1st active front stage setup

[cshaw 0]

Yup, decided id go the other way and make an awesome front stage before tackling the subwoofer stuff first! ive always had different 6.5 comp sets and a sub stage but even with tuning and refining, never felt like you are there at the show front and center. ive gotten the staging close but with active x/o's on a on-axis 2-3 way front stage, i think thats what im really looking for.

 

currently running 

01 accord

 

hertz hsk 6.5 comps

old pioneer deck, also have a alpine 98-47 that ive had forever.

soundsplinter rlp-15

 

future plans

2-3 way active front stage.

ipod/iphone with line driver. or maybe an active deck?

us amps md 21 on hertz tweeters

125-200 rms bridged 4 ch. amp? on crescendo 8" mids.

possible 3 way with hertz mid ranges?

orion 1200 on a soundsplinter rl-p 15 sealed or ported

 

HSK's are in and are on hu power...and dialed in as most as can be on this crappy hu. 

 

 trying to find actual 2 or 0 ga power wire in sofla is kinda crazy? sound advice wanted $150 for 25 ft of jl wire lol local shops are all closed this time of year....

 

anyways, md 21 for hert tweeters and orion 1200 for substage. 3 cubes sealed box from a few builds ago. going to rebuild to better fit trunk, might port this one to see how it sounds at first using aero ports/ different tunings. 

 

hertz 6.5 mid vs crescendo 8"mid

 

the doors i have to work with. the hertz 6.5 barely fit with a 3/4 baffle. the 8" mids are gonna need another inch and 1/8 on top of that to clear the window at minimum. (3.75 mouting depth total) plus i have to cut away 2" or so of the metal and create new wider baffles to allow the basket to even fit as the magnet alone barely fits into the mounting diameter of the hertrz 6.5 haha. 

[cshaw 0]

also i plan on running less than rated power on the crescendos so i can run them a little lower than 70hz with less of a slope on the x/o. i plugged them in today into the hertz x/o's and they seemed peaky as hell compared to the hertz playing free air. they are a bit more efficient but damn. might have to eq these guys.

while i was at it, checked for clearances after baffles and im sure im gonna have to not only remove the speaker grill but the 8" mids are too big to fit through them. so thinking of just fiberglassing the whole lower 1/3 of the door, and might as well make an active 3 way if i can fit everything! 

Edited December 28, 2014 by cshaw

[jcarter1885 995]

2 way will be easier your first go around to not screw up vs a 3 way setup. Mounting locations of tweeters and mids? Have you treated your doors yet? I would keep the Hertz for now and use them active to get things dialed in, use them as a learning experience and find out what you like and dont like before buying new equipment.

Edited December 28, 2014 by jay-cee

[///M5 2,833]

You should take a step back and re-evaluate your goals.  Pretty sure those 8's won't fit in them...

[jcarter1885 995]

A mini-dsp can be used as a processor if you dont want to use a heaunit. The cheapest active h/u is the Clarion CZ702 and the next one that is popular is the Pioneer 80PRS.

[cshaw 0]

i wont lie i had a few drinks when i decided to go with the 8's instead of the 6.5 mids haha. black friday sales, you know. rolls eyes. i put my self in pinch. kinda "SQL"  front stage if you will?

ive emailed crescendo and hertz about freq. resp. graphs to get a starting point of x/o points and what not.

[///M5 2,833]

Those 8's stink for anything with a Q in it.  Awful in fact.  They SUCK as midbasses and SUCK as midranges.  Real loud in a real narrow range where you don't need the output.  Better off really stating your goals and getting something that will work.

[Notorious97200 339]

You should try to sell those 8" speakers and read carefully M5 words........

[cshaw 0]

i do have some mach5 6.5's but ive been using those for my home setup paired with mmats x/o and tweets since 2011....

the hertz dont bother me, i just want some balls in the mid bass range. im a drummer and i listen to a lot of 90's grunge, metal and classic rock. heavy guitars and lots of drum solos lol.

 

i think im gonna try what i got, work for now. find a 4ch amp with decent specs and x/o's and go active, put some foam behind the speakers in the doors, maybe some polyfill? ive done that for sealed sub boxes but never in the doors... the doors actually dont have many holes in them.

[lithium 358]

the poly will mold. 

 

the doors will act like a large sealed box that leaks, so its sort of IB. find a driver that will work better for that application. also, go read sounddeadenershowdown.com and do some deadening in those doors. 

 

an amp wont be enough to probably run ib, need a dsp. 

[95Honda 486]

8s are really tough to use for 2-ways in a door.  You just can't get them on-axis enough to not have a huge hole with almost any tweeter...  Rarely do you even see 8s in home audio 2-ways. I have done a few, but, they were with tweeters that could get down to almost 1.5K and were perfectly on-axis...

[///M5 2,833]

And the one

 

8s are really tough to use for 2-ways in a door.  You just can't get them on-axis enough to not have a huge hole with almost any tweeter...  Rarely do you even see 8s in home audio 2-ways. I have done a few, but, they were with tweeters that could get down to almost 1.5K and were perfectly on-axis...

And the ones you used weren't super narrow band like the ones he bought.

 

 

i do have some mach5 6.5's but ive been using those for my home setup paired with mmats x/o and tweets since 2011....

the hertz dont bother me, i just want some balls in the mid bass range. im a drummer and i listen to a lot of 90's grunge, metal and classic rock. heavy guitars and lots of drum solos lol.

 

i think im gonna try what i got, work for now. find a 4ch amp with decent specs and x/o's and go active, put some foam behind the speakers in the doors, maybe some polyfill? ive done that for sealed sub boxes but never in the doors... the doors actually dont have many holes in them.

