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Help me finish up my tahoe Build, got a few questions


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Alright, so I've lurked on these forums for quite some time, and im now in the process of building my first real system so I would love some input/advice.

For starters, I am a fan of Kicker L7's, I know a lot of people may hate on them but that is what I would like to run.

My vehicle is a 2004 Tahoe LT.

Currently I have 2 stinger spv44 batteries, a kicker zx2500.1 amp, a JVC touch screen head unit, and 1 4 ohm 15" L7 wired to a 2 ohm load in a super bass pro box. Im running 4 powerbass 6.5's in my doors, and 2 unknown tweeters (friend owns an installation shop and gave them to me for free). Everything else is still stock.

My current setup is I have my stock everstart battery under the hood, im running 0 gauge wire from that battery (which I will reference to as Battery 1) to a stinger spv44 in the trunk (Battery 2), and then that is connected the other spv44 (battery 3) right beside it. I have 2 200 amperage fuses on the wire running from battery 1 to battery 2, the first fuse less than 12" from battery 1, and the 2nd fuse less than 12" from battery 2. I have wire connecting both of the positive terminals between batteries 2 and 3 and wire connecting both negative terminals between batteries 2 and 3. Battery 2 and battery 3 are also both grounded in separate locations. Im running wire from battery 3 to the zx2500.1 amp with another 200 amperage fuse on that wire leading to the amp. The amp is also grounded in a different location than battery 2 and 3.

I plan to upgrade my system to 2 2 ohm 15" L7's here shortly to keep them at a 2 ohm load, build a vented box with separate air chambers, 6 cubic feet of air space per sub.

Now that I have explained everything to (hopefully) provide all of the information that you need, here are my questions.

1) Do I have both of the extra batteries and the amp all wired up correctly? All of the wire ran is 0 gauge and there are only the 3 fuses listed in the set up described above, is there anything that I need to change related to how its wired? Do I need to upgrade the battery under my hood and/or my alternator?

2) I dont want my box to take up all of my trunk, I am an avid paintball player so I still need room in the back for my gear bag and cases of paint. If I was to put the box as close to behind the 2nd row of seats as I could so I still had room behind the box for my gear, would there be any significant SPL or SQ loss?

3) My 2nd row seats are bucket seats and not a bench and I currently have the amp mounted on the floor between them, It seemed like a great Idea at first but now im worried about someone potentially spilling something on the amp and ruining it, if the box is built with 1" thick MDF, could I safely mount the amp to the box or would it receive too much vibrations and damage it? The box will be carpeted and mounted to the floor.

4) I listen to all music from country to classic rock, to deathcore, to rap, to dubstep, so pretty much anything and everything, what would be the best Hz to tune the box to for good daily listening, I want the system to be loud, but I want as much of a full range as possible.

5) I want to amp the 6.5's and my tweeters, all of the 6.5's are 75 watt rms at 4 ohm (im not sure if they are DVC or not, can't remember) should I get a 4 or 6 channel amp, and what amp would you guys recommend for them? Currently the 1 l7 already overpowers them tremendously when running off of the headunit alone and thats with the zx2500's gain at 5%, and 0% on the bass boost.

6) Should I put support bars inside the box for those subs or do you think the wood will be thick enough to prevent any vibrations?

7) If mounting the amps on the box is a bad idea, all of my seats are leather, could I mount the amp im getting for the 6.5's/tweeters on the back of a leather seat or could/would that cause me any problems or be a bad idea?

8 ) I keep my EQ on my head unit on flat but the subwoofer level at +10, the treble in the music starts to distort at alot lower volumes when playing music off of my ipod (its EQ is also set to flat) which is connected via USB when compared to listening to music off of a CD. To explain a little better, I have these same songs on my itunes list, I burnt a CD with 10 of the songs and can go to volume 40 before it distorts, but when listening to the same songs from my ipod, they start to distort at volume 32, what is causing that?

