# Bradknobs 14' Grand Cherokee Limited build...



## bradknob

Guess I finally have enough pieces of the puzzle to start a log for my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited....


Those of you that followed my RAM build know that It was nearly complete until it met its fate in the form of a Mini Cooper.
2012 Ram crew cab sport build... - Car Audio | DiyMobileAudio.com | Car Stereo Forum


A few days after that mishap, my first daughter was born so I opted for a more family friendly vehicle, which would need a more "family friendly" system. Therefore the old gear was sold or traded in order to down size a bit. The vehicle will be used a decent amount by the wife when I'm working and those of you with kids know, they require A LOT of crap just for a simple trip to the store. So This build can take up about zero of the available cargo area. Now on to the good stuff.



The victim....

Was a little too grocery getter-ish at first so I dropped it 2" and put some jeep SRT8 wheels on it.















The gear...













Helix DSP pro
ground zero GZUA 4.150SQ X 2
Ground zero GZUA 2.250SQ (coming soon)
Audio frog GB12 subwoofer
SI TM65 mids
Scanspeak ring radiators.
A lot of deadener

The unknown....


-Mid range for 3 way front. If I decide to take that route.
-5-1/4" for rear fill. 
-my main concern, is how to deal with the oem head unit signal. The factory amp applies eq and time alignment so I'm unsure how that will affect things if I feed it directly to the helix. Wondering if I need a clean sweep or something similar to clean it up before the signal goes to the DSP?? May just hook it up as is and see what happens. Any suggestions on this?


The plan....

After I deaden, mlv, and ccf the crap out of everything, I plan to use the factory locations for the front mid and tweeter. Sail panel and door. If I do 3 way, I will build another set of pillars. I will replace the spare tire with a 12v compressor and plug kit and utilize the giant spare tire well for sub and amps.... Simplicity in sound style. I will make it to where the floor can be put back in when I need to throw all the baby crap back there.

Stay tuned...


----------



## SHAGGS

Good looking ride. 
Nice touches on the exterior, and nice selection for the interior.
Sub'd for the fun.


----------



## nineball76

I'm in for the Frog! What's going to be powering that GB? Also looking forward to your impressions of the tm65 compared to your previous Dyn 172's.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> I'm in for the Frog! What's going to be powering that GB? Also looking forward to your impressions of the tm65 compared to your previous Dyn 172's.



The GZUA 2.250SQ will power it. Whenever I get it. Does 1200 @ 2ohm.

I'm pretty excited about the TMs. The jeep door speaker location is knee height or a little higher compared to down by the ankles like the RAM. I think that should help. Although they still have some big shoes to fill.


----------



## nineball76

bradknob said:


> The GZUA 2.250SQ will power it. Whenever I get it. Does 1200 @ 2ohm.
> 
> I'm pretty excited about the TMs. The jeep door speaker location is knee height or a little higher compared to down by the ankles like the RAM. I think that should help. Although they still have some big shoes to fill.



Awesome info. I had originally planned a ks300.2 per gb12 but today thought a ks600.2 would be better. Looks like I may be right. I'm waiting for tm65 sales to open back up. If they wait too long I'll have ordered the Dyns. I know I won't be disappointed either way. 

Congrats again on the little one! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Awesome info. I had originally planned a ks300.2 per gb12 but today thought a ks600.2 would be better. Looks like I may be right. I'm waiting for tm65 sales to open back up. If they wait too long I'll have ordered the Dyns. I know I won't be disappointed either way.
> 
> Congrats again on the little one! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.



Thanks a lot bro. No feeling in the world like it.

And I'd almost be kidding myself saying I will have only 1 GB12 in this vehicle for very long. Lol. And had the MW172s not needed so much surgery to get in the jeep, I'd still have them.


----------



## truckguy

Sub'd for great gear and vehicle. I've been really tempted buy that sub.


----------



## etroze

In for the build, get going Brad.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

I did manage to get started on a few things this weekend. Cut, tech flexed, and labeled the wire for the front. Gonna wire it for three way while im there. Ya know. Just in case....12ga knukoncepts kord speaker cable.

Finally got some use out of my DIYMA R12 I've had lying around...



I hear this adds extra SQ... Lol. Spent a lot of time on this just so I can stuff it under the carpet out of sight.




I also was able to get some adapters cut for the 6.5"s.








Only about 1/2" between the factory speaker and inner door panel so I had to rabbet the back of the adapter so it sits down in the oem 6x9 baffle.






I could have gone about this an easier way, but this free time snuck up on me by surprise so I had to use what I had on hand. 3/4" mdf. Next I'll spray with some truck bedliner to protect them a little bit.


----------



## DavidRam

Alright, I'm ready. Let's do this! You are making wish I got a GC... that thing looks great man!


----------



## nineball76

DavidRam said:


> Alright, I'm ready. Let's do this! You are making wish I got a GC... that thing looks great man!



No way, stick with us Ram guys!


----------



## DavidRam

nineball76 said:


> No way, stick with us Ram guys!


Sold the Ram... :blush: But ordered a Wrangler, so still in the same family.


----------



## shutmdown

sub'd looking forward to this build


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Alright, I'm ready. Let's do this! You are making wish I got a GC... that thing looks great man!



Thanks.... I'm sure we'll both want change in a few months. Then we can just swap vehicles.


----------



## teldzc1

In for this!


----------



## Jon225

Looking nice. In for demo.


----------



## MoparMike

Looking forward to the build. Traded my Ram in on a 15' Durango R/T and have yet to pull a panel.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Thanks.... I'm sure we'll both want change in a few months. Then we can just swap vehicles.


Lol, good plan!

Looking forward to what you do with this one...


----------



## bradknob

One of my prayers has been answered...,

The newest helix pro software includes an input EQ!! Now I don't have to worry about how the oem signal will affect performance.



And on another note, I built some pillars and went from 2 way to 3 way front for a buddy and the difference was substantial. So 3 way it is.

Anyone have experience with these? I have a defrost vent behind the pillar so I need something small to be as unobtrusive as possible.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...scanspeak-discovery-5f/8422t-01-2-full-range/


Or any other recommendations?


----------



## seafish

^^^ No experience with those, but looking at the specs, they are rated at only 10w and 80db so they MIGHT have trouble keeping up with the rest of your system if it is anything like the awesome one that you built in your Ram. Anyway, while much more spendy, I would suggest looking at the new Audible Physics AR2.6 full range driver-- Pics and specs on this page--

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.861686433919789.1073741829.810328909055542&type=3


----------



## High Resolution Audio

Subbed


----------



## bradknob

seafish said:


> ^^^ No experience with those, but looking at the specs, they are rated at only 20w and 80db so they MIGHT have trouble keeping up with the rest of your system if it is anything like the awesome one that you built in your Ram. Anyway, while much more spend, I would suggest looking at he new Audible Physics AR2.6 full range driver-- Pics and specs on this page--
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.861686433919789.1073741829.810328909055542&type=3



Very interesting. Price wasn't the concern as much as size/performance. I was just wondering if them being on directly on axis in a smaller vehicle could over come the poor efficiency .... I was also looking at the audiofrog GB25. But that AP 2.6 looks mighty fine... Who can I talk to about those? Any idea who's a dealer for them on the forum?


----------



## seafish

bradknob said:


> Very interesting. Price wasn't the concern as much as size/performance. I was just wondering if them being on directly on axis in a smaller vehicle could over come the poor efficiency .... I was also looking at the audiofrog GB25. But that AP 2.6 looks mighty fine... Who can I talk to about those? Any idea who's a dealer for them on the forum?


Member Rishi is the owner/designer of AP and is very accessible to end users….you can pm him directly for info. That being said, member papasin has long term use experience and relation with AP and has been helpful providing me with info about the NZ3 and NZ3AlBE that I own. I would contact either of them.


----------



## bradknob

Awesome.... Thanks for that info .


----------



## dengland

Subbed. Good to see you back in the build business Brad.


----------



## optimaprime

This great start man! Love you car and gear


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> The GZUA 2.250SQ will power it. Whenever I get it. Does 1200 @ 2ohm.
> 
> I'm pretty excited about the TMs. The jeep door speaker location is knee height or a little higher compared to down by the ankles like the RAM. I think that should help. Although they still have some big shoes to fill.


Make sure that you deaden the crap out of the window switches. They buzz like crazy. Also there is much more space to be had if you lose thr plastic spare tire thing. See my build for pics. I have a 13w7 ported with a dsp pro, 300 /2 times 3 and a 1000/1 with two distribution blocks all stuffed back there.I still have plenty of room. Also theres a huge area where the factory sub goes too.

Any questions please feel free to ask but response may be slow since I am currently deployed outside the US right now. I would love to know how much deadening you use since I will be doing a full reinstall with a crapload of deadening when I return home.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Guess I finally have enough pieces of the puzzle to start a log for my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited....
> 
> 
> Those of you that followed my RAM build know that It was nearly complete until it met its fate in the form of a Mini Cooper.
> 2012 Ram crew cab sport build... - Car Audio | DiyMobileAudio.com | Car Stereo Forum
> 
> 
> A few days after that mishap, my first daughter was born so I opted for a more family friendly vehicle, which would need a more "family friendly" system. Therefore the old gear was sold or traded in order to down size a bit. The vehicle will be used a decent amount by the wife when I'm working and those of you with kids know, they require A LOT of crap just for a simple trip to the store. So This build can take up about zero of the available cargo area. Now on to the good stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> The victim....
> 
> Was a little too grocery getter-ish at first so I dropped it 2" and put some jeep SRT8 wheels on it.
> 
> 
> 
> Helix DSP pro
> ground zero GZUA 4.150SQ X 2
> Ground zero GZUA 2.250SQ (coming soon)
> Audio frog GB12 subwoofer
> SI TM65 mids
> Scanspeak ring radiators.
> A lot of deadener
> 
> The unknown....
> 
> 
> -Mid range for 3 way front. If I decide to take that route.
> -5-1/4" for rear fill.
> -my main concern, is how to deal with the oem head unit signal. The factory amp applies eq and time alignment so I'm unsure how that will affect things if I feed it directly to the helix. Wondering if I need a clean sweep or something similar to clean it up before the signal goes to the DSP?? May just hook it up as is and see what happens. Any suggestions on this?
> 
> 
> The plan....
> 
> After I deaden, mlv, and ccf the crap out of everything, I plan to use the factory locations for the front mid and tweeter. Sail panel and door. If I do 3 way, I will build another set of pillars. I will replace the spare tire with a 12v compressor and plug kit and utilize the giant spare tire well for sub and amps.... Simplicity in sound style. I will make it to where the floor can be put back in when I need to throw all the baby crap back there.
> 
> Stay tuned...


The factry amp signal will be a pain in the butt. I found that the easiest way to deal with it was to forget doing any signal cleaning. It does weird things that cause phase issues when you try to signal sum the front channels. I would go to a 3way and use the factory crossover points or get the factory signal before the amp but you lose volume control. You would have to use the helix director for volume control.

I opted in the end to use an aftermarket head unit. You are stuck with your factory head unit though.

See my driiive link below for a graph of my factory signal. Yours will be a little different but not too far off. I would test it though. Maybe yours has a full range front with no 3 way. Mine is a factory 3 way with 6x9 mb, 3inch mr and a tweeter.

Also be prepared to wire up resistors to fool the factory amps into thinking that speakers are still hooked up. The mosconi 6to8v8 that I used previously did not need them but the helix does not have the resistors built in so the factory amp might mute the channels after the speakers are disconnected to feed the helix.

Good luck sir and nice ride


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Make sure that you deaden the crap out of the window switches. They buzz like crazy. Also there is much more space to be had if you lose thr plastic spare tire thing. See my build for pics. I have a 13w7 ported with a dsp pro, 300 /2 times 3 and a 1000/1 with two distribution blocks all stuffed back there.I still have plenty of room. Also theres a huge area where the factory sub goes too.
> 
> 
> 
> Any questions please feel free to ask but response may be slow since I am currently deployed outside the US right now. I would love to know how much deadening you use since I will be doing a full reinstall with a crapload of deadening when I return home.



Yessir, I have checked out your build. I admire your not give a ****ness of cutting the floor out of a $65k vehicle. Lol love your ride.

I appreciate all the info, there's so mush integrated in these things, your suggestions are priceless. I will keep tabs on the deadening I do. I even plan on RTAing the interior before and after to see if all the effort is worth the reward.

I've convinced myself to run 3 way, so I'll prob just get it all in place and playing, then determine how I address the oem signal issues after that. I'd like to eventually go optical and use the director, but that's a ways down the road.


I also said screw the pillar defrost vent, I'd rather the space back there and after reading Erinh's test results, I think I like the scan speak 10f because of its shallow depth and great off axis response. Price is nice too...

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...canspeak-discovery-10f/8414g-10-4-full-range/


----------



## Rocky248

Check out soundman's video. He does a 2014 Jeep grand Cherokee install. He talks about the same thing regarding the signal issues. 

Here is the link
"https://youtu.be/TBqxq033Eus"]https://youtu.be/TBqxq033Eus

Either cut and paste it or Google it. Site wouldnt let me post the link cause i dont have 5 post yet. Lol


----------



## SQLnovice

Brad I'm pretty sure you know, but just want to mention it. There is another scan 10F. 
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...anspeak-discovery-10f/4424g-4-midrange-4-ohm/
Just incase you want to compare the 2 and decide.
I apologize if you are already aware of this.


----------



## WhiteL02

Subd!


----------



## bradknob

Rocky248 said:


> Check out soundman's video. He does a 2014 Jeep grand Cherokee install. He talks about the same thing regarding the signal issues.
> 
> Here is the link
> "https://youtu.be/TBqxq033Eus"]https://youtu.be/TBqxq033Eus
> 
> Either cut and paste it or Google it. Site wouldnt let me post the link cause i dont have 5 post yet. Lol


Awesome! My first idea was to do a similar sub enclosure but I'm in no mood to do that much fiberglassing at this point. Dunno how 3 month olds and fiberglass fumes react to each other yet.

Def gonna see how they handled the oem signal. Thanks for the link





SQLnovice said:


> Brad I'm pretty sure you know, but just want to mention it. There is another scan 10F.
> https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...anspeak-discovery-10f/4424g-4-midrange-4-ohm/
> Just incase you want to compare the 2 and decide.
> I apologize if you are already aware of this.




Yessir..... That was my first choice until I saw this...
http://medleysmusings.com/10f8414g10/

The smaller neo magnet will make it a bit easier to stuff in the pillar. And it's great off axis response makes it the winner for me.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Awesome! My first idea was to do a similar sub enclosure but I'm in no mood to do that much fiberglassing at this point. Dunno how 3 month olds and fiberglass fumes react to each other yet.
> 
> Def gonna see how they handled the oem signal. Thanks for the link
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yessir..... That was my first choice until I saw this...
> http://medleysmusings.com/10f8414g10/
> 
> The smaller neo magnet will make it a bit easier to stuff in the pillar. And it's great off axis response makes it the winner for me.


I would not want fiberglass near that baby. I switched to epoxy resins due to smell but I still do not want my 3 year old exposed to it.

You can literally do all mdf though with the layout of the cargo area. It is quite ideal.there is enough space to fit a ton of gear under that floor. I will say that the load floor soaks up a noticeable amount of bass though due to its flimsyness. I disassembled mine to remove the factory fabric and made a heavier mdf replacement with a vent and reused the fabric. It is non backed carpet so the sound can travel through. 

I dont know if you knew it but by removing the factory spare you freed up about 70ish pounds. The factory sub is like 10 pounds. You will probably end up dropping a little weight in the rear by doing this setup. I removed my resonators thereby dropping damn near 120 pounds before putting my setup in. With everything, I am probably only 20 pounds heavier than stock. Not bad huh? I am going to switch amps and drop more weight. Then i will redo my enclosure to get even lighter.

Ok....enough senseless babble.....get to work....


----------



## Lanson

Subbing, I have a 15 Durango R/T and will definitely need the inspiration! Our cargo area (devoid of a spare) is definitely smaller though. 

I wonder if an MS-8 will work without needing a resistor bank.


----------



## troutspinner

Great to see you starting your build on the new ride. That summing is going to be interesting, interested to see how it ends up.



DavidRam said:


> Sold the Ram... :blush: But ordered a Wrangler, so still in the same family.


Really?! Damn!


----------



## DavidRam

troutspinner said:


> Great to see you starting your build on the new ride. That summing is going to be interesting, interested to see how it ends up.
> 
> 
> 
> Really?! Damn!


Yes sir. :blush:


----------



## bradknob

Finally feel like I did something worth while...

I made these baffles and sprayed them with bed under coating. And crossed my fingers that they fit



Pulled the factory speaker and compared the depth of the baffle. And like magic....



The shiny virgin door innards...



Picked up a pack of this for cheap a while back. Decent stuff.



Sorry for the crappy pics but u get the idea...





About 12 sq ft later.... Yea over kill, dnc... The vault door is ready for the baffles and speakers. For the time being Im just running them on factory amp power.






Now that's done, next comes the passenger side. I'll save any real impressions until I have both the TM65s in and they are broken in. But I must say I'm excited about the potential I see in them. Can't wait to dump about 200 watts on them.




Another decision I made is that I will build my own remote for the helix with volume and bass knob. Found the schematics so won't be very difficult, I hope, and will save me about $250. I think Ima go the HEC BT module route or get a nice hifi media player with optical out (fiio x5 or similar) for critical listening and also use oem signal when I just need radio or something.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Finally feel like I did something worth while...
> 
> I made these baffles and sprayed them with bed under coating. And crossed my fingers that they fit
> 
> 
> Now that's done, next comes the passenger side. I'll save any real impressions until I have both the TM65s in and they are broken in. But I must say I'm excited about the potential I see in them. Can't wait to dump about 200 watts on them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Another decision I made is that I will build my own remote for the helix with volume and bass knob. Found the schematics so won't be very difficult, I hope, and will save me about $250. I think Ima go the HEC BT module route or get a nice hifi media player with optical out (fiio x5 or similar) for critical listening and also use oem signal when I just need radio or something.


Looks great Brad! The GC door card looks to be more sealed (less holes) than the Rams, right?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Looks great Brad! The GC door card looks to be more sealed (less holes) than the Rams, right?



Yes! Besides the speaker there are actually no holes in the door. There is one panel that opens up, that I used to help get the deadener inside the door. Then covered it in deadener after


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Yes! Besides the speaker there are actually no holes in the door. There is one panel that opens up, that I used to help get the deadener inside the door. Then covered it in deadener after
> 
> View attachment 97498


Watching your progress.

Here is a tip..... use the cigerette lighter plug near the factory sub for a remote turn on wire. 
Tip 2...there is enough room in the door jam plug to run an extra wire for bi amping.

That is all...


----------



## nineball76

IBasso has a new dx80 coming out. Native dsd, dual dacs, dual micro sd slots. Line, headphone, and digital outs. Might be worth looking into. Supposed to be around $369.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> IBasso has a new dx80 coming out. Native dsd, dual dacs, dual micro sd slots. Line, headphone, and digital outs. Might be worth looking into. Supposed to be around $369.



Should have never opened this can of worms. Lol. Started doing some research on these. Mother of god $$$$$$$

That dx80 looks badass. Do you have experience with ibasso in a vehicle?


----------



## nineball76

Not in a vehicle. But I have their dx50 and dx100 (discontinued). Both sound great. If you're up to spending way too much, Astell and Kern will gladly take your thousands for a portable player.


----------



## bradknob

Haha, looked at astell. Then quickly looked away....










Better come with a lifetime supply of hi-fi poosay for that price


----------



## bradknob

Managed to get the passenger side deadened and installed. Here's what's left of the 36sq ft pack...










Lol, oops....


Deadener over kill, but I must say there is a drastic level of improvement even just running off of factory power. (And nearly 30sq ft of deadener may have something to do with it) These little TMs have impressive low end and are very transparent. The lower bass immediately moved forward, enough to where I had to feel the door panel to make sure they were playing. Very nice, but I'll wait to get more power and a proper signal sent to them before I give any in depth impressions. Very pleased with them up to now, and I've only just begun.


----------



## dengland

Taking the week off to work on the Jeep?


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Taking the week off to work on the Jeep?



Should make some nice progress over the weekend. Mainly getting wired ran so everything's ready to get thrown in place. I've done a little bit but not nothing to brag about but since you brought it up....

Made some tweeter pods that will get glassed into the sail panels. The tweeter is almost the same size as the panel itself so they needed to be low pro as possible. but, for aesthetic purposes, flush mounting is a must.

Turned to the trusty ol PVC couplers since I didn't have hole saws that were the diameter I wanted.



They didn't fit so I had to route the edges a tad so the tweeter would sit flush



And like magic...

.

Then I used the closest hole saw I had and sanded the crap out them to fit in the coupler so the tweeter will have something to mount to.




Then for no particular reason I painted them.




Got the wires ready to roll....









After that I finally dug into the rear cargo are to see what I was dealing with.....



Ridiculous amount of space for what I'm doing




Sub and amps placed in there just to get an idea




Then I cut out a peice that will be the bottom of the sub box/ amp rack. I will use the oem spare tire tie down in the floor to hold the hole thing in place once it's done.




And that's where I stand. I would like to get the speaker and power wires ran from front to back, and tap into the oem amp to get a signal for the DSP. From there it's getting it all built. The fun part.


----------



## DavidRam

Nice, dude!!! Finally some movement out of you! Lol!


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Should make some nice progress over the weekend. Mainly getting wired ran so everything's ready to get thrown in place. I've done a little bit but not nothing to brag about but since you brought it up....
> 
> And that's where I stand. I would like to get the speaker and power wires ran from front to back, and tap into the oem amp to get a signal for the DSP. From there it's getting it all built. The fun part.



Dang I wish I was your neighbor! I am pretty sure I could watch you work for hours. I might even learn something! It is hard to teach an old Doug new tricks though.



> Made some tweeter pods that will get glassed into the sail panels. The tweeter is almost the same size as the panel itself so they needed to be low pro as possible. but, for aesthetic purposes, flush mounting is a must.
> 
> And like magic...
> 
> .


Not quite sure I can imaging how those sails are going to look, but I will stick around to find out. 

I absolutely love the connections on the R3004s. I piddled around with bullet connections in my install. I like those spades so much better.

Have a Great 1st Turkey day with the young one!


----------



## Lanson

Sweet, love it.

Looks like you are using that flame-retardant techflex. Love that stuff. Not that I expect my gear to go up in flames, its more of a look thing.

On the connector side of things, you may want to look into XT-60 connectors. I've switched to them and they are just awesome for what we do.

BTW, great work on the mini-routing of the PCV, I'm not even sure how you did that but indeed "like magic". Feel free to share how you did that sometime, I'm having a hard time imagining what procedure was used and how dangerous it was.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Nice, dude!!! Finally some movement out of you! Lol!


You telling me.... Finally getting back on a normal routine so should see some more steady progress from me. You know my builds never end quickly.





dengland said:


> Dang I wish I was your neighbor! I am pretty sure I could watch you work for hours. I might even learn something! It is hard to teach an old Doug new tricks though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not quite sure I can imaging how those sails are going to look, but I will stick around to find out.
> 
> 
> 
> I absolutely love the connections on the R3004s. I piddled around with bullet connections in my install. I like those spades so much better.
> 
> 
> 
> Have a Great 1st Turkey day with the young one!


Lol, thanks man. Same to you and your family.


.... I actually have a neighbor that comes and hangs out all the time. I like to have admirers. Kinda forces me to not cut any corners.

I cut the pvc couplers down to about .5" deep. I'm just gonna glass them onto the panel, similar to my RAM.





fourthmeal said:


> Sweet, love it.
> 
> Looks like you are using that flame-retardant techflex. Love that stuff. Not that I expect my gear to go up in flames, its more of a look thing.
> 
> On the connector side of things, you may want to look into XT-60 connectors. I've switched to them and they are just awesome for what we do.
> 
> BTW, great work on the mini-routing of the PCV, I'm not even sure how you did that but indeed "like magic". Feel free to share how you did that sometime, I'm having a hard time imagining what procedure was used and how dangerous it was.




Wait..... I though tech flex added SQ? Crap. Lol. 


I'll look into those connectors for sure. I hate having to go through 10 spade connectors to find 2 that fit tight enough before I heat shrink them on.


Admittedly, I have done some very sketchy **** with a router in my days. In my old age I'm learning value my fingers and finding ways to work smarter so these rings weren't very dangerous.

Whip out the trusty $99 router and table combo I got 4 years ago...



Adjust so the coupler doesn't move too much...



Spin the coupler. Shaved just a bit off at a time u til I got the width I needed. Fingers stay out of harm way.


----------



## Lanson

Holy **** that's scary! But probably the safest way to do this.


The more and more I mess with fabrication, the more I want a ~$350 Maker 3D printer to make it so much easier.

And here's a link to the XT60's I buy:

Lots 10 Pairs 20pcs XT 60 Male Female Bullet Connectors RC Hobby Battery Plugs | eBay

Other people have them too, different bulk sizes, but some people sell junk versions. These I linked have done well, not melting at the sight of a soldering iron, for instance. I usually get them in 10-20 pair batches, which lasts a while.


----------



## DavidRam

That's a great idea with the router and pvc... I usually spend 18 weeks looking for the right diameter and then cry when I can't find it.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Holy **** that's scary! But probably the safest way to do this.
> 
> 
> The more and more I mess with fabrication, the more I want a ~$350 Maker 3D printer to make it so much easier.
> 
> And here's a link to the XT60's I buy:
> 
> Lots 10 Pairs 20pcs XT 60 Male Female Bullet Connectors RC Hobby Battery Plugs | eBay
> 
> Other people have them too, different bulk sizes, but some people sell junk versions. These I linked have done well, not melting at the sight of a soldering iron, for instance. I usually get them in 10-20 pair batches, which lasts a while.



Those look badass. Gonna give them a shot. Thanks.



DavidRam said:


> That's a great idea with the router and pvc... I usually spend 18 weeks looking for the right diameter and then cry when I can't find it.



I used to do that but I got tired of looks I would get from people when I was walking around lowes trying to jam a little speaker into random things. Had to learn to improvise a bit. Lol


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Those look badass. Gonna give them a shot. Thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I used to do that but I got tired of looks I would get from people when I was walking around lowes trying to jam a little speaker into random things. Had to learn to improvise a bit. Lol


I know what you mean, I have done my share of jamming into random things (just not at Lowes)... Lol!


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> I know what you mean, I have done my share of jamming into random things (just not at Lowes)... Lol!



Lol, hopefully with better than a 1" tweeter.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Lol, hopefully with better than a 1" tweeter.


That's the diameter.  Lol


----------



## bradknob

Managed a bit of progress this weekend. Sub was a tad too deep for where the bottom of the enclosure would have been so I dropped it down about 3/4".



Half assed layout idea. Mainly to get an idea of space. Keep in mind there will be a 3rd amp in the mix.



And once I cut the hole, sub box is complete. Quickest most simple box I've ever built.




What Ima do is use the jeep oem floor and add another layer of mdf to the bottom of it to add some dimension to the whole thing. There will be some cut outs to display the sub and amps and some filler panels to protect them when I gotta throw all our crap back there. Not much of an update but I finally feel like this builds starting to get somewhere.


----------



## etroze

mmmmm German power.


----------



## Coppertone

Very nice...


----------



## DavidRam

etroze said:


> mmmmm German power.


Easy now... the last time someone chanted that, **** got really out of hand! Lmao!


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Managed a bit of progress this weekend. Sub was a tad too deep for where the bottom of the enclosure would have been so I dropped it down about 3/4".
> 
> What Ima do is use the jeep oem floor and add another layer of mdf to the bottom of it to add some dimension to the whole thing. There will be some cut outs to display the sub and amps and some filler panels to protect them when I gotta throw all our crap back there. Not much of an update but I finally feel like this builds starting to get somewhere.


Damn, that is looking cool! You sure have a ton of space in that thing... 

I realized that nice thing about all the subs and amps in the back is they take care of any issues with rake you might have had! Lol


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Easy now... the last time someone chanted that, **** got really out of hand! Lmao!



Lmao.... Funniest **** I heard all day




DavidRam said:


> Damn, that is looking cool! You sure have a ton of space in that thing...
> 
> 
> 
> I realized that nice thing about all the subs and amps in the back is they take care of any issues with rake you might have had! Lol



Thanks. Sure is a buncha room but the sub and amps take up real estate quick. Glad I'll be able to maintain the stock floor and hide everything


----------



## Lanson

Brad you my friend need an air-nailer and compressor for Christmas. The ~$35 brad/staple nailer from Walmart + a quality hose from Harbor Freight or similar + a nice compressor (not from Walmart, lol) = super duper awesome time saver not having to use screws and countersinks all the time, and brads are so much cheaper, it actually ends up paying for itself in a short time both in time saved and in just cost of materials. 

