ShaiTan

Ok I hope I set this up correctly. Got another question for everyone. Decided to make it a poll. Years ago in the area I grew up in everyone used bass blockers to remove lower frequencies from the smaller speakers 4x6, 5x7, 6.5 and 6x9's. Keeping all the lower bass to the larger speakers. The smaller the speaker the higher the bass blocker frequency. The larger the speaker the lower the blocker frequency. Till you got to the subs. Then they were controlled by the amp so none were used. I have never used them myself. But I am now finding myself looking into purchacing some for my non amped, non component speakers ( the ones listed in the poll ). What are your opinions? Are bass blockers even worth it? Are the frequencies and sizes listed in the poll good to do? Or is it just a waste of money? If you have other opinions please choose #5 and post your opinion. Otherwise just choose an answer.

I thought of that as well. That may be what I go with.

The 6.5's are for my blazer which has no amps or subs. Just an Alpine head unit and some Wal-Mart special Pioneer 6.5's in front and rear doors, and Pioneer 4x6's in front dash. Now for my Cavalier. I do have an amped sub. Hoping to upgrade from my Alpine SWR-1222D to an SSA Xcon 12D2 soon.. So I'm not talking about taking out all of the bass. Just some of the lower frequencies, like 600Hz and lower for the 4x6's and 300Hz and lower for the 6x9's. I mean how well can those things (4x6's) that have only a half inch of travel at most reproduce those lower tones very well. The frequency response is 28Hz-25,000Hz for the 4x6's and 25 - 30,000Hz for the 6x9's. The RMS value for the 4x6's are only 20w which is what the head unit puts out. So no amplification can be used there. Also the RMS value of the 6x9's is only 80w. I have not really decided on if I am gonna amplify the rear speakers or not yet. The factory locations for the front and rear speakers don't reproduce bass very well anyway. It's almost like it isn't there. So as you can tell by my setup. I am not out there trying to win any competitions with my stereo. I just want it to sound good. As far as cost goes. $75 for the 6x9's and $25 for the 4x6's and around $40 (I think) for the 6.5's. The bass blockers I was looking at are the Stinger inline type for around $10 shipped for a pair. With all that said. What is your opinion. I don't want to spend the extra money if I don't need to. Was just a thought that had come to mind the other day.

Has anyone had any experience with Shruiken AGM batteries? Can they be used as main battery replacement? Or are they just for auxiliary use only for audio?

Don't rely solely on Ah as a means of measuring a battery for car audio applications. this may help: car battery sizing for audio applications I actually just posted the above page this week because I've been seeing this topic pop up quite a bit recently. So basically what you are saying is this.... I have 2 Shuriken SK-BT20's at 850CA and 20AH each. WIre them in parallel for a total of 1700CA and 40AH. Which theoretically would be enough as a replacement for my main battery. Or do as I intended and use those 2 as the rear batteries for the amp and add say a Shuriken SK-BT35 at 950CA and 35AH. Wire it in parllel to the SK-BT20's for a grand total 2650CA and 75AH. Which should be plenty for up to 2000w of total system draw. Which should be plenty for my MB Quart DSC1000.1 and a 2 channel amp for my rear deck speakers. Along with all the normal vehical electrical system. I apologize for my ramblings and questions. I just want to be sure I do things at least somewhat properly. And not hob cobble things together that don't belong or should not be used. I also like to hear others opinions and advice. Because you all know more about this stuff than I do. And may offer something that I have not thought of.

I know CCA is most important in a starting battery. I had a '72 mustang mach 1 that needed a bare minimum of 1000cca to even crank the engine over to attempt to start. However my cavalier only has a 525 cca battery but is also a 50AH battery. Genuine AC Delco factory battery by the way. I also live in Iowa where it gets mighty cold in the winter time and terribly hot in sumer. It hit around 90 today and it's not the hot part of the year yet. So I need a battery that will hold up to both extremes as a daily driver. Right now I have 2 Shuriken SK-BT20's at 850CA and 20AH each which I am going to use as the reserve in the trunk for the amp(s) (thinking of adding a 2 channel amp for the rear speakers as well). Eventually I will need to replace the stock battery as it's already 5+ years old. Hence why I was looking into Shuriken, Kinetik and XS Power. The largest of those brands that will fit are.... Shuriken - SK-BT35 at 950CA and 35AH. at approx $100 Kinetik - HC1200 at 50AH rest unlisted. at approx $200 XS Power - D1200 at 44AH rest unlisted. at approx $180 XS Power - S1200 at 725CA min. RC 80A rest unlisted. at approx $200 So with those 2 Shurikens in the trunk which would be the best bet of those listed above? I'm thinking the Shuriken for the price and CA. Except for the AH rating is a little low compared to the Delco already in the car. Or the XS S1200 for the higher RC rating but lower CA than the Shruiken. So kind of a toss up in a way.

I just looked at my battery specs. And the largest Shuriken that would fit the stock location is their 35AH battery. My stock one is 50AH. So shuriken will not work as main battery replacement in my case. Unless I make a new battery tray, which I really don't want to do. So it looks like it's either Kinetik or XS Power as main replacement. Optima Yellow top is also too large. Gotta love cavaliers.

