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getting close to having the wall done and wired up on 5 of the small amps( swaping to 5x 2500w rms amps in the near future , still need to seal it to the b pillars and other work but i got plenty of time before the next comp

progress is slow but i got the port cut and in today for testing and 3 out of the 5 sub amps installed its enough for some low power testing /checking making sure the enclosure doesnt have anything loose etc hopefully ill have enough time this weekend to get all 5 wired up and playing

closer , waiting ont he first 2 baffle layers to dry and then i can glue this one to those and install it for real

getting the inner shell done tonight

Who remembers when I use to post my "REALTIME" videos? Well they are coming back

getting older sure does suck

recoil has new amps coming amp ill be getting 3x of the 2500's to replace the 1200's , i also did start to deaden the doors got the driver side door outer skin done today , hoping to get one door done each day , i think im going to get some 150 mil stuff to do the inner panel with instead of using the 394mil stuff on that as well

You do subs up in hatchbacks, vans and SUV for example but in trunk cars doing subs up would rattle the trunk lid bad and that rattling is difficult or impossible to stop even after applying deadening so generally not recommended. You can try to use the box with subs firing forward or back, firing back is usually louder. Any other questions let me know.

I would definitely look into seat lift kits to fit a box of proper size for those subs, make that enclosure with 3/4" birch wood, dual layer for the baffle, proper bracing inside, specs are 4 cubic feet net 64 square inches of port area tuned to 32Hz, I believe the sub cutouts need to be 7.34". Depending on how much space you find to work with I could fine tune that spec to increase output and low end extension as possible.

finally got started on it heres some pics form today tipping out the trunk build and starting to mock panels up front baffle will be tripple thick with dbl layer everywere else inner panels are a lil bit cheaper ply with the outer layers being 13 ply layout is going to be 3 subs across the top , and 2 on the bottoms on left and right of the baffle with a 225sqin swapable slot port tuned for 28hz for daily use and more then likley 45hz for burping

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I have a VW Golf (2017). It has the basic entertainment system. I wanted to go with a high level to my DSP. I had nothing but problems going that route. The VW head unit is looking for a specific resistance at the speakers. I was constantly getting distortion coming in and out depending on the recording and song (It would happen multiple times through a song). This happened on multiple music platforms. It didn't matter how we set the headunit eq or volume at. If it was flat, below flat, frequencies turned down or up. It always came back to distorting at some point. I did get the work completed through a reputable shop and was thankful that all the diagnosis did not cost me anything. There is a unit that can be installed that integrates the VW head unit and has RCA outputs (I don't remember what it is) Ultimately I had went to the aftermarket headunit. Zero issues since.

I am installing a new stand alone audio system in my Lexus LS430. The Mark Levinson system will not be used anymore. All alterations are reversible. I am using the Kenwood XXV-01D 25th anniversary headunit. The control panel is installed in the ceiling area, the radio itself in the glove compartment. I have extended the flat cable to seperate the panel and the radio. I have drawn a new enclosure for the control panel which is located in the area where you normally store a pair of sunglasses. The glass break sensors and the button to switch these on or off are implemented in the housing.

Subs get stinky when they had enough power, but I wouldn't try that method on type rs, that is a method more adequate for SPL drivers. BTW make very sure you entered valid data to WinISD or you may be led to the wrong conclusions.

You just need to make sure your subs do not go over Xmax at the operating power, but since your amplifier exceeds by far the RMS of your subs you will have to be very careful not going too far, generally oversized enclosures and sub overpowering in a hazardous mix with a very likely outcome of subs mechanical damage so you need to set the gain of the amp not to the clipping point but rather lesser that the subs can can tolerate. You can find maximum power in a similar way as before, in WinISD up power until Xmax is reached in the enclosure size you chose and you can clamp the amp to roughly reach that power and set gains accordingly so you can't go over the limit on normal use.

Correct. The reason for so many is due to some people using multiple runs of power wire from the front of the vehicle to the back. In my truck for example I have 9 positive runs of 1/0 and 9 negative runs of 1/0 (18 total) coming from my 3 alts under the hood to the back batteries. So when people have larger systems with over 1600amps worth of alternator charging, multiple 5,000+ watt rms amps, etc one single run of 1/0 or even 4/0 coming from under the hood simply cant handle the current load. Now take into consideration of the length of said wire which reduces its current rating, resistance and voltage drop in the wire, hell even if you're pulling the maximum current limit from whatever wire you're running your going to have to factor in heat and even more resistance. So that is why there's multiple spots for additional wires to be connected so you can adapt to your needs and overcome obstacles and restrictions in the wire. Hopefully that helps.