Santa could also see fit to give you a router lift (just bought a Jess Em myself) and big table to use it. You certainly have the skills to work it.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Brad you my friend need an air-nailer and compressor for Christmas. The ~$35 brad/staple nailer from Walmart + a quality hose from Harbor Freight or similar + a nice compressor (not from Walmart, lol) = super duper awesome time saver not having to use screws and countersinks all the time, and brads are so much cheaper, it actually ends up paying for itself in a short time both in time saved and in just cost of materials.
> 
> Santa could also see fit to give you a router lift (just bought a Jess Em myself) and big table to use it. You certainly have the skills to work it.



Ha! Preaching to the choir there bud. I desperately need to step my shop game up. I actually have a compressor but haven't installed the 220 plug to get it going yet. I also have plans to build a new router/work table but with free time harder to come by, I have to choose my projects accordingly... So audio it is for now.


----------



## Lanson

bradknob said:


> Ha! Preaching to the choir there bud. I desperately need to step my shop game up. I actually have a compressor but haven't installed the 220 plug to get it going yet. I also have plans to build a new router/work table but with free time harder to come by, I have to choose my projects accordingly... So audio it is for now.


LOL I figured you probably had plans already, and some start to it. Dude you do great work, definitely treat yourself when you can and it should pay off just in time saved alone. Even a cheesy pancake compressor and tank w/ an inexpensive nailer (like the pretty good Walmart one) should pay you back quickly. Good for home projects too, when the big bad 220 compressor can't be used. I usually have to make excuses like that to my wife to get these toys, but in this case it actually has been a true payoff. Hours turn into minutes with the damn thing. Seriously, just pick one up on your way home, say it was a Black Friday special, whatevs. hahah.


BTW it was that kind of push that got me to buy a new DeWalt saw (the rack and pinion one w/ the extended stock holder) and the Jess Em, and that push came from members on here trying to spend my money for me, but in the end I'm super happy I was pushed into it. Build quality and speed are more than worth it.


----------



## bradknob

More baby steps.....



Top baffle. This will actually be a part of the false floor that will be able to take in and out the car.











Here you can see it's all still below the oem floor line


----------



## etroze

Nice work


----------



## Lanson

Making me itch to get started on my 15 Durango man!


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Making me itch to get started on my 15 Durango man!



Get at it!.... I looked hard into the durangos too. the third row kinda turned me off to them
Bc I need the room in the back instead.


----------



## Black Rain

Sub'd, awesome build so far.

I have always loved the Grand Cherokee. I'm thinking about trading my Sorento in for one or a Ram, undecided....anyways.

Curious though. You are using an AF 12d4, I looked at their specs and they call for a 1ft3 enclosure. From the pics here it seems like your enclosure is much larger than recommended. Am I mistaken by the picture, what is your take on this?

How deep is the spare tire area? Is it more beneficial to have the sub in the floor rather than in the side pocket for SUVs? Is their some acoustical advantage for placing them there or just preference for space and functionality?


----------



## bradknob

Black Rain said:


> Sub'd, awesome build so far.
> 
> 
> 
> I have always loved the Grand Cherokee. I'm thinking about trading my Sorento in for one or a Ram, undecided....anyways.
> 
> 
> 
> Curious though. You are using an AF 12d4, I looked at their specs and they call for a 1ft3 enclosure. From the pics here it seems like your enclosure is much larger than recommended. Am I mistaken by the picture, what is your take on this?
> 
> 
> 
> How deep is the spare tire area? Is it more beneficial to have the sub in the floor rather than in the side pocket for SUVs? Is their some acoustical advantage for placing them there or just preference for space and functionality?



Thanks man.

I love this jeep. I had a ram before this, loved it too until it was totaled.

The pics may be a bit deceiving. The enclosure is 32 X 7.75 X 12.5. That's about 1.2 cuft before sub displacement so it's right where it needs to be. The spare tire area varies, but on average is about 9" deep. If I would have fiberglassed the bottom of the enclosure I could have gotten a few more inches.

As far as advantages of floor vs side quarter panel, I honestly don't know if there's an acoustical advantage. For me it was done for functionality and ease of install because Im not in the mood to do any fiberglass work at this time.


----------



## Black Rain

Wow 9" depth, that allows for a lot of possibilities for subs and equipment.

As for the advantage, I understand the functionality aspect of that. I too have been looking for options to allow for the incorporation of the equipment that gives me great SQ value but continues to allow me to use my cargo as full as possible.

Looking forward to see where you decide to place the Tweets and if you consider adding 3" mids, where you might place them?


----------



## Lanson

bradknob said:


> Get at it!.... I looked hard into the durangos too. the third row kinda turned me off to them
> Bc I need the room in the back instead.



LOL Seats fold down yo. I'm going to go w/ ID big 6x9's (Magik's got great deals on em), some low-playing tweets in the factory location which is probably the most well thought-out, best-made tweeter location I've ever seen, and then I need to figure out the center channel. All with an MS-8, still the king of center IMO.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> LOL Seats fold down yo.



Yea I know, then I wouldn't have a huge hole
In the floor to put subs and amps in.


----------



## MoparMike

fourthmeal said:


> LOL Seats fold down yo. I'm going to go w/ ID big 6x9's (Magik's got great deals on em), some low-playing tweets in the factory location which is probably the most well thought-out, best-made tweeter location I've ever seen, and then I need to figure out the center channel. All with an MS-8, still the king of center IMO.


I be curious to how that turns out. I've got a 15' Durango R/T and just haven't found the time to start the build. The stock stereo pretty much uses the 6x9's for sub duty as is. Aside from some vibration and resonances in the door panels, it doesn't sound terrible. I've been following this build thread since I haven't seen any 3rd Gen Durango builds and the GC is so similar. Plus...motivation.


----------



## MoparMike

bradknob said:


> Yea I know, then I wouldn't have a huge hole
> In the floor to put subs and amps in.



Well, if you removed the 3rd row there is a fair amount of space to be used in its place. Building a false floor that is level with the stock cargo lid could yield a stock appearance and more cargo space as well.


----------



## Lanson

MoparMike said:


> I be curious to how that turns out. I've got a 15' Durango R/T and just haven't found the time to start the build. The stock stereo pretty much uses the 6x9's for sub duty as is. Aside from some vibration and resonances in the door panels, it doesn't sound terrible. I've been following this build thread since I haven't seen any 3rd Gen Durango builds and the GC is so similar. Plus...motivation.


It definitely doesn't sound bad! I'm with you, the resonance in the panel is really the only major downfall. One thing I love about the stock system is the amazing imaging just by itself, especially in the mid-bass region. I can't wait to improve upon it.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Yea I know, then I wouldn't have a huge hole
> In the floor to put subs and amps in.





MoparMike said:


> Well, if you removed the 3rd row there is a fair amount of space to be used in its place. Building a false floor that is level with the stock cargo lid could yield a stock appearance and more cargo space as well.





fourthmeal said:


> It definitely doesn't sound bad! I'm with you, the resonance in the panel is really the only major downfall. One thing I love about the stock system is the amazing imaging just by itself, especially in the mid-bass region. I can't wait to improve upon it.





MoparMike said:


> I be curious to how that turns out. I've got a 15' Durango R/T and just haven't found the time to start the build. The stock stereo pretty much uses the 6x9's for sub duty as is. Aside from some vibration and resonances in the door panels, it doesn't sound terrible. I've been following this build thread since I haven't seen any 3rd Gen Durango builds and the GC is so similar. Plus...motivation.


1. Huge hole- I feel ya! Some of us however are nuts enough to put huge holes on the floor. LOL

2. Third row seat- Us GC brothers do not have a third row.

3. Stock Imaging and midbass- I was pretty impressed with the stock system as it was. All but the speed dependent volume. That thing drove me nuts. I was really impressed with the capacity of the doors to pound out midbass. Those 6x9 MB/subs do a great job for a factory setup.

4. Stock Load floor- This thing is a resonance monster. If you do not add weight then you will hear the thing. The reason why I cut the bottom plastic out of my load floor is 1. to put a perforated grill in and 2. because my sub was vibrating the crap out of that thing causing a huge loss of spl. So make sure you add weight to that load floor or it will shake like a crackhead. I simply cut the bottom out of the floor and added 3/4 MDF to it. I then covered the bottom with trunk liner.


----------



## MoparMike

ndm said:


> 1. Huge hole- I feel ya! Some of us however are nuts enough to put huge holes on the floor. LOL
> 
> 2. Third row seat- Us GC brothers do not have a third row.
> 
> 3. Stock Imaging and midbass- I was pretty impressed with the stock system as it was. All but the speed dependent volume. That thing drove me nuts. I was really impressed with the capacity of the doors to pound out midbass. Those 6x9 MB/subs do a great job for a factory setup.
> 
> 4. Stock Load floor- This thing is a resonance monster. If you do not add weight then you will hear the thing. The reason why I cut the bottom plastic out of my load floor is 1. to put a perforated grill in and 2. because my sub was vibrating the crap out of that thing causing a huge loss of spl. So make sure you add weight to that load floor or it will shake like a crackhead. I simply cut the bottom out of the floor and added 3/4 MDF to it. I then covered the bottom with trunk liner.


2. About the 3rd row: I was talking about the Durango since he had mentioned its 3rd row earlier in the thread.

4. My plan is to replace the stock sub and build an amp rack in the cargo area under the stock load floor. However I am worried that the stock floor will have resonance issues so I am anticipating on replacing it with with MDF as well.


----------



## bradknob

I was actually fairly impressed with the factory system. Strong mid bass and images pretty decently, thanks to the center channel. Really just lacked clarity and just didn't have enough ass to it. No impact and just isn't very loud even at max volume.

As for the load floor, I was leaning toward making a whole new one out of mdf but I like what you said about just adding mdf to the stock one. May look into that.


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> ... images pretty decently, thanks to the center channel.


Plan to keep a center?

I went active 3 way in the RAM while I was really struggling with the MS-8. I left all the wiring in place to go back some day now that I feel I understand a bit more how to get what I need out of the MS-8.


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Plan to keep a center?
> 
> 
> 
> I went active 3 way in the RAM while I was really struggling with the MS-8. I left all the wiring in place to go back some day now that I feel I understand a bit more how to get what I need out of the MS-8.



Nah, tossing the center for a 3 way up front. I don't have the processing power to run a center. Seems the way the jeep processes it is just that the center speaker overpowers everything else so naturally, the sound comes from the center of the dash. Really narrows the whole sound stage though compared to the three way in my ram. The ram sounded WAYYY more open and spacious, without the center.

So you went with a 3 way front? Are you still using the ms-8


----------



## Lanson

On the '15 Durango, it runs "Beats Audio", not sure what the major differences are compared with '14 models, but I would say the "Beats" setup definitely doesn't lack impact. What I really like is the tonality. I have the "EQ" (which is just bass/mid/treble) set flat except for a tick up on the mid and 3 ticks on the treble, as the bass is strong enough to rattle the doors (as we've been talking about.) I can't hear the center separately but the imaging is quite good, so I agree it must definitely be on. 

I really like the tweeter mounts, though. If you had to pick the perfect way to mount a tweeter, that would probably be IT. Just needs a more detailed unit, I'm thinking ring radiators or Illuminators. With 6x9 ID's, I likely won't need a midrange like I had originally thought of. But if I were to install a midrange, it looks like the pillars would accept a mid and they even are already canted in a bit to be a good angle for mounting. A little extra shaping w/ MDF and filler, and you'd have it. But I feel that it might be unnecessary with the right door driver. 

Sorry, just rambling. This car has a lot of potential for being as new as it is.


----------



## bradknob

ah, forgot about the beats system in the new durangos. Mine has the 10 speaker alpine "premium" setup. Everything beats does is bass heavy so I'd imagine it prob does rock for an oem system.

I'm putting my ring radiators in the sails where the oem ones are and I'll be running, most likely, the scan 10f in the pillars. The GC has a defrost duct behind the a pillar so that's something to contend with. But after going from 2 to 3 way front Idunno if I can ever go back to 2 way again


----------



## MoparMike

bradknob said:


> ah, forgot about the beats system in the new durangos. Mine has the 10 speaker alpine "premium" setup. Everything beats does is bass heavy so I'd imagine it prob does rock for an oem system.
> 
> I'm putting my ring radiators in the sails where the oem ones are and I'll be running, most likely, the scan 10f in the pillars. The GC has a defrost duct behind the a pillar so that's something to contend with. But after going from 2 to 3 way front Idunno if I can ever go back to 2 way again


Bing posted a build on a GC with a Gladen mid in the pillar and it didn't look like the defrost duct gave them any trouble.


----------



## Aerodynamic

Great start, man! Love your choice with all the gear, and details to all things. Keep it going like that


----------



## cfennessy

Cool


----------



## cfennessy

I always love spare tire well builds


----------



## Jon225

Nice progress haven't checked this thread in a while. I joined the Ram club got an 07 2500 5.9 diesel. Need sound deadening but now have space for some subs lol.. Great work your doing wish I had the skills.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Nice progress haven't checked this thread in a while. I joined the Ram club got an 07 2500 5.9 diesel. Need sound deadening but now have space for some subs lol.. Great work your doing wish I had the skills.



Awesome. Sounds like a beast! My buddy has a 2500 Cummins mega cab and that things a hoss. I sold him my leviathan and L4s and built him some pillars. Truck sounds really good.

Whole family been sick the past week and work has been crazy busy. Should have a good amount of progress made in the next couple weeks.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Awesome. Sounds like a beast! My buddy has a 2500 Cummins mega cab tond that things a hoss. I sold him my leviathan and L4s and built him some pillars. Truck sounds really good.
> 
> Whole family been sick the past week and work has been crazy busy. Should have a good amount of progress made in the next couple weeks.


I bought it from my Dad he was the first owner and took really good care of it. Any link to those pillars. I don't see any simple way to put tweeters in there without fabbing something up.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> I bought it from my Dad he was the first owner and took really good care of it. Any link to those pillars. I don't see any simple way to put tweeters in there without fabbing something up.



Only pics I have...



















Those are 4" speakers. I'm sure you could get some tweeters in there pretty easily


----------



## Jon225

Indeed. Those look nice.


----------



## DavidRam

Brad, what do you think of that Noico ccf??? I am on my second roll and combined with the cld this stuff seems to work pretty good.
I put a Magnaflow exhaust on my Jeep and I can't hear it at all in the cab.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Brad, what do you think of that Noico ccf??? I am on my second roll and combined with the cld this stuff seems to work pretty good.
> I put a Magnaflow exhaust on my Jeep and I can't hear it at all in the cab.



I don't have any yet. Will be ordering some and some MLV soon though. 

Ccf by itself doesn't really do anything, besides act as a cushion between panels to prevent them from touching each other and rattling.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Brad, what do you think of that Noico ccf??? I am on my second roll and combined with the cld this stuff seems to work pretty good.
> I put a Magnaflow exhaust on my Jeep and I can't hear it at all in the cab.



I got my 72 sq ft of noico and deadener and roll of ccf in. Deadener seems legit. A tad Thicker than the stinger roadkill and a decent amount thicker than the second skin peice I had lying around. The ccf is very tacky on the backside which is good. My MLV should be in tomorrow so I can start that pretty soon.


Here's an idea of the amp layout 









I wound up re-cutting the cover.







I stuck 3 screws through the top and bottom baffle while it was in place in the jeep. This way I know where they sit on each other when I need to line them up to cut while out the vehicle.




I ordered some router templates to cut out the windows for the sub and amps so I'll get on that within the next week or so. I also ordered some molec plugs that Ima use for the wiring from the factory amp to the DSP. I'll also put a plug on the oem wires so if I ever need to go back to stock, all I have to do is switch the plugs.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I got my 72 sq ft of noico and deadener and roll of ccf in. Deadener seems legit. A tad Thicker than the stinger roadkill and a decent amount thicker than the second skin peice I had lying around. The ccf is very tacky on the backside which is good. My MLV should be in tomorrow so I can start that pretty soon.
> 
> 
> Here's an idea of the amp layout
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wound up re-cutting the cover.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I stuck 3 screws through the top and bottom baffle while it was in place in the jeep. This way I know where they sit on each other when I need to line them up to cut while out the vehicle.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I ordered some router templates to cut out the windows for the sub and amps so I'll get on that within the next week or so. I also ordered some molec plugs that Ima use for the wiring from the factory amp to the DSP. I'll also put a plug on the oem wires so if I ever need to go back to stock, all I have to do is switch the plugs.



Love it! Looks awesome! I think each build you do, you one-up your last build!


----------



## dengland

That looks heavy.

Are the Amps secured on both sides or just the exposed side?


----------



## DavidRam

dengland said:


> That looks heavy.
> 
> Are the Amps secured on both sides or just the exposed side?


He is taking care of a 1/2" of rake at the same time.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Love it! Looks awesome! I think each build you do, you one-up your last build!


Thanks. Always movin forward. This was supposed to by a simpler build too.





dengland said:


> That looks heavy.
> 
> 
> 
> Are the Amps secured on both sides or just the exposed side?



Amps will be secured on both ends. Then I will cut a hole just to show off the tops. Like the red below ...


----------



## crackinhedz

How is the sound of the sub upfiring in an SUV?

I really want to do an enclosure like yours with two 15"s just wondering if you have any pros/cons to the sound. Currently have two 12's downfiring, but think the hollow cargo space is affecting certain frequencys...dont know for sure but only thing I have yet to try is to do like yours and make the cargo the actual enclosure. plus will gain extra storage space for stuff.

Thanks


----------



## bradknob

crackinhedz said:


> How is the sound of the sub upfiring in an SUV?
> 
> I really want to do an enclosure like yours with two 15"s just wondering if you have any pros/cons to the sound. Currently have two 12's downfiring, but think the hollow cargo space is affecting certain frequencys...dont know for sure but only thing I have yet to try is to do like yours and make the cargo the actual enclosure. plus will gain extra storage space for stuff.
> 
> Thanks



This particular setup I haven't heard but I used to have a magnum with 4 - 8"s in the same configuration. It sounded good enough for me not to hesitate to do it again. The extra storage is just a bonus.


----------



## crackinhedz

Good to know, thanks! im gonna do it eventually.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> This particular setup I haven't heard but I used to have a magnum with 4 - 8"s in the same configuration. It sounded good enough for me not to hesitate to do it again. The extra storage is just a bonus.


Just checking. Did you leave enough space for the sub excursion?


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Just checking. Did you leave enough space for the sub excursion?



There will be a cutout on the top board that will expose the sub. Just waiting for my templates to come in.

After that I will build some panels to put in place for when I need to throw anything back there.


----------



## truckguy

Did you switch from the audiofrog sub to something else? Ground Zero? Just curious about why you switched if you did. Thanks


----------



## bradknob

truckguy said:


> Did you switch from the audiofrog sub to something else? Ground Zero? Just curious about why you switched if you did. Thanks



Nah i didn't switch, that's just a DIYMA R12 I had lying around. Just using it for fitment. Didn't wanna risk damaging the frog from moving it around and trying to clean sawdust off it constantly.


----------



## autokraftgt

Hey Brad! Been a while! Hope all is well!
Your build is great! Those amps are beastly and look like they mean business.
They kinda remind me of the TRU amps...I've heard great things!
I love that sub, hope you do too!
Can't wait for you to fire the system up and get your impressions....I'd like to hear your thoughts on going from a Ram to this rad Grand Cherokee when it comes to how the audio sounds. I've had my eyes on the Grand Cherokee for years now. Great build, great work man!


----------



## Lanson

It looks like, if you needed it or if it would lower the Q of the box, that you could build a little air space in underneath the amp rack itself since they are on those risers.


----------



## bradknob

autokraftgt said:


> Hey Brad! Been a while! Hope all is well!
> Your build is great! Those amps are beastly and look like they mean business.
> They kinda remind me of the TRU amps...I've heard great things!
> I love that sub, hope you do too!
> Can't wait for you to fire the system up and get your impressions....I'd like to hear your thoughts on going from a Ram to this rad Grand Cherokee when it comes to how the audio sounds. I've had my eyes on the Grand Cherokee for years now. Great build, great work man!


What's up my man. Has been a minute. Hope all is well on your end too.

Not a whole lot of info out there in these amps. Most reviews I found had to be translated to English. They're pretty small for class AB but built like little tanks and the pics don't do the brushed casing any justice. I have pretty high expectations of them. Actually the 2 channel is being delivered today so the trifecta will be complete.

Build is going slower than I planned but the little one has taken a lot more of my time than I expected, but wouldn't have it any other way.

I pretty much have everything I need on hand so hopefully I'll get this beast making some noise soon. One of my worries is the smaller size of the jeep compared to the ram. Not even really sure if that has a pos or neg effect on the sound but we'll find out shortly.





fourthmeal said:


> It looks like, if you needed it or if it would lower the Q of the box, that you could build a little air space in underneath the amp rack itself since they are on those risers.



There's a bit of room under the amps but I think it's good for now..... Until I upgrade to 2 AF 12"s . Lol. Hopefully I don't feel the need to.


I got some router templates and started playing with some design ideas.




Most likely will end up with something similar to this for the bottom part of the false floor.



The top part will be kinda like this...



Top will be carpeted and the bottom layer will be vinyl or suede or something for contrast.


----------



## bradknob

Got the gzua 2.250 in yesterday. Love the smell of brand new electronics. Crappy pic





Started making some cuts also.




This makes my pants tight...





Top layer cut also. Eventually there will be some lexan and LEDs in the mix.


----------



## bradknob

My original plan was to do some cut outs around the sub but it's a little too close to the amp cut out than I would like to have done what I planned so I'm tossing around some ideas. What y'all think.

Mad ms paint skills in 3...2...1...








My plan is to wrap the top piece in carpet to match the rest of the interior and the bottom piece in vinyl or suede or something. Not sure yet

I feel it looks a little too plain as it sits now. One recommendation was some raised foam insert which could be pretty cool. Any other ideas or recommendations.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> My original plan was to do some cut outs around the sub but it's a little too close to the amp cut out than I would like to have done what I planned so I'm tossing around some ideas. What y'all think.
> 
> Mad ms paint skills in 3...2...1...
> 
> My plan is to wrap the top piece in carpet to match the rest of the interior and the bottom piece in vinyl or suede or something. Not sure yet
> 
> I feel it looks a little too plain as it sits now. One recommendation was some raised foam insert which could be pretty cool. Any other ideas or recommendations.


Two ideas came to my mind: 1. Add some aluminum accents in the form of trim pieces, or cutout shapes? 2. Work the company logos into the cover somehow with Lexan and backlit, etc.?


----------



## Jon225

Really digging it. Those templates sure are nice. I don't think it looks too plain but ms paint option number two would be my vote if you go that route.


----------



## DavidRam

This?

You could make the backing on the cutouts a really thin sheet of aluminum, it would look awesome with leds illuminating it...

I realize it's asymmetrical with the other cutout, but I was mixing it up a lil.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Two ideas came to my mind: 1. Add some aluminum accents in the form of trim pieces, or cutout shapes? 2. Work the company logos into the cover somehow with Lexan and backlit, etc.?


Ground Frog logo! If either company pays me I'll gladly post their logos all over my ****. There's definitely gonna be some plexi and LEDs. The edges will be chamfered or rounded to clean it up. I like the aluminum idea too. Gotta see how I can work that in





Jon225 said:


> Really digging it. Those templates sure are nice. I don't think it looks too plain but ms paint option number two would be my vote if you go that route.


 
Great minds think alike, was just working on this... Cleaned it up some. Then I can use that space for logos or designs or whatever


----------



## Jon225

Yes! I like the symmetrical look of it all.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Ground Frog logo!


Audio Zero?! Lol 

I like that design too... Maybe make the inner lines curved to mimic the shape of the sub? A sheet aluminum in the cutouts?


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Ground Frog logo! If either company pays me I'll gladly post their logos all over my ****. There's definitely gonna be some plexi and LEDs. The edges will be chamfered or rounded to clean it up. I like the aluminum idea too. Gotta see how I can work that in
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Great minds think alike, was just working on this... Cleaned it up some. Then I can use that space for logos or designs or whatever



A couple of those infinity lights would look sweet logo or not.


----------



## Jon225

Another.


----------



## bradknob

Those are sweet. Maybe I'll get nudes of my wife etched in plexi on either side of the sub. She would love that.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Those are sweet. Maybe I'll get nudes of my wife etched in plexi on either side of the sub. She would love that.


Pics?.... J/k. Bing had a build thread with one of those in it. Pretty cool how they come together.


----------



## juiceweazel

This build is really coming together nicely. Love the practicality of it. I have a 3 year old & fully understand the storage needs ha ha.

Personally I like the 2 single sidelights you created in Sketchup (or whatever program). Allows you to dress it up a bit.



Jon225 said:


> A couple of those infinity lights would look sweet logo or not.


Wow, that's a sweet effect! How the heck is that done?!


----------



## bradknob

Got the top cover cut last night. Measure a trillion times cut once is key here. But first I had to build a router table.

An ice chest, 3 scrap pieces of mdf, the little ass table that came with my router, and 2 work horses will do the trick. Lol





She's got two more holes now...






Didn't have time to get pics if it in the car. My time was split between this and a toy box the wife got me building to store the crap out kid got for her first Christmas.



Should be able to get some pics this evening.


----------



## SHAGGS

juiceweazel said:


> Wow, that's a sweet effect! How the heck is that done?!


Not trying to thread jack.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...15-hyundai-azera-build-mosconi-audiofrog.html

Look about 3/4 of the way down.


----------



## juiceweazel

SHAGGS said:


> Not trying to thread jack.
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...15-hyundai-azera-build-mosconi-audiofrog.html
> 
> Look about 3/4 of the way down.


Thanks for sharing, your build on that Hyundai is amazing. Sorry to the OP, again not trying to thread jack. Looking forward to more updates on this Jeep.


----------



## bradknob

It's all good. Can't say I havent drooled over pretty much every SIS build and even got a good bit of inspiration from them.


----------



## Black Rain

That modified table worked pretty darn good. Those are some clean lines and nice template pattern. Are the 2 openings next to the sub, are they just for décor or mock vents?


----------



## Lanson

Man, templates cost so much but they are so freaking cool.


----------



## bradknob

Black Rain said:


> That modified table worked pretty darn good. Those are some clean lines and nice template pattern. Are the 2 openings next to the sub, are they just for décor or mock vents?



yes! I still have all my fingers in tact so id say it worked perfect.

The openings are just to take up space. I thought it was a bit too plain around the sub. Ima work on something to put in there. A grill or logo or something.




fourthmeal said:


> Man, templates cost so much but they are so freaking cool.



I agree but these weren't too bad. $110 from mobile solutions. I've tried to freehand designs way too many times and failed. So I guess the cost of wasted MDF makes up for the cost of the templates. Or that's how I try to justify it at least. Lol


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> yes! I still have all my fingers in tact so id say it worked perfect.
> 
> The openings are just to take up space. I thought it was a bit too plain around the sub. Ima work on something to put in there. A grill or logo or something.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree but these weren't too bad. $110 from mobile solutions. I've tried to freehand designs way too many times and failed. So I guess the cost of wasted MDF makes up for the cost of the templates. Or that's how I try to justify it at least. Lol


Dumb question.....What are they made out of and how durable are they.

Coming along nice.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Dumb question.....What are they made out of and how durable are they.
> 
> 
> 
> Coming along nice.



They're made from some type of acrylic or PVC plastic type stuff. Maybe 1/4" thick. Pretty flexible and seem plenty durable.


----------



## Lanson

Maybe a topic of another thread but I honestly feel that for the price of a sheet of good plastic and the cost of getting it water or laser cut, these things should be 1/2 the price. But whatevs, someone's gotta eat right?


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Maybe a topic of another thread but I honestly feel that for the price of a sheet of good plastic and the cost of getting it water or laser cut, these things should be 1/2 the price. But whatevs, someone's gotta eat right?



I agree. For a cut peice of plastic its a bit steep. Maybe I should have said by comparison it's not too bad. The sonus templates cost the same but come with fewer peices.


Last night I got some deadening done. Pics arent the best, but it's just deadener. Got her gutted



Deadened the floor...



Inner and outer quarter panels...



Dropped the headliner...



Deadener on the roof and a sheet of MLV...