9) Sense space is an issue here, is sub and port both up fine? I've been told sub up port back is better, but if I load up gear behind the box, I don't want to choke the port of air space.

10) Once I'm running 2 L7's, do you think those 6 speakers, even after being amplified will be enough to have a good balance of lows, mids, and high's? I would like to keep my subs as loud as I can without clipping them, but I still want to be able to hear the words haha.

11) With only having the sub amplified, the sub is slightly out of phase/delayed with rest of the music, this will be my first set up amping my mids/highs, will amping the mids/high's fix the slight delay that I hear?

12) This may be a bit un-related as far as I know, but about 2 weeks after my so far system install I got a check engine light with the message, "reduced engine power" and im now getting 0 throttle response. I was told by a certified mechanic that it is an electrical issue, do you think this was caused by my system or is it just a separate problem?

I know I asked A LOT of questions but I want to have this system done right and I know the brilliant people of the SMD community have the answers. Any comments, help, answers or suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks everybody!

*P.S. if I put this in the wrong section, please just move it instead of deleting it and send me a PM as to where it was moved to, thanks again!

My Youtube Channel

Trying to guess the SPL of a system with out a meter is like trying to guess how much air pressure is in a compressor tank just by letting some of the air out.

...Seems like 90 psi...

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Alright, so I've lurked on these forums for quite some time, and im now in the process of building my first real system so I would love some input/advice.

For starters, I am a fan of Kicker L7's, I know a lot of people may hate on them but that is what I would like to run.

My vehicle is a 2004 Tahoe LT.

Currently I have 2 stinger spv44 batteries, a kicker zx2500.1 amp, a JVC touch screen head unit, and 1 4 ohm 15" L7 wired to a 2 ohm load in a super bass pro box. Im running 4 powerbass 6.5's in my doors, and 2 unknown tweeters (friend owns an installation shop and gave them to me for free). Everything else is still stock.

My current setup is I have my stock everstart battery under the hood, im running 0 gauge wire from that battery (which I will reference to as Battery 1) to a stinger spv44 in the trunk (Battery 2), and then that is connected the other spv44 (battery 3) right beside it. I have 2 200 amperage fuses on the wire running from battery 1 to battery 2, the first fuse less than 12" from battery 1, and the 2nd fuse less than 12" from battery 2. I have wire connecting both of the positive terminals between batteries 2 and 3 and wire connecting both negative terminals between batteries 2 and 3. Battery 2 and battery 3 are also both grounded in separate locations. Im running wire from battery 3 to the zx2500.1 amp with another 200 amperage fuse on that wire leading to the amp. The amp is also grounded in a different location than battery 2 and 3.
Run the Power and Grounds from the amps straight to the batteries in the rear. No need to run the amp to a different ground, guess it no big deal though.

I plan to upgrade my system to 2 2 ohm 15" L7's here shortly to keep them at a 2 ohm load, build a vented box with separate air chambers, 6 cubic feet of air space per sub.

Now that I have explained everything to (hopefully) provide all of the information that you need, here are my questions.

1) Do I have both of the extra batteries and the amp all wired up correctly? All of the wire ran is 0 gauge and there are only the 3 fuses listed in the set up described above, is there anything that I need to change related to how its wired? Do I need to upgrade the battery under my hood and/or my alternator? No need to upgrade the alternator until you see voltage dipping below the batteries resting voltage. If it stays in the high 12's or low 13's during play then you should be ok. Below that and it will start taking its toll.

2) I dont want my box to take up all of my trunk, I am an avid paintball player so I still need room in the back for my gear bag and cases of paint. If I was to put the box as close to behind the 2nd row of seats as I could so I still had room behind the box for my gear, would there be any significant SPL or SQ loss? Probably minimal in your case, as long as the box is adequate for the subs placement will factor some but you have to choose whats more important.

