hey jak,

what kind of screws did you use to mount your subs onto the bracket?

 

Machine screws washers and aircraft nuts. (the nuts with the plastic insert). I suppose a lock washer would have worked just as good.

Jeff

 

Sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I never added it up until now. It was about $2660.00 without the screen.

Alpine head unit $1100.00
Sony EQ $309.00
Precision Power Amp $485.00
Subs per pair $336.00
Rear speakers pair $77.00
Rear sweeters pair $54.40
Front speakers pair $104.00
Front tweeters pair $60.00
Crossover parts $35.00
Hardware about $100.00

Jeff

 

I wonder how hard it would be to build a box (one each) for my Boston 10s behind the plate.... they only need .5 cubes each, and it looks like I could put the amps (and some fans) back there and have my whole trunk left...

I was thinking of putting the 6 inch by the sib, and mounting the 4 inch and tweets in the door...

Of course, this is all after I get my Z (2 weeks if I'm lucky). And, hello, everyone, BTW.

Great lookin install; I used to work at a shop and have seen few that look that clean.

 

Welcome to the site.

I think you could get a .5 cubic ft. box to work behind the plate. With the plate off you have a 9" tall by around 20" wide hole. (the hole may be a little wider. It has been a while since I had the plate off.) The bottom of the hole is right at the floor level of the car so the box could be attched to that. The gas tank is there however.

The area behind the plate is pretty well sealed from the rest of the car. I wonder how hot it would get in there with amps and no outside air?

Let us all know how it all works when you get your Z!

Jeff

 

Be careful with that 9" hole. Yes its 9", but the floor flattens out. Since you have to put the box in at an angle, you eventually hit the floor. If the box is not all the way in by then, you are stuck.

In my case, my box ended up being 11" x 16" x 8.5". Add to that the height of the sub itself and you get 8.75". Thank goodness the top of my sub was rubber, because I had to compress it to fit once I hit the floor.

An 11" x 16" x 8" box should give you .5 Cubic foot - maybe a little more if my calculations are correct. That would slide right in.

There is a mounting braket back there. 11" is really spot on, because there is a little valley+dimple towards the opening, and the mounting braket is 11" back. It will wedge in there real nice.

 

If you don't know how to calculate a box, check out

http://www.linearteam.dk/

Look for WinISD beta. It will help you design the box dimensions based on thickness of wall and cubic feet required.

 

Jak,

You seem to know quite a bit about audio. Could you suggest a reference for the lay person that would explain the basics of audio? I really need to learn what to look for when designing my system.
I am more than able to install equipment myself but am lost when it comes to spec's and what exactly the spec's mean.

 

Very sweet. I like it a lot.

 

Jak,
I am thinking about using some home sub in my car too but was afraid the response would be different than in the house. How's your Scan Speak subs sound? You hook them up in parallel to run in 4 ohm? thanks.

I am into musical subs.. I have one 10JLw3 with JL 500 mono. It can thump, but I want more kick type of bass (fast and quick bass).

 

There are many good books on the subject but two that come to mind are easy reading and will cover the basics.

The first book covers acoustics in relationship to loudspeakers. This will give you a basic knowledge and understanding of what it takes to design and get the best sound out of component speakers. This is a good book to start with and is not as technical as the more advanced books on this subject.

DESIGNING/BUILDING SPEAKER SYSTEMS 4TH EDITION by: David Weems

The second book I would recommend covers all basic aspects of audio, how sound waves are produced, human hearing thresholds, terminology, etc. etc. This is a good book to give a basic overview of what audio is and how it works.

COMPLETE GUIDE TO AUDIO by: John J. Adams

These books are light reading and are good for beginners that want the knowledge without feeling they are studying for a PhD. There are other more advanced books but they usually assume a foundational knowledge.

Let me know how they work or if you have any questions. I spent two years in Audio Engineering/Acoustics at the University of Wisconsin before changing career paths. I also helped teach one semester of spatial acoustics with the Professor.

Jeff

 

No problem using home subs in a mobile application as long as the loading requirements are met. In fact I prefer using home subs when possible because they are designed to be more musical where as the mobile products are designed for durability in mind.

The main difference that you will notice in the cabin of the car is the low end will be more pronounced due to the confines of the cabin vs. the spaciousness of a room in a house. To achieve a flat frequency response some sort of equalization will be necessary either active or passive. This would hold true for any sub in a auto installation.

I like the sound of the Scan Speak's a lot they are very quick and punchy. The bass response is very neutral over a wide frequency range vs. some car audio subs being focused or heavy at particular frequencies.

On the down side, a moving vehicle has a lot of background noise to overcome so inherently mobile loudspeakers will have to be driven harder to overcome the background. As the Scan Speak subs are driven close to their limits they will break up or bottom out quickly making them more fragile than a car audio sub. So there are tradeoffs.

If you are the type of person that usually has all of the windows down and wants to rattle the people you drive by, you probably won't like the Scan Speaks. If you generally drive with the windows up and enjoy clean musically accurate sound at SPL levels less than 115db then you'll love the Scan Speaks.

I wired them in parallel at 4 ohms to a mono amp.

Let me know what you end up doing.

Jeff

 

Thanks Jak,
I have always been a fan of paper cone sub, but as you stated, car sub requires a lot of power to overcome the noise. They are usually have long excursion which make the bass too slow sometimes for me. That's why I like sound of the home sub better. The only thing I hesitate using a house sub is the power handling. But since you have success with home sub, I will most likely get a pair of 10. I was looking at Peerless, Audax, Vifa, San Speak driver. Do you have experience in these drivers beside San Speak? Thanks again!

 

I have actually used all of those brands before. I have built custom enclosures for home audio for quite a few years. I like the Audax products since they were bought by JBL several years ago. They have some nice higher end stuff now.

I am using peerless 850518s in the rear deck. I have used both Peerless and Vifa extensively. Both of these brands are primarily poly cones. I tend to gravitate to the Vifa sound over the Peerless for bass but for mids and highs the Peerless are a little smoother.

You should check out www.madisound.com I have done business with Larry for years and they have all of these components. I would also check out Morel which is paper (very clean) and if you have a bigger budget Eaton (very nice).

Jeff

 

You have a sweet ride

 

Z Buddy I need help how did you get 2 units in your dash.
Help if you can

 

Wow, resurrecting an old thread. You just need to pick up the Metra dash kit he mentioned back near the beginning. It has multiple configurations you can use, including single din headunit and pocket, or two single din headunits. I use the same kit, but I'm using a single headunit and a pocket beneath it. (See my link in my sig for pics.)