BluX

What's up guys, this is my MJ-18 in a 4.5 cubic foot box tuned to 30Hz. I had a video up before, but the box had some leaks and a few things that could have been better. This is the updated version, after regluing and carpeting the box, tweaking the amp and radio, redoing grounds, etc... I'm playing about 5 different songs, shaking a can, doing a pretty good water trick, trying to get capture the mirror moving but I think it was too dark to see, got some excursion going on, just some stuff moving around, and a pretty cool napkin window trick lol. Hope ya'll enjoy!

lol yea i kno my girl has some good lookin legs, she's 18 btw i shoulda introduced her!

Boo... cargo net doesn't fit anymore Guess I'll just have to fabricate something.

Wish I had heard of it before I ran over to Walmart and picked up a bottle of Gorilla Glue and some Loctite. Next time I would use more clamps but I have a general rule of 1 screw per 5 inches because last time I built a box, I had screws every 2 inches and I was told it wasn't necessary. Anyways, I finally finished up the install. Got all of the box carpeting and gluing completed. I took out the cargo area carpet and redid all grounds in the vehicle. I rearranged the wiring in the front of the cargo area, where the sub box lies before the amp. I took out the cargo latches so that the sub box would lie flatter and then I got the great idea of bolting the box to the cargo floor. There was a rubber plug that led straight to above the spare tire, so I took measurements and then drilled a hole into the box. I gathered a bolt, some lock nuts, a few washers, a rubber gasket, and my Loctite. I assembled the pieces and put the sub box in the cargo and put Loctite in between the rubber gasket and the wood to form a tight seal. After I finished installing the box, I wanted to make sure that my amp gains were tuned correctly. I set my head unit to flat, MX off, unhooked my sub and inserted the leads into their determined terminals. I set the LPF to 70Hz and the bass boost to off. After some adjusting, I got the gain to hit right on spot of my destined voltage, 48.9V. All went well, and the bass seems more controlled and not getting sloppy as I had noticed before, so early on. I am now well aware of what a leaky box sounds like, and a sealed ported box sounds like. One thing I was unsure of was, what exactly is the MX on/off function? To me, it just seemed like it caused the overall volume to increase faster as I turned the knob, like what I would play at 26/35 with the MX off, would sound like 15/35 with the MX on. Before the sub box was put in it's proper location After I pulled the plug out, I cut a small hole in the carpet so that I could insert the bolt through here and tighten it from underneath the truck, providing a sub box that does not slide around and somewhat of a theft deterrent, but of course they could just undo the 6 wood screws... T-nuts next, maybe? Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

How often are you planning on competing with this setup? What are your listening tastes?

I had one C clamp lol... I did use screws, yes, but on the 1st baffle, most of the screws were used, then the 2nd baffle, only 4 were used and those screws were tightened into the braces. Shoulda used more clamps

With carpet... install pics later.

ditto, and make sure the serial numbers haven't been scraped off or anything lol.

Well, I would look for a reputable sub and amp that has warranties, but that's just me. The Mach5 IXL can be had for $199 but you need an amp that can do about 800 watts at 4 ohms, so add at least another $200, plus a minimum of $50 for wiring and such... and wood for a box, so about $50 more bucks and that's only minimum.

or you can just buy from someone on the forum that has good refs... more likely not to buy stolen or blown items that way.

I've had mine since I was 4. I lost my hearing when I was 2. I can't say that I remember what it sounds like. I underwent a very different training technique than other people. A lot of the people that have cochlear implants speak with a nasal voice, like many deaf or hard of hearing people. I know many people that were trained to read lips and sign, while I sat in a room with a therapist and she covered her mouth and said something, then asked for me to repeat what she said. This went on for about 7 or 8 years and over time, this training did very much, prove to be beneficial. My hearing became so good that I could go into the closet and someone on the other side of the door would whisper, and I could come out and repeat what was just said on the other side. As far as how bass sounds with my cochlear implant, it sounds great. It's a good feeling when you're riding down the road and you get chills and a tear in the eye from a deep bass note or a clear, smooth sounding vocal, and think to yourself... yeah, I put this shit in!

got a budget?

its impossible to predict what type of box configuration is going to be the best for you... all we can do is give you an approximate assumption and in most cases for a hatchback, it is usually subs up port back. this is why i don't compete... if i had enough money to buy a meter and any type of equipment i wanted, i could sit in my garage all day long and build boxes and tweak my stuff to see what works best. so unless you have a lot of money, i don't exactly recommend competing.

a lot of people say subs up port back, but i've even heard that subs up port to the left in certain vehicles scores higher on a meter, but it is really just a matter of experimenting with the box configuration as far as placement of the box, the port and the subs, in order to achieve the highest dB's. i once read on a forum that a guy had a jeep cherokee and he would try many different things with his termlab meter, anywhere from moving his seats up a few inches, putting duct tape around the subs, moving his box around, opening the window, putting pressure on his door from the outside, and turning his box around backwards etc...