Ccf and MLV on the fear floor





And that's what 36sq ft of deader looks like. Before I put the rest of the panels back in, I'm going to tap 2 molex plugs into the factory amp. 1 for the oem wiring and the other to go to the DSP. That way if I need to go back to stock, I'll I gotta do is switch the plugs over.











In a side note. Anyone know where to get cheap lexan or plexiglass panels? I need a piece 40" X 30". eBay has been the cheapest I found so far.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> In a side note. Anyone know where to get cheap lexan or plexiglass panels? I need a piece 40" X 30". eBay has been the cheapest I found so far.


I get mine from Amazon and Ebay, but that is a pretty big piece...Have you tried your local Home Depot? It might be cheaper there without shipping.
Polycarbonate Sheets - Glass & Plastic Sheets -  The Home Depot


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> I get mine from Amazon and Ebay, but that is a pretty big piece...Have you tried your local Home Depot? It might be cheaper there without shipping.
> 
> Polycarbonate Sheets - Glass & Plastic Sheets - Â*The Home Depot



Yea I tried Home Depot They don't have the thickness I need. Haven't tried Amazon yet.


----------



## Jon225

Regal Plastics
11776 S Choctaw Dr, Baton Rouge, 

(225) 275-2010


You could try them thought I saw some while making a pick up a while back.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Regal Plastics
> 11776 S Choctaw Dr, Baton Rouge,
> 
> (225) 275-2010
> 
> 
> You could try them thought I saw some while making a pick up a while back.



Sweet I'll call them tomorrow. Or I fake call in a run for you to go there and you steal some for me?


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Sweet I'll call them tomorrow. Or I fake call in a run for you to go there and you steal some for me


Just charge a gigantic piece to your work and I'll pick it up and we can split it.....

Also there is 4B Plastics on Choctaw but they are more on the manufacturing side with pvc items but they may stock other materials. Trying to think of some other places.


----------



## bradknob

Finally got done the part I hate most, running wires. Nothing exciting but it's a big step closer.

Battery under the passenger seat is pretty convenient...



All covered up



Used zip ties to identify which wire was which once it was run from front to back



Just zip tied it along the factory wire bundle





Now just got to get into the doors and passenger side is done. Fast forward a few days, finally got a night to myself and the weather sucks, and i got too much **** in my garage to fit the jeep so u gotta do what u gotta do....



Labeled all the wires that will tap into the oem amp for signal to send to the DSP



Under driver seat is an empty compartment so DSP will go there.







Now all wires are where they need to be. (Besides into the doors). Now I have to tap factory amp and we should have sound.
Finally got the rear quarter panel trim back in after some deadener and MLV





I also got these lil cuties in yesterday. Audiofrog GB25. They will go in the pillars. I ditched the scan tweeters for a set of Audiofrog GB10. These should be in today and will go in the sail panels.


----------



## truckguy

I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on the gb25. I've seen it in a few other threads and about to pull the trigger on a set myself.


----------



## bradknob

truckguy said:


> I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on the gb25. I've seen it in a few other threads and about to pull the trigger on a set myself.



Yea can't wait to hear them either. May have to throw them in my desk top setup at work. May be a little while before I get them into the jeep.

I got a good source on them if/when you are ready.


----------



## Lanson

Man it isn't often you hear "ditched" along with "scan tweeters" together in the same sentence.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Man it isn't often you hear "ditched" along with "scan tweeters" together in the same sentence.



Ha! I actually traded them straight up for the GB10s to mate with the GB25. Not sure if a downgrade or not but I wanted them to match.


----------



## Jon225

Coming along nicely. Looking forward to hearing some frogs. You ever find any plexi.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Ha! I actually traded them straight up for the GB10s to mate with the GB25. Not sure if a downgrade or not but I wanted them to match.


What about the mid bass......


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Yea can't wait to hear them either. May have to throw them in my desk top setup at work. May be a little while before I get them into the jeep.
> 
> I got a good source on them if/when you are ready.


Please share your gb25 source with me.


----------



## WhereAmEye?

Jon225 said:


> What about the mid bass......


Shhhhh. Don't give him that temptation


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Coming along nicely. Looking forward to hearing some frogs. You ever find any plexi.



Not yet, eBay is the best price so far. Once I get this thing making noise, that will be my next venture.



Jon225 said:


> What about the mid bass......






WhereAmEye? said:


> Shhhhh. Don't give him that temptation



Yea! Wtf is this ****? Leave me alone.

And I meant match visibly..... Until I find a set of GB60s in the classifieds


----------



## A-Ron

Looks awesome so far Brad! If it's anything half as detailed as the ram was it'll be amazing! 
My projects are on the backburner from building this house and Twins!
Holler if you need a hand! I need an excuse to get out lol!


----------



## bradknob

A-Ron said:


> Looks awesome so far Brad! If it's anything half as detailed as the ram was it'll be amazing!
> My projects are on the backburner from building this house and Twins!
> Holler if you need a hand! I need an excuse to get out lol!



Thanks man! Hope everything's going well for you and the family. If you think you need an excuse now, wait til the two little ones come. Lol. Next day I have free I'll let u know maybe we can tune ur truck up some too.

Considering I never actually finished tuning the RAM, I'm hoping this one will sound better. There was a few things I wish I had done differently last time so it's nice being able to incorporate in this build. Also the jeep is much quieter inside even before the deadening so that may help out some.


I got the GB10s in yesterday also.










I may be able to fit them into the factory sail panels without much modification, which would be badass










Did a quick text on my desktop setup at work and they sound very nice and detailed. I'm hoping this weekend I'll be able to get the door panels off, run wires in there, add the ccf and MLV and splice the wires into the factory amp. Not sure I'll have the time tho.


----------



## Lanson

Anything that can reuse the factory sail panel would be a plus. That panel is nearly ideally made for a tweeter location, and it is sized well.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Anything that can reuse the factory sail panel would be a plus. That panel is nearly ideally made for a tweeter location, and it is sized well.



Yea ur right. Free time is already hard to come by, so that would be crucial if it fits.


----------



## optimaprime

Audio frog and ground zero I bet that sound sweet. Which Dsp helix or helix pro


----------



## bradknob

optimaprime said:


> Audio frog and ground zero I bet that sound sweet. Which Dsp helix or helix pro



I have the pro.


----------



## optimaprime

Nice I love your build . Looking forward to updates


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Great looking build. Figured I would pass along info one of the members gave me a couple months ago and made my life much easier. Looks like that's a .50" spiral router bit in this pic. If you don't already know, the .25" spiral cuts through .75 MDF like butter compared to .50". The clouds parted and I heard harps when I used one for the first time! Also, have you tried rough cutting your design with a jig saw first, just to the inside of where your final line will be, then router just the edge left for a perfect edge? Again, just trying to pass along great info members have helped me with in case you already know!


----------



## bradknob

Thanks for the heads up. I guess I just got too lazy for the relief cuts but it's something I should probably do to help the life of the bit. Which is 1/4" btw. Them bad boys aren't cheap either.


----------



## etroze

Dude relief cuts, didn't even think of that lol. Great info.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


----------



## Lanson

Meanwhile my dumb ass will be trying to make shapes like that with a jig-saw, too poor for templates.


----------



## bradknob

I started running wires into the doors last night. All I got done was the driver door. It was a fu***** peice of s*** pain In the fu***** a** hole to get them through the same rubber boot that the factory wires go through. Actually had to cut the techflex off of one in order to squeeze it through.





Then the stars aligned, and as destiny would have it...





A little shaving and they slid right in beautifully. Guess the extra hour fartin with the wires doesn't hurt as bad knowing this will save me a few days of sanding, filling, sanding, filling....


----------



## etroze

Man Andy should sell those as OEm replacements lol


----------



## bradknob

etroze said:


> Man Andy should sell those as OEm replacements lol



No doubt! Even better is that everything in the car has chrome trim around it, just like these tweets. When I get them back in I'll take a few more pics.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I started running wires into the doors last night. All I got done was the driver door. It was a fu***** peice of s*** pain In the fu***** a** hole to get them through the same rubber boot that the factory wires go through. Actually had to cut the techflex off of one in order to squeeze it through.
> 
> Then the stars aligned, and as destiny would have it...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A little shaving and they slid right in beautifully. Guess the extra hour fartin with the wires doesn't hurt as bad knowing this will save me a few days of sanding, filling, sanding, filling....


NICE! Could they fit and match any more perfect..?!


----------



## Lanson

Are you ****ting me!?? Those tweeters fit perfectly!

BTW, when doing those doors, I bet some 16 gauge 4 conductor sheathed Monoprice wire would be the golden ticket. I'll let you know one day.

edit: Are those the GB10? 









If so, here's the dimensions (to find a cheaper tweeter so I don't end up divorced.)


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> NICE! Could they fit and match any more perfect..?!






fourthmeal said:


> Are you ****ting me!?? Those tweeters fit perfectly!
> 
> BTW, when doing those doors, I bet some 16 gauge 4 conductor sheathed Monoprice wire would be the golden ticket. I'll let you know one day.
> 
> edit: Are those the GB10?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If so, here's the dimensions (to find a cheaper tweeter so I don't end up divorced.)



Yes, the fitment is a thing of beauty. 16ga wire would have been much better than this ridiculous 12ga I used.


And yes those are the GB10s.


----------



## Lanson

Well the GS10 appears to be the same size, so that may work. Would still like to find something sub $100 for the pair, but it might be wishful thinking.


----------



## DavidRam

fourthmeal said:


> Are you ****ting me!?? Those tweeters fit perfectly!


Yes. That's what my post means... It is making a statement, by asking a question to which the answer is obvious.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Yes, the fitment is a thing of beauty. 16ga wire would have been much better than this ridiculous laugh 12ga I used.



When I ordered a bunch of 12 gauge Karma wire for my build I thought I was "the ****", then when I went to install it I considered myself "a piece of ****" for going with 12 gauge! Lmao


Now I can't wait to see the GB 25s in the pillars next to those tweets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Lanson

DavidRam said:


> Yes. That's what my post means... It is making a statement, by asking a question to which the answer is obvious.


LOLZ. I wasn't posting at you bro.


----------



## bradknob

Haha


----------



## DavidRam

fourthmeal said:


> LOLZ. I wasn't posting at you bro.


Oh, my bad... lmao!

If there's anything worse than my communicating skills, it's my comprehension.


----------



## troutspinner

Gotta love when things actually fit. They look great!

Wires through door boots, UGH! The worst part of any install IMO.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> I started running wires into the doors last night. All I got done was the driver door. It was a fu***** peice of s*** pain In the fu***** a** hole to get them through the same rubber boot that the factory wires go through. Actually had to cut the techflex off of one in order to squeeze it through.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then the stars aligned, and as destiny would have it...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A little shaving and they slid right in beautifully. Guess the extra hour fartin with the wires doesn't hurt as bad knowing this will save me a few days of sanding, filling, sanding, filling....


Wow.... i am so fricking copying you on these. Ispent a good deal of time making my tweets fit. These are sexy and completely look like the rest of the factory trim. Especially the factory sub ring.


----------



## bradknob

troutspinner said:


> Gotta love when things actually fit. They look great!
> 
> Wires through door boots, UGH! The worst part of any install IMO.


Thanks my man. Running wires, period, is the worst for me and my fat hands. The passenger side has a lot less buttons on it so hopefully there's more room to get them through.





ndm said:


> Wow.... i am so fricking copying you on these. Ispent a good deal of time making my tweets fit. These are sexy and completely look like the rest of the factory trim. Especially the factory sub ring.




Can't even get mad at u for that, they just look THAT good and the chrome compliments the interior nicely. If they sound half as good as they look ill do a happy dance


----------



## The ///Man

bradknob said:


> Thanks my man. Running wires, period, is the worst for me and my fat hands. The passenger side has a lot less buttons on it so hopefully there's more room to get them through.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Can't even get mad at u for that, they just look THAT good and the chrome compliments the interior nicely. If they sound half as good as they look ill do a happy dance



I just fired up and did some rough tuning on a GB10/25/60 setup. I am very very very impressed.


----------



## Jon225

I am excited for you man going to be killer!!..


----------



## bradknob

The ///Man said:


> I just fired up and did some rough tuning on a GB10/25/60 setup. I am very very very impressed.


Ur killing me dude. Dammit





Jon225 said:


> I am excited for you man going to be killer!!..



Thanks bro. It's so close. I'm getting pumped.


----------



## bradknob

Got the driver door wrapped up last night. Speakers wired, CCF'd, MLV'd. Had to bear hug the door panel with the window down to get it to snap back and bolt in place. Door feels like a concrete wall. Heavy and solid as hell. Last time I took the panel off, there was a small rattle that I could not pin point. Well, that's gone now and the door is dead silent.



Didn't get a pic of the MLV, too much of a hassle trying to get it to stick to the door while trying to get the panel back on.

Wired the speaker for 8 ohms. Amp does 460 @ 4 bridged, so I figure roughly half that at 8 should be plenty enough juice.



Terrible night pic of the tweeter in place. I'll snap more in daylight.





Started on the passenger door and to my surprise... The Fu***** G** d*** piece of S*** a** f****** b**** of a plug was identical to the driver side, even though there's only 2 buttons on the door. Wtf... 

I little more informed this time around, I skinned the tech flex off before trying to pass it through. Here's what I'm dealing with.

With the kick panel removed, the white box in the upper portion is covering the hole to get the wires out the car


Using my fat fingers, had to snake it up between the dash and the wall if he jeep




A few cuts and curse words later they're out! Now to get them through the rubber boot. Here's what I got to work with



With the tech flex, the next pic is not possible...








Didn't get any more pics but basically got the wires through and everything back in place. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get the wires to the speakers and ccf/MLV the door and be ready for the next step.


----------



## juiceweazel

This is really becoming a special build. You're really making me consider buying a Jeep as I love everything about this. Would love to hear what it sounds like, but I don't think I'm gonna be in the Orleans area anytime in the near future LOL.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> This is really becoming a special build. You're really making me consider buying a Jeep as I love everything about this. Would love to hear what it sounds like, but I don't think I'm gonna be in the Orleans area anytime in the near future LOL.



Thanks bud!

I love this vehicle. Very nice quiet comfortable ride from the factory. And besides the damn plugs that go into the doors, it's almost like Chrysler had us audio guys in mind when building the jeep. There's tons of room along the sides under the carpet where the wires run. (Fit 10 channels of RCA, 3 tech flexed 12ga runs and 7 - 16ga runs for the signal to DSP all on one side with no problem getting panels back on). Plus the huge hole in the back floor for subs and amps. The doors are nearly competently sealed. And the sail panels were designed specifically for Audiofrog GB10s. lol


----------



## MoparMike

bradknob said:


> With the tech flex, the next pic is not possible...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Didn't get any more pics but basically got the wires through and everything back in place. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get the wires to the speakers and ccf/MLV the door and be ready for the next step.


I have the exact same wire in 12 gauge and am planning out my build on 2015 Durango. I've been wondering if I should step down the size and this is very helpful. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Great work so far! Those tweeters look great in the stock location and the chrome accents match the dash trim perfectly.


----------



## Lanson

MoparMike said:


> I have the exact same wire in 12 gauge and am planning out my build on 2015 Durango. I've been wondering if I should step down the size and this is very helpful. Thanks for sharing the pics.
> 
> Great work so far! Those tweeters look great in the stock location and the chrome accents match the dash trim perfectly.


I would say 12 gauge is rampant unnecessary overkill, and is causing much more of an issue than the value it adds. But I can tell that use of sheathed wiring looks smart, in these doors. I mean I typically use sheathed Monoprice all the time (in varying sizes) for all my builds, but in these doors it looks like a particularly good idea to use a sheath to protect them through these sharp spots. So, either 16 gauge 4 conductor for me, or I might go with 16 gauge 2 conductor for the tweeter and 14 gauge 2 conductor for the woofer. Noteven remotely audibly detectable either way.

edit: Haven't worked on a Molex-type door in a while. The Vette that's currently being worked on had some of the easiest doors ever, and prior to that its all been working around the Molex instead of through it.


----------



## troutspinner

Those are some big ass connectors lol. And wire! Interesting to see you going to 8 ohm. While I understand ohms I've never grasped the reason to go 8 over 4 when it comes to Sq. Any thoughts on that?

Nice to see more progress. Jealous as heck that you are wearing shorts in the one pic.


----------



## bradknob

I can't lie, 12ga is overkill for sure but it's what I got so it's gotta work. If I had to start over id run some 12 ga and keep it tech flexed.


As for running 8 ohm... 
The TMs are dual 4 ohm so 2 and 8 ohm are my options. 

The GZ amp is rated...
110 X 4 @ 4 ohm 
190 X 4 @ 2 ohm
460 X 2 @ 4 ohm bridged.
230(ish) X 2 @ 8 ohm bridged.( my assumption, not listed in specs)

From my understanding, which could be way off, amps run cooler or more efficient at higher ohms. So I figured running 8 ohms bridged would be the best power to efficiency ratio. I ran my zed leviathan to my 3-MKIV @ 8 ohms bridged per channel and that thing never broke a sweat.

What I am curious about is....does 200 watts @ 2 ohm and 200 watts @ 8 ohm put the same stress on the amp? The amp is producing 200 watts either way so it shouldn't matter. So what I'm doing may be putting the amp under more stress, which is to be expected being that it's producing more power.


----------



## bradknob

troutspinner said:


> Nice to see more progress. Jealous as heck that you are wearing shorts in the one pic.




If I took that pic 2 days ago it was 30'degrees and I would be in 4 layers of clothes. (Yea, that's really really cold for us, we're pussies leave us alone) Last night, 74 degrees with a cool brees. Welcome to south lowsyana.


----------



## bradknob

Better shot of the tweeters. They're maybe 30 degree off axis. We'll see how it works out.

Pic taken by my head to show how they're aimed...


----------



## quality_sound

bradknob said:


> If I took that pic 2 days ago it was 30'degrees and I would be in 4 layers of clothes. (Yea, that's really really cold for us, we're pussies leave us alone) Last night, 74 degrees with a *cool brees*. Welcome to south lowsyana.


I see what you did there.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Not yet, eBay is the best price so far. Once I get this thing making noise, that will be my next venture.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yea! Wtf is this ****? Leave me alone.
> 
> And I meant match visibly..... Until I find a set of GB60s in the classifieds


Uuh hmmm. Your wish was just granted check the classifieds. Lol.. :laugh:


----------



## bradknob

quality_sound said:


> I see what you did there.














Jon225 said:


> Uuh hmmm. Your wish was just granted check the classifieds. Lol.. :laugh:



I saw that. Was like no fkn way....Lolololo. He actually posted those a couple m.onths ago for $450.

Ima hold out a little bit. Wanna get everything going and get it tuned up and go from there. Also I don't wanna have to take those door panels off and try to put them back on again. PITA! With the ccf and MLV on there.

I got the passenger side finished tonight. Getting close!!


----------



## dgage

Great looking build Brad. I agree the GB10 looks absolutely perfect in your Jeep.

I will be following your build as I just started procuring equipment to put a system of my own together. I plan to do an A-pillar install of a small mid and tweet and bought the GB25 last week when it popped up in the classifieds. I also ordered some TM65s for my build and will use those in the doors if I don't decide to put some beefier midbasses or subs in the kick panels like Erinh is doing. Now I just need to watch for some GB10s to show up in the classifieds.

Your interest in the GB60 piqued my interest as well so I decided to model the TM65 against the GB60 to see if there is much difference. I haven't heard either so don't have an opinion but it is possible there wouldn't be much difference when used in such a limited pass band. But I wanted to see what the low end on each looked like in simulation and this is what I came up with using WinISD. For the simulation, I gave each speaker 150w and a 60 l sealed "enclosure" to simulate IB; the 60 l being 10 x VAS for the GB60. At least from a simulation viewpoint, doesn't look like there is much difference. I could see the potential for a greater difference if playing up to 2,000 Hz but I wonder if there would be that much sonic difference when mating up to the GB25 at 500/600 Hz.


----------



## bradknob

dgage said:


> Great looking build Brad. I agree the GB10 looks absolutely perfect in your Jeep.
> 
> 
> 
> I will be following your build as I just started procuring equipment to put a system of my own together. I plan to do an A-pillar install of a small mid and tweet and bought the GB25 last week when it popped up in the classifieds. I also ordered some TM65s for my build and will use those in the doors if I don't decide to put some beefier midbasses or subs in the kick panels like Erinh is doing. Now I just need to watch for some GB10s to show up in the classifieds.
> 
> 
> 
> Your interest in the GB60 piqued my interest as well so I decided to model the TM65 against the GB60 to see if there is much difference. I haven't heard either so don't have an opinion but it is possible there wouldn't be much difference when used in such a limited pass band. But I wanted to see what the low end on each looked like in simulation and this is what I came up with using WinISD. For the simulation, I gave each speaker 150w and a 60 l sealed "enclosure" to simulate IB; the 60 l being 10 x VAS for the GB60. At least from a simulation viewpoint, doesn't look like there is much difference. I could see the potential for a greater difference if playing up to 2,000 Hz but I wonder if there would be that much sonic difference when mating up to the GB25 at 500/600 Hz.



Good deal dude. For the price difference I can't see there being THAT much of an improvement. I'd like to see some real world frequency response graphs between the two. Hell I just can't wait to see some actual power on the TMs.

I threw the GB25s on my desktop to break em in/test them out.

















Not the prettiest but it works. They're replacing a pair of bamboo come tang bands which I think sounded very nice. Running off a lepai 20 watt amp. I'll come back with some initial impressions once I get some time with them.


----------



## bradknob

10 speakers....38 wires










Please be right...










Now I just gotta plug the other ends to the DSP and plug in amps. Hoping to find time in the next couple days.


----------



## Lanson

OOh you are bringing back some memories for sure, Brad. Here's what I had to do to hook a Flex up to an MS-8.


















Sometimes that part takes all damn day! I enjoy those moments but it sucks when you're, oh, like 24 wire connections in and you realize that you're only about 1/2 way done. There's a sense of dread that only the promise of some sound coming out of speakers can overcome.




bradknob said:


> 10 speakers....38 wires
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Please be right...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now I just gotta plug the other ends to the DSP and plug in amps. Hoping to find time in the next couple days.


----------



## bradknob

Yea PITA, u feel my pain. I actually started making a molex connector but wasn't happy with the connections. The pins kept backing out so I ditched the idea


----------



## bradknob

Earlier I mentioned the huge valleys on the sides of the jeep. This is what's running along the passenger side. Door sil goes back on with no problem


----------



## juiceweazel

Seems like a lot of wasted space to most. Leave it to the DIYMA crowd to fill that void! (That's what she said...)


----------



## Lanson

Fuuuuck that!



bradknob said:


> Yea PITA, u feel my pain. I actually started making a molex connector but wasn't happy with the connections. The pins kept backing out so I ditched the idea



Making connectors is crazy work.

However if you do ever NEED to make one, consider working with Delphi Weatherpack kits. They sell whole complete kits on Amazon, and they are phenomenal...as good as it gets from terminal connections that need to be removable. Here's one Robot Check


----------



## bradknob

I managed to get her fired up over the weekend. Not without some sort of issue of course.

I still have the factory rear doors, center, and d-pillar surround speakers still playing through the factory amp. All other speakers were un hooked and sent to DSP for signal. Once I verified the amps and DSP and all were working, I cut the wires, at the amp, of the left d-pillar speaker and the whole left side stopped playing. Hooked wires back.... Music came back. Same for right side. Wtf? Do they have the entire side run in some sort of series? Or does the factory amp need to have a load on every channel in order for it to work?

I remember reading on ramforum about guys having to use resistors but I didn't have an issue at the time so never paid attention to why they needed them.

Next is that I cannot get it to image. Stage is all over the place and un-focused. I think having a crossover in the oem amp then being crossed over again in the DSP is causing some phase issues? Once I get just the tweeters and TMs playing, I'll address this issue.

But, it seems to have plenty of potential from
What I'm hearing now. Lots of detail and plenty of volume. **** is much louder than I expected. But I'm glad I planned on running 3 way. 2 way just seems to be lacking for me. Maybe my mind would change after a proper tune and all but... Ya know


----------



## MoparMike

Did you cut the wires after the amp? I've heard that disconnected wires before the amp will shutdown the audio signal but not after.


----------



## bradknob

MoparMike said:


> Did you cut the wires after the amp? I've heard that disconnected wires before the amp will shutdown the audio signal but not after.



Pretty sure it was after the amp, but now that u mention it Idunno. There is only 2 plugs on the amp both right next to each other so im not sure what's actually going in vs coming out.


----------



## MoparMike

bradknob said:


> Pretty sure it was after the amp, but now that u mention it Idunno. There is only 2 plugs on the amp both right next to each other so im not sure what's actually going in vs coming out.


I also plan to disconnect everything that is not running to the DSP so that is interesting to say the least. I thought that the harness for the input wires included a power and ground wire? That would tell you which is which, if so. Haven't looked at the one in my Durango but thought that was the case.


----------



## bradknob

MoparMike said:


> I also plan to disconnect everything that is not running to the DSP so that is interesting to say the least. I thought that the harness for the input wires included a power and ground wire? That would tell you which is which, if so. Haven't looked at the one in my Durango but thought that was the case.



I jut went out and disconnected the wires from the rear pillar and center channel and everything is still working. Maybe I did originally cut the wrong wires?

Either way, eliminating those 3 speakers made a huge difference. Imaging is still off tho. I should have a few hours tomorrow to put the RTA on it and see what's going on.


----------



## bradknob

This morning I played a bunch of test tones, and noticed they're scattered all over the place. 3150hz actually sounded like it was outside the passenger window. Then I played an out of phase pink noise on Sheffield lab disk and everything (just about) centered up on the dash. Actually right outside the window on the hood. Deepest I ever heard before.... So id say I'm having phase issues but I dunno how to go about solving them...

I guess I could start with switching polarity of one speaker at a time?

When I first got it playing I played with the phase adjustments in the DSP but didn't notice any diference. I'll try again

I read in Andy Whemeyers tuning guide about crossovers and phase shifts (still way over my head), but I gathered that 12db slopes cause a 90 degree shift. Not sure what the stock amp is set at but the DSP is at 24db LR. I'm wondering if the signal being crossed over in the oem amp then again in the DSP is causing the issues? I'll mess with these too.


Any other suggestions? I got a free night again so Ima undo the rear speakers and deaden the doors them whip out the mic and see what's going on.


----------



## Lanson

bradknob said:


> This morning I played a bunch of test tones, and noticed they're scattered all over the place. 3150hz actually sounded like it was outside the passenger window. Then I played an out of phase pink noise on Sheffield lab disk and everything (just about) centered up on the dash. Actually right outside the window on the hood. Deepest I ever heard before.... So id say I'm having phase issues but I dunno how to go about solving them...
> 
> I guess I could start with switching polarity of one speaker at a time?
> 
> When I first got it playing I played with the phase adjustments in the DSP but didn't notice any diference. I'll try again
> 
> I read in Andy Whemeyers tuning guide about crossovers and phase shifts (still way over my head), but I gathered that 12db slopes cause a 90 degree shift. Not sure what the stock amp is set at but the DSP is at 24db LR. I'm wondering if the signal being crossed over in the oem amp then again in the DSP is causing the issues? I'll mess with these too.
> 
> 
> Any other suggestions? I got a free night again so Ima undo the rear speakers and deaden the doors them whip out the mic and see what's going on.


12dB/oct crossover (2nd order) should be 180 degrees, that's why we flip one of the speakers (I usually do the tweeters) if you're making a passive crossover and running the speakers close together. That way there's less of a problem at the crossover point between the two speakers.

edit: it should be a 90 degree phase shift per order.

edit (reading) http://audiophilereview.com/reference-speakers/crossovers-are-evil.html
http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/print/crossovers_the_series_an_introduction_to_the_basics


So if you're using 24 or 48dB/octave crossover points, you should have 360 or 720 degree shifts.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> 12dB/oct crossover (2nd order) should be 180 degrees, that's why we flip one of the speakers (I usually do the tweeters) if you're making a passive crossover and running the speakers close together. That way there's less of a problem at the crossover point between the two speakers.
> 
> edit: it should be a 90 degree phase shift per order.
> 
> edit (reading) http://audiophilereview.com/reference-speakers/crossovers-are-evil.html
> http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/print/crossovers_the_series_an_introduction_to_the_basics
> 
> 
> So if you're using 24 or 48dB/octave crossover points, you should have 360 or 720 degree shifts.



Thanks. You're right, I mis read. It says the high pass filter would have +90 shift and LP would be -90 shift.... Equaling 180.

The thing I'm unsure of is what X-over the factory amp is applying before the signal gets to the DSP. I guess I could assume 6,12,18, or whatever and play with the phase in the helix and see what happens.

