altoncustomtech

Wow, how did I miss all this activity??!?!?!!! LOL... Well guys, thanks for the interest... The plans are still a little volatile and I'm strongly considering doing passive radiator's instead of a standard ported design. I can get the same crazy output and response with a smaller enclosure. I've been drawing designs for that too, I'll get them posted up when they're finished. It will the the SAZ-1500 that I purchased originally to run the SA-8's. Plenty of power for the XCON (whichever size I use) to give things a shake. Thanx bro, I just hope they turn out half as good as I see them in my mind when I'm drawing them up. Thanx man! Whatever I end up doing with the sub and the box I'll be using a bed liner to finish it. Need the finish to be much tougher than paint or carpet will be. I'll flush mount them for certain if I do go with the passive setup. I don't have the tools (yet) to do much with putting 45's in the port, though if I end up doing the passive radiator's it won't be any issue anyway. Just like the box in the van, it will be 3/4" thick and sealed up plenty good enough. Thank you! Hopefully everything will turn out great on the thing. I hate how long it's taking to get any work done on it, but hopefully it will turn out like I'm imagining. The Blazer Xtreme will be a badass truck to build in. I had the chance to buy one before I got the Jimmy but I was really looking for and needing a 4x4 so I passed on it for the Jimmy. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it when you find one!

That was great!! Who said you HAVE to have modern technology to have fun? lol... We have quite a few Amish around here too, really a pretty cool bunch of people if you get to know them. BTW I'm jealous of the snow you guys got, wish I had some of it to play in with the fourwheeler.

I gotta ask where the XCON version is too since I'll be purchasing one sometime soon....

Dunno if you'd be interested, but I'd trade my three BNIB Sundown Audio SA-8 D2's for it, just a thought.

DC resistance is different from Impedance, and usually a tad lower than the rated impedance. For example most single 4 ohm coils will measure something like 3.5 or 3.7 ohms with a DMM.

to the forum!!

Okay... So plans have changed a little bit. Instead of using the three SA-8's which I'm selling HERE. I've decided to sell them and go with a single XCON. I'm still debating a little as to whether or not it will be a 10 or a 12, but that's the direction I'm going to head with it at this point. I've still got a ton of work to do to this thing, but I don't think this change will affect much. Just for fun I drew up a box for the XCON 12 for the Jimmy, thought I'd go ahead and post it up for comments to try to get the build log and the build itself rolling again. Figured I'd do a plexi window on this too, like the van, to show off that sexy ass of the XCON. This box is 2.54cuft NET with 56sqin of port area tuned to ~33hz.

I take it the 10% SSA item credit still only applies to the SSA store correct?

Awesome..... it's amazing how often it's something simple like that...

Just sent an email for a submittal.

12-16 is a general rule of thumb that while adequate for beginners isn't, or rather shouldn't be a "rule" for all builds to go by. Ideally every build should cover the goals while staying within the budget and space restraints. That being said, audio is ALWAYS about compromise, look up Hoffman's Iron Law and you'll likely understand exactly what I'm referring to in regards to tradeoffs in general. A person will always have to give up something to get what they need out of a given setup in another, more important area. It's just the way it is. Now, the calculation that specifies 110sqin minimum port area for those subs at that tuning frequency gives you a number, sure. Will it sound like garbage if you can't get exactly 110sqin? No, not at all because of that one reason. You have a given area to work in, if you can't squeeze anymore out of it, then you can't squeeze anymore out of it and 78sqin will do just fine. More port area just means a longer port and therefore a larger enclosure, so if it won't fit in the space then don't worry about it. I simply mentioned it and gave you the number to let you know it was something to consider. Also, you'd be amazed at how many times I've gone back and looked a design over again, then again, and played with it until I found the right change to get a little closer to the size, or port area, or tuning, or whatever I was chasing. When I simply couldn't find any other way I weighed the pro's and con's of it and made a decision as to whether or not it was viable in the first place or not. You can do the same thing, it's easier than people think. Sometimes we get so caught up on what we're trying to do that we forget the big picture. Alright, all that rambling aside now, your design is really alright. If you can possibly find the room for more port area it would be good, if not then it won't likely hurt anything especially since it's going in a trunk anyway. Any port noise will be drowned out long before it's audible in the cabin of the car in all likelihood. In any case, go for it, it looks solid enough to me.

