# The Stereo Clarity Tacoma



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

_Most of this has happened already so progress might seem artificially quick lol. By the time this is posted I'll have everything up to the subs already finished. But I'm posting to get some feedback and hopefully spawn some ideas for others to try. _

Here is the progress so far. 

I've gone and started deadening with my new goodies from Don. Here are some pictures from the happenings. I used the 1/4" foam backed with the MLV where I could and I used 1/8th in areas where it was a tight fit for panels. 

*Totally stripped the inside.*

























*Stock 6x9 with TINY neo magnet. Check out these sweet "tweeters" too. I was surprised to find these behind the door panel. *


























*Here are some shots of the MLV laid down with the foam. This is the first time I'd used the stuff and I'm quite impressed with the way it feels/acts. I have yet to get the whole truck back together so I'll comment on the effect when I can.*

















*
Now was a good time to run all my wires too *


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

*
The insides of my doors had some pre-existing braces that looked totally useless. These things were only "touching" the door about once every six inches or so via a small blob of soft glue. The space between the brace and the door was about 1/8" in some areas. I thought about it for a long time and then decided that if I filled the area between the brace and the door skin with clear silicone it would add a SUBSTANTIAL amount of structure to the door while still giving it a reasonable amount of flexibility so it wasn't ridged. Already I can tell the door has had a dramatic improvement in deadness. I've put some deadener in the door but I'll be adding some more later.*


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

I've done the front doors completely and I have the panels back on. This is a feat of epicness. The MLV and foam sandwich makes it hard to get the door panel back on since there are braces on the back of the panel that are intended to sit flush with the door itself for support. I found that if I used my random orbit sander I could grind these down a bit and it helped tremendously. I ended up using plexiglass to seal up the holes in my door. I went around the edges with speaker gasketing tape and then deadened over the edges. I sealed all the other holes except for the pop rivet holes. I think it turned out pretty good.



























I also found a decent way to keep the MLV up in the doors. I had bought some of the velcro strips from Don but ended up not using them. I feared that the MLV sheet would be too heavy and they side that sticks to the door would come off. I ended up using the holes/bolts from the stock tweeter bracket to hold it up in the front. On the rear and bottom I used a generic pop rivet that you can get at Lowes. I had a few in my tool box already. I just drilled the appropriate sized hole and pushed them in; holds like a champ!


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Since that time I've deadened the rear doors and done them up with MLV and foam. No pictures of that since it's just the same song and dance that I did with the front doors.


The most recent endeavor has been the tweeters. Some of you might remember my thread a while back about the Wavecore tweeters (snowflakes) that I'd be trying out. I've finally figured out what I'm going to do with these. They're not huge but they're a fairly large format and putting them behind my door panels just didn't appeal to me. They came with some mounting cups that were pretty useless until I figured out a slick way to use them, properly...


















Tweeter cups have a bad habit of exposing wires and that's just not acceptable in my opinion. I hate exposed wires. So I needed a method to attach the cup to the interior of the car that would hide the wires; and let me aim the tweeter. I accomplished all of this with my idea.


The idea was to use a threaded pipe fitting to secure the cup to the sail panel. Since it's a pipe fitting it's hollow and I can run the wires through it. Score!!!

Not so fast though. The the only fittings I found that did this were slightly too large to put into the mounting cup and have the rear of the tweeter still clear the back and fit in. So, cutting solid brass was out of the question....only in the beginning though 

I remembered that Joseph (~Magic_Man~) had a tool at work he said could cut anything that conducted electricity. I needed solid brass cut and done at a very precise tolerance. He said no problem. This machine was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. A thin brass wire 10thousanths of an inch thick gets electrified underwater and makes the cut...VERY cool ****! Thanks again Joseph for the help!!

Crappy Cell phone pic but you get the idea...massively cool

















So with my new cut pipe fittings I went to work getting my stuff together. I was using a thin rubber washer (lowes, hardware aisle drawers) between the sail panel and the tweeter cup. This would give me some padding between the two pieces and friction; both very important to what I needed IMO. I drilled my holes and then pieced it together.



















