on1wheel01

Looks good, but u need to sand that box.

Jimmay

I agree. My next box will have all the kinks(that ive encountered so far) worked out. Some of the problem is time. When i do these things i usually only have 1 or 2 days and it has to be done or i have no idea when ill find time for it again.

mattastick

The more boxes you build, the less time they take per box (generally). I know my new box should be done in a matter of hours, compared to the last one which took ~20 to build and ~20 more to test/tune. Then again, the last box was a bandpass so it was more of a bear and this one is a nice simple slot port.

on1wheel01

Practice makes perfect but I think you did a pretty good job. Thats the bad thing about painting boxes, you have to sand and re sand to make sure it's perfect as every little defect will show. I just sold the box I had in my car to one of my customers it was his 3rd box I made him.
A pic of it in primer

Jimmay

Ive defiantly noticed an improvement with my technique and the end results. I do want to buy a plunge router and a perfect circle jig for it. I had my friend cut this one and i loved how it turned out. I think my next box ill just cover in a leather like material...maybe vinyl. Ive been thinking about what to do with my next project....hmmmm

Jimmay

Got almost everything done today. I just need to maybe redo a wire and change my fuses up front.

UPS man brought goodies


Knuconceptz KCA 0 gauge...its flexible...very nice working with it


for those of you that dont know what an HDC312 looks like


my system is complete for now...you can barely see the battery box on the right side.

on1wheel01

nice

Jimmay

alright...i got my first official score today i did a 140.2. I was doing dbdrag and was in street class c. After my run they had open mic and i ended up doing a 140.8 with the car running. To the more experienced members, just a noob question. If i smoothed out the inside of my box and port do you think i would see a difference in score?

mattastick

What do you mean by "smoothed out"? Some people resin the inside of their boxes. Most people gain by doing this, but I've heard in some situations that it causes a spike in impedance rise at certain frequencies, and the score drops a bit. If you're talking about putting 45's in the corners of the box, again, something you'll need to test out. Some people gain, some lose. You would be better off trying different box positions. Your best bet, if I had to hasten a guess, would be to move your battery box to the other side, then fire the sub into the passenger's back corner of your trunk. It will create a corner loading effect and the wave will focus more on the passenger's glass area of the car. I know I gained like .4-.5db doing that with my single 8 in my Celica. Other options would be to adjust front to back placement (gained over 1db moving the box front to back in the Celica) I can tell you just from moving the box around in the trunk, I gained 4db in my Celica. IIRC (this has been awhile, and I don't know the exact scores) I also gained a pretty significant bit with the single 12 setup in my Acura back at my first competition.

Just a heads up, the small change in score from car off to car on means that either 1. your batteries are in good shape or 2. you're not pushing those batteries hard enough. You didn't happen to watch the voltage drop during your burp did you?

Also, what frequency was the burp at? Did you unpause then roll the volume? Or just pause, crank the volume and unpause? Because rolling the volume doesn't cause a sudden voltage drop like a full tilt unpaused burp. This is why older Alpine hu's are very popular (almost seen as a requirement) in the competition only vehicles. Older Alpines had what is known in the SPL world as Mute-Roll. When you pause, mute, roll the volume up to whatever you want, then unpause and unmute, the deck rolls the volume up in 5 steps rather than 1 full tilt jump, which causes less voltage drop, likely resulting in more power, and a gain in SPL. Most people claim .1-.2 just from using an Alpine hu with Mute Roll over other decks.

Jimmay

Resin is what i meant. I was also thinking about doing the 45s in the corners on my next box. Im not sure if i can really move the battery box(wire length might not be sufficient). I do not have a voltage meter yet....its on my list of things to do...probably in a week or 2...alot with a new battery up front(its a stock one).

Before the show my friend and I put a dmm on the battery while i was idling and then i did a burp and i dropped from 13.8 to 13.2. The scores at i think was 42hertz. As far as how i did the score.....i had it paused and turned up ...bass knob down...unpaused and then turned up the bass knob.

Also we did move the box around. For my qualifying run i did a 138.X on music. After that i moved my back towards the rear of the car. Im not sure if the 2.x increase was due to me playing a tone or not...but im sure it had a big effect.

on1wheel01

Thats not to bad with a single 12

Jimmay

thanks on1wheel01...now just trying to figure out where to improve. I like being loud with only one sub..i know there is a limit though to how loud i can get with this setup. My next car will be a suv or something with a hatch instead of a trunk.

mattastick

Honestly, your best bet for a number is going to be to forward fire the box, and seal it off from the trunk, since you're talking about building a new box. That should help your score a decent bit. Also, raising the box tuning a bit (AQ's play well below tuning without any trouble) so you should still be able to get a decent low end with higher tuning...

Jimmay

This is exactly what i was thinking as far as the box, but do you think it really will get louder seeing as how my rear seats dont fold down? I know its just foam but its still something. A few people this weekend said they loved how it looks like a sleeper and i do to seeing as how i drive most of the time.
So forward fire the sub and port? Or sub forward port back? I'm still trying to understand the whole box placement thing.

As for tuning, I was gonna tune it around 37 hertz...maybe 38 hertz. I used the RE calculator last time and it said im at 37 hertz but ive herd it isnt accurate and does not take into account the woofer displacement or if you have a double baffle. Thanks for all your input by the way.

mattastick

Yeah, RE's calculator is off... I'm not sure how much it's off by, but you're right, it doesn't change the volume for woofer displacement or anything like that. There are several things that it doesn't calculate. Your best bet is to use pencil, paper and a calculator. You can find the port length formula with Google, so that's not too bad. Then it's just basic geometry formulas to figure out everything else.

