner and DynaPad. I've never used their products before, so I cannot comment on how well theirs works. I do know that going to SDS (Sound Deadener Showdown) will help teach you much about the uses of CLD, CCF and MLV in sound deadening as a whole. Yes, simply putting some CLD (Dynamat) on your doors will help, but only marginally. Something is ALMOST, better than nothing, especially if it's a quality product, and it doesn't surprise me that sound deadening is a more complicated process than you previously realized. I'm not saying that to be mean or condescending either. I'm stating that because for YEARS now the accepted way to "deaden" a vehicle was to put in as much CLD in as many layers as a person could possibly afford. Not only was that the wrong way of doing it, it's also ridiculously more expensive and a complete waste of the dampener and because the stuff is expensive or perhaps the installers are simply not reading up, many shops STILL recommend doing it that way. Read up on the SDS website, I think you'll be very surprised how much you can learn about deadening very quickly. SDS also has the best deadening products I've worked with. I would highly recommend it all.

It's actually entirely up to you. Putting sound deadener on the rear doors isn't going to directly affect the sound of the components in the front doors the same way deadening the front doors will. However, depending on the degree to which you're planning on deadening the door it could make a difference in road noise, which can have an affect on the overall noise floor in the vehicle. If all you're planning on doing is putting Dynamat on without any use of closed cell foam (CCF) or mass loaded vinyl (MLV) then there's really no sense at all spending the money on putting the Dynamat CLD on your rear doors IMHO since CLD does nothing to stop noise, only panel resonance. Now if you were planning on utilizing the entire spectrum of products (CLD, CCF, & MLV) then I would definitely recommend deadening the rear doors. That will help stop panels from rattling (CCF does that), and block road noise (MLV does that) as well which helps lower the noise floor and make the entire audio experience that much more enjoyable. Hope this helps.

That's why I believe this very subject is one of the BEST purposes behind this and any other forum online, no matter what it's basis. Forums, although they can easily be wrought with more false information than not, are a great way for the beginners to read, study and learn about the companies that make products that are respectable and the ones who should never be trusted. The BEST part about his forum is that no matter who the correct information pisses off, it's ALWAYS available to read, and I suppose as long as the information was in the right context even if it was false. It's also my belief that those of us who are, or would be considered veterans in the hobby have a right and a duty to help inform those young kids to help keep them from getting flim-flammed in the first place. Even if they don't listen, getting the bug in their ear, or the doubt in their mind will help to shape their choices at some point in the future. In a perfect world those companies wouldn't exist because no one would buy their products. That will never happen, but if at least one person reads a thread like this, understands it, and doesn't help support companies that out right lie about their products then I feel we and the forum have done our jobs. Sorry for the rant guys.

X2 This would be the absolute best route to go. Verify for certain whether or not going sealed may or may not work for you, then decide.

The power is not divided between the speakers (i.e. 35 & 35). Basically if you're delivering 70 watts of power on 20 to 20,000hz for example, the mid will see that 70 watts on frequencies up to the low pass crossover point. The tweeter will see 70 watts from the high pass crossover point on up. That's a really basic explanation, but I believe it answers your question.

You don't have to make them as elaborately as I did. A few minutes with a jigsaw can produce baffles adequate for what you're needing. If you can build boxes you can do baffles easy, they have 5 less sides! lol