altoncustomtech

Thanks brother! I'm hoping the trend continues. Thank you so much! It's not going to be perfect but if it breaks even with gorgeous I'll be more than pleased.

I highly doubt you damaged anything, there's just not enough power in the HU to fry anything in a passive crossover and all the components that make the crossover work don't care which direction the signal travels through them. I would triple check and verify with absolute certainty that you don't have them wired out of phase. Doing so would definitely affect the output. Try switching the wires on just one mid and see how that works.

What components and how do you have them wired up? You could just have something wired wrong, otherwise the mid that's lacking could be damaged considering they are used. I ran the PG RSD's and the Bravox CS60K's off HU power for quite awhile and it had a surprising amount of output IMO for the modest power applied. Unless you're trying to have them keep up with a pair of 18's or something they should be able to give adequate output even on HU power.

If you're referring to the formed foam baffles, they're almost worthless. When it comes to the rings that can be bought, they're okay but still don't quite serve the purpose. The idea behind using the baffles is to give the speaker a very solid surface to mount to with much more mass to it than the plastic and sheet metal of the typical factory door speaker installation provides. The stiffer and heavier mounting location helps to minimize losses in output and helps to reduce issues with resonance since the extra mass lowers the resonant frequency of the panel. Every teeny tiny little thing affects the sound that is reproduced by a speaker. Sure, plenty of it is determined by the speaker itself, but it's even more dependent on how it's installed and it's that installation which should not be skimped on both in effort and budget. An optimal installation for a cheap set of speakers can wipe the floor with a crappy installation for a very expensive (and considered great) set of speakers.

I also hope it's performing well for you. and..... to keep from cluttering the thread too bad..... Good guy here! Let him know whatcha got!

Certainly, that's why I said it can be done a million different ways. The picture of the blue coned speaker and baffle would be one that fits behind the door panel without any issue. I'll see if I can find some pictures showing the speaker and the baffle behind the factory grille for you to look at.

??? As a second to go with my brother's that you bought I hope? ???

Baffles and proper sound deadening are essential to getting the best possible response from any speaker in a car door. CLD tiles (dynamat, second skin, etc.) are just a single part of the total sound deadening equation. I would read up on the SoundDeadenerShowdown website if I were you, to help get a better understanding of what the product is, how it helps, and as a source for some of the best product a person can buy from one of the best vendors there is. As for the baffle, it's easy enough to read up on what it is, but here's a couple of pictures to help show you. I pulled this one randomly from the interwebz. This is how I did the ones in my Jimmy. They can be done a million different ways, but these are about the most simple way to fashion and install a baffle for the speakers to mount to. I got mine out from behind the factory plastic panel because it affects the response of the speaker horribly.

Awesome guys!

Another small update! Got the edges of the box rounded and the last two cutouts done. It's time for the body filler and sanding, sanding, and more sanding! Onto the pictures. Here's a couple of shots with the edges rounded over. Got the second PR hole cut. Here's a few with all the cutouts done. Well, that's a little done, though now it's down to the fine stuff. Overall it's turned out well and very close to the design. I can't wait to get the thing done and in so I can hear for myself what that XCON can do!

Yep, you should be able to find someone from Team IAK to help you out up there. Hell, if you didn't mind making a road trip I'm only a couple of hours away, lol.

I helped a friend buy a pair of 10's just like this back in 2010 IIRC. They're the Black Fiday sale X series subs. The regular old X series subs had silver motors, like the rest of the Fi lineup, these had the black plates.

^^^ This is the reason why I've done the same thing on every trunk setup I've had or installed for anyone else.

to the forum! Lots of good information here on running active, probably the most accurate information on the subject you'll find anywhere.

Eh, doesn't even have to be Yellow tops, side post batteries have always been a little more prone to problems since the threads are just lead, but they're not a stud like on your battery. There's a short 3/8" bolt that goes through the terminal on the wire into the the terminal on the battery. Cross thread it just a hair, over tighten it, use something with crappy threads or try to put too many terminals under the bolt and you can easily ruin the threads inside the terminal. I've had it happen many times before and have successfully repaired it with a blind hole tap and helicoil on each of those occasions.

