altoncustomtech

I thought this was pretty cool. Of all the different pictures and manufacturers they had to choose from they picked SSA XCON's for the picture in their ad.

Finding a 5 channel with that kind of power available isn't gonna happen. I did a great deal of research in 5 channels before settling on the same Cadence amp for my sister's truck and never found anything more powerful than the Cadence C8 or the Massive Audio NX5. At their price I would believe the try at bridging the Cadence and getting a second isn't a bad option at all. I would try to look at other brands than Hifonics if possible. After using several of their amps I'm none too impressed with the sound quality, especially from full range amps. In my honest opinion they color the sound with what seems like the bass boost circuit being on with slight boost no matter what position the crossover switch is in and due to that issue seem to reach audible distortion levels sooner than it seems like they should. For example, on the same components and HU I'm using now I used to have a ZXi6006 150wrmsx2 amp, the direct swap to the Sundown 100.4 got the same speakers at the same EQ and crossover settings louder and cleaner than the Hifoincs ever could and with less rated power. Sure, I'm a little biased when it comes to Hifonics, but I have my reasons. A GREAT high power 4 channel would be the ZED Dreadnought, tho it has the same issue for you the Leviathan does with it's pricetag. I would imagine there has to be others out there better suited for you, but I would like to see what your opinions are about the Cadence after bridging it.

Brad and Sean, I imagine you guys will be the most help here but I'm looking for anyone's input with insight here. I have noticed a bit of an acoustic phenomenon in both my vehicles that I'm sure exists in others but I'd love to figure out how to adapt or harness it to be put to real use. I'm also looking for the exact reason the acoustics work this way. In my Jimmy, for example, I have the doors deadened with CLD and CCF (MLV is in the works) and the Bravox components are mounted in good heavy MDF baffles. They sound great with good strong midbass and can even extend fairly low for their small size and low HU power. My only complaint is that they're a bit "forward" or "in your face" and there was a little beaming or resonance in the 2k-3k range which I was able to EQ out with the HU's EQ and it was only noticeable on certain music anyway. Otherwise they're some of the best components I've owned to date. Now to the point of this post. If I sit in the back seat, or get in the back of the truck like I was the other day taking measurements for the complete redesign on the amp racks they sound COMPLETELY different. They're smoother, more subdued, less "forward" or "in your face" sounding and the midbass and bass are much more pronounced, fuller and warmer sounding. It was like listening to a really good set of house speakers. I started playing with different songs and some settings on the HU and simply couldn't believe the difference. My questions are pretty basic unlike the answers. Why is there such a dramatic difference? What, if anything, can be done to achieve that same result while sitting in the front of the vehicle? I know it takes some distance for the frequency waves for bass to fully develop and the seats are likely helping with the midrange and highs smoothing, so I'm sure that has some play in this. I also know that acoustics are just tricky, results are always going to be different when listener and speaker positions change, changes in the environment, placement of objects, and the materials of everything all play a role in the outcome. Vehicles only make all these acoustic effects harder to predict and work with, so I guess I'm just looking for a better understanding of WHY the dramatic difference exists. That will likely tell me if there is even a HOW to create the same effect/result from a front listening position.

That had to be a blast Jared!! Would love to have toys like that to play with!!

Thanks Aaron!! and... Thank You again for the permission to have the PR's built to match the sub!!! It should look pretty damn good when complete!

That's what I was referring to. I'm not sure there are any built here, I'm not even sure there's any speakers, components and such, that are built here in America.

Damn that's a good review, and a great bunch of amps.... When we replace the van with a new vehicle I'm going on a smaller scale for the audio in whatever that vehicle may be and at this point I've been seriously considering either the Leviathan or the Dreadnought for power as I'm sure which ever way I go the result will be superb. I would LOVE to do an all "Made in America" build, I'm just not sure that's humanly possible anymore. Amps and subs, easy, HU, components, etc. I don't think there's many if any options out there.

Not really. They were still making them up until very recently and I believe they've taken them off the website for another redesign. The X series is Fi's low power driver. The recent ones were rated at 400wrms, the older ones were 300wrms. I got a pair of 10's during a Black Fiday sale for some friends and they're great drivers for people who don't need a ton of power.

I'm with ya Mike. I've always preferred direct wiring. Like you mentioned, that way I KNOW what I've got, exactly what's there, and how it's wired and working. Sure it's extra work, sometimes a great deal of extra work, but it's worth it for the peace of mind alone if nothing else. I can see where a business would do it that way to save time and money and that's fine for them, but I would imagine that when most people pay for such an installation they're probably expecting a new wire run straight from amp to speakers and not what they've got when that's done unless they were told up front that's how it was done.

You're welcome man, and that sounds awesome! Thanks Brother!! I really appreciate the help with those tweeter cups, that made it so much easier than the route I was gonna go with my router. The amp rack(s) and enclosure are gonna be a bit more plain than originally planned. Due to space issues causing problems with fitment I'll be doing something much simpler for the amp rack(s). I also decided not to go with plexi on the enclosure. It just started to seem a little too corny to do again after building the box for the van with it's window. I'm simply planning on a bedliner lined box with something of the SSA logo on it. As far as you seeing them in person, is that a hint to a future trip sometime?? If so let me know ahead of time and I'll be sure to have the fridge stocked!! Thank You Brother!!

