smokiethebear912

As they say good things come to those who wait. I have a Q 12 and trust me the patience is worth it.

I have read so many other build logs on here I figured I would contribute by showing how my first build turned out. What Ford deemed adequate for my focus I deemed a bit weak. My old 8" from Ford My new Fi q12 d2 and my audioque 1200d Positive side 1/0 welding cable The 150 amp fuse My rear ground also in 1/0 My box which upon further research my port is too small on My ghetto temporary amp rack Good thing I need to redo the box anyways as I blew out a corner somehow I am not quite sure what I am going to do next to replace this. I am unimpressed with my current output. I don't know if it is from my improperly designed and created box or just that this SQ woofer won't get up to where I want it. I am undecided in what to do next. Maybe get another q 12 and build a new box if I can spare the room, or put it in a sealed box and give it to my mother or sell it.... Any ideas?

I would say 1 18" would be preferable. The depth is variable so if we need a bit more than 21" that would be fine just try and keep it reasonable as the deeper it is the less "trunk" in the hatch I have. In this design are those aeros pointing towards the drivers or passenger side? Would sub up port up allow for the whole width to be used to allow for more space? Is there enough depth to allow them to exit at the front and blow between the seats, and is that even a good idea with all that air constantly barraging my arm? I do like the idea of using the aeroports as I think they are more aesthetically pleasing. This setup will mainly be for daily driving so a bit lower tuning would be preferred. As far as bracing I have been wanting to try some fiberglassing so that was what I was thinking could be used to bond the corners with maybe some type of curved peice that then gets glassed in for proper airflow. How about even making 45's out of mdf then use some fiberglass to go over that. What depth would be needed to be about what SSA recommends for a single 18" xcon which is Ported: 7.25-7.75ft^3@26-33hz Optimal I know box size changes amp requirements re: power handling. I am most likely going to go with something like a Sundown 2000d or an Audioque 2200d depending on how much overtime we get in January. 40" Wide 19" High 21" Deep (variable but the larger it is the more "trunk I lose") so I would like to keep it reasonable Oh this is an aside but I saw one design you did with a loading area for the front wave that you couldn't even see the speaker on. Is there a way to do this in this example as it would lower the thief want to jack me factor of seeing that beautiful 18" just sitting there as even when I re-tint the windows darker they can still see in the front window.

I found this online which shows the rear section of where the box will go. Now if I can find one for a bit further foward as well I might be getting somewhere.

That is what I used for this one and I swear it's cut sheet is wrong... plus I am the kind of person who wants to know why I am doing something instead of just doing it. I guess I am a nuts and bolts (or volts) type of guy.

It may be cheaper, but is it as fun as a whole new build? Plus I can still do that since I am going to hook my mom up with some beat. 2 birds one stone i can regift my birthday present as her christmas gift and I get to be anal and make more crazy plans. I am the type of guy who can't leave well enough alone!!!

I am not saying it sounds bad or that I don't like the Q it is a great driver I just want more oomph!!! Here is what happened I jumped in feet first after doing some (but not enough) research. I thought I knew what I wanted which was a SQ system when in reality it wasn't. I want a very loud system that sounds good for daily driving and maybe some competitions. See what happened was when I thought loud in my mind my friend’s old system popped up in my mind as being loud but sounding horrible. He had 2 Sony xplodes in a Fourth Order Band pass box from circuit city or Best Buy (can't remember which) with a kicker amp. It would get loud but sounded like ass doing it. So my mind was equating loud with sounding like ass which I did not want so I went what is the polar opposite which was it appeared a SQ system which also isn't what I want. I have since learned it is all in the install and box design. What I am planning on doing now that I have retreated a bit and regrouped is give my mother the Q since she did buy it for my as a birthday present put it in a small sealed box (she has a huge trunk so ported would work if she cleaned all the crap in there out... you think mine is a rolling storage shed you should see hers) because she truly would like a sq system as she listens more to stuff like Carol King, Bonnie Raitt, The Judd’s, and some worship music as she works at a church. Also upgrade her front stage with maybe a 2-way passive set-up. Most of her music is very vocal and with some but not much bass compared to my music although I do sometimes listen to some of that kind of music like Sarah McLaughlin and Jewel and such. I have read many many reviews of different drivers and am leaning towards the xcon's because all of the reviews have described it as a more sq oriented driver with that punch I am looking for and it is dead sexy looking (I love that no dust cap concave look). I am not settled on which size and number of drivers yet as I am still in the preliminary phases of planning. I did run some numbers up above this post with some dimensions and such I just need an expert enclosure designer and/or to get the questions I asked above answered so I can do it myself. Lest you be worried about me being only bass centric I am also planning on running a midbass in the door with a midrange and a tweet in some q-logic kicks powered by most likely a SAX-125.2 for the midbass and a SAX-100.4d for the kicks. I also want to get a new head unit like a 1-din flip out nav or modify the dash for a double din or maybe even a carputer setup. Electrical I am looking at a new 200-amp alternator and some supplemental batts (undecided on brand but they will have some oomph to keep the voltage drop for being too bad on this much power). I haven't run the numbers yet but I have a sneaking suspicion some more runs of 1/0 are going to be needed for the amperage capacity I am going to need. Well that is enough rambling for now, and I hope I didn’t put you guys to sleep with all of that.

