New to Car Audio scene

[nCOMP1337]

Hello all,

My name is Dustin, here is a bit of background on me since I have been reading many of you for months now and only just posting. I am 23, married, with 4 kids and form Kokomo, Indiana and I am into Graphic Design. I met my wife on an internet game created and owned by a friend of mine, My wife is from Australia, I talked with her over the phone for 6 months, visited her and married 2 months later. She had 2 kids previously and we have 2 together. I lived in Australia for 3 years while awaiting her to obtain her visa to move back to USA with me. My 3 year old was born in Australia (and when you have a baby in Australia, they pay you $4k to help with baby expenses) but we had everything, so we took a trip to Japan for a month. February 2009 we finally made it home. Now to the present.

I have been following steve for around a year now on youtube and have been following this forum for quite a few months, trying to learn all i can in the aspects of car audio, when dealing with subs, amps (and their brands, trying to learn what is good), building boxes (ive read almost every build on here trying to see what i can learn). I have had friends that have had systems and i thought they new what they were doing, but since ive been here, ive realized most people around here are pretty clueless, they seem to think, factory box *basic box with just 2 holes cut out of front) is all you need and they think they are just awesome. I know a guy that put nearly 1k into his subs, but wont spend any money getting a good properly made box or new batteries, alt or anything to help the system run, he just kills it all the time and then complains.

So I want to do my first full build right the first time and then from there I hope to grow as money becomes available for new projects. I still am bit confused on some brands for subs and amps, I wonder if there isa list of preferred brands? From reading I have come to believe that for subs, DD, DC, AA, FI, RE are all very good, I know there were others but I cannot remember all of them right now. For amps I am not too sure, dont pay as much attention to them. My main issue with doing this build is that I live in an apartment and we are not allowed to work on cars and such in the parking lot, so I need to find a family member or friend with a garage I can borrow for a while. Also I personally have no tools to do a build, however I would appreciate if someone can give me a rundown of what tools I may need to build a box, I will get the pieces cut by local hardware shop when I buy the wood, but I plan to do a kerf cut (i think thats what its called where you bend the wood) but havent done that sort of thing for years since school). My car is already wired as I did have some basic subs already, but subs blew and then my cd player just gave out yesterday.

My first setup:

Kenwood Excelon X1200M

Paid $200 brand new from Ebay, but normal price was 400 (wish I saw this site before I would have had different amp)

mono subwoofer amplifier

800 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (1,200 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms)

stable to 1-ohm loads

CEA-2006 compliant

Dual Sigma Drive improves amp's control over cone movement

two cooling fans

variable low-pass filter (50-200 Hz, -24 dB/octave)

variable infrasonic filter (15-40 Hz, -24 dB/octave)

optional remote bass boost

Class-D amplifier design

frequency response: 20-200 Hz

preamp inputs and outputs

fuse rating: fuse rating: 30A x 3

Legacy LW1557D 15-Inch 1400 Watt Legacy Red Series

Got these for 90 bucks for 2 about 4 years ago, but didnt use them until just a few months ago. At that time I didnt know about breaking in the subs, plus due to waht i think is a generic brand, i dont believe they are capable of the watts theya re rated at and I think ym amp may have overpowered them. they were wired at 4 ohms, i think each sub was giving around 400RMS and theya re rated at 700.

Red Aluminum Cone

Specially Treated Rubber Edge Suspension

Bumped & Vented Motor Structure

High Temperature Dual 2.5-Inch Kapton Voice Coil

Double Magnet Structure

4 Ohm Impedance

700 Watts RMS/1400 Watts Peak

SPL @ 1W/1M: 92dB Overall

Diameter: 15.16-Inch

Mounting Depth: 7.13-Inch

Magnet Weight: 80 + 80 oz.

Atrend - 15" Dual Sealed Subwoofer Enclosure

Box was 50 bucks free shipping from BestBuy, special online only deal during christmas

Product Height - 16-1/2"

Product Width - 17"

Product Weight - 45 lbs.

Product Depth - 36"

Cubic Feet of Air Space per Woofer - 2.25 cu. ft.

Box Design - Sealed

Volume - 4.5 cu. ft.

Dimensions - 16-1/2"H x 17"W x 36"D

Construction Material - 1" and 3/5" MDF

This barely fit in my trunk, just clears, so I will make my next box no talle rthan 16 inches, to give a bit more clearance depending on subwoofer size.

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My new build I hope to have:

Same Amp for now, however I plan to try and fully utilize the 1200RMS at 1ohm as much as possible

Subs: Do not have yet, the sketch I made of the box I want to build has room for either 1 12 or 1 15, I could prolly squeeze two 12s or two 10s, but I am hoping to get 1 sub that is rated over 1000rms or at least around 1000rms.

Here is the sketch I drew up, it is from the top view, I saw a box from the front that had the wood bent going into the port, and I really liked how it looked, but I never knew what the inside looked like, then yesterday I saw on someones avatar they have the same looking box only the top was installed yet, so I could see how to do the inside, although I do not have the room like they did, but I think this will work.

I will be using MDF board, as its best I can get for what I can afford, I have seen where people use birch(think thats it), but its twice as expensive most places I have seen it. Not sure what thickness will be best, but for easy math I estimated 1 inch thickness. It was drawn on graphic paper and I drew it in which each square equaled 1 inch.

I was not sure how to estimate port size for this design, but I tried and I tried to calculate the cubic feet based on whether I end up making it 14,15,16 inches tall depnding on what sub I end up getting., but leaving just 2 inches of space between top of box and trunk wont do me much good, so I may go ahead and make it 16 inches tall.

