spent all day in the garage and have the trunk lid and both front doors covered in dynamat xtreme, and what a difference! still have the stock speakers in too, but the fronts sound 100x better than the rear now. before i got almost no bass from the front and everything came from the rear, and now the rear sound like crap compared to the front. did the entire trunk lid and inside of the outer skin and the inside of the inner skin for the doors. since i was there and taking my time i saved both plastic moisture barriers and reused them as well.
doing this in stages as i am replacing everything. so far i have the new stinger battery, big 3+ done, power ran to the trunk and the dynamat. tomorrow the entire trunk gets a layer, and the rear deck and under the rear seats if i have enough left over. the new door speakers and 6x9s won't go in until i have the fiberglass box for the subs and amps done.
the last photo shows the 4 connections to the battery. one 4g to the trunk for the amps, one 4g directly to the alt, one 8g to under the passenger seat for the amp to drive the new dash speakers for the gps/bt, one 8g split between the fuse box and the starter.
Looks like fun. Wish I had the time and money to spend on audio right now. That dynamat works wonders. There are better products out there, but dynamat is a good quality product and definitely helps out sound quality as well as killing that stupid vibration. What products are you putting in, and which subs and amps? What is your plan for the fiberglass box? And good luck with everything.
you would be surprised how affordable you can get things if you take your time. i bought my system in pieces over the last 4 months from ebay and ca.com and diy. total i spent somewhere around $900, but that includes buying some package deals and then selling off the parts i did not need to get some cash back.
unfortunately this does not include the cost of materials for the fg setup. i estimate that will run me about $250-300 by the time i buy everything. i have the idea in my head, but it's kind of hard to explain. as you open the trunk, the amps will be closest to the bumper, mounted almost vertical but tilted slightly to the back seat. wider amp in front, narrower behind. behind that will be the subs, sort of facing up and tilted towards the bumper. the fiberglass will go around the subs and then drop down right in front of them. it will also continue around the outsides and the front of the amp, making them sort of sunk into it. the entire thing will be one piece with seperate air chambers for the subs, but you won't be able to tell that when it is done.
i am also going to steal THEMANCALLEDDAX's idea and build a fg enclosure for the 6x9's using the rear parcel shelf carpeting as the base (after soaking it in resin). went to a local junkyard and got a mint condition rear parcel carpeting for $15, so just incase things get screwed up i still have mine. actually, that is a good tip for everyone - if you are going to modify a part of your car it is always a good idea to have a spare one to work on in case things go wrong. what is $20-50 for spares in the long run anyway? if it turns out like i want i could always make another one and sell it i guess. all the flush mount rings and spacers should arrive here next week, so next weekend that build will begin.
this is my other setup and will give you an idea of how the subs will be facing, only amps in front of instead of in between.
and i agree there are better products. if money was no object my car would have multiple layers of products from second skin, but i got almost 2 bulk packs of dynamat xtreme for $170 shipped. can't beat that with a stick, and this is only my work car after all
the weekend is over and the dynamt is complete. i am utterly amazed at the difference in road noise after the install. it sounds almost as good as my jag does. not quite, but almost. for those of you wondering, the complete install took 16 sheets from bulk packs of dynamat (18" x 36"). enjoy the pics.
naked trunk
fully naked and cleaned trunk
dynamat is installed
this is the tool i got at home depot to install the dynamat. it is atually used for laying out laminate counter tops, but it worked perfectly for dynamat.
if all goes well, next weekend i will start building the frame for the subs and amp box. updates as they happen.
word of advice. Those gigantic gaping holes in the doors? Dynomatt them as well!!! You want to seal the front sound wave (from the speaker) from the rear sound wave. This will help your midbass big time.
i am not really worried about it. this isn't for competition - hell, this isn't even my main car, it's just my work car. i really only put the dynamat on to help with road noise as this car is extremely loud inside. i may do that later when i actually change the speakers, but to be honest the chances are slim. the rear speakers will be enclosed in a fg enclosure and i will have a pair of type-r 10's in the trunk, so i don't think i will be lacking for lower frequency notes.
