altoncustomtech

One thing that is contributing to the difference is that even two of those 10's doesn't equal the cone area of the 15" SSD. Then consider that the xmax is nearly the same between the SA's and the SSD and the SSD could plain and simply move more air with each stroke than the 10's can. Since it can move more air it's going to be louder in general. According to a few quick checks your box is pretty well spot on according to the dimensions you gave. My question is whether or not it's a problem with HOW they sound or how LOUD they get because you go back and forth between those two words in your post. Are you certain you don't have any air leaks in the box? Around the subs, all the seams, etc., if it's not pretty much a perfect seal it will affect the sound and output you're going to get from the subs. I've asked this question a million times and the first thing people tell me is that they don't have any leaks. You'd be surprised what and where leaks can happen, around mounting screws, under the rubber gasket on the sub, seams that looked perfect. Are you able to move the box around? See if maybe the placement is a problem. If that's not the problem or a possibility then depending on your real issue with the sound or output kind of depends on the next steps to take.

Try one more time before going to bed.... damn I hate having to go back to work tomorrow, lol...

A few hours later, maybe more folks are interested now....

I just went through the entire thread. Coming along beautifully dude! Even on low power I'm sure the enclosures do greatly improve the sound of those mids.

Smells like trolling to me.

Still in there...

Hell yeah, always good to see the good reviews, not enough of them get put up. It's sad when people won't hesitate a second to bash when things don't go their way but when things go good they don't say a word.

Let's try this again....

In the chat room if interested....

In the chat if anyone's bored with nothing better to do...

to the forum!

to the forum!

In there....

Email Fi, they may make recones for that motor.

I searched the forum for any previous posts and information on this and came up empty handed so I apologize if this has been covered before. I finally talked to my buddy about the fiberglass stuff he was talking about that came ready to go, all you had to do was mold it around whatever it was you were using it on and let it cure. I found out that it actually cures in sunlight, or under UV light and has a wire mesh in it to help it hold it's shape. It's not horribly expensive either. I found 1 sq.ft. pieces for $24 at Jeg's of all places which I didn't think was too unreasonable considering it's got everything a person needs to make it work. I would imagine that by the time a person bought enough resin, hardener, molding supplies, glass mat, etc. to do the little sail panel pods I'm wanting to do that it would cost more than $48. Maybe not, but for the location and shape these are going to have to have at least doing the main part of the pod would likely be easier with the Hyperfiber. This is a subject I know VERY little about so some insight and help would be greatly appreciated by anyone who has fiberglass experience and especially experience with this product.

to the forum!

This is awesome news Quentin. When it comes time to buy/try something new it will make it much easier to give the Ethos or Primos a shot. I'm glad this has been working out for you and your customers!

You've already identified the problem with using capacitors and why they don't work for a high current drain system with inconsistent voltage levels. Even ten .5 farad caps hold a very limited supply of current compared to a battery. Sure if you charge those capacitors and short them out with a wire you'll get a hell of an arc, but that's a direct short that is draining all the current out of them at one time and it still happens super fast. In a car audio electrical system the voltage will be dropping .5 volt, 1 volt, and even with a 2 or 3 volt drop the amount of current the capacitors can supply to stiffen the voltage and prevent it from drastically dropping is minimal and then as the rest of the system is recovering the capacitor is a kind of a drain on it as it charges back up as well. When you read about capacitors and using them as a voltage stiffening device all that information is in reference to DC motor drive systems and things of that nature. It's one quick hard pull on the system and then constant from that point on. The capacitor helps there because you're not constantly cycling through the charge/discharge time constants like we do with car audio drains. The theory and practice works for the industrial world but not for the car audio hobby. Forget the capacitor(s) it/they will be a worthless waste of money. The voltage will never fluctuate enough to cause any issues for the amps and if it did you would know it from the many other problems with the vehicle with lights, it running, etc. You're thinking WAY WAY too much into it, or at least into the wrong aspects. Concentrate on the rest of the installation.

to the forum!

