bigrank916 MLI-65 project

[bigrank916 72]

I started this today before I tried to change my window motor assembly and realized it was a dud. Crap. Try that again next week I guess.

First time ever applying sound deadener and I should have ordered the wheel with the damplifier lite. Will be buying it soon with more damplifier for my geo as it was a bitch by hand. Took a little while but got part of the inside panel done.

It will be a slow project and the other door will be done with the other window motor. Not broken but getting slower these days.

Will update periodically.

http://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv302/bigrank916/MLI-65%20project/

[mikey5472 16]

When you get this done give me an update. I would like to know what you think about them. I have been meaning to buy some for about a month or so now, just haven't plus I don't have a amp yet.

[Anthony Collova 2]

I started this today before I tried to change my window motor assembly and realized it was a dud. Crap. Try that again next week I guess.

First time ever applying sound deadener and I should have ordered the wheel with the damplifier lite. Will be buying it soon with more damplifier for my geo as it was a bitch by hand. Took a little while but got part of the inside panel done.

It will be a slow project and the other door will be done with the other window motor. Not broken but getting slower these days.

Will update periodically.

http://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv302/bigrank916/MLI-65%20project/

glad you got and like the product!

Be sure to ask for 1 of our SPL tiles when you place your next order. I'll throw one in for you to check out!

ANT

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Updates?

[bigrank916 72]

Updates?

Not yet I as was into my Z15 box, my daughters b-day, and had a wicked storm here last weekend. I did fix the window though. Only to find out the problem was only a $20 switch! My main hangup right now is deciding where to cut the door panel. I think I want to keep it as far forward as possible in order to keep it closer to my tweeters. Then once I cut that out, I'll finish deadening the rest of the door.

I dont drive my truck out of town for work so I can only work on it on the weekends. I just always have to many projects and so little time!

[bigrank916 72]

Almost finished one door today. A little more touch up layers and its good. It looks like shit but it will still work and I dont have to look at it with the door panel on so fuck it.

http://s694.photobucket.com/albums/vv302/bigrank916/MLI-65%20project/

[bigrank916 72]

Bought some stuff for glassing the MLI65s tonight. It might not be the best but I can always take it back. This will be my first time attempting this so it will most likely suck. Hopefully not but we will see. Also realized I never added any pics of them. Stay tuned...

glassing stuff, MLI65s, door panel

[jrod1050 5]

Im tuned in. im thinking about picking up a set of these and running them active. I heard the sweet spot on these are 50 to 500hz. Good luck and keep the pics coming

[bigrank916 72]

Allright. Its a little long but I classed it up so bear with me.

I have been pouring over the site with the search function and the net for glassing and all to do with it. I found some pretty informative info here and especially one tutorial that peaked my interest. FG for newbies . All my questions were pretty much answered except for a couple of things:

1) What are the options for sending the speaker wire out of the back of your newly sealed, glassed enclosure?

2) Since I am really wanting to glass some door pods, is deadening my doors still a good idea?

2a) If deadening is still a key element, should my pods be open in the back? Ive seen pics of door pods with holes in the back. Big Daves Truck Project . This looks to make much more sense with deadening and the way i think i should go.

3) How do secure my door pods to my door panel? Behind the carpet on the door panel is a plwood base to fasten to if needed.

4) Should I use a special FG mask when applying resin or sanding? I know when glassing the fumes can be very toxic. Some people say to use a mask and others dont even mention it at all.

5) Should I use a mold releasing agent? Some do, some dont. It looks like a good idea to me. Maybe like WD-40 on wax paper?

Im uber juiced to get this rolling as the MLI-65s have been sitting waaaay too long.

One more thing I wanted to go over is my second shopping list. So far I bought 1 gal of resin with exta hardener. One package of mat. A couple brushes, measuring/mixing cups, and some sand paper. The rest of the list as follows:

hot glue gun with extra sticks

wooden roller-have no idea where to get one besides secondskin

fleece or some sort of stretchy fabric

acetone

FG mask-question #4

more measuring/mixing cups

aluminum foil or wax paper

blue painters masking tape

mixing sticks from the paint counter

3/8" wooden dowels

Dremel tool

WD-40 or another MRA

Anything I might have missed?

