I've had some equipment laying around for over 2 years, and my wife wants a little bit of bass.

I figure I may as well make the most of what I have, which chances are will be more than she'll ever use anyway.

Her car: Chevy Malibu

Equipment:

Alpine 9885

Alpine Type-X 12 D4

Hifonics 2006d

Enclosure: ~1.5ft net tuned to 36hz with 24sqin of port.

She wants a little bass, and plenty of room to put groceries. Also no wires or equipment hanging out like most drop in installs.

This is really temporary until she gets a new car some time this year.

The equipment:

Of course I had to draw up some plans and it starts at the kitchen table:

A MS Paint drawing of what I'm going for

Her main concern other than space: Cost. She doesn't want me to spend a dime on wood, and I have this piece of mdf that's been leaning strange for over a month. I would much rather buy a new piece, but she wants to use this one...

Anyway, before anyone says anything about amp ventilation its really not a concern. There will be holes at the back of the box, and she only drives 15minutes tops to work or school on any given day- not enough time to heat anything up the way she'll listen to it.

The rediculously warped wood:

I started cutting when my table saw died on me

I put together what I had, and did the old switcheroo at lowes so I could keep working the next day.

I put my air compressor on the big sheet to help warp it back flat overnight (it didn't really work).

Edited March 15, 200817 yr by tejcurrent

Ahhh back to nice cuts!

I hate this wood for the record lol. My wife still wants me to use it. I had to use screws instead of just glue and clamp with a few finish nails because the wood is sooo warped. I'm literally pulling it straight with every screw.

Thats pretty much it for the 'box' portion, and it's on the port.

And in place. Just a bit of sanding some of the joints to get them flat where they should be (damn warped wood!)

The wood is splitting on me even though its pre-drilled. It's just in such bad condition I'm gluing and clamping split pieces back in place left and right! Anyway, its temporary so it's fine.

Anyway, caulking the joints that will be impossible to reach later:

Ready for the top:

The product so far:

I love these lights, they're soo convenient!

I really wish things were more perfect, but given what I had to work with I'm fairly pleased.. God for $20 bucks lol...

Anyway more work.

I had someone tell me the box looked pretty big for a 'small' install. That's a matter of relativity. Here's here box next to my port:

Cutting the hole for the sub and trim plate. It looks rough because the dust isn't out of the way, but it's routered nicely.

Test fitting the trim plate and equipment.

Hit the edge with the 3/4 round over

Used a jig saw to cut out the port, and 3/4 round.

A little paint around the edges

Building the 'amp rack'

It didn't come with mounting tabs, even seperate in the box. So a little extra work had to go into it:

The base it sits on:

Wedged tightly in place (trust me it's fine, there's working parts on your car that are held the same way)

The piece in question

Cutting the hole for the amp to show through:

dbl post?

Edited March 15, 200817 yr by tejcurrent

Carpeting the box

The trim plate:

All carpeted

Test fitting the sub

I like how clean and simple the jumpers make installation, it's a pointless feature, but saves me a bit of wiring

One of the 'vent' holes behind the amp. I'm sure I could put a fan in there but I've checked and theres just no reason for her listening habits:

In her trunk

She still has plenty of room

It's hard to get a good picture, but here it is at night:

And the metering:

sealed dash

and the kick

Heres a short video metering Young Jeezy.

HbLj2uglTuM

I'm sure with a different vehicle, some work, or even with switching to a sub that could run this amp at 1 ohm she could be bass-racing 139.9. It's just not important to her at all, so it's not really a concern. I wasn't expecting it to be even that sealed up in her trunk, so it turned out well.

My brother is thinking about selling his 12" BL and going up to a 15 or 18, so maybe I'll be able to swap that out

The sub sounds great- its nice and articulate on rock (which is mostly what my wife and I listen to anyway) and gets the lows really good. It sounds very musical and blends in nicely, which being that the sub is really meant for SQ I'd hope so

Any comments and thoughts are welcome (criticism too)!

Edited March 15, 200817 yr by SSaudio

dblpost

Edited March 15, 200817 yr by tejcurrent

Triple post somehow?

Edited March 15, 200817 yr by tejcurrent

For using some old MDF laying around, thats not a half bad box. Most people probably wouldn't be able to tell now that you have it wrapped.

Nice work, I really like how you hid the amp, but I'd still have some kind of fan to circulate the air. Nice work though, very nice install.

Thanks man! No, you really can't tell, and while it's not where I'd like it, as soon as she gets her new car it'll be a new build (with good wood and some glass )

nice build man. simple and space saving.

very nice build, very clean looking.

Very clean install. Kudos for the creativity and make the best with that wood, turned out excelent

also like the port compared to the box. It makes the box look like its built for a 6.5" driver lol

finished product looks very good, espically considering what the board looked like to begin with. quick question, what do you have for a front stage?

working with that wood must have sucked major!

very nice and intricate design, i like it = ]

very neat and original. 140 is loud!

Your port does make that look little, until then no way. Nice!

Thanks a lot guys!

I'm sorry to say besides h/u that's the only upgrade. She graduates from college in another few months, shortly after we'll be buying a new car for her and it will start all over again. She's happy with her stock speakers, so they are what they are. Honestly I think she wanted the sub in her car just to get it out of the house (she likes things very tidy) lol

Awesome install if you ask me. Not sure how much air the amp is getting, but like you said, she don't jam on it much.

Those are very good scores mang! I was at 138.2 on my Fi Q 12" on 800-900rms in a sealed box. I wouldn't mind taking a listen to those Alpine Type X's as those are the componets I will be running again.

Good job for sure.

Clean Install man i really liked how u mounted the amp.

Very nice project, I like external ports.

Very nice project, I like external ports.

Thanks again guys!

I like it pretty well too- I was doing some painting on her car while she was out of town this week and I really enjoyed listening to it. She REALLY needs a better front stage- but she doesn't care and doesn't have the ear for it

Still sounds better being able to hear below 80hz (about where he factory setup let out), but you really don't hear the sub the way I have it- it just blends in smoothly. Thanks for all the great feedback- makes it worth the effort when she's talking about buying a different car next month or so. New build time then

Edited April 3, 200817 yr by tejcurrent

sounds like fun.