I tried to do cubic feet of box with and without port being calculated in, because I was not sure if you add that in, but I tried. I think i will try for the 16 inch tall box, so it seems I will have over 4 cubic feet to work with. The little area inside the box in front of the sub, will be another piece of wood added to the front for bracing, I also plan to cheat and instead of (i think its called counter-sinking or something) where the sub will be installed flush to the wood, I will have the inner piece of wood the appropriate size for mounting and the outer piece of wood would be a bit bigger so the sub sits flush with the wood. Also when I actually build it the piece of wood on the inside wil be extending as far as it can go before the outer wood begins to curve inside the box.

when I do finally get ready to build this I will post pics and such fo the build, so hopefully when I am done I can get some feedback and see what I can do to improve my skills for future projects.

A few days ago I got two cadence 6x9 subs to go in to my rear deck from AudioSavings. Sadly since my cd player died the other day and there is no one I have found around here to fix my other one (pioneer 1100MP), it is about 8 months old, but when volume goes up to 20 it skips and at 30 it shuts off, pioneer says its most likely an internal amp problem. However, my factory system does come equipped with a 200 watt amp, and each of the 6x9s are rated at 150rms, so I am hoping my factory cd player and wiring will work for now until I can get a new cd player or my messed up one fixed.

Well, please let me know what you think of my idea for a box and if anyone knows where i can get some affordbale subs rated over or around 1000rms, please let me know, I am hoping to stay around or lower than 150 dollars. I had a guy that was gonna sell me a cadence 12inch competition sub rated at 1500rms for 160, but he ended up using some parts of it to custom build another sub.

thank you and hope to be a part of the community soon

EDIT: Found a 10" Quantum Cozmik Series sub for $67 and i should be able to fit two of these in my enclosure i would think and based on the rated site for a venter enclosure, I could probably even make my box a bit shorter and little less shallow to give me more trunk space.

http://www.audiosavings.com/products/HUUGE-POWER!-10-1500-WATT-CAR-SUBWOOFER-750w-RMS-SUB.gfce81401-7f86-4c94-bdcc-bda9ab3e4e0c.r.aspx

I do not know if quantum is a very good brand though or if its like one of them hold me over brands you would find at walmart, what do you think

[spl4life]

now thats what i call a 1st post...

welcome to the forum...

I totally agree, not alot of people ive meet whom i assumed knew about car audio, really know car audio...

as far as tools you need to build a box... technically you only need 5 things...

1. Circular saw

2. power drill

3. ruler/measuring tape

4. jigsaw

5. pencil

lol... a couple things that makes things easier...

a tablesaw would be EXTREMELY helpful...

Workbench/saw horses

router (cuts holes easier and better then a jig)

assortment of clamps...

ect ect...

tip for build a box.... "measure twice... cut once..."

as far as your box design... thats a tricky one... its a horned enclosure... from what ive seen (and tried to calcuated) its tough to get the tuning on that type of enclosure...

i would suggest to start with something simple, like a regular ported box... but dont let me stop you... give it a shot... if it doesnt sound good... buy some more wood and rebuild another one... the more boxes you build... the better you get at it...

i was in your shoes once.. i built a T-Line for a first box... lol... but thanks to Forevrbumpn's tutorial here in the enclosure design section, it turned out great...

as far as Subs... i would suggest save up and get a decent sub, RE SeX or SXXseries, DC lvl 3s or sundown SA-12, or ask Foreverbumpn about custom built subs...

Good luck with your build... keep reading around, esp some of the older topics... this site is loaded with info...

if you need help... alot of us here will help...

[knowledge]

welcome man.

if you stick around you will learn tons of stuff, also use the search option witch is very helpfull

[nCOMP1337]

thanks for the help

I will definitely keep reading around

ill be sure to save up for some nice subs

i will try the design i drew up, however I redrew it to have 10s, its not as tall, but i can have the box up closer to my seats this way and still have enough room for the baby stroller when i got the family with me

now its just finding some nice 10s rated where i want and then i need another amp, because i just got 2 6x9 subs i will install in the rear deck and i would like to run them form their own amp

[cqtama]

that amp isnt actually bad. not my first choice but it does put out rated power iirc. the only problem i ever had with it is it likes to get hot really fast so just watch how hard you push it. as far as your first build goes do some research on here you will find aot of info.

best advice you will ever get. like spl said, measure twice cut once!

i would try a simple slot port for your first build its generally the easiest ported box to build but theres no harm in trying something harder.

and oh yea. welcome!

[tehbert0]

welcome dude. good read about how you met your wife

[nCOMP1337]

thanks all

and yea the story about my wife is a good one o tell all, everyone likes it, not many relationships happen that way

i do have a question, the 6x9 subs i got today are rated at 150rms each, would it be a good idea to get a 2 channel amp rated at 300rms, wouldn't that be 150 to each sub, or should i take it a bit lower so it doesnt max out the rms

also since i will have to do some remodeling on the car to get the 6x9 subs in, i figured i would square up some bracing in my trunk, it has a large round brace in the corners which prevent me form making a box taller than 13 inches if i want to have trunk space, but i think if i go ahead and square that up, i can have a taller box, as well as push it all the way up to the back seats (they fold down by the way, i figured id have the subs facing front of car), and i would still have adequate trunk space, and since i can amke it taller, i may be able to fit a 12 , i think a 15 would not get adequate box size

btw, thanks for the tips on the amp, ill upgrade when more fund are available, but for now i plan to try and get about 1000rms out of it if i can, so i was thinking two 10s, rated over 1k rms together or one 12 rated at 1k rms on its own, or if i could fit it and meet cft specs, then possibly a 15, but since they make smaller subs that can reach same power, if its in my price range, i think it would be best to go for 10s right now and wait til i can upgrade the system before doing anything bigger

my wife and i plan to get a nice large family vehicle and then my oldsmobile alero will be all mine,s o i plan to do a big build in it when the time comes and my experience gains