Here is how I ended up. Because the rubber washers keep it snug but not ridged I can swivel the tweeters up or down. Plus, I've been reading a lot about diffraction and I think these pods with their shape should help a little. I'm looking forward to hearing them.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Shot a quick video before I deadened the rear doors the other day. Man what a difference. Keep in mind that the rear doors are naturally LESS resonant because they're a smaller surface made of the same material.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

But, no matter, on to the progress!

Here are the midbass drivers I'll be using. They are H-Audio Ebony midbass drivers. I'm a dealer for the brand so if you're interested in trying any of their stuff just shoot me a PM or an email. I'm very excited to get these moving.



















I opened the doors back up to put these kids in. I also did more deadening in the door in some places I deemed needed work. The baffle is another place I put in a good amount of time. There is a layer of deadener between the baffle and the door. This seals it to the door and also decouples it a little. I used some Second Skin Spectrum (liquid deadener) to seal the baffles since I had it left over from like 2 years ago. It really helps on baffles. Sometimes water will get on the MDF baffles and cause them to swell to about twice their size. Sealing them is a good way to prevent that from happening. I also used some foam speaker gasketing tape on the mounting flange so the speaker sealed well to the baffle. I originally only used 4 screws on the basket but decided to use 8 in the end. Total overkill, but I thought that it would help put even pressure on the basket in a more uniform manner. I figured the more points of contact the better; and having a box of like 300 screws I didn't think twice.









So then that leaves us with a fully deadened vehicle with midbass drivers, tweeters and all the wires run. Not hardly a working system but certainly on our way.

The Pioneer unit did get returned. After getting everything sorted out I ended up with the Eclipse AVN 726e that I thought I would. I think I'll really like this unit. It comes in next week and it will promptly go in.

I haven't put in the amp yet because I don't have my RCA's ready. Mir is making me a 6channel RCA cable and he should be done next week (he said). When that's ready I'll put the amp in.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Today things went well. I mounted everything to the board that I made and everything fits well in the space provided. The install is as finished as it will be till I get a processor. At that point, I'll be running a ground and power wire to the processor from the distribution blocks. I'll also be running those RCA's to the processor instead of the headunit. Additionally, you can see I have some other crazy wires doing crazy things under there (the red/black ones). Those are from the passive HP filters that keep my tweeters from blowing up. Those are temporary since I don't have active crossovers on the headunit and the amp crossovers don't go near high enough. Once I get the passives out of there I'll clean up the wiring so it looks a lot better.

(painters tape is for labeling the wires)











Moving onto the subs; I tried sealed first...


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Soooooo...In an effort to optimize (it's a sickness) I've decided to port the subs. It's a decision I came to after staring at the graphs for too long. Check them out below and the additional comments will be below...

*Sealed*









*Ported*










So I'm thinking the results from porting will be significantly better. An extra 6db of output at 30hz? Yes please! I think that the enclosure is a little bit smaller than 33 liters but I really can't figure out exactly how large it is. I did line the whole thing with plastic and fill it with water but I can only get up to the lowest point. The front area is about 3 inches higher than the back and yields quite a bit more area but I can't figure out how much. I think somewhere close to 30-33liters. I got 5.5 gallons in there (measured with gallon jugs) just up to the rear level area.

But without further delay, here she is. I went with Line X on the exterior for a few reasons. My truck gets a LOT of use and I want it to be tough so I don't have to constantly worry about it getting scratched or scuffed. Additionally, the coating should yield a slightly more dead baffle. The coating is slightly rubbery too so it should also act as a little bit of a seal between the subs and the ports too. I'll be using two 3" flared ports and 4 of the Tang Band subs.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Today was a looooong day for me. I spent the better part of 12 straight hours working on the truck. I did return successful I believe 

Remember what I said about utilizing a fantastic material such as resin? Well I found another use for it today. I was able to purchase 90degree elbows for the ports but the other angles (120 and 135) were obviously not available. So I ended up making my own and they turned out pretty well. I used the table saw to cut the angles and then applied the purple PVC glue and put them face to face. This held ok but it wasn't going to be near strong enough. Enter resin...I used it generously on the outside and a little thinner on the inside so it was smooth. The result was a fairly strong joint. 











