# 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude build log



## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

Hey guys, so it's that time for the build to start. I had my 2011 JGC Overland for about a year and half and that whole time I couldn't quite figure out what to do and how to move forward. So, I just sat on gear and planned things out. I even went so far as to cut a bunch of metal behind the factory sub, but ended up trading it in. 

I now have a 2018 JCG Altitude. My Overland had 3 accidents and just went over 100k mi back in the fall, so I figured it was time to let it go while it still had any shred of value. I ended up leasing this new Jeep, so my system will have to avoid too much cutting, or in areas where it's obvious just in case I don't end up purchasing at the end of the lease. I also opted out of 4x4 which allows me to go without a spare tire. Plus, 99% of my time is just commuting, etc, so road-side assistance should be there for me if that happens. So, with the spare out, I was able to actually move forward.

Now, any of you Jeep WK2 owners know that, aside from the spare tire area, there's actually very little room to do things. The passenger quarter panel where the factory sub is/was offers some space, but I'm trying to avoid that area now for ease of installation. I've been researching on here for the last few years and found the following build threads to be extremely helpful, so thanks to all for posting.


https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...412183-2019-jeep-grand-cherokee-sq-build.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...-jeep-grand-cherokee-diesel-system-build.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...okee-build-gladen-mosconi-illusion-audio.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...014-jeep-grand-cherokee-idmax-jl-audison.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...113-2014-grand-cherokee-overland-install.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...-fiio-m9-building-center-console-housing.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...629-sealed-box-gb12s-2018-grand-cherokee.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...ery/404897-new-build-2018-grand-cherokee.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...radknobs-14-grand-cherokee-limited-build.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...73834-subwoofer-2018-jeep-grand-cherokee.html

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...ry/169634-2013-srt-jeep-long-time-coming.html


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

So far my gear consists of the following...

Source - digital, most likely iPhone using lossless files, yet to be purchased
H/U - factory 8.4 Uconnect system
DSP - RF 360.3
Amps - Soundstream Rubicon Nano; RN4.1400D (2), RN1.5000D
Sub(s) - Dayton Titanic MKIII 10" 4 ohm (3)
Midbass, Mid, Tweet - I have a few that I'll audition, nothing solid yet.
Distribution - Knukonceptz
Wiring - Knukonceptz, might make my own rca, undecided
Treatment - likely just use noico cld, and some reflectix for heat control, and mlv if it's in the budget.

... One of the reasons I wanted to get a newer Jeep was the 8.4 system. And, in the 2018 carplay comes standard. For a long time I wanted to integrate an iPad in my 2011, but I like a stationary design that looks factory. And, while I could've fabricated something, the truth is that the Phoenix weather would not allow me to keep it installed without damaging it. Plus, I'd need some sort of control unit for volume and I wasn't stoked about it being so bright at night. It just never felt right and fell into place, so the 8.4 checked off alot of boxes for me. I've not yet purchased the iPhone, but I'm looking at a higher capacity phone so I can send lossless files via carplay. This just seems like the path of least resistance and will still offer quality signal. I also bought this adapter ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ISO-SOT-20...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


... so that it will give me an in-between (duplicate) harness that I can tap into the factory speaker wires without having to cut any factory wires. This will then feed into the RF 360.3, but I'll need to get the 5 w 47 ohm resistors for the load sensing on the H/U.

For amps, I had been looking for a long time and the Soundstream was something I wanted to try. They had great form factor/size, ratings seemed good (likely over-rated, but acceptable) and they fit my budget. I wish I could've gone with something higher end, but it's just not feasible at this time. So, we'll see how these amps perform before checking out anything else.

I've had these three Dayton subs for a while now and they worked well in my last system. I wanted to sell/trade these for a 15", but didn't get any bites. I still may go this route in the future, but for now, this is what I have. It also works out well because the depth of the box might be too shallow for most 15's at this point. I had them in a sealed box before, getting appx 1cf per each, which may have actually been a little on the large size. It worked well, but lacked output below about 30hz or so. I was hoping to do a vented enclosure, but winisd is suggesting a box about 4-5 cf for a tuning frequency in the 20s. I could tune it a little higher and my box size can be cut down to appx 3cf and the output graph still looked better than sealed. Anyway, this will happen soon, so take a look at what I've started with and give me any suggestions please!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

I finally started building in the spare tire area. I'm trying to maximize as much space as possible. This is forcing me to cut pieces that are odd. I've had to cut templates out of frozen pizza boxes to help me out. I'm trying to do all of this on my apartment patio with very limited space and basic tools.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

.... my notepad has lots of drawings at this point!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

I'm really burning calories when I have to carry this thing from the patio, through the apartment, down the hall and back into my Jeep for intermittent fitment. And, it's getting heavier each time! Thankfully the weather in Phoenix has been unseasonably cool, making it a perfect time to do this.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Congrats on the new Jeep! Those Altitude look soooo good with the blacked out trim and emblems. Very nice choice! 

Are you just looking to swap out some of the factory stuff and keep it relatively stock in appearance?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

chithead said:


> Congrats on the new Jeep! Those Altitude look soooo good with the blacked out trim and emblems. Very nice choice!
> 
> Are you just looking to swap out some of the factory stuff and keep it relatively stock in appearance?


Thanks man, I really like the Altitude package as well. Kinda wish I could've done the High Altitude or Limited X, but just wasn't in the budget.

I mean, yes, for the most part. I'm really just trying to avoid having to cut anything that is not easily replaceable. I'm going to play around with the stock mid location. The tweeter will stay where it is, but I'm either going to put the mid in the pillar with the midbass in the door, or the mid in the door and build kicks for the midbass. Still undecided on this one.

Also, for other WK2 owners, that spare tire area is deeper toward the front than toward the rear. So, building this thing out of rectangles was not really the best option and I kinda was looking for a challenge!


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Damn good work so far! I'm in for more...


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

I really admire that fabrication work you did. Very cool work with all those complex shapes and angles. 

Man, putting midrange in the door locations crossed my mind too. Especially a nice 4" or 5.25" and then stuff an 8" in the kicks or under the seats. 

Do you have the empty storage area under the driver's seat since you don't have the Overland now?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

chithead said:


> I really admire that fabrication work you did. Very cool work with all those complex shapes and angles.
> 
> Man, putting midrange in the door locations crossed my mind too. Especially a nice 4" or 5.25" and then stuff an 8" in the kicks or under the seats.
> 
> Do you have the empty storage area under the driver's seat since you don't have the Overland now?


Thanks man, there are quite a few odd angles and shapes on this piece. I don't have a table saw, so using the circular saw for 90% of the cuts and then jig for the rest. The angles mate up pretty well, and where there was small gaps, I filled with glue and smashed some sawdust in there pretty tight.

You know, I think it's really going to come down to a trial/error situation. I have some 5" mids that I want to try and use, so the door makes sense. This effectively eliminates the need for me to worry about too many rattles. If I have to build kicks, which I'm leaning toward, then I don't mind cutting a little bit of metal that will never be noticed by the dealer and buying some spare kick panels to modify. I was thinking of doing at least some 8's, maybe dual 8's if I can fit them and vent them.

There is a spot under the driver that is wide open and I'm not sure if I want to put my dsp down there or maybe another sub. It could easily fit a 10, which I have a few other options for. Passenger side, as you know, has the battery, so no go there.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

DavidRam said:


> Damn good work so far! I'm in for more...


Thanks man, as you know I've used your thread for quite a bit of inspiration seeing as how we have the same Jeep.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> Thanks man, as you know I've used your thread for quite a bit of inspiration seeing as how we have the same Jeep.


Like, the EXACT same Jeep! Lol


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

DavidRam said:


> Like, the EXACT same Jeep! Lol


Yes sir, or at least to start with. You've made awesome progress on yours btw. I really like the stance of yours after the lowering springs/spacers and I'd love to do the same to mine, but I'll probably wait until my lease is up before doing that. If I decide to keep this thing, then that's where all the fun fabrication begins. I'd likely cut the metal below the spare extending that area and likely cut behind the factory sub area like I did in my previous Jeep. But, for now, it's going to have to be minimal modification.

I've not tested any spots yet, but where are you WK2 owners finding the best ground location?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

another weekend, another round of progress pics. it's starting to get hot in phoenix, finally, and my southwest facing patio has not only become too small, but is now super hot, so it's becoming very frustrating to work. but, it's a labor of love, right?

i swear, i spend more time just staring at this project going over all the ways i could/should build it and lay it out than actually building it. i'm such a perfectionist when it comes to system lay out. for the reasons already stated i really wanted to keep the whole system in one spot making it easier to remove and retrofit into another jeep should i give this one up at the end of the lease. i strongly considered moving all electronics to the quarter panel area where the factory sub would be, but i wanted to have immediate access to controls and fuses. i could've fabricated something, but it involves more time and cost. so, i settled on an orientation similar to my original staging idea with the amps near the seats. 

because i'm also a sucker for clean wiring and symmetry, i spent hours just arranging the components in ways that might work. i know im going to push these amps and i know they're going to get hot. so, i really wanted to incorporate some fans. ideally i'd like to have been able to put the fans on the heat sinks in a side-firing push/pull configuration, but there was not enough room on the sides or top. so, i got the crazy idea to cool them from below. 

because the footprint of the dsp couldn't fit up top, there was only one place for it; under the amps as well. which means, they'll go under the fans too. i didn't get to the point of mounting it yet, but the pieces are cut and it will just barely fit. and, because i'll need access to the dsp, potentially the fans if one fails, and also the other wiring like relays that will be down there, this whole section of the amp rack is hinged so that it will swing up giving me access to all these components. if you've not noticed, i tend to make things more difficult than need be, but damn if i don't love the challenge!

i busted out my new router for the first time and did some plunge-routes for the fan openings by hand. they turned out ok. i also wanted to make things more professional in this install, so im trying out some threaded inserts. i bought a bunch of brass ones at lowes, but im still 'auditioning' options, so let me know what you guys use.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

and here's where i left off. hopefully you can see how it will be laid out in my drawing. up top there will be power distribution which will feed a blue sea systems distro for all the small things. then to each side i have a barrier strip, which are 10 spots each. this helps keep things symmetrical because i can send midbass, mid and tweet signals out and the remaining lugs can bring signal back from the head unit to feed the dsp. so far, this idea makes sense, but we'll see how it ends up working out.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> Yes sir, or at least to start with. You've made awesome progress on yours btw. I really like the stance of yours after the lowering springs/spacers and I'd love to do the same to mine, but I'll probably wait until my lease is up before doing that. If I decide to keep this thing, then that's where all the fun fabrication begins. I'd likely cut the metal below the spare extending that area and likely cut behind the factory sub area like I did in my previous Jeep. But, for now, it's going to have to be minimal modification.
> 
> I've not tested any spots yet, but where are you WK2 owners finding the best ground location?



Thanks!

I grounded to the body on the driver side, behind the wheel well under that plastic cubby... Drilled a hole and sanded the paint away on both sides.

You are taking that AZ sun and heat seriously, huh?! Lookin' great, man!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

DavidRam said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I grounded to the body on the driver side, behind the wheel well under that plastic cubby... Drilled a hole and sanded the paint away on both sides.
> 
> You are taking that AZ sun and heat seriously, huh?! Lookin' great, man!


thanks dude, and yes I am. I even tossed around the idea of incorporating a peltier device, but have never used one and I'd be concerned about potential condensation issues. the heat is real out here man and i figure it's better to err on the safe side, you know?


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

That is awesome work my friend!!!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

chithead said:


> That is awesome work my friend!!!


thanks dude!


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> thanks dude, and yes I am. I even tossed around the idea of incorporating a *peltier device*, but have never used one and I'd be concerned about potential condensation issues. the heat is real out here man and i figure it's better to err on the safe side, you know?


