# First go at an infinite baffle install.



## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

02' Honda Accord with two inexpensive Pyle PLBW 154 15" subs. 

First I drew the template out of cardboard then I fine tuned it on 1/4" MDF.

















I cut out to baffles made of 3/4" MDF and laminated them together. Then I cut my two hole to make the whole thing lighter and easier to handle. 








An orbital sander and some 80 grit made quick work of flushing the sides and taking care of last minute fitment issues.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

I used nearly two rolls of CCF tape sealing holes and gaps. 








































A little silicon and some black spray paint helped out too.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Wanted to find my bracket mounting points and drill my holes before I put any carpet on it. Carpet and drill bits don't play nicely together, plus it would've been hard to mark my holes on black carpet. 
















I made my own mounting brackets out of some 1 1/4" angle strut. I used 3/8" self tapping screws to secure them to the car. Didn't put any on the bottom so I wouldn't get into the gas tank.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

After drilling holes it was time for carpet. After glueing the carpet down I used a skinny flat head screw driver to poke my holes all the way through. I also chose to leave the t-nuts on the outside of the carpet; A. to help hold it in place & B. I like the look of the hardware. 








Again, a little black paint helped clean things up nicely! 
















I wrapped the outside of the baffle with more CCF tape to ensure an airtight fit against the trunk frame.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Before carpet and CCF tape, I could slip it into the trunk with one hand. Now I had to beat it in place with a 4x4. Got it just tight enough against the bracket to allow the nut to catch one thread and used a ratchet to pull it in tight.

































The only pieces I had to cut up were the trunk floor board and each carpeted side piece in the trunk. Got the car all put back together and here is the finished product! 

















Tomorrow I'll get an amp hooked up and let y'all know how it sounds.


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## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

Looks good!

How did you choose the baffle mounting points? It seems those screws would go through the metal and be exposed to the elements.


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## 07azhhr (Dec 28, 2011)

Looks good. Glad to see you made it removable incase you have to get to that fuel pump.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

bassfromspace said:


> Looks good!
> 
> How did you choose the baffle mounting points? It seems those screws would go through the metal and be exposed to the elements.


I really didn't have much choice. The screws go through the strut towers and stick out behind the coils. But I hit them with some durable rim paint, that and I used galvanized screws, so I'm not too worried about it.


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## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

Makes sense.

Thanks for the info!


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## mattyjman (Aug 6, 2009)

looks good man... makes me excited to get mine in and fitted up -- how's it sound?


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

I'll let you know this afternoon. I couldn't hook my amp up yet cause cause I'm waiting on the hardware for the 1/0 gauge power wire. It should be here today.


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## mrmill (Feb 11, 2013)

looks good...what are you using to power them and where are you mounting it?


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

I have a little Powerbass 400 watt 2 ch. which should be plenty for an IB set up. But I'm gonna leave it on the floor board for now. Cause I'd really love to have that Phoenix Gold Ti 1600.5 mounted on a rack under the back deck.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

So I got it all up and running today. 

Now it should be stated that I don't have the same Pyle 15" subs many others around here are running. Mine are the PLBW 154
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=267-087

At first I was a bit disappointed. Everything below 60 hertz was clean and effortless but not as loud as I had hoped. Above 60 hz there seemed to be a lot of resonances and extra vibrations. I wasn't happy about it, the speaker didnt blend in with the music very well at all. They really rock in the 25-40 hz range though. But above that is where it got a little sketchy. 

These Pyles break in quick though. It doesn't take much bass to make a rear view mirror useless but by the end of the day that little 400 watt amp would spin my mirror around sideways and turn it all the way up towards the roof. The upper range seamed to smooth out and get louder as well. I'm very pleased with how they sound right now. Some say that a break in period is ******** but I testify that while running errands in my car for the last 5 hours I have noticed a significant change in performance. 
These speakers now put out the seamless, bottomless, and effortless bass I have come to expect of an IB setup. Lower, louder, and cleaner than any other system I've owned before. I couldn't imagine how the AE IB 15s must sound. The lower the sound the cleaner they play. I can't wait to get my midbass installed to accompany these.

I hope they continue to improve and I can't wait to here what they sound like with an amp really capable of controlling them. Like the PG Ti1600.5 I just sent the payment for!


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## therapture (Jan 31, 2013)

Impressed with the setup! I too am thinking of going IB, with a single 15" though.

