07 Honda Fit - Bangin on a Budget

[Polish 9]

Hello, thanks for checking out my build. I decided to stick a system in my Honda after years of not having anything but stock audio. I just don't have a lot of funds for high end equipment, so pretty much everything is budget equipment. I don't really have any goal other than to eventually hit 150db for as cheap as possible, we shall see how that turns out. For now I am just enjoying having some tunes again.

As of right now I've got the following gear installed. (You can click the links for more pictures)

• Head Unit – Alpine CDA9805
  
• Front Door Speakers –6.5″ MB Quart Components FSB216
  
• Rear Door Speakers – 6.5” Phoenix Gold Coaxial
  
• Amplifier – MB Quart 1.400 on the Subs – 400 watts @ 2 ohms
  
• Subwoofers – 4 x Lanzar Max10D 10” DVC 4ohm wired in series @ 8 ohms then all paralleled together for a 2 ohm load on the Amp. DIY Slot Ported box tuned @ 33hz This is more a loud street setup, meant to sound decent with music and still get loud. I would tune for 45-55hz in a pure SPL burp box. I like the lows to still play though, so low tuning for a daily box.
  
• Wiring – 4AWG DB link budget kit & Scosche Distribution Block – 4 Fused outputs with Voltage Display.
  

This puts me at about $300 total audio cost so far. I need to upgrade the sub amp, install an amp on the highs, do the big 3, install the rest of my deadener along with numerous other small projects. I will add some pics to this thread when I do updates. As of now here are some pics of the gear I've already got along with some pics of the box build.

MBQ Comps. (tweeter is up high)

Some deadener I put on the hatch the other day.

Box Build Pics

Wish I had a nail gun, drilling and screwing took forever. You can see the 7" brace in the middle of the box.

Don't mine the hideous port, I didn't have any paint handy so I gave it a sharpie treatment for now. I'll be making a proper amp rack once I have a permanent amp. I also need to install a terminal cup for the sub box, but I can't find one I like yet. I may do bolts, not sure.

Any questions let me know.

As of now even with only 400 watts the 4 10's get down, I know they can take a lot more though. I will post a video soon as well.

[altoncustomtech 773]

I personally love seeing budget builds. They're not easy, I know from experience, lol. I think it's definitely coming along though. I've used those Lanzar subs before, albeit years ago, but they can do surprisingly well for their price. They do a pretty good job of playing low. Probably the only thing I can really fault them for is that they're not the toughest subs but at their price point that's going to be an issue no matter what brand or model.

It would be kewl to see some installation pics on your components and such as well.

Keep up the good work.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Keep the pictures coming along.

[16K 159]

Other than the sharpie used for the port.....

It looks good so far lol.

[Polish 9]

I personally love seeing budget builds. They're not easy, I know from experience, lol. I think it's definitely coming along though. I've used those Lanzar subs before, albeit years ago, but they can do surprisingly well for their price. They do a pretty good job of playing low. Probably the only thing I can really fault them for is that they're not the toughest subs but at their price point that's going to be an issue no matter what brand or model.

It would be kewl to see some installation pics on your components and such as well.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks. I did a very rushed (and not that great, tbh) install of the components for now due to not having an amp for them so I didn't take many pics. Once I get an amp I'll be doing some fiberglass pods to angle them a bit and taking some proper pics.

I am pretty happy with the subs so far, especially for < $100 for all 4. We'll see how they do with some real power.

Other than the sharpie used for the port.....

It looks good so far lol.

Thanks. The horrid sharpie coloring is only a very temporary thing, haha.

[Polish 9]

Demo Video - Flexing the windshield with only $200 spent so far.

[Polish 9]

Added some more FatMat deadener.

Without anything but the stock bit, very little.

About 10sq/ft FatMat installed. Still need to pull the side trim and do back there.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Polish

[Polish 9]

I finally installed the speaker wire bolt connection setup I got when I built the box originally. I didn’t want to bother with a terminal cup because I intend to install 10-12g wire with ring terminals eventually. I just bolted the bare copper down for now. This low power setup wouldn’t benefit much from more anyway. I also cleaned up the amp wiring a little bit, plus it looks much better without the speaker wiring hanging out of the port.

Inside the box.

Cleaned up the wiring around the amp. I also utilized both connections on the amp, so two pairs of the thin speaker wire feeds the 4 instead of just one.

Current shot.

Thats all for now. More updates soon...

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Looking good!!

[Polish 9]

Added some more deadener. Only had enough to do the passenger side wheel well/hatch area.

Bare - aside from the one lone piece I stuck on before taking this shot.

After a couple sq/ft...

Finished off the last 10 sq/ft of fatmat I had. Need to order another 50sq/ft or so.

Thats all for now, more updates soon.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Keep up the build.

[On3Hundr3dProof 19]

nice build for the budget. good work

[Polish 9]

Thanks guys.

Here is a short demo video.

[PHATBOi 38]

Nice! Love a good budget build.