I'd never heard of that and had to Google it... Kinda neat


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so i'm thinking i need to get new distribution blocks. the knu ones i have are only 3 fused outputs. because the mono amp accepts two 4 ga inputs, i'd like to take advantage of that, so i'm needing at least 4 fused 4 ga outputs. also, i can't stand the compression fittings that knu used to use; they're so frustrating to install. so, i see there are a few options, but they're not very affordable right now. stinger makes a couple that will work, but i'm seeing this pop up all over the place. other than the casing shape being weird, this is exactly what i'm looking for. anybody have experience with this unit?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Audio-...m=192885929734&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851


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## rockinridgeline (Feb 2, 2009)

looking good. following another nice JGC build!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

rockinridgeline said:


> looking good. following another nice JGC build!


thanks man! your jeep was definitely used as inspiration for this build. i was thinking of cutting a hole through the spare well area like you did on my last jeep. trying to avoid metal cutting on this one since it's a lease, but if i end up purchasing it, then i'll do the same thing.


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## steelwindmachine (May 15, 2017)

Very nice woodworking!

Alternatively, you could have used fiberglass to more precisely conform to the floor contours and integrate the MDF for the side walls, etc.

Nonetheless, your methodology is something I'm exploring for my Kia Sorento since it has a similar under floor cargo space.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

steelwindmachine said:


> Very nice woodworking!
> 
> Alternatively, you could have used fiberglass to more precisely conform to the floor contours and integrate the MDF for the side walls, etc.
> 
> Nonetheless, your methodology is something I'm exploring for my Kia Sorento since it has a similar under floor cargo space.


thanks! i really wish i had more space and better tools, so this is as good as i can do with what i have. we're hoping to get our first house by eoy and i'm definitely scouting for something that has a garage or workspace. i need a table saw and router table just name a few.

you know, i did consider glassing the bottom shape. i'm comfortable with the process and have done it before. but, honestly, i really just didn't want to mess with it at this point. i'll likely end up glassing kick panels or pillars, but i'm trying to avoid doing it as much as possible. also, i kinda wanted to challenge myself on this to do it all with mdf if possible. so far i've managed to use zero screws and only a few brad nails. i might, however, give the enclosure a nice resin glaze after it's built.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> thanks! i really wish i had more space and better tools, so this is as good as i can do with what i have. we're hoping to get our first house by eoy and i'm *definitely scouting for something that has a garage or workspace.* i need a table saw and router table just name a few.
> 
> you know, i did consider glassing the bottom shape. i'm comfortable with the process and have done it before. but, honestly, i really just didn't want to mess with it at this point. i'll likely end up glassing kick panels or pillars, but i'm trying to avoid doing it as much as possible. also, i kinda wanted to challenge myself on this to do it all with mdf if possible. so far i've managed to use zero screws and only a few brad nails. i might, however, give the enclosure a nice resin glaze after it's built.


You and me both...  One car garage is NOT cutting it. 

Btw, did you see my table saw/router table for small spaces?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

DavidRam said:


> You and me both...  One car garage is NOT cutting it.
> 
> Btw, did you see my table saw/router table for small spaces?


yeah buddy, i'm the one who responded. did you post that over here yet? that might be something i try to tackle here soon.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> yeah buddy, i'm the one who responded. did you post that over here yet? that might be something i try to tackle here soon.


Here is the thread, posts 159-170 have pictures:
https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...17013-table-saw-router-combo-mobile-cart.html


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

DavidRam said:


> Here is the thread, posts 159-170 have pictures:
> https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...17013-table-saw-router-combo-mobile-cart.html


dude, that thing looks awesome!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

another weekend, another progress update. it's officially hot here in phoenix now, and work conditions crappy, but i push through as much as i can. we're also trying to plan a labor day elopement up in sedona, so we've been making trips up there too which really doesn't give me much time to work on this, but i digress.

at this point, i've finished the back end of this and the front of the enclosure. i've not made any progress on the amp rack/distribution area because i'm likely going to have to get new dist blocks. i'm also shopping for threaded inserts. i've been trying the brass ones with the slot, but they're just ok. and, i can tell you that sourcing them locally is like half the price at lowes vs. home depot. if you guys have any suggestions for sourcing good/affordable threaded inserts, let me know.

as you can see, the back side that comes close to the latch i've tried to maximize as much space as possible. this lead to some weird conforming cuts and odd angle matching. i'm doing my best here, so if you see a void, don't worry, i'll likely give this at least a resin coat to seal it up.

and, on the back end of the enclosure, you can see i cut a hole for a port. my plan for this is to make it relatively modular. now i have those three 10s, but i might want to do something else in the future, so i plan on making a removable sub baffle. the only place i could put that port is along the back, so it will run parallel to that board and then turn 90 deg to port into the amp rack area. it will not be obstructed at all. i'll arrange it so that i can swap port sections to play with tuning and to potentially accommodate different subs in the future.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> another weekend, another progress update. it's officially hot here in phoenix now, and work conditions crappy, but i push through as much as i can. we're also trying to plan a labor day elopement up in sedona, so we've been making trips up there too which really doesn't give me much time to work on this, but i digress.
> 
> at this point, i've finished the back end of this and the front of the enclosure. i've not made any progress on the amp rack/distribution area because i'm likely going to have to get new dist blocks. i'm also shopping for threaded inserts. i've been trying the brass ones with the slot, but they're just ok. and, i can tell you that sourcing them locally is like half the price at lowes vs. home depot. if you guys have any suggestions for sourcing good/affordable threaded inserts, let me know.
> 
> ...


Excellent work right there, so much detail...


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

it's that time again for a progress update. thanks for sticking with me because this is admittedly slow, but i can really only work on weekend mornings. my workspace, if that's what you want to call it, is super cramped and super hot.

i decided to shift gears over to the sub enclosure for now. i still need to decided on which distribution blocks i want to use. i really like knukonceptz, but i don't like their compression fittings system. i'd do the 'bassik', but i need four 4 gauge out. it's two 4 gauge and one 0 gauge, which might work, but i'd have to split that again to feed the mono amp two 4 gauge again, which is a little redundant. let me know what you guys think, because i'm also looking at the stinger shd blocks. 

anyway, after doing some calculation, it seems like an 11" x 4" port will work for this airspace and a tuning frequency of about 29hz. you can't see it in the pics, but i did use my dremel to create a flair one each end of the port. i've also left enough space in case i need to use couplers and play with different extensions in case this doesn't work they way in want it to.

i really wanted to make a removable baffle, but it just really seems like way more trouble than what it's worth. these 10's are about 1/2" from the bottom, so i doubt any 12s or 15 would even fit height-wise. so, instead, im leaning towards a permanent baffle. as you can see, it's two-ish layers thick of 3/4" mdf. i decided to make the bottom/inner layer more like a skeleton frame to reduce a little weight and increase a little airspace. there is a small brace that fits around the port that acts as a baffle brace, and i've also built another brace that sits in between the middle and right side subs, so the baffle will be super stiff. i had to use liquid nails to get the port/brace installed. i rough-cut the inner baffle with a jigsaw and started using the router to trim it out, but it was taking too long, and it was super hot, so i said **** it, nobody's going to see this except you guys. i decided not to finish that as you can still see the rough cut; oh well.

oh, and it was my first attempt at making circles with my router and haven't yet purchased a jasper jig, so i made a temporary jig. i thought the slot would work, but the screw/washer just slid, so i had to drill holes. they're not perfect, but better than the jigsaw. the first inner hole i made was slightly too small, so i dremmel-ed out little notches for the basket spokes and it falls right into place, secure and snug.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

sorry for the delay on this thread. it was too hot to work on my patio for most of the summer, and i got married, so this took a back seat.

i'm back at it now and have more pics to upload soon. enclosure and subs are wrapped in carpet and installed in the jeep and they fit perfectly and look great. i'm finishing up the amp rack now and was intending to use some techflex material to dress up the wiring. what diameter/size do you recommend for 0 and 4 gauge power wire?


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> sorry for the delay on this thread. it was too hot to work on my patio for most of the summer, and i got married, so this took a back seat.
> 
> i'm back at it now and have more pics to upload soon. enclosure and subs are wrapped in carpet and installed in the jeep and they fit perfectly and look great. i'm finishing up the amp rack now and was intending to use some techflex material to dress up the wiring. what diameter/size do you recommend for 0 and 4 gauge power wire?


C'mon man, women come and go, this is a once in a lifetime audio build!!  

J/k, congrats!!!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks dude! she definitely is a keeper. she not only allows me to annex the entirety of the patio for my 'workshop', she let me take the second bedroom to keep all my musical equipment, something to the tune of 20+ guitars, a drumset, and tons of speakers. also, she's beautiful, so.... yeah, not looking to change things in that department any time soon.

hey, did you get that trackhawk?


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> thanks dude! she definitely is a keeper. she not only allows me to annex the entirety of the patio for my 'workshop', she let me take the second bedroom to keep all my musical equipment, something to the tune of 20+ guitars, a drumset, and tons of speakers. also, she's beautiful, so.... yeah, not looking to change things in that department any time soon.
> 
> hey, did you get that trackhawk?


Sounds great, man! Enjoy married life!

I am gonna sell this Jeep first and then order a new Trackhawk...


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

wow, i can't wait to see what you do with that thing. being 4x4, though, won't you have to keep the spare? in my overland i was concerned about removing the spare for that reason, unless you'll be relying on roadside assistance. i fully expect an awesome build log for that, though.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> wow, i can't wait to see what you do with that thing. being 4x4, though, won't you have to keep the spare? in my overland i was concerned about removing the spare for that reason, unless you'll be relying on roadside assistance. i fully expect an awesome build log for that, though.


I haven't really thought about what I will do with it... Something out of the ordinary for sure though. 

I'm looking forward to seeing more pics of your build.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

yeah man, the amp rack is almost done and i hope to upload some more pics soon.

i think some metal cutting is in the future for you, eh, eh?


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> yeah man, the amp rack is almost done and i hope to upload some more pics soon.
> 
> i think some metal cutting is in the future for you, eh, eh?


I wouldn't mind a little of that...


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

brett said:


> thanks dude! she definitely is a keeper. she not only allows me to annex the entirety of the patio for my 'workshop', she let me take the second bedroom to keep all my musical equipment, something to the tune of 20+ guitars, a drumset, and tons of speakers. also, she's beautiful, so.... yeah, not looking to change things in that department any time soon.


You’re funny. You’re still on the honeymoon phase which is the only reason you still have the audio in that room. Give it a year. Lol! Well, to be fair, my wife puts up with my stuff all over so maybe she’s a keeper! J/K. Congrats man! But it’s time you got your priorities back in order and get us some updates.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

Once the kids come the car audio party is over, lol. 

Very, very nice wood work there.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

well, we've been together for over 11 years and she's let me have those things the whole time, so i don't expect that to change any time soon. and, no babies for us.

just put the final coat of paint on the amp rack tonight.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

brett said:


> well, we've been together for over 11 years and she's let me have those things the whole time, so i don't expect that to change any time soon. and, no babies for us.
> 
> just put the final coat of paint on the amp rack tonight.


Wow dude! What took you so long? And I thought I was bad making my wife wait 6.5 years until we married. LOL!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

well, to be honest, the general life hustle got in the way. since 2008, we've hit multiple road blocks that kept taking priority. last year we got into an accident, hence no more white jeep, and the settlement from that was the only reason we were able to get married and take a small honeymoon to alaska. we figured, if we don't do it now when we had the chance, we may never be able to, so it was a lightning in a bottle situation.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

Good to hear. Wishing for you the best man. Life is short, live it to the fullest.

