altoncustomtech

Thanks man! AND You aren't kiddin', would love to see your rides and meet you and your family as well. I'm hoping to make it sometime soon. I know for a fact I'll be in Indy on Oct. 5th, maybe some sort of plans can be made for that trip? Thanx! I wouldn't have if I really had much of a choice and weren't being lazy. However, keeping them evenly spaced away from each other like I have them should pose no issues. Also, forgot one picture of the wire runs. Here's the last of the run as it comes out from the installed interior panel. Also, finally got my banner on the truck as well. Woohoo, SSA!!!!

Thanx brother! I'm glad the ball is rolling on this thing again. I'm really looking forward to showing it off at some of the later shows this year. I think anyone that listens to it is going to completely flip when they find it's only a single 10. On that note, wire runs are completed and it's time to start building the amp rack. Here's the power wires coming out of their respective holes and grommets. The angle on that part of the sheet metal will make it much easier to get the wires and carpet to lay down as they should. Here's the wires coming up to the fuse holders. Yes, there's a bit of excess there, but that's only so I have the give/play for inserting the fuse. Both wires go down in between the fender well and AC lines and follow the frame back to the point where they come up through the sheet metal. These trucks really make that part much easier than I would have imagined. Here's the wires all tucked away under the carpet there. Worked out pretty good. Here's the wire bundle making it's way to the back. I went right up on the wall/rear fender well of the truck so it will all hide nicely under that part of the interior. Finally, I chose this mounting location for the remote gain knob for two reasons. One, it keeps it hidden so that strange fingers aren't tempted to play with it. Two, that little LED is brighter than hell and I couldn't find a good location anywhere else that it wouldn't be shining right up at me. It should work out pretty good there tho. AND MY PARTNER IN CRIME!!! My son Austin, who some may remember, recognize from the pictures of the build of the enclosure for the van. He's got a great deal of interest in all this stuff and the older he gets, the more he's interested and understanding everything I explain to him as we're doing this. I had him taking the dash apart to get to the wires on the HU to run the RCA's and remote power wire, had him helping me with the remote gain knob, and he helped run the power wires up to the engine compartment. He's a hell of helper to have!

They'll go boom like so.....?

Sean is quite right, and the seats really do not muffle the sound that much at all. Even in my Venture the rear row seat passengers can hear the music just fine. Even in my Jimmy which has only the front components installed in it with the HU right now I can get a sense of space around me (i.e. hearing room effects behind me) when listening in it and that includes back seat passengers as well. I've been asked several times if I had speakers in the cargo area. Getting the proper sound for staging and imaging is still on my list of things to learn but I've learned enough to know that rear speakers aren't needed in any case. If I were you I would do as suggested earlier and get the cheapest set of 6x9's possible to make the guy happy and focus the rest of the budget where it really matters. He wants new rear speakers, he'll have them, but will be much more impressed with the results in the long run when the money is spent where it counts.

It's all designed to work together. The built in power, primary EQing, crossovers, in some cases even time alignment is setup to get more from it, none of it user adjustable tho. It all depends on the company and the vehicle but the little I've read on it leads me to believe that the manufacturers are trying a fair bit harder to have people keep the factory equipment without forcing them to by poor design. Between real improvements and designs that limit aftermarket equipment use, they're doing so and have been for years. But here in the last few years it's actually due to better equipment, design and installation. For example, last year the company I work for sent me out to Cali for some training. The rental car provider upgraded me to a convertible Eclipse for free. It was obvious after listening to it intently for a week that they put a fair amount of processing into the sound and while it wasn't anything I'd ever write home about I could see many people who aren't audio addicts being quite happy with it.

While awaiting the opportunity to get my amps installed I've been forced to listen to my PG RSD and Bravox components on the HU. Quite honestly they're fine and would be plently loud enough for anyone who isn't bitten by this hobby. It's obvious when listening to them that they have a great deal more output to offer and the quality of sound is also limited due to the lack of real power tho. You CAN put a set of speakers in without an amp, they'll work fine, but no where near as good as they can with proper installation and a decent amp to power them with. I would recommend doing so, in steps if necessary, to get the most out of the money you spend. Buy the speakers, install them. Buy some sound deadener, install it. Make sure the install is as good as it can be first, then buy the amp. It may take some time, but you'll be way ahead in the long run.