[Polish 9]

Another short demo video. Sub flex (not much with this little power) at around 25hz along with a paper trick in the window.

[Polish 9]

Small update time.

 

I've just placed an order for more goods. I've got 20 more sq/ft of FatMat on the way (This will make a total of 50sq/ft) to finish off the hatch.

 

The best part is a new amp - MBQuart Onyx 1.1600. It's rated @ 1,100wrms @ 2ohms which is what I'll be running it at for now but it does 1,600 @ 1 ohm so I'll configure it for that when I upgrade woofers down the road. It should really wake the 4 10's up even at 2 ohms. I will update with pics once I get it. I also grabbed a 2 gauge amp kit to give the new amp plenty of juice. 

[Polish 9]

 

I got my new amp today, will have it installed tonight. Can't freaking wait to see what it can do.

[Polish 9]

The new amp is in and I was severely underwhelmed at first but after some checking I found the issue. So what was it you all may wonder? The subs were not the OHM rating they were advertised as. I bought these 4 Lanzar MAX10D advertised as Dual 4 ohm, so you'd think that they would be 4 ohms per coil. Then when wired in series each woofer would be 8ohms then when you parallel all 4 together you'd have a 2 ohm final load - Nope... Not even freaking close. I metered the wires coming out of the box just for kicks and got roughly 6 ohms. I was thinking maybe I had some loose wires in the box so I pulled all 4 woofers and metered each coil - every single one measured about 7.8 - 7.9 ohms. WTF? So I went ahead and paralleled each woofer (which should have given me 4 ohms per woofer and a 1 ohm final load) and metered again - I got about 3.5 ohms final load after this which still doesn't make any freaking sense to me. It should be 1 ohm but I think something is strange about these woofers. Either way this tells me my old amp wasn't pushing but probably 100-150 watts at the most considering the 6 ohm load it saw. It was pretty damn loud for each woofer only get 30-35 watts rms though. Either way, this is as low as I can get it for now with these woofers considering it's all paralleled at this point. 

 

I fell like a dumbass for never metering them from the get go but I guess live and learn - always meter your subs. 

 

So onto the results, I just tried it with the car off for now and it was a MASSIVE difference even with the weak ass 3.5 ohm load - which this amp probably only makes like 600ish watts at. It still pounded like never before. I'll be beating down the block on my highway commute tomorrow for sure. This however makes me want new woofers sooner than later. Mainly so I can actually show the amp a 1 ohm load and see true power, as this 3.5 ohm stuff is for the birds. I'll be bringing my meter to work tomorrow to verify it's reading correctly by metering some various resistors that I know the rating of for sure. 

 

It's a hell of a lot louder though and no fault of the amps, just the cheap Lanzar subs but what did I expect considering I got all 4 for $96. I think a trio of 18's are in the cards though for roughly 750" of cone area where as my 4 10's are only about 300". I may also do 4 15's - which is also about 700" of cone area. It depends what I can find and what fits the budget.   

[R3dt34rz 21]

I would ohm out each sub individually and see if you have issues somewhere in the chain. Still sounds a tad bit off to me with D4s. I would think you would see a 2 ohm load at the box if wired correctly in a series/parallel.

Edited February 22, 2013 by R3dt34rz

[Quentin Jarrell 671]

Physically impossible. You have something wired wrong.

[Polish 9]

Physically impossible. You have something wired wrong.

 

 

Yea, you'd think something is off but I double checked it all. I want to verify my meter is correct before doing anything else though. I understand ohms law quite well, I understand what I am saying sounds impossible but that's what I got as strange as it sounds. I could have made a mistake though, certainly not impossible. Once I test my meter tomorrow with some resistors and am sure it's 100% I will pull the woofers and check again.

 

I would ohm out each sub individually and see if you have issues somewhere in the chain. Still sounds a tad bit off to me with D4s. I would think you would see a 2 ohm load at the box if wired correctly in a series/parallel.

 

That's the thing, I expected to get a 2 ohm load the way I originally had but - but I got 6? Then checked each coil and got about 7.8 - 7.9 ohms per coil. So either my meter is off or the speakers are WAY off spec.

[Polish 9]

It was driving me nuts so I checked it again and this time got .8 ohms final load. Which is about right for 8 x 7.8-7.9 ohm coils all paralleled together. So either my meter is flaking out, the battery is dying and thus giving false readings or I just wasn't getting a good connection the first time. Either way, if the speakers were actually dual 4 ohm as advertised I'd be at .5 ohms with 8 coils in parallel not .8. So I'll try a new battery in it tomorrow and see if it makes any difference. 

[Polish 9]

 

Got my budget 2 gauge kit today, going in this weekend. Will have some new pics soon.

[Polish 9]

Well I was finally able to turn it up on the way home and holy cow, for 4 cheap woofers it gets down. My entire rear view mirror assembly fell off after about 3 seconds at full tilt. It should be even better once I do the 2 gauge wire and Big 3 this weekend. Pics to come soon.

[R3dt34rz 21]

Run a cheap Agm battery in the back and you may notice more improvement