JohnHinerman

ok, UPS is whacked because this order hasn't even shipped yet and I received a txt today on my phone from ups's service saying that my packaged is scheduled for delivery between 1pm-5pm today. Really? Come on ups, you tack the number and it has never been shipped... lol nice

New truck, new system waiting... Bought a 2011 Ram Quad Cab truck and have everything together sitting in my living room and I am stuck on woofers. Currently sitting next to my couch is Image Dynamic XS-65 front's Image Dynmaic CTX-69 rears Alpine PDX-F6 150x4 @Fronts & Rears Alpine PDX-M12 1200x1 for woofers Atrend Dual 10" under the rear seat enclosure wire and cables... And now I am stuck... I was wanting to run two fi SSD10, copper coil, High QTS dual 2ohm coils in series and both woofers parallel for a total of 1200w RMS @ 2ohms. Or basically 600w per speaker. After contacting Fi, Nick replied saying that the 600w is a little under powered for these woofers. I don't have room for another PDX-M12 nor do I really want to have to purchase another one. Where I stand now is do I buy the two SSD's and give them the 600w or purchase two Sundown SA-10's which are actually rated at 600w RMS ? If this makes sense, I'm lost as to what is going to have better SQ and SPL of the two setups. I've read very good things about both woofers, but I've for some reason really been wanting a set of Fi woofers. What do I do? Again, this is my DD and not a SPL machine, however I do like to listen to my music loud, and want the best overall sound and output given the amplifier I've already purchased. Any opinions or help would be great. Everything is on hold due to the subwoofer decisions.... Thanks!

Gotta love the youtube videos yelling at me for not reading lol I pretty much figured that was what was going on. No biggie.

With the LOC at full output, my 4 channel amp gain is just barely past min. I don't have the subwoofers up and running yet, and I haven't done any setup at all. Back in day ('97ish) I worked for a Consulting, design, and testing firm. Around then you were starting to see most OEM hu's using bridged output amplifiers which would give you an 8v signal. We would simply use one side output and a radio chassis ground to run signal straight into the amplifiers. This would give a 4v signal to the amp without and sound degradation by using low cost transformers or resistors to convert high level to low level. Sometimes this would work fine but with some situations there could me an issue with turn on pop or other noise, but 9x's out of 10 it was fine. And in all honesty, I only reason why I didn't do the same thing with this is because the factory hu has no turn on lead for an external amplifier. Everything in this truck is on a can bus system, even cargo lamps and anything else you could think of. the OEM-1 was quick and easy, and I haven't really heard any complaints about any audible degradation of the signal. In a world without a budget, building an LOC with something such as Jensen Transformers and high tolerance resistors would be the way to go imho. Sorry if I am getting off subject or deeper than my original question, as I was typing I was starting to remember things I learned while working there. Anyway, the amplifier input is rated for .2 - 4v input. the only reason I would think you might want to lower the LOC output is if for some reason the source unit was such a high output that at the 2:1 ratio which PAC claims would produce an output of higher than 4volts, and even then I'm not sure if it would cause a problem. There are plenty of line drivers that produce more than 4volts, and if memory serves me, there are not a ton of amps which normally rate higher than 4volt input. My thinking is keeping the LOC at full output will keep the signal voltage as high as possible to prevent noise Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong... Thanks in advance for the help.

Long story short, I'm keeping the factory Nav/HDD/BLUETOOTH/IOD/DVD/MP3 head unit in my '11 Ram. I installed a PAC OEM-1 (OEM-CHR3) for the plug and play ease plus remote turn on from the can bus system. My question is on setting the output levels of the OEM-1. I installed the OEM-1 and just turned all four outputs on the LOC all the way up. Is this correct? Is there any reason I wouldn't want them all the way up to feed the amplifiers the highest signal level?

actually the suburbs of Detroit, but anyway. I found this site and have picked up a lot of good info. I used to be pretty big into the mobile audio seen some years ago. I worked for an audio engineering and consulting firm starting my senior year in HS and learned a lot about audio, way more than most people even want to know about. I've chose to forget a lot of it myself lol Anyway, I've always been into audio systems but as I've grown up some I just haven't had the time to stay devoted. But along comes a new vehicle, and it is time for me to start things off again. This is a great site, and so far everyone has been very great and welcoming, glad to be here. John

Sooooo.... I orderd the two SSD10's yesterday, and was told they are still looking about 10days build time. Just a few min ago I received a UPS tracking number for the order. Says it will be here on the 22nd??? Thats cool with me...sooner the better. Don't know what happened to the 10day build time if this tracking info is correct.

I have a PDX-M12 and I also have a PDX 1.600 and they seem fine to me. Main reason I went PDX is because of the small footprint and the fact that they can be stacked.

For sure, I'm pretty excited. I have high hopes for them so we will see.

No options, just Dual 2ohm copper coils. I was going to get the spider leads, but Nick at Fi said I don't need them, won't have any cone lead contact problems, and the added cooling just adds to the power rating which I don't think I need to worry about either.

Order has been placed... I'll update once they arrive...

The enclosure was $64 total, so it isn't like I spent a ton of money. back out of high school I worked for an audio engineering and consulting firm and had to (well actually enjoyed it also) build all sorts of ensloures and customer one off stuff for projects. I've built plenty of them in the past for myself also, but in all honesty, as I've grown older it is harder to find the time to do things like that. I'd love to spend all weekend building a customer enclosure, but if I can save a ton of time by dropping ins omsething that is already to go, then hey sounds good to me. In a perfect world I would build customer door panels, and kick panels and everything else. But for this build, I'm trying to get it in and done quick and painless lol Building the 6x9 adapters for the door is no big deal, but it was also an hour in the garage sawing and drilling grinding whiile the better half sat in the house pissed off that I wasn't in there eating dinner lol Anyway, I am going to order two SSD10's. It says they come standard with the copper coils now, which I think is better option for me than the flat wound coil. Also, given the power supply, added cooling seems like a cool option (no pun intende) but not needed. I'm assuming the internal leads are possibly a spider woven tinsel leads (correct me if I'm wrong) which I like, but then again it is another $50..... While I have everyones attention, can I add another question? Door sound damping. The window regulator/door module/speaker mounting area is all one plastic module. Would you guys say add damping material to both inside of the door and to the plastic door module? Thanks for everyones help. I used to be big into this stuff, but it has been about 10 years since I've done anything for myself as far as car audio goes.

Wow, for some reason I thought they were both made in the USA? That is one of the reasons I am looking at them. Please don't tell me this stuff about the Atrend box. I called them and actually asked them if there was any clearance problems with the speaker and the seats or anything else and they said no. I was trying to make this an easy install. I've already spent time cutting 1/8" allum plate to allow the 6.5"s to mount into the factory 6x9 front locations, and I thought I could get off easy with the pre-made box. We will see. Oh, and mounting depth in the catalog says 6.75, yet on the website it says 6.25 I will have to measure it when I get home. I guess I will order up a pair of SSD10's tomorrow. I don't think I really need the additional cooling or internal leads do I?

pmureika, what kind of power are you sending to your SSD's?

Lol.. .Not making this easier guys.. . so indecisive.... To make it plan and simple.. I really like the looks of the FI, plus the custom dust cap etc... ( I know, worst reason ever to buy something that is meant to be heard and not seen) However, that being said, the Sundown does look pretty beastly also. I am just unsure as to wether or not I am better off using the woofer rated for less power, and supplying the recommended power, OR using the the higher power rated woofer and not giving it the 1000w it claims it wants...