Ima check out that link too. Try to wrap my brain around this.


----------



## Lanson

I'm right there with you, because soon I'll be in the thick of it too with my Durango.

I'm researching all I can on the topic, in case it needs to be fleshed out.


edit: having a ball with this link, it ties many of the things Andy taught over the years about directvitiy. 

http://www.rane.com/note160.html




bradknob said:


> Thanks. You're right, I mis read. It says the high pass filter would have +90 shift and LP would be -90 shift.... Equaling 180.
> 
> The thing I'm unsure of is what X-over the factory amp is applying before the signal gets to the DSP. I guess I could assume 6,12,18, or whatever and play with the phase in the helix and see what happens.
> 
> Ima check out that link too. Try to wrap my brain around this.


----------



## bradknob

Made great progress last night. Unhooked the rear door speakers and used 5 sheets of deadener on the doors and door panel. 

Played with the midbass first since they're covering the largest freq range, switched phase 180 on driver side and bam....beautiful pink noise sitting dead center of the dash, about right where the windshield meets the hood. That was easy.

Tweeters, not so much. Switched them 180, not the same result. Switched polarity at the amp, changed some X-over slopes, not much. Left the slopes at 24db LR and changed phase until it sounded close to center. I never could get the tweeters to "disappear" like the mids did but got pretty close. At least now when I play the phase tracks, the voice is in the middle of the dash. 

Figured if I got the rta out and level matched it may help some. Response pretty much is what I expected. Tweeters were bright as hell, wound up attenuating them about 20 db. And upper midrange is a little lacking. Need to get the GB25 in pronto...










Honestly, I've never had anything sound this good with such little tuning and zero EQ. About 1 hour total. Easily the deepest sound stage I've ever had. Just about outside of the windshield. Overall, it's a pretty smooth response. I'll leave it as is until the GB25s are in.


----------



## Jon225

Nice!. Do you have the sub playing yet. Can't wait to hear it all. :laugh:


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Nice!. Do you have the sub playing yet. Can't wait to hear it all. :laugh:



Yep. Subs playing. Hit me up when ur around the area and I'll give u a demo. Still a good bit of work to do but U can hear it in Phases from start to finish.


----------



## Lanson

I'm thinking the tweeters aren't disappearing because it is a reflection you're hearing, throwing the stage in phase tracks. But acoustically when you're listening to music, I bet it still holds the stage nicely.


----------



## A-Ron

Looking good my dude! Can't wait to hear it!


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Yep. Subs playing. Hit me up when ur around the area and I'll give u a demo. Still a good bit of work to do but U can hear it in Phases from start to finish.


Sounds good. Will try to set something up soon p.m. me your number.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> I'm thinking the tweeters aren't disappearing because it is a reflection you're hearing, throwing the stage in phase tracks. But acoustically when you're listening to music, I bet it still holds the stage nicely.



I think your right. Still, during music the image is diffused and a bit scattered. Still have some work to do. At least it's at a point I can enjoy it until I get the pillars done and really dig into it.



A-Ron said:


> Looking good my dude! Can't wait to hear it!


Thanks man. Can't wait to show it off! 

You, jon225, and myself just may be the only 3 people in Louisiana that can appreciate a SQ oriented build. Lol





Jon225 said:


> Sounds good. Will try to set something up soon p.m. me your number.



Done. Always looking for another set of ears


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Brad you my friend need an air-nailer and compressor for Christmas. The ~$35 brad/staple nailer from Walmart + a quality hose from Harbor Freight or similar + a nice compressor (not from Walmart, lol) = super duper awesome time saver not having to use screws and countersinks all the time, and brads are so much cheaper, it actually ends up paying for itself in a short time both in time saved and in just cost of materials.
> 
> Santa could also see fit to give you a router lift (just bought a Jess Em myself) and big table to use it. You certainly have the skills to work it.



Bit the bullet. Little late for this build but whatever. The used one I picked up sat too long and the moisture eroded the tank so as soon as it got to 20 psi, the water works would start.


----------



## Lanson




----------



## dgage

bradknob said:


> Bit the bullet. Little late for this build but whatever. The used one I picked up sat too long and the moisture eroded the tank so as soon as it got to 20 psi, the water works would start.


Some people do projects to actually complete said project. I do projects as an excuse to get MOAR tools.


----------



## bradknob

Lol!!

Too much truth. I must have gained no less than 5 new tools so far in this build.


----------



## bradknob

Not much git accomplished over the past few weeks. I got the carpet, vinyl, and lexan in to finish the cover.

I also got an Ibasso dx100 from a member here. Ill use it to play my lossless files to the DSP via optical cable.



















I also started on making my own remote for volume, sub, and setting control.

2 potentiometers for volume and sub level, and a button that will swap between 2 different tunes. Still waiting for the button to come in. It will illuminate blue also.










Peice of lexan and a sheet of ABS plastic.










The area around the knob will illuminate blue, to match the rest of my dash.










Crammed into place temporarily to get an idea of how it will look in place.










Hopefully in the next week or 2 I'll have this buttoned up so I can start on my pillars


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Not much git accomplished over the past few weeks. I got the carpet, vinyl, and lexan in to finish the cover.
> 
> I also got an Ibasso dx100 from a member here. Ill use it to play my lossless files to the DSP via optical cable.
> 
> Hopefully in the next week or 2 I'll have this buttoned up so I can start on my pillars


Very cool, Brad! That's a nice knob you got there! Lol

Where are you getting your lossless files?? I have purchased a few from HDTracks already...


----------



## 1FinalInstall

That's killer, love how you're matching the cup holder illumination! :thumbsup:


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Very cool, Brad! That's a nice knob you got there! Lol
> 
> Where are you getting your lossless files?? I have purchased a few from HDTracks already...



I see what u did there...


Lol. But I am known For my clean polished knob


For now, I definitely don't not torrent most of my music tho. That's bad. Someone mentioned flacit.com (not to be confused with flacid.com) in another thread but there's not much info on it. Has a huge selection of music.


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> That's killer, love how you're matching the cup holder illumination! :thumbsup:



Thank you sir...i could only wish to have a dash half as sick as the one ur putting together at the moment. That thing blows my mind every time I look at it.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I see what u did there...
> 
> 
> Lol. But I am known For my clean polished knob
> 
> 
> For now, I definitely don't not torrent most of my music tho. That's bad. Someone mentioned flacit.com (not to be confused with flacid.com) in another thread but there's not much info on it. Has a huge selection of music.


Lmao!

Yeah, you wouldn't want to down load anything from flacid.com!! :laugh:


----------



## slade1274

Thanks again for pointing me to your build. The HK system in the Summit is a bit different, so now need to figure out just how different and if I can pull signal before the processor/amp to give a clean signal to the Helix.


----------



## nineball76

bradknob said:


> Not much git accomplished over the past few weeks. I got the carpet, vinyl, and lexan in to finish the cover.
> 
> I also got an Ibasso dx100 from a member here. Ill use it to play my lossless files to the DSP via optical cable.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also started on making my own remote for volume, sub, and setting control.
> 
> 2 potentiometers for volume and sub level, and a button that will swap between 2 different tunes. Still waiting for the button to come in. It will illuminate blue also.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Peice of lexan and a sheet of ABS plastic.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The area around the knob will illuminate blue, to match the rest of my dash.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Crammed into place temporarily to get an idea of how it will look in place.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hopefully in the next week or 2 I'll have this buttoned up so I can start on my pillars


Take good care of that 24/96 Black Album.... you won't find it anymore. It was on HDTracks for a very short time. I think it's one of the few albums I have preserved in 10 different locations to make sure I never lose it. 

Glad you are enjoying the dx100. Its an incredible machine. There's not many I'd consider selling it to. :beerchug:


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Take good care of that 24/96 Black Album.... you won't find it anymore. It was on HDTracks for a very short time. I think it's one of the few albums I have preserved in 10 different locations to make sure I never lose it.
> 
> 
> 
> Glad you are enjoying the dx100. Its an incredible machine. There's not many I'd consider selling it to. :beerchug:



 I have the unicorn of Metallica albums?! I will cherish it with with my whole being...but yes, it's a mighty fine peice. Just listening to it via 3.5mm to aux, I can tell a difference. More volume for one, and there seems to be more space between instruments. Entire stage seems larger. Can't wait to see what difference running optical makes


I messed with the remote for a couple minutes last night. LEDs are too blue. Gonna throw a white one back there too and see what happens.


----------



## Jon225

Very cool. I got the flu right after my last post.....I am 100% now need to get that demo.


----------



## juiceweazel

nineball76 said:


> Take good care of that 24/96 Black Album.... you won't find it anymore. It was on HDTracks for a very short time. I think it's one of the few albums I have preserved in 10 different locations to make sure I never lose it.
> 
> Glad you are enjoying the dx100. Its an incredible machine. There's not many I'd consider selling it to. :beerchug:


Hmm I have the original CD sitting in my basement when it came out. Any clue what they were cut at?
Sorry to derail, this is an awesome build. Still drooling.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Very cool. I got the flu right after my last post.....I am 100% now need to get that demo.



That blows. Glad ur better.

Let me know when ur ready. I'm actually running to siegen lane around 4:30 to pick up the lexan of ur in the area.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> That blows. Glad ur better.
> 
> Let me know when ur ready. I'm actually running to siegen lane around 4:30 to pick up the lexan of ur in the area.


Our office is off of Industriplex so very possible I could be in the area depending if I get another run or not. I will hit you up if so.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I have the unicorn of Metallica albums?! I will cherish it with with my whole being...but yes, it's a mighty fine peice. Just listening to it via 3.5mm to aux, I can tell a difference. More volume for one, and there seems to be more space between instruments. Entire stage seems larger. Can't wait to see what difference running optical makes
> 
> 
> I messed with the remote for a couple minutes last night. LEDs are too blue. Gonna throw a white one back there too and see what happens.


Sounds like we are in the process of doing the same thing, getting lossless hooked up directly to the dsp! I listened to my first flac file on my system last week, though it was also through the 3.5mm aux in the h/u, it sounded amazing!

Where are you going to mount the ibasso??


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Sounds like we are in the process of doing the same thing, getting lossless hooked up directly to the dsp! I listened to my first flac file on my system last week, though it was also through the 3.5mm aux in the h/u, it sounded amazing!
> 
> 
> 
> Where are you going to mount the ibasso??



Yea, definitely a noticeable difference. if we're gonna put this much effort in audio, why skimp on the signal we feed it. 

Ibasso will be mounted right about here...











Lol, it won't go anywhere permanent. I'll be using it on my desk at work and stuff so it will go wherever I set it.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Yea, definitely a noticeable difference. if we're gonna put this much effort in audio, why skimp on the signal we feed it.
> 
> Ibasso will be mounted right about here...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lol, it won't go anywhere permanent. I'll be using it on my desk at work and stuff so it will go wherever I set it.


Awe man! I was hoping you were going to encase it in hand blown glass, embed it in the dash, and then project a working hologram of it on the windshield with integrated voice commands, NO, thought commands! Lol


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Awe man! I was hoping you were going to encase it in hand blown glass, embed it in the dash, and then project a working hologram of it on the windshield with integrated voice commands, NO, thought commands! Lol



Lol, that's what everyone expected. That why I went the road less traveled and threw an M Night Shamalamayannamnana twist in there. Punked y'all!


----------



## Jon225

Thanks again for the demo Brad.

Sounds really good. I am no expert but nice stage depth and width. Audiofrog tweeters sounded very detailed and fit oem location perfect. The SI mids have nice impact and blend well with the sub. Audiofrog sub was very impressive sounds very nice and accurate but can definitely get down and pretty loud while sounding great. 

I agree with the above the ibasso is a noticeable difference even over 3.5 jack. Sounded more detailed and was able to get extra volume. Looking forward to hearing it over optical.

Great fab work also. Looking forward to hearing it with some more tuning and in 3 way configuration. :laugh: Now back to listening to my crappy stock system.:worried:


----------



## bradknob

Your welcome Jon, anytime. Glad i can get another set of ears to hear it through it's progression. Hopefully next time you hear it, it won't even sound like the same vehicle you heard today. Or at least sound good enough to make you want to get started on your truck... Lol


----------



## bradknob

Made a little progress over the weekend. Started cutting the lexan....


Not sure why I waited this long to invest in a pneumatic brad nailer (besides the fact I didn't have a compressor) but made life so much easier. Best $19 I've spent in a while. Tacked the lexan to the top board of the floor...



Setup my router table. Lol



Let the plexi dust fly...





Then I traced the area on the under side that would need to be routed out so the plexi sits flush...



Notice on the edges in the pic, I fudged up a bit and there's 2 gaps....



Fixed that...



Little round over action...







Then I routed the underside of each peice, left about 1/8" for carpet and vinyl...





The top cover will be carpeted to match the cargo area, and the bottom is still undecided. I got some light gray vinyl but I'm not really feeling it. I'm thinking some ostrich skin or carbon print vinyl to change it up some. I got some samples in the way so while I wait for them to come in, I'll sand and smooth out the bottom peice.


----------



## Jon225

Wow looks great. Mighty handy with the router. Finished product should be excellent.





bradknob said:


> Your welcome Jon, anytime. Glad i can get another set of ears to hear it through it's progression. Hopefully next time you hear it, it won't even sound like the same vehicle you heard today. Or at least sound good enough to make you want to get started on your truck... Lol


Definitely made me want to get started have a few other things I need to tend to first unfortunately.


----------



## nineball76

I wonder if I had the itty bitty router table, could I be more patient and do great work like you? I have this massive pro quality table and can't do ****. 

Looks awesome man!


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Wow looks great. Mighty handy with the router. Finished product should be excellent.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Definitely made me want to get started have a few other things I need to tend to first unfortunately.



Thanks. Life always seems to get in the way of fun. What a jerk.



nineball76 said:


> I wonder if I had the itty bitty router table, could I be more patient and do great work like you? I have this massive pro quality table and can't do ****.
> 
> Looks awesome man!




Loll, im afraid I wouldn't know how to act with a legit table setup. The fear of the ghetto one flipping over and taking half my hand off keeps me patient.

I plan to build a proper table one of these days. Just waiting for this $99 ryobi/table combo, I got 5 years ago to eat ****. Lil bastard jus wont die.


----------



## slade1274

bradknob said:


> Thanks. Life always seems to get in the way of fun. What a jerk.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Loll, im afraid I wouldn't know how to act with a legit table setup. The fear of the ghetto one flipping over and taking half my hand off keeps me patient.
> 
> I plan to build a proper table one of these days. Just waiting for this $99 ryobi/table combo, I got 5 years ago to eat ****. Lil bastard jus wont die.


Exact one I have! Ha!



nineball76 said:


> I wonder if I had the itty bitty router table, could I be more patient and do great work like you? I have this massive pro quality table and can't do ****.
> 
> Looks awesome man!


And I'll happily trade it for a grown up one- you close to Tampa, Fl? Ha!:laugh:


----------



## 1FinalInstall

This thing's really starting to come together, looking great bradknob. Like the others, I can't get over this sketchy ass router setup you've got going on here. You have all this skill we're seeing in this thread, but you can't hook a router up with a couple legs and maybe some feet? For the sake of your fingers man, go buy a couple 2x4's!


----------



## nineball76

Here's some of it 
I haven't finished building it yet. Made a frame on wheels for it all, but still deciding on how to frame the front to put all the drawers in and a door on to get to the dust chute. Incra table top and ls fence. Maybe the lift is Incra as well, porter 3 hp router motor. 
















Ouch








Edit: found this, it's in the background.


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> This thing's really starting to come together, looking great bradknob. Like the others, I can't get over this sketchy ass router setup you've got going on here. You have all this skill we're seeing in this thread, but you can't hook a router up with a couple legs and maybe some feet? For the sake of your fingers man, go buy a couple 2x4's!
> 
> [/URL]
















nineball76 said:


> Here's some of it
> I haven't finished building it yet. Made a frame on wheels for it all, but still deciding on how to frame the front to put all the drawers in and a door on to get to the dust chute. Incra table top and ls fence. Maybe the lift is Incra as well, porter 3 hp router motor.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ouch
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: found this, it's in the background.




You seem to be making out alright with yours. Looks good.


Ok, I'm motivated now. To the drawing board


----------



## nineball76

This is what I was going for 
https://youtu.be/XJgI7AEajyE


----------



## Lanson

I bought this and a Jess-Em lift,
Router Table Top With Microdot Slick Surface-Carbide Router Bits | Router Bit Sets | Shaper Cutters | Saw Blades | Planer Knives | Jointer Knives | Infinity Cutting Tools

and then slapped it to a simple, inexpensive Craftsman "bench tool" support, and added some height with a few extra strips of MDF. It isn't pretty and it doesn't move around easily like something with wheels, but it is safe and I don't fear for my life using it, like I did my router before.

You can make one but I figured for the 1" MDF that it is, and the precision work that it has done to it, it is worth the price to me for what I got. I really like the micro-dot surface too, a really nice surface to work on. And I slide my router table right next to my saw and use it as an extension on those long pieces, and that adds to my safety confidence as well. 

You do incredible work, and I really like your solutions you've come up with.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Just my .02. 
I was in the exact place your are under a year ago (well not quite "exact", I don't have big enough balls to run that router setup! ). I was lucky enough to make 1 right call and it changed everything for me. Joey from 12vTools was a god send. Before you pull the trigger on anything, I would highly recommend you give him a ring. He's a wealth of knowledge and the farthest thing from a salesman. He really is there to help and is Mr. Router. Yes Joey, that is your new nickname.


----------



## bradknob

Thanks all for the info. I definitely wanna do a custom rig to tailor to my needs. Will probably get just the top and router lift and build what I need around that. Will have to get another router also..... Crap, I need to pick up a few more side jobs


----------



## bradknob

Ok so earlier I mentioned that I needed this build to still leave the rear of the jeep fully functional with zero risk of damage to all this expensive gear, so I made some inserts that will be able protect everything and easily remove when I gotta show off.

I cut some pieces that fit into the cut outs. The sub and amp ones will have the middles cut out and a grill put in place to let the amps and sub breath. With the round overs on all the edges, there was a gap in all the pieces and my OCD could not have that.

In this pic, you can see I rabbeted the edges so the dynaglass would have a little more area to bite on to.




Taped up...



Dynaglass jammed in there...





Then I just knocked it all down with the orbital...










Now I have inserts that fit perfectly and will conceal and protect everything when necessary. In fact, they may fit too perfectly. I may have to knock the edges back another 1/8" to allow for the thickness of the carpet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. At least now I can start wrapping it.


Here's what I chose... Dark graphite carpet and Ash color ostrich leather.





The Leather should be here next week some time. Until then I will finish up the remote and work on getting that digital signal thing going.


----------



## slade1274

bradknob said:


> ....they may fit too perfectly. I may have to knock the edges back another 1/8" to allow for the thickness of the carpet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. At least now I can start wrapping it.


They do, and you're going to need a hell of a lot more than 1/8", trust me. In early builds I didn't have enough tolerance and actually used clippers to shave the carpet pile so my inserts would fit. :laugh:

Before you wrap, do some test pieces to see what the spacing needs to be for your carpet. You could fabricate a gauge of sorts to check face to face distance.


----------



## bradknob

slade1274 said:


> They do, and you're going to need a hell of a lot more than 1/8", trust me. In early builds I didn't have enough tolerance and actually used clippers to shave the carpet pile so my inserts would fit. :laugh:
> 
> Before you wrap, do some test pieces to see what the spacing needs to be for your carpet. You could fabricate a gauge of sorts to check face to face distance.



Lmao... Glad you said that. First thing that came to mind last night, was using my clippers to trim the carpet then see how much needed to come off the inserts.


----------



## Lanson

Its the backing(s) that take all the space, I've found. But dude, awesome work!


----------



## quality_sound

A trick the Rockford guys taught us was to use double sided tape on the edge of your pieces. One layer for carpet, two for vinyl. Gives you enough clearance and it gives you a nice even gap. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> Its the backing(s) that take all the space, I've found. But dude, awesome work!




Thanks, this carpet actually has no backing. It's the fibers that give it its thickness. Ima just wrap the main peice and go from there.



quality_sound said:


> A trick the Rockford guys taught us was to use double sided tape on the edge of your pieces. One layer for carpet, two for vinyl. Gives you enough clearance and it gives you a nice even gap.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I've heard that trick before. Just with the rounded edges, I think the tape method would have just been more a pain in the ass


----------



## Jon225

Making pretty good progress keeps getting better and better finish line isn't too far off. Can't wait for the next demo...


----------



## quality_sound

bradknob said:


> I've heard that trick before. Just with the rounded edges, I think the tape method would have just been more a pain in the ass



Nah, it still works ok. Just add the tape to the area most in the center and roll it onto the rounded section. It's easier than it sounds and works beautifully. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Starting this weekend I'll be working for about the next 60 days straight so Ima just have to get everything done in small increments. Today I managed to get the top piece covered in carpet.

Snagged a spray gun from HF for $15...


 

I used some weldwood landau top and trim glue. This stuff is the real deal. Sprays pretty easy, gets tacky in about 10 min and still allows you to peel the fabric off and move if necessary. Once u put good bit of pressure on it, it's stuck.

I sprayed the board and back of carpet. Hard to see in the pic.







Applied the carpet



Applied glue to the back side. Cut out the holes and folded over.











And there she is for now. In the last pic you can see the sunlight shining through the lexan sheet. Het an idea of where I'm going with that. The ostrich leather should be in tomorrow. Hoping I'll be able to knock that out real quick, stick the LEDs On there and move on...


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Looking good man!


----------



## slade1274

That landau contact cement is the real deal- so much so if you get good coverage on the roundovers and carpet- possibly a 2nd coat on carpet- you can trim flush with the back side so you don't have that extra carpet thickness on the stack height. Those rolled edges will hold fine.


----------



## A-Ron

Let me know when you need some help. I'll need a break shortly from all this estrogen!


----------



## bradknob

A-Ron said:


> Let me know when you need some help. I'll need a break shortly from all this estrogen!



Lol! I know ur swimming in it now. Congrats on the twins. God bless you man, I know my one girls has taken its toll.... Dunno what 4 would do to me. 

Next time I know I'll have a day to work I'll let u know. Now I just get an hour or so in when I can. I'd like to finish tuning up the truck, I learned a few things since last time.


The vinyl came in last week....



But I don't like this one either. Then 2 days later, for whatever reason, another roll of the same **** shows up...



I didn't order or get charged for it so guess I'll have to find something to do with 2 rolls of ash, ostrich skin. I ordered something else that should be here today.

I threw the carpet covered peice in and don't realize I did it u til now, but the design flows with the scuff plate in the back. (Pic taken in the dark and poorly enhanced, should give u an idea)



Hopefully I like the new vinyl color so I can get it wrapped, put the LEDs in there and be about done in the back so I can move on to the pillars


----------



## bradknob

I was messing with the LEDs and due to the shape and size of the plexi, there's a few spots that don't reflect any light. Hard to see in the pics but it's much more noticeable in person.





Little vid cycling through the colors.



I think what I'll have to do is cut the plexi in. Peices and wrap the LEDs around them all. In that case, I had to order another strip to be able to wrap around the top and bottom plexi.


On a positive note, I got the new vinyl in and it looks much better so I went with it.





It was dark so good pics are hard to get but u get the idea.



Next Ima raise the amps so they butt up to the bottom of the board and one put a mirror in this little spot to dress it up a little bit...










Still some tying up of loose ends but the back is close to being done.


----------



## slade1274

Not going back to amp rack build... but any chance at rotating the middle one 90^ so that Ground Zero is readable? Would make for a more symmetrical look with the logos since you rotated the side ones 180^.


----------



## bradknob

slade1274 said:


> Not going back to amp rack build... but any chance at rotating the middle one 90^ so that Ground Zero is readable? Would make for a more symmetrical look with the logos since you rotated the side ones 180^.



Nah, I tried it that way and having the fins of the amp going Opposite direction made it look sloppy. The fins draw more attention than the writing, which is much more noticeable in the pics than in person


----------



## bradknob

Ok, so I cut the lexan, got the new LEDs installed, and finally fastened the two peices together with brad nails to virtually make it all one peice.

Here you can see where I cut the plexi into sections,



And all together...





I need to get it cleaned up some and raise the amps. Then I'll whip out the SLR and get some decent pics. Until then, this is the best I have for now, which doesn't do much justice.



I also ordered some dark grey vinyl to cover these 2 peices to make the look flow a little better.










Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. But mostly, I'm glad I can move on to my pillars.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Turned out great!


----------



## brett

hey man, nice job. i've checked this out here and on jeepgarage as well. i just picked up a 2011 overland, so i might be picking your brain.

have you missed your spare at all? again, this looks great!


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> Turned out great!




Thanks! It's certainly getting there.



brett said:


> hey man, nice job. i've checked this out here and on jeepgarage as well. i just picked up a 2011 overland, so i might be picking your brain.
> 
> have you missed your spare at all? again, this looks great!



Thanks! I think with the 11' you have an advantage as far as signal chain goes. Not everything is tied into the head unit like my year but I'll gladly help where I can.

Haven't missed the spare yet (knocks on wood) but I'm working on a temporary mount for it under the car in case I take a road trip and would prefer to have it.


----------



## brett

Right on, I'd be really curious to see that spare mount, if you get it done. Post it here or on the jeepgarage, if you do.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Ok, so I cut the lexan, got the new LEDs installed, and finally fastened the two peices together with brad nails to virtually make it all one peice.
> 
> Here you can see where I cut the plexi into sections,
> 
> 
> 
> I also ordered some dark grey vinyl to cover these 2 peices to make the look flow a little better.
> 
> 
> 
> Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. But mostly, I'm glad I can move on to my pillars.


I like it a lot! Turned out great!  Though I agree on a darker vinyl for those recessed pieces...


----------



## Jon225

Came out excellent. How is the tune coming along.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Came out excellent. How is the tune coming along.




Thanks. Tune hasn't changed since you heard it, just T/A and X-overs set. Once I have the GB25s in, I'll work on the tune. I hope to begin the pillars this weekend. Fingers crossed


----------



## nineball76

In the year I've owned my Ram, you've nearly finished two builds, and I haven't touched the stereo once. Ugh. Looks great man.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> In the year I've owned my Ram, you've nearly finished two builds, and I haven't touched the stereo once. Ugh. Looks great man.




Ha! It's a passion and stress relief for me. I like the building part as much if not more than the listening. Which is part of the reason I can leave anything alone and as soon as I'm done I'll probably find something to change again.


----------



## nineball76

I can blame a lot of it on the weather. It's just now getting to fiberglassing season up here. It wasn't a cold winter, but cool enough to stop progress. High 30's to mid 40's is just crap. Thought I was going to have something started at least on the Golf I bought in November. Nope. Can't decide on 2 or 3 12's.


----------



## ndm

brett said:


> hey man, nice job. i've checked this out here and on jeepgarage as well. i just picked up a 2011 overland, so i might be picking your brain.
> 
> have you missed your spare at all? again, this looks great!


Get a simple tire repair kit with a compressor and the repair goop. You will save weight. My spare weighed 79 pounds.between the spare, resonator delete and removing the factory sub, I removed 120 pounds. Of course I have added like 130 pounds of audio gear to balance that out though....lol


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Ha! It's a passion and stress relief for me. *I like the building part as much if not more than the listening*. Which is part of the reason I can leave anything alone and as soon as I'm done I'll probably find something to change again.


So true!!!

I take it as far as getting a new vehicle (project) once I have built all I can...


----------



## bradknob

So the in laws took the baby for a couple days and gave me some time, so I had to make it count. I'm working 7 days a week at the moment so I really only have a few hours in the evenings and the pillars are the most time consuming task I have left so I decided to start those. 

I want these to be as unobtrusive and oem looking as possible. Luckily for me, the pillar is nearly perfectly perpendicular to the dash so there won't be any extreme angles or tilt to the mount ring. Unluckily for me, The defrost vent is behind the pillar so that's something I will have to work around. Thought about removing it but, that's more work and destruction id rather put into it right now.



Aimed and Mocked up the ring.



It was a bit wider than the pillar so I trimmed it down





This is about how it looks in the car. Tried to get the mid and tweet as close together and on the same axis as possible







Wrapped with a wife beater and screwed a washer down the center to hold the fabric in tight 





Resined up










Got it smooth as possible before a light coat of filler. The mounting hardware that comes with these speakers is amazing. Nearly zero extra effort to get a beautiful flush mounted appearance and even has a 1/8" grove to tuck the vinyl into. Almost makes it look like I knew what I was doing.