Nope. It's just another connection, studs in this case, for the user to make connections to. Those studs are generally found on deep cycle marine batteries for connecting to boats for trolling motors and the like. Really nice for audio IMO.

Smart isn't a word to use when discussing that shop. There's not a snow ball's chance in hell I would or will ever recommend that place to anyone. I've repaired more than enough of their fuckups to ever do so.

Awesome. I think she's going to be very pleased with the results. It's nice she's got a friend as good as you!

Well it could be. It could also be that they have no real idea on how to do it right, it's hard to say for sure. I know a guy who took his vehicle with speakers, subs and amps that he bought from the internet and installed himself to a shop to get it "professionally tuned" by them. They blew half the speakers and both subs and then told him it was complete junk and they could sell him stuff from their shop that "couldn't be blown" and was "1000x" better than the junk he had bought. I'm quite certain they did it on purpose because he'd been in there many times before asking questions and not buying what they were trying to shove down his throat. Then when he returned with a vehicle that didn't have an ounce of parts or equipment that came from their shop they decided to ruin it. Another reason I'm quite certain they did it on purpose is because it sure wasn't the first time it's happened. The worst part is they're still in business despite all the bad experiences people have had with the shop. My point is, be damned careful who you let touch your stuff. Especially since in almost all cases since they didn't install it they're not required to replace it when they tear it up. There's also a good chance that if they were truly abusing it while adjusting the settings that they damaged it some at that point which left the remainder of it's life considerably shorter than it should have been.

They can, and I believe they have some PA amps that can do that already. The problem is that in the car audio world no one would like them because it would never get loud enough. If the amps were able to eliminate distortion by sensing it and automatically reducing the input signal to get the output wave back to a true sine wave (unclipped) then the customers would get uber pissed because no matter how much they turned things up it would only ever get as loud as the controlling circuitry on the amp would allow. I can pretty much assure you that wouldn't be as loud as their previous amp and then they would bad mouth the new amp without understanding it was only doing it's job. Pretty much everyone listens to their music driven right up to (and many times well into) audible distortion levels. Even more unrealized by most people is that when the dynamic peaks are at play the hardest it's distorting every time because they've already run the output level up to it's limit and anything above that becomes distortion. Lastly there's plenty of music out there that has distortion of different kinds recorded on purpose. Any controlling circuitry that could sense and eliminate distortion/clipping by throttling the levels in the amp would really just not go over as well as you think.

Yeah, there's not much more to say than that.

Sorry to hear about the hold ups guys. Having my own issues with the Jimmy too. Accidentally took it for a swim Thursday evening. I've had it in deep water before with no issues, but that was before the cold air intake. Wasn't thinking at all about the turned down and much lower air filter and intake tube, that is until it choked and died. I towed it back to the house with the four wheeler (go Honda Rancher!) and removed the spark plugs. Water poured out four of the six cylinders and I heard a good gush from three of them when I turned the motor over by hand. Started it up today after some time to dry out and it started alright. Gotta change the oil tomorrow, run it for a bit with fresh oil and Seafoam in it then change it again. Hopefully she hasn't lost too much of her life span from this episode. Note to self: The next time a friend calls saying their vehicle drowned out in high water tell them they're just SOL. lol

Another nice HU to consider is the Clarion CZ702. It has fewer bands of EQ but you can set the 5 bands it has to many more frequencies than the Kenwood has. I can't see any of the other details (actual manual isn't on the website, only the quick start guide) but I would imagine it mirrors last years model the 996 pretty much exactly on those items. The biggest difference from the Kenwood and Clarion aside from the EQ and crossover frequency adjustments and the ability to do active setups is the menus and how the settings are laid out. The Clarion is easy enough to use but a person would need to be familiar with what all the settings do and how to use them whereas the Kenwood may not be as sophisticated in it's features but the menus and the settings laid therein are easier to follow and setup for a beginner. For you the Kenwood would likely be the better choice, at least for now. In the future one like the Clarion or the Pioneer could serve you better. Being the Clarion can be had a little cheaper than either, it's not a bad option either if you're willing to learn what all the functions do and how to use them.