from Plans to Progress to Pretty much Done

[Thomas91169]

im pretty much done with the trunk enclosure.

the floor and front panels are finished and covered, though as of right now, the only thing holding them in is themselves. the front panels go in first, and top to floor wise, they are basically right on, then the floors get pressed in and the hold the panels in. all i need is a L bracket on the back of them(where you dont see) just to make sure they dont get loose during extreme cornering or accel.

the window for the amp was too small a quater inch(it was precut at home-depot, someone elses scraps, cost me 2 bucks), so ill have to get another piece, and i need to raise the amp a half inch, cause it sits too low and if you look hard enough, you can see right down to the wires, either do that, or make some walls in there. raising it is the easiest and logical move though.

then its on to the cabin side(rear seat to trunk) panels. though i need another yard of vinyl and a week off from doing anything, since my patience level was used up wrapping the dam panels in vinyl(i hate vinyl), and thatll be the time the sub plexiglass gets the running pony engraved, if i decide to do so.

and after a half hour of tuning the amp and stereo to the sub(since it was still on my freinds settings from when he borrowed it), i got it dialed in. unleashed even more deep end bass. im almost certain this is THE best system i have heard in a very long time.

[lowflyn]

Looking good man.

[sonic04edge]

damn dude thats nice as hell good job!

[SpectorV]

nice, I guess Im just to old for that kind of stuff anymore

[wiarumas]

nice man.. thats hot lookin.

[Tbird232ci]

got trunk space?

[Thomas91169]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tbird232ci got trunk space?

yup, enough for a few backpacks and duffel bags, and a perfect spot for my roadside kit and my mobile toolset on the inside part of the enclosure, behind the front panels.

besides, i still have a back seat that i can put my guitars n shit in if i have to.

[01mineralgrey6]

looks really good!

[fast64]

it would look a helluva lot better if each part (top and bottom) wasn't split in two pieces

[Thomas91169]

yeah, but there would be no way to get them in there. tried that before wrapping them by just sticking a metal strap and screwing them together temporarily. wasnt going to happen. i was hoping at least the floor could all be one pice, but that wasnt possible either.

[Thomas91169]

did some more revisions

i thought my system sounded kinda weak compared to my sound guys system, he thought that my 1 12" Eternal with a 1300w amp should have hit harder than his 2 12" FlameQ subs(middle end audiobahn subs) and his 1000w class d mono amp. but when i got everything done, he and i were feeling let down by it, it really should be pounding, but for some reason we couldnt pinpoint the reason for the weakness.

he thought it was my box. the eternal calls for 1.75-2.25cu/ft of airspace in the box. taking into account the space the sub takes up, i had the box at around 2.1cu/ft. within specs. but when i got the sub, i realized that my current plans would put the back of the sub a mere 1" from the plexiglass back wall, and all you would see is the back of the sub, and not be able to see around to the flames. so i extended the box 2", and guessed that the internal space would still fall within spec. he believes that either its way bigger than spec, or i might need to port the box, or if that fails, redesign the box back within spec.

my response was always "im clipping, and the amps not even turned up cause of that, which is why im barely hitting". so i got 2 audiobahn capacitors(1 farad each). now youre supposed to run 1farad per 500w with the audiobahn amps. so with 2 im doing better than most people, but still underpowering myself. oh well, ill be fine for the time being with these, its not like im going for SPL, just very clear and deep.

so im wiring the amps up, making nice ass ground wires and shit, when he comes over to take a peeksee at my progress. he just happened to glance into the cavernous sub box and notice my wiring of the sub. he was like "holy fucking shit, you are an idiot!!!!". and im like "umm, what?". he goes to tell me the way i had it hooked up, was running 8ohms. i had the + from the amp into the + on the right of the sub, then from that - on the right into the + on the left side, and from the - on the left into the - on the amp. series right? wrong. especially since my amp isnt designed to run at 8ohms, it can do 325w@4ohm, 650@2ohm, and 1300@1ohm. so he goes "lemme fix this for you" and i unscrewed the plexi wall, let him fiddle with wires, and put it back together. "aight, now youre running at 2ohm". "why not do 1ohm?" i ask, "well, well do 2 for now, if its not enough, youll need to come to my house cause i have the audiobahn number to get the plans to run it at 1ohm, and youre gonna need more speaker cable, but im pretty sure youll be pleased with the difference from 8 to 2ohms".

so i put the shit back together, realizing i spent 150 on caps i really didnt need(but look cool and help anyways). i then charged the caps(you use a bulb as a temporary circut to connect the battery to the cap to charge them up slowly, if you just connect the power to the terminal itll blow the cap since itll charge it too fast i guess, it needs to slowly build a charge. this little bulb lights up and dimms as you let the cap charge, then it comes to life, and you insert the cable into the post) wired everything up and turned everything on the amp to its middlemost settings(how it comes from the factory), and turned the remote bass knob for the amp to the middle(now mounted int he trunk), and the mach460's bass to the middle.

holy fucking shit. i say that alot but this time was pure amazment. if i thought the eternal was better than any of my previous systems before running at 8ohms(using a 1100rms speaker running at 325w peak, haha), at 2ohms it hurts. no seriously, it fucking pounds. im going to have to move the whole box back by 1/2", because the speaker extrudes so much now its hitting the metal lip thats behind the back seat opening. and while hitting that hard, lights arent even dimming as much as before(so the caps are working, as you can tell in the pics), and the amp isnt getting clipping as it was before(well, before the clipping meter would be pegged almost constant, and now under high end bass it might blink for a fraction of a second, but thats ok since the caps are still above 12.4v)

and you can tell when the caps start to get used, the one that gets sucked by the amp first(the one closest to the vinly wall, the front cap) shows a lower reading, than the one thats not being used(rear) thats fed by the battery. it goes Battery, Cap(rear), Cap(front), Amp. the amp pulls from the closest one first, while the battery keeps charging the ones closest to it first.

cliffnotes
1. bought caps aide massive clipping to help me run more powuh.
2. wired sub wrong (ran 8ohm) why it wasnt very loud
3. rewired sub(now 2ohm)
4. installed caps
5. holy mofukking shit.
6. check out sexeh pics

[wiarumas]

sexeh indeed. might even be an understatement. looks real good.

[lowflyn]

Ooooo..pretty. I need a cap..lol.