'01 Saturn L200 Build - Goodbye Xplods, Hello Sundown!

[Hillage]

Got a job just after I turned 15, saved up to buy my Saturn in May '12. Dad hooked me up with some Sony Xplod 12s for some bass. And I thought I was loud.

What a mess that was. I quickly wanted more... After dreaming, planning, and more dreaming, I came across a little extra funds this christmas and decided to actually do something. I purchased a Sundown SA-15 on the 29th or 30th last week. On Mon the 30th I went out and bought materials for a box, but was too lazy afterwards to put in the work... Wednesday I got to work.

The workstation, complete with junk-filled garage.

The design, box mostly done. Not bad for a first box...? Made a rookie mistake though. Should have built the port first and then secured it to the front of the box... Just made the job more difficult for myself. Oh well...

Was the bracing necessary? I put it in either way because I wasn't comfortable without it. Rather get the experience with it and play it safe than not use it. Plus, it is a good "spacer" between the box and the trunk. If something shifts, I won't have any damage to the box/sub... Yes, I worked into the night... Left the box weighted down, packed up for the night. Finished the following morning.

Got a package as I got everything ready to put in the trunk on Jan 2nd.

All I can say is WOW. Huge difference from the old setup. The box for the single SA-15 is larger than what I had for the two 12s.

If you look at the above picture, you can see the extra panel I had to put under the sub. I didn't think about the size of the router bit when I cut the hole for the sub, and when I went to mount it to the front, there wasn't exactly wood to screw it into for most of the holes. Oops. Luckily I had a perfect sized piece that I cut the right size hole in. Mounted fine. Not sure if I want to rebuild a box over that little bit of added space, considering I'm not going for extreme SPL or SQ... Unless somebody highly recommends I do something else?

It fits! If the box was an inch longer I would have had to build in the trunk... Old amp and cap attached. I know, I know... Bare box. Still working out what I want to do for covering it. Not sure I'd be any good at carpet, maybe bed liner? What do people use? I can use some advice on what you guys think would work well.

After installing it all, I got to test a little on the way to work. Didn't crank it up til the next day... WOW this thing moves air. Louder, stronger, and cleaner than the Xplods. I was expecting better than the xplods, but not like this... I'm already planning a wall for a couple years down the road lol. Now to pick up a few SMD tools so I can set my gains right, and actually push the SA-15 to its limits. I'm too cautious to do anything too loud right now in fear of doing damage...

That's the start of the build log. Basic box and sub. Looking to clean up wiring, currently saving for RF comps, looking into deadener. Not looking to do TOO much custom work, but might have to make custom door panels.

Advice? (Constructive) Criticism? I'll listen to it all. First build, I'm only ankle deep in the world of audio.

[MACnonsence6]

cut that threaded rod and either weld it or use a strong epoxy other then that pretty good man

[WillPwn4Food]

Well am I seeing right that you could turn the box around and sub/port would both fire into cabin? if you can do that, do it, then seal it off. It'll make a huge difference. As far as the dowel rod... In all honesty with just 1 sa-15 you probably could have double-baffle'd the front and done away with that bracing. And yeah put something around all of the cracks so you don't have air leaks.

[kryptonite]

Looks good, nice upgrade

[MACnonsence6]

i second the facing cab sealed off. shit is way way better atleast in my situation

[Hillage]

Facing cab sealed off... hmm... Research time I guess. Might have to remove middle seat belt then, because the bolt for it stops the box from getting close to the seats. Once I order some SHCA wire, I'll be able to comfortably move the box to where I want it. As you can see in the last picture I barely had enough from the amp to the bolts through the box.

Looking back at the pictures, I think the box looks like trash.. I REALLY need to cover it up somehow. But it's functional for the time being. I can actually play Decaf and sound good lol

[gr8handogoatness]

You really have to be doing something wrong to hurt an SA 15. I have the same sub in about the same box. We ran it for a couple hours hard on about 1000watts, then we decided to try more power. We were only able to get ahold of a 1200w amp so not that much more but after 1000w for a couple hours we promptly put it on the other amp. It was only a half hour but we bear on it the whole time with double the rated power and it was a little warm but not hot. We use o-scopes to set gains and such cuz we are nerds and have them so power was clean but man that thing was crazy. Doors open we had the roof of the truck (double cab tacoma) moving enough that cds were jumping off of it several inches. Basically you can't hurt it and you will love that sub.

You could paint the box, I don't love the look but its an option.