flipmode

Sup guys,
Yes finally for my birthday my beautiful girlfriend got me some subs and amp inside! I got the box from bestbuy and it fits perfect, still got room for the flat repairkit too! Also the subs and amp from there as well, so far it sounds good, Except not as loud as i wanted, I didnt want to spend too much money, so i kept it pretty basic, Maybe i dont know how to Tune my amp...But i was looking for a little more drawn out bass rather than a Punch sound.

The Goods:
Pioneer - 800W Class AB Mono MOSFET Amplifier with Low-Pass Crossover
2 Rockford Fosgate - Punch 10" Single-Voice-Coil 4-Ohms Subwoofer
Q-Logic - 10" Dual-Chamber Subwoofer Enclosure

If you guys know anything about that combination, feel free to comment, or any suggestions on how to make it deeper, Also does it help if i dynamat my trunk? Is it better to face it Inside rather than Outside?

Also i got it mounted in there good, and stuck some razor blades underneath it just in case haha (just hope i remember)


Pics are posted!

FastRX8

Looks good. I had the same box, w/ JL Audio stuff.
Besides tuning the amp to get better sound, the other major factor is adjusting you're Line-out converter.
You didn't mention it above, but obviously something is being used.
I've heard several systems that use the generic, $20 passive converters and they sound great.
I haven't heard any using the LC6 $100+ converters, although, they should sound better.

Also, make sure you have the Audio pilot turned off. It plays weird games w/ the line-out converters.

flipmode

I got it done at best buy and he told me to save me money or something that i dont need to use a line out converter instead all i bought was this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1134701342408

and he said he would throw in speaker wire? do u have any idea what he did

tomf

that amp has speaker level inputs, in which case he could've just spliced into the rear channels and connected them directly. i think some other people on this forum have done that. It's also one of the things I'm trying to do right now.

Take a look at the amp connections and see if the installer connected the inputs with just speaker wire into like 'high level input' or 'speaker level input'. the alternative to speaker wire would be RCA cables which is usually a 'line in' meaning there's a LOC somewhere.

flipmode

Yea thats exactly what he did, does that lower the quality? or is it the same thing? Also if the bass hits hard .. my lights start to dim? do i need something else to fix that?

evilmiata

I think that using a separate line convertor lowers the quality over an amp with high level inputs. Leave it how it is. A capacitor will help with your dimming lights.

flipmode

Thanks, I know that if you Dynamat your trunk that it will quit rattling, but is that all it does? Does it make it sound any better on the inside, will it sound better if i face it inside?

FastRX8

I would keep them facing back. I think the Dynomat helps w/ the sound too. I don't know how to describe it, but when I dynomat'd the trunk it helped. Feels like more bass is coming in instead of getting lost in the body of the car.

My lights were dimming also. Instead of using a capacitor, which should help, I upgraded to an Optima Yellow Top battery.
If you get a capacitor, you'll need to pay for that install too, unless you do it yourself.

The upgraded battery eliminated the dimming lights, and it allows me to play the stereo really loud w/o starting the car, and I don't have to worry about a dead battery.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Dynamatting a trunk is one of the best things you can do when installing subwoofers. It will definitely help with all the rattles and the bass just seems to come in "cleaner".

It can be a time consuming process but well worth it. Here's how mind turned out:





this was to keep my MS wing from rattling right off my car:

CAM427R

Dynamat definitely helps. My buddy dynamatted his entire truck and that sucker is rock solid, definitely helped in sound quality as well. I've noticed though, my trunk rattling is slim to none, the only thing i had rattling was my license plate, but some padded tape fixed that. A friend of mine has a pair of 10s in his 05 Mustang and I swear it sounds like the rear end of the car is about to fall off it rattles so bad. I think the fact that Mazda put some carpet on the trunk lid helps, whereas his mustang is just bare metal on the trunk lid. I was pretty amazed at the lack of rattling in th 8.

Keef

ya... I recently had an 8" L7 installed with an Alpine MRP-M450. The Alpine has what you guys are talking about, speaker level inputs. But before I did that, I connected a seperate line converter involving RCA's... And let me tell yall!!! Using the amplifier's speaker level inputs gave me ALOT better clarity...

jstkilntim

An amplifier only amplifies the signal that is received. That is why a lot of competition systems use line drivers. Especially for the sub channels. Most pre outs, including the inexpensive LOCs usually have about 2VDC out. Hence (for sound quality) the need for a LOC with a line driver.

With that said, most quality amps are starting to have low level input sensitivity (gain) adjustment for sources from <.5 VDC to >8VDC. They have also came a long way in the last few years in the way of "speaker level input" quality. Mostly due to aid w/ factory integration.