Cool. None of my enclosures even have screws. Never had a "leak" or anything break apart. Odd. 80 amp, and not blowing the fuse. You are no where near, peak power. Not even half. Sooooo, your good. No breaking shit,.. from power anyway. Edit- maybe just a really poorly built enclosure. I've never, in my decades of audio, had the privilege of seeing anyone "blow" their box apart,, unless it was a pile of wood just hucked together, or a prefab. Even then, it wasnt from "power". But good luck to your goal mate.

I just built my last rig not to long ago and I am already at it again. The reason I chose the parts for the last build was due to not having a mainboard that could support my new 5gig Fiber internet. There wasn't many boards in the latest gen at the time that had what I needed. You can see that build here **** This link below is the OLD 11th Gen build that is now my VR rig, you can see the NEW 14th gen if you keep scrolling**** While that build worked GREAT, I also have another issue. I have a Valve Index VR setup. My main PC runs 3 monitors and every time I want to use VR I have to unplug display ports and restart the PC. When I am done I have to plug it all back in and restart the PC again. And then after that I have to reset my monitor configuration because it flips out when I start making changes like that. Easy to put back, but a pain none the less. I just want to pick the headset up and use it without all that drama. So I decided I wanted a PC dedicated JUST for my VR. My first choice was a gaming laptop. I have one I use all the time that has an RTX 2070 in it. I plugged it in and it works pretty good (for VR). The only problem is for fast games like VR racing, it is pretty weak. Not anywhere near the quality of my PC. So I decided to build another gaming rig instead that I can dedicate to that. While trying to figure out what I was going to use for the build, I decided that my "old" rig from March (2023) with the 11th gen could be the perfect tower instead and I can build a NEW NEW for my main rig instead. I also have a spare RTX 3090 not being used that I spent $2500 on during covid lockdown. So my VR PC will be my "old" PC with a 3090 in it and I will take my 4090 and put it in the new rig since it is still the latest card. A little confusing but it might make sense by the time I am done with both of them. New build: CORSAIR iCUE 7000X RGB Full-Tower ATX MSI Meg Z790 Godlike Max Motherboard EVGA Supernova 1600 P+, 80+ Platinum 1600W PS Intel Core i9 14900k Corsair H150i Elite Capellix Liquid Cpu cooler 128G Corsair Vengeance DDR5 Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC Edition GPU Samsung 990 Pro m.2 2TB (main) Samsung 990 Pro m.2 2TB Samsung 990 Pro m.2 2TB (3) Alienware 38" 3840x1600 @ 144hz 1ms (in Surround mode @ 11520x1600) I g

Jesus my guy. Come play some warzone with me. Edit- my next buy is a 240 (plus) Hz oled. Maybe the Rog rig. Not sure. May wait a tick. Monitors are just getting sooooo good. But, i want a rad oled thats wicked fast. Just 2 g7 240hz (27 and 32 inch) here. I want a nice oled.

Done!

I still cant get over how huge those 4090s are LOL. Like putting an cinderblock on your motherboard.

dueling gaming pc’s 😁 I networked the drives so I can use the “older” pc as a storage server also. Win! The one on the left is the previous PC but with an RTX 3090 in it. The 4090 was migrated over to the new tower.

Alright now for the fun stuff. For subs I'm going with 2 Sundown audio x-8v.4's. Why? because 8's are Rad, and I'm trying to keep my care as usable as possible. But also because it's different. The original plan was 3 but I was having difficulty making a box for three that would work within my size constraints and the SA 2500.1 D would struggle to run 3. Maybe down the line I'll go for broke and run 4 off of a beefy 4k for shits and giggles, but most likely I'll sell off the extra 8. The Box that the subs are sitting on is a CT Sounds dual 8 enclosure with 3/4 MDF, a kerf port tuned to 39hz, and abou .81cu ft per woofer. It's on the smaller side but it was cheap and I figured it would be good to compare against a future box with a full 1cu ft per woofer and 32hz tuning. But first, I needed to fix a few things. These Cup terminals. Known for being leaky, So lets fix that. This is some Second Skin Butyl Rope that I had leftover from my last build. This stuff rocks. It's especially good at silencing license plates. This worked for me before with a sealed enclosure, just gotta really work it into the cracks. Next I put some ferrules on the wires because ferrules are awesome And Last I used a little Tessa tape (Fabric Tape) just to make sure the wires don't rattle against the box. And that's pretty much where I have to stop, at least until I gut my other car, and start building an amp/battery Rack.