So I went out and measured the exact amount of space I am willing to dedicate which is: Outside Dimensions 40" Wide 19" High 21" Deep (variable but the larger it is the more "trunk I lose") so I would like to keep it reasonable Inside Dimensions allowing for two layers of 3/4" MDF on the baffle and 1 layer elsewhere: 38.5" Wide 17.5" High 18.75" Deep Before Port ft3: 38.5 x 17.5 x 18.75 = 12632.8 in3 12632.8/123 = 7.31 ft3 Now is where I begin to have trouble. I have yet to find something that definitively tells me how to calculate what my port in2 number should be. I have seen ranges given like 11-16 per ft3 and such but where do these numbers come from. I am sure there is some type of equation that these are figured by, but I can't find it. I do know it has something to do with the m/s of the airflow from the port which if too high can cause port noise and chuffing. How does one calculate port velocities? I need to know port size so then I can calculate the length needed to get the proper tuning which I am shooting for about 32hz. I have a feeling I am going to need the TS parameters for the xcon to figure this out but they are not posted on the main website. Well it is almost 3 AM and they have required overtime at work so I am going to force myself to sleep so I can get up an hour early and go to work... Too bad they don't have unlimited because that would get my coffers built up that much faster to buy some goodies.

I don't wanna!!! I know I need to though That is why I need to dedicate that area to subs instead of refuse storage and transportation

Well I got the rear seat bottom removed, and took some measurements, but I think I will have to remove the seat backs or at least go to the back and move the box to measure between the tightest part where the backs mount, because if possible I would like to make the front of the box only come so far up so I can recline the seat fully as sometimes when I travel I am broke and sleep in the car and it is very uncomfortable as it is when the seat will recline and it is a nightmare with the seat back in the normal position. I am a big dude and this is a small car so I need some extra space if possible. Where the seat bottom mounts is conservatively (about a half inch clearance on each side) 49" wide and to the window level is 20 inches minus what ever is needed to mount the floor of the box to the floor of the car See what I mean about rolling storage bin, and that is after i cleaned off the rear seat to remove it

I have been out of the country a few times to the Caribbean and Canada but never that far afield. Military or fun or both?

Damn how did you know... Now I am gonna have to disappear again.... Just kidding... My parents were Technical Writers who wrote maintenance manuals for airplanes, missile systems, secure communications equipment, ships etc... Mostly for defense contractors and at the end civilian projects. They were at UPS when we lived in Louisville the first time and the second was when I moved out at 20 (I'm 27 now) cause the grass is always greener on the other side (which it most times isn't). We kinda stumbled on to it at the end of the day way down at the end of some wing of the expo center. That show is so big with so many wings to the expo center that it was pure stupid luck we ended up over there. I have went about 3 times and only once did we see it.

Yep, Carl Casper is the one. I have lived there twice. I have lived all over. I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and lived in: Califonia Twice, Texas Twice, Florida three times, Georgia, Kentucky Twice, Ohio, Washington State, and now missouri Twice. I am going to see if I can get some time off work to go to the show in February.

I am trying to get the box out of the hatch. I have seen it said install is 80% and equipment only 20%. The reason I want to go to the 15's if I can get them in there is the damn factor. I want bass then when I choose to demo it people are just slammed with great sounding base. I have never competed so I am not sure what 140 db sounds like. I have seen it being done once at large car show I went with my dad to when I used to live in Louisville, KY and it isn't something I would be adverse to doing just never had the opportunity as this is my first system and I have only had it for about 3 weeks.

It wasn't just me. I actully was just the superviser and designated pizza and beer buyer for that build. I was my supposed master carpenter cousin and uncle who did most of the contruction on that box. They are used to building houses and doing rough carpentry work so this was a first for all 3 of us. I was planning on using screws but I/they were in too big of a hurry to pre-drill and countersink all those holes so we went with the brad nailer ( I had a trip coming up to Florida and i wanted my beat installed STAT!). I think this time I am just going to bite the bullet and go to harbor freight get some tools and do it myself as they tend to rush through shit and I am anal and miticulous just unsure of myself when it comes to mechanical things as I am more of a computer nerd (or used to be as i have gotten lazy and haven't built a computer since 2002 when I bought my first laptop)

I need to sound deaden the whole car it already rattles as it is and the road noise is horrible in there. If I didn't have the road noise that 8 from ford would have sounded nice. It was good when you were stopped with the engine off but on the freeway you could barely hear it. That is what started my descent in to the madness called car audio addiction. I was just going to modify that box and put in a RF Punch P3 shallow but found out you can't modify the factory box if it was from after 2002 and so I got what was supposed to be my permenant system and you guys see where that has lead...