As stated in Keef's post, the Alpine sounded better since it was amplifying a stronger signal. If he (she) had been using a LOC w/ a line driver, the difference would not have been as noticeable. This result probably would not have been so positive w/ a cheap amp.

jstkilntim

Did it make a big difference w/ the wing? My MS Wing is driving me crazy w/ my little RF setup. I will definitely be sound damping my trunk before I upgrade.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Yup, make a nice difference

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

I have a 4080 box with one 10" Alpine Type R DVC sub with about 300 watts powered form my JBL amp. I also have the LC6i installed. I seem to get a whole lot more bass then I expected. My old set up was exactly the same minus the LC6i and the different sub box. I had this in my 240sx hatchback and it sounded loud but this for some reason picks up more bass. I still havent been outside my car when the stereo is up so I am not sure if iti is rattleing or not.

I guess what I am saying is that the LC6i works for me....i didint want to buy a cheap version either, to protect the head unit. I am not sure why your 2 subs are not as loud as you want them but I know I need more tuning as well just not sure how to do it. So that may be your only problem. I do know from other as well that the 4080 boxes do it very hard.

flipmode

Do you Dynamat the trunk lid as well?

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

The second picture I posted above is of the trunk lid being dynamatted. If done properly, you don't even notice it after you put the carpet piece back on.
Unless you KNEW I had put dynamat in my car, you'd never notice it by just looking in the trunk. Stealth is the way to go...

Towlie

personally i always liked how my lights dimmed when my subs were going... just my opinion though

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Might be a cool effect for some but something that should be remedied. I'm running a 2 farad cap right now and I have an Optima Yellow Top arriving in a few days. (lights don't dim now but just playing it safe)

Chamberlin

iTrader: (1)

Just got a yellow top today, and my sub box installed... all day fun project..
also rewired my grounding kit....if you ever buy one of those crappy medusa head lookin grounding kits on eBay, keep the wires and throw away the grounding block... it is made from aluminium and they ANODIZE THEM!!! I.E. your car won't even start because the voltage drop on the crappy gold plating is like 10 volts at no amps!

Anyways, with the Yellowtop Optima (I got the standard D34) you can use the GM side post terminals to attach your ground wires....and I may even attach my Amp/car PC lines to the + as well... for now it is pretty rube goldburg, as I had to really strech the factory + terminal to meet up with my + block... I will probably get an extension...
and the ground wires look pretty nasty... but it all works great... keep in mind the 34D is 44 pounds... the stock panasonic is 22 pounds.... and I added the weight of 2 tens, box and an amp.... yikes!!! Scrap the JIC coil overs and suspension parts... would be a waste to install them at this point...

for the sub box (got on eBay) I tapped into the rear speaker lines (no LOC) as this new Sony amp has very nice auto-turn on speaker level inputs... sound is just perfect for me, and I still have all factory controls working, even with the CarPc and all...

Removed the plastic panels from the seat back walls, as you can see I decided to have my box made firing forward.... I never like the idea of pumping sound into a enclosed trunk cavity.

Got the amp dialed in pretty neutral so I can use the fader/bass controls to fine tune the bass levels.... poor mans's version for sure, but it works... I will be 35 on monday, and I have had my days of 'thunder' when I was younger, so now its just nice to have a little fill-in bottom end where there was none before... Tweeter add ons are next...

-C

jstkilntim

Looks Great! I bought the same box and had thought about firing the subs forward, but I was afraid they would be too close to the braces. How close are they?

canaryrx8

iTrader: (3)

2 dvc 10's on 1500 watts here, (all soundstream)I too can vouch for dynamat (or something similar), what it does is make things heavier, it also disperses the waves as they hit the metal etc., instead of your trunk/whatever taking a solid hit, the dynamat takes the sound waves and spreads them out. We did my deck lid and it makes a huge difference

Chamberlin

iTrader: (1)

THanks alot-
There are no issues with the braces as far as I can tell... even if there was, you could just pull the box back a skocsh... If you guys do order the box from the guy in Florida, he is a great guy to deal with and ships fast.... the only two things I had a problem with are the spring terminals on the terminal cup are weak as hell, and one corner of the MDF back baffle was half broken because UPS must have dropped it...some better packaging could have saved that from happening... but it is a great box for the money.


-C

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

how much was the box? Nice job on the Optima install, I guess I wasn't the only one installing one yesterday.... (post pics later today)

Chamberlin

iTrader: (1)

Thanks again... like I said it is a pretty cheesy install right now, but I have NO alternator whine anymore in my car PC with the grounding kit, and my RX-8 starts up ALOT easier with the Optima...need to get the new starter motor though, my friends '06 is wicked fast.

Only real bummer was that I paid $215 for the 34D... I was told the price of lead has gone up 134% in the last 2 months, and Optima battery retailers just had a significant price bump... The guy at batteries + was nice enough to throw in the GM terminal posts so I could actually use the side posts too..

Sub Box was $145 shipped I believe... Mike will cut holes in front or back, for 10's or 12's per your desire... I just sent him pics of the install...as most of his pics on ebay are of rear firing installs.

-C