3) My 2nd row seats are bucket seats and not a bench and I currently have the amp mounted on the floor between them, It seemed like a great Idea at first but now im worried about someone potentially spilling something on the amp and ruining it, if the box is built with 1" thick MDF, could I safely mount the amp to the box or would it receive too much vibrations and damage it? The box will be carpeted and mounted to the floor.
Amp mounted to the box is perfectly fine if the box is built correctly!

4) I listen to all music from country to classic rock, to deathcore, to rap, to dubstep, so pretty much anything and everything, what would be the best Hz to tune the box to for good daily listening, I want the system to be loud, but I want as much of a full range as possible.
I would tune to mid 30's (34-36) for a wide range, just dont go over board on port area and it will play wider and not be as peaky

5) I want to amp the 6.5's and my tweeters, all of the 6.5's are 75 watt rms at 4 ohm (im not sure if they are DVC or not, can't remember) should I get a 4 or 6 channel amp, and what amp would you guys recommend for them? Currently the 1 l7 already overpowers them tremendously when running off of the headunit alone and thats with the zx2500's gain at 5%, and 0% on the bass boost.
A 4 channel should be fine, just find a reputable brand that has enough power for your needs. (maybe 125 x 4 at 4 ohms) Most components sets are 4 ohm, I would do two components sets instead of what you have for ease of wiring and being able to keep the L/R separation with a single 4 channel amp.

6) Should I put support bars inside the box for those subs or do you think the wood will be thick enough to prevent any vibrations?
YES

7) If mounting the amps on the box is a bad idea, all of my seats are leather, could I mount the amp im getting for the 6.5's/tweeters on the back of a leather seat or could/would that cause me any problems or be a bad idea? Its fine on the box

8 ) I keep my EQ on my head unit on flat but the subwoofer level at +10, the treble in the music starts to distort at alot lower volumes when playing music off of my ipod (its EQ is also set to flat) which is connected via USB when compared to listening to music off of a CD. To explain a little better, I have these same songs on my itunes list, I burnt a CD with 10 of the songs and can go to volume 40 before it distorts, but when listening to the same songs from my ipod, they start to distort at volume 32, what is causing that?
IDK, sound like your settings somehow. If you can control the volume on the actual Ipod itself while its hooked up the turn it down to 75%. Any setup I have heard where you can control the volume on the ipod while hooked up clips and distorts all to hell if its all the way up. The Sublevel on the headunit should only control the voltage input level being allowed to come from the amp. You want it set to 100% and the gain adjusted from the amp side. The other EQ setting a preference, always have bass boost turned off.

9) Sense space is an issue here, is sub and port both up fine? I've been told sub up port back is better, but if I load up gear behind the box, I don't want to choke the port of air space. I would still do sub up port back. It wont be a big of an issua as you think unless your a slob and keep the back completely full of shit.

10) Once I'm running 2 L7's, do you think those 6 speakers, even after being amplified will be enough to have a good balance of lows, mids, and high's? I would like to keep my subs as loud as I can without clipping them, but I still want to be able to hear the words haha. Again, I would buy 2 nice component sets for ease of installation, sound and being able to keep L/R separation with only one 4 channel amp.

11) With only having the sub amplified, the sub is slightly out of phase/delayed with rest of the music, this will be my first set up amping my mids/highs, will amping the mids/high's fix the slight delay that I hear? You should'nt hear any delay at all. Thats a different problem. Maybe the sub is out of phase

12) This may be a bit un-related as far as I know, but about 2 weeks after my so far system install I got a check engine light with the message, "reduced engine power" and im now getting 0 throttle response. I was told by a certified mechanic that it is an electrical issue, do you think this was caused by my system or is it just a separate problem?
Should not be related to the stereo unless the alternator is fucked, but then you would get dead batteries, a battery light on dash or something. Not a power or throttle response issue.

I know I asked A LOT of questions but I want to have this system done right and I know the brilliant people of the SMD community have the answers. Any comments, help, answers or suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks everybody!

*P.S. if I put this in the wrong section, please just move it instead of deleting it and send me a PM as to where it was moved to, thanks again!