As you can see, the ports inside the box are VERY tight and barely fit. I had to use a 90 degree elbow, a 120, and a 135 to route the port in ways that it would fit. I'm lucky I went with the Tang Band subs and that they have a neo motor. Anything else would have been 100% impossible. Even with their small motors, the neo magnet STILL is pressing on the sides of the ports. The tolerances of this box were so tight it was mind boggling. I found my self at more than one time today fighting for millimeters. The fact that I got it all in there was incredible (that's what she said) and I'm lucky it worked out.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Well....after 12 hours of working yesterday it's done. Here it is in all it's majesty. I pretty much listened to Young Jeezy all day today since I could justify it with the new box. Output is substantial and the subs don't move much at all. It's loud and I've not pushed it too hard yet. I'm excited to see what it can do.



























MMMMONEY SHOT!


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

And as of the moment...that puts us up to date!

Next step involves and MS8


----------



## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

that is a sweet sub enclosure


----------



## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

Good work Steven, cant wait to hear it soon


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

You gotta come out to the next meet to hear it lol

I'm thinking we'll do a build day sometime this summer.

I'm really liking the setup so far. Normally I'm picking apart things sonically when I'm listening to my systems. Wondering about response and if stuff sounds right. But right now...

I'm running my tweeters passive around 3k
Midbass 80hz HP (basically full range)
No time alignment
No EQ

And you know what? I freakin love it! It's a ton of fun to listen to and in my opinion that's what car audio is about. It's about sounding good and having fun.


----------



## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> I remembered that Joseph (~Magic_Man~) had a tool at work he said could cut anything that conducted electricity. I needed solid brass cut and done at a very precise tolerance. He said no problem. This machine was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. A thin brass wire 10thousanths of an inch thick gets electrified underwater and makes the cut...VERY cool ****! Thanks again Joseph for the help!!


the machine in question is called a wire e.d.m. [electro discharge machining]
it basically erodes, with electricity, the metal around the partially consumed wire. they can cut to really,really close tolerances. i used to have alot of stuff cut on those when i used to work as a tool and die maker. 

nice install btw


----------



## el_chupo_ (May 27, 2007)

any reinforcements to the enclosure to stiffen the holes that were there?

Looking good!


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

el_chupo_ said:


> any reinforcements to the enclosure to stiffen the holes that were there?
> 
> Looking good!


Ahh yes, I forgot to add that...As you can see in the picture here, Mir and I ended up fiberglassing the bin area under the baffle. It's solid as a rock now and seals up like a vault. I added another bolt in the middle of the baffle so it would be even stronger and seal better.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

amitaF said:


> the machine in question is called a wire e.d.m. [electro discharge machining]
> it basically erodes, with electricity, the metal around the partially consumed wire. they can cut to really,really close tolerances. i used to have alot of stuff cut on those when i used to work as a tool and die maker.
> 
> nice install btw


Indeed. That machine was a very very cool piece to work with. I can think of many times when I'd wished I had something like that. The shop that Joseph works in makes dies as well. I'm lucky to know him.


----------



## The Dude (Mar 24, 2007)

Brian_smith06 said:


> that is a sweet sub enclosure



For sure, looks killer!


----------



## trevordj (Feb 22, 2009)

Very, very nice. If I ever make my way up to DFW, I may have to give this a listen .


----------



## sydmonster (Oct 5, 2009)

very nice work and detailed install too.


----------



## BigBadBakken (Feb 16, 2010)

Very, VERY nice work! Looks awesome!


----------



## deesz (Feb 1, 2010)

does the amp work yet????????????????????????????