Does anyone know the exact mounting hole diameter for the XCON 12? Not the individual hole size. But the entire mounting circle.

That is the outer diameter and the cutout diameter. I want the screw hole diameter around the sub.

From what I have read it's not bad to use. Some people don't use them while others do. I havn't hooked mine up yet, but plan on doing so to see how it sounds and reacts. If I don't like it with the bass boosted then I can always remove it. If you choose to use it to boost your bass turn the bass boost all the way up at the amp and then turn it down to zero on the bass boost knob. The remote know overrides the dial on the amp from what I gather. You will need to set your gain(s) where you plan on keeping your bass knob. Remember you can always turn it down from where you set it. But it will of course reduce your voltage to the subs in doing so. Typically bass boost is around 45Hz. So use that test tone to set your gains on the amp. Maybe someone else with more knowledge will also reply with better opinions or facts.

Was just rearranging the tones to burn to cd and noticed you don't have the 86hz sine wave. Is that intentional or just forgot it? It's not really that important it's there in my opinion. But was just wondering. Nevermind. It's there.

Was just rearranging the tones to burn to cd and noticed you don't have the 86hz sine wave. Is that intentional or just forgot it? It's not really that important it's there in my opinion. But was just wondering.

i tryed yours... some will unzip some wont. It's a multipart zip file I do believe. If you unzip part 1 it will unzip them all.

Now that is a huge list of tones. A full cd worth of mp3's. I read somewhere but I don't remember where that you should use only wav format test tones and not mp3, wma and similar to set the amps gains. They said that it changed the actual frequiency or wave forrm or something like that. Is this true or false? And what about mp3/wma that has been converted to wav format and vice versa?

Has anyone used the TRYSTAR Flexible Welding Cable in any of your installs? If so is it a good wire?

Ultra Felx is orange and still 60 cents more expensive per foot than Trystar cable 1/0. Even with the price break of bulk ordering of 50' Trystar is still 10 cents chaper. Besides. Orange will not look good at all in my car since it is silver with dark gray interior. But it is an option for those who like orange.

I first seen it on eBay in 50 and 100ft lengths. So i sent them an e-mail bout a month and a half ago and the price for 1/0 was $2.41 per foot and available in 25ft lengths as well. Also comes in a variety of colors (black, red, light blue, dark blue, orange, yellow, light green, dark green and tan) . You can also have custom lettering on the cable to personalize it if you wish (FREE of charge). And from what they say... And I quote.... "The maximum amperage which we would recommend at 25ft for 1/0 is 400" Which is 50 amps higher than anyone else recommends at that distance. Unless i missed something. A penny penny saved is a penny earned. And in some cases in wire it's dollars. So even better. $5 per ft wire is outrageous in price I would never buy wire at that price for 1/0. No matter who's name is on it. The last wire I baught was Stinger Pro/HPM 4ga. Pretty good wire and easy to work with. But at around $1.30 per foot less in 1/0 than Stinger. I will take the Trystar flexible cable.

Ok thanks. I didn't know exactly how the internals worked. I don't have to worry about adding in a terminal cup or similar for a second set of wires now.

Ok I got to thinking the other day about the way I wired my sub to my amp. I am sure this has been discussed before. But I have been unable to locate the answer. If it has I appologize now. The sub is an Alpine SWR-1222D and the amp is a MB Quart Discus 1000.1 Monoblock. The way I have it wired now is in parallel to 1Ohm with one set of wires to the amp on the outer positive and outer negative terminals. According to the manual that is for single svc sub. Is that way ok or should I physically wire each coil straight to the amp. As the amp automatically parallels both sets of terminals which would make this a 1Ohm load as well. Which way is better the way I have it or the second option?

umm. Yes I know. That is what I said. And yes the amp is 1Ohm stable. I didn't think it would make any difference at the sub. I just though I would ask. But what about Amp efficiency? Would wiring the voice coils separately at the amp ( 2 x 2Ohm loads) be easier on the amp vs 1 x 1Ohm load since the amp it self parallels the terminals if all 4 is used?

I have been looking at upgrading my electrical system to support my future audio system. I am looking at either XS Power D1200 or Kinetik HC1200 for my main battery replacement. As they are the largest that will fit my factory battery location (as near as I can tell). Upon pricing I found a link to Batteryspec.com which sells Kinetik knockoff batteries named Tempest. Have anyone ever heard of or tried any of those batteries? And are they worth even putting in a vehicle? $124 Tempest or $248 Kinetik (shipped prices). big difference. But is the lower price worth it, that's the question?