Happy Birthday dude!

those are my thoughts.... You'll have to decide what you want on your own if you really want it to be original tho.

Typically people will use more power than they're rated for the overhead. Due to the dynamics of music even though the amp is capable of much more power output than the speakers are rated they rarely ever see it and when they do it's for such a short amount of time that the heat is dissipated quickly and nothing gets hurt at all. As long as a person is sane and careful with the gain volume knobs everything is generally pretty peachy. The speakers usually get a little louder and sound much cleaner than with rated or less power, usually. As for an upgrade in speakers, that's a completely subjective subject. In other words, what sounds good to you may not sound good to me, or anyone else. You'll really need to try to have a good listen at the sets you're interested in to have a good feeling on what sounds GOOD to YOU. Online reviews and recommendations are always far too biased, tainted, or misrepresented to be blindly trustworthy. That being said, I've gone out on a limb many times and bought something that reviewed well, or was highly recommended, but I knew what I was getting myself into, knew the risks and costs involved and made that decision accordingly. If you can't listen to them before you buy them be prepared to take a hit and sell them for different ones.

And I can't wait to listen to it to get it reviewed, lol! :D :D :D Thank you! Thanx man! BTW, need to get info from you on the IAK T's..... They're alot like ported, shouldn't be much of a difference. Can't wait myself to see how the XCON performs! Will be starting on the box ASAP, or as soon as work quits kickin my ass. And don't worry, I always post the pics as I take them. If work doesn't have me tied up AGAIN this year you can count on it!

Well, kinda. The PR does the job of a port, but without the problems of port velocity and added enclosure volume. They're also much easier than a port to tune and re-tune. The biggest downside I'm aware of is increased roll-off below tuning frequency. So, it's kind of like tuning a sealed enclosure due to the absence of a port of any kind, but not really as the PR's are equivalent to a port. Same here, it was a single early 90's Orion 12 with an 18" PR. Probably only one of my favorites only due to how different it was as I was too young then to really understand it, how it worked and why it was being done that way. I do know how to tune them, in theory, as they are my first real world use of PR's. It will be easy enough in practice though, using the weight of the air in the equivalent size port area in reference to the cone area of the PR's to rough them in. Then adjust in small amounts for perfecting the tuning frequency. At least that's my understanding of the process.

Alright, not much going on here. Having to completely rethink the amp rack, looks like I'll have to build two, one on each side of the rear. Good news tho, got the PR's yesterday!!! I want to give a BIG thank you to Aaron and Mark for allowing me to have PR's made with the XCON dustcaps and logos on them, a BIG BIG Thank You to you both. With the PR's in hand I can start on the enclosure building and now for a few quick pics of the PR's.

to the forum!! Glad to hear you're loving your XCON's. I can't wait to try my one 10" XCON with a pair of 10" PR's out and see how it does.

I don't believe anyone would consider the Q to be weak by any stretch of the imagination. It's a well proven quality performing driver. I have a pair on a Sundown 2k and they're absolutely amazing. Sure, others can get louder, but louder isn't always better. 80 to 100hz is typical. It's all dependent upon your installation, enclosure, vehicle, music and listening preferences. Just try it out and adjust until it sounds right to you. BTW if your HU has subwoofer preouts and it's own LPF then simply adjust the amp's LPF all the way up so it's out of the way and let the HU control it.

to the forum!

The difference was described above, but also shows you stand to gain potentially from some good tuning work. Hard to make up for pathlength, azmiuth, AND reflections but there are ways to address each. It does not take ANY distance for a wave to "develop". It is what it is a sound wave. If it needed to develop then you would be seeing phase and/or amplitude changes which aren't possible without something acting on the wave. As for the how, you get to address each concern independently and sometimes at the compromise of disturbing another. Exactly why you never see me carte blanche recommend a speaker, mounting location, processing or any of the above. These are all trade-offs that you get to balance in your own ride. To the bold answers, when you refer to the tuning part, are you referring to tuning with a processor, physically or am I likely missing the real point? I would be more than willing to install and go through the trouble to tune to get the results I heard. To the underlined answers, I've always understood why you don't just drop recommendations. Not saying I've always agreed with it, but I do understand it. I don't have any qualms about addressing the problems in my own rides, however I do lack the advanced experience and knowledge it takes to address them head on. Would you happen to have some resources (books, websites, etc) where a person could go and perhaps begin to gain an understanding on how to address the problems?

Not a noise, simply harshness in the sound. Haven't tried moving to being on axis with the mids. It easily EQ'd out with a simple -1 at 2khz on the parametric EQ in the HU.

Transfer function? Great. Makes sense, but i would figure there's not a way to utilize it on a scale of even moderately difficult in a vehicle.

No fuse is a bad idea. In all my limited experience, when I've seen this it was solely due to a bad connection. If it's an overcurrent issue or a short the fuse will blow, but current flowing through resistance creates heat and that heat is what's melted it.

Happy Birthday brother!

I started learning about audio when I was 13. Had stereo equipment in my first vehicle before I was legally able to drive it, and now at nearly 33yo I don't see myself EVER settling with a stock stereo system, no way. I too will likely always be installing aftermarket audio for as long as I am able to do so.