Knowing what you like I am even more opposed to the Crescendo's.  A standard 7" mid will blow them out of the water in the mid bass...by a TON.  If you want the impact of a pro audio driver and still want midbass you NEED a ported enclosure for them.  If you go through that much trouble I'd buy something else as well though as what you have is a terrible compromise.

[cshaw 0]

i really would like to get my current hertz mids more on axis but porting them or going ib is a bit much work for how long i plan on having this car for.  honestly? maybe i just crave the top end midbass my sub should fill? today i compared my front stage with somebody who ran all 8" mids all around and i won on midbass........ haha. but.. that was the swap shop soooo.....yeah.  find of the day was an older orion 800.4. 130x4 at 14.4v. thought he said 200 for it, came back later, he said he wanted 240! idk about all that. 

 

got 25' 0ga wire today enough for big3 and a run to the back along with a 0ga in 4 4ga out dist. block plus batt terminals. 

[Julian 641]

Honestly you will hate having an 8 for rock. As everyone has said up top you will have huge gaps in your fr.

[///M5 2,833]

Especially crap halfway pro audio ones

[cshaw 0]

sundays list of things -  finish the big 3 with all 0ga, run speaker wire to the front doors. today, found out im missing a set screw on the remote wire on my md2d.... fastenal might have set screws? closed on on weekends  tried multiple bone yard amps set screws with no luck. picked up some 12ga speaker wire, 250a fuse, odds and ends mostly today. got power to the trunk, and couldnt help but rig up some bass for the drive home lol. my current hu has no rca outs i found out. got my old alpine 98-47 i might drop in for the time being.  im trying to find a 4ch amp that does around 150 rms or more bridged to have some head room for around 200-250. but all the brands i used to know for sq and made solid power sold out or are crazy expensive. im just getting back into audio after not changing anything for a few years and then not having a stereo for a few years on top of that.

[cshaw 0]

sooo this happened today. ive already used super glue before to fix it. maybe hot glue this time or both? the glue is ment to be flexible but vibrations cause havoc. i hate having the x/o's out on the door anyways. easy access for the -3db, 0db and +3db tweeter att buttons though!

 

nothing special. got everything up and running today. all wires ran to the front and amped. further tuning is needed on both amps and to blend sub stage and front stage together. never got around to finishing big 3 but it averages 13.5v with music. and dips to 12.8 on dubstep/bass songs. main wire from alt goes to the fuse box before going to the battery, so this is a major thing i have to do along with run a remote wire cause i lack hu experience. really want a 80 prs or an older alpine or eclipse with all the eq/ta they use to have. 

 

this sealed box has always been really awkward dimensions wise. always fits but not really. idk why ive worked around it, but i made it work. ideally, since this is my first trunk setup, i want to seal off the trunk and build a box with a removable, tunable port. on certain songs, it sounds like my car is falling apart in the trunk. cheaper and easier just to seal it off im guessing. 

Edited January 13, 2015 by cshaw

[cshaw 0]

just other setups ive done with this sub. 

sadly, i was lazy and this ported box was created using re's box calculator. suppose to be 4 cubes at 30 hz. 56 sq of port area. never found out what it actually was. gave it away locally. 

[hdrox88 142]

I keep seeing these stained boxes, makes me want to do my next that way. What wood and what stain color is this? Great looking box!

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

A machine screw should work for the set screw on the amp. Hot glue for the crossover fix. You right, sealing off that truck will eliminate trunk rattle in that car. The roof panel will be the next to rattle. lol

 

I have some 6.5 pods built for that car if interested. They get the 6.5 on axis with the drivers seat.

[cshaw 0]

that ported box was made of birch. not sure what stain i used, i made it in like 2008. 2 coats of stain and a few layers of poly clear.

 

do those pods go on the doors or in the kick panels? doh-zer?

 

anybody know what i can temperaly wire my remotes to untill i get a decent hu? idk i might just wait.

Edited January 15, 2015 by cshaw

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

A cool place to hide the passive x-overs you have now, is under the stereo. The panel in the cubby under the stereo has a removable panel on the top side. This allows changing the attn settings and phase from the drivers seat. Once set, just tuck them up in the cubby and re install the panel. 

[cshaw 0]

soooo, gained some voltage doing batt ground, and alt to batt. in 0ga. not having a head unit is killing me not being able to adjust L to R balance, t/a and having low voltage from my phone amongst many other things.  also had to add more super glue to my driver door mid. this is the before shot. wasnt sure what it would do to the rubber so i left that how it is.

soooo stupid how the hertz hsk's are made. anyone see whats wrong here?

been jammin out in the warehouse when im not workin on the car!

[lithium 358]

sundays list of things -  finish the big 3 with all 0ga, run speaker wire to the front doors. today, found out im missing a set screw on the remote wire on my md2d.... fastenal might have set screws? closed on on weekends  tried multiple bone yard amps set screws with no luck. picked up some 12ga speaker wire, 250a fuse, odds and ends mostly today. got power to the trunk, and couldnt help but rig up some bass for the drive home lol. my current hu has no rca outs i found out. got my old alpine 98-47 i might drop in for the time being.  im trying to find a 4ch amp that does around 150 rms or more bridged to have some head room for around 200-250. but all the brands i used to know for sq and made solid power sold out or are crazy expensive. im just getting back into audio after not changing anything for a few years and then not having a stereo for a few years on top of that.

ppi 900.4 or any other amps built on the same board (polk, hertz, etc). 

[lithium 358]

amazing goop works pretty well on sub surrounds, should work on your mid

Edited January 21, 2015 by lithium