altoncustomtech

Woohoo!!! Deal of the century, got a Delta 10" table saw, 8" Delta scroll saw, black & decker router table and a full articulating Ryobi radial arm saw for $100!!!!

I'm not doubting the enclosures build quality. I've seen quite a few very well built pre-fab brands, the problem is in the size and tuning. Most pre-fab enclosures have a bit higher tuning than is optimal for most good subs and they're often on the small side as well. Without knowing the exact specs of your box, no one can say for certain, but I would imagine a box that's optimally built for the Type-R's would likely surprise you at what they're capable of. For the Type-R's you really don't need different amps, the one's you have are perfectly capable of running them to their fullest. If you're still bent on getting different subs the BL's are definitely great all around subs, but I can guarantee your prefab enclosure will not yield the great performance they're capable of giving.

I doubt you're going to gain much by changing just the subs. The Alpine Type-R's are proven performing subs and I'm led to believe that if you're looking for more output then you should look at your box. Sounds like a sort of pre-fab and it's not likely optimally tuned for those subs or your tastes. A good custom built box would do more for you for less money IMO. Don't get me wrong, I love Fi subs, but I think your money would be better spent on a new enclosure first.

I would love to make it, but I'm on-call. Have a good time for me!! lol

WooHoo!!! Got to meet some of the Chop family in person yesterday!! Had a great time meeting you, Gina and the girls. I love your idea for the sound off get together so I'll go ahead and say it here. To all the IAK family and anyone else who would be interested in attending, I've got enough room for any number of people and no one nearby to aggrivate with it so if it would ever be possible to get everyone within driving distance to work out a time it would be really cool to be able to organize a great big get together and sound off down here. It's a fair distance away but unlike most places up north there's more than enough room here and no neighbors close enough to bother with it as I'm sure Chop would attest to after visiting yesterday. Aside from the distance to travel it's the perfect place for it!!!! Looking forward to the next time we can get together and spend more time together Chop. As I said yesterday we could spend all day running around on the property, riding the quad, walking trails and enjoying the outdoors once the corn is out, or before the fields are planted again, lol.

Boy bro, you got a lot of work ahead of you. If there's anything I might be able to do to help from all the way down here, just let me know! :drink40:

Sucks to hear your comps are the 'ol "destruction is imminent " song. As Ohjay answered, yes they are sold in pairs. While I've not had a chance to listen to any of mine, yet, I can imagine the SQ of the Bravox sets are just as good and likely better than the Infinity's. All the reviews I've read point to very well designed and built drivers with SQ being more the goal than anything else. I've got a set of CS60K components and will be giving my opinion on them as soon as I get them in so if you're still trying to decide by then maybe that will help. If you're not as worried about staging and imaging (key components to real SQ) as you are just generally sounding good and getting louder then working on putting two sets of components in your front doors is a project that you can handle with a little input and guidance. There's different levels to custom fabrication and I don't think you'd need to jump right to the top just for a couple sets of components. On the other hand, you could always bridge the amp to the components and have an amazing amount of headroom for them. There's plenty of options.

I've been working with sound deadeners for years. I've tried everything that wasn't a true sound deadener all the way up to Dynamat Extreme, RaamMat BXT and Second Skin over the years and have seen, read and tried all sorts of application theories. I'm getting ready to tear into my JImmy and have been trying to consider the best course of action where the doors are concerned. Like the way Don and Aaron worked on Aaron's car and used the SDS products for a complete and total noise control system is my end goal. I have gathered quite a bit of CLD and CCF for the install and when the funds become available I'll be purchasing the MLV I need to complete it. What I'm trying to find out is on the treatment of the doors. I learned of and liked the results I got from the much used way of doing the doors in the past where a person takes some flashing material, perforated metal, plexi or plastic and covered all the big holes in the door then covered the entire surface with CLD. The results from doing that were usually quite nice with much improved bass response from the door speakers. However, I can also see how the MLV and all it's mass would also be quite effective at keeping the back wave under control. So, what is the best way to handle the doors? Do both? Don't worry about sealing all the holes? What is the best way to proceed with this task now since 25% CLD coverage is basically all that's needed?

It would.... and I would normally have done so. However, I started a thread in the Sound Deadening section about that very topic and believe Don @ SDS is correct that it's not necessary with the proper use of MLV. I'll be covering the door in CCF very soon and ordering the MLV very soon as well. Sealing all the holes only really helps stop the backwave from affecting the front wave, much like an enclosure, but at best it's still a much too large leaky sealed enclosure which doesn't do much to help the sound aside from helping cancellation. I think Don is right and using MLV will be just as effective a solution without making it difficult to work on the door later, and believe me I'll be giving a detailed report on how everything is working with the MLV. Thank you Sir... It's just starting to ramp up, got a LOT more work to do yet... Got the doors to finish deadening, the MDF baffles to complete for the doors, the Bravox CS60K's to install, power & speaker wire to run, an enclosure to build and finish and an amp rack to build and finish.... Much thanks bro!! Thanks dude... I got a good pace going now...