I'd tune up near 40 or so if I were you, and you really wanted some numbers.

And you'll be fine with the seats up. If you unbolt them and just fold them down, that may help you gain as well. And you'll want to do sub forward port forward. If you don't seal off the box from the trunk, it will sound like garbage, I will guarantee you that...

Jimmay

ohh i know it will sound terrible if i dont seal it. Ive tried it with other subs(although none like my AQ) and it sounded awful. I know if i do tune higher ill get better numbers but i love my lows. So i wont run into any port issues with the port firing into the seat such as turbulence or the air not being able to escape?

Also have you, or anyone else, ever messed around with a kerfed port? I know the best and most accurate way to figure out everything would be pencil and paper...but there is a new calculator on SMD that is supposed to be pretty good...and it does take into account the woofer, port, and a bunch of other stuff.

mattastick

A good buddy of mine does kerfed ports all the time. I know you're on CACO, so I'd hit him up over there. His username is Pioneer~Saturn. Doug is easily the best box builder I know. The kid can build anything with wood.

As for the port firing into the seat, it shouldn't be any problem.

Jimmay

I wanted to replace my front comps(Pioneer Premier TS comps) and someone recommended Crescendo comps. Wow I wish I would have found these a year ago before I bought the Pioneers. I think they sound amazing and are built much better then the Pioneers. I would definitely recommend these to someone looking for a set of components and for 89.99 shipped you cannot go wrong. Heres some pics.
















Thank you Crescendo!

Jimmay

Just picked up a new toy! Im redoing my system again but it wont be finished until spring time. This is just the start. For anyone that doesnt know its a DC Sound Labs Level 5. The thing weighs 78lbs. Here are some pics!

on1wheel01

Now your gettin into the big times. Now rebuild the box make it stronger and premier lol

fourthmeal

so Crescendo looks just like OEM Image Dynamics. Hmmm.. (not a bad thing.)

on1wheel01

sell me your old poineer comps lol

Jimmay

on1wheel01- dont worry a new box is coming, probably going to fire into the cabin sealed off from the trunk. Resin on the inside and I dont want to see one seam on the outside of the box. As for the pioneer comps, those are in my back doors now.

eggyhustles

Components in the rear?

why?

Jimmay

The garbage sonys i had back there wanted to explode... I like how it sounds now.

thedc

dang, keep up the ballin work.

on1wheel01

Man u guys are makin me wanna build another system. But all my funds r goin to my bike. Man I hate u guys lol

mattastick

Believe me buddy, I'm there too. Trying to pay off debt while I'm a student and barely working any hours, along with putting together a system to go compete at World Finals is not easy. I'm gonna be doing another one though. Couple 10s in a 6th order, ported through the ski pass. Should be interesting with a Mike Singer designed box and all.

OP, lookin good. Can't wait to see what it'll do with some power. The number should go up quite a bit.

Jimmay

on1wheel- system on the bike? jk. Thats what happened to me. I see my friends doing build and i just gotta do it.

mattastick-Thanks for the compliment. I cannot wait till its firing into the cab with more power. Do you have a build log on here or CACO?

thedc- thanks. ill keep this thing updated when i do more. Probably next thing to get done is a h.o alternator.

mattastick

Current "build log" is over on CACO in the Team Concepts section. There's nothing in there but some jibber jabber and a couple pics of the design. I may start one over here once I get something legitimate to post though. I have a feeling fourthmeal may like it.

Any idea when you're going to build the new box and get this setup going? BTW, that wouldn't happen to be one of Pat Simmon's old subs, is it? I know he had 2 LVL 5 12s for a bit before he went to the 4 XL 10s in the 4th order with basically 0 port area deal.

eggyhustles

so this setup is 100% spl?

mattastick

LVL 5's are actually pretty nice sounding for what they are. Yes, they're an SPL sub, but they sound pretty good on music too.

Jimmay

mattastick- probably not until im done with school for the semester...so in a few weeks and then i probably wont be done until February or March. I dont want to throw another 2200 in there until i have the electrical to back it up. DC power is the only company i can get an alt from and its 650 for the xt but the new box should be done sometime in December.

And as for it being one of Patricks old subs, i have no clue. I dont think so, but I know the kid i bought it off is on Team DC so maybe they started life with him. Oh and please do post a build log over here...this audio section needs more build logs!

eggy- basically it is just for spl, but i agree with mattastick 100% that the dc does sound good with music if i have turned down so its not over powering. I defiantly think it sounds better on music than my HDC3 did.

mattastick

DC makes a very nice alt, just be ready to wait awhile before you'll get it.

I think Pat's Team DC. You'd probably know if it was him though. He's also on Team DOA and drives a black Lincoln LS.

I've heard several AQ HDC3 setups and a handful of Lvl5 setups, and I'd have to agree with you on the sound of each. The Lvl 5 sounds much better imo.

I may get some work done on cleaning up the acrylic on Sunday, so build log may go up around then. We'll see.

Jimmay

Goodies have been arriving over the last 2 weeks for my new build The Level 5 is up for sale, going a different direction with my build now. New alternator should be here in a few days. I had to settle for a 180 amp

D2700 and D975


Lots of KNU 0 gauge

on1wheel01

Nice batts

mattastick

What's the new sub setup gonna be?

Jimmay

2 HDC3s with 2 AQ 2200s. I just wish it wasnt so damn cold here

mattastick

What size HDC3's? 10s? Either way, should be pretty sweet.

Jimmay

Nope 12s. I already had 1 because it never sold. So i figured id just add another one. I cant wait to bee done with this.