2012 F250 Lariat 6.7, lifted on 22's and 35's

4 DSS Ethos 18's walled tuned low

2 Ampere Audio 7500.1's, Ampere 125.4

Rockford Pro Audio front stage

9 batteries, Mechman Elite 370 alt

Team DSS, Team Ampere Audio

2014 Meca Mod 3 TN State champ / 3rd place Mod 3 World Finals

32d73d87-e373-4a49-8914-d25decfa6dcc_zps

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picture explain more than words here

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06 Trailblazer ss

2 Team shok industries tsx 18s
Phoenix Gold ''THE ONE''
2 Phoenix gold 800.4
4 crescendo mp6.
2 crescendo mp8
bass processor

Dc power 270xp

150ft 1/0 ofc sky high cable
1 juicebox lithium 0.5kwh 14v/40ah
kenwood dnx8120
BCAE1.com
YouTube channel : REaudioxxx1
build log: http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/160106-trailblazer-ss-xxx/

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Alright, so I've lurked on these forums for quite some time, and im now in the process of building my first real system so I would love some input/advice.

For starters, I am a fan of Kicker L7's, I know a lot of people may hate on them but that is what I would like to run.

My vehicle is a 2004 Tahoe LT.

Currently I have 2 stinger spv44 batteries, a kicker zx2500.1 amp, a JVC touch screen head unit, and 1 4 ohm 15" L7 wired to a 2 ohm load in a super bass pro box. Im running 4 powerbass 6.5's in my doors, and 2 unknown tweeters (friend owns an installation shop and gave them to me for free). Everything else is still stock.

My current setup is I have my stock everstart battery under the hood, im running 0 gauge wire from that battery (which I will reference to as Battery 1) to a stinger spv44 in the trunk (Battery 2), and then that is connected the other spv44 (battery 3) right beside it. I have 2 200 amperage fuses on the wire running from battery 1 to battery 2, the first fuse less than 12" from battery 1, and the 2nd fuse less than 12" from battery 2. I have wire connecting both of the positive terminals between batteries 2 and 3 and wire connecting both negative terminals between batteries 2 and 3. Battery 2 and battery 3 are also both grounded in separate locations. Im running wire from battery 3 to the zx2500.1 amp with another 200 amperage fuse on that wire leading to the amp. The amp is also grounded in a different location than battery 2 and 3.

Run the Power and Grounds from the amps straight to the batteries in the rear. No need to run the amp to a different ground, guess it no big deal though.

I plan to upgrade my system to 2 2 ohm 15" L7's here shortly to keep them at a 2 ohm load, build a vented box with separate air chambers, 6 cubic feet of air space per sub.

Now that I have explained everything to (hopefully) provide all of the information that you need, here are my questions.

1) Do I have both of the extra batteries and the amp all wired up correctly? All of the wire ran is 0 gauge and there are only the 3 fuses listed in the set up described above, is there anything that I need to change related to how its wired? Do I need to upgrade the battery under my hood and/or my alternator? No need to upgrade the alternator until you see voltage dipping below the batteries resting voltage. If it stays in the high 12's or low 13's during play then you should be ok. Below that and it will start taking its toll.

2) I dont want my box to take up all of my trunk, I am an avid paintball player so I still need room in the back for my gear bag and cases of paint. If I was to put the box as close to behind the 2nd row of seats as I could so I still had room behind the box for my gear, would there be any significant SPL or SQ loss? Probably minimal in your case, as long as the box is adequate for the subs placement will factor some but you have to choose whats more important.

3) My 2nd row seats are bucket seats and not a bench and I currently have the amp mounted on the floor between them, It seemed like a great Idea at first but now im worried about someone potentially spilling something on the amp and ruining it, if the box is built with 1" thick MDF, could I safely mount the amp to the box or would it receive too much vibrations and damage it? The box will be carpeted and mounted to the floor.