I am not planning on putting them in the hatch area. I want to pull out the back seat's and do something similar to this setup someone on a focus forum has. I will include the picture again below

I used titebond III to glue up the edges and shot brads in to keep the box held together while the glue dried. It feels very sturdy and heavy just improperly engineered. I think this time i will just clamp the crap out of it and take my time as opposed to using the brads like i did before (was in a hurry to hear the beast). I did use silicone caulk, but it doesn't seam to have worked well. It was just normal clear caulk you get at home depot that is what is causing that wet look at the joints. I just drilled a hole for the speaker wire and sealed it with that caulk and that has broken lose and the wire now slides back and forth creating a leak. I have seen some builds where people have used fiberglass and resin to seal up the box. Do you or any of the others here have any experence using the fiberglass? I have never used it but I am willing to give it a try if it will work better than the caulk. I have a feeling i am going to need some help designing my next enclosure so that everything works right and is built correctly as there is no bracing or 45's in this box i have now and it seams like something most people are doing. Is it in the hatch area? I would like 2 15's if I have the cubes available. For that fi q 18 they recommend between 5-10 cubes so how do you like the sound in 4? From what i have read it seams if you have more cu ft you can get more output from the same amplification level as it is more efficent (up to a point as you can get to a point where you start bottoming out your sub). From what i have see posted by people that have a nightshade it is supposed to be a great driver just a bit expensive. I want to do something like that guy from FocusFanatics.com did where he used where his back seat would go to put a box. I have only had 1 person in my back seat in the last year and he needs to get his own car and a license since he is 23 damn years old. I do like the way I could make the false floor to hide the amps and batts, and still leave a way to access the spare tire as I have a history of shreading tires (I shredded one just last week on the way back from Florida and it was a royal pain in the ass to change it having to get that heavy box out then the wires kept me from placing it down on the ground so i had to set it on one end) and also it would be nice to have a place for groceries when I go to walmart and such. I am thinking maybe two 15" XCON's on a Sundown 3500 would be nice and more what I want. From what i have read those XCON's sound fantastic but will be quite a bit louder than the Q. Especially after I do from 1 12 to 2 15's. More Cone Area FTW!!!

Thank you, I am sure my mom will like it... I am thinking of maybe 2 15" xcon's or something like that to replace that little baby on a sundown 3500

Well first thing I am going to have to pull the rear seats and see what the floor looks like underneath to see how hard it is going to be to mount, and figure out what kind of space I have so I can decide on what size and type of drivers I want to use. If I get the inititive maybe I will pull the rear seats after work and take some more pictures and see what kind of space I have available.

Why the switch to the nightshade then? Just itching for change?

I removed the ford driver after those pictures were taken. I went out there and took some measurements. I can conservatively do 18" deep and 18" high (but would like to build a false floor to hide the amp and for room for future expansion.) The hatch is 40" wide wheel well to wheel well but the door is only 34" wide so that may cause some issues. The only issue with a false floor is I would like to still have access to my spare tire easily. I learned that a box is a bitch to move to change a tire so something like this guy did from my focus forum would maybe be ideal. Just with out the amp in the middle so i can raise a hinged part for the spare wheel and still carry groceries. I have no problem giving up my back seats as no ever uses them and they just serve as a movable junk holding device. Oh and the tuning i did this box to 32 hz as that was what is recommended but I couldn't tell you why 32 hz is recommended. I listen to a pretty diverse collection of music from Neil Young to Young Jeezy, but Rap/Hip Hop is what I mainly listen to.

I was just saying that is where this sickness seams to lead that's all. Here is what I have right now: My current setup

This is great work. It is such a inspiration to my build I have kicking around in my head.

I just read this whole post and all I can say is wow... My Fi q 12 with 1 audioque 1200 is nothing compared to your monster setup. I keep finding myself saying it is not loud enough but I am not going to give up on it yet as I know my box is horrible. Tuned to who knows with way too small a port but it was my first box so it is expected to be crap. My mind wants to wall my focus but I have to keep telling it no no no just maybe another q 12 in a proper box or something will make it loud enough... but I have a feeling that I might end up where you are now as I have learned this is a sickness and I am certainly infected.