[///M5 2,833]

What size are the sealed enclosures going to be?

Have you tested how the Mli's sound in a sealed box in your truck with the same size enclosure?

I'd do both before deciding on whether or not to "vent" it into the door skin and where to spend money on deadening.

[bigrank916 72]

What size are the sealed enclosures going to be?

Have you tested how the Mli's sound in a sealed box in your truck with the same size enclosure?

I'd do both before deciding on whether or not to "vent" it into the door skin and where to spend money on deadening.

Ive only tested them free air to make sure they work. Never in any type of enclosure yet.

I wouldnt know how to measure the size of the sealed enclosure for fg. Each pod being large enough to house one mli-65 and a tweet. I dont think I want to cut the pocket of the panel like this though. same exact door panel as mine . I can cut it off, if it is the absolute best solution, but Id rather not if I dont need to.

Ive already deadened my entire driver door already. So Im kinda stuck there. I also have some left over for the other door as well. So that money was already spent a long time ago.

So you are suggesting that I build both a sealed and ported enclosure from say, 1/2" mdf for mock up?

I can see how the comparison between the sealed enclosures could be done but the ported doesnt make sense to me. At what frequency would I tune this mock enclosure to? Does the speaker venting into the door create an enclosure like environment with a tuning frequency?

I seem to be a little confused.

[bigrank916 72]

Bump.

[jcarter1885 995]

How did they perform free air, just curious since it will take mine forever to get here?

[bigrank916 72]

How did they perform free air, just curious since it will take mine forever to get here?

They worked is pretty much all I can tell you. I plugged it in to a stereo at home and it was only on for a sec or two. Wasnt tryin to get crazy or nothin.

Are you replacing your alphas with these? Did you take all of them out?

[jcarter1885 995]

Yeah Im gonna try my attempt at three way, shhhh dont tell nobody! Im in the process of trying to get rid of some of these Eminence's first but I did 1 of the 4 MLI-65's Im gonna run just to see how it performs and whatnot.

[///M5 2,833]

What size are the sealed enclosures going to be?

Have you tested how the Mli's sound in a sealed box in your truck with the same size enclosure?

I'd do both before deciding on whether or not to "vent" it into the door skin and where to spend money on deadening.

Ive only tested them free air to make sure they work. Never in any type of enclosure yet.

I wouldnt know how to measure the size of the sealed enclosure for fg. Each pod being large enough to house one mli-65 and a tweet. I dont think I want to cut the pocket of the panel like this though. same exact door panel as mine . I can cut it off, if it is the absolute best solution, but Id rather not if I dont need to.

Ive already deadened my entire driver door already. So Im kinda stuck there. I also have some left over for the other door as well. So that money was already spent a long time ago.

So you are suggesting that I build both a sealed and ported enclosure from say, 1/2" mdf for mock up?

I can see how the comparison between the sealed enclosures could be done but the ported doesnt make sense to me. At what frequency would I tune this mock enclosure to? Does the speaker venting into the door create an enclosure like environment with a tuning frequency?

I seem to be a little confused.

I didn't recommend ported, could easily be done. By both I meant build an enclosure and listen to it in your truck. Build is step one, step two listen in vehicle.

Reason being is you need to figure out what size your enclosure is giong to be, if it is too small you will cramp all the midbass potential out of those drivers.

[bigrank916 72]

What size are the sealed enclosures going to be?

Have you tested how the Mli's sound in a sealed box in your truck with the same size enclosure?

I'd do both before deciding on whether or not to "vent" it into the door skin and where to spend money on deadening.

Ive only tested them free air to make sure they work. Never in any type of enclosure yet.