Some filler and sanding on the driver side while the passenger side resin cured and this is where I'm at now. After numerous pillar build I think I'm getting a little more efficient at this. Probably the best result I've gotten in such a short period of time.Not bad for a few hours of work.




Hopefully another hour or 2 and they'll be ready to be wrapped with black vinyl.


----------



## fig32

They look great! You are doing an excellent job and I only wish I had the guts to tackle that, it is exactly what I wanted to do in my WK2. I have enjoyed following your build, thanks for making the time to post this.


----------



## Golden Ear

Nice job!


Sent from my mind using telekinesis


----------



## bradknob

fig32 said:


> They look great! You are doing an excellent job and I only wish I had the guts to tackle that, it is exactly what I wanted to do in my WK2. I have enjoyed following your build, thanks for making the time to post this.


Thanks man. Always a little un nerving to chop into a not so cheap vehicles interior parts. It only gets a tad easier every time.





Golden Ear said:


> Nice job!
> 
> 
> Sent from my mind using telekinesis




Thanks!


----------



## DavidRam

Wow, they look great!


----------



## nineball76

Man that washer trick is slick. I'm starting my build a soon as I get my AF ordered. 

Having now used the gb25, and having had a Ram, do you think the gb25 would fit in the Ram sails? I have my tuner on the pillar so that leaves the stock location for either mid or tweeter. The tweeter would be less obtrusive sticking out of the stock location than the mid.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Man that washer trick is slick. I'm starting my build a soon as I get my AF ordered.
> 
> Having now used the gb25, and having had a Ram, do you think the gb25 would fit in the Ram sails? I have my tuner on the pillar so that leaves the stock location for either mid or tweeter. The tweeter would be less obtrusive sticking out of the stock location than the mid.




I was just reading your post on FB...I'm sure you could fit it in the sail. Autokraftgt got these bad boys in his










I built some a pillars for the HAT l4 carbons I sold to a buddy, and he already had his tweeters in the corners of the dash by the windshield. Not quite as far apart as the sails would be in your case, but pretty close. His truck images extremely well, though the width is pillar to pillar. No further. With processing, I don't think you would run into any problems.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Wow, they look great!




Thanks.... U get that digital signal worked out in your jeep?


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Thanks.... U get that digital signal worked out in your jeep?


Not yet...  I have all the parts, but my schedule has been a lot like yours lately, so I haven't even had time to think about it... Did you get your digital player connected yet?

I did buy a few FLAC albums from HDTracks and played them through the HUs aux and it sounds fantastic! And that is just using my phone and the Onkyo app to play them...


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Not yet...  I have all the parts, but my schedule has been a lot like yours lately, so I haven't even had time to think about it... Did you get your digital player connected yet?
> 
> I did buy a few FLAC albums from HDTracks and played them through the HUs aux and it sounds fantastic! And that is just using my phone and the Onkyo app to play them...




For a split second. When I was testing the remote I made, I hooked the ibasso straight to DSP via optical and I quickly realized I will need a whole seperate tune for it. 

Right now my tweets are attenuated about 12db. Playing through optical, I couldn't even hear them. Now I gotta make a switch for my remote to toggle between different tunes. Once I get the pillars done, I'll move on to sorting that out.


----------



## nineball76

bradknob said:


> I was just reading your post on FB...I'm sure you could fit it in the sail. Autokraftgt got these bad boys in his
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I built some a pillars for the HAT l4 carbons I sold to a buddy, and he already had his tweeters in the corners of the dash by the windshield. Not quite as far apart as the sails would be in your case, but pretty close. His truck images extremely well, though the width is pillar to pillar. No further. With processing, I don't think you would run into any problems.


Yea, it's more or less a two part thing that I didn't want to start an entire thread here about, nor clutter up yours with too many questions. Just to see if they'd fit my sails mostly. As Erin mentioned there about the reflections, I feel like putting them in the sails will reduce that possibility. Then building out to the stock dash grill so the gb10 peek out, around 30° off axis. Everything being completely unobtrusive. Pillars I don't think would work for me with my tuner being there. Unless I find a new place to stick it. 

Sorry for the derail, your builds are probably the most inspiration to me actually getting started. Some day.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Yea, it's more or less a two part thing that I didn't want to start an entire thread here about, nor clutter up yours with too many questions. Just to see if they'd fit my sails mostly. As Erin mentioned there about the reflections, I feel like putting them in the sails will reduce that possibility. Then building out to the stock dash grill so the gb10 peek out, around 30° off axis. Everything being completely unobtrusive. Pillars I don't think would work for me with my tuner being there. Unless I find a new place to stick it.
> 
> Sorry for the derail, your builds are probably the most inspiration to me actually getting started. Some day.



Thanks and don't sweat it. I welcome this type of discussion in my thread.

I honestly looked into putting the Gb25 in the sails of my jeep but they're just too small, plus the GB10 just fits too damn good in there. I would def try to put the 25 in ur sails. Pics don't do justice just how compact the speaker is




Edit: I didn't mention, but just to be clear... You will probably have to build a ring or baffle for the speaker. I don't think you will be able to use the supplied mounting ring.


----------



## quality_sound

bradknob said:


> Thanks and don't sweat it. I welcome this type of discussion in my thread.
> 
> I honestly looked into putting the Gb25 in the sails of my jeep but they're just too small, plus the GB10 just fits too damn good in there. I would def try to put the 25 in ur sails. Pics don't do justice just how compact the speaker is
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: I didn't mention, but just to be clear... You will probably have to build a ring or baffle for the speaker. I don't think you will be able to use the supplied mounting ring.


The C3CX is almost identical in size and will also fit in the sails with the added benefit of being a point source so there would be less fab work.


----------



## nineball76

quality_sound said:


> The C3CX is almost identical in size and will also fit in the sails with the added benefit of being a point source so there would be less fab work.


I'm almost 100% decided on the gear I want for the Dodge, but I'll consider the illusions for another build I am planning, if I ever get the parts ordered for a new CarPC, and P Six Dsp. I just think the AF adds a sexiness to the interior of the truck.


----------



## nineball76

Oh hey Brad, we were talking about router tables and stuff before, check out the Triton Workcentre. It's like a portable table with inserts for different things, like a nice router table with fence and all. Seen it on April Wilkerson's YouTube channel.


----------



## bradknob

Interesting to know about the c3x. I tried to snag a pair around Christmas when that guy was blowing out illusion gear on eBay. then he messaged me a few days later saying he was out of stock. Really wanted to try those out.

Ima look into that table. Won't be long and I'll be looking for more projects.


----------



## quality_sound

Let me know if you want to try them. I'm seriously thinking about going to a 2-way in my R. The defroster vent is really cutting into the space for a pod. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Jon225

Looks great! I like the low profile look. Bravo finding time and energy working 7 days to tackle this and still have it come out awesome.:shocked: Can't wait to hear 3 way all tuned up. Strike that maybe I shouldn't.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Looks great! I like the low profile look. Bravo finding time and energy working 7 days to tackle this and still have it come out awesome.:shocked: Can't wait to hear 3 way all tuned up. Strike that maybe I shouldn't.




Yea, I'm feelin the low pro integrated-ish look.....


Tonight after input the baby to sleep I started sanding. Before I knew it, they were ready to wrap!





My first and last attempt at vinyl, on my ram pillars was an epic fail but I did some homework this time around...














Good profile shot. Gotta put the vent back in where the hole is...




Freaking stoked at how this came out. Can't wait to get the other one done and installed.


----------



## Jon225

You should be looks freakin perfect!


----------



## dgage

bradknob said:


> My first and last attempt at vinyl, on my ram pillars was an epic fail but I did some homework this time around...
> 
> Freaking stoked at how this came out. Can't wait to get the other one done and installed.


First, you should be stoked because that looks fantastic and I've enjoyed your build thread so far.

But come on man, how are you going to make a statement of the problems you had and the homework you did and not share? Bro foul or something. Not cool!


----------



## MoparMike

The pillars look amazing. Watching your build is really helpful for some questions that I had before starting my own. Great work!


----------



## bradknob

dgage said:


> First, you should be stoked because that looks fantastic and I've enjoyed your build thread so far.
> 
> 
> 
> But come on man, how are you going to make a statement of the problems you had and the homework you did and not share? Bro foul or something. Not cool!






MoparMike said:


> The pillars look amazing. Watching your build is really helpful for some questions that I had before starting my own. Great work!




Thanks guys....
Glad someone could take something away from the work I've done.

And ok, I'm sorry, I broke the bro code. It was rookie ass mistakes I made the first time around.

1- used crappy glue
2- didn't use heat.
3- started wrapping in the wrong spot.


This go round I used landau top and trim adhesive. Apply to pillar and fabric, Let it sit for a few min. This way, when u press the vinyl onto the pillar.... It's STUCK!

I made some relief cuts where the speaker hole is and pressed the vinyl around the baffle where the chrome trim is. This allows you to tug and stretch the fabric pretty good. Last time, I couldn't pull too much on the vinyl bc the glue wasn't holding it tight enough. Use the heat to loosen it and press the vinyl down working your way out.

I threw the pillar in the car before work, couldn't wait....


----------



## adrianp89

Those look stellar. Nice work.


----------



## dgage

Looks great! And thanks for the valuable info on working with the vinyl, appreciate it.


----------



## bradknob

Thanks all...

Hard to get good Pics in that little dark corner. Still gotta wrap the passenger side. Should have it playing this weekend.


----------



## nineball76




----------



## bradknob

Ha! If nothing else, at least it looks like it sounds good.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Thanks all...
> 
> Hard to get good Pics in that little dark corner. Still gotta wrap the passenger side. Should have it playing this weekend.


So..question for you.

I am wondering if you went without the AF speaker grill and had the goal of making the pillar as small and unobtrusive as possible, could you have pushed the speaker toward the pillar more? Looking at your in progress pics, it looks like there is more depth to be had by moving the speaker up about 3/4 inch to let the magnet clear the duct. I am not concerned with using the factory AF grill. I want mine to be completely hidden and the GB seems like the right driver for the task. 

Does my logic make sense?


And Bravo good sir!! You really did a good job with those. I really dig it.


----------



## DavidRam

Jon225 said:


> You should be looks freakin perfect!


+1 on "perfect"!


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> So..question for you.
> 
> 
> 
> I am wondering if you went without the AF speaker grill and had the goal of making the pillar as small and unobtrusive as possible, could you have pushed the speaker toward the pillar more? Looking at your in progress pics, it looks like there is more depth to be had by moving the speaker up about 3/4 inch to let the magnet clear the duct. I am not concerned with using the factory AF grill. I want mine to be completely hidden and the GB seems like the right driver for the task.
> 
> 
> 
> Does my logic make sense?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And Bravo good sir!! You really did a good job with those. I really dig it.




I get what ur saying. I think if you don't use the audiofrog mounting hardware, you could def make the pillar smaller.

The magnet clears the duct as it is now. It's maybe 3/8" from the metal. Moving it up will actually give you less space, but if you tilt the speaker a bit more to the driver, you get more depth.

See here. The red dot is where the magnet would touch metal. A tad to the right, u have more depth


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> I get what ur saying. I think if you don't use the audiofrog mounting hardware, you could def make the pillar smaller.
> 
> The magnet clears the duct as it is now. It's maybe 3/8" from the metal. Moving it up will actually give you less space, but if you tilt the speaker a bit more to the driver, you get more depth.
> 
> See here. The red dot is where the magnet would touch metal. A tad to the right, u have more depth


Awesome thanks!


----------



## dgage

I was just looking at my car (Acura TL) and looks like a similar setup of tweeter in the door sail panel and the mid in the A-pillar would work well for me too. I was originally planning to just build both into the A-pillar but like your setup better. My question for you relates to sound quality and whether you tried various alignments to see what sounded better? Thanks.

PS - I have the AF GB10/GB25 setup as well as the Illusion C3 and C4 component set to test which I like better. Will be using the Illusion C8 midbasses in the door. Not sure on source or subs yet but I'm leaning toward the AE SBP15s in IB. A pair of Alpine PDX-V9s will power everything.


----------



## lashlee

Bravo on the wrapping of the pillar. I've tried multiple times on pillars in the past with zero luck! I can't ever seem to figure out the best way to tackle it. Oh well, I'll just paint them again.


----------



## ndm

dgage said:


> I was just looking at my car (Acura TL) and looks like a similar setup of tweeter in the door sail panel and the mid in the A-pillar would work well for me too. I was originally planning to just build both into the A-pillar but like your setup better. My question for you relates to sound quality and whether you tried various alignments to see what sounded better? Thanks.
> 
> PS - I have the AF GB10/GB25 setup as well as the Illusion C3 and C4 component set to test which I like better. Will be using the Illusion C8 midbasses in the door. Not sure on source or subs yet but I'm leaning toward the AE SBP15s in IB. A pair of Alpine PDX-V9s will power everything.


You should sell me the gb10/25 combo since you like the illusion better.


----------



## dgage

ndm said:


> You should sell me the gb10/25 combo since you like the illusion better.


When I get time in the next few weeks, I'll create little pods I can put in the car and on the desk and do some comparison listening between the GB10/GB25, Illusion C3 set, Illusion C4 set, and may try a few others just for the heck of it. I have some pretty expensive measuring equipment so I will be able to measure response of each set as well. But depending on what Brad comes back with, I may be separating the tweeter and mid slightly instead of having them in a single pod. I'll test both myself but am interested in hearing his feedback.


----------



## bradknob

dgage said:


> I was just looking at my car (Acura TL) and looks like a similar setup of tweeter in the door sail panel and the mid in the A-pillar would work well for me too. I was originally planning to just build both into the A-pillar but like your setup better. My question for you relates to sound quality and whether you tried various alignments to see what sounded better? Thanks.
> 
> PS - I have the AF GB10/GB25 setup as well as the Illusion C3 and C4 component set to test which I like better. Will be using the Illusion C8 midbasses in the door. Not sure on source or subs yet but I'm leaning toward the AE SBP15s in IB. A pair of Alpine PDX-V9s will power everything.




I can't say I've done extensive testing or measuring of one set up vs the other but I have listened to quite a few in efferent configurations. Mids in pillars, tweets in dash by the windshield, tweets in sails, tweets in the pillar, mids in the dash, etc etc...

The only time I ever heard the stage wider than the vehicle was with the tweets in the sails. I'd have to say it had something to do with reflections of the window (and possibly my lack of tuning skills?) I feel that now, with the capabilities of DSPs and time alignment and such, it doesn't make a huge difference either way. I kinda go for whichever is most convenient. Like in this case, tweets in sails and mids in pillar.

I actually tried to buy a set of c3x for my pillars but the guy was out of stock after I placed my order. I like the idea of the simplicity of the point source.


----------



## dgage

Thanks Brad. I did want to keep the tweets away from the windshield to reduce reflections there byt otherwise was just going to aim, measure, and evaluate different angles and setups.


----------



## bradknob

Little non audio update....

Vinyl wrapped the center stack on the dash. Was a goldish/champagne color. Couldn't stand looking at it anymore

Before...



After...





Still gotta do the trim on the side vents and steering wheel but I think it looks 10x better


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Little non audio update....
> 
> Vinyl wrapped the center stack on the dash. Was a goldish/champagne color. Couldn't stand looking at it anymore
> 
> [/URL]


Did you have to disassemble the dash to wrap it?

I want to transform my interior too.


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Did you have to disassemble the dash to wrap it?
> 
> 
> 
> I want to transform my interior too.



Yes, I pulled them out to do it. Takes about 10 min and will make ur life much easier.

Now the steering wheel piece, trim around the vents and door handles, as far as I know can't be taken off. Not easily at least. I'll keep you posted


----------



## bradknob

Stayed up late last night, too damn late but I got the other pillars smoothed and wrapped. I also put the defrost vent, some deadener on the inside to help with any resonance, and wired up the speaker.














Now my dilemma.... Friday, just from test fitting the pillar in there for a few hours, the odor was strong enough to kill half of the few brain cells I have left. I read to spray vinegar water on it and let sit, which I did for the rear floor and it worked great. 4 days later, this pillar still puts off a really strong odor. Any ideas ion what to try next?


----------



## quality_sound

Leave the windows open. It just needs to off gas and it may take a while


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

quality_sound said:


> Leave the windows open. It just needs to off gas and it may take a while
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Figured that too but I don't want my 9 month old riding around in the fumes... But I'm too impatient.


----------



## bradknob

Had more free time and the odor on the pillars seemed to have died down some so in they go....

Ran the wires, threw a little pilyfill in there














Got them installed, whipped out the laptop and mic. Turned on the "mid" channels in the helix and..... The TMs in the doors got louder and no sound from mids. Da fuk, lmao?

Installer must have been drunk, RCA channels were all effed up. The TMs are bridged on ch 3 and 4 of each amp and only channel 3 was getting a signal. So I re-mapped everything and got every thing playing and played around with some X-over points and level matching. This is where I ended up for now

Sub... 70 on down
TM 6.5"s 70 - 385ish
Gb 2.5" 385 - 5k
Gb10 5k on up

Here with levels matched and some adjustments to get X-over points matching between drivers and no sub...






So far it's a huge improvement in focus, which level matching will do. Stage seems much larger and a tad deeper, right about where the windshield meets the hood. There def seems to be more substance with the dedicated midrange as was the plan. My ears were wrecked from all the pink noise so I can't say too much more but the overall sound is very, very natural with lots of detail. I'll get more in depth when I start shaping the response, let the gb25 break in and get some more listening under my belt. Looks to have a lot of potential.


----------



## nineball76

Wheres that website for time alignment that suggest crossover points instead of just distance and delay? So like you'll have one midrange that cuts at let's say 358 and the other might be at 425. Ever seen or thought about trying that?


----------



## bradknob

Didn't know such a thing existed. I'll search around, I would like to try it out


----------



## nineball76

I've seen it here and there, but I'm sure it's buried deep now. Erin or Nick might know. I'll see if I can help dig it up.


----------



## Jon225

Once again very nice!. Bet it is a load off now that is in and playing. Now you get to tinker.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Once again very nice!. Bet it is a load off now that is in and playing. Now you get to tinker.




Thanks. Another tuning session and I'll give you the phase 2 demo


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Thanks. Another tuning session and I'll give you the phase 2 demo


Sounds good. Will there be a phase 3 lol...


----------



## autokraftgt

Good God Brad, those Audio Frogs look amazing in the pillars. 
Your level of work is amazing and respected.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

autokraftgt said:


> Good God Brad, those Audio Frogs look amazing in the pillars.
> Your level of work is amazing and respected.


+1 they look OEM, so nice! :thumbsup:


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Brad, what's the color of the vinyl you used on the dash? Looks in between a flat & gloss black, similar sheen as a egg shell. Looks really, really nice and much better than the DiNoc fake carbon fiber. Great choice!


----------



## bradknob

autokraftgt said:


> Good God Brad, those Audio Frogs look amazing in the pillars.
> Your level of work is amazing and respected.






1FinalInstall said:


> +1 they look OEM, so nice! :thumbsup:




Thanks for the props guys, much appreciated.

The vinyl is matte anthracite metallic. I ordered about 40 sample pieces and felt it fit the vehicle best without making it look cheap or tacky. I really like the way it looks. Just need to find the time to finish wrapping everything else.


----------



## bradknob

I cleaned up the wires in the back and raised the amps up some, put it all back together and realized I forgot to put the damn remote wire back in the amp. Didn't feel like taking it all apart again so got some more tuning done on the front....



I like a strong mid bass, this is a tad much. I'll knock it down some but the midrange, omg... The midrange sounds phenomenal. It's more tonaly accurate than I've ever had in a vehicle. (Not that I have many vehicles to compare too) Staging and Space between instruments is the best I've ever heard. The GB25 is so revealing. Every little detail, they're incredible.


----------



## SHAGGS

Man-O-man, did this turn out friggin beautiful!!!!!!!
I agree with the others, that it truly looks like a factory premium-sound option!
Considering their pedigree, and all of the overwhelming reviews, these frogs are on a _very_ short list of speakers I have to try.
Plus, I like how they disappear into an all black interior. (my Focals, not so much)


----------



## bradknob

SHAGGS said:


> Man-O-man, did this turn out friggin beautiful!!!!!!!
> 
> I agree with the others, that it truly looks like a factory premium-sound option!
> 
> Considering their pedigree, and all of the overwhelming reviews, these frogs are on a _very_ short list of speakers I have to try.
> 
> Plus, I like how they disappear into an all black interior. (my Focals, not so much)




Thanks man. My wife usually has some snide comment for everything I do in the car and she hasn't mentioned them yet. So they must blend pretty well. I'll call it a win!

On the other hand, these TM65 are doin work on my door panels. First, the little
Plastic piece behind the door handle, that snaps in place and hides the bolt that holds the panel on, started rattling. Now my window switch is starting to rattle. Anywhere you touch the panel, you can feel a ton of energy behind it. In order to prevent some of the energy I'm going to fab up some home made fast rings.

I found this stuff at Walmart for $12. Anyone see a reason why it wouldn't work? It's fairly dense so I may give it a shot and see if it helps.


----------



## Lanson

I like the Walmart foam idea. 

These doors load that energy up even with the stock 6x9's. Sometimes I wonder if maybe doing a spray-on deadening coat or something more drastic may be necessary.


----------



## bradknob

fourthmeal said:


> I like the Walmart foam idea.
> 
> These doors load that energy up even with the stock 6x9's. Sometimes I wonder if maybe doing a spray-on deadening coat or something more drastic may be necessary.




I have a decent amount of deadener on the panel itself, but the things rattling are places deadener won't go.... Inside the window switch. So I figure decreasing the energy behind it is the next best step. 

I should have time mid this week to work on it. Not sure the best method, but I'll try and get some before and after RTA measurements.


----------



## bradknob

UPDATE....

Got my "fast rings" installed. I had 1" between the speaker and the door panel so plenty of space for sound waves to get behind and wreak havoc on the door.

How I measured that 1" little truck I learned back in Nam...








Luckily these are out of sight bc they're UGLY... Not easy to get a clean cut on the foam. 



Used some extra noico ccf on the sides to hold it on. That stuff sticks to everything.



Now do the good stuff....

Red is after, blue is before. These are 1/3 scaling, both times taken @ 0db gain with just the low pass crossover set



This measurement is about 100 averages taken about 3" from the speaker. 1/6 scaling. The lower range was actually a few DB louder. The peaks at 2 and 3k are about 2db lower. Above 5k the response gets kinda crazy. Probably resonance from the grill with the extra energy coming through it. I cross these under 500 so I'm not gonna sweat that.



This graph is about 100 averages taken while running the mic back and forth along the door panel about 2" away from it.

You can see not much changed until about 700-5k there's a few db drop and the response smoothed out a bit compared to the before. That's good news if ur using this in a 2 way setup.



Now the one that matters, this was about 100 averages taken moving the mic around my head from ear to ear.

You can see the overall shape of the response smoothed out a bit compared to before. Some of the dips and peaks aren't as extreme as the were before.




So there you have it. The $6 foam "brad ring" made a measurable difference. As far as does it make an audible difference... I can't really comment on that yet. After I get a little More time in the driver seat I will report back. Plus my ears are wrecked from all the pink noise in the past few days. But on my short drive to work this morning, there seemed to be less distracting noise coming from the panel than there has been but time will tell.


----------



## WhiteL02

It does seem to have helped some. I bet your grand sounds really nice.


----------



## bradknob

Now that's over with, I took a step back and thought to myself.... That's a pretty damn nasty looking response. Mainly having the mic 3" from the speaker, i felt it shouldn't be THAT bad. Even in the response pic I posted the other day, it sounded very nice but the volume I like just wasn't there. Mainly because I was cutting to match the dip I was getting between 200 and 1k. I tried different X-over points, slopes etc, but never got rid of it.

After racking my brain for a couple days, it hit me.... Bypass the oem stuff, go straight to the dsp and see if there's any difference. So I downloaded some pink noise on the Ibasso, plugged in the remote that's half assed finished and ran some noise through it and well, there it is.....

Blue is optical straight to DSP, red is aux through oem head unit and amp to dsp. Both measurements with just X-overs and time alignment set. The factory processing just sucks the life out of the mid range..... [email protected]&K!!



I let the reality sink in for a few. Figured I would just deal with what I got for now. Granted..... It still sounds really really nice. Imaging, staging, tonality, realism is about as good as I've ever had. Just sometimes I need to rock the F*** out, but the volume just isn't there. So, my next step is to get my remote finished. I am now even contemplating getting the director so I can switch between multiple tunes on the fly depending what source I'm using.... The saga continues.


But I did manage to get it here last night. Matching one of hanatsus house curves. Sounds very good. I may boost the low end a tad but I can live with this for a
Little while


----------



## bradknob

WhiteL02 said:


> It does seem to have helped some. I bet your grand sounds really nice.




Yep, may make tuning a little easier, having to make fewer cuts. Still a work in progress but it does have a very nice sound to it.


----------



## ndm

HAHA....I did the same thing but I used a blue paperclip!!


----------



## slade1274

I see your results and it reiterates my decision _*if*_ I decide to do an install in my JGC- Mine has the big daddy HK system, so it'll be even worse on processing than yours. I decided that I'd bypass the stock system entirely- or rather add a second system. Doing a pillar install for mids/tweets and possibly kicks for mid bass. Indecision would be what to do about subwoofer and head source- If I'd run a cheap CD head in the center console or just run a media player to the processor.


----------



## bradknob

slade1274 said:


> I see your results and it reiterates my decision _*if*_ I decide to do an install in my JGC- Mine has the big daddy HK system, so it'll be even worse on processing than yours. I decided that I'd bypass the stock system entirely- or rather add a second system. Doing a pillar install for mids/tweets and possibly kicks for mid bass. Indecision would be what to do about subwoofer and head source- If I'd run a cheap CD head in the center console or just run a media player to the processor.




Glad I could be a Guinea pig for someone. Lol, but glad my work can help out someone in some way. 

for most daily driving, listening through the oem system isn't really that bad. But when I wanna crank it, demo, or really enjoy all the work put into this, a second system would be necessary. For the time being, I'll run my ibasso dx100 to the helix via optical. I've been tossing around the idea of putting a head unit in the storage compartment under the factory screen. Still not out of the question but won't be in the immediate future.


----------



## FunkPnut

This is a very good looking build.

Excellent fab skills.


----------



## brett

this is good information, dude, and i'm happy you're getting it on track. im really close to ditching the 730n unit in my overland. so, i apologize if i missed it, but what are you using for your source and how are you getting digital signal?


----------



## bradknob

FunkPnut said:


> This is a very good looking build.
> 
> 
> 
> Excellent fab skills.



Thank you sir.



brett said:


> this is good information, dude, and i'm happy you're getting it on track. im really close to ditching the 730n unit in my overland. so, i apologize if i missed it, but what are you using for your source and how are you getting digital signal?



I have the oem uconnect 5. For digital signal I have an ibasso dx100 hi res media player that has digital output. I plugged it straight into the dsp. Only thing about that is that I need an outboard volume control. Which I have in the works, until I decide I want to get the director.


----------



## nineball76

IBasso ftmfw! Hmm, maybe time to rip out the stocker and throw a CarPC in there. 


Um, the iBasso digital out, volume can be controlled from the unit.


----------



## nineball76

Maybe that was just the line out.... I don't remember now.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> IBasso ftmfw! Hmm, maybe time to rip out the stocker and throw a CarPC in there.
> 
> 
> Um, the iBasso digital out, volume can be controlled from the unit.






nineball76 said:


> Maybe that was just the line out.... I don't remember now.




Yessir, the ibasso is a tank. I love it, thanks for the hook up! And I don't need you poking the beast... Lol. If everything wasn't incorporated into the oem head unit it would have been long gone.

The ibassos line out can be controlled by the head unit volume if I plug the aux cord into it. The point of the digital output was to bypass the factory processing and crap and go straight to dsp so I don't know if the oem volume control will work with it or not


----------



## nineball76

bradknob said:


> Yessir, the ibasso is a tank. I love it, thanks for the hook up! And I don't need you poking the beast... Lol. If everything wasn't incorporated into the oem head unit it would have been long gone.
> 
> The ibassos line out can be controlled by the head unit volume if I plug the aux cord into it. The point of the digital output was to bypass the factory processing and crap and go straight to dsp so I don't know if the oem volume control will work with it or not


Right, but if you're using it handheld, then you should be able to use the side Rocker volume controls, even on the digital out. Unless I'm missing how you have things connected. But I'm pretty sure the dx100 has volume control on its digital out.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Right, but if you're using it handheld, then you should be able to use the side Rocker volume controls, even on the digital out. Unless I'm missing how you have things connected. But I'm pretty sure the dx100 has volume control on its digital out.




