shizzzon

ok here is your design- Specs - 4.00 cuft NET tuned to ~34.5hz Box External- 37" wide 16" high 21" deep Box Internal- 35.5" wide 14.5" high 18.75" deep Using double baffle! Port 1- 14.5" high x 4.5" wide x 18.75" deep Port 2- 14.5" high x 4.5" wide x 7" deep That is internally measured, build according to pic. you can use allthread or dowel for bracing. for some other areas not touched, simple small L brackets or small pieces of wood can be used to attach to other areas if necessary.

OK, i'm gonna start working on a design for you for 2 DC Level 4 12s. I'm thinkin that you may want to back down your amp choice a little unless you can just keep the volume or gain control attenuated some during music playback. I run mine like i suggested to you last night but i only play for no more than 30 sec at a time before i attenuate the volume due to how loud it is and sometimes... just sometimes i do get the coil heated up. So, i'll be tryin designs for you this weekend.

looks like need to be bassracin right at your tuning frequency with this much power. where was the peak note at you were playing compared to your tuning frequency?

I have an option to use a step up converter to run at 18.5v. I can't set it any higher or i risk damaging my amps as they are only rated up to 18.5v. Is 18.5v high enough to charge a D1000? If it's not, what is the recommended voltage and how good would 18,.5v be before i would have to top it off myself with a charger? once a week maybe?

and i am assuming the 12v\16v charger is perfect for that... i need to buy one if i decide to up my voltage.

no it's not either. You can't generalize adding extra batts is as worthless as adding cap(s). For someone who is aware of what their alt's limit is and how muchtheir average and peak current draw is will know that if they have alarge reserve capacity in the back not to be jammin for hours and hoursif the alt can't keep up. once either the alternator is maxed out or at idle rpm, the alt may noteven be putting out power, the power comes from batts... Once currentdraw lowers, alt charges batts... In that same scenario, if a large cap was installed, that thign wouldput more time into charging batts back up as now them, the stereo andthe cap must be ran by the alt... I do not view a cap as a replacement for a battery but as an addon. Even if someone ran a 300A alternator with only a 1,000w amp and alarge battery in the back, a cap still wouldnt give someone an audibledifference in sound and, again, a 600w amp tested with a cap onlyachieved an increase of 3w output. Meaning, all things being equal...a 6,000w amp may only output an additional 30w... not noticeable... Now back to what you are saying about stabilizing voltage... Having theproper electrical system will not have voltage issues... If your current draw is less than what the alt's maximum potential is,then the voltage will never fall to that of the batteries floatreading... Without going into detail here, refer to what i said previously. If a600w amp can only output 3 extra watts, the electrical system used inthis scenario is fully capable of running this amp without "help." If it wasn't capable.. a cap would make it worse. I know what you are saying, but the difference in voltage in with alarge cap vs one without doesn't change the way it sounds or anincrease in power and those are the two things most people look forwhen upgrading their electrical system... They need to supply powerfrom somewhere and it better not have a nasty voltage drop so the usercan have the most sustained voltage throughput for maximum outputpotential from their amp... a battery or bank of that can make that happen. batts hold a charge longer and that is pure key for part of the main upgrade of an electrical system. Now, if u may remember, i made a topic about those harrison labs step up transformers from 14.4v electrical system to 18.5v.. After talkin with an electrical engineer, there is no such thing as a dc to dc transformer but that's the terminology they are using. The point of their product is as long as the device is not overloaded with too much current, it can maintain it's voltage output as long as it has a 12v battery bank to pull from. This is the ONLY capacitor(more than just a cap) i would ever recommend using as is stated will continue to output rated voltage down to 10.5v of input voltage. I wouldnt recommend dropping your 12v batteries that low, lol, but just a point.

nope, if using photobucket, copy the IMG code

i have never seen a benefit of running a or many caps for use in caraudio. I have had problems when i was new to car audio LONG time agoand i had a h.o. alternator running way less than it's full potential. i've done research, everything i've read confirms what i've experienced, others have stated in the past.... Not good for comp use which one would think they would be. The only thing a cap has over a batt is low resistance and with today'sbatts.. having a bank all wired in parallel will have a very low, ifnot lower than a cap's resistance. It's interesting how all competitors i deal with stand behind this justlike i do and will refuse to run these daily as well as we won't runmultiple alternators just so a cap can quickly discharge a minuteamount of power that we can't audibly hear or can even be metered forthe money for that matter... Caps cost more than batts do for what u get so it's common sense to go with a battery or batteries...