Amp mounted to the box is perfectly fine if the box is built correctly!

4) I listen to all music from country to classic rock, to deathcore, to rap, to dubstep, so pretty much anything and everything, what would be the best Hz to tune the box to for good daily listening, I want the system to be loud, but I want as much of a full range as possible.

I would tune to mid 30's (34-36) for a wide range, just dont go over board on port area and it will play wider and not be as peaky

5) I want to amp the 6.5's and my tweeters, all of the 6.5's are 75 watt rms at 4 ohm (im not sure if they are DVC or not, can't remember) should I get a 4 or 6 channel amp, and what amp would you guys recommend for them? Currently the 1 l7 already overpowers them tremendously when running off of the headunit alone and thats with the zx2500's gain at 5%, and 0% on the bass boost.

A 4 channel should be fine, just find a reputable brand that has enough power for your needs. (maybe 125 x 4 at 4 ohms) Most components sets are 4 ohm, I would do two components sets instead of what you have for ease of wiring and being able to keep the L/R separation with a single 4 channel amp.

6) Should I put support bars inside the box for those subs or do you think the wood will be thick enough to prevent any vibrations?

YES

7) If mounting the amps on the box is a bad idea, all of my seats are leather, could I mount the amp im getting for the 6.5's/tweeters on the back of a leather seat or could/would that cause me any problems or be a bad idea? Its fine on the box

8 ) I keep my EQ on my head unit on flat but the subwoofer level at +10, the treble in the music starts to distort at alot lower volumes when playing music off of my ipod (its EQ is also set to flat) which is connected via USB when compared to listening to music off of a CD. To explain a little better, I have these same songs on my itunes list, I burnt a CD with 10 of the songs and can go to volume 40 before it distorts, but when listening to the same songs from my ipod, they start to distort at volume 32, what is causing that?

IDK, sound like your settings somehow. If you can control the volume on the actual Ipod itself while its hooked up the turn it down to 75%. Any setup I have heard where you can control the volume on the ipod while hooked up clips and distorts all to hell if its all the way up. The Sublevel on the headunit should only control the voltage input level being allowed to come from the amp. You want it set to 100% and the gain adjusted from the amp side. The other EQ setting a preference, always have bass boost turned off.

9) Sense space is an issue here, is sub and port both up fine? I've been told sub up port back is better, but if I load up gear behind the box, I don't want to choke the port of air space. I would still do sub up port back. It wont be a big of an issua as you think unless your a slob and keep the back completely full of shit.

10) Once I'm running 2 L7's, do you think those 6 speakers, even after being amplified will be enough to have a good balance of lows, mids, and high's? I would like to keep my subs as loud as I can without clipping them, but I still want to be able to hear the words haha. Again, I would buy 2 nice component sets for ease of installation, sound and being able to keep L/R separation with only one 4 channel amp.

11) With only having the sub amplified, the sub is slightly out of phase/delayed with rest of the music, this will be my first set up amping my mids/highs, will amping the mids/high's fix the slight delay that I hear? You should'nt hear any delay at all. Thats a different problem. Maybe the sub is out of phase

12) This may be a bit un-related as far as I know, but about 2 weeks after my so far system install I got a check engine light with the message, "reduced engine power" and im now getting 0 throttle response. I was told by a certified mechanic that it is an electrical issue, do you think this was caused by my system or is it just a separate problem?

Should not be related to the stereo unless the alternator is fucked, but then you would get dead batteries, a battery light on dash or something. Not a power or throttle response issue.

I know I asked A LOT of questions but I want to have this system done right and I know the brilliant people of the SMD community have the answers. Any comments, help, answers or suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks everybody!

*P.S. if I put this in the wrong section, please just move it instead of deleting it and send me a PM as to where it was moved to, thanks again!

My Youtube Channel

Trying to guess the SPL of a system with out a meter is like trying to guess how much air pressure is in a compressor tank just by letting some of the air out.

...Seems like 90 psi...

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