Where did you go in Alaska? I lived in Nome for 3 years(Jr. High) and Fairbanks for 3 years(High School). Would love to go back and visit in Sept timeframe but definitely not the winter. Fairbanks was routinely below -50 degrees F.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

exactly, thanks dude!

we just did a cruise through southeast alaska/inside passage; juneau, skagway, glacier bay, ketchikan (missed due to weather) and victoria. it was incredible and i suggest that anybody go if they have the opportunity to do so.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, progress/pic time. i got a new iphone during the break, where i was previously an android user, and i needed to figure out how to upload pics to my work pc, which i've just done.

this is the amp rack, but the part that is mainly for wire interface as it goes into my rack. i know i've probably overbuilt this, but i always tend to over complicate things for the sake of building something cool and challenging myself.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so here we have the trim panel that goes over the amps, etc. also, you cans see my attempts at carpeting this extremely difficult shaped box. i'm trying not to have any exposed mdf surfaces, so everything's either carpeted or painted. the bottom of the cavity where the amp rack will cover up and where the port exits into is just brushed on black as it will hardly ever be seen. i also ran out of carpet!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

more carpeted pics. sound treatment and install.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

amp rack; tried to use as many insert nuts as possible this time. planned out the placement of everything and then primed and painted first light coats. i've painted more coats since this, but haven't taken pics yet, so maybe this weekend i can get you all caught up, but it's looking real awesome in person. because of my lack of tools/skills, there are a few spots that aren't perfect but i can live with that.


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## Chris12 (Sep 20, 2018)

Lookin’ good!

Props for using the patio as your work space. It must be tough, but we gotta do what we can to get things done 

Nice work!


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## ajt976 (Feb 27, 2019)

That is a serious amount of measured/placed holes, nice! I appreciate the reliefs you put on the top side of the holes for wiring, I was wondering if something like that would be helpful, but wasn't quite sure how to best go about it.

Looking forward to seeing it all wired up, I'm a sucker for wiring for whatever reason...


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks guys! yes, placement and wire-routing prep took a ton of time. like, you guys know when you spend 30 minutes or more just staring at a piece wondering how you're gonna configure something? yeah, that happened alot.

but, i think this will turn out great because of the prepwork, so be ready for some 'wire porn' coming soon!

speaking of, i think my question got buried, but im looking for techflex and not sure which diameter to use for 0 and 4 gauge wire?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

oh, and in case any of you were curious or didn't believe me, this is our labor day wedding in sedona. it was a private elopement, simple ceremony.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

brett said:


> amp rack; tried to use as many insert nuts as possible this time. planned out the placement of everything and then primed and painted first light coats. i've painted more coats since this, but haven't taken pics yet, so maybe this weekend i can get you all caught up, but it's looking real awesome in person. because of my lack of tools/skills, there are a few spots that aren't perfect but i can live with that.


Holy detailed!!! Looks great man! 

IIRC 3/8" for 4 gauge and 5/8" is snug for 0 gauge...


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## ajt976 (Feb 27, 2019)

brett said:


> thanks guys! yes, placement and wire-routing prep took a ton of time. like, you guys know when you spend 30 minutes or more just staring at a piece wondering how you're gonna configure something? yeah, that happened alot.
> 
> but, i think this will turn out great because of the prepwork, so be ready for some 'wire porn' coming soon!
> 
> speaking of, i think my question got buried, but im looking for techflex and not sure which diameter to use for 0 and 4 gauge wire?


Definitely agree, I'm about to do the same laborious pondering over the weekend as I attempt to redo my rack.

Per the techflex, I used 3/8" for 4AWG and I feel like it's a really good fit. I'm going to attempt to use it for the new 1/0AWG, hoping that it's okay because I didn't buy anything larger, I guess I'll have to check it out tonight and see...


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

brett said:


> oh, and in case any of you were curious or didn't believe me, this is our labor day wedding in sedona. it was a private elopement, simple ceremony.


Ha. Why would we not believe you? But then again, she looks too good for you man. You did good. Now I’m really surprised it took you so long to marry her. Lol! J/K man. You two make a beautiful couple. 

Oh, and the install looks good too. You say you don’t have the tools and skill but your attention to detail is quite impressive and so are the results. Thanks for sharing...everything.


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## JCsAudio (Jun 16, 2014)

Jesus Christ!



O-wait, that’s you holding that girl isn’t it?



Kidding aside, very nice picture and man that amp rack looks awesome.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks guys, she really is quite the catch, and yes, she's slightly out of my league.

appreciate the kind words on my work. things would be cleaner/tighter if i had a table saw and a router table, but i gotta make do with what i have. the attention to detail comes from my art background, though.

the next thing i'm going to try is metal forming. i snagged some perforated metal grills off of some amps where i work (fender), and i want to see if I can do some of the 3D forming that i've seen around here. it will help hide my sub-par carpet wrapping skills as you can see on the amp rack beauty panel.


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## ajt976 (Feb 27, 2019)

ajt976 said:


> brett said:
> 
> 
> > thanks guys! yes, placement and wire-routing prep took a ton of time. like, you guys know when you spend 30 minutes or more just staring at a piece wondering how you're gonna configure something? yeah, that happened alot.
> ...



FYI - looks like the 3/8" might still work on 1/0.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

got a little bit more done this weekend. the amp rack fabrication is finished, for now at least. i suspect that a future revision may be in store, but we'll see. the paint i used for the final coat was a textured outdoor patio furniture spray paint. the color/texture are great, but it didn't always spray consistently.

for this project, being that i just spent a ton of money, i'm trying to mitigate spending on this and re-use things if i can. so, you'll see the old school knu distro blocks that i am re-using. their original mounting had become scratched and cracked, so i just made new bases for them, which made the footprint smaller. i'm also re-using some wire couplers that i got from the home depot. as you can see, i tried to notch a +/- sign, and as much as i knew it would split, i tried it anyway. and, well, it split a tad bit, but not detrimental, so i'm just moving on.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ugh, having issues with the remaining pics, standby


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Man, I really like the finish on that... Can you posted exactly what you used, plz?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, apparently there's a security token issue preventing me from uploading more pics. anybody know how to work around this?

i'll try to find a can because i can't quite remember the exact kind, sorry. but, it really has a great look/feel to it for sure.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, uploads are working again for some reason.

so, i tried mounting all the components. at some point, earlier on, i realized that the brass insert nuts are complete garbage and switched over to the type you install with an allen wrench. i'd already installed the brass ones for the fans, and hoped they'd work. i was wrong, and as soon as i started screwing the fans in, the insert nuts starting backing themselves out. so, i had to remove them all, and install the new insert nuts, which i vastly prefer and i'm actually glad it happened now instead of later. about three of them, though, must not have been lined up perfectly because the bolts didn't take, but they're all secure and not going anywhere.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

and here's the rest of this rounds' pics.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

all manner of techflex and extra wires have been purchased and are arriving this week as well. hopefully i'll have some wire-porn available for you guys soon.

i'll still need to make a final trim panel for all of this. after wrapping with carpet and putting treatment down, it raised enclosure slightly, so i may have to modify my plans slightly. the idea was to retain the oem cover, etc, but i don't think that's possible at this point, so i'll have to get that made sooner than later because i want this space to be usable.

then, as soon as i get the back finished, i'll wire everything up. i need to wire in the resistors to the oem headunit to feed the dsp. i'll probably need to make custom rca's as well. then, i'll likely replace the front speakers in their factory locations so that i have a baseline to work with. if things sound ok from there, i may hold off on further fabrication, but i was intending to do pillars and/or kicks, so that is potentially on the list as well. i just don't want to get into a situation where it takes me years to finish, and then i have to turn the lease back in, having never fully appreciated all the hard work.

btw, i still can't figure out how to allow carplay to access albums while in motion if anybody with uconnect/carplay experience can help.


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## ajt976 (Feb 27, 2019)

That looks awesome so far, looking forward to the wire porn!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

where are you guys sourcing led strips?


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## ndm (Jul 5, 2007)

brett said:


> where are you guys sourcing led strips?


I go to menards or home depot, find a set I like and cut the 120v to 12v power supply off and wire it to 12v. 

Only works if the its converted to 12v though. I like to watch for sales. Lol

For all other situations I use superbrightleds.com or Oznium.


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

The local Pep Boys stores have plenty of automotive LED strips that we can check out...


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Looks awesome man!! 

If you feel like sacrificing the factory lid, you could cut holes in it for the subs, like I'd did with my previous car.


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## ndm (Jul 5, 2007)

brett said:


> where are you guys sourcing led strips?





DavidRam said:


> Looks awesome man!!
> 
> If you feel like sacrificing the factory lid, you could cut holes in it for the subs, like I'd did with my previous car.


Okay, listen closely....

If you want a 100% factory floor look, take the plastic cover off and carefully disassemble it. The factory carpet is very hard to match but if you carefully pull it, it will come off since the factory uses **** glue to adhere it to the plastic. The carpet is acoustically transparent.

Why would you do this? Well you can make a replica of the floor out of mdf, baltic birch or whatever you like. Mine is done with mdf but I should have done Baltic Birch. I routed a slot for steel mesh and installed the mesh into the BB. Then I used a very light bit of low stick adhesive to just keep the factory carpet from moving. 
Staple the sides.

The end result will be a load floor that is 100% stealth, does not resonate like the cheap plastic one does and is a 100% match to the jeep. The added mass of the dense mdf tames the load floor resonance where the factory one came alive with noise when the system was playing. 

The carpet could be removed and reinstalled on the plastic cover if you should desire to do so. 

Pics attached of the bottom of my load floor before I dusted the yellow adhesive black and of the top of my load floor. You can see the opening for the faux handle I have made but not yet installed.

My floor is raised 1.25 inch but the new cover fits the factory stuff too.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, you may have noticed that there was an un-occupied section of my amp rack 'interface' area. that is where i will have my rca disconnect station, as i am loosely calling it. it's a residential wall unit, forget the naming convention for that, but i took two, cut them and fused them together to make an 8 port unit. it's not perfect, and it's slightly warping but it works. now you can see how it fits in that spot.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

nothing too special here. i realized that i needed to adjust the mounting position of the hinges because i need to put this thing together in two separate parts due to weight. forgot to take pics, but the hinges and screws were painted black this weekend. 

also, i was test fitting the wires to make sure that little channel i'd built was big enough. in hindsight, i would've made this bigger and a second version is likely inevitable, but everything fits so far. 

and, some obligatory amp guts shots. these are nothing special, but it's all i could afford for now and the form factor was perfect.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i'm still gathering some small pieces to finish the wiring, like ferrules, heat shrink, etc. some of the techflex i bought was much brighter than expected, and some the opposite, so i might keep looking. trying to keep the blue/black theme going. 

so, in the meantime, i decided to tackle the metal forming project. i've never done it before and i'm trying to emulate what mark at the fab kitchen has done. i didn't buy the metal mesh, but i had access to perforated metal grill material taken from broken bass amps (i work at fender). i have no idea if this will work, but i had a ton of scrap wood and decided to make use of it. wish me luck, because some time this week i'm going to try to form this.


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## ajt976 (Feb 27, 2019)

So cool! I love re-purposing scrap or junk material, the price is right!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

well, progress is slow because i've tallied up all the small parts that i want/need to finish the wiring and connections and i don't quite have the funds for now. i've got some substantial bills coming up and i need to prioritize responsibly, so the wire porn might have to wait a little longer.

however, in the meantime, i'm getting more fabrication done. i tried forming metal grills and let me tell you, it's not super easy. at least, not when you don't have a press. as mentioned, i'm trying to make use of things i already own, and i salvaged some old perforated metal grills from some older fender rumble bass amps. i'm not sure how they compare to what others use, but the gauge of steel used is quite thick. i then made a press jig using some old osb and mdf scraps. as you can see in the previous post, i estimated the size of the negative space cutouts and gave them rounded chamfers. i tried just using clamps that i had, and after my hands about gave out, i scrounged up some bolts/nuts that were just long enough to go all the way through the jig, but only after they were clamped down a little. because the material was thick and i was pressing multiple pieces, i had to cut them out and also cut 45's at the corners. overall, i think it turned out pretty darn good and im super stoked that this was my first attempt. one minor thing that you may not notice until i just told you, but the there is a noticeable directional pattern to the mesh and because i cut the smaller ones out vertically, but installed horizontally, there is a difference. it's hard to tell unless you look for it, but lesson learned. not sure if i'll remake or let it ride for now.

let me know what you think!?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, here's what it looks like tentatively placed in the jeep. i think it looks pretty awesome to be honest. i might actually make this a hinged lid, but not sure yet.

i also have a co-worker that is a luthier and he's been kind enough to help build me a custom Fender Jaguar for any of you musicians out there. i included a sneak peek picture as well. so, i get to his shop and tell him about the project and he goes, 'dude, i have a 12-ton press here'..... ****! of course he did! oh well, it was good to know i could do it by hand, which was not easy at all.