Well, my little brother has done it again. He managed to flip and roll his car this time though. On his way to my house last night to pick up his dog that we were doggy sitting for him after closing and getting off work and going by the good 'ol Wally World to grab a few things he turned onto a gravel road swerved to miss a few deer and managed to do this only a couple of miles from my house. Luckily he wasn't injured any worse than a bump on the head and he'll have some nice bruises to show for it. The car came to rest on the driver's side and he crawled out the opening for the rear window and called me. I rushed immediately to him and when I was satisfied he wasn't seriously injured we used the Jimmy to lower the car back onto all 4 tires while the authorities were in route. Once the paramedics gave their OK that he was alright he was actually able to drive the car back to my place, and NO he does not have full coverage insurance. I wish I could have had the frame of mind to think of grabbing pictures last night, but I think the pics I got this morning show just how lucky he is to have walked away from it without even a cut from the broken window. Also the fairly remote location of the accident would have been very bad for him if he had been seriously injured since in the ~3hrs it took for all that to take place not ONE single vehicle passed the area. He could have well been there until this morning had he been unable to call me. Anyway, onto the aftermath pics, so much for this 2008 GP.

Okay, finally got to install some of the Damp Pro I won in a contest. Gotta say the stuff is really quite nice. I only got to put some on the passenger door but it made for a nice A-B comparison with the untreated drivers door. Surprisingly there was a VERY noticeable difference in the sound between the drivers and passenger doors that I'll sum up as cleaner sounding bass and midrange and a feelable difference in the impact of the bass as well. The best part is I can expect even better results when I get the CCF and MLV installed!!! Here's the pics of the progress of the installation.

I don't know what kind of area the OP or swagger is from but if they're home towns are like mine there's not a good place at all for a person to go and listen to anything other than the bottom line equipment from any company. Now "Crap" may have been a little strong a word, but locally the only items available are generally the lowest end offerings from any of the brands available, and as I said the only thing you're going to listen to them in is the demo wall which I'm pretty sure you yourself have mentioned is useless, I think. (<- I could very well be wrong there and remembering someone else saying that.) I've heard the offerings around here both in (close to) proper installations and in less than optimal situations and they don't impress me at all. As you mentioned to reach the very low price points they sell at there's so many compromises that it's hard to expect them to do very well for everything they're giving up. Sure some of the dealers here can ORDER the higher end components from these companies, but they're not in stock nor are then installed in anything if they are. If a person isn't afraid of trying something they can't listen to and is able to accept the fact that they're going to lose some money installing, trying and selling a product that didn't work out to try something else then why argue with them about doing it. For some of us there's just no better option since we don't want to settle for the less than stellar performance of the items we were able to listen to. The ONE and only time I was actually able to listen to a half way decent component set with a decent installation from a local retailer was very nice, but really the only time it's ever happened. I also gave no recommendation on anything, only listed some of the items I've purchased only on the recommendation of others. You're very right, no one has asked him how he intends to install them or made recommendations to him on making sure he no matter what he buys that he pays the most attention to the installation. You're right also that it's simply not mentioned enough in any thread about components, front stages or anything else of the like. Perhaps we need to revisit the core of the problem, as you identified it, and ask what he HAS listened to and why he didn't like them or at least why he's not considering them and try to help from there. Believe me I know how you and Brad feel about listening to something before buying it, but some of us may have to travel several hours one way just to be able to listen to something above the offerings at our local dealers. On a low budget or not that's quite inconvenient.

Nope, read every word, but saw the 2.8 ohm reading in the first post, saw in my head "2" and assumed D1 coil configuration since it wasn't actually stated anywhere, then read where you were wiring to 1 ohm so I had to ask. It's been clarified now and you were listing the DCR which threw off my original assumption. Like I said at the end of my post, I thought, and I was missing something. I don't think you're an idiot at all, was just trying to understand all I was reading. I still think the reason it's giving fits is due to the fact it's a load that is below the amps rated capability to properly handle for the ZX1500. Especially since you specifically mentioned it being connected to an SAZ-1500 and it didn't have the same problem that you noticed. As for the problem you witnessed on the Addictive Audio 500.1, well, I dunno, but just because the amp was built not to turn into a pile of ash at low loads doesn't mean it was designed to be accurate at them either, it is a full out competition amp geared toward pure SPL numbers. The amplifier also does some work to control cone movement and that ability is measured as damping factor. Every time you cut the load in half the damping factor is also cut in half. If the amp starts out with 50 @ 4 ohms it's down to ~12.5 at 1 ohm and not doing much to control as it could. There was a white sheet out awhile back that specified how a damping factor of 50 was more than adequate to do the job well, and I understand that the damping factor measurement in Class D amps is usually inaccurate due to the output design of the amp. There's a lot of factors that could be coming into play to answer your question.