to the forum! Fi can be a little slow at times to respond to emails but that doesn't reflect anything on their quality. One thing that most don't realize is that they're really quite a small company. There's a handful or so of employees to do everything from building the subs to answering emails so sometimes it can take a little while for them to catch up on emails because they focus on the build process. Don't get hung up on numbers, you don't have to feed a sub full power to get it loud. The XCON or any sub for that matter can do very well on considerably less than it's rated power. The best thing you can do when running power that borders on the necessity for a stronger electrical backbone is to put a dedicated volt meter on the power terminals of the amp and watch the voltage. If it dips very much add a second battery securely mounted and connected near the amp and watch the voltage some more. If it gets fairly stable after that you're good, if it's still dipping then you may have to look into an HO alt. Keep in mind that every vehicle and it's charging system is different and with your Impala and the way the charging systems work on the modern GM's expect to see some voltage drop as it takes the PCM a moment to ramp up the output from the alt. I would consider the BIG 3 upgrade a necessity when adding any high drain equipment to the electrical system. The factory sized the electrical system for everyday use by the vehicle and the systems within it and added little headroom for extras. The BIG 3 essentially gives the grounds and charging wire a stronger backbone to operate with and even on the factory alt helps it charge better/faster under higher loads. No matter which sub you decide to go with be sure the enclosure is well built and designed. A great sub in a poor enclosure can be outperformed by a crappy sub in a great enclosure. I think a single 12 would be a great move for you as it will easy fit in your trunk and still offer a good deal of output. Well, that's my .02 worth for your questions so far and again, welcome to the forum.

Full ranges play just that, a full range of frequencies or at least a fuller range than most. It all depends on the driver and application but for instance in my Jimmy right now I have the Fountek FE85's playing from 200hz on up. The purpose is for the sake of imaging and stage to have one speaker playing the majority of the directional frequencies pointing directly at the listener, basically. They help to eliminate issues that you have with multiple drivers trying to play frequencies that are highly directional from different locations and frequencies that the drivers typically have a hard time to play properly. Typically that comes at a cost of a lessened very top end and while I will admit that the Fountek's can't quite nail 16khz and up like a tweeter can they sure as hell don't do a bad job either and it's more than good enough for me. As most 6.5" drivers start having response issues in the 2khz ish neighborhood and most car audio tweeters have a difficult time playing much below 3khz. Typically the manufacturers will have the 6.5 play up into the 3 to 3.5khz region to protect the tweeter and in most cases there's not enough issue with doing so to cause problems for the majority of users/listeners. Some exotic cone materials will have issues with response much earlier than that, others later but the point is the driver will suffer from beaming and cone breakup at some point in it's response. As for tweeters even the best ones do good to get below 2khz and typically won't get very far below. Even then they will often suffer from distortion issues at high listening levels because those frequencies are simply asking too much from the driver. These are the reasons why Sean and Brad are so adamant about driver placement, size restraints, etc. because those things determine what drivers can and can't be used for that application and then the compromises that have to be made to the response, stage, imaging, etc. to use the drivers that can fit the application. There's just no perfect world with this stuff, no perfect setup where everything is played perfectly. Compromise has to be made in every choice or decision and sometimes it's hard to REALLY understand just what that compromise ends up costing us sometimes until we hear it for ourselves. Most people are convinced that it's not a big enough concern to worry about it. Then again most people think we're blowing our money on this hobby anyway because what comes in the cars from the factory is good enough for them. That's just a matter of perspective, personal taste and drive.

Do you really care as the driver? lol In all seriousness it does affect how it sounds to the passenger, how much it affects it depends on the drivers being used, placement, etc. etc. etc. but when I demo the van or the Jimmy I always sit in the passenger seat and let the person I'm demoing it for sit in the drivers seat so they get the full effect. It's like anything else, it's all about compromise.

I hadn't before my buddy had informed me of it. This stuff should be available everywhere from everything I've found on it so far. I can't wait to try the stuff out. I've found several videos on it and they all tell me the same thing, "GO FOR IT!!" lol... I got the email back from the manufacturer and unfortunately the Percy's brand product is no longer being made so I'll have to go with another brand.

I've sent an email to the manufacturer hoping to get some literature on the products. I've watched a few videos on the same/similar products and it looks like it can do just what I'm looking for it to do.