I see what ur saying now..... Honestly I dunno why I never thought to try that lol. I know the volume on the side works for the line out. Maybe I just assumed it didn't for digital? I'll try it out next time I'm playing around in there


----------



## Babs

Wow holy smokes what a dang nice build. I know who to go to for pillar finish advice. Inspiring!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## MoparMike

bradknob said:


> Now that's over with, I took a step back and thought to myself.... That's a pretty damn nasty looking response. Mainly having the mic 3" from the speaker, i felt it shouldn't be THAT bad. Even in the response pic I posted the other day, it sounded very nice but the volume I like just wasn't there. Mainly because I was cutting to match the dip I was getting between 200 and 1k. I tried different X-over points, slopes etc, but never got rid of it.
> 
> After racking my brain for a couple days, it hit me.... Bypass the oem stuff, go straight to the dsp and see if there's any difference. So I downloaded some pink noise on the Ibasso, plugged in the remote that's half assed finished and ran some noise through it and well, there it is.....
> 
> Blue is optical straight to DSP, red is aux through oem head unit and amp to dsp. Both measurements with just X-overs and time alignment set. The factory processing just sucks the life out of the mid range..... [email protected]&K!!
> 
> 
> 
> I let the reality sink in for a few. Figured I would just deal with what I got for now. Granted..... It still sounds really really nice. Imaging, staging, tonality, realism is about as good as I've ever had. Just sometimes I need to rock the F*** out, but the volume just isn't there. So, my next step is to get my remote finished. I am now even contemplating getting the director so I can switch between multiple tunes on the fly depending what source I'm using.... The saga continues.
> 
> 
> But I did manage to get it here last night. Matching one of hanatsus house curves. Sounds very good. I may boost the low end a tad but I can live with this for a
> Little while


What wires are you taking your signal from at the stock amp? When hooking up an RTA to the one in the 15' Durango the midrange signal was very disappointing. Took signal from front mid and tweeter in the doors and 1k - 3.5 K was anywhere from 4 to 8 db down from surrounding frequencies. The dip was such that it almost looked like a speaker was missing. This was on the Uconnect 8.4 AN with the 10 speaker option and I didn't check the center channel but that isn't a stereo signal so won't help with my plans. 

The stock radio EQ is usually set with bass at -5 and mid at -4 because anything higher makes the mids very muddy. While on the RTA with pink noise the mid was raised to +4 before 1k - 3.5k started to look decent enough as a starting point for tuning with a processor and not having to boost too much in that range. Having the 8.4 AN means there is no chance that an aftermarket radio will be used but sending signal direct to the processor may be an option though it would require another volume control be added. 

Where are your Uconnect's EQ levels set?

Granted I'll be using completely different equipment, but the fact that you are very pleased when listening to the mids in your car gives me hope that the signal from the stock amp can be worked with.


----------



## autokraftgt

I'm sure there is more tuning in the works, but how does the Jeep sound compared to your Ram? I know you were pretty pleased with the Ram back in the day. Are you liking the AF's? The Ram truck has such a wide dash compared to most vehicles...just curious


----------



## bradknob

MoparMike said:


> What wires are you taking your signal from at the stock amp? When hooking up an RTA to the one in the 15' Durango the midrange signal was very disappointing. Took signal from front mid and tweeter in the doors and 1k - 3.5 K was anywhere from 4 to 8 db down from surrounding frequencies. The dip was such that it almost looked like a speaker was missing. This was on the Uconnect 8.4 AN with the 10 speaker option and I didn't check the center channel but that isn't a stereo signal so won't help with my plans.
> 
> 
> 
> The stock radio EQ is usually set with bass at -5 and mid at -4 because anything higher makes the mids very muddy. While on the RTA with pink noise the mid was raised to +4 before 1k - 3.5k started to look decent enough as a starting point for tuning with a processor and not having to boost too much in that range. Having the 8.4 AN means there is no chance that an aftermarket radio will be used but sending signal direct to the processor may be an option though it would require another volume control be added.
> 
> 
> 
> Where are your Uconnect's EQ levels set?
> 
> 
> 
> Granted I'll be using completely different equipment, but the fact that you are very pleased when listening to the mids in your car gives me hope that the signal from the stock amp can be worked with.




I'm taking signal from front doors, tweets, and sub. All the eq settings are at zero, center, and surround sound and crap is off. I was trying to avoid messing with it just to avoid clipping or anything like that. Next time I may take some measurements and see if the factory eq can help any.

I few buddies of mine, who aren't into audio like I am think I'm ridiculous crazy when I say I'm far from done, or im a bit aggravated with the results. Guess they just don't understand the amount of work involved in this, and i tend to be over critical, but I just want to get max potential from everything. So I know the majority of "normal" people would be very happy with it as it is now. But you all know how deep this rabbit hole goes...



autokraftgt said:


> I'm sure there is more tuning in the works, but how does the Jeep sound compared to your Ram? I know you were pretty pleased with the Ram back in the day. Are you liking the AF's? The Ram truck has such a wide dash compared to most vehicles...just curious



Definitely more tuning to come. With the influx of tuning and RTA threads lately, I have learned quite a bit. 

It's weird, the ram and jeep are 2 different animals. Although I never really got as good of a tune in the ram as I do with the jeep now, because I was still working on the install of the ram. I would say the technical aspect, staging, tonality, imaging etc the jeep is a step above the ram. But the impact and output of the ram....bigger drivers all around and more subs, is a step above the jeep. The output of the sub stage is actually pretty equal for both, but the AF can't hang with the 3-MKIVs in transparency and accuracy.

Both vehicles were pillar to pillar in width, but the depth of the stage in the jeep is like nothing I've personally heard before (which isn't saying much). Easily beyond the windshield.

So each system has its ups and downs but I don't regret or second guess any changes I've made. The jeep still has a ways to go and I see plenty of potential in it. So instead of swapping gear like underwear, like back in the day, I'm going to really focus on sharpening my tuning skills.


----------



## bbfoto

Fantastic install, Brad! I agree with the others that the Pillars & Sailpanels look like they are an OEM Premium upgrade. :thumbsup: The way Andy and Gary at AF designed the GB-series speaker mounts make this way easier to achieve with much less work, so props to them as well. 

Tip on cutting the foam that you used for your "F.A.S.T." rings...use an electric kitchen/carving knife...like the ones used for carving/cutting up your Thanksgiving turkey or a large roast or ham. They cut OCF like butter and it works decent on CCF as well.

I use the iBasso DX90 (which only has Coaxial Digital Out, not Optical) and the volume of it is 100% constant, not controlled by the iBasso's volume control, so you need an external digital Volume/Level control for the DSP when using it as digital source.

And the iBasso's Line Level Output is "variable" or controllable by using the volume control on the iBasso, but they are designed so that true "Line Level Output Voltage" is achieved with the unit's Volume control turned up to 100%.

.


----------



## bradknob

bbfoto said:


> Fantastic install, Brad! I agree with the others that the Pillars & Sailpanels look like they are an OEM Premium upgrade. :thumbsup: The way Andy and Gary at AF designed the GB-series speaker mounts make this way easier to achieve with much less work, so props to them as well.
> 
> 
> 
> Tip on cutting the foam that you used for your "F.A.S.T." rings...use an electric kitchen/carving knife...like the ones used for carving/cutting up your Thanksgiving turkey or a large roast or ham. They cut OCF like butter and it works decent on CCF as well.
> 
> 
> 
> I use the iBasso DX90 (which only has Coaxial Digital Out, not Optical) and the volume of it is 100% constant, not controlled by the iBasso's volume control, so you need an external digital Volume/Level control for the DSP when using it as digital source.
> 
> 
> 
> And the iBasso's Line Level Output is "variable" or controllable by using the volume control on the iBasso, but they are designed so that true "Line Level Output Voltage" is achieved with the unit's Volume control turned up to 100%.
> 
> 
> 
> .




Thanks for that info. I thought that was the case but hadn't tested it yet. I may just finish my remote and put it in there for now, in order to have digital input. Odds are, I'll end up with the director pretty soon.

I tossed the idea around of adding another head unit but I don't think there's anything that will play from an iPod/media player with digital or coax out. Not that would be cheaper than just getting the director at least. Someone correct me if
I'm wrong


----------



## ndm

Brad---What the heck happened to your photobucket pics?


----------



## bradknob




----------



## bradknob

OMG they're back....


Had a mild heart attack for a minute there.


----------



## bradknob

So, I need to do something about my door panels. They're driving me mad. The foam did stop a rattle, but seemed to have created a different one. The door handle mechanism, behind the panel is making all kinds noise now. One of my ideas was to just cram all this extra foam back there, so I decided to try a little experiment to see if it was worth it....


Skip over to my super top secret, state of the art test lab...



Basically just measured from 3 ft away with no foam then just set some foam about 6" in front of the mic then did 2 layers of foam.

With foam...




Results...




Seems to make a noticeable difference starting around 1k. So what does that mean.... Idunno lol. My speaker doesn't play that high but it may help with some road
Noise. But really, the main point of the foam would be a decoupler, or to put pressure on the inside the door panel to help with vibrations. Well, I have it in hand so I may put stuff some back there along with some ccf on some areas that contact the inner door and see if it helps any.


----------



## juiceweazel

Concrete in the doors works wonders


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Concrete in the doors works wonders




Lol.... Would be lying if I said that hadn't crossed my mind at this point.


----------



## bradknob

Guess I should mention, the reason I discovered these new resonances is that I boosted the low End from the response I posted before. Made my own house curve...

All speakers and target curve...



Here's final response over target...



This curve has a nice strong bottom end with bass still planted on the dash. Nice deep sound stage and great, realistic tonality. 


Now with that said, I finally got the helix
Software update installed. It has an input clipping indicator in it. Not sure how accurate it is, but according to the dsp, my factory amp starts clipping at vol 31 of 38. I fart louder than 31 on the head unit so there's a change a comin....


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> G
> 
> Now with that said, I finally got the helix
> Software update installed. It has an input clipping indicator in it. Not sure how accurate it is, but according to the dsp, my factory amp starts clipping at vol 31 of 38. I fart louder than 31 on the head unit so there's a change a comin....


Definitely to get those farts checked out..! Lol


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Definitely to get those farts checked out..! Lol



Haha, maybe I will RTA a few of them later on. See if there's any resonances I can fix.


----------



## seafish

Door handle mechanisms are rough, but Butyl Rubber rope is your friend!!! It can be pressed into any small gaps, and it will stick but still allow movement of individual parts. You can also wrap larger parts, like rod linkages, with psa foam. 

Also just read a post abut someone using hard grease blobs on their door mechanisms, but DEFINITELY would NOT do that without double checking the grease melting points along with your interior door temps.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/3709506-post22.html


----------



## bradknob

seafish said:


> Door handle mechanisms are rough, but Butyl Rubber rope is your friend!!! It can be pressed into any small gaps, and it will stick but still allow movement of individual parts. You can also wrap larger parts, like rod linkages, with psa foam.
> 
> Also just read a post abut someone using hard grease blobs on their door mechanisms, but DEFINITELY would NOT do that without double checking the grease melting points along with your interior door temps.
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/3709506-post22.html




Ha, I actually was just looking at that thread. I had a few ideas in my head and if they don't pan out, butyl rope will be my next purchase.


Last night I took the door apart and put ccf anywhere that may come in contact with anything else...

First I added noico deadener anywhere that didn't already have the stinger roadkill. As u can see, the panel has a bunch of pieces that clip or bolt onto each other. Plenty of
Opportunity for noise, so I just put deadener wherever I could.



Then I covered everything that could
Possibly contact the inner door card with ccf



The armrest Is made up of a couple parts that could possibly resonate so I jammed foam in whatever crevasse it would fit in



I only managed to do the driver side last night. I had to use wood clamps to get enough pressure on the panel for the clips to snap in place. Not sure if they're gonna hold but that ***** is on there. And on the 17 mile ride to work, not a single squeak! Freaking ecstatic. Amazing what a difference it does to the imaging when u don't have small rattles pulling your attention one way or the other.


Also this happened...





Probably gonna build a little mount for it down here...




This will allow my to run my iPhone and ibasso directly to the helix and bypass the whole oem system... Amongst other things but that's the main reason for the director.


----------



## juiceweazel

That sir is 1 dead door panel! Nice


----------



## nineball76

So looking at how the door is held together, what about a coat or two of something like Second Skin Spectrum? Seems like it would not allow anything to vibrate.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> That sir is 1 dead door panel! Nice



Sounds like it so far. Fingers crossed this does it. Def no more room left



nineball76 said:


> So looking at how the door is held together, what about a coat or two of something like Second Skin Spectrum? Seems like it would not allow anything to vibrate.



I was trying to be done with this using materials I already had on hand but if this doesn't cut it, sludge may be the only other option.


----------



## Lanson

Awesome job Brad, I imagine the Durango door is identical so I suspect I'll be chasing the same demons as well.


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> I'm taking signal from front doors, tweets, and sub. All the eq settings are at zero, center, and surround sound and crap is off. I was trying to avoid messing with it just to avoid clipping or anything like that. Next time I may take some measurements and see if the factory eq can help any.
> 
> It's weird, the ram and jeep are 2 different animals. Although I never really got as good of a tune in the ram as I do with the jeep now, because I was still working on the install of the ram. I would say the technical aspect, staging, tonality, imaging etc the jeep is a step above the ram. But the impact and output of the ram....So each system has its ups and downs but I don't regret or second guess any changes I've made. The jeep still has a ways to go and I see plenty of potential in it. So instead of swapping gear like underwear, like back in the day, I'm going to really focus on sharpening my tuning skills.


Finally got caught back up on the build. Looks great as all the others have said. All I can do is marvel at the courage to try and the skill to produce. The RTA and tuning is something I can participate in with my RAM.

Have you (or ever heard of anyone) measuring the electrical signals out of the HU (post amp) in the electrical domain versus audio domain which have the speakers and listening environment influencing the measurements?

I have thought about trying that with REQ on the laptop, but was worried about the differential outputs on the HU (post amp) and the laptop audio in being referenced to ground.

Is that something you get out of the HelixPro during the setup process?

Like you, I kept all of the EQ settings to flat and off. I used front and rear doors slightly biased to the fronts. That made the MS-8 happier with level (and I got the rear parksense back which was a bit of a bonus).


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Finally got caught back up on the build. Looks great as all the others have said. All I can do is marvel at the courage to try and the skill to produce. The RTA and tuning is something I can participate in with my RAM.
> 
> 
> 
> Have you (or ever heard of anyone) measuring the electrical signals out of the HU (post amp) in the electrical domain versus audio domain which have the speakers and listening environment influencing the measurements?
> 
> 
> 
> I have thought about trying that with REQ on the laptop, but was worried about the differential outputs on the HU (post amp) and the laptop audio in being referenced to ground.
> 
> 
> 
> Is that something you get out of the HelixPro during the setup process?
> 
> 
> 
> Like you, I kept all of the EQ settings to flat and off. I used front and rear doors slightly biased to the fronts. That made the MS-8 happier with level (and I got the rear parksense back which was a bit of a bonus).




Hey man, been a while....

Not sure I get what u mean....You mean trying to get an idea of the X-over points and response and such that the head unit would produce "in a perfect environment"? That, I have not seen. 

Figured I would waste My efforts just getting around the oem system rather than trying to make it work.


----------



## phant0omx

Awesome build!

I've started messing with my 2012 Overland and your build is inspiring.

Couple of questions, how long were your speaker wire lengths and what size/where did you get the tech flex sheathing? 

I've got some of the same 12 gauge wire and was thinking about down sizing to 16 gauge, but since you've done it, I should be able to do it too.


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Hey man, been a while....
> 
> Not sure I get what u mean....You mean trying to get an idea of the X-over points and response and such that the head unit would produce "in a perfect environment"? That, I have not seen.
> 
> Figured I would waste My efforts just getting around the oem system rather than trying to make it work.


Yes, I think you understand what I was getting at.


----------



## bradknob

phant0omx said:


> Awesome build!
> 
> I've started messing with my 2012 Overland and your build is inspiring.
> 
> Couple of questions, how long were your speaker wire lengths and what size/where did you get the tech flex sheathing?
> 
> I've got some of the same 12 gauge wire and was thinking about down sizing to 16 gauge, but since you've done it, I should be able to do it too.


I had 100' of wire and I just cut it into 6 even lengths for the front stage. It was more than enough. The 12 gauge is really overkill, but I had it so I used it. 16ga would be ideal.

The techflex I ordered from eBay. I think it was 1/4", but just fyi.... 100' of tech flex does not cover 100' of wire. Lol.





dengland said:


> Yes, I think you understand what I was getting at.




I searched also and thought about how I could figure it out myself but in the end just wasn't sure how it if I even felt like dealing with it.


But the past week I been working on getting the director up and running...... Built a little holder for it out of plexi and wrapped it in vinyl...





To tune, you have to plug the laptop into the director so ran an extension to the console so I don't have to keep taking it out. Drilled a hole in the console



Connected these lil puny ass power and ground wires,





Sliced my finger open....




(Did dishes immediately after)

Realized I didn't have a hex key for these little ass screws....



Ran to the store to buy one. Finally got everything in place...











Played with it for a few min but could not get it to update. Computer wouldn't recognize it. Fiddled some more, dsp wouldn't recognize it. EFF it, going to bed.

Next day, called my dealer, we ran through a series of resets, re-uploads, re- everything but to no avail. He connects me with Hybrid, new helix distributor for US, we run through pretty much the same routines, again to no avail. Now, wiring and everything's gotta come back out and sent back .

Moral of the story.... Test everything before you pull your car apart to run wiring and
Put back together. And don't be a dumbass with a razor blade in your hand.


----------



## juiceweazel

Bummer on both accounts


----------



## Jon225

Wow that sucks.....How is the tune coming along.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Bummer on both accounts






Jon225 said:


> Wow that sucks.....How is the tune coming along.




Yea pretty frustrating, but at least I'm not stuck without music until it comes back.

I have a pretty solid tune on it now. I kinda held off once I decided to get the director, knowing I would basically have to start over. Solid enough to demo if u wanna hear it sometime next week.


Also don't think I ever posted any decent ****s of the back once I raised the amps...


----------



## Jon225

Looks great very nice fit and finish. May try to get with you next week. I'm sitting in a field in Geismar waiting to see if I get another run or not...Call something in lol.


Edit: Heading to Norco. Ha..


----------



## optimaprime

Well damn that blows director is messed up. But hey it looks great


----------



## bradknob

Been spending so much time inside the vehicle, had to take a step back and remember she's beautiful on the outside too.

Got her shined up



Vinyl wrapped a few chrome pieces in the back, to match the paint.




Director should be here Monday, so hopefully this one good and I get back to tuning.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Been spending so much time inside the vehicle, had to take a step back and remember she's beautiful on the outside too.


That's a damn good lucking GC, bro!


----------



## bradknob

Thanks dude, love this vehicle.

Another view...



















I may re-do the interior pieces that I previously wrapped with the 3m. The 3m vinyl is so much better than the oracal stuff I used first time. There's a few spots on the inside where the vinyl never did stick well. No one would ever notice it but I do, and it's annoying.


----------



## WhereAmEye?

bradknob said:


> No one would ever notice it but I do, and it's annoying.


Like that one wire you have to extend under the trim and no one would notice but you hate it and even if the exterior looks good all you can think about is that one dang screw up

I know the feeling


----------



## Jon225

Did your Director come in today.


----------



## bradknob

WhereAmEye? said:


> Like that one wire you have to extend under the trim and no one would notice but you hate it and even if the exterior looks good all you can think about is that one dang screw up
> 
> I know the feeling




lol, yeaaaa you know what I'm talkin about.



Jon225 said:


> Did your Director come in today.



Yep, installed it and it fired right up this time. Did a quick 1 hour tune and it's giving me exactly what I was looking for....A flatter response to start with and more volume. More volume than I need actually. 

I just ran my iPhone straight to the dsp via 3.5mm to RCA. With only X-overs and time alignment set

Orange = response straight to dsp
Green = response going through factory system
Blue= response I ended up with last night










Was shooting frontage JBL curve. Top end lacks some of the sparkle I like but it made the stage deeper. On certain tracks, vocals are on top of the hood. Bottom end is a little blah, but it's something I can fix easily with a little time.

Sounds like a completely different system than before. Excited to see where I can go with it.


----------



## Black Rain

I am curious as to how you feel your is performing considering that it is up firing from the spare-tire hole? Reason is, I have heard that placing subs in that manner is a very bad idea for SQ purposes. I have considered doing this in my vehicle (with shallow subs) but got hesitant after hearing this.


----------



## Dewey

I'm curious as well


----------



## bradknob

I don't feel it's an issue at all. My sub bass is very accurate and still sits right on top the dash. I have zero (that I can hear from the driver seat) resonance of rear panels you normally get from firing subs into the rear hatch. I get more output than I ever use.

This is the third vehicle I've had with the same sub orientation and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Add the practicality of it, I don't see a reason not to run it this way.


----------



## Black Rain

Brad thanks for your views on that.


----------



## bradknob

Got a little more tuning done last night. It's much easier getting a flat response now. Takes a lot less EQ.

Here's all speakers. I need to work on a few spots, like the X-over point of doors and mids. This has an extremely focused center, almost too much to where it seems I may have lost some width? Haven't had much time to tell really. Give it a few days, my ears are wrecked



The final response...



Here I was aiming for the JBL curve. I'm really trying to try a few curves out and tweak them to my liking. I need to roll off the top end a bit in this one, a little too bright. It actually hurts my ears well before I max out the volume.

There's actually a SQ competition a few miles from my house on the 28th of this month. First one I ever heard of around here, ever. I'm supposed to be out of town that weekend so I'm trying to see what I can work
Out. I'd love to have it judged and get some
Professional feedback. We'll see what happens.


----------



## Jon225

What source are you using there. Looks pretty good. 

Where is that comp and it is it sq only or spl too or is that a dumb question around here. .


----------



## brumledb

bradknob said:


> Got a little more tuning done last night. It's much easier getting a flat response now. Takes a lot less EQ.
> 
> Here's all speakers. I need to work on a few spots, like the X-over point of doors and mids. This has an extremely focused center, almost too much to where it seems I may have lost some width? Haven't had much time to tell really. Give it a few days, my ears are wrecked
> 
> 
> 
> The final response...
> 
> 
> 
> Here I was aiming for the JBL curve. I'm really trying to try a few curves out and tweak them to my liking. I need to roll off the top end a bit in this one, a little too bright. It actually hurts my ears well before I max out the volume.
> 
> There's actually a SQ competition a few miles from my house on the 28th of this month. First one I ever heard of around here, ever. I'm supposed to be out of town that weekend so I'm trying to see what I can work
> Out. I'd love to have it judged and get some
> Professional feedback. We'll see what happens.




I just heard about that event as well. I am going to try to make it down. I need to figure out how to find out about these things further in advance. Any idea about the particulars, like how many are competing and what time it starts? 

What class would you be competing in?


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> What source are you using there. Looks pretty good.
> 
> 
> 
> Where is that comp and it is it sq only or spl too or is that a dumb question around here. .



This is just using my iPhone straight into the DSP. I listen to that %95 of the time, but Ima work on the digital input shortly.

Shows at tiger audio in gonzales it's both sq and SPL. I feel like I'd be the only one competing in SQ around here lol.



brumledb said:


> I just heard about that event as well. I am going to try to make it down. I need to figure out how to find out about these things further in advance. Any idea about the particulars, like how many are competing and what time it starts?
> 
> What class would you be competing in?













There's a few FB pages I'm a member of that have all the info for the shows. Look for "southern soundoff" and request to join. Not sure of the number of SQ competitors, really can't imagine it be a whole lot.

I'm pretty clueless as far as competition goes, but looking at the rule book, I think I would compete in street class.


----------



## Jon225

Reason I asked if Spl also you may not get a "professional sq judge" if not expecting many in that category. I would still go if I were you may get some decent feedback. Sucks I will probably be working until 3:00 or so.


----------



## bradknob

It's a MECA sanctioned event so there must be a certified judge. Ima try to make it, my wife will be out of town also, so I'll have my little girl with me. I guess 10 months old is a good time to get her first hair trick


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> It's a MECA sanctioned event so there must be a certified judge. Ima try to make it, my wife will be out of town also, so I'll have my little girl with me. I guess 10 months old is a good time to get her first hair trick


Skimmed over that part. Don't forget the ear muffs.


----------



## bradknob

bradknob said:


> ...This has an extremely focused center, almost too much to where it seems I may have lost some width? Haven't had much time to tell really. Give it a few days, my ears are wrecked




Well, I'm an idiot.

On the way home I played some tracks that I knew had some width, and everything played dead center. I forgot to change the damn channel routing in the DSP. For aux input, it comes pre set LRLRLRLRLR.

The way I have Everything wired, it should be LLLLRRRRLR. 

Back to tuning.....


----------



## matdotcom2000

Are you coming the the college station meet that we have near houston?


----------



## bradknob

matdotcom2000 said:


> Are you coming the the college station meet that we have near houston?




You have more info on it? Date, place etc?

Doubt I'll have time for a 12 hour round trip road trip anytime soon, but I've done crazier.


----------



## Lanson

This location is how the majority of my builds end up, and each one has been great. Subs in the trunk firing up should have no disadvantages that I can see. However it would be best to place the sub as far back as you can, for obviously loading effects against that back wall.



Black Rain said:


> I am curious as to how you feel your is performing considering that it is up firing from the spare-tire hole? Reason is, I have heard that placing subs in that manner is a very bad idea for SQ purposes. I have considered doing this in my vehicle (with shallow subs) but got hesitant after hearing this.


----------



## Black Rain

Thanks, Fourthmeal.


----------



## bradknob

Feel like a pro already...










So do they just not do disk drives on computers any more? Just realizing that none of the eight computers I have immediate access to have disk drives. I don't have one in my car and I need to get this disk onto my iPhone, or ibasso....first world problems are a *****!


----------



## brumledb

Would you mind sharing a copy once you get it in digital format?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Feel like a pro already...
> 
> So do they just not do disk drives on computers any more? Just realizing that none of the eight computers I have immediate access to have disk drives. I don't have one in my car and I need to get this disk onto my iPhone, or ibasso....first world problems are a *****!



Did the CD come with instructions?


----------



## bradknob

Lmao..... Kinda, actually.


It explains what the judges will be listening for in each track.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Lmao..... Kinda, actually.
> 
> 
> It explains what the judges will be listening for in each track.


No, I meant instructions on how to get that plastic wrap off of a CD case, I always have a hard time with that ****!!! Lmao 


Did you order it off Amazon?


----------



## bradknob

Ha! Oh..... I had to google how to use the cd itself. I laid my iPhone on it and it didn't play 

I got it directly from meca website


----------



## dgage

I have a single desktop in the basement as my server. None of my other devices have DVD drives any more so I bought an external DVD/Bluray drive that I could plugin when needed. I bought an external LG BE14 DVD/Bluray drive and it has been going strong for over a year now. I picked mine up at Best Buy as I sort of needed it quickly and don't have any complaints.


----------



## nineball76

DavidRam said:


> No, I meant instructions on how to get that plastic wrap off of a CD case, I always have a hard time with that ****!!! Lmao
> 
> 
> Did you order it off Amazon?


I always have a sharp knife on me. Run the knife down the case where the hinge is. Test turns the plastic into like an envelope. Then I run the knife right up the edge where the sticker seal is. 

Maybe a full on write up, chock full of pictures on how to open a Cd. Kids these days don't know the struggle.


----------



## DavidRam

nineball76 said:


> I always have a sharp knife on me. Run the knife down the case where the hinge is. Test turns the plastic into like an envelope. Then I run the knife right up the edge where the sticker seal is.
> 
> Maybe a full on write up, chock full of pictures on how to poem a Cd. Kids these days don't know the struggle.


This conversation reminds me of Judah Friedlander on immigration! "_To the seal the borders, hire the company that makes DVD wrappers... it takes an hour and half to open a DVD wrapper..._" Lol
*Skip to 3:15*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNOmiOK-C9A


----------



## bradknob

Last night was prob the last time I would have before the competition to do any tuning so I got a couple more hours in and ended up here....










I still see a few spots that I can improve upon, but it's going to have to do for now. I dunno if the 1.5db bumps and dips will even make a difference if I did smooth them out but I'd like to try. Really tho, it sounds amazing. I'd have to say it's the most dialed in I've ever had. The level of detail is the best I ever heard. Still hearing things in the music I've never noticed before.