No matter what sub you choose, if there was a dip in response between the sub and components you can always tweak it back in with the EQ in your HU. Even the cheap Pioneers have the ability to pick the frequency the "Bass" adjustment on the EQ centers at and the "Q" or how wide a set of frequencies it affects. The choice seems simple to me, which would be the one that sounds the best doing what it was intended to do, reproduce sub-bass frequencies. Dips or peaks in response can be dealt with easily enough. Have you even listened to or installed the components yet? Even though they're 5.25's they may just surprise you. Do you have any sound deadening installed or the components installed in a good solid baffle? Installation makes or breaks any setup and you should really concentrate on the installation of the components first, then decide and execute your sub purchase and installation accordingly. IMO a DCON will cover what you need wonderfully and if you're dead set against one the 187 will also do nicely. I agree with the others that the AQ isn't the best choice.

I agree. As did I on the Bravox 3 ways, CS60K's, ID's and pretty much every component set I've purchased. It's always best if you can listen to them, sure, but in some area's there's just no way you're going to get the opportunity to listen to anything much better than the standard mainstream offerings and even then you're only going to hear them in the demo wall, not even installed in a vehicle. Does than mean a person should only buy the mainstream crap that's available? Sometimes all we can rely on are the reviews and comments of others. It's hit or miss, but I'd rather take the chance of hitting one out of the ball park than never taking a swing. Besides, if it's a swing and a miss they can always be sold and another set bought.

I've done that in the van though I believe now it was required due to issues with the amp i had then as it seems the lights barely even flash with the new one. I started a thread HERE that details what I did and used for you or anyone else who may be interested.

I'm still trying to understand how you get a 1 ohm load in parallel on a sub that also wires to 2 ohms in series? If it's a D1 coil then when in series yes, it's a 2 ohm load but in parallel it's a .5 ohm nominal load. To me, a .5 ohm nominal load on an amp that's only rated for 2 ohms in the first place is going to have major issues which can cause loss of cone control and severe clipping to start. I am probably missing something here.... but that's how I see it.

Yeah, it's a problem I sure as hell didn't foresee. A little custom work and it can be remedied tho. I got lucky with the Type R cups being handy, but I was fully ready to build adapters for it. Have you tried using double sided tape and sticking them around a few different places first? I would suggest doing that and making sure that's where they sound the best to you, then make the decision whether to cut the panels or not and whether or not you could live with slightly less that optimal response to save from having to cut the holes.

WOOOHOOOO!!! This build is finally starting to kick off!!! Did a lot of work this weekend pulling out all the rear trim panels from behind the front doors to the tailgate to install CLD and CCF behind it all. I also put some strips of CCF in spots where the plastic rubs and makes way too much noise. I also started on the doors, and will have pictures of them up soon, for now I got a few pics of the process in the back to put up. Again, due to the heat it's not a step by step photo shoot, but it should give an idea of the work involved. Here's a quick shot of the CLD and CCF. It's a roll of the old RaamMat BXT60 I've had for awhile and some of the RaamAudio peal and stick CCF. From behind the truck with everything tore out of the driver's side. And the process as I got pictures of it..... That's basically it until the process with the doors is complete. A note to anyone who's been thinking about installing sound deadening but haven't due to wondering whether or not it's worth it or not, don't short change yourselves. The difference it makes in the amount of road noise you hear, the squeaks and rattles from panels, and the overall sound of your music to your ears is well worth the time, effort and money it costs to do it. I took the Jimmy for a quick drive to test everything out, and with a couple of the worst gravel roads leading either direction away from my house I have a great test bed to find every little squeak, rattle and annoying noise a vehicle can possibly have. I heard pretty much nothing from the rear of the truck, at least not over the squeaks and rattles of the doors and dash. Even the noise of the gravel under the tires was lessened and with so much less noise the PG's have never sounded better or as loud. Now on to the doors and installation of the Bravox CS60K's!!!!

Ding, Ding, Ding!!! Thank you Don! I had some theories, which is why I made this thread, to help pan out my thoughts, theories and the facts. I've always liked what covering the holes did to help the sound. Though on the same line of thought I couldn't help but come to the realization that it would seem that a layer of MLV would or could negate the need for "sealing" up the door in the first place as long as it was properly deadened in the first place. It just kind of made sense and staring down the fact I was going to be doing this very soon (began yesterday as a matter of fact) I was really hoping it would work out that way. It makes for less work and will definitely help with a couple of other concerns I have with a window motor that's possibly looking for replacement. Thanks again guys, I think you're all a bigger help and asset than you realize.

That's pretty much what I was looking for and pretty much the way I've been used to doing it like I mentioned, except for the MLV. I'm looking forward to the improvements the MLV makes as well. Glad to see an answer too, I'm starting on the doors tomorrow.

I had nearly the same problem with the Atlas's in the van. What happened was between a cold solder joint and being mounted vertically one of the filter coils was jarred loose. All I had to do to repair it was to resolder it back to the board, then to prevent it from happening again I took a hot glue gun and put a good bead of glue around all the components so that it wouldn't happen again. If I were you I'd take the top off the crossover and wiggle all the components a little. If it goes on and off again you know what's up and how to fix it.

Well, my lil bro got his replacement vehicle today. 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, white, 4wd and clean as a whistle, a very nice truck. Pics to follow.