Wiring/batteries: Honestly, 1 run of 0ga +/- should be fine unless you're pushing absurd lengths. Can calculate voltage drop across wiring to get wherever ya need as far as Vdrop goes. Same goes for batteries. That's plenty for the power you're running. As always though, you can always adjust/upgrade if you find your electrical isn't performing how you want. I don't have any hands-on with those rigs, so I'll take your word on the ground loop shenanigans. --- Alternator: Again, prefacing this with I don't have any hands-on with these. So if you've already done the research on it, apologies. Just want to have a talking point on it. I'll also add that if you wanted to bypass ELM altogether, ask mechman for an external regulator. If you go that route, throw the wiring harness in the trash and wire the +/- on the regulator with 8ga tinned OFC. In my experience, the 14(?) gauge the kits come with creates a bit of a feedback loop of sorts and yields inconsistent voltage. the tl;dr is voltage drop across the sense wires causes the regulator to read low voltage, increasing power, increasing voltage drop, and so on until it sees an equilibrium. At which point, the regulator eases up, eliminating the voltage drop, then reading a higher voltage, and so on until that sees an equilibrium. Then the whole process repeats cyclically. See it more with larger battery banks or capacitors than with smaller stuff, ironically. Would this one work? https://www.mechman.com/alternators/acura/ilx/2-4l/2013-2015/240-amp-alternator-for-select-2-4l-honda-acura/ If so, honestly, you could probably ditch the rear battery and replace w/ capacitors to save some weight, or throw a smaller one in there. Idle output might be challenge though, IIRC these hondas have a smallish crank pulley. That's something you'll have to weigh the pros/cons of on your end. --- Trunk coating: Be careful with any sort of painted on material, especially in low spots like the trunk, and absolutely don't use it on exterior. It likes to trap water between the coating and base material and can cause some corrosion issues. Nice idea on the off-label use though. Always like to see those sorts of experiments. --- Rear speakers: depends how stiff they are. Rear stage usually isn't a huge consideration on builds like this. But there are 2 trains of thought on it: 1. Remove them altogether so you have a gaping hole to let pressure through to the cab. Test and check to see if your system performs better with them in or out. It's not always better because of resonances. That turns your box+trunk into a psuedo series-tuned-6th-order. 2. Install the rear speakers and leave the buckets in place to protect them. The pressure from the sub will shred the things otherwise. Depending on how it goes together and how stiff it is, you could use sound deadener to firm up the area and bolster your efforts to seal off those drivers.

Looks solid! ------------------- I think you're on the right track using tinned OFC for exterior wire, but saving a few bucks using raw OFC for interior. Nothing wrong there. Nice to see another hydraulic crimper user. Only thing I'd add is to mind the lugs you use. Closed ended, tinned copper lugs are the way to go. Solder and crimp lugs are quite different! For heat shrink on exterior wiring: Make sure ya grab adhesive lined. Or, if that's not in the cards for one reason or another, you can get away by putting a thin layer of high temp hot glue over the area, then putting the heat shrink over that and warming until the glue melts and oozes out. Not as cheesy as it sounds, that's all the weather-sealed heat shrink is - just pre-applied for ease of use. I'd also get some wiring loom to add some protection to the cable. Bumps and abrasion can take their toll over the years. Get the woven variety - less apt to trap and hold moisture than the plastic corrugated stuff. ------------------- Other notes: - Don't forget the grommet when passing wires into the vehicle. Butyl putty is awesome for sealing stuff up and excluding salt/moisture long-term. It doesn't cure - stays soft like chewing gum. - Can also consider a pass-thru bulkhead if that's up your alley - Alternator wise, mechman, singer are the favorites. I've used DC power and been happy but that was many years ago. Not sure where they stand now

You can also setup your gains low making sure power delivered is within drivers specs. No one is to say if that distorted signal will make any difference, It's all about being prepared to prevent a bad outcome. Much luck and if you have any other questions let us know.

got all the bracing in and done and reinstaleld the front baffle its now permantly attached and sealed , while i was at it i decided to invert the top center sub just for looks , not sure if im going to leave it inverted hence why i just pulled the speaker wire out of the port to hook it up for now . the motor is dangerously close to drivers and passenger heads , im a lil owrried somone might smack there head on it in an accident or say in an panic/emergency braking situation so not sure if im going to leave it inverted, ill do some testing with it this way in 2 days when the glue and edhesives i used are fully cured

getting really close now

Depens on what you mean by "together" but if I imagine right you would have a parallel tuned 6th order bandpass, still that would be useless because in such enclosures the chamber sizes are of different sizes, port area and port tuning of each port are vastly different, in other words that wouldn't work at all.

You are running 1300W of power in your audio, no need for any other electrical upgrades if just playing music, No need to be checking your voltage unless something in your car is not working properly, the amps will work just fine in the 12-14V range no problem. If you are just curious as to why the voltage is being regulated the way it does, just have your electrical checked and then ask your concerns, to me, if your car works fine and your audio works fine I would just leave it alone.