I'm excited about this weekend. I'd really like to get some feedback as to where to go from here.

Although, I think I found another issue... While the response from bypassing the oem system improved quite a bit, and takes a lot less Eq, the mids are still pretty rough. By the time I level match and shape the final curve of the 2, I've just about used all 31 bands for each channel.

I've measures the gb25 on my desktop and they play pretty flat. I've measures them with the mic 3" from the cone and the response is a little flatter than when measured by the head but not a whole lot. Which leads me to believe....it's the pillars. Looking at it now, the vent for the defrost is about 2" from magnet of the speaker. Even though the vent buts up against the vent grill behind the pillar, it's not an air tight seal, so I'm wondering if this is causing the ragged response.

Here's the response of the mids with no EQ applied










Here's the vent, there's a grill that snaps in place, not installed in the pic


----------



## dgage

Looks good and glad it sounds good.

Try putting quite a few layers or blue tape over the vent to see if that cleans things up any, which will tell you the vent is interfering. Then you might need to seal the back of the GB25.


----------



## juiceweazel

That looks pretty dialed in. I'm sure it sounds fantastic.
If it is the vent, is sealing it up going to cause other problems? Is there a way to seal it for just competitions & remove the temporary seal after?


----------



## bradknob

The vent deal hit me this morning on the way to work.... Part of my illness is not being able to enjoy the beautiful music spread across my windshield, rather I try to pick apart every little flaw and dwell on it until I figure a way to fix it. Lol

When I get time I'll take some more measurements with the vent covered. May even make a small pod and measure it again and see what kinda results I get with the mid sealed up.


----------



## bradknob

Finally got the LEDs wired up properly...











Me Likey


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Finally got the LEDs wired up properly...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Me Likey


What is the specific brand of carpet that you used? And where did you buy it?


----------



## Jon225

Let us know how you do today and impressions on the event. Good luck.


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> What is the specific brand of carpet that you used? And where did you buy it?



I bought it from yourautotrim.com, but I actually had to mist some spray paint on it to get close. It doesnt match perfectly but unless the sun is shining directly on it with the hatch open, u can barely tell. 



Jon225 said:


> Let us know how you do today and impressions on the event. Good luck.



It was a cool show. Typical SPL crew showed up. MECA hasn't been here and the rules
Are a little different. All measurements are at the headrest instead of kicks or on dash, so numbers are lower. Still fun to watch. 

This truck is insane. Was minus one sub, hence the wood insert, and shattered his windshield at 162db. 

























For SQ, 5 cars competed, everyone in a different class so I killed my class with a 1st place. Lol, but the PHAT install award win made It worth while.

I had to leave before results were announced, but I scored a 70. The judge said it was his first show and to take
It with a grain of salts. he was certified as a 1x judge but will soon fore-go training to judge 2 and 3x shows.










Member Brumledb showed up with his badass Silverado. Such a clean truck. I think we both were kinda in the same boat.... Never having heard a proper SQ vehicle both of us were looking to see where we stand. I may have left more confused because our vehicles sound pretty different..... His was laid back, nice detail and tonality where mine , compared to his, seemed more in your face and maybe more colored? Maybe it was our taste in music. He runs great equipment so maybe it call came down to tune and personal preference.

I'm waiting on the guy to send me my score sheet song can see his thoughts and start tweaking again.


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> For SQ, 5 cars competed, everyone in a different class so I killed my class with a 1st place. Lol, but the PHAT install award win made It worth while.


Nice!


----------



## brumledb

Congrats on the wins. Looks like you won a good bit of hardware. It was definitely nice to finally meet a fellow DIYMA member and check out their vehicle.

Yeah, our vehicles definitely sound different. If someone said I had to describe the difference between our vehicles with one word, I would describe yours as "Tight" and mine "Loose". I know those aren't really Sound Quality descriptive terms but that is what I kept thinking when listening to your Jeep. "Wow, this just sounds way tighter than mine". The way the judge was talking about yours I am guessing that "tightness" is a good thing. 

If I manage to make it out to Aggieland in June, I shouldn't have any doubts left about what an SQ car should sound like. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

brumledb said:


> Congrats on the wins. Looks like you won a good bit of hardware. It was definitely nice to finally meet a fellow DIYMA member and check out their vehicle.
> 
> Yeah, our vehicles definitely sound different. If someone said I had to describe the difference between our vehicles with one word, I would describe yours as "Tight" and mine "Loose". I know those aren't really Sound Quality descriptive terms but that is what I kept thinking when listening to your Jeep. "Wow, this just sounds way tighter than mine". The way the judge was talking about yours I am guessing that "tightness" is a good thing.
> 
> If I manage to make it out to Aggieland in June, I shouldn't have any doubts left about what an SQ car should sound like.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I know we briefly discussed tuning methods, and thinking about it now, the tune you listened to was focused on level matching adjacent speakers over matching a specific response curve. On this tune, the levels were very tightly matched (there, tight is an SQ term now lol) but at the cost of tonality. Which was reflected in my score.










My image off center was a dumb mistake on my part. I tune how I drive, with a slight gangsta lean. I didn't think to fix it for before judging.

Tonality, is hindered by the fact that it takes all 31 eq bands to get to the response it has now. Which leads me to my earlier post about the pillars. I forgot to save the measurements but i shoved some rags in the vent and the response slightly flattened out. Not enough to redo the pillars.... 

Although..... I shoved a rag in the crack between the windshield and pillar, and the response flattened out greatly. Enough to find a way to get the GB25s sealed. So that's the next order of business.


----------



## brumledb

I took my pods out yesterday. Now I'm rocking GB25's in the stock location and extant/morel tweets flush in pillar (temporary till glass something in). Now I fall into Street Mod class.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Damn that was quick... You get any tuning time with them? What do you think so far


----------



## Babs

bradknob said:


> I know we briefly discussed tuning methods, and thinking about it now, the tune you listened to was focused on level matching adjacent speakers over matching a specific response curve. On this tune, the levels were very tightly matched (there, tight is an SQ term now lol) but at the cost of tonality. Which was reflected in my score.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My image off center was a dumb mistake on my part. I tune how I drive, with a slight gangsta lean. I didn't think to fix it for before judging.
> 
> Tonality, is hindered by the fact that it takes all 31 eq bands to get to the response it has now. Which leads me to my earlier post about the pillars. I forgot to save the measurements but i shoved some rags in the vent and the response slightly flattened out. Not enough to redo the pillars....
> 
> Although..... I shoved a rag in the crack between the windshield and pillar, and the response flattened out greatly. Enough to find a way to get the GB25s sealed. So that's the next order of business.


Interesting.. I'd wanna know what does "pulls slightly left" mean? Does it mean the image is spot on or well-focused but steered left of where it should be, or is it ghosting or drifting a little left? You might have gotten that info from them. Nice job!

Tightly matched levels at the cost of tonality.. I would have definitely had a deer-headlights look. ?

I thought I read somewhere the GB25 was dialed in for a sealed setup, whereas the GB40 was setup expecting IB placement, usually in doors. Could be wrong on that, but may explain your finding.


----------



## bradknob

Babs said:


> Interesting.. I'd wanna know what does "pulls slightly left" mean? Does it mean the image is spot on or well-focused but steered left of where it should be, or is it ghosting or drifting a little left? You might have gotten that info from them. Nice job!
> 
> Tightly matched levels at the cost of tonality.. I would have definitely had a deer-headlights look. ?
> 
> I thought I read somewhere the GB25 was dialed in for a sealed setup, whereas the GB40 was setup expecting IB placement, usually in doors. Could be wrong on that, but may explain your finding.




Image is focused but planted left of center. When I drive and lean slightly to the right on my console, the image is directly on the center of the dash.

When I say at the cost of tonality.... I mean that the majority of my EQ bands are used for level matching left and right sides. Leaving fewer bands to shape the response of both speakers combined afterwards.


----------



## Babs

bradknob said:


> Image is focused but planted left of center. When I drive and lean slightly to the right on my console, the image is directly on the center of the dash.
> 
> When I say at the cost of tonality.... I mean that the majority of my EQ bands are used for level matching left and right sides. Leaving fewer bands to shape the response of both speakers combined afterwards.



Interesting.. Yeah as I learn, I realize you can have the sides matching lovely, but some things happen when played together. When I review Kyle's YouTube tuning vids I see his steps of individual EQ, then the "pairs" EQ as next step. So I guess that's what you ran into. I noticed my best tune on the last iteration was after going the full distance of individual, then pairs, then by ear up through the spectrum to center image, then overall. Kinda full circle. But man it's some work ain't it. 


Sent from iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Yep, definitely a lot of work. You can easily waste away 3 hours fiddling in there. And sometimes come out feeling like you accomplished nothing lol. Best way to learn I guess.

I have watched all of Kyles videos. Wealth of info. My issue is that the response of my mids is so ragged, I run out of EQ before I can make the whole rounds of adjustments. Most of my time lately has been trying
To find the most efficient way get the best of both worlds and find a good solid medium.

For instance. Here's both mids and here's what my EQ looks
Like (left = red right = orange combined = green)



















Not horrible but still work that can be done. I guess I could try 1/6 scaling and that would eliminate some of the adjustments but what the fun in that.


----------



## Babs

The struggle is real.


----------



## Jon225

Congrats Brad. Is the door panel resonance something new. I didn't seem to notice when it was a two way setup. 

Lowest score 3/6 for stage height...... :icon_bs:Seemed decently high when I heard it although I am no judge and again I heard two way with different tune. Anyway back to tweaking you go.


----------



## bradknob

Thanks Jon, funny thing about the panel resonance.... All the **** I been through, and work I've put in, I haven't heard a peep out of my door panels in weeks. On the MECA disk, there's a bass resonance test that sounds like I don't have an ounce of treatment on my doors. It's brutal. Lol, first time I heard that track I almost cried.

I guess my stage is too high. Sometimes vocals seem to come from almost behind the rearview mirror. Maybe Brumledb will chime in with his score. His stage seemed to sit right on the dash. I think I even mentioned that to him when I heard his truck, how nice his stage height was.

If you're in the area let me know, I'll give you a listen. Or maybe I can find an excuse to give you a run to the plant lol


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Thanks Jon, funny thing about the panel resonance.... All the **** I been through, and work I've put in, I haven't heard a peep out of my door panels in weeks. On the MECA disk, there's a bass resonance test that sounds like I don't have an ounce of treatment on my doors. It's brutal. Lol, first time I heard that track I almost cried.
> 
> I guess my stage is too high. Sometimes vocals seem to come from almost behind the rearview mirror. Maybe Brumledb will chime in with his score. His stage seemed to sit right on the dash. I think I even mentioned that to him when I heard his truck, how nice his stage height was.
> 
> If you're in the area let me know, I'll give you a listen. Or maybe I can find an excuse to give you a run to the plant lol


Sounds good. Will do.


----------



## brumledb

bradknob said:


> Damn that was quick... You get any tuning time with them? What do you think so far


It was actually unintentional. I had some spare time Monday so decided to see if I could fit an Illusion C3cx into the stock location, it didn't fit. I had been planning to install the AF's later this summer but since I already had everything off, I thought why not go ahead and do it. 

I did a bit of tuning last night just to get it somewhat bearable for my drive today. So at this point I really can't compare them to the Scans and these are mounted mostly-off-axis.


----------



## brumledb

bradknob said:


> Maybe Brumledb will chime in with his score. His stage seemed to sit right on the dash. I think I even mentioned that to him when I heard his truck, how nice his stage height was.


Apparently my Stage Height was killing it  

Yep, you did mention that you thought my stage height was good. 









[/URL][/IMG]


----------



## Jon225

brumledb said:


> Apparently my Stage Height was killing it
> 
> Yep, you did mention that you thought my stage height was good.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/URL][/IMG]


Very nice. Was this your first comp as well. 

What was the -2 in the first colum for. 

I would like to hear your truck one day as well. What part of LA are you from.


----------



## brumledb

Yeah that was my first comp. The -2 was for speaker hiss due to gains being a bit high. It really wasn't that noticeable but with engine off and some of the judges test tracks it must have have been fairly noticeable to the judge. I knew it was there just didn't have time to correct it. 

I live in Monroe but my wife's family lives in Laplace so I get down that way a fair amount. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## dengland

brumledb said:


> Yeah, our vehicles definitely sound different. If someone said I had to describe the difference between our vehicles with one word, I would describe yours as "Tight" and mine "Loose". I know those aren't really Sound Quality descriptive terms but that is what I kept thinking when listening to your Jeep. "Wow, this just sounds way tighter than mine". The way the judge was talking about yours I am guessing that "tightness" is a good thing.


Brad - Were you basically following the Hanatsu curve?

Brumledb - What does your target look like?


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Brad - Were you basically following the Hanatsu curve?
> 
> 
> 
> Brumledb - What does your target look like?




Actually, the tune that was judged was targeted at the JBL curve. Now that I can store 22 tunes, Ima put a few different ones in there so I can do some A/B testing .


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Congrats, that's awesome Brad!!


----------



## brumledb

dengland said:


> Brad - Were you basically following the Hanatsu curve?
> 
> 
> 
> Brumledb - What does your target look like?




Whitledge Curve.


----------



## bradknob

Alright so the past couple days I've been experimenting. Whipped up a quick sealed pod for the GB25s... (The baffle is actually press fit in there with a couple screws holding it in place, not %100 sealed)



I wired it up and propped it up to about the same height it was when in the pillar. I took a bunch of measurements, on axis, off axis tilted back , upside down left and right, up and down and here's the best result I got. This is the pod sitting on the dash about 45 degree off axis. I was surprised at the difference when the pod was propped up vs sitting on the dash...

Propped up



On dash...



I forgot to take measurements with no X-overs when in the pillar, so here's the measurements from a couple days ago.

Orange is in the pillar, 390hz-6200hz. No EQ or TA

The blue (sealed) is 290hz with lowpass bypassed with no EQ or time alignment.





Quite a significant difference. And this is with the baffle not sealed in the pod. I think just this measurement alone is enough to warrant a pillar rebuild. Before I defeated the X-overs for the sealed pod, and they were playing the same settings as the orange in the pic, I immediately noticed a warmth to the mid compared to before. (Kinda sad when you are that familiar with pink noise). Just with the one sealed mid, I did notice a slightly better focus in image, and some cues that used to be far left (coming exactly from the speaker) seamed to have shifted over toward the center some. Making the exact location of the speaker less obvious. This is all with the tune I had already set, so I think it would be beneficial to get these bad boys sealed up. I will start on it tonight.


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> Congrats, that's awesome Brad!!




Thanks sir! Glad to see you back in action. Hope all is well with you. I was beginning to have withdrawals from the C10 porn.


----------



## brumledb

Wow, that pod really made a difference. What volume do you think the speaker is actually "seeing" since the baffle is recessed into the pod a bit? I know on the AF site it says they can be used in as small as 0.2L. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## seafish

Is the difference in repsonse partially due to backwave interference??


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Alright so the past couple days I've been experimenting. Whipped up a quick sealed pod for the GB25s... (The baffle is actually press fit in there with a couple screws holding it in place, not %100 sealed)
> 
> 
> 
> I wired it up and propped it up to about the same height it was when in the pillar. I took a bunch of measurements, on axis, off axis tilted back , upside down left and right, up and down and here's the best result I got. This is the pod sitting on the dash about 45 degree off axis. I was surprised at the difference when the pod was propped up vs sitting on the dash...
> 
> Propped up
> 
> 
> 
> On dash...
> 
> 
> 
> I forgot to take measurements with no X-overs when in the pillar, so here's the measurements from a couple days ago.
> 
> Orange is in the pillar, 390hz-6200hz. No EQ or TA
> 
> The blue (sealed) is 290hz with lowpass bypassed with no EQ or time alignment.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quite a significant difference. And this is with the baffle not sealed in the pod. I think just this measurement alone is enough to warrant a pillar rebuild. Before I defeated the X-overs for the sealed pod, and they were playing the same settings as the orange in the pic, I immediately noticed a warmth to the mid compared to before. (Kinda sad when you are that familiar with pink noise). Just with the one sealed mid, I did notice a slightly better focus in image, and some cues that used to be far left (coming exactly from the speaker) seamed to have shifted over toward the center some. Making the exact location of the speaker less obvious. This is all with the tune I had already set, so I think it would be beneficial to get these bad boys sealed up. I will start on it tonight.





ndm said:


> Made some changes and got a bit better response. Helped heal some of my null issues.
> 1. now I run two w15gti mkii subs sealed with 600 watts each in order to boost the 50hz and up areas.
> 
> 2. changed the jl zr800 crossover points and slopes from about 50hz at 36db to a 68hz 24 db linkwitz
> 
> 3. removed subsonic filter to boost the bass lost below 30hz.
> 
> Next steps....increase the size of the enclosure from about 1.6ft3 per sub to about 2.5ft3 per sub to naturally boost the sub 30hz region and get a second jl HD1200/2 to power the second sub. This will get my gains stupid low while maintaining the levels.
> 
> The photo below is my current response with the JBL curve as a backdrop.
> 
> I am also thinking about changing the AF GB10 tweets to a larger format tweeter in an attempt to help the null I have at about 1200hz. While I wont be playing them quite that low, it should help move the null up a little. I am also coming up with some creative ideas to kill my null in midbass at about 172 hz.


I believe that yo have just solved my latest mystery with one of my nulls as indicated in the above post!!!

I LOVE you!!


----------



## bradknob

brumledb said:


> Wow, that pod really made a difference. What volume do you think the speaker is actually "seeing" since the baffle is recessed into the pod a bit? I know on the AF site it says they can be used in as small as 0.2L.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I'd say just above .2L. I used a 3" PVC coupler, and it's a tad over 2.5" deep. After displacement and a Little polyfill, it's right at the small end for this driver.



seafish said:


> Is the difference in repsonse partially due to backwave interference??



I'd say mostly due to back wave interference. The proximity of the back of the driver compared to the gap in the pillar/windshield makes the backwaves travel right off the windshield into the cabin. 

I thought about some sort of deal between the pillar and windshield but that would be too easy. Lol



ndm said:


> I believe that yo have just solved my latest mystery with one of my nulls as indicated in the above post!!!
> 
> 
> 
> I LOVE you!!




I love you t....


I mean awesome! I think together, when it's all over, there will be no questions without answers for audio in the vehicle. Lol. Pioneers!


----------



## bradknob

Normally, the ideas that float around my head don't always pan out like I envision. This time around, it's going exactly as I had planned.

Mocking up the pod



Possibly even more low profile than they were previously. Always a plus 



Here you can see where I notched the back In Order to straddle the shape of the metal behind the pillar and tilt the pod up a bit




I cut some acrylic baffles and epoxied them in place. Chrome trim ring still fits





Cut up a hard board home for sale sign to seal the back. Epoxied it in place



And there it is....






Filled the backside with some milkshake and tonight I'll start the filling/sanding process.






And yes, I test fit it in the car and it slid right in place.


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> I'd say just above .2L. I used a 3" PVC coupler, and it's a tad over 2.5" deep. After displacement and a Little polyfill, it's right at the small end for this driver.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'd say mostly due to back wave interference. The proximity of the back of the driver compared to the gap in the pillar/windshield makes the backwaves travel right off the windshield into the cabin.
> 
> I thought about some sort of deal between the pillar and windshield but that would be too easy. Lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I love you t....
> 
> 
> I mean awesome! I think together, when it's all over, there will be no questions without answers for audio in the vehicle. Lol. Pioneers!



Snail mail coming your way. Ill send you the tracking number by pm or you can send my your phone number and Ill text it. (And probably ask you a bunch of questions by phone...lol)


----------



## Babs

Nice work right there.. Now that's how you get a pillar project going.


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Snail mail coming your way. Ill send you the tracking number by pm or you can send my your phone number and Ill text it. (And probably ask you a bunch of questions by phone...lol)



Sweet dude thanks, that will be my next project after this. I'll shoot you my number in a few.



Babs said:


> Nice work right there.. Now that's how you get a pillar project going.




Thanks bud, unfortunately my pillars weren't hand crafted by the audio gods like the ones in your civic so I gotta make these work. Lol


----------



## Jon225

Damn man your on top of it. Looking good as always don't see how you find the time.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Damn man your on top of it. Looking good as always don't see how you find the time.




Well, I knew the wife and kid would be gone yesterday and today so that was my window. After today, I have anytime after 9pm to get work in lol.

Plus I'm getting more efficient at building these pillars so I can knock out a pair in a lot less time than it used to take.


----------



## Babs

bradknob said:


> Thanks bud, unfortunately my pillars weren't hand crafted by the audio gods like the ones in your civic so I gotta make these work. Lol



LOL!! Yeah I got no excuse really. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Well, I knew the wife and kid would be gone yesterday and today so that was my window. After today, I have anytime after 9pm to get work in lol.
> 
> Plus I'm getting more efficient at building these pillars so I can knock out a pair in a lot less time than it used to take.


Cool deal I can def see you progressing.

Probably will be months down the road or whenever time comes I may see about hiring you to do something with my tweeters in sail or a pillars if you want/ have time to do a side job. 

Don't really see any good spots in my truck without glassing which I have never done.:worried:

Unless I put them in the dash opening pointing up at windshield but that will probably not sound too great.:mean:

O.k. back to chasing the rabbit lol....


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Cool deal I can def see you progressing.
> 
> 
> 
> Probably will be months down the road or whenever time comes I may see about hiring you to do something with my tweeters in sail or a pillars if you want/ have time to do a side job.
> 
> 
> 
> Don't really see any good spots in my truck without glassing which I have never done.:worried:
> 
> 
> 
> Unless I put them in the dash opening pointing up at windshield but that will probably not sound too great.:mean:
> 
> 
> 
> O.k. back to chasing the rabbit lol....




Alway find time for side jobs, let me know.

My buddy with the same truck as you, has his tweeters in the dash corners pointing up and it sounds surprisingly good. We can figure something out when you're ready


----------



## juiceweazel

bradknob said:


> Plus I'm getting more efficient at building these pillars so I can knock out a pair in a lot less time than it used to take.


Maybe I should send you my pillars when I'm ready :laugh:


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Alway find time for side jobs, let me know.
> 
> My buddy with the same truck as you, has his tweeters in the dash corners pointing up and it sounds surprisingly good. We can figure something out when you're ready


Cool sounds good to me.

Does your buddy have any processing and just out of curiosity do you remember what kind of tweeters.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Maybe I should send you my pillars when I'm ready :laugh:



We could make that happen.

Or I'll send you the 2 moulds I just ripped off. U can duct tape them to your pillars. Lol












Jon225 said:


> Cool sounds good to me.
> 
> 
> 
> Does your buddy have any processing and just out of curiosity do you remember what kind of tweeters.



He has a PPi 88r and I believe focal K2 tweeters


----------



## NBusiness

Hey bradknob I'm doing a jgc install myself was just wondering if you had any issue with the ground location. You previously told me you used the location in the trunk area was wondering if this was still solid for you or if you needed to move it. 

I had a helluva time with getting the front speaker wires through the molex I ended up removing it all together it was a pain but now on to the fun stuff. Thanks bradknob.


----------



## bradknob

NBusiness said:


> Hey bradknob I'm doing a jgc install myself was just wondering if you had any issue with the ground location. You previously told me you used the location in the trunk area was wondering if this was still solid for you or if you needed to move it.
> 
> I had a helluva time with getting the front speaker wires through the molex I ended up removing it all together it was a pain but now on to the fun stuff. Thanks bradknob.




I actually have a slight alternator whine that I haven't really started tracking down yet. It's barely audible with any music playing. The one thing I did was move the ground from the factory location to right behind the rear seat. Shortened the ground cable by about 18", bit nothing changed. I believe it stems from the dsp ground, so I'll work on that eventually.


----------



## juiceweazel

bradknob said:


> We could make that happen.
> 
> Or I'll send you the 2 moulds I just ripped off. U can duct tape them to your pillars. Lol


Ha ha, might look better then my hack job...


----------



## ndm

Bump for finished pics. Need to see how much view was lost before I copy you.


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Bump for finished pics. Need to see how much view was lost before I copy you.




Lol..... I won't be home til tomorrow evening. I can put one in to show you tho. I'm hoping to be done with these by Tuesday


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> Lol..... I won't be home til tomorrow evening. I can put one in to show you tho. I'm hoping to be done with these by Tuesday


Slacker! 

Chop,chop!


----------



## dengland

Should be just about birthday time for the little girl of yours. Happy Father's day a day early!


----------



## bradknob

ndm said:


> Slacker!
> 
> 
> 
> Chop,chop!


Hey, I didn't say which Tuesday!!!





dengland said:


> Should be just about birthday time for the little girl of yours. Happy Father's day a day early!



Yes sir, mighty fine memory you have. Very much appreciated. Her 1st birthday party was Saturday, her actual birthday is this coming Sunday. Enjoying this age. Her little
Personality is starting to build, fun to watch.


But, I did manage to get these finished.










But I rushed one a little too much and I don't think the primer dried all the way before wrapping it. After I installed, the next day the vinyl started bubbling up. Gotta re-wrap it.

I never had the time to measure and re-tune it yet. So still rocking the EQ from the previous install.


----------



## bradknob

Well I had made up my mind that I wanted to put some 8s in the doors. I picked up a few side jobs so time will be harder to come by, and then I caught a set of the Image Dynamic XS69 on Amazon for $230 bnib. Same cone area as an 8" and no modification to the door made it too good a deal to pass up. 

Last night I had a few minutes so I decided to drop one in and measure, to compare to the TM65. Here's what I found....

First I wanted to see what affect the door panel had on the drivers. Here's the Tm65 panel on vs panel off. 
Yellow = panel off
Red = panel on.

I found it interesting that, the bottom end was actually boosted with the panel on. Although the rest of the response was much smoother with it off. Which really is a moot point since I crossover at 300.



Here's the xs69 vs tm65 with panel off. This also surprised me how much louder the xs69 was in a direct swap (no EQ or TA, volume on director set the same) I heard the Xs69 weren't low end monsters, but they do outperform the Tm65s. More cone area will
Do that....



Now here's the 2 with the door panel back on..... Dat xs69 looking strong!



Now here's the XS69 door panel on vs off

Orange = panel on
Yellow = off.



Looks like the XS 69s will be a nice little upgrade.


----------



## bradknob

I brain farted and over looked the fact that the TMs are wired at 8ohms and the XS is a 4 ohm driver. So that would explain the extra output....


----------



## brumledb

I was going to ask about that but I figured you had the TM's at 2 ohms. So, just by doubling the power you would have expected to get ~3db more output. But it looks like you picked up ~4-6db more (on avg). Based on that, I would think you are gaining db's from the added cone area.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Nice build!


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Love what you're doing here Brad! Have you received the SONUS VERT yet? If you ever want to get my opinion on what worked best for me, DM me, love to share the info!


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> Love what you're doing here Brad! Have you received the SONUS VERT yet? If you ever want to get my opinion on what worked best for me, DM me, love to share the info!




Still waiting on the vert to arrive... I have a couple of projects I'm starting for other people that I will be using it for, once it comes in. I'd love to get inside that mastermind of yours so I'll certainly be hitting you up for some pointers. Thanks again


----------



## Ericm1205

i noticed the factory tweeters in the sail panels. are they totally connected to door panel or are they removeable? i want to see if i can find a pair and use them for my charger.
could you measure the triangle area of them for me so i can see if they fit before trying to hunt some down a pair to fit in my charger.


----------



## bradknob

Ericm1205 said:


> i noticed the factory tweeters in the sail panels. are they totally connected to door panel or are they removeable? i want to see if i can find a pair and use them for my charger.
> could you measure the triangle area of them for me so i can see if they fit before trying to hunt some down a pair to fit in my charger.




The sail panel does come off but it's huge. Not sure about the charger but my sail panels goes above the window to the other side of the window. 

I will get some measurements when I get out of work


----------



## Jon225

How are you liking the Id 6x9's. Was it a worthwhile upgrade. 

Still need to find time to meet up and check it out before it changes again.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> How are you liking the Id 6x9's. Was it a worthwhile upgrade.
> 
> 
> 
> Still need to find time to meet up and check it out before it changes again.




Well it's been a crazy couple weeks so haven't done anything with them besides install them. I still have the EQ from the SI on them so haven't reached their potential yet, but they are a lot stronger....of course double the power and more cone area will do that. They're seeing 460 watts each right now. Gotta be real cautious with the volume knob lol. 

I have noticed they have quite a different sound signature than the SI. May actually have a bit more detail. I'll reserve any real review until I at least get some tuning on them.

Also, we just got word them at there will be a meca 3x event at Nola raceway on august 14th. U should try and make it.