Going in a 2003 Ford Explorer, this build will be crazy. As of right now, rmzsuzuki89 may not be on much so hopefully he sees this so i can continue with his build. I need some more dimensions.. i'm running out of room, The current box i have designed is 48" wide x 45" high x 33" deep. Then the box rises 5" from their and goes back another 20" maintaining 48" wide x 40" high. So first question, can this design fit? 2nd, can i go deeper and if so how much before it hurts...... Your remaining space

my buddy has one of those 18s in a HT setup. I dont know the exact specs but i believe it's around 12cubes tuned in the 20s. He mostly watches movies but i've heard it play music and wow... it fills the whole basement up. He also runs it off a 1400w Behringer amp. 1 18 has more cone area than 2 12s also. IT's your best bet to rebuild the box. If you mostly listen to music on it, you need to tune it higher also! Your current box would help tremendously if it were tuned in the lower 30s. Making it bigger... i'm not for sure how much you would gain.. if it was audible or not. For a quick test, can you chop off some of your port now? Tell me your box dimensions, port area and port depth so i can tell u how much to cut off and see if u like it a lot better before u destroy the box.

give me a rep, The best thing i like about forums, especially ones i actually help on rather than get help is helping every single person i possibly can in hopes those people attain the knowledge to help those who used to be in their shoes... IT is at this point that the forum as a whole will be more educated and, in their own experiences, share information with all of us in hopes that experienced users may gain new information and then help us, again, to learn more. Educating the right person will help others learn even faster. Knowledge is power and sharing is what keeps it going.

does it sound like the amp is rapidly turning off and on? It's possible low voltage is causing the amp to go into protect with a rapid turn off and back on. Since music is dynamic, protection from low voltage would only engage when more current is requested, not when it's louder. When it starts doing it again, go back there and stare at the amp and see if the protect light is rapidly coming on and going off.

i'm gonna have to redo my bracing because well... it's bad, lol. Low frequencies are hell!

people who represent local shops that are running any equipment in their car is more than likely the same equipment that they sell... So... if they sell it, they will dump a lot of money into it equipment-wise so it's impressive looking and has to sound pretty good too. As long as the audio setup they do is functional, which of course it would be, then anything in their vehicle would appeal to someone who doesn't know a lot about car audio. So, when you are dumb in a field like this and request help from someone who's tryin to make money, they will attempt to sell u the most product possible even though some of it isn't necessary. I can guarantee everybody that if i had contract deals with manufacturers to purchase a set amount of product per company per year... i would NEVER stock caps... Many companies have a minimum set purchase cost that dealers must pay in terms of equipment cost to stay a dealer for that brand. So, let's say company A requests a minimum of $50,000 of product purchase from them per year. this company makes amps, subs, speakers, caps, wire\terminals, boxes, etc.... So, someone like me, would purchase, let's say, only their subs, speakers and select few amps if any. As logn as i reach my quota according to their contract per year, i dont have to stock nonsense products still marketed on the shelves today.

quick answer- A cap will discharge EVERYTHING in it's bank when a rush of current is requested... A battery will compensate for the current requested when the alternator can't or the regulator doesn't react fast enough. If you could.. try and imagine your battery going completely dead then back to recharging every other few seconds?!?! You can't imagine that at all.. So, you got your alt, a big battery bank and a big ass cap- The cap will ALWAYS be getting drained and recharged all the time... What's recharging it? The alternator... When it's doing that, it's providing less power to the audio system which results in more voltage drop because the battery(ies) must compensate more... Now, when the batts are being used more... every split second when when there is no demand for current, the alt must charge the batts back up too!!! Keep playin music like that... your voltage will continue to drop and drop.... That's why caps are BAD! They were even tested in a comp setup for power draw... IF a cap can disperse current quicker.. it should provide the amp with more power... A 600w amp was tested.. using a cap suited for the amp, the amp only outputted an additional 3w! 3 WATTS! Wow.... at that rate... u can just give me your money if u plan on blowing it.. Caps are useless period.

i have done enough research on caps... battery or not back there, no cap EVER, EVER, EVER. I dont care if it was a 100F cap, NO CAP! Battery and alternator is what is needed for car audio, daily or comp, no cap!

you are gonna want the box facing back pretty close to the back door. My buddy has one that he did over a 156 with a single 15 one time in MECA... who is also now a MECA judge,

Specs will vary depending on bracing and rounded corners but- 28-30cubes NET tuned to 29-30hz for daily, comp port tuned to 36-37hz. The daily port area has 306sqin of port, comp port has 540sqin.

I keep a pack of 80 pair of ear plugs because i test all the time.

2.54cm = 25.4mm = 1"

this is the daily tuned design... The way the port is right now, the entire back chamber would be an l shaped port extending very low tuning... which i may or may not employ. The comp port length should be short enough to not interfere with allowing the back chamber to convert into a large port because if it does.... i lose over 6 cuft! So.. it's tricky.

ok guys, tell em what u all think- You just seen my current design with 147sqin... This is the new design using same equipment - 3 instead of 4 15s - Custom DC Level4s with 310sqin of port area! ~12-13cuft NET for 3 15s. Port interchangeable still - All i have to do is break the baffle out and build a new one. All bracing stays in tact throughout the box.

Well, what do u know... i broke a 165... in my dream, lol I want to post a pic of the current design i have in my car because i just modeled a new one that will be up shortly that is looking "louder" , with the same equipment too! Here is current design with 147sqin of port - My next picture will show the new project design... gimme several minutes

u can, it doesnt matter. the addition of displacement is so minute, it's invisible to the NET volume compared to not doing it like that.

for an even stronger brace if u want, you can run the steel from one side all the way to the other on the inside and out. that way the wood is sandwiched in between the steel and will cause a very, very strong dispersed brace. IF you are ever unhappy with the flexing at very low frequencies, you can add Angle Iron to the outside of your box but it must be braced on the inside with flat steel as a gripper to hold onto. This is somewhat extreme bracing just lettin u know.