Small updates. FINALLY started to run wires for this thing and not easily in this tight spaced and cramped little truck. It's so difficult to get to certain things that I'm driving it around with the passenger side compartment/armrest removed and both back seats unbolted until everything is ran. I don't want to have to remove/install that stuff over and over. So far not much is ran due to the fact it's taken more time to figure out exactly where and how it's going to run than actually doing it. Drivers side speaker wire is the only one that's completely done. The RCA's, remote wire and passenger side speaker wires are starting to get in tho. I got the holes for the power wire entry into the cabin drilled yesterday and the fuse holders mounted as well. I got a couple of pics of the RCA's and passenger speaker wires getting bundled to be ran and the fuse holders to post up. Some progress is better than no progress and the more of some progress I can make the sooner it will be done!! Here's the passenger side of the truck as I mentioned before. Using the zip ties in this manner helps to keep things bundled and spaced. A cheap easy solution. I found an old license plate from my DRZ and bent it for this job. If I were doing this install for someone else I would have found a better looking solution. Personally I don't really care as long as it doesn't look like complete crap and functions well. That's it for now, hopefully things continue to work out as they have and I'll get a little done each day after work for awhile. Once the wires are ran I can begin on the amp rack, which should go fairly quickly.

Where's the volume at when it's happening? Are you sure you're not bottoming the coil on the backplate? If that's even a remote possibility I'd stop turning it up so much until you adjust the gain or a crossover setting to keep it from happening before you destroy them.

As Stefan notes below there are different enclosure types, but that only touches the surface of the different enclosure alignments. Quite simply an enclosure "alignment" is a pre-determined response by enclosure design. There are several well known alignments for ported enclosures alone, QB3 - Quasi-Butterworth, C4/SC4 (Sub)Chebyshev, and BB4SBB4 (Super)BoomBox are the most commonly seen and used in WinISD for example. Each alignment offers different overall responses, each suited to different subs and applications. Quite honestly the alignments, they're responses and which one is best for a given sub and application are a bit more advanced. It takes quite a bit of study and real world practice to learn all that, I know just enough to be very dangerous with it and in NO WAY fully understand it all. I agree with Stefan, stick to a ported enclosure for the subs and use the recommended enclosure sizes and tuning as recommended by the manufacturer for whatever you end of choosing to go with and you should be fine.

I would imagine that a single Deka, no matter the size and a HO alt will not be enough to properly feed either amp, especially the 5500, when you start to push it to the max. If you're doing this build for a daily driver and listening to music all the time then you may be able to get by thanks to the dynamics of music, but if you plan on trying to do any competing with it then you'll need more to feed it with. For safety purposes you should have more even for a daily driver. This stuff is just too damn expensive to take any chances.

Happy Birthday dude!!

Here's a CLASSIC example of what I was referring to when it comes to what sounds good. Everyone has different tastes, different vehicles, and different installations and these all play a part in what "sounds good" from one person to another. I've heard the Type R's in a very standard installation and thought they were OK for the money. That meaning stock locations with stock mounting and no sound deadening at all and for the given installation and HU power they did about as well as I expected them to. I would love to have listened to them with a proper install and power but that wasn't in the cards. That's why you really do need to listen to as many as you can so you can form your own opinion on what sounds good to you. Be sure to ask as to the details of their installation and the amplification that's feeding them to help you get the big picture as well. If at all possible the more of them you can listen to actually installed in a car, especially one that is shaped and sized like your Jeep will give you a more accurate understanding of the final result. That's RARELY possible, but you might get lucky, it will all depend on the shops and other enthusiasts you can come across. I came across a shop while traveling for work once that had a room specially designed to replicate the interior of a vehicle. They had special baffles made up with the speakers mounted in them that allowed them to put them in locations that matched your vehicle and things like that. It was quite elaborate and had a few inherent flaws but was much better than just a regular 'ol sound board with speakers mounted in it. Wish every place had that.

Instead of simply bolting the plexi to the box I chose to sandwich it between two pieces of MDF. It's very secure, creates a fantastic seal and prevents issues with cracking or splitting it due to drilling holes and tightening screws/bolts to the plexi and gives a much better overall appearance. Due to the sandwich process I use I found it easiest to use the plexi in a matching thickness to the MDF at 3/4". There's many different ways it can be done tho and it would all depend on your fab skills and tools you have at your disposal.