*you might notice that i added a 45 degree chamfer on the bottom. this helped the inserts sit flush against the panel. don't worry, the first couple pics are temporary placement where the carpet was loose, the last few pics are after i re-attached the carpet and it is now nice and taught.


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## Chris12 (Sep 20, 2018)

Bad assery in this thread.

Curious to see how you like the Soundstream amps.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks man, i'm trying my best with this project. and i'm curious too; i didn't see anybody using them, no reviews, nothing. so, i figured i'd take a chance on them. personally, i love the way they look and their form factor is perfect for this install.


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## asianinvasion21 (Sep 24, 2012)

Nice Build! The install look super clean. Were those knukoncepts distribution blocks a pita? They were in my car lol.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

honestly, yes, they've always been a pita. i understand the logic of why the compression fittings are used, but they are not fun to install. i re-used them because that's what i had, but you uncovered part of my next phase. i'm likely going to have to buy new blocks and just know that it will be much easier. for starters, i'll probably have to modify the amp rack because wire-routing is really cramped. also, those compression fittings will not fit through the holes i've drilled. so, getting new blocks is on the list and part of the shopping cart that i can't yet pull the trigger on, as previously mentioned.


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## asianinvasion21 (Sep 24, 2012)

brett said:


> honestly, yes, they've always been a pita. i understand the logic of why the compression fittings are used, but they are not fun to install. i re-used them because that's what i had, but you uncovered part of my next phase. i'm likely going to have to buy new blocks and just know that it will be much easier. for starters, i'll probably have to modify the amp rack because wire-routing is really cramped. also, those compression fittings will not fit through the holes i've drilled. so, getting new blocks is on the list and part of the shopping cart that i can't yet pull the trigger on, as previously mentioned.


Thats funny, same thing happened to me. I re-used them in a build because I didn't want to shell out the extra money on new ones. Every time I swap something out, I ask myself why I re-used them. However, they are relatively cheap compared to other products like SMD & Stinger.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

exactly! i've had these for about 4 installs now, and i'm thinking it's time to retire them. i actually did look at the stinger and smd ones. stinger almost worked for me, but i think im gonna have to go back to knu and get these (2 for power and 2 for ground again)...

Bassik 3 Way 0 to 0 - 4 Gauge High Current Fuse Distribution Block - Merchandise


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## asianinvasion21 (Sep 24, 2012)

brett said:


> exactly! i've had these for about 4 installs now, and i'm thinking it's time to retire them. i actually did look at the stinger and smd ones. stinger almost worked for me, but i think im gonna have to go back to knu and get these (2 for power and 2 for ground again)...
> 
> Bassik 3 Way 0 to 0 - 4 Gauge High Current Fuse Distribution Block - Merchandise


Thats way better! I wonder if they had some suggestions after that last design lol.


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## jpsandberg (Jun 12, 2008)

Really nice build! I have a 2015 Overland I plan on starting a build on after the NY, so this is great inspiration!

I really like the formed grills out of the guitar amp mesh. Interesting, I worked at Fender back in early 2000's. Curious if Kimbo is still around? Can PM me if you would rather


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

jpsandberg said:


> Really nice build! I have a 2015 Overland I plan on starting a build on after the NY, so this is great inspiration!
> 
> I really like the formed grills out of the guitar amp mesh. Interesting, I worked at Fender back in early 2000's. Curious if Kimbo is still around? Can PM me if you would rather


thanks man, i'd love to see what you do with your overland. there's alot of wk2 projects here.

awesome, i really like it here at fmic. and yes, kimbo is still here down in r/d. i don't have any interaction with him being that i'm in sales operations, so i doubt he knows who i am.


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## jpsandberg (Jun 12, 2008)

hopefully I'll be able to start right after the holidays. I have all of my gear except for DSP. 
I made a 3D scan of the entire dash and pillars and plan to 3D print custom pods for 3" TB Bamboos to sit on the dash. Once I have the design done, I'd be more than happy to give the CAD model to anyone with a WK2 for free to print themselves if they/you want.

Yeah, Fender was a fun place! Sent you a PM regarding Kimbo.



brett said:


> thanks man, i'd love to see what you do with your overland. there's alot of wk2 projects here.
> 
> awesome, i really like it here at fmic. and yes, kimbo is still here down in r/d. i don't have any interaction with him being that i'm in sales operations, so i doubt he knows who i am.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

Dude, this thing looks better and better!


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

I have a WK2 as well, had a shop cobble together a horrible version of what you have. Essentially it’s exactly what you have, minus all attention to detail! So, you’ve inspired me to rebuild this year. I’d really like to go away from 3 10’s though and maybe a single 13w7 or a Focal 13 in a ported or even band pass box maybe? I need more depth in that tub! Keep it up brother, this looks amazing.
First though I’m redoing my front stage with 3 way. Was thinking about 3D printing some speaker adapters for the front doors with 6.5 and 3.5 mounts with a small enclosure built in for the 3.5 and then maybe re-working the tweeter locations for aiming.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

hey man, glad i could help re-inspire you. i could use some that myself sometimes, haha! 

if you plan on keeping a setup in the floor and having it remain stock/stealth looking, you're going to have a hard time getting many 12's to fit, depth-wise. i have maybe an inch of clearance on these 10s as it is. if i weren't leasing this currently, i'd cut the bottom out like a couple guys have done and have somebody weld and extension enclosure in there. in fact, i may still do this if i end up purchasing this and lease end because removing the spare still doesn't sit well with me and if i can cut some metal, i can accommodate a system and retain the spare.

your 3 way idea sounds unique as i don't recall seeing any others do that. i'd be concerned about redundancy, though, as a decent 6.5 should cover most of the spectrum that the 3.5 would do. for that reason, and a few others, putting the 3.5's up in the pillars would be better. that being said, the door location isn't actually too bad for midrange and i'm toying with the idea of putting a larger mid in the doors, and then making some hefty kick panels for midbass. the stock tweeter location is fairly ideal and it doesn't really make sense to fabricate anything beyond what's already there.

anyway, good luck and i'd love to see a build log of yours as well.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

also, general update: i've been quietly working on things when i can, but the holidays weren't ideal. it actually was quite cold and rainy here in phoenix and my workspace is subject to the elements, so nothing could really be done. after a few test installs, i realized i needed to make some practical updates as the hinged amp rack was causing some wires to bunch/pinch. so, i've had to cut some routing channels to help feed the wires. i also have had to re-think and re-work the amp trim panel.

i've spent the last couple weekends working on more metal forming for the grills. the fact that the outer two amp grills didn't match the same hole pattern as the middle one was bothering me, so i had enough material to re-press those to match. also, i made 3 grills for the subs. i wasn't so lucky on my first attempt here as the first one was too big, so i had to re-route my jig and make it smaller. i just finished all three grills last night and they should work perfectly. the trim panel is cut and routed for the sub grills. but, because it sits flush on the baffle, i had to route a section on the back side for the grills to mount flush and not poke into the sub surrounds. 

i've not wired anything up yet, partly for the reason already mentioned, and partly because i needed to purchase a bunch of small odds/ends,etc. i also realized that i needed to modify the rca terminal as they were getting pinched by the seats in their furthest reclined position, so that's been changed.

i'll try to be more productive in the coming months and hopefully get this things wired up and functional.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Hey Brett, hope all is well. I’m starting to plan my sub build similar to yours though I might have my 3 10’s facing rearward and angled up a bit with a few inches of space before the back of the well. Just curious how much cubic feet you have with using all the sides and ditching that garbage plastic tire well insert. I’m guessing 5 cu ft?
And yes, I’d cut my well and weld in a recessed box in a second if my Ecodiesel didn’t have a giant DEF tank directly below there!!! Man, I could squeeze almost any sub combo back there then!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

hey dude, things are well. long story short, i was furloughed and have been working like crazy on my jeep. i will try to post some progress pics soon.

you know, if i hadn't used about a 1/3 of that space for the amp rack, i did estimate that entire space to be roughly, or just shy of, 5 cf. i suspect that three 10's would really only need that much room for a ported design, and only certain subs. the one's i'm using don't require quite as much, and i'm probably cheating it by a cube, but we'll see how it sounds. i'd love to check out your build if you have a thread started?

that being said, to all wk2 owners, i removed the seats, carpet and black plastic 'shroud' that sits under the seat. since i don't have the air suspension module under the driver seat, it's completely empty. and the batteries are under the passenger seat. assuming the batteries could be relocated to the rear somewhere, there is quite a large space under both seats that could easily accommodate a 10, or maybe shallow 12, on each side. i'm guessing there may be appx 1cf of space down there, as it's quite an odd shape. now that i've seen this, i can't help but think this could/should be used in the future. i'm obviously too far deep into my build now and will ride this out as is, but it is tempting as hell.



farfromovin said:


> Hey Brett, hope all is well. I’m starting to plan my sub build similar to yours though I might have my 3 10’s facing rearward and angled up a bit with a few inches of space before the back of the well. Just curious how much cubic feet you have with using all the sides and ditching that garbage plastic tire well insert. I’m guessing 5 cu ft?
> And yes, I’d cut my well and weld in a recessed box in a second if my Ecodiesel didn’t have a giant DEF tank directly below there!!! Man, I could squeeze almost any sub combo back there then!


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

brett said:


> hey dude, things are well. long story short, i was furloughed and have been working like crazy on my jeep. i will try to post some progress pics soon.
> 
> you know, if i hadn't used about a 1/3 of that space for the amp rack, i did estimate that entire space to be roughly, or just shy of, 5 cf. i suspect that three 10's would really only need that much room for a ported design, and only certain subs. the one's i'm using don't require quite as much, and i'm probably cheating it by a cube, but we'll see how it sounds. i'd love to check out your build if you have a thread started?
> 
> that being said, to all wk2 owners, i removed the seats, carpet and black plastic 'shroud' that sits under the seat. since i don't have the air suspension module under the driver seat, it's completely empty. and the batteries are under the passenger seat. assuming the batteries could be relocated to the rear somewhere, there is quite a large space under both seats that could easily accommodate a 10, or maybe shallow 12, on each side. i'm guessing there may be appx 1cf of space down there, as it's quite an odd shape. now that i've seen this, i can't help but think this could/should be used in the future. i'm obviously too far deep into my build now and will ride this out as is, but it is tempting as hell.


No build thread yet, I’m still working on it! Yeah, for us QL owners the cubby under the driver seat is full of electronics. I stuck 2 amps and a battery behind the right rear side panel so I got that whole tub. First, I gotta see if I can glass some sails for my 3.5 mid and tweets. Sorry, not to derail your thread. I should have my mids and highs going within a week and then I’ll start focusing on the tub box. What I really like about yours is you built those sides up, adds a bunch of volume compared to if you just came straight up. I think I’m gonna follow suit. 

Here’s some pods I printed to test aim my mids/highs, might keep them in these, glasses in, or may just use the top mounting ring. They have the .4L of volume required:


















I have 3 10w6v3’s and a 2.75 net box tuned to 34hz will take up about 3.9 cubic feet gross space. It’ll be snug, cause I wanna rear fire the woofers, but should work out.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

those pods are cool! curious, why do you need to rear-fire the subs? most everybody does upfire with good results?