Whether you buy direct or from a store is your choice. I would buy from the place that will give you the best warranty and the lowest price. If you buy direct you most generally cut out the inflated price and the middle man. Although sometimes you can get a great deal online at various retailers. Just do some research before you dicide to buy your equipment. That Fi BTL is a 2000w RMS sub. The Assendant Audio SMD is 3500w RMS. And the Fosgates are only in the 250w - 500w RMS amps. Why such a wide margine of RMS wattage? As far as brands of amps being good or not.... There are alot of opinions out there on that subject. Are you looking for quality, budget or somewhere in between? There are alot of people that use Soundstream and Fosgate amps and like tham. But most likely just as many people who don't. For the price and wattage output of the Fostate amps you stated, you can do alot better than those. As an example and just to name a couple.... MB QUART DSC1000.1 - 1000w RMS ~ $180 at Sonic Electronics Hifonics HFi1000D - 1000w RMS ~ $200 at Sonic Electronics Among others. Too many to think of. Something too kep in mind when trying to decide whether an amp is good quality or not. If it sais it will put out 3000w and only use 1 x 40A fuse. It's crap. WOW. after looking at that SMD 18 and the MSRP of around $1100 (according to very little research on my part). And the MSRP on the Fosgate punch15's range from $149 - $299. You might wanna do some more research to figure out what you want for sure. And figure out a budget that you are willing to spend on the whole lot and individually. That's my 2¢ worth. But some one who knows more than I do may have other opinions as well.

I'm trying to soak up as much information as I can for my next upgrade. But having difficult making a decision on my new sub setup. Too many different subs to choose from and then do I go ported or sealed. So far all I have ran is sealed Pioneer and Alpine amps/subs. But now I am looking to broaden my horizons and try something new. I took the first step and went with an MB Quart DSC1000.1 amp to power my Alpine SWR-1222D at 1Ohm in a sealed ~1.25ft­­³ enclosure (Scosche prefab. Best thing about it is the spring loaded terminal cup). Been thinking of either going 2 sealed 12's at approx 500w rms each or 1 ported 12 at 750 - 1500w rms. So far I have looked at the following subs.... JVC Arsenal CS-AW7240 for a dual sealed ( Only because they would match the rest of my audio ) JVC Arsenal CS-AW7220 for ported ( Only because it would match the rest of my audio ) RE Audio SEX12D4 for a dual sealed Re Audio SXX12D2 for ported Sundown Audio SA-12D4 for dual sealed Sundown Audio SA-12D2 for ported DD 2500 D2 DD 3500 D2 Fi BL D2 SSA Icon 12D2 SSA Xcon 12D2 (little high for what I want to spend. But if I get the cash it would be an upgrade from the Icon) I will most likely go with a ported enclosure, but my space is limited to 34"w x 15.5"h x 14.5"d and still be able to get it into the trunk and have room left over to use it. I'm not looking to win or even to compete in any SPL or SQ competitions. But I like my music to sound good and be loud at the same time. What I mean by sound good is where the subs are not stumbling over the style of music I listen to. I listen to mainly hard rock / heavy metal styles of music. So dbl kick drum reproduction while maintaining the low bass guitar notes is a key to my listening enjoyment out of the sub(s). Out of those subs listed or others I have not looked into yet. Which could possibly fit my criteria of music taste. If I have not listed some information that is needed, please let me know as I am pretty much stumbling my way through this research. I have messed with Auto-CAD to develop a few ported boxes. But I'm not entirely sure how to figure proper port length and port tuning and still keep it to where the sub will not bottom out or over extend its self. As that is my biggest fear. Building a box that isn't proper and blowing my sub due to poor design. I am sure that even at the maximum dimensions I stated above that will not happen as it is a rather small box from what I have gathered by reading here and there and looking at other box designs. Any help or incite will be greatly appreciated as I venture into this new journey of mine.

Thanks. This isn't really my first try. But it's the only one that I liked well enough to ask opinions on. The reason I did not go with the official design by SSA for the XCON is because even the small one is 1" too long (which mine very closely resembles). I built a 2x4 frame to see what my maximum dimension was going to be. 34" long is the longest it can be and still be able to get it in the trunk of the car. 14 1/2" deep is too deep to slide into my trunk from the actual trunk opening. So I have to remove the rear seats and slide it in through the passenger compartment end first. And then twist it around to face the sub to the rear. If it wasn't for the rear fender wells being so deep I could of went longer. And I only want to take up so much of the trunk space depth wise, that way I can still fit in my fishing equipment, groceries and things like that. So anything deeper than 14 1/2 would of taken up too much space per my liking. Otherwise I would of went with one of the official designs. I try to always think ahead on my audio. I plan on adding a sub or two to the Blazer. And if I do that I will transfer the DSC1000.1 over to the blazer and get me a 2k RMS amp or something to power the XCON. Any thoughts on the tuning of the box? Are my calculations even close?

I think I may of figured the tuning of the box wrong. I think it may be closer to 40 - 41. And would this still be ok? Or should I shrink the port to 3" (keeping the port length the same) and reduce the cross support dowel rods to 1" to get the tuning down to around 36. Can someone please double check my tuning for me? BTW. I will be using the SSA XCON 12D2 at 1000w rms (for now). As it will allow me to upgrade my amp in the future if I so desire to ( ). I appreciate all the help you guys are giving me. And I hope to be able to learn enough to help someone else out in the future. But it all just takes time and patience.