Infinitely Baffled or Just Plain Confused

[onebadmonte 235]

I've been here long enough. Time to nut up or shut up, as the saying goes. Here are some pics of what I built. The goal: Loud. How loud? 140+ on the Term lab. The challenge: To do it with low power and a sTock electrical system. Journey with me as I go for the moon.

First some info of my build.

The car: 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra A.K.A The Cream Puff

Head Unit: JVC KD-HDW10 A basic CD player with a built in HD tuner and RCA outputs

Amps: 2 US Acoustics USB-4085 1 at 85 watts x 4 @ 4ohms (mids and highs) 1 at 240 watts x 2 @ 4 ohms (subs)

Fronts: Powerbass 3.5" coax in stock location

Rear: MTX Thunder Axe 5-1/4" components

Subs: 2 Ascendant Audio Atlas 15"

Electical: Stock

Stay tuned for pics. Thanks for looking.

[onebadmonte 235]

Let the rumpus begin. Here are some pics of the easy stuff, now that I finally learned how to post pics. Hehe

This is the Cream Puff, in all her glory.

It's my daily driver, very inconspicuous. It lays low from the law. Exactly what an outlaw such as myself requires.

Here an up close and personal of the head unit. No flip down face, million button nonsense here. Just your basic CD player with RCA's. OK you caught me. It does have a seven band eq and built in HD tuner. Also the car requires unleaded fuel only. They don't build'em like this no more.

Just to let you all know. That center cup holder / CD organizer was custom installed by yours' truly. A must when returning from my corporate lunches with an iced tea to go. Don't mind the mess, like I said this is my driver. Neglected and abused

Here's a shot of my front stage.

3.5" Powerbass co-ax from e-bay, $30. True story.

Thanks for looking.

[onebadmonte 235]

Here are some pics of what I did at the rear deck

The rear deck originally housed some 6 x 9's

I opted to hack out the original mount and make some space for some adapter plates.

Here's a pic of my hack job.

I took the easy way out and had my adapter plates CNC plasma cut out of 16ga sheet metal.

This is a shot of the adapter plates in place.

Here we have the plates in place and painted with the components installed.

Time for some reflections, words of wisdom by a lurker. I welded the adapter plates in place. Why? Because I'm a badass with a Lincoln Welder. In hindsight I should have just riveted and siliconed them in place. I would have simplified things if I decided to step up to something bigger.

As for why the 5-1/4's to begin with? I scored these bad boys from and outfit called Deal Tree on ebay. They sell all sorts of stuff that has been returned or the packaging has been distressed and items of the sorts. Since everything is sold auction style I was able to nab these for $4 with $17 shipping. True story.

[todd.brust 29]

I love the face that you welded them on there! Have you done or are you planning on doing any deadening? I think sound deadening is the single best improvement you can do for your speakers. Just my $0.02

[onebadmonte 235]

Thanks, no sound deadening yet. Definitely a next step in my quest for more with less.

Now moving on to the subs. These are pics of my prep work. This is a shot of the trunk and what I have to work with.

The center brace is going to come out.

Here is a shot of the inside with the factory deadening material in place. It's just a layer of jute material with a layer of plastic. I thought I would have been more. Any ways, here it is.

Some carnage. I cut out the center brace. I also trimmed the corners to maximize surface area.

This is the foundation for the baffle. I started by welding some angle irons in place to reinforce where I took out the center brace. I followed up by bolting in some strips of MDF. These will act as spacers, spacing the baffle away from the rear seat giving the subs some space to stretch their legs. The MDF strips will also be the foundation that the baffle will bolt onto.

The baffle, two layers of 3/4" MDF glued together with the sub to be flush mounted.

Everything seems to be divided pretty good with the baffle and the factory design of the rear deck. There are a few large windows in the rear deck that I neglected to do anything about. From the factory there is a 1/4" thick piece of carpeted fiber board that goes over the rear deck. I think for now that will suffice until I get some deadening material.

[Randal Johnson 544]

very nice ... keep it up ...

[Impious 1,476]

If you haven't already, you should seal off the mids.

[onebadmonte 235]

If you haven't already, you should seal off the mids.

It's funny you say that, because I feel that is the most overlooked detail in trunk systems with mids on the rear deck. Kid's these are the details that makes a system worth while. Good thinking Impious, and thanks for bringing it up.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Looks good man.

Remember, Unleaded Fuel Only.

[onebadmonte 235]

Here it is, a rare appearance of a classic, nuff said.

The money shot.

Another money shot with all the pieces in place.

Please excuse my mess. It take a real artist to make all this wiring look good. A young grasshopper such as myself still has a ways to go.

An up close a personal of the subs and amps.

Stay tuned for vids, a clean up and maybe even some testing on a meter.

[Duran 387]

I'll show you a money shot

It looks really good, I like the T-nuts

[onebadmonte 235]

I'll show you a money shot

I bet. Your avatars keep getting better and better.

It looks really good, I like the T-nuts

Thanks

[onebadmonte 235]

After a little crash course in Windows Movie Maker I believe I've actually have something. Now don't go wigging out. These subs are rated for 18mm X-max one-way. Per the amp manufacturers specs, there's 240 watts going to each sub. Hehe. Now we're cooking.