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

brett said:


> those pods are cool! curious, why do you need to rear-fire the subs? most everybody does upfire with good results?


In a nutshell, depth! But also I’ve had setups firing up into false floors and I get rattled unless I do 1) cut through the false floor to expose a flush grille, or 2) cut the false floor covering and put expanded metal over the subs and carpet on top of that. I use my cargo area, a lot! Dog goes back there, groceries, etc... I just feel rear firing protects my woofers more and less vibration issues going directly into a piece of plywood.
That idea really sparked when I saw this cutaway view:








So... something kinda like that, just times 3. Not sure if that port design will work due to height, but I like the overhang.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

you know, if you're feeling adventurous and want to cut metal, there's a ton of room where the factory sub goes. i was going to put the three 10s i have in that area in my last jeep. i cut that metal, and you could easily make them fit.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

brett said:


> you know, if you're feeling adventurous and want to cut metal, there's a ton of room where the factory sub goes. i was going to put the three 10s i have in that area in my last jeep. i cut that metal, and you could easily make them fit.


I did cut metal, and stuck a battery there lol. Then my amps are above the second battery. Real short power/ground runs


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> and here's where i left off. hopefully you can see how it will be laid out in my drawing. up top there will be power distribution which will feed a blue sea systems distro for all the small things. then to each side i have a barrier strip, which are 10 spots each. this helps keep things symmetrical because i can send midbass, mid and tweet signals out and the remaining lugs can bring signal back from the head unit to feed the dsp. so far, this idea makes sense, but we'll see how it ends up working out.


Could someone share this thread with Countz? What? Fans? What a fugging abomination!!!

Geo


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

Ge0 said:


> Could someone share this thread with Countz? What? Fans? What a fugging abomination!!!
> 
> Geo


not sure what to say about this. what's an abomination?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

anyway, quick question; i have all my wires bundled up and ready to install. i forgot about the remote bass knob for the amp. since i have the dsp, i shouldn't really need it, though right? would there be any detriment to wiring that up as well?


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> not sure what to say about this. what's an abomination?


Sorry. Definition of abomination = a thing that causes disgust or hatred. There is a fellow idiot / forum member here spouting off in another thread that amps should not need fans blowing on them. In his opinion they should just run. He doesn't quite get the concept of keeping your gear cool to prevent it from going into thermal protection. It was meant to be sarcasm and a joke to folks who have seen his thread.

Ge0


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> anyway, quick question; i have all my wires bundled up and ready to install. i forgot about the remote bass knob for the amp. since i have the dsp, i shouldn't really need it, though right? would there be any detriment to wiring that up as well?


There is no detriment to running wires for a bass knob. However, you don't really need one in a properly tuned system. It's all up to personal preference. Listen to well balanced music as the artist / sound engineer intended. Or, boost bass to your liking for songs you feel should have more bass. I personally don't use one. But, not saying you shouldn't.

Ge0


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

gotcha; i knew what it meant, just not what it was directed towards or the context, but that makes sense. i wanted to be sure before taking a stance. and yeah, to each their own, but i'd rather err on the safe side and protect my amps, especially knowing that i like to push my system regularly and i live in phoenix. under different circumstances, maybe i'd pull back on that, but there's nothing wrong with adding fans to cool down amps if you have them and the space for them.

and, not specific to the running of the wires, per se, but rather would having the bass knob be more of an added 'luxury' or a redundancy? i've never really used one before and always tuned with the dsp instead, but just wanted to check before i re-install all my carpet and seats.


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> gotcha; i knew what it meant, just not what it was directed towards or the context, but that makes sense. i wanted to be sure before taking a stance. and yeah, to each their own, but i'd rather err on the safe side and protect my amps, especially knowing that i like to push my system regularly and i live in phoenix. under different circumstances, maybe i'd pull back on that, but there's nothing wrong with adding fans to cool down amps if you have them and the space for them.
> 
> and, not specific to the running of the wires, per se, but rather would having the bass knob be more of an added 'luxury' or a redundancy? i've never really used one before and always tuned with the dsp instead, but just wanted to check before i re-install all my carpet and seats.


I was also giving you kudos for putting the thought into installing the fans. As you mentioned, its a fact you need to keep your gear cool.

Ge0


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

I suppose a real audiophile would never need a bass knob. Personally I use the crap outta mine! I like jamming out to music and that usually means a bass heavy tune to compensate for genres like classic rock, but that becomes wayyyy to much on modern rap and needs to be turned down a bit.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, so i need to catch you guys up on things. sorry for the delay, but i was having a hard time accessing pictures, but i've got that handled now. i'm about to put everything back in the jeep, but let me tell you what's been going on.

i was forced to multitask and work on different parts in different stages, so this may feel a little disjointed. i had to rework a few things, including the cargo lid trim panel. i can't remember if i mentioned this, but i had to re-press a couple metal grills due to inconsistent grain pattern. i also had to rework the size, but either way, this is how it ended up. i was hoping for some depth to include some led's, but no room.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

more


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

and some more


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i had ordered a bunch of supplies and new distribution blocks as well. no matter how i tried, i couldn't operate the compression fittings properly with this particular install and wanted something easier to access, so i picked up the knu basics blocks which were perfect. you can see the footprint is almost the exact same. that harness is to connect to the oem headunit without cutting wires, and it's awesome.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

this is the first attempt at wiring up the amp rack. you'll understand why i said 'first' later. i wanted to try something new, so i got some ferules and these things are awesome. when you're connecting/disconnecting quite often, these make things easier and cleaner. also, being that i was ordering some copper shielding tape for some guitar projects, i figured it might be cool to line the wire channel with it. if it doesn't help, at least it's cool.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, i started to wire the loom and disconnects for the fans. it was at this point i hit a snag. i was running out of real estate and i also needed to solve some other issues, so i decided it was best to just rebuild the amp rack instead of compromising my idea and cutting corners. so this time, knowing i needed to make some adjustments, i started to rebuild the amp rack. yeah, it was frustrating because it felt like a waste of time, but the outcome has been so much better.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i took this opportunity to rethink the routing of the wires and the most economical way to do it. i swapped the positioning of the distro blocks which helped eliminate waste. as you can see, this was probably unnecessary, but i even rendered the positioning of each wire so that i knew it would work.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

more


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i tried to cut as many pieces as possible to mock up before assembly. i didn't want to construct this only to find i'd made another mistake. also, with the re-route of the wires, i was able to more successfully segregate signal wires. i'd had some leftover copper pipe from other projects that i thought would be cool to integrate. they'll never be seen outside of this, but whatever. all the wires just barely fit too. they were gnarly dirty from being outside for years, but after some sanding and a few layers of poly, they look awesome!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

more of the amp rack assembly, and inside trim piece. this thing hinges as well, meets up with a few surfaces and holds the led's, so it required extensive back and forth before final shape.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, so it looks like i missed pics of the painting, but you've seen that already. this time i was able to plan out the fan install much better. i still wanted to be able to service them if need be. so i ordered a bunch of quick disconnects and wired them to each fan. then, each fan is wired to a barrier strip. this allowed me to send a power, ground and switched signal to each fan without a bunch of splicing and booger solder joints. it was a tight fit, so i had to take the pieces that duplicate the signal and bend them down to fit.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

installed the copper pipe and relayed copper foil, what i had left anyway. there were a couple spots i missed that i'll try to recover hopefully.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, during this time, i was also prepping the inside of the jeep. i first started with the roof/headliner. this really was only difficult because i was alone, otherwise it would've gone much quicker and easier. i used a couple layers of cld on the roof, and boy did it need it! those braces don't even really make contact with the sheet metal, so it was really boomy. that has been resolved. i also, having done this last year for a friend, wanted to insulate for heat as well. unless you live in phoenix, im not sure you understand the prolonged, oppressive heat that we get. so, i bought reflectix bubble wrap foil insulation and a water heater wrap with cotton/foil. the wrap was almost exactly the same size as the headliner, so it was perfect. it condenses a little when pressed too, so it barely fit back in the jeep. it's super snug, quiet and i believe has already helped with temps. they were both taped down with gorilla tape.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, from inside out, the layer is headliner>reflectix foil>denim/cotton>foil>cld>sheet metal.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

then, i decided to remove the seats, carpet and console to start running wires and to treat for sound/heat as well. this was quite easy to do as the seats and carpet are easy to remove. one thing we knew is that the battery is under the passenger seat with a cavity under the driver. this is where my dsp will go, but there is a black plastic molded 'cover' that goes in this space under the seat. when i removed this, it revealed quite a large space under each seat. i gotta say, after seeing this, i'm already considering the next phase of this entire install and using these spaces for under seat subs. maybe in the future i'll put the battery in the back somewhere, because you can easily fit a 10" sub down there.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

as you can see, in the battery area, with the backup battery for start/stop function, it leaves little room, so i had to route the power wire this way. not ideal, but it works. the fuse is currently mounted using velcro. this is fairly sturdy for now, but i may upgrade this.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

dsp mounted under the seat. again, this cavity already had a hole on the left/driver side for factory harness, so i just routed everything through here. this was really the only side that had enough room anyway. the rack for the dsp is in two pieces, both attached with velcro for now. this setup allows me to remove everything and have full access.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

just some precut wire looms for speaker, rca, turnon, etc. all signal cable was ran down the sides in the factory channel which was plenty of room. power and turnon ran down the middle of the jeep.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

wire harness to go in between the factory harness and not have to cut wires. since this is a lease, i will be able to yank this out and plug it right back in if need be. each of the 8 channels has a resistor wired in line as apparently the headunit expects resistance of appx 5w 47ohm i believe.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i think that's most everything. i may have forgotten a few pics or details, but i've got it all sitting behind me almost ready to install. then, the hard parts are over and i simply need to install speakers and maybe do some fabrication.


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## mrmill (Feb 11, 2013)

just went back and read the last couple pages....first phenomenal work sir. second, I'm seriously going to invest in more heat shrink and ferrules. I need to step all my game up. 
NICE WORK!!!!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

mrmill said:


> just went back and read the last couple pages....first phenomenal work sir. second, I'm seriously going to invest in more heat shrink and ferrules. I need to step all my game up.
> NICE WORK!!!!


thanks man, i spent much more time this time with wire termination and mounting. ferules for as many connections as possible (some didn't fit), heat shrink every termination, soldered 36 rca ends, used about 100 threaded inserts. i'm not sure anybody else would've taken the time to cram as much stuff in such a small place, probably for a good reason. i really hope that any future installs i do don't end up so complex. i spend more time installing than i do listening to my systems; oh well, it's a labor of love i guess.


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

Frankly i wasn't impressed when you first started but seeing the meticulous detail you put into woodworking and that beautiful artwork you made of wire directions. Im impressed.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

And all this great work being done in a less-than-optimal work space!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks guys, much appreciated. and yes, the logistics of this build have been all over this place. one day, soon i hope, i will have a garage, with a table saw and a router table, and other cool tools with proper dust collection. until then, a sw facing patio in phoenix is my only option.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

I’m interested in the large cavities under the foot wells, in front of the under seat cavities. I thought they were so odd when I found them. 
One things for sure, that rear seat is a sunofa to remove/put back by yourself!!!
Phenomenal work, your rack reminds me of a past install of mine but times 1000 in complexity and detail!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, so i'm deciding on the front stage. i'm really not sure what i want to do here. i bought some spare oem kick panels this week in case i decide to go midbass in kicks. i have both front door panels off, wires run through looms (pita) and factory 6x9 removed. i have three channels to work with on each side from each of the rn4.1400's. it's rated at 125x4 @ 4ohm/175wx4 @ 4 ohm/350x2 @ 4ohm bridged. now, i suspect those numbers are overrated, but whatever. i have used three channels, bridging 3 and 4. two of those i just ran into the doors, the bridged remains on the floor. 

i am leaning toward a tweet in stock location, mid in the door and midbass in the kicks. i have a few drivers to play around with, but i'm really trying to focus on using bandwidth of each driver before beaming occurs. this is something i've not really focused on so much, so i want to see how it changes the sound when i plan accordingly. so, starting with tweets, i'm targeting something that stays relatively flat past 10k off axis. i want to mitigate the amount of processing i do, so i'm looking at a couple dayton tweets.









