altoncustomtech

As Stefan notes below there are different enclosure types, but that only touches the surface of the different enclosure alignments. Quite simply an enclosure "alignment" is a pre-determined response by enclosure design. There are several well known alignments for ported enclosures alone, QB3 - Quasi-Butterworth, C4/SC4 (Sub)Chebyshev, and BB4SBB4 (Super)BoomBox are the most commonly seen and used in WinISD for example. Each alignment offers different overall responses, each suited to different subs and applications. Quite honestly the alignments, they're responses and which one is best for a given sub and application are a bit more advanced. It takes quite a bit of study and real world practice to learn all that, I know just enough to be very dangerous with it and in NO WAY fully understand it all. I agree with Stefan, stick to a ported enclosure for the subs and use the recommended enclosure sizes and tuning as recommended by the manufacturer for whatever you end of choosing to go with and you should be fine.

I would imagine that a single Deka, no matter the size and a HO alt will not be enough to properly feed either amp, especially the 5500, when you start to push it to the max. If you're doing this build for a daily driver and listening to music all the time then you may be able to get by thanks to the dynamics of music, but if you plan on trying to do any competing with it then you'll need more to feed it with. For safety purposes you should have more even for a daily driver. This stuff is just too damn expensive to take any chances.

Happy Birthday dude!!

Here's a CLASSIC example of what I was referring to when it comes to what sounds good. Everyone has different tastes, different vehicles, and different installations and these all play a part in what "sounds good" from one person to another. I've heard the Type R's in a very standard installation and thought they were OK for the money. That meaning stock locations with stock mounting and no sound deadening at all and for the given installation and HU power they did about as well as I expected them to. I would love to have listened to them with a proper install and power but that wasn't in the cards. That's why you really do need to listen to as many as you can so you can form your own opinion on what sounds good to you. Be sure to ask as to the details of their installation and the amplification that's feeding them to help you get the big picture as well. If at all possible the more of them you can listen to actually installed in a car, especially one that is shaped and sized like your Jeep will give you a more accurate understanding of the final result. That's RARELY possible, but you might get lucky, it will all depend on the shops and other enthusiasts you can come across. I came across a shop while traveling for work once that had a room specially designed to replicate the interior of a vehicle. They had special baffles made up with the speakers mounted in them that allowed them to put them in locations that matched your vehicle and things like that. It was quite elaborate and had a few inherent flaws but was much better than just a regular 'ol sound board with speakers mounted in it. Wish every place had that.

Instead of simply bolting the plexi to the box I chose to sandwich it between two pieces of MDF. It's very secure, creates a fantastic seal and prevents issues with cracking or splitting it due to drilling holes and tightening screws/bolts to the plexi and gives a much better overall appearance. Due to the sandwich process I use I found it easiest to use the plexi in a matching thickness to the MDF at 3/4". There's many different ways it can be done tho and it would all depend on your fab skills and tools you have at your disposal.

I agree with Jon 100% I've been through many issues exactly like the one you're describing and every time it was a bad cell in the battery. That's not to say that there could be other problems as well such as with the alternator, but having a load test done on the battery and the alternator will determine whether it's just one or both. As I said tho, if I were a betting man my money is on the battery.

Awesome! Not bad at all bro, not bad at all.

A $1000 budget is a great place to start. I would also start by saying you're a good candidate for a 5 channel amp. That way you can throw a little real power at your highs and still have amplification for your subs without having to run a lot of bigger wires, wasting a lot of space, or anything like that. The Cadence ZRS-C8 is a pretty powerful 5 channel and would do very well as the foundation for a decent little system. I think you're a good candidate for a pair of 12" DCON's, or even the 10" and save yourself a little more space. They're truly great subs! These Alpine Type R components are always well reviewed and would be great for use in the front. These Alpine Type R coax's would be fine for the rear, which I wouldn't use or recommend replacing, but if ya got to ya got to. That would leave about $150 for building the enclosure, wiring, and I would suggest a little sound deadening as well. If I was in your situation this is about what I would do, give or take on one item or another. There's quite a few different 5 channel amps on the market so you do have some choices if you want to go that route. There's a bloomin' million choices of sub on the market but very few will give the quality of performance and output the DCON can offer at its price. Same is true for the speakers, but considering that EVERYONE has a different taste or preference in what sounds good to them, it's always in a persons best interest to listen to as many as possible and buy on what they think sounds good to them. If you can build your enclosure yourself there's plenty of people and places to get a simple design to fit your truck and if you can't then there's vendors out there and on this forum too that can build one for you. I like using KnuKonceptz for wiring. They have good wire for good prices and I've used them for several years now without a single complaint. Lastly, I'll never do another build without sound deadening in the vehicle. It's not generally cheap when done right, but even minimal sound deadening treatment is better than none at all.