My G8 looks amazingly similar as far as the method you used, I guess all sedans would be, except I have only a rectangular hole where the sub could fire into the cabin, a "ski pass" type deal. So the sub would be dead center in the baffle.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

therapture said:


> Impressed with the setup! I too am thinking of going IB, with a single 15" though.
> 
> My G8 looks amazingly similar as far as the method you used, I guess all sedans would be, except I have only a rectangular hole where the sub could fire into the cabin, a "ski pass" type deal. So the sub would be dead center in the baffle.


If you do it right it's a LOT of work, more than building a box. This project took me 2 1/2 days to complete. But it is worth every minute of it!


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

Are you still going to be using the L8v1 in your doors?


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Hells yeah! I'm running these up to about 80 now but I'd like to start rolling them off around 50 after I get the L8s installed. I ordered some sound deadener today.


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## Bdub (Dec 16, 2007)

I'm really looking forward to your impression of the TI1600.5. I'll be running the same amp with 2 IB15AU's. I'm guessing this thread is going to help with my baffle build, so thanks in advance!


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Bdub said:


> I'm really looking forward to your impression of the TI1600.5. I'll be running the same amp with 2 IB15AU's. I'm guessing this thread is going to help with my baffle build, so thanks in advance!


I'm no expert but I'll be happy to offer my 2¢ anytime. 
I'm looking forward to it too.


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## Spyke (Apr 20, 2012)

Nice install. Are you leaving the seat out?


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Spyke said:


> Nice install. Are you leaving the seat out?


It's not out. The rear seats fold down in a Honda.


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## Spyke (Apr 20, 2012)

Gotcha. A better question then would be: Will the seat need to be folded down while listening?


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Spyke said:


> Gotcha. A better question then would be: Will the seat need to be folded down while listening?


It sounds better with the seat down but putting the seat up helps control some bad resonances in the back deck. There is a little ski pass behind the arm rest. I have been leaving that open but it's not really necessary.


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## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

Sound deadening is your best friend,


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

The trunk or in the cabin?


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## honfatboy (Jul 4, 2005)

01 Accord owner here looking forward to see how you're going to put 8s in the doors! I want to do the same thing, and I'm always looking for ideas.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

honfatboy said:


> 01 Accord owner here looking forward to see how you're going to put 8s in the doors! I want to do the same thing, and I'm always looking for ideas.


It's right around the corner. Check back in a month.


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## quietfly (Mar 23, 2011)

looks nice... wish i could do IB 15's...


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## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

whole rear deck,all around the baffle, one of the things i did in my 93 civic years ago,(2 excelon 12's aperiodic),was to stuff all the empty crevices on the sides of trunk with polyfill and then sealed them with cascade sound deadening sheets.made a huge difference.wish i could hear yours,miss the sound of that car.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm not trying to poo poo on the idea of IB here (I quite love IB) - but with 2 15's, and sealing the trunk, the trunk has pretty much become a closed space/box. Is IB for car audio anything where the sealed parameters are larger than spec to the driver?

When I think IB, I think more in terms of 4 18's in my attic breathing brown-note capable tones into my theater. The attic, in this case, is thousands of cubic feet, vented and more in-line with how I'd view IB.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

bardo said:


> I'm not trying to poo poo on the idea of IB here (I quite love IB) - but with 2 15's, and sealing the trunk, the trunk has pretty much become a closed space/box. Is IB for car audio anything where the sealed parameters are larger than spec to the driver?
> 
> When I think IB, I think more in terms of 4 18's in my attic breathing brown-note capable tones into my theater. The attic, in this case, is thousands of cubic feet, vented and more in-line with how I'd view IB.


yes, but people arent going to cut a hole in the roof of thier car. true an IB install in a car is more inline with a REALLY large sealed, but what is wrong with that?  you have no enclosure to take up space, you have an increase in efficiency, and SQ is very good. best of all worlds.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

nothing wrong--just sayin' 

Figure it would be easier to model given you have a known volume. I like the idea of no box--but I would think you'd have to basically build the backend out of dynamat to avoid rattles (since the trunk has become the pressurized box)?


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

That depends. Do you care if people outside the car hear the rattles? lol. inside the car, I dont hear rattle in the trunk. 

I did have to CLD the hell out of the rear dash and I used caulk rope to seal all the plastic parts together so they wouldnt vibrate aginst each other. but I dont see this as much different than what you would have to do with any sub install. sub-bass vibrates everything.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

Yes--agreed, but if you use the same setup - pointing the 2 15's forward, and walling off the trunk in the back (3cu feet or so? no idea on those subs) - would you not increase pressure/cabin gain in the front by not using the trunk, and decrease pressure in the back would reduce rattles (maybe a bit haha).

I wanted to try something like this in the rear deck of my car--but its a hatch, and I dont know how effective it would be. 