The only things I have for trade are three BNIB SA-8's which aren't SSA nor really fit your SQ goals either, so like I said, I'm outta the running.

Oh I'm sure there's interest, it's just that everyone is broke after Christmas. Hell I'm interested, but I don't have $425 nor do I have anything you'd want to trade for so I'm out of the running.

One quick note on Sketchup, if you go to the file menu, down to export, and click on 2D graphic it will create a jpg file of the drawing you've made in the current view. It will give you a .JPG file that looks like this: On the box, it looks okay at first glance. On any enclosure you need to make sure there's room for the port to breathe. A "couple" of inches might be a bit tight. Also, it could probably do with more port area. The minimum port area calculation calls for 110sqin for those subs.

I've built a couple of these kits before as well. They do sound absolutely amazing for the price and simplicity of the setup. IMHO I thought the bass was adequate for a couple of low xmax drivers. I thoguht they'd be enough for someone without the discerning ears we have in this hobby. Anyway, nice to see someone else giving that kit a try! Great job!

Crazy like a fox.... I think if it's properly executed it will turn out great. Looking forward to watching them get shoehorned into them doors!

Nice work as always. Gotta LOVE Sketchup! Gotta say my thanks to you as well. I was able to learn a few handy moves after watching some of your other videos and can now turn out a box pretty quickly. Thank you sir, you're design work is an inspiration.

Fantastic pick up! You're going to love those subs!!

If I could have had enough time without work or something else going on with my family getting in the way I would have a review of them up here already. As it is they're still waiting patiently in the box to be installed.

I agree with the comments above. Your money is better spent on a good quality sub right off the bat. Also, just because there's 1200 watts on tap doesn't mean you need to use that much power to get great output. You can pick up an SSA DCON 10 for $115 with a single 4 ohm coil and it will do you very well on output while sounding great. Plus it will be easier on the amp and your electrical system. A 10" Fi SSD would be a great choice as well except for the fact that when shipping gets added it will be a little over your $200 budget but well worth every penny.

to the forum!

Again, in my limited experience there's nothing special that I'm aware of. The basics are the most important thing that comes to mind. Be sure to build the enclosure as accurately as possible and as close to the specs as you can get. Use the best build practices with bracing and such where it should be. One little trick that can help for experimenting is to build the enclosure a bit larger than it needs to be, then add wood blocks to reduce the internal volume to get the sound you're wanting. Works for both ported and sealed enclosures, though it will lower the tuning a little on a ported enclosure a few hertz isn't really even noticeable.

Absolutely. It's not required though, there's plenty of everyday enclosures out there (including mine) that don't use angles to smooth the air flow. It's seen more often in competition installs. Not that a daily setup wouldn't benefit from it, but without a good table saw and some patience it would be quite a bit of work to do. Not to mention it's more work to account for the changes in space in the enclosure when all the angles are added.

There is a "Golden Rule" for box dimensions where if you give one dimension as say 14" you multiply that by .618 (8.652") and 1.618 (22.652") for the other two dimensions and is supposed to be some ideal ratio. I've built boxes in that fashion before and in any other shape and can't honestly say I ever noticed a difference, at least not with subwoofers. On something like a 2 or 3 way home speaker system with a woofer that goes up much higher than we run our subs to it could possibly make more of a difference. Otherwise, in my limited experience there's no issue with the shape of an enclosure as long as it doesn't interfere with air movement through the port and things of that nature. With a subwoofer the wave length is so long at these low frequencies that standing waves just aren't an issue. Again, with a regular woofer setup where it may/will play frequencies much higher standing waves definitely become an issue.