----------



## sirsaechao (Jan 25, 2010)

Saw most of the install on TW...looks great.


----------



## bassfromspace (Jun 28, 2016)

ItalynStylion said:


> You gotta come out to the next meet to hear it lol
> 
> I'm thinking we'll do a build day sometime this summer.
> 
> ...


I can't wait to hear it as well. I'm glad you've built a system that YOU love, which seems to be rare these days.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

trevordj said:


> Very, very nice. If I ever make my way up to DFW, I may have to give this a listen .


Deffinetly man. Just lemme know beforehand if you're going to be in the area. I think we'll be doing a build day or general meet sometime later this summer.


sydmonster said:


> very nice work and detailed install too.


Thanks! I'm anxious to clean up some of the wiring near the amp but I have to wait till I get the MS8 to do that. Till then I have to deal with those small passives and the extra wire.


deesz said:


> does the amp work yet????????????????????????????


lol, yeah it's back in action. And I'm hoping to get to some of that new music later today now that it works 


bassfromspace said:


> I can't wait to hear it as well. I'm glad you've built a system that YOU love, which seems to be rare these days.


Rare indeed


----------



## bigabe (May 1, 2007)

Hmm.... my Tacoma is arriving in about a week and a half. I decided to go with a double cab too...

After Bing has his way with my BMW... I'm gonna have to turn my attention to the stereo in the Tacoma. That sub box is absolutely stunning dude. I want one for my truck! How much??


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

bigabe said:


> Hmm.... my Tacoma is arriving in about a week and a half. I decided to go with a double cab too...
> 
> After Bing has his way with my BMW... I'm gonna have to turn my attention to the stereo in the Tacoma. That sub box is absolutely stunning dude. I want one for my truck! How much??


Glad to see you went with the double cab man. I think you'll be happier. If I thought there was a way to mass produce this box I'd be all over it. But it's a pain in the butt for sure and 100% custom. The baffle board is the easy part!


----------



## bigabe (May 1, 2007)

I'll probably just take the thing to Bing when it's time for the stereo upgrade. I'm totally useless when it comes to fabrication. That and I have zero time for my hobbies. How wonderful.

I figured the double cab was gonna be way better after thinking about it for a while. I'd much rather have a usable back seat than the extra 12" or so of bed length the access cab gives me.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

bigabe said:


> I figured the double cab was gonna be way better after thinking about it for a while. I'd much rather have a usable back seat than the extra 12" or so of bed length the access cab gives me.


That was my exact thought process as well. I'm interested to see what he comes up with for yours. It would have been a 1 day job to build a box for behind the seats but you guys know that's just not my style. Plus, I figured there would be pretty much nothing that I'd really get under the rear seats. The storage behind the seats is more usable IMO.


----------



## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Very nice work! I really hope that I'll get a chance to hear your truck one of these days. Nice choice in equipment too. I'm also a big fan of H-Audio and am a recent addition to Team H-Audio for this year's MECA season.

Zach


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Boostedrex said:


> Very nice work! I really hope that I'll get a chance to hear your truck one of these days. Nice choice in equipment too. I'm also a big fan of H-Audio and am a recent addition to Team H-Audio for this year's MECA season.
> 
> Zach


Indeed. Mark said you're really tearing it up on the west cost with those new trinitys!


----------



## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

ItalynStylion said:


> Indeed. Mark said you're really tearing it up on the west cost with those new trinitys!


I'm certainly trying my best to.  With guys like Mark at H-Audio and Nick at Stereo Integrity backing me, it really does make things easier. I feel very lucky to have the support that I do.


----------



## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

Sweet Install! I like the custom tweeter mounts.


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

mSaLL150 said:


> Sweet Install! I like the custom tweeter mounts.


Thanks! Visually, the substage sort of takes the cake but I really can't say enough about the tweeters. From what I've heard so far they are extremely capable. Very detailed and smooth yet not lacking in top end sparkle. Tonality is excellent as well. Everyone who's heard them so far has had good things to say about them so I don't think I'm imagining it.