Home


Dayton Audio AMTPOD-4 Air Motion Transformer Automotive Tweeter PairGet ready for AMT treble quality in your car! The Dayton Audio AMTPOD-4 is a high-technology Air Motion Transformer tweeter encased in a compact angled "pod" enclosure for easy mounting in your car. Try them on your dashboard...




www.parts-express.com












Home


Dayton Audio ND20FB-4 Rear-Mount 3/4" Soft Dome Neodymium TweeterDon't let the low price fool you! This versatile tweeter is a huge step above the average "budget" tweeter. Conceived with line array thoughts in mind, it is finally possible to achieve the inter-driver spacing needed to minimize...




www.parts-express.com





my hope is to lowpass them around 5k. i'm really hoping to get a nice 'sparkle' out of my tweets. i've tested my hearing, and i can confidently hear up to 16k or more, so i really crave detail. that being said, assuming that works as intended, then i'm hoping to find some mids that stay flat up to 5k off axis as well. this is becoming harder than i thought. but, im looking at a few including this dayton mid and some faital pro's as well.









Home


Dayton Audio PC83-4 3" Full-Range Poly Cone DriverThe Dayton Audio PC83-4 3" full-range driver features a poly damped woven glass fiber cone, damped rubber surround, and high energy motor. The addition of a copper cap on the extended pole improves cone control, lowers inductance, and decreases...




www.parts-express.com





i'm a little more flexible with the crossover point between the mid and midbass, but i do like it around 250-300, but it looks like i may have to move that up to about 500. now, interesting question; if i do a small mid in an attempt to increase extension, i'm concerned about output. that being said, i could use two mids in a custom baffle in the 6x9 spot wired to 2 or 4 ohms depending on the driver. does that sound crazy or would that provide any issues?

even though i'll try to talk myself out of it, i know i'll try to fit at least a single 8 in the kicks, maybe two per side. i have no idea if i can give them proper airspace, and i suspect some cutting of metal will be involved. really, the crux of my fronstage hinges on the doors (pun intended), and more specifically how to utilize the 6x9 spot. the oem midbass was actually quite strong, but i'm hesitant to put midbass in that spot as the door card is plastic and while it is rigid, it's less than ideal. i hope this makes sense, and any other driver suggestions would be appreciated.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

I have 8’s in my GC doors. I have 1 rattle at a specific freq on the drivers side that I need to track down (sounds like the inside door handle). The factory plastic panel is pretty rigid and noise free, it’s the door card that will like to buzz unless treated with butyl, tesa tape, and ccf.
That being said, I’d prefer to have them in kicks but didn’t want to cut metal to make for an IB install. I’ve seen that on a GC around here...
I saw a Cherokee build where they made little right angle triangle braces to “shore up” the speaker mount basket. They just drilled a bunch of holes in the door plastic and the triangle wedge and epoxied it or JB welded it. Seems like a good way to add rigidity.

The stereo shop that did my initial install put 2 5.25’s in the 6x9 hole and cut up my basket to make it fit. “Sealed it” with MLV, asshats! I had to “repair” that by epoxying 1/4” ABS on both ends of the 6x9 hole. Then I put more ABS around the 6” sides of the hole so my 8” rings would seal. Ugly, but it works...


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

Holy Sh!t!!! I am so glad I traded in my Grand Cherokee before seeing this. Otherwise I would have spent the next 2 years of my life trying to replicate your work. Excellent job man. Great attention to detail. You have my attention...

Ge0


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks man, much appreciated. this is just the lease version, if/when i decide to buy this out, i have already started planning the next version. because i'm a sucker for never ending builds, that's why.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

also considering these tweets









LPG 26NA Aluminum Dome Car Tweeter


LPG 1" neodymium magnet tweeter. Compact high efficiency dome tweeters with smooth and extended frequency response. Variable mounting to fit your applications. Ferrofluid cooled for higher power handling. Can be used in LPG wedge or hinged wedge mount. Technical Data Nominal Impedance 8ohmDC...




www.madisoundspeakerstore.com





i currently have the following to experiment with...









Home


Dayton Audio RS75-4 3" Reference Full-Range Driver 4 OhmThe Dayton Audio Reference Series sets a new standard of value in high-performance loudspeaker drivers. Incorporating a low-distortion motor system with a copper ring, a copper cap, and an aluminum phase plug, the RS75-4 can outperform...




www.parts-express.com












Home


Dayton Audio RS100-4 4" Reference Full-Range Driver 4 OhmVersatile and powerful, the Dayton Audio RS100-4 4" Reference Full-Range Driver 4 is ideal for your DIY speaker or as a replacement for your existing speaker. Its low-distortion motor system delivers amazing sound with exceptional clarity...




www.parts-express.com












Home


Dayton Audio RS125P-4 5" Reference Paper Woofer 4 OhmThe performance of the original groundbreaking Reference Series from Dayton Audio, now available with a paper cone! The Reference Series Paper drivers use a proprietary paper cone formulation combining natural paper pulp and synthetic Kevlar®...




www.parts-express.com












"Celestion Neodymium 5" Full-Range Woofer 4 Ohm" from www.parts-express.com!


Celestion Neodymium 5" Full-Range Woofer 4 Ohm




www.parts-express.com












Home


Peerless by Tymphany TC9FD18-08 3-1/2" Full Range Paper Cone WooferThe TC/TG Series offers a high performance full range and mid-bass solution for TV products and other compact applications. The use of leading-edge technologies like a polymer chassis, NRSC (Tymphany patent) paper cone, and a...




www.parts-express.com





if you've not noticed a theme, it's that i can't quite afford what i want and i'd consider others, but honestly there's some good options in that list. believe it or not, the celestion mids are surprisingly good. i'll probably have to make baffles for each of these and test them all in the doors, and potentially in the pillars. still, any thoughts on doing two mids in each door?


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> thanks man, much appreciated. this is just the lease version, if/when i decide to buy this out, i have already started planning the next version. because i'm a sucker for never ending builds, that's why.


You would be surprised how many leased vehicles I have tore the **** out of and then handed in . Just make it look stock if you hand it back. They will never look under carpet or panels .

Ge0


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

brett said:


> also considering these tweets
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I still own a set of RS100's that I used in a past install. Love them for the $$$. They have been sitting in boxes for at least 5 years. Maybe I will find a use for them some day.

Ge0


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

Ge0 said:


> I still own a set of RS100's that I used in a past install. Love them for the $$$. They have been sitting in boxes for at least 5 years. Maybe I will find a use for them some day.
> 
> Remember, for the most part there are only subtle differences between similar drivers. 80% of how they sound in your car has to do with the install. Take care there and you can achieve excellent results on the cheap. Your speakers don't need to ribbit to sound good .
> 
> Ge0


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

I had a JGC Overland. I didn't have empty spaces under my seats. Those cavities were Filled with Battery and ECU's. I didn't want to give up my spare. So, I mounted a 500W Zapco mono Sub amp in the left size cargo area and installed a JL Audio Stealth box on the right side. That 10" Stealth box hammered pretty good.

Ge0


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## Ge0 (Jul 23, 2007)

farfromovin said:


> I have 8’s in my GC doors. I have 1 rattle at a specific freq on the drivers side that I need to track down (sounds like the inside door handle). The factory plastic panel is pretty rigid and noise free, it’s the door card that will like to buzz unless treated with butyl, tesa tape, and ccf.
> That being said, I’d prefer to have them in kicks but didn’t want to cut metal to make for an IB install. I’ve seen that on a GC around here...
> I saw a Cherokee build where they made little right angle triangle braces to “shore up” the speaker mount basket. They just drilled a bunch of holes in the door plastic and the triangle wedge and epoxied it or JB welded it. Seems like a good way to add rigidity.
> 
> The stereo shop that did my initial install put 2 5.25’s in the 6x9 hole and cut up my basket to make it fit. “Sealed it” with MLV, asshats! I had to “repair” that by epoxying 1/4” ABS on both ends of the 6x9 hole. Then I put more ABS around the 6” sides of the hole so my 8” rings would seal. Ugly, but it works...


Don't fuss about that too much. Nobody see's the hack job with the door panel on. Just make sure it sounds good. Clear up those minor rattles and add some foam. Oh, BTW, put some closed cell weather stripping gasket around the mounting ring of that midbass.

Ge0


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i've hit a snag; the whole system is in and connected. for some reason the high level inputs into my rf360.3 isn't turning it on appropriately. it does come on, during last tests (it's hot af!), but it's not turning off. i've included the resistors in line so that the factory hu sees the appropriate resistance to turn on, but i don't believe it has the minimum voltage to appropriately turn the dsp on. so, do any of you wk2 owners know of a switch source that i can use for the remote-in?


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

That sucks. I’m using an aftermarket deck and pulling the turn on lead from that. Wouldn’t any accessory switch power source work? Sure key there’s one, for the radio perhaps, under the hood in the fuse panel? My Jeeps not available currently or I’d take a look.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

well, see, that's the part i'm curious about. this is the only build i've retained oem hu, so i'm kinda learning the hard way i guess. i did some testing with my dmm last night, and checked things like the cigarette outlets and they appear to still draw current after the vehicle is off and accy power is off. i'm hoping to get some consistent testing done this weekend, but my biggest issue so far is that the dsp won't turn off and so i'm hoping to find a source that is switched off.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Hopefully it was a slight of tongue, but you’re checking for voltage and not current correct? Cause DMM’s can only check for current in series with the device.

IIRC, the rear cargo cig lighter is only powered when on, but you can move the fuse 1 spot over to make it always on.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i am by no means an expert at testing with a dmm, so there's every chance i may not be doing this correctly. however, i set it to 12v and it was reading a fairly constant voltage of 13-14 v. the dsp is under the driver's seat, so i was hoping for something a little closer than that. i'm really hoping i don't have to get a loc, because if that's the case, i'll just sell this dsp and get something newer like the audiocontrol units.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

You’re good, looking for 12-14 volts dc with the key in acc or run and it should drop to 0 when key is off. Your GC is a couple years newer than mine but I doubt they changed the rear cig outlet wiring. If it’s always getting 12v, swap the fuse over a position and see if that cuts it off when the key is off.

For something closer, there’s the cig lighter in the console under the armrest or the AC plugs in the back of the center console but probably not fun to tear that completely apart to get to the 12v signal. Easier to run a wire through the firewall from the fuse box!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i actually dug into the console and tested the cig lighter and it was still getting 12v after it was off and door open. i'll try the rear one this weekend hopefully. i have no garage, and it's been 115 in phoenix recently, so the mornings are the only time i can realistically do any work and not die.


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

But my brother says, “it’s not bad bro, it’s a dry heat!” Stay hydrated out there!

I’ll take 75 degrees with 50% humidity instead thank you very much


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, so i finally got this figured out. the 12v outlet in the armrest, as mentioned, was 12 constant so i couldn't use that. however the 12v outlet next to the usb inputs was switched, so i used that. but, after using that on the remote in, though it turned it on, the system still wouldn't turn off. so i tested the 12v outlet and, even after the car was off, it was seeing 2 volts which meant that somehow the 12v source from my amp rack, to the dsp, was somehow 'leaking' into the 12v output. i may not be explaining this well enough, sorry. so, i tried to disconnect that 12v source from the amp rack and sure enough, everything turned off. i then just used the 12v output from the console under the hu directly to power up the dsp, and bingo! everything works; turns on/off as it should. thank god that it is resolved.

now i need to do the setup on my 360.3, but my jeep doesn't have a cd player so i can't use the supplied setup disc. i normally just use my iphone as a source, so i'd like to keep using that, but i can't find the setup tracks on apple music. i thought about buying a usb cd player, but i'm not sure if that would work or even normalize the input from bluetooth/carplay. any suggestions on how to do the setup with no cd player especially if i'm using my phone as a source?


