Sealed Cabin vs "corner loaded"

[kylebes1]

Ok, it was interesting to read, from Luke, that the rear facing sub is less clear, but louder.

I think that considering the fact a sealed cabin system is more clear, lossing only 6 to 8 dbs, that is the way I am going.

The subs and box I had in my 525 were just some that were in the attic, and they are louder when aimed to the rear.

But my Mercedes is getting a complete system. I cannot decide which mids to use, or wheather I want to do custom door panels and a custom rear deck so I can use 6.5 vs 5.25 speakers.

I plan to "seal" the cabin, but there is no ski hole, and the gas tank is behind the rear seat. I can make a hole straight up, through the rear deck, where the first aid kit is. Question is, does the hole have to be the exact shape and size as the sub?

Thanks in advance Luke, I just cannot decide what to use at this point, there is so many things out there...

[marakka]

The bigger the hole the better unless you are facing the sub directly through it. I couldn't figure out if you were facing subs to the rear or not.... 6 to 8 db is A LOT to lose. Its been a long time since I've used "audio math" but if I remember this correct.... every 3db sounds twice as loud. To reproduce the 6db that you'd be losing you would have to quadruple the amount of woofers you have or quadruple the amount of power you have going to them.

Luke practices this shit every day so I'm sure he's more upbeat on it than I am.... I've forgotten more than I can remember about it these days. Thank god I can still do ohms law...

[StereoInstaller1]

Hi Kyle.

Man.. I am having bad stuff going on in my world of influence lately.

Max, I cannot get a decent price on JL. My boys in Vancouver are just not responding...Jordans amp and sub was apparently the last good deal I am ever gonna get from them. JL is a bunch of tight bastards, they are losing market share like nobodys business.

Kyle, I cannot get you Morel, other than home components. A buddy of mine may have some NIB Dynaudio...buy if you think Morel is spendy....I will check on what he wants.

Anyway, What Benzo? Do you have the classic "First Aid kit" rear deck? I build through those most of the time.

Oh, and BTW, Marakka is right...6 db is a HUGE loss, basically like going down from a 1000 watt RMS amp to a 150 Watt RMS bass amp...things get even more diffucult when the gas tank is in the way!

[kylebes1]

I have a '91 300e, yes it has the First Aid kit in the rear deck.

In the BMW I had the sub facing rear, and I was happy. All it had was a Alpine HU CDA-9847, and the factory Premium speakers. The subs are called Adrenline, with 700 watt max; two in a sealed box. I had a 100 watt amp bridged mono.

I am going to put that HU in my Benz, My mother drives the BMW a lot so it is just getting this $99 Panasonic that is in the Benz know.

Here is the headunit:


I just purchased this amp:


HiFonics TX8805. Four channels what like 110 watts RMS @ 4 ohms. Has adjustible crossover... blah blah. Got it off eBay for a $100.

Tomorrow I am going to check out some other components.

Luke, I guess I will just go with what I can find, but it will be top end. I know a couple people in the audio biz, old school guys.

Peace

[marakka]

Hmmm....

That amp ain't what it used to be. Hifonics was the SHIT back in the day but has since gone way down hill since (correct me if I'm wrong Luke) Jensen bought them. Thus why you only paid 100 bux for that amp. If you spend more than 150 bux on a set of fronts or rears you'd be overkilling it. You won't hear the difference in anything above that anyway. I used to get people that would come in and be prepared to spend thousands on setups and I'd end up selling them $99 coax's cause they don't have a trained ear to tell what "good" sound is. Smooth rich sound isn't something you can read about then identify... its something that takes time to learn to listen for and to distinguish between muddy/tinny/hissing speakers. I'm not telling you not to buy good shit..... but just don't go throwing 300 bux at a set of components when you won't be able to tell the difference between them and a set of 100 dollar Alpine coaxs. Also I don't really think that amp is capable of too high quality sound anyway... and if you are planning on running fronts and rears off the fronts and the subs off the rears, then you've already dropped your sound quality a million fold.

[kylebes1]

Ok, I am not the dumbby that goes to the audio store and lets them sell me three subs, four amps... They tried, I walked away and did not buy anything.

I just picked this up as well:


Audio Control EQX, should take care of the quality. My friend has the touch to tune it...

I think the Hifonics amp will be plenty good. This is the first car I am doing any ICE to, so there will be more opportunities to find exactly what I like.

At this moment I have 5.25 Pioneer mids and the same brand tweeters. Until I decide on mids the Pioneers will work.

Here are the mids I have in mind:


Mb Quart Premium 6.5 inch mids. I would rather have the QSC, but they cost too much for what I will be using the system for, if it was a comp system I would probably get the Q-line.


Boston Acoustics SL60

These are what I really want:

ADS 346cs 6.5 mids

All these are about $100 per speaker, I will have four as usual. But that is if you have to pay retail.

I want these tweeters:

Bostwick HPT-1 ~$40 each. I will have six of these because I am doing a center stage.

Cannot decide on a sub though:

Boston Acoustics 10, if I go with this I will use their radiator as well. Supposed to add 3 dbs.


ADS Pro 10

Suggestions?

[marakka]

Putting a $100 saddle on a $50 horse ain't gonna make it ride better.....

That AC eqx is tha bombbiggitybaby. Love AC stuff. It will be able to help you smooth out the garbage that that amp might give you. All in all it sounds like you'll end up with a good setup. I'm still stuck in the "MAKE BIG BOOM" mentality so my thoughts are biased. Hell... the last system Luke and I discussed was to be put together SOLELY because JL is a rare find in Germany.

[kylebes1]

If the amp ends up making things trashy it will be trashied.
Then I will probably get a couple JL amps...

"MAKE BIG BOOM"

Fidelity I what I am looking for, that is why I have ended the debate about the sealed cabin, because that is what I am going with.

I want high quality, not big BOOM. I listen to Rock, 80s, Metal, very little rap, and various other types of music. Stuff like Ozzy, Rush, Autumn to Ashes, Funeral for a Friend, blah blah blah... Mostly on CDs, soon to be an iPod or somthing like that.

I am pretty sure I am going with the Boston 10.

Does it sound correct that the Boston 10 calls for a 1.3 ft^3 ported box? They have more specs for it, but I have never built a box...


-Kyle

[marakka]

Depending on the specifics of the sub that sounds about right for a good quality SQ woofer. You just going to run 1?

[kylebes1]

yea, one.