I'm actually looking to get a hold of a few sets of these tweeters. They're not sold anywhere at the moment but I'm looking to change that.


----------



## Knobby Digital (Aug 17, 2008)

Very nice, Styls. I much prefer the bedliner to the blue paint.

How about a TB 6x9 in those doors when you decide to go 3-way up front?


----------



## Afronaut (Apr 27, 2010)

Great looking install...the speaker box looks great


----------



## Afronaut (Apr 27, 2010)

nice install


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Knobby Digital said:


> Very nice, Styls. I much prefer the bedliner to the blue paint.
> 
> How about a TB 6x9 in those doors when you decide to go 3-way up front?


That could be fun. I've actually thought about those in the rear as subs. That's a lot of cone area in a small package that would fit VERY well. I haven't modeled them though.


----------



## jjbeenken (Feb 12, 2010)

Sub set up is nice. Would love to hear it! Dampening looks great also. Currently setting up my 2010 Taco DC. Love to see a detailed install, keeps the ideas flowin.


----------



## Joehs (Apr 27, 2010)

Sick work! I'm gathering parts to do a much less intense install in my Tacoma. Will be my first DIY. This build log gives me a great idea at what I have to look forward to. Thanks for keeping it updated!


----------



## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

All this talk about multiple small subs has me rethinking my trunk. What would you compare the output to referring to larger subs? Great job on the enclosure man.

How much extra weight do you think that MLV added to each door?


----------



## minni (Dec 3, 2009)

What's the driving impression with MLV installed?


----------



## Salad Fingers (Jun 14, 2009)

Wait a minute... Blue Tacoma... MS-8... DFW... were you at Mobile Sound Systems today?


----------



## Blister64 (Jun 13, 2010)

The sub box looks nice and clean, very good job. Line-X was a great way to go too if your truck gets a lot of use! Thought about doing that to the back of my midgate box... when I build it... when I get an Avalanche lol


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

fish said:


> All this talk about multiple small subs has me rethinking my trunk. What would you compare the output to referring to larger subs? Great job on the enclosure man.
> 
> How much extra weight do you think that MLV added to each door?


The subs do very well. In the right enclosure they're every bit as loud as a very solid 12. I added 55lbs of MLV to the truck so I'm not sure how much made it into the doors.


minni said:


> What's the driving impression with MLV installed?


Very quiet. Most of my noise comes from wind noise now. 


Salad Fingers said:


> Wait a minute... Blue Tacoma... MS-8... DFW... were you at Mobile Sound Systems today?




Yep that was me. Sorry I didn't get the time to introduce myself. I was going to after Nick listened to the truck but didn't have time. The truck is sounding decent but I still have a lot of work to do with the MS8. Mir (megalomaniac) is coming over tomorrow and we're going to work on it.


----------



## Salad Fingers (Jun 14, 2009)

Well it was rude of you not to introduce yourself, but I'll let it slide this time. Well, I'm Travis, so you have now met Salad Fingers because I was standing behind the counter when you came in. Nice to see another DIY'er... nice...


----------



## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Salad Fingers said:


> Well it was rude of you not to introduce yourself, but I'll let it slide this time. Well, I'm Travis, so you have now met Salad Fingers because I was standing behind the counter when you came in. Nice to see another DIY'er... nice...


lol, I'm in there every so often so I'm sure we'll meet again!


----------



## Biscuits (May 15, 2010)

I am seriously impressed by your enclosure, it has inspired me to get some of those w6-1139SI's for my own playing around...
And so far so good, I am quite happy with the bass from just two, in macgyvered boxes, and cannot wait to get another two in, and get a proper box made up!


----------



## crzystng (May 2, 2008)

Love the enclosure, that looks pretty sweet. Good job!!


----------



## ganesht (Oct 13, 2008)

isn't the stock speakers a 6x8?


----------