Either way--looks like a fun build, and I bet it will sound amazing (since you wont hear rattles inside)


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

FS is 22hz, qts is .7 and VAS is 5cuft with these subs. 3cuft for 2 of them would be horrible. I understand your point though.

but if you make a smaller leaky sealed enclosure you are just going to move FSC up higher and decrease efficiency (now you need more power to get to xmax) high efficiency and ruler flat response is kinda the point with these. 

if you dont want/need as much low end and have more power on hand, go for it, it will work.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm going to stop posting in this poor guys thread--/hijack lol

Build looks good though--I'd be curious how it sounds, I've not heard an IB in a car (that isn't the stock / OEM POS that came in my is350). Maybe I'll troll around the build thread and find someone in Orlando that I can stalk and get a listen haha.

/subscribed - want to see how this turns out / listening impressions. I'll post my own thread regarding IB's / sizes of subs as I am still curious.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

bardo said:


> I'm going to stop posting in this poor guys thread--/hijack lol
> 
> Build looks good though--I'd be curious how it sounds, I've not heard an IB in a car (that isn't the stock / OEM POS that came in my is350). Maybe I'll troll around the build thread and find someone in Orlando that I can stalk and get a listen haha.
> 
> /subscribed - want to see how this turns out / listening impressions. I'll post my own thread regarding IB's / sizes of subs as I am still curious.


ha ha, you can troll my thread if you like.

Minbari's Fiesta

I should get a picture of my RTA response. nearly flat from 20-100 hz with no EQ. I like a little more bass heavy, so I do eq it up a bit. Bass is pretty acurate and gets louder than I need, all on only 500 watts. midbass is very punchy too.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

bardo said:


> I'm not trying to poo poo on the idea of IB here (I quite love IB) - but with 2 15's, and sealing the trunk, the trunk has pretty much become a closed space/box. Is IB for car audio anything where the sealed parameters are larger than spec to the driver?
> 
> When I think IB, I think more in terms of 4 18's in my attic breathing brown-note capable tones into my theater. The attic, in this case, is thousands of cubic feet, vented and more in-line with how I'd view IB.


If you wanna get technical there is no difference between IB and sealed. A sealed box is none other than a baffle that is folded back on itself thus making it infinite. As enclosure volume increases the line that defines the difference starts to blend. But for all practical purposes one can say a set up becomes IB once the enclosure no longer makes and audible change to the Qts. For HT people say this is around 10 x VAS and in car audio I believe people claim 3-4 times VAS.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

bardo said:


> I'm going to stop posting in this poor guys thread--/hijack lol
> 
> Build looks good though--I'd be curious how it sounds, I've not heard an IB in a car (that isn't the stock / OEM POS that came in my is350). Maybe I'll troll around the build thread and find someone in Orlando that I can stalk and get a listen haha.
> 
> /subscribed - want to see how this turns out / listening impressions. I'll post my own thread regarding IB's / sizes of subs as I am still curious.


No thread jacking here. This is good info. 

There isn't much else to going on with this install though. Don't know if you read the entire thread but I posted my review in here. The only other thing to be done to these is a little processing to help the top end and extreme bottom. These are extremely capable from above 25hz up to about 50hz. So if like to boost a hair at 20 and do whatever is needed to get seamless blend with my HAT L8s that I haven't installed yet.


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## bardo (Oct 12, 2011)

I've done more with home audio / theater stuff than I have with car audio. I just jumped back on the car audio kick in the last couple years. Was always a fan of it in highschool (mid-90s) 

As I mentioned with theater installs and IB - the VAS 10x rule is about right--but it's 10x or greater (minimum I believe) to actually achieve great results. I've read a lot on cult of the infinite baffle--I just didn't see how it could be used reliably (or maybe as effective) in a car--given pressurization and cabin gain is very different? 

Either way--the end result is you have a fantastic sounding (SQ) system, then win win. 

I've ordered some rainbow components for the front of my car, I dont think I can fit 8's in my doors--but If i could Id go the same route you did!


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## Notloudenuf (Sep 14, 2008)

Fricasseekid said:


> The only pieces I had to cut up were the trunk floor board and each carpeted side piece in the trunk.


How much of the carpeted pieces did you have to cut off? It doesn't look like much from here.


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

Notloudenuf said:


> How much of the carpeted pieces did you have to cut off? It doesn't look like much from here.