Just keep in mind type r's like ported boxes and BIG boxes. You can gain some serious SPL and SQ by making the box bigger if you want to keep it sealed or porting it and making the box bigger. I can't remember if what the size fiberglass box you wanted to use, but keep that in mind. I used to have a pair of 12's running on 1600 watts (edit: oh and it was in a 5 cubic foot ported box tuned to 34hz).
i am going with the alpine specs, and sealed. due to simplicity it is much easier to make my creation sealed and then add to the inside to achieve the airspace i want. according to alpine the airspace for a sealed 10 is 0.5 to 0.8cf after displacement. for a ported it is 0.6 to 1.25 cf. again, i am not going to be competing or anything serious, this is just to have good sound in my work car. the amp driving them will be rated at 600 x 2 @ 4ohm. numbers don't mean much to me and i will be tuning it with my dmm when the times comes.
interesting what you said though. according to alpine specs, for a 12 it should be 1.7cf ported per, for a total of 3.4cf in a ported enclosure. tuning is almost right on as they call for 33hz. possibly the specs have changed with the newer models compared to what you had.
i am going with the alpine specs, and sealed. due to simplicity it is much easier to make my creation sealed and then add to the inside to achieve the airspace i want. according to alpine the airspace for a sealed 10 is 0.5 to 0.8cf after displacement. for a ported it is 0.6 to 1.25 cf. again, i am not going to be competing or anything serious, this is just to have good sound in my work car. the amp driving them will be rated at 600 x 2 @ 4ohm. numbers don't mean much to me and i will be tuning it with my dmm when the times comes.
interesting what you said though. according to alpine specs, for a 12 it should be 1.7cf ported per, for a total of 3.4cf in a ported enclosure. tuning is almost right on as they call for 33hz. possibly the specs have changed with the newer models compared to what you had.
Nope, Alpine is retarded with the Type R's (well sort of). The 12" can take 800 watts daily no problem, some even run 1k+ watts to each R. I see you are going to give them 600watts each? Should be good, because those amps will put out what they are rated for. Also, they LOVE ported BIG boxes. The rumor is Alpine didn't add this to their specs because it saves them when it comes to warranty work. I would suggest giving them 1.4 cubic feet maybe 1.5 cubic feet each since you are going sealed. I would like to say again though, the type R's are about the only sub that will have better sound quality in a ported box than a sealed. That normally does not happen when comparing ported vs sealed. No idea why these R's like ported boxes so much.
i am not really worried about it. this isn't for competition - hell, this isn't even my main car, it's just my work car. i really only put the dynamat on to help with road noise as this car is extremely loud inside. i may do that later when i actually change the speakers, but to be honest the chances are slim. the rear speakers will be enclosed in a fg enclosure and i will have a pair of type-r 10's in the trunk, so i don't think i will be lacking for lower frequency notes.
If you are going through all the trouble to dyna matt, ya might as well add just a lil bit more no? It's not a matter of competition, it's a matter of getting better sound from a simple act of adding two more small peices of dynamatt.
Remember midbass runs up to 300hz, and this will also help the bass "stay up front". Unless you like ALL of your bass to come from the back, and all your highs to come from the front. Your dime bro, Just giving ya a 10 minute, 10 dollar fix that goes a LONG way in the overall sound of your car.
well, it rained all last weekend and the same thing is happening now. can't really get anything accomplished with the humidity so plans are on hold. i did however begin to tape up the corners of the trunk to make my molds, but while doing so i noticed that the carpet was a little damp. for the life of me i cannot see where water could be getting into the trunk. the rubber seal is in place perfectly, and the trunk lid has a layer of dynamat so the seal should be even tighter now. anyone experience this before or have any insight?
spent half a day in the garage working, but not a lot to show for it. tried making the 6x9 mounts but they ended up looking like ass. luckily they are only for rear fill, so i can just use a bunch of duraglass and fill in the waves and low spots after sanding. forgot to take pics of that, but like i said it looks like ass right now so no need for em.
i did get the boxes for the amps built and the frame for the sub enclosure. i was going to do a set of corner mounts for the subs but changed my mind after using (wasting!) and entire roll of tape. here are a few shots to give you an idea.
now i am sorta stuck. i don't know if i am going to use those boxes for the amps or not. originally i built them to flush mount the amps and make everyhing one piece when i fg'd, but not i am thinking i may just build platforms for them and mount them on top, slightly angled into each other. building is easy, desiging is a bitch.
i spent about an hour trying to figure out how i would be able to wrap this and could not come up with a solution, so out came the saw. cut the boxes down into platforms matching the footprint of the amps and made mounting bases for them, then cut a base plate for the entire thing.
then did a quick fit test to see where i was at.
cut off the corners in a little wave pattern to give it a nicer look and sanded down all the outside edges.
back in the trunk. no, the rings are not mounted. they are just sitting there for looks.
and that was all for today. did a guesstimation on the airspace and came up with approx. 1.66 cf, which is practically perfect after mounting the subs. i have never ran a single chamber for 2 subs before, and still don't know if i am going to this time. i may put a divider/brace in the middle of them to seal off each chamber but i haven't decided yet.
looks like i am going to have to wrap the box first, then attach the rear amp mount and wrap over that, then the front and finish the wrap. if i mounted everything first i don't think i would be able to get to the bottom of the subs with my stapler. if all goes right i'll have more progress this weekend.
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