I agree with Jon 100% I've been through many issues exactly like the one you're describing and every time it was a bad cell in the battery. That's not to say that there could be other problems as well such as with the alternator, but having a load test done on the battery and the alternator will determine whether it's just one or both. As I said tho, if I were a betting man my money is on the battery.

Awesome! Not bad at all bro, not bad at all.

A $1000 budget is a great place to start. I would also start by saying you're a good candidate for a 5 channel amp. That way you can throw a little real power at your highs and still have amplification for your subs without having to run a lot of bigger wires, wasting a lot of space, or anything like that. The Cadence ZRS-C8 is a pretty powerful 5 channel and would do very well as the foundation for a decent little system. I think you're a good candidate for a pair of 12" DCON's, or even the 10" and save yourself a little more space. They're truly great subs! These Alpine Type R components are always well reviewed and would be great for use in the front. These Alpine Type R coax's would be fine for the rear, which I wouldn't use or recommend replacing, but if ya got to ya got to. That would leave about $150 for building the enclosure, wiring, and I would suggest a little sound deadening as well. If I was in your situation this is about what I would do, give or take on one item or another. There's quite a few different 5 channel amps on the market so you do have some choices if you want to go that route. There's a bloomin' million choices of sub on the market but very few will give the quality of performance and output the DCON can offer at its price. Same is true for the speakers, but considering that EVERYONE has a different taste or preference in what sounds good to them, it's always in a persons best interest to listen to as many as possible and buy on what they think sounds good to them. If you can build your enclosure yourself there's plenty of people and places to get a simple design to fit your truck and if you can't then there's vendors out there and on this forum too that can build one for you. I like using KnuKonceptz for wiring. They have good wire for good prices and I've used them for several years now without a single complaint. Lastly, I'll never do another build without sound deadening in the vehicle. It's not generally cheap when done right, but even minimal sound deadening treatment is better than none at all.

I dunno if this will really help or not, but it might put it into perspective a little. This is a quote from a conversation I had with Aaron a little while back.... I really like the perspective it gives anyway... but then I might be a little biased since I did buy an XCON myself.... lol

I could see the permanent use in an SPL competition vehicle.... in a DD I dunno... maybe if a person had a higher powered DD and was strapped for cash and had to plan and save for each upgrade the volt meter could help them keep the equipment safe until they could afford the appropriate electrical upgrades.....

I think one meter connected at the amp is plenty. Fuses are never a bad idea, but if you're connecting that with the same small 20-24 gauge wire that comes attached to the meter then in the case of a short it will burn the wire in two long before its a real fire hazard. Hell that could almost still happen even if it's fused unless the fuse is quite small. Fusing speaker wires is completely useless tho.

It's never really a bad thing that it takes longer than planned. It often just means things are getting done right.

Looking forward to seeing this done as well. Am curious on the Neutrik connector choice tho, just out of idle curiosity why you used the XLR instead of the Speak-ON? Either way it's much better than most any other option and should work great for it. I'm tuned in for this one! EDIT: NVM, I was thinking in my head that XLR was being used for the signal from the amp to the sub. Reading > ME.....

to the forum!

to the forum!

That Merlin amp is rated 2krms and you should easily be able to find a Hifonics amp in that power range for WAY less than $800, here's a Brutus BRZ2400 (2400wrms @ 1 ohm) for $370. A Crescendo BC2000, rated 2250wrms @ 1 ohm is only $380 in the SSA store for example as well. There's a bunch of amps out there that should suit your needs within your budget. A used or refurbished Sundown 2k or 2500 should be within that budget as well, hell dB-r has a refurbed Sundown 3500 for $688. I agree that you should be able to get it repaired much cheaper. dB-r does amp repairs, not sure if they repair US Amps brand or not but it's worth asking about and there's other places that do that work as well. Repair should be many times less than a new amp.

Damn, thing is defying laws of physics. Maybe you should disconnect the fuel lines and see if it keeps running on nothing? LOL, J/K... I gotta ask, was the alternator disconnected before the car was started? I could see where it might do something hard to explain like that if it was disconnected after it was started and charging already. If you started it after disconnecting it then I definitely have no good explanation for you. The voltage seemed to be pretty good and steady with it disconnected tho, maybe thats a good thing. Odd but good.