Let me know what you think

[///M5 2,833]

I think you just made an excursion video of IB subs which IMO doesn't make a lot of sense. I love IB, don't get me wrong but output and IB are not good friends. Hmmm, it also looks like someone convinced you to waste money on sludge.

[Impious 1,476]

Curious.....are you planning on reinstalling your rear seats?

[onebadmonte 235]

I think you just made an excursion video of IB subs which IMO doesn't make a lot of sense. I love IB, don't get me wrong but output and IB are not good friends. Hmmm, it also looks like someone convinced you to waste money on sludge.

For me, making the video was an exercise in using video editing software. In my case Windows Movie Maker. It's hard to imagine that in this day and age there are some who have no experience uploading their own vids to youtube, I am one of those. I figure since I'm going through the effort why not show it to some of my pals and those who might be interested here, hence a pointless video of IB subs wanging.

LOL on the sludge. It looks it, but its not. It's the factory jute insulation/deadening material. I don't how to describe it, it's like recycled jeans glued to a thin plastic sheet. In my car it extended from the floor up onto the seat bottom, then up along the seat back, terminating where the set back met the rear deck. I keep it on so the seat back frame would rattle against the baffle and angle irons.

Thanks for looking.

[onebadmonte 235]

Curious.....are you planning on reinstalling your rear seats?

Yes, the seats are going back in.

I was a little concerned that I would be losing output putting almost 4" of foam directly in front of the subs. Surprisingly the bass migrates through the foam without noticeable degradation in output. Granted my ears are human and it all gets interpreted in my head.

[onebadmonte 235]

I cleaned up the install over the weekend. I started off on the mids. Here is a shot of what I started off with.

These are the enclosures I made. They are ABS thermal-formed plastic.

My flange was a little short so I had to modify the u-nuts.

Here is the finished enclosure.

Here is a test fit.

Let me know what you think.

[jcarter1885 995]

I likey

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Nice job on the install! I like the enclosures for your rear mids.!

[Don Ganso 13]

The name of your infinitely baffled ride makes me infinitely hungry....

Lookin' good... And tasty...

[rattleboxIAK 1]

what did u use on your trunk lip to keep air tight or u didnt do it yet and nice tear out and build

keep it up

IAK

Edited March 16, 2010 by rattleboxIAK

[onebadmonte 235]

Thanks everyone.

The trunk lid seals up with the factory weatherstripping. Nothing fancy. Air tight? Not really.

There's more on the way.

[onebadmonte 235]

This is a continuation of my work this weekend. I took out the amps and subs and started off my fitting in the factory carpeting and paneling back into the trunk. I marked off the clearance holes I needed to put in the trunk floor carpet to mount the amps.

This is a shot of the panels and carpet in place. Nice and clean I say. Remember this is a daily driver. I use the trunk to haul anything from groceries to engine parts.

This is where I wandered off the beaten path. I had bought the carpeting already at Wal-mart. It was like $10 for a 36" x 72" piece. Not bad. Later in the week I was at home accessory / craft warehouse with the wife when I came across some pre-cut fabrics on sale. They ranged in size from 36" -54" wide by 2-3 yards long. They had all sorts of prints and patterns. They even had vinyl. I choose this. Not bad for $6. Others might disagree on my taste.

This is the first time I upholstered with fabric. Normally I use canned adhesive spray and layout the carpet. That's it. This time I had to also had to stretch and wrap the material plus staple it. It was pretty fun. I used an electric staple gun. I worked ok. The staples were T50, 1/4" long. I didn't want to tear through the fabric so I used a low force setting and tapped the staples flush with a hammer. Okay, okay, I'll admit it. I was just being a wus with the stapler. It was loud and it made me nervous using it.

Here is a pic of my work.

This is the finished baffle board. Back in the day I heard these called boom boards. Hehe.

Here is the baffle and carpet in place.

I ditched the nuts holding the baffle in place and went with some acorn-nuts and washers

Here is an up-close shot of the acorn-nut and the fabric around it.

I got the amps in place and cleaned up the wiring.

I decided to mount the cross-overs underneath the rear deck. I was looking a little busy before, with the amps, subs, crossovers, and wiring. This will also help keep the wiring to the mids and highs out of sight.

I love the optics of this pic. Looking through the speaker holes and seeing that back of the front seat gives this illusion of the seat not being straight. Seeing the door frame just enhances the illusion.

Here is another shot of the crossovers. Also installed are the enclosures for the mids.

The subs are finally back in place. I'm liking the contrast. Here a few shots at different angles.

The sound is a little bit sweeter. There's nothing like a little pride to make the final result a wee bit better.

Here is another pro for an IB system.

No goofing around with a heavy box to get the spare out. Like I said, it's a driver and meant to be used.

Thanks everyone.

[sq_mgb 21]

Is it just me, or is only one coil of each of those drivers hooked up?

Workmanship looks good, I like the crossover placement, looks much better there. Keep the pics coming!