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## farfromovin (Mar 30, 2011)

Can you rip the tracks from the disc onto a computer as .wav or .flac and then transfer to your phone? Or put it on a usb drive, I forget what usb capability uconnect has.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

hey guys, i've started building kick panels. are there any recommendations for black vinyl that matches the interior color/texture of the jeep?


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

forget about the vinyl, i went a different route. more pics and updates soon as the construction of everything is basically done. i've got it all put back together for some quick listening impressions, and to see if any final 'edits' need to be done. so far, after some tuning sessions, it's starting to sound pretty good.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, as mentioned, this is fairly complete. i'm sure there will be some edits/modifications as i continue to get familiar with the system and it reveals weak areas. i've been tuning for about a week now and i believe i'll still need to modify the doors and kicks. but, here's some pics of the progress since then to catch up.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

everything installed and hooked up.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

start of kicks. now, as a reminder, i am operating on a very limited budget. and, i tend to 'adopt' many speakers that our r/d department tosses out, so i'm always curious to see if i can take advantage of this. so, when it came to kicks, i had a few options; some 8's and 10's. suffice it to say, i settled on some 10's, and they baaaaaarely fit. 

also, not having a garage in what has turned out to be a record breaking hot summer in phoenix is really lame and i do my best.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, the speakers chosen were 10" midbass from eminence usa. i believe these were samples for some new bass cab's we're making, but i have no idea. there's no data sheet on them, but there is part numbers, though i don't expect eminence to divulge any specs. so, i knew this was going to be a shot in the dark at best. if it didn't work out, i could always go with something else. i decided to really take my time on the mounting rings to make sure fabrication/upholstery went easy. the grills are from parts express and fit perfectly. i wasn't about to make make grills again, **** that.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

taking shape.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

more shape. my initial intention, as you can see, was to allow these to vent into the body cavity behind them.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

wasn't super worried about a perfect surface, but they were pretty smooth. started upholstery; carpet on the face, and used an old t-shirt to line the rear.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

so, here they are, all installed. ultimately, i'm very pleased with how this went. the 10's barely fit in these areas. the e-brake is still functional, you just have to remove the grill for clearance. i couldn't get these perfectly symmetrical because of the e-brake on the driver side and some big computer on the passenger side. also, i wasn't considering any major mods like relocation of anything or metal cutting.

i've always bought spare oem kick panels and fabricated in with them. i knew this was going to be difficult to do, but also a pain to upholster. i did buy spares so nothing original was cut. i wanted to see if they'd serve as 'endcaps' of sorts. this way i wouldn't have to cover them, just trim them. this took alot of trial/error to get the shape, but the oem kicks were cut just perfectly and i escaped having to worry about how to finish them. 

the grills fit perfectly and were painted using the same textured black as the amp rack and other grills. i think they look pretty good and i'm not sure they couldn't been better.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

i ended up using these tweets as they fit into the oem spot almost perfectly. i had to grind/sand down the mounting tabs, of course. i'll likely just donate the tweets if i have to return the lease, but if i did ever need to remove them, i wanted to be able to and not damage the oem piece as it's kinda pricey to replace. that's why you see coffee stirrers and tooth picks used to brace and shim the tweeters into place. only bracing was glued, not the tweeter. it's super strong and can't come loose by itself, but i believe i could remove without damaging anything.









Home


Dayton Audio ND20FB-4 Rear-Mount 3/4" Soft Dome Neodymium TweeterDon't let the low price fool you! This versatile tweeter is a huge step above the average "budget" tweeter. Conceived with line array thoughts in mind, it is finally possible to achieve the inter-driver spacing needed to minimize...




www.parts-express.com





as mentioned, i already had a few mids to experiment with. so, i made some test baffles and spent a few weeks swapping them and auditioning them. as it turns out, after some tuning sessions, i could get them to mostly sound the same, and i liked each of them for the most part. ultimately, i ended up settling on the celestions as they gave me the highest sensitivity, and widest range. 

instead of using the mdf baffles, i wanted to dry some hdpe ones. i didn't mind the material and would likely use it again in the future. as you see, more insert nuts. they're mounted higher up in the doors for leg/knee clearance.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

that's about it for now. i'm calling this finished, but i know there will be some tweaks. here's some first impressions, after some tuning sessions of course.

- no issues with the subs, the enclosure appears to be spot on

- fit and finish is really good all around. there's a slight level issue on the cargo trim piece toward the amps that i may try to fix, but it's minor

- have a high noise floor/hiss. this primarily comes through the tweets, of course, and appears to be output level-sensitive. this does not change with h/u volume, or engine revs so i know it's not alt whine. it's not electrical or mechanical interference as it's really just a hiss. i unplugged both the fans and lights, no change. i tried both balanced/unbalanced settings on my dsp, no change. this is annoying and i will continue to track down, but let me know if you have any ideas.

- had something interesting happen last night. during a session, i tried to isolate left and right channels. i was doing this on the oem head unit. i'd mute the right side in the dsp, but not the left, and fade to the right. it sounded horrible! what's weird is that the left tweet actually increased in volume (and distortion) as i faded to the right. it was the only speaker not muted on the dsp, so i know for sure that's what happened. i believe i duplicated it for the other side as well. however, they are setup correct and r/l channel separation has been verified. i'm going to hop in again tonight and check this out, but i'm really curious/concerned about this.

- the speakers in the kicks are monsters and sound great. they start beaming pretty bad around 1k, though. that's fine, i never intended to use them that high anyway, just an observation. i've been playing crossovers/slopes and they seem to like something around 70 - 400 hz, 24db. i will say they dig low and i'm really hoping to maximize the output on these. as mentioned, i did leave these 'vented' as there's no port to speak of, so there's really no cone control. i'm starting to think they prefer to be sealed, so i'll try this soon. the vent has a wire grill glassed in place, so i could simply put some cld on the inside over top of this to seal it up. also, they get a little peaky around 250 or so. that being said, they tend to image very well.

- the mids are quite hard to tame, however. for starters, they're just installed like the oem 6x9, mounted on a baffle with an open back. i've been running them down to about 200 here lately and while they can handle it, i do feel the plastic baffle vibrating like crazy. that's one of the reasons i didn't want to put a midbass in there. also, they get really shouty around 2500 or so. i'll likely need to seal them up from behind as well. this should be easy and i was planning on revisiting the doors this fall anyway. i need for it to cool down a bit so i can spend some time on them, and do some sound treatment. i'm also noticing that while these do image well, i'm getting some nasty reflections off of the side windows in the upper mid range. not sure what i can do about this. i wanted to take andy's advice and mount mids in the door, preferably high up. this was supposed to help eliminate early reflections. and, while i believe that helped, the late reflections almost seem worse. i'd always made pillars for mids before, relatively on axis, and never really had that issue. the biggest problem, so far, hearing the left speaker bounce off of the right glass around 800-1200 hz, from what i can tell anyway. let me know what i might be able to do for this, please. otherwise, i'm using these from about 200 - 5k hz, butterworth 24db.

- these little tweets are quite amazing. i have a cap inline to help avoid any accidents, but i routinely run these anywhere from 3k up. also having some reflection issues from the left tweet around 8k, but not super horrible. i'm quite impressed with these little guys, especially since i cross them a little higher. i tested them against some others i had, silk and aluminum, and they just sounded the best to me.

- i've been using my phone as the main source. i have a usb thumbdrive i used for initial dsp setup, but since then i either go bluetooth or carplay, both apple music. one thing that's annoying is that during dsp setup, the carplay couldn't be turned up past 18 on the oem unit before distortion kicked in. this is really annoying, but it's accurate as i can hear the distortion kick in after that. bt i can turn almost all the way up, but i have to turn down the volume on the phone a bit. both end up being similar in volume. the source quality isn't great as it's mp3, but not too bad. hopefully, i'll be able to upload all my cd's as lossless files to use the usb input. i've heard of capacity issues with the oem uconnect, so we'll see. also, concerning carplay; i would use this more often but i simply cannot change albums or anything while in motion. once i start rolling over 5mph, it tries to go to a handsfree setup. well, i try to use siri to navigate, but it keeps telling me this function is not optional while in motion. wtf? isn't that what i'm supposed to use? nobody seems to know how to help me on this. i'd prefer to find the wire in the oem harness that controls speed sensing to the hu and simply cut it or ground it out to trick it. ultimately, this setup works, but is not optimal. i knew this was going to be a potential liability down the road, but it was a bridge i wanted to cross at a later point.

- the soundstream amps appear to be great so far. it's hard to tell about heat as they're already hot when i get in the car, but nothing's gone into protection yet. i do have the fans going, of course, so that helps. they appear to be plenty powerful, even if they don't quite do ratings. my only complaint about the amps is the rubberized trim piece that goes down the length of the amp. it's where all top mounted controls are, fake carbon fiber look to it, it just feels cheap. but, the worst thing is, when it gets hot, it gets soft and can peel, or get 'mushy' if you touch it when hot. if i could get somebody to screen print the controls, i'd have replacement pieces made.

- nothing important, but the led strips i used were admittedly old, and a few diodes are shot, so i'll eventually swap those out. otherwise, they work just fine. i'll try to get some night shots of the finished product soon.



so, that's about it. i hope you all enjoyed this so far. please let me know what you think about any aspect of this. i'm still always happy to learn new things, and while i may curse the process at times, i still love car audio for the unique challenge that it is.


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## J33pdude (Dec 11, 2020)

brett said:


> that's about it for now. i'm calling this finished, but i know there will be some tweaks. here's some first impressions, after some tuning sessions of course.
> 
> - no issues with the subs, the enclosure appears to be spot on
> 
> ...


Still new car to me and I have most experience with Android so don't know about your Apple problems but thought maybe i could help? 

I found a huge difference plugging in USB over using Bluetooth and that's with the still stock Alpine system/Amazon HD. Android auto will allow any music functions I've tried while moving plus if using Bluetooth you can use the phone completely separately with just the audio output through the unit so you have complete functionality of your phone with whatever app you're using. Probably you don't want to change platforms but thought it might help, especially about the usb, because that really did sound a lot better. I can not hate what I hear now until I get time to replace this sound system. Helped with the boomy bass sound from inside the oil drum too.

PS Crazy TEMPORARY system you've installed! I'm envious of your time. It's really a huge amount of work you've gone to. Great job! Good luck with the tuning!


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

thanks, i put a ton of work into it. and, i traded the jeep in..... for another jeep. long story short, i was entering the last year of my lease and a decision was going to have to be made regardless. with the trade in amount and tax savings, i had appx 5k of positive equity in my jeep so i traded it in. also, i've been work from home since march and looks to continue to be that way, so i don't necessarily need a brand new vehicle. they had a 2015 altitude with 57k mi that i traded for, and shaved about 100 bucks a month off my payment, and it is fully covered by the premium warranty. i had to yank out the entire system in one day, and it sucked, but i got it done. in the process of putting everything back in the new(old) jeep now. the back end was the easiest as it just installed exactly the same as the other, though i have to repair a couple of speaker terminations. i just finished running all the wires which i completely removed all the carpet and pressure washed it. this allowed me to treat the floor and run wires. now i need to install the front stage, and i should be good to go.

all that said, i'm already considering changing it all up and, since i'm no longer leasing, maybe cutting some metal! but, that may be for another day in the future. would like to have a body shop fabricate a recessed area in the spare cavity like the summit on here, maybe relocate the battery to the back, maybe put some subs under the seats, who knows?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

Frequency response of the 10s

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

Jscoyne2 said:


> Frequency response of the 10s
> 
> Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


huh?