I wouldnt know how to measure the size of the sealed enclosure for fg. Each pod being large enough to house one mli-65 and a tweet. I dont think I want to cut the pocket of the panel like this though. same exact door panel as mine . I can cut it off, if it is the absolute best solution, but Id rather not if I dont need to.

Ive already deadened my entire driver door already. So Im kinda stuck there. I also have some left over for the other door as well. So that money was already spent a long time ago.

So you are suggesting that I build both a sealed and ported enclosure from say, 1/2" mdf for mock up?

I can see how the comparison between the sealed enclosures could be done but the ported doesnt make sense to me. At what frequency would I tune this mock enclosure to? Does the speaker venting into the door create an enclosure like environment with a tuning frequency?

I seem to be a little confused.

I didn't recommend ported, could easily be done. By both I meant build an enclosure and listen to it in your truck. Build is step one, step two listen in vehicle.

Reason being is you need to figure out what size your enclosure is giong to be, if it is too small you will cramp all the midbass potential out of those drivers.

Ah hah. I knew I was confused.

Should I put the tweet in the mock enclosure as well?

Ive kind of been toying with the idea of a 4" midrange too. Can I put all three in the pod together or should I seperate them and let the 6.5" stand alone? It makes more sense to me to seperate the midbass. I could make one for the midbass on the lower part of the door and another one for the midrange and tweet above that.

I would like to keep them as close as possible for imaging purposes. Ive seen you comment about kicks and a-pillars not being the best solutions. The door seems to be the next best one. What do you think?

First Im going to build a simple enclosure just for the mli now. Then put it in my vehicle and listen to it.

[///M5 2,833]

You can put the tweeter in the same enclosure, but a midrange would require its own enclosure.

What crossover are you using?

[bigrank916 72]

You can put the tweeter in the same enclosure, but a midrange would require its own enclosure.

What crossover are you using?

Ok. Midbass and tweet together with a seperate midrange.

Crossover? Im using seperate amps for everything. I thought I was able to use the amps crossover features. Am I wrong?

[jcarter1885 995]

You can use your amps (like stated in my going active thread) but you wont get the fine tuning or best front stage with just the amps. You will be missing out on time alignment and other features that a good head unit will give you but it can be done with just amps.

[bigrank916 72]

You can use your amps (like stated in my going active thread) but you wont get the fine tuning or best front stage with just the amps. You will be missing out on time alignment and other features that a good head unit will give you but it can be done with just amps.

A good head unit or crossover? My headunits have a lot of features that I dont really use or havent taken the time to know what they are.

[jcarter1885 995]

Well it depends on the headunit, some just buy an external crossover if they dont plan on spending the big bucks for a headunit that can do the active process (which are only a few). Im just gonna use my amps and call it a day since Im not getting in SQ comps or anything, I am gonna buy a better headunit but not one that will control a three way by it self just dont see me spending more thatn 300 for a headunit.

[///M5 2,833]

As a first try in the world of active I would NOT recommend doing a 3 way. Stick with the two, but that doesn't mean that you can't plan to add a midrange in the future. Keep that in mind during the install, but don't plan on it. Personally I wouldn't mix a 4" with a 6.5" anyways, either go bigger on the midbass or smaller on the midrange.

[bigrank916 72]

As a first try in the world of active I would NOT recommend doing a 3 way. Stick with the two, but that doesn't mean that you can't plan to add a midrange in the future. Keep that in mind during the install, but don't plan on it. Personally I wouldn't mix a 4" with a 6.5" anyways, either go bigger on the midbass or smaller on the midrange.

Ya, I think I will try a 2 way first. Much easier.

Today after work, I got started on the mock enclosures. I cut and holed out all the pieces so tomorrow I can just assemble it. They will be .25ft3 each. Hopefully I will get them done as it will be a looooong day tomorrow at work. And Im already tired.

[///M5 2,833]

Have you modeled the Mli's in .25? Just curious as that would be my first step....and I haven't, but I don't own those drivers either.