There is a thread, though it maybe buried now that has a bunch of radios that people tested with the dd-1 for max undistorted volume. you will probably have to search for it though. If the radio is not showing distortion direct through the rca's or while attached to an amp with the gain at 0 when you use a 0db tone for 40hz and 1000hz then it is safe to say the radio is distortion free at max volume through the rca preouts. In that case then set your amp(s) using your desired overlap -5, -10, etc db level at the maximum headunit volume. You could use a lower volume if you really wanted but it won't change much except the fact that the radios preout voltages (5 volts as you said in your case) typically wont be achieved unless the volume is all the way up. So if your volume goes to 40 and its clean at 40 you will get 5 volts preout voltage, but say if it goes to 40 but you set it to 20 to tune your amps then your rca preout voltage will only be 2.5volts or there abouts which will require you to increase the gain on the amp to compensate for that lower signal due to having lesser preout voltage. So you should just use the max cleanest volume.

i have a Alpine 9887 and a scope, the RCA outs dont clip at full volume. the internal amp clips at volume 21 out of 35

Some but not all headunits will not distort at max volume when only using rca preouts. Now if you're using the internal amp of the headunit that will usually distort long before the rca preouts will so you will want to use that as your max volume setting.

If you have a subpar electrical you can go with this: Rockford Fosgate Power T1500-1BDCP It will give you like 1200W at 4 ohm and close to 2K at 2 ohm, it is expensive unfortunately but it can work on bad electrical also fits 4AWG cable. There are cheaper alternatives, Taramps smart 3 bass and the SIA series from sundown BUT full bridge amps need costly perfect electrical, 12.5 V minimum under max load or these amps can get damaged. These type of amps better leave alone in entry level systems.

got the 3rd sub amp in and have the subs firing back into the cabin , am going to a compition this saturday so need to pick up another sono tube to cut down for a higher tuned port , lil scared i might loose the windshield , video below is very low power

I think these subwoofers would be a good option: Sundown Audio SA-10 D4 Rev.3 Rockford Fosgate P3D4-10 Kicker 43CWR104

See how it goes, if you have any other questions let us know.

Check your dms my brutha......

Your alternator capacity seems to me fine for the job, if you mainly play with your car on you should have no problems, if you spend a lot of time playing with your car off then you could probably consider a second battery. I guess the best way to determine if you should upgrade is use your system for a few weeks and see if your battery is holding up well and then decide what to do from there.

No, I didn't miss word it. I was just wrong. Thank you for the clarification. I thought it measured both. I must admit, I only skimmed through the manual lol.

Yes, you can and should use the DD-1 on your DSP as well. Treat your DSP as a headunit, use the 0db tone and the appropriate tone for the appropriate channel outputs (IE, 1khz for front/rear dedicated dsp outputs, and 40hz for dedicated sub outputs on your dsp), this way you have the maximum clean a/c voltage output from your DSP. Also make sure all EQs on the DSP are flat when doing this as well! Now the one thing to be careful of is the a/c voltage output, you don't want to set it higher than your amps inputs can handle, so after tuning with the DD-1 you may want to check the rca a/c voltage output of the DSP because the DSP can and will take your 4v rca signal and turn it into 6-9+ volts output. So if your amps can only handle a 5volt input then you will want to back the voltage down some on the DSP, and then go and match voltage for each output. Then use the DD-1 on your amplifiers using the appropriate tones with your desired gain overlap setting (-5db, -10db, etc). I think my Audison Bitone DSP was putting out 11.7 volts clean when tuned with my DD-1 but I backed all the levels down to 4.5volts that I verified with my multimeter and then I have my amp gains up about 1/8, its very very little.

I'm still alive...... and still an asshole!

OK . . . when I got the call from Steve yesterday on the second T15kw, I gotta tell you that I was pretty excited - so excited that I walked over to engineering right away and shared the news with the T15kw build team, and of course Tony D'. You should of seen the look on their faces . . . everyone is very excited about this project - a single vehicle with two T15kws . . . the thought of that just stands the hair up on the back of my neck! We're even more excited that Northern Cal's mad scientiest is behind it! Who better to ensure that these amplifiers will perform to their fullest than Steve Meade? I read about the last five pages of the thread and all I'm going to say is that two T15kws will be more than enough power for any and all speakers Meade can cram into this vehicle. What you have to take into consideration is that the T15kw is not like any other amplifer on this planet. Although it is a class A/B amplifier, it does not behave like one in many respects. Furthermore, it does not sound like any Class A/B amplifier these ears have ever heard - and I've owned some nice ones! To NOT use Hybrid Technology power on the mids and highs - now that would be criminal! When you guys think of power in watts, you're bound by the amplifier technology of today - one has to think differently when talking about Hybrid Technology amplification. Certainly, a watt is a watt - but traditional amplifier behave quite differently from the T15kw when driven into clipping . . . I think it's about time for Tony D' to make a forum appearance at SMD so that he can elaborate on what I speak of. What do you guys think?