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## J33pdude (Dec 11, 2020)

brett said:


> thanks, i put a ton of work into it. and, i traded the jeep in..... for another jeep. long story short, i was entering the last year of my lease and a decision was going to have to be made regardless. with the trade in amount and tax savings, i had appx 5k of positive equity in my jeep so i traded it in. also, i've been work from home since march and looks to continue to be that way, so i don't necessarily need a brand new vehicle. they had a 2015 altitude with 57k mi that i traded for, and shaved about 100 bucks a month off my payment, and it is fully covered by the premium warranty. i had to yank out the entire system in one day, and it sucked, but i got it done. in the process of putting everything back in the new(old) jeep now. the back end was the easiest as it just installed exactly the same as the other, though i have to repair a couple of speaker terminations. i just finished running all the wires which i completely removed all the carpet and pressure washed it. this allowed me to treat the floor and run wires. now i need to install the front stage, and i should be good to go.
> 
> all that said, i'm already considering changing it all up and, since i'm no longer leasing, maybe cutting some metal! but, that may be for another day in the future. would like to have a body shop fabricate a recessed area in the spare cavity like the summit on here, maybe relocate the battery to the back, maybe put some subs under the seats, who knows?


 I feel your pain. Somehow I've sold three vehicles in the last few years (never sold one in the previous 30 years! ) and had to do crazy labor pulling everything out. Decided two things on the last one. 1. I don't want to sell a car anytime soon. 2. If I did, the audio system is going with the car. I don't need this crap at my age and it always turns out that some items aren't suitable for the new vehicle. If I factor my time as if I was paid for the work I don't think the used items I saved are worth my hourly pay.
I like the subs under the seat idea. When I found those compartments it was my first thought. Built in sub enclosures! Then I discovered the drivers holds all the airbag junk and I need that (I have been going up into the mountains with it). Would give awesome bass feel right under the butt.


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

brett said:


> huh?


Tiny enclosure for those 10s. Guaranteed to have a ****load of resonance in the 1-300hz range. I was asking if you have done a frequency sweep yet

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

J33pdude said:


> I feel your pain. Somehow I've sold three vehicles in the last few years (never sold one in the previous 30 years! ) and had to do crazy labor pulling everything out. Decided two things on the last one. 1. I don't want to sell a car anytime soon. 2. If I did, the audio system is going with the car. I don't need this crap at my age and it always turns out that some items aren't suitable for the new vehicle. If I factor my time as if I was paid for the work I don't think the used items I saved are worth my hourly pay.
> I like the subs under the seat idea. When I found those compartments it was my first thought. Built in sub enclosures! Then I discovered the drivers holds all the airbag junk and I need that (I have been going up into the mountains with it). Would give awesome bass feel right under the butt.


yeah, i found the air suspension module on my 2011 overland, but it's still relatively small. i suspect you could easily splice wires into the harness and relocate it to the back somewhere.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

Jscoyne2 said:


> Tiny enclosure for those 10s. Guaranteed to have a ****load of resonance in the 1-300hz range. I was asking if you have done a frequency sweep yet
> 
> Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


oh, ok, yeah. and you're exactly right, that's what i found and it requires massive eq, to the extent that it somewhat defeats the purpose. i actually had issues with about 120 and 250, 250 being the worst. i was hoping for a miracle, but expecting compromise. i like the speakers for this duty, but i may end up figuring something else out. either, different drivers or different enclosures. as mentioned, this is an extremely unorthodox approach as these drivers are just engineering samples intended for other duties, but they were free, and i'm poor. eminence declined to offer any t/s parameters. i'd love it if somebody could lend me the dayton tool to measure this so i can plan better.


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

brett said:


> oh, ok, yeah. and you're exactly right, that's what i found and it requires massive eq, to the extent that it somewhat defeats the purpose. i actually had issues with about 120 and 250, 250 being the worst. i was hoping for a miracle, but expecting compromise. i like the speakers for this duty, but i may end up figuring something else out. either, different drivers or different enclosures. as mentioned, this is an extremely unorthodox approach as these drivers are just engineering samples intended for other duties, but they were free, and i'm poor. eminence declined to offer any t/s parameters. i'd love it if somebody could lend me the dayton tool to measure this so i can plan better.


This may help









Camry 10s experiment(Advice needed)


So this all started just to see if i could fit 10s in the kicks, just for the heck of it and in the spirit of Diyma, experiment. Drivers are peerless SLS 10s https://www.parts-express.com/peerless-by-tymphany-830668-10-paper-cone-sls-subwoofer--264-1110 So the build process was easy enough...




www.diymobileaudio.com





Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

Jscoyne2 said:


> This may help
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thanks, that is helpful and while i don't have a way to measure, i suspect i have similar issues. so, then, did the vent to the outside essentially solve those issues? how did it sound?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

brett said:


> thanks, that is helpful and while i don't have a way to measure, i suspect i have similar issues. so, then, did the vent to the outside essentially solve those issues? how did it sound?


Vent gave me some low end but the issue is that in order to have proper infinite baffle ventilation. You need something like 70% of the SD of the cone area as a hole behind the driver. When you have a small hole comparatively to the driver size. Whats really happening is that the small enclosure has a small amount of air in it thats resonating like crazy. The small hole allows it to vent somewhat but its kinda just being ported to the outside. 

Basically. The vent helps with low end but the small enclosure comparative to the vent size creates a really bad resonance.

However, sound wise. It was pretty badass. It really held the sub bass up front and worked well.

Those that judge audio could hear the resonance and muddy midbass. But those who just like music, thought it sounded damn good.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

hmm, interesting, and thanks for lending your experience it is helpful. so, i'm still trying to settle on a midbass location after all of this. i had the system up and running for a few months and, like you mentioned, no matter what i did i was always running into distortion issues. that being said, i'm still trying to avoid putting midbass in the doors as it's just a rattle machine and flexes to much. i don't mind putting a little work into the kicks to make them work. what about venting into the body cavities? i don't mind cutting some metal, but i'm not sure i want to completely cut large sections of the floor yet.

or, should i simply consider putting them in enclosures under the seats? this requires no cutting and makes fabrication so much easier. however, i'd have to relocate the battery to the rear somewhere, and i'm apprehensive about doing this. however, this would allow me to throw some larger mids in the kicks. i forgot to update the thread, but i bought a pair of faital pro mids in the doors to replace the celestions i was using.









Home


FaitalPRO 6FE200 6" Professional Midrange Speaker 4 OhmFaitalPRO's open back 6FE200 6" professional midrange speaker is purpose-built to cover the critical midrange in three-way speakers, but also works great as a door speaker in car audio applications. To ensure absolute signal fidelity...




www.parts-express.com





this simply gave me more output as the celestions would struggle a little.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

well, as i expected, this is all going to have to change. i could get things to sound pretty good, but as you all know that's never good enough. part of the problem is speaker location/enclosure. the 10's in the kicks just don't get the proper enclosure size they need and i'm not willing to cut through the floor quite yet. no matter what i do, they just suffer from massive peaks/resonances and thus distortion. also, i'm not a fan of the mids in the doors. in order to achieve the output i needed (which still didn't quite get there) i went with a high efficiency driver. i just cannot get them to sound very good either. but, i kinda knew this would happen as i've always done pillars, and will go back to them. i auditioned some dayton rs100's i have in the dash corners and they sound so much better. granted, i was able to test them mostly on axis so this helped and i think i'm going to try and keep them in that orientation.

i have wanted to try to put speakers in the under-seat cavities from the very beginning. i currently have my dsp there, and while that's kinda necessary given the rest of the install, i don't like it there. so, i'm going to remove the subs in the spare area (for now) and try one under the seat. i've been craving a solid impact in the 50-100 range and while the 10's in my kicks could do this, the enclosure just isn't correct. there's a ton of space down there and i suspect i can fit my 10" sub in a small sealed enclosure down there. if this works, it will allow me to scale back and put something a tad smaller, likely 8's, in the kicks strictly for lower mid duties. and, if that all works, then i may even relocate the battery from under the passenger seat to the rear and repeat that process. 

i've also got a few noise floor issues i'm tracking down as well. and, before i make any claims, i will likely buy another 4 channel amp to compare to these soundstreams. i'm concerned i'm not getting enough power. was thinking of getting a zapco st -x4 sq and seeing how it sounds being class a/b. 

oh, and i just bought two of the dayton dsp408s with the idea that i could use both dsp's to accommodate any potential expansion for rear fill, additional subs, etc.

i'll try to keep everybody posted, but let me know any thoughts/suggestions you might have.


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## Ssopus (Dec 22, 2020)

Any updates?


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## Ssopus (Dec 22, 2020)

sorry double post


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

slightly, yes. i've decided to start with the lowest hanging fruit, and honestly, the most sensitive part; mids/highs. after a couple hours of testing angles/orientation, i settle for mids in pillars, on axis, with the tweeters positioned slightly above the mids. the mid placement was solid, so it was really testing the best tweeter location and this sounded best. this weekend i made baffles for the tweeters, finished the baffles for the mids and got grills for them. the spare pillars have been cut, and now i just need to start tacking them in place and start fabrication. i'll try to post pics soon. but, i can say, without a doubt, that the mids in the pillars on axis sound infinitely better than in the doors and they image so much easier. i also bought a pair of rs225's which should show up this week which will do midbass duties in the kicks. the kick fab will begin after the pillars are done.

also, almost pulled the trigger on that amp, but was hoping to find a used one first. anybody got a zapco stx-4sq?


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## Ssopus (Dec 22, 2020)

brett said:


> slightly, yes. i've decided to start with the lowest hanging fruit, and honestly, the most sensitive part; mids/highs. after a couple hours of testing angles/orientation, i settle for mids in pillars, on axis, with the tweeters positioned slightly above the mids. the mid placement was solid, so it was really testing the best tweeter location and this sounded best. this weekend i made baffles for the tweeters, finished the baffles for the mids and got grills for them. the spare pillars have been cut, and now i just need to start tacking them in place and start fabrication. i'll try to post pics soon. but, i can say, without a doubt, that the mids in the pillars on axis sound infinitely better than in the doors and they image so much easier. i also bought a pair of rs225's which should show up this week which will do midbass duties in the kicks. the kick fab will begin after the pillars are done.
> 
> also, almost pulled the trigger on that amp, but was hoping to find a used one first. anybody got a zapco stx-4sq?


I have a friend that ran two of the Zapco sq amps on his front stage. If I remember correctly he bridged one for Midbass. Clean power and they sounded great...and they looked nice in the install. He backlit with some blue led on a black acrylic amp rack.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

ok, big changes here.

i did end up just finishing the pillars and new kicks. i've got it all up and running, installed, looking and sounding pretty good and i'm going to try to sell my jeep. long story short, wife and i decided to move and the best thing for me to do is offload this vehicle for the time being. i work from home and never really drive it, and i don't want to move it across country. so, the jeep and the system are for sale together or separately. if i don't sell the gear, i will likely eventually get another jeep and put the system back in. but for now, after a first initial tune by ear, it's pretty darn good.


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

kicks


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## brett (Apr 27, 2005)

oh, and here's the current jeep. traded the silver one in since it was a lease and went from an 18 to a 15 to save a little money.


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## Ssopus (Dec 22, 2020)

Nice job on the pillars and kicks! I made the mistake of buying pillars from an older wk2 thinking they should primarily be the same (I think they were from a 15). Had to do some serious modding before I could even start fab. The fastening points are slightly moved to accommodate the airbags so my dremel and CA glue got some work out.

I like the new Jeep. I don’t think you are going to have any issues selling it. Best of luck with the sell and your move.


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## cliff050505 (Jul 14, 2014)

I’m a bit late to ur party lol I’m going to add a 13TW5 and RD500.1. Can I run a llc from the factory sub wire?


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