It wasn't much at all. I think it was about 7" at the bottom and less than 2" at the top.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

bardo said:


> I've done more with home audio / theater stuff than I have with car audio. I just jumped back on the car audio kick in the last couple years. Was always a fan of it in highschool (mid-90s)
> 
> As I mentioned with theater installs and IB - the VAS 10x rule is about right--but it's 10x or greater (minimum I believe) to actually achieve great results. I've read a lot on cult of the infinite baffle--I just didn't see how it could be used reliably (or maybe as effective) in a car--given pressurization and cabin gain is very different?
> 
> ...


I've had a lot of different sub setups and the best sounding by far have been the IB ones. VAS X 10 is fine in principal but once QTS and QTC are fairly close or the same or as long as you end up with the desired QTC, what's the big deal?


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## [email protected] (Aug 4, 2013)

Subscribed!


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## KyngHype (Sep 7, 2009)

IB! Living the dream! Looking good man..


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## Deiko (Mar 26, 2014)

Very late on this one... But this looks quite nice, actually!
Got me onto the Pyle IB craze. Due to my height constraints, I can only fit 12s, but the width allows for 3 12s - similar cone area to a pair of 15s.

How do you think a set of 3 of the Blue Wave 12s would compare to your 15s, on roughly 300w?


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## theoldguy (Nov 17, 2009)

Fricasseekid said:


>


I guess im the only one who noticed the shot glass. What ya drinkin?


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## SHAGGS (Apr 24, 2011)

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Bourbon. 

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/off-topic/149375-kentucky-bourbon.html


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## John Reid (Jun 6, 2008)

I miss my IB setup that I used to have in my old '93 Civic sedan… 

4 Soundstream SS10 Limited getting 250W each. The "Velvet Hammers". Gotta love the '90s marketing. They went down sooooo low. Miss them 










I went ape using spray foam to seal off the trunk from the rest of the cabin, filling all the voids, to the point where the trunk wall sounded like concrete if you tapped on it from the outside of the car. I cored out cylinders to the rear seat cushion foam to allow the LF waves to get into the cabin.

Couldn't hear much from outside if the windows were up… but, man, your arm hair would move if you were inside. :laugh:


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## upgrayedd (Apr 19, 2011)

Nice work.


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## Ted J (Aug 15, 2006)

bardo said:


> I'm not trying to poo poo on the idea of IB here (I quite love IB) - but with 2 15's, and sealing the trunk, the trunk has pretty much become a closed space/box. Is IB for car audio anything where the sealed parameters are larger than spec to the driver?
> 
> When I think IB, I think more in terms of 4 18's in my attic breathing brown-note capable tones into my theater. The attic, in this case, is thousands of cubic feet, vented and more in-line with how I'd view IB.


I know this was from a while back but one crude way of testing this would be to open up the trunk and compare the trunk open vs trunk closed to hear how they sound and compare!


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

bardo said:


> I'm not trying to poo poo on the idea of IB here (I quite love IB) - but with 2 15's, and sealing the trunk, the trunk has pretty much become a closed space/box. Is IB for car audio anything where the sealed parameters are larger than spec to the driver?
> 
> When I think IB, I think more in terms of 4 18's in my attic breathing brown-note capable tones into my theater. The attic, in this case, is thousands of cubic feet, vented and more in-line with how I'd view IB.


 
Since we're replying to this anyway, I couldn't help myself. 

I would put a pair of 15s IB in a car over four 18s in a house any day if we're talking output. The car has cabin gain in it's favor and I haven't seen too many HT setups that could produce 150db+ at 25hz like a good pair of 15s in a car can and have done. As much as I love IB in a car, as long as space isn't a huge concern, my HT setup will always have a ported setup by default. Just too many advantages when space is not an issue and especially without cabin gain.

A correction, the trunk does not get sealed to the outside world. It gets sealed from the cabin. Most of us allow the trunk to vent to atmosphere in order to get a larger "box". Once the volume is large enough to no longer make an audible difference, that's IB to me, at least "car" IB anyway.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

No IB set up has done 150 at 25 hz


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

edzyy said:


> No IB set up has done 150 at 25 hz


Tell that to the guy in here that has done it. I thought yours was in the mid 40s if I remember right.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

BuickGN said:


> Tell that to the guy in here that has done it. I thought yours was in the mid 40s if I remember right.


low 140's

When I asked him for proof, he vanished

Go figure..


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## Fricasseekid (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm gonna have to agree with Edzyy here. No IB setup with two 15s has done 150. 
The Pyles in my car did 138 @ 25hz. Now a really high brow pair of subs might have double the displacement and that should be good for 3-4db depending on the vehicle. And considering IB is so efficient, I don't think throwing tons of power at it is an option. 

But as far as efficiency goes, 138db @ 25hz off 560 watts clamped is pretty impressive.


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