2002 Explorer Sound System: NEED ADVICE!

[Zelatio]

Well, got the box pretty much done. All I have to do is attach the amp, wire it up, and put the sub it. Turned out okay, not as good as I hoped because you can still see the wood pattern. Here's a question for you guys. Do I need to get some foam and make a cutout for the sub? I noticed there isn't any cushioning, it's just the ring straight on the wood when you attach the sub.

And if you guys want an awesome background for your computer, that last picture turned out pretty awesome

 

[aznboi3644]

The sub has a rubber ring around it already that seals itself.

if you wanted to make it so that the box looked smooth than you need bondo and a lot of sanding

looks pretty good though

 

[Zelatio]

The sub has a rubber ring around it already that seals itself.

if you wanted to make it so that the box looked smooth than you need bondo and a lot of sanding

looks pretty good though

Yea I did a little more fooling around with the sub and noticed it was a rubber ring all the way around.

Actually i wanted it a little rougher. Inside the truck of a bed it's almost a sandpaper-ish texture. It's just kinda blobby on the box. I won't have to worry about those blobby texture letting air in around the sub will I?

Last question. Since the box is tuned to 35hz I believe, where should the subsonic filter be at? Also, about where should the low pass be? The markings are extremely vague, don't really know where I need to be.

 

[aznboi3644]

I usually play a test tone at where I want my lowpass to be then turn the lowpass up until I hear the sub get quieter then I back it up a lil

The subsonic I would set around 25-30Hz. This sub has plenty of excursion...I gave it 1000 watts free air and it didn't bottom out.

I would low pass it between 60-80Hz...whichever blends the best with your front stage

 

[Zelatio]

So I attached the amp to the box today, not sure where else to put it. I mounted it vertical and put in the wires for the sub. Just want to double check on the wiring. Is this correct? One cable will go to one side of the sub, and the other to the other side. Will extra slack in the wire cause a disturbance in the box? I presume you want them slightly pulled tight, so they don't bounce around. And yes I am double posting these on ICIX also.

 

[ghoster]

i must say that i'm impressed..congrats bro looks really good..now for the real test..how does it sound

 

[Zelatio]

i must say that i'm impressed..congrats bro looks really good..now for the real test..how does it sound

Wish I knew. Will have to wait for Thursday. Wiring kit comes in tomorrow, and my dad will do all that. He is a firefighter and is working tomorrow. I really haven't done much on the box. Those efforts are mainly my fathers. He is pretty handy at building things, as the box shows. It was my mistake to not get MDF. I said here's plans and wood, let's build, and he started off.

 

[ghoster]

Wish I knew. Will have to wait for Thursday. Wiring kit comes in tomorrow, and my dad will do all that. He is a firefighter and is working tomorrow. I really haven't done much on the box. Those efforts are mainly my fathers. He is pretty handy at building things, as the box shows. It was my mistake to not get MDF. I said here's plans and wood, let's build, and he started off.

lol..i mean it looks pretty strong and i bet that bedliner paint helped making it stronger

 

[Zelatio]

lol..i mean it looks pretty strong and i bet that bedliner paint helped making it stronger

Yea that's for sure. i would have no worries about taking a hammer and beating on this thing. It's solid.

So back to that wiring question, does anyone know if that is correct? I know it's a mono amp and I was confused when I first saw two sets of speakers wiring sets.

Also, do I need one of the yellowtops or will just a normal heavy duty battery work? I don't really want to spend $200 on a battery unless it really does a lot. I need to replace mine here soon.

 

[aznboi3644]

I would say upgrade your big three if you haven't yet. My 98' explorer does fine with heavily upgraded big 5 and grounds. Even with my Nine.1 at full tilt at 1 ohm the voltage drops only to around 12.6 and I only have 4 gauge power and ground with one Duralast Gold up front.

Wire all the positives to the positive and the negatives to the negative on the amp...looks right to me. Its a mono amp...has one output. Just two sets for easier wiring of multiple speakers

 

[Zelatio]

Well the system is in. It sounds amazing. At first it wasn't doing much but after a small gain tweak it's amazing. I have a few pictures for you viewing pleasure. The box came out bigger than we thought, but still fits snugly. The wiring didn't work on the back of the box, but what we came up with is even slicker. Also, there was a nice spot to put the power cable through. It turned out pretty nice. Aznboi, thanks for the box designs, it sounds amazing. And thanks to everyone else who helped!Comments? Questions?

 

[aznboi3644]

Glad you like it...

 

[Zelatio]

So I've been reading a lot about clipping, but I am not really sure if I should be worried about it with this setup. I found a sweet spot with the gain around half, the bass boost is 0 on amp and HU. The Xover on the amp and HU are both set around 80hz, subsonic about 25hz. How can I identify clipping and know if it's a problem?

 

[aznboi3644]

You can hear the signal clipping. I play a test tone....set the HU to the max you listen to it at.

Slowly turn up the gain...the tone should get louder and louder but have a smooth tone to it...once the tone changes pitch than that is clipping. It will sound like crap. I just back it down until the tone is clear again.

 

[Zelatio]

You can hear the signal clipping. I play a test tone....set the HU to the max you listen to it at.

Slowly turn up the gain...the tone should get louder and louder but have a smooth tone to it...once the tone changes pitch than that is clipping. It will sound like crap. I just back it down until the tone is clear again.

Well I downloaded a 35hz test tone. I set the HU at about 7/8ths. The gain I set to 0 and slowly turned it up. It sounded good up till half, but after that, it's just so loud I can't go any higher for fear of my head exploding. The roof of my car is flexing like crazy and the lights are flickering on and off. But I still didn't hear any distortion. Will this be an obvious noise? Or will I have to really listen close to be able to hear this?

 

[aznboi3644]

if playing a tone clipping is pretty easy to hear if you can hear a slight change in pitch.

So how do you like the sound of the enclosure and sub on different types of music???

Could you take a vid??

 

[Zelatio]

if playing a tone clipping is pretty easy to hear if you can hear a slight change in pitch.

So how do you like the sound of the enclosure and sub on different types of music???

Could you take a vid??

I even tried different pitches ranging from 35-70 to find clipping, always got too loud before I heard anything change. Then again, there were some odd noises but I am 99% sure that was the car vibrating. I used a 79hz tone to set the low Pass to about 80hz, and a 25 hz to set subsonic

The sub sounds amazing with this box. Of course I started with Bass, i love you and rap songs, but once I got to ACDC, Eagles, Nirvana, Tim Mcgraw, and everything inbetween, it all sounded amazing.

I will be sure to take a video tomorrow. The travel of the sub on Bass, I Love you is quite amazing. I always wonder if I am hurting it. I play the 35hz test tone and I feel like my head is going to explode. The roof flexes so much it's ridiculous. Only once have I seen lights dim, and that was with the car off.

 

[aznboi3644]

Don't worry about mechanically damaging the sub...The sub has a good deal of xmax and clearances.

I gave my 19Ov.2 1200 watts free air with the sub sitting on the floor in the back of my exploder. The sub was fine.

 

[Zelatio]

Well I tried to find clipping but still can't determine where the pitch changes. I haven't gone higher than half on the gain though. I would love to find it though to see where my safe zone is.

Got home from work and it was already dark, will try and get a video tomorrow.

 

[aznboi3644]

while playing the tone what was the voltage on the amps speaker outputs??