I dunno if this will really help or not, but it might put it into perspective a little. This is a quote from a conversation I had with Aaron a little while back.... I really like the perspective it gives anyway... but then I might be a little biased since I did buy an XCON myself.... lol

I could see the permanent use in an SPL competition vehicle.... in a DD I dunno... maybe if a person had a higher powered DD and was strapped for cash and had to plan and save for each upgrade the volt meter could help them keep the equipment safe until they could afford the appropriate electrical upgrades.....

I think one meter connected at the amp is plenty. Fuses are never a bad idea, but if you're connecting that with the same small 20-24 gauge wire that comes attached to the meter then in the case of a short it will burn the wire in two long before its a real fire hazard. Hell that could almost still happen even if it's fused unless the fuse is quite small. Fusing speaker wires is completely useless tho.

It's never really a bad thing that it takes longer than planned. It often just means things are getting done right.

Looking forward to seeing this done as well. Am curious on the Neutrik connector choice tho, just out of idle curiosity why you used the XLR instead of the Speak-ON? Either way it's much better than most any other option and should work great for it. I'm tuned in for this one! EDIT: NVM, I was thinking in my head that XLR was being used for the signal from the amp to the sub. Reading > ME.....

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That Merlin amp is rated 2krms and you should easily be able to find a Hifonics amp in that power range for WAY less than $800, here's a Brutus BRZ2400 (2400wrms @ 1 ohm) for $370. A Crescendo BC2000, rated 2250wrms @ 1 ohm is only $380 in the SSA store for example as well. There's a bunch of amps out there that should suit your needs within your budget. A used or refurbished Sundown 2k or 2500 should be within that budget as well, hell dB-r has a refurbed Sundown 3500 for $688. I agree that you should be able to get it repaired much cheaper. dB-r does amp repairs, not sure if they repair US Amps brand or not but it's worth asking about and there's other places that do that work as well. Repair should be many times less than a new amp.

Damn, thing is defying laws of physics. Maybe you should disconnect the fuel lines and see if it keeps running on nothing? LOL, J/K... I gotta ask, was the alternator disconnected before the car was started? I could see where it might do something hard to explain like that if it was disconnected after it was started and charging already. If you started it after disconnecting it then I definitely have no good explanation for you. The voltage seemed to be pretty good and steady with it disconnected tho, maybe thats a good thing. Odd but good.

I have gotten both pieces of plexi for my enclosures from Delvie's Plastics. They have about the best prices I've found online, an unreal selection, and the cuts are very accurate as well.

I had done the math to determine the volume of the air each could move at Xmax but I don't know if that actually tells me anything. All it really tells you is how much air they can move in a single stroke, albeit the 12" DCON does move more air than the 10" GCON according to the math, that's really all it can tell you. ^^^I agree, the difference between them will probably not be significant enough to be any sort of deciding factor. The two most important factors are price and space. Are you willing to pay a little more to use a little less space or are you willing to give up a little bit more space and save a few dollars?

I would imagine that the 12" DCON would likely be the better choice due to the extra cone area. I've not had a chance to play with the GCON's but I have had my hands and ears on a 12" DCON and can say with with the utmost confidence that for the price it's going to be really hard to beat. The DCON's ability to play so accurately and still move things around inside a vehicle is amazing for its power rating and price range. I don't think you'd go wrong with either choice but IMHO the DCON is probably the better and more budget friendly choice.

Damn, sure wish I could have thought about this when I was out in LA for work last year. It would have been much more awesome to meet Stephen and see the ZED wonderland than it was visiting the sub par shops I was able to find. If I ever go back I'll have to remember this little detail.

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Thank you guys!

Happy Birthday!!

THANKS GUYS!!!