----------



## Jon225

bradknob said:


> Well it's been a crazy couple weeks so haven't done anything with them besides install them. I still have the EQ from the SI on them so haven't reached their potential yet, but they are a lot stronger....of course double the power and more cone area will do that. They're seeing 460 watts each right now. Gotta be real cautious with the volume knob lol.
> 
> I have noticed they have quite a different sound signature than the SI. May actually have a bit more detail. I'll reserve any real review until I at least get some tuning on them.
> 
> Also, we just got word them at there will be a meca 3x event at Nola raceway on august 14th. U should try and make it.


Think you need a little more power. Seems like they are on the right path.

August 14 is a Sunday so there is a good possibility I will make it.


----------



## bradknob

Jon225 said:


> Think you need a little more power. Seems like they are on the right path.
> 
> 
> 
> August 14 is a Sunday so there is a good possibility I will make it.




Never enough powa! 

Its demo-able right now. Still sounds quite a bit better since you heard it last. Let me know if you're free or somewhere close and I'll give you a listen.


----------



## Jon225

bradknonob said:


> Never enough powa!
> 
> Its demo-able right now. Still sounds quite a bit better since you heard it last. Let me know if you're free or somewhere close and I'll give you a listen.


Will do. Lately I have been close but not free. 

Thanks.


----------



## ImpalaSS

Good job, thanks for all the detailed pics inside the door, really helped me with my Durango.


----------



## bradknob

Nothing much of an update but something I wanted to share....

Ordered some sonus Vert, body filler, for a few other projects I'm working on. Heard it's great stuff but it could honestly be dog **** in a can, as long as it's labeled like this....










I'll buy it over and over again. Murica!

Hi five sonus!


----------



## ndm

THATS WHAT THE FU CK IM TALKING BOUT!!


----------



## bradknob

Well yesterday I lost a loved one. After a strong 5 year relationship, full of ups and downs, good times and bad, my $99 ryobi router, w/free router table included has seen its last flush trim cut.










Amazingly, she still runs fine but it's time to move on..... You will be greatly missed $99 Ryobi that came with free router table. RIP


----------



## WhereAmEye?

bradknob said:


> Well yesterday I lost a loved one. After a strong 5 year relationship, full of ups and downs, good times and bad, my $99 ryobi router, w/free router table included has seen its last flush trim cut.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Amazingly, she still runs fine but it's time to move on..... You will be greatly missed $99 Ryobi that came with free router table. RIP


Did you lose any limbs when you lost your router? Looks like it might have "danced" a little when it broke...


----------



## bradknob

WhereAmEye? said:


> Did you lose any limbs when you lost your router? Looks like it might have "danced" a little when it broke...




Lol nah, fortunately it wasn't running when this happened. I accidentally knocked it off the table. Prob could have gotten 5 more years out of if I had paid better attention


----------



## Babs

Porter Cable 800 series with a fixed and plunge base. My vote. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DCBKN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pTLIxb85C4TD6

Nice kit. Even includes the adjustment lever so you can drop the fixed base into a table plate and you're up and running. 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## seafish

bradknob said:


> Amazingly, she still runs fine but it's time to move on..... You will be greatly missed $99 Ryobi that came with free router table. RIP


Hmm...doesn't look like anything some JB Weld and a few drill, tapped and countersunk machine screws wouldn't fix for another 5 years...LOL.


----------



## bradknob

Babs said:


> Porter Cable 800 series with a fixed and plunge base. My vote.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DCBKN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pTLIxb85C4TD6
> 
> Nice kit. Even includes the adjustment lever so you can drop the fixed base into a table plate and you're up and running.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'll look into it. Heard great things of the porter cables. I need something locally bc I'll be kidless for the next 4 days. That rarely happens so I need to take advantage of the opportunity.





seafish said:


> Hmm...doesn't look like anything some JB Weld and a few drill, tapped and countersunk machine screws wouldn't fix for another 5 years...LOL.




I'd be lying if I said my first though wasn't ... I can fix this, **reaching for duct tape and zipties**. lol


----------



## seafish

bradknob said:


> I'd be lying if I said my first though wasn't ... I can fix this, **reaching for duct tape and zipties**. lol


...LOL

The JB Weld and screws would DEF be a step up from duct tape and zip ties and actually would prolly work really well and not take more then an hour to do if you have the drill and taps already. Glue and dry first then drill and tap and countersink the head. Just and idea.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Bet Joey @ 12vtools could get you the right setup by Tuesday. He showed me the way, I understand if you need it asap though.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Had a chance to use the SONUS Vert yet or did the router issue delay you a bit? I'm dying to know what you think.


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> Had a chance to use the SONUS Vert yet or did the router issue delay you a bit? I'm dying to know what you think.




Ive only used a very small bit on my passenger pillar that I pulled and re-positioned the mid. Just that small bit, I can tell this is some special stuff. From how its consistency makes spreading super easy and sanding is scary easy. In the very near future I'll get a little more in depth with it.

I wound up getting a Bosch 2.25 hp router from lowes. Really liking it so far. 

Here's what I'm working on right now. Ram single cab, 8-6.5"s and 4 horn loaded tweeters. Crazy kids lol.

Top hole will be a backlit plexi window with the guys sub company logo on it. I'm about to glass over the foam and put the vert to work.


----------



## Jdmeyers

What Amps are you running?


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Here's what I'm working on right now. Ram single cab, 8-6.5"s and 4 horn loaded tweeters. Crazy kids lol.



Holy crap Batman! I am way too old ...


----------



## bradknob

Jdmeyers said:


> What Amps are you running?



2-ground zero 4.150SQ
1- ground zero 2.250SQ



dengland said:


> Holy crap Batman! I am way too old ...




You and me both! I just take the cash and send them on their way... Hearing in tact lol.


----------



## juiceweazel

dengland said:


> Holy crap Batman! I am way too old ...


Or too smart. I wish I didn't listen to my music so loud when I was younger. I think my ears are only half as good as they used to be...


----------



## bradknob

Between the refinery explosions and catastrophic flooding down here, I managed to sneak in a 3x meca event. Knew I had a few staging issues but had to take care of some other business and didn't have time to fix the tune. Scored a 71.75, good enough for 1st. Fairly happy with that, and I know it's got a lot more potential. I think had I had an hour to tune prior, it could have been a few points higher.


----------



## NBusiness

Hey Brad did you ever find a new place to make a ground? 

Also where did you pick up your full range signal for your dsp from? The stock fronts?


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Between the refinery explosions and catastrophic flooding down here, I managed to sneak in a 3x meca event. Knew I had a few staging issues but had to take care of some other business and didn't have time to fix the tune. Scored a 71.75, good enough for 1st. Fairly happy with that, and I know it's got a lot more potential. I think had I had an hour to tune prior, it could have been a few points higher.


Awesome! Congrats man!


----------



## bradknob

NBusiness said:


> Hey Brad did you ever find a new place to make a ground?
> 
> Also where did you pick up your full range signal for your dsp from? The stock fronts?



Yes, I moved it to the same area where the back seats mount to the floor. There was a hole there and I used a LAG bolt a little bigger than the hole and a washer to fasten it to the floor. 


I used front door speakers and tweeters for my full range signal



DavidRam said:


> Awesome! Congrats man!




Thanks brotha


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Between the refinery explosions and catastrophic flooding down here, I managed to sneak in a 3x meca event.


Congrats.

Dang - I did not even connect the dots on the flooding and your location... You and yours do OK?

P.S. - The Hertz HSKs arrive today from RPR. Maybe I need to schedule a little afternoon illness. :>)


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Congrats.
> 
> 
> 
> Dang - I did not even connect the dots on the flooding and your location... You and yours do OK?
> 
> 
> 
> P.S. - The Hertz HSKs arrive today from RPR. Maybe I need to schedule a little afternoon illness. :>)




Thanks. And we made out ok. Haven't been able to access my house since Friday but our neighborhood FB page has been keeping us updated. To say I'm lucky is an under statement.

This is 2 miles from me










This is the entrance into my neighborhood, about a half mile from my house

















And, this is the street in front of my house. taken from my neighbor, 2 houses down










My whole neighborhood is an island. Can only get in or out by boat. This was taken by a drone, devall is the entrance in the pics above


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Oh man Brad, well congrats on the win and thank goodness for luck. That's tough to even look at.


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> Oh man Brad, well congrats on the win and thank goodness for luck. That's tough to even look at.




Thanks man. 


But yea, it's devastating. I know quite a few people that lost everything. House, cars, belongings.... Gone. I see a lotta demo work in my future.


----------



## dengland

1FinalInstall said:


> thank goodness for luck. That's tough to even look at.


That sums it up. wow. I feel for those folks.


----------



## juiceweazel

Glad to hear you're ok. Sounds like you might fare better then others. I hope the waters recede quickly. Good luck!


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Wow!


----------



## nineball76

Glad you and your family are safe!


----------



## DavidRam

Holy **** dude, that is insane!!! Man, were you lucky!

I was just complaining that it was a little windy today, like I have weather problems... I'd better stfu and stop complaining...


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Glad to hear you're ok. Sounds like you might fare better then others. I hope the waters recede quickly. Good luck!






nineball76 said:


> Glad you and your family are safe!



Thanks gentlemen.



DavidRam said:


> Holy **** dude, that is insane!!! Man, were you lucky!
> 
> I was just complaining that it was a little windy today, like I have weather problems... I'd better stfu and stop complaining...




Lmao.... I kinda feel guilty, honestly. I may turn my hose on in my house for a day. Or go steal I pile of carpet and Sheetrock off the side the road and just throw it in my front yard.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Thanks gentlemen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lmao.... I kinda feel guilty, honestly. I may turn my hose on in my house for a day. Or go steal I pile of carpet and Sheetrock off the side the road and just throw it in my front yard.


Are you back in your house yet?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Are you back in your house yet?




Yea, flooding started Saturday, and I was able to get back in on Thursday.


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Yea, flooding started Saturday, and I was able to get back in on Thursday.


Sorry to make this a weather thread ...

But I really hope Invest99 stays the hell away from LA. You guys don't need any more trouble. Florida will take one for the team if it wants to veer right. I would be OK with that....Heck Texas works for both of us! :>)


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> Sorry to make this a weather thread ...
> 
> 
> 
> But I really hope Invest99 stays the hell away from LA. You guys don't need any more trouble. Florida will take one for the team if it wants to veer right. I would be OK with that....Heck Texas works for both of us! :>)




Lol, appreciate that. More water def isn't what we need right now. I'll call Obama and see if he can steer that thing to the left, government controls the weather, don't they?

But, everyone's houses are gutted and empty right now, so if there was ever a good time to get flooded, it's now. So hurry up and make up your mind 99, let us get on with life.


----------



## bradknob

Well, guess I can retire from SQ now. Lol


----------



## seafish

Nice...CONGRATULATIONS!!!...but why retire...go for the extra points!!! LOL


----------



## dgage

Come on man, you have to retire like Peyton, on top. 

Great work!


----------



## bradknob

seafish said:


> Nice...CONGRATULATIONS!!!...but why retire...go for the extra points!!! LOL






dgage said:


> Come on man, you have to retire like Peyton, on top.
> 
> Great work!




Thanks, But i think the score is a little high to be honest. My jeep sounds better than it ever has, by far. But to say it's better than Eldridge and Cooks rides, is a stretch. I'd like to have a few other people judge it and see what they think but unfortunately I can't make finals this year. So we will have to wait and see


----------



## BP1Fanatic

I am kinda shocked that Mark scored low on that list.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

KILLER, congrats Brad!


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Well, guess I can retire from SQ now. Lol


Do they use a CD as a source or Hi-Res file?


----------



## bradknob

1FinalInstall said:


> KILLER, congrats Brad!




Thanks bud.

I've been studying your build harder than ever lately. In the near future, i will most likely be doing a dash/console build from scratch. (For someone else) A first for me so I may be picking your brain for inspiration.



dengland said:


> Do they use a CD as a source or Hi-Res file?



There's a disk they use for judging, but since i do not have a CD player, they let me use a high res file.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

bradknob said:


> Thanks bud.
> 
> I've been studying your build harder than ever lately. In the near future, i will most likely be doing a dash/console build from scratch. (For someone else) A first for me so I may be picking your brain for inspiration.
> 
> Love to help anytime if I can!


----------



## dengland

I exaggerate slightly, but closing in on 2 months without a post. Nothing new going on? Resting on your SQ laurels?

Did you say in an earlier post did you say you had an iBasso for your highres player? I have been looking at the FiiO X3 just so I can play around with digital in on the Helix Pro. With the Director it would be easy to have a setup for that and setup for things coming through the HU.


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> I exaggerate slightly, but closing in on 2 months without a post. Nothing new going on? Resting on your SQ laurels?
> 
> Did you say in an earlier post did you say you had an iBasso for your highres player? I have been looking at the FiiO X3 just so I can play around with digital in on the Helix Pro. With the Director it would be easy to have a setup for that and setup for things coming through the HU.




Haha, been a crazy few months. Last weekend was my second one off since early September. Just been enjoying the tunes, for once.

Any free time I've had has been spent with family and a few side projects I had going on. And yes, I have an ibasso dx100. The main reason i naught the director was to bypass all the factory junk. Well worth it. Plus the optical sounds great.


One cool thing that happened was this lil addition to my garage...











31"x31" cnc router. Just got it up and running a couple days ago. LOVE this thing. A couple test pieces I did so far.

































This gon be fun... and if anyone needs anything cut, holla!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> Haha, been a crazy few months. Last weekend was my second one off since early September. Just been enjoying the tunes, for once.
> 
> Any free time I've had has been spent with family and a few side projects I had going on. And yes, I have an ibasso dx100. The main reason i naught the director was to bypass all the factory junk. Well worth it. Plus the optical sounds great.
> 
> 
> One cool thing that happened was this lil addition to my garage...
> 
> This gon be fun... and if anyone needs anything cut, holla!!


whoa, that is way cool!


----------



## Blinkybill

Would love some more info/review on that little Cnc!


----------



## bradknob

Blinkybill said:


> Would love some more info/review on that little Cnc!




Got it from inventables.com for about $1200. It's their largest model, with about a 32"x32" cutting are. Well worth it IMO, compared to the costs of the other much more expensive models out there

Major selling point for me was the simplicity of the software. It's ms paint simple. Have about a weeks worth of use so far and I love it.

Here's a lil projects I did for my neighbor








https://vimeo.com/194277167


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## BP1Fanatic

That came out nice!


----------



## juiceweazel

bradknob said:


> Got it from inventables.com for about $1200. It's their largest model, with about a 32"x32" cutting are. Well worth it IMO, compared to the costs of the other much more expensive models out there
> 
> Major selling point for me was the simplicity of the software. It's ms paint simple. Have about a weeks worth of use so far and I love it.
> 
> Here's a lil projects I did for my neighbor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://vimeo.com/194277167
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That's badass. I for see you making a few extra bucks off that machine. Hopefully enough to pay for itself ha ha.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> That's badass. I for see you making a few extra bucks off that machine. Hopefully enough to pay for itself ha ha.




I think between my wife and I, we should be able to make a few bucks off if it. Hell, If I could just sell a few sets of router templates I'll be good to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Iamsecond

may have missed this but I noticed your selling your audiofrog stuff. what's up? i have a 2015 grand and was taking a lot of notes.


----------



## bradknob

Iamsecond said:


> may have missed this but I noticed your selling your audiofrog stuff. what's up? i have a 2015 grand and was taking a lot of notes.




Actually just sold the mids and pillars. Nothing wrong with the frogs. There's some change on the horizon... I will update this shortly once I get everything in line. Should be fun 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Iamsecond

hum, it was just getting interesting. lol.
I am patiently waiting to get my 4runner paid off and then attack the Grand payment so I can buy the wife another car and I get the suvs.
One for play and the other for business. but both sounding amazing. LOL
Getting ready to get si 25 and 65 for the runner. Can't wait.


----------



## bradknob

Iamsecond said:


> hum, it was just getting interesting. lol.
> 
> I am patiently waiting to get my 4runner paid off and then attack the Grand payment so I can buy the wife another car and I get the suvs.
> 
> One for play and the other for business. but both sounding amazing. LOL
> 
> Getting ready to get si 25 and 65 for the runner. Can't wait.




Nice.... the 65 are quite nice you will like them. I've added to my fabrication arsenal so it's about to really get interesting. Should have some updates by the end of the week


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Iamsecond

Sounds fun.


----------



## brett

bradknob said:


> Thanks! It's certainly getting there.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks! I think with the 11' you have an advantage as far as signal chain goes. Not everything is tied into the head unit like my year but I'll gladly help where I can.
> 
> Haven't missed the spare yet (knocks on wood) but I'm working on a temporary mount for it under the car in case I take a road trip and would prefer to have it.



hey dude, did you ever fab anything up for the spare mount under the vehicle? i really want to start construction on mine and use the oem spare area, but i'm so reluctant to ditch the spare. i've eyeballed the space below, and i don't think there's enough.


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> hey dude, did you ever fab anything up for the spare mount under the vehicle? i really want to start construction on mine and use the oem spare area, but i'm so reluctant to ditch the spare. i've eyeballed the space below, and i don't think there's enough.




Nah man, nothing yet. But the little bit I looked, I think you are right. Not enough room for the tire under there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## brett

i take it, then, that you've not missed the spare yet? im thinking i take mine out, do the install, and just throw the spare in the back if i decide to go offroad or on a long trip. %99 of my driving is just commuting in the city so i should be fine for most scenarios. if i figure something out, i'll let you know!

anyway, love the thread and keep up the good work!


----------



## bradknob

Update time:

Time to bring out the inner bass head. Working with all these guys the past couple years finally wore off. That and a gracious offer made it hard to resist...

-will still compete in SQ and it is still top priority

-will now, compete in a few SPL classes 

-still gotta be able to fit the babies crap in the back...(usable cargo area)

-and of course, still be pretty.


The 2- GZ 4 channels will remain. The 2 channel and AF12" is in the closet to be replaced with...

DSS Ethos 18"

JBL Crown 2200.1 ran at 4 ohm(rated 2450 @ 4 ohm. 1810 @ 1 ohm..... which is weird)

And a few juicebox nimrods for extra powa! I have 5 at my disposal, but prob won't use them all

http://misolarenergy.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=467.


Here's the beast...










And here's what it looks like in the jeep...





Let the fun begin!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

First order of business was to rip everything out and start on the enclosure. It needs to be as low Profile as possible, about 5 cubes, and fit an 11" deep sub. Also, I will be making some sort of interchangeable port so I can tune low for sq/daily and then switch to a highly tuned fart box....challenge accepted


I could have just glassed the floor but that's so 2016.... plus I wanted a nice curvature of the base for nice air flow and I'm not sure how I could have found an efficient way to attach the walls of the enclosure to the base and still be strong and smooth. Bring in the stack fab...

Each layer is different to conform to the floor.



You can see the sides leave a nice spot to have double layer walls with plenty of surface area for the wood to adhere to and have a smooth curve for the airflow.... like a half pipe for DBs!!






Here u can see the underside taking the shape of the spare tire well on the floor...



Time for side walls...




Here you can see the double layered sides getting put in place



Then I laid some resin to seal and smooth it all out 

Damn that's purdy...






I don't have any good pics of it in the vehicle but it will be about 2-3" taller than the floor was before so I can live with that.


----------



## carlr

That is one pretty box buddy!


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Yeah it is!


----------



## bradknob

BP1Fanatic said:


> Yeah it is!






carlr said:


> That is one pretty box buddy!




Thanks, I feel the same way. will have some plexi somewhere in order to show off the inside.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## sinister-kustoms

Hot damn that looks good!


----------



## dengland

I agree that is a pretty box. (And Purple Haze is a good beer)

That CNC came in very handy for this project.


----------



## bradknob

Next on to the baffle...

But first some model shots 





Ok, so I opted for 2-4" aero ports. Easiest way to make a "plate" that can be removed and different size ports put in place.



And 2nd baffle cut



Next, the plexi cut out. Cut a square and used the flush trim bit





This is how she sits as if now. Now just to wait for the ports to get here so I can get working on the rest. 


Once I get the enclosure and the cover floor in place, I can work on the amp placement, which will be tucked off on the sides....


Somewhere along the lines of this


----------



## bradknob

dengland said:


> I agree that is a pretty box. (And Purple Haze is a good beer)
> 
> 
> 
> That CNC came in very handy for this project.




Actually this was cut by hand. Would have taken longer to measure and setup to cut each piece since they're pretty much all different. 

And Abita springs is about an hour from me where Abita beer is brewed, gotta support the local guys


----------



## bradknob

Guess I'll update this.....

In typical fashion, not leaving well enough alone, I sold my GB25s along with the pillars so.... more work.

A few of the vehicles I heard that were notably better than mine, all had larger mid ranges, and they say cone area is king so I snagged a pair of HAT L4SE flangless drivers. pillar re-build time.

The main problem was how to mount and secure the flangeless drivers. As you can see, there are no mounting holes...



So I whipped up some rings to try a press fit method...





They actually fit snug in there, but I wanted a little more piece of mind so stole an idea from SIS I saw a while back. I will make an inner ring and attach it to an insert that would bolt to the pillar and help hold the driver in place.



No pics, but I aimed and mounted the ring to the pillar and used some expanding foam to get the shape I want. U can also see the wooden insert that will attach to the ring and pillar. Don't worry, it gets less ugly.



Notice I stuffed some vinyl in between the rings to keep tolerances right when I wrap them.





Filler applied to hold insert together. Then it will be removed and glassed on the backside







I forgot to take pics, but what I did next was wrap the perimeter of the insert in 3m double sided tape to keep a gap for fabrics to fit, taped the whole thing up, attached it to the pillar and spread dynaglass around it.








A little more sanding and filling and this is where I left off.










Another hour or so of sanding and this one will be ready to wrap, and start on the next one.


----------



## Babs

Wow! I mean just wow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## DavidRam

I see where you're going with this...


----------



## juiceweazel

And the saga continues in a new direction. Can't wait!


----------



## Black Rain

Brad, those pillars are coming along pretty nice. I likes that concept for the outer ring, I think it will work really nice for you. I take it the L4s are going to vent down the back of the pillar in the dash?


----------



## bradknob

Black Rain said:


> Brad, those pillars are coming along pretty nice. I likes that concept for the outer ring, I think it will work really nice for you. I take it the L4s are going to vent down the back of the pillar in the dash?



Thanks man, yes they will vent down into the dash.



juiceweazel said:


> And the saga continues in a new direction. Can't wait!


Should be a fun ride as always.





Babs said:


> Wow! I mean just wow!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro



Thanks bud.... u did a mighty fine job on your pillars from the heavens. If only I had 20sq ft to work with lol.




DavidRam said:


> I see where you're going with this...



Please tell me, cuz I'm not sure exactly


----------



## nineball76

Looks like this stuff comes so easy for you. Looks great


----------



## beak81champ

Nice work, man! An inspiration to say the least, and thanks for the GB12!

Bobby K.


----------



## bradknob

nineball76 said:


> Looks like this stuff comes so easy for you. Looks great



Thanks, what ur seeing here is the result of years worth of fu***** **** up.




beak81champ said:


> Nice work, man! An inspiration to say the least, and thanks for the GB12!
> 
> 
> 
> Bobby K.



Thanks bro, take care of her for me. May be begging for her back one of these days.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

After a few failed attempts to vinyl wrap, I switched to plan B. Headliner material with the foam peeled off in outside and vinyl on the insert. Much easier to wrap. 









I still need to put some threaded inserts, into the insert so I can fasten it down and pull it in tight and flush.

Then I pressed a grill for it with my super hi-tech top secret press machine...






Sprayed it black...



Threw it in this morning, need to see what happens when it's screwed in and in daylight. Few spots on the insert are bothering me. May need to re do it....


----------



## Babs

That'll work.. How's it sound?


----------



## bradknob

Babs said:


> That'll work.. How's it sound?




Haven't powered it up yet, just needed to see what it looked like . Still gotta do the other side.


----------



## 1FinalInstall

They look amazing!! I love how you painted the mesh, IMO, I never thought keeping it aluminum was attractive. :thumbsup: Have you been enjoying the SONUS--now EASy spreads?


----------



## Black Rain

Brad, those pillar came out awesome indeed....

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk


----------



## dengland

Black Rain said:


> Brad, those pillar came out awesome indeed....
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk


What Black Rain said!

Black Rain - "Under construction" should mean a start of a thread. :>)

I see you are from Palm Bay. I am a bit north of you in Rockledge.


----------



## Iamsecond

I'm going to send you my pillars for my 15 keep grand. Those are awesome. One of these days I want to learn how to glass like that.


----------



## bradknob

I have determined that the insert needs to be redone. Not happy with the way it sits in there. I started on the passenger side today and will hopefully have these bad boys done and playing by the weekend. Listened to these L4s on my desktops and I can say Im beyond excited to see what they can do in the car with some power.



Iamsecond said:


> I'm going to send you my pillars for my 15 keep grand. Those are awesome. One of these days I want to learn how to glass like that.


Lotta screw ups and patience and u too can learn to glass like me lol. But I can put you in line if you really want some pillar work done. Let me know





dengland said:


> What Black Rain said!
> 
> 
> 
> Black Rain - "Under construction" should mean a start of a thread. :>)
> 
> 
> 
> I see you are from Palm Bay. I am a bit north of you in Rockledge.






Black Rain said:


> Brad, those pillar came out awesome indeed....
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk



Thanks dudes.



1FinalInstall said:


> They look amazing!! I love how you painted the mesh, IMO, I never thought keeping it aluminum was attractive. :thumbsup: Have you been enjoying the SONUS--now EASy spreads?




Thanks man, means a lot coming from the master. Haven't been here much but have been vaguely following your build on IG, no words can put in perspective what you're doing. I need to go back through the thread and catch myself up. Truly inspiring.

And I prob have about 1 pillar worth of vert left. Stuff is amazing. Will def be ordering more.


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Those pillars came out nice!


----------



## bradknob

Finally I can update this. Had a weekend free. Prob the most productive 2 days of my life...

Start with the doors...

Sold the ID69s and replaced with L8SEs





Cut a bunch stuff...





Like it was made to be there. 


For various reasons I opted to toss the pillars and start over. Originally I was gonna run tweeterless but I lost too much width so tweeters are back in the mix. New pillars drop the L4s lower and give them a lot more room to breath.


Did some testing and this is the money spot



Mocked up the rings and whipped out the 2 part expanding foam. 

No idea whit I'm doing....





A little glass, filler and sanding and it kinda looks like I know what I'm doing, I guess




Now on to the worst sail panel design know to man.

Seriously, wtf is this?



Anyway, back to expanding foam. I ever mention that I love the stuff?





Text fit...





Good enough. After some filler and sanding...









Little too glossy, will have to hit it with some matte black later today. 

Also think I leveled up after wrapping this pillar. Most complex shape I've ever done. Next I'll make some aluminum trim rings for the mid and tweet.






I hope to have these all installed in the next day or 2 and start tuning for aggieland next week. Anyone else gonna be there?


----------



## EmptyKim

Do you apply resin directly to the expanded foam?


----------



## bradknob

EmptyKim said:


> Do you apply resin directly to the expanded foam?




I put glass mat and resin directly on the foam for the pillars.

On the sails I put dynaglass directly on the foam. No fiberglass


----------



## EmptyKim

bradknob said:


> Input glass mat and resin directly on the foam for the pillars.
> 
> On the sails I put dynaglass directly on the foam. No fiberglass
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Cool. Thanks for the info. 

Also, they look awesome!


----------



## beak81champ

Beautiful work, man!


----------



## WhereAmEye?

About time you worked on your own car  Looks good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

WhereAmEye? said:


> About time you worked on your own car  Looks good!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Lol, man you telling me. I can prob build pillars in my sleep now.





beak81champ said:


> Beautiful work, man!






EmptyKim said:


> Cool. Thanks for the info.
> 
> 
> 
> Also, they look awesome!



Thanks! Will get pics later when I get them installed.


----------



## bradknob

Just about finished up the pillars last night. Gonna work on a couple different styles for the speaker covers. This was quick and easy so Ima roll with it for now...










****ty night pics...






First impression is that moving the drivers down with the back of them facing into the cavity between dash and pillar, is that it help quite a bit. They sound much warmer and less smothered in the vocal range. Will get the tweets in and hopefully a good tuning sesh later tonight


----------



## lashlee

I'm diggin them! My current set of pillars were set up similarly, though not as extreme, but I like the way your headed.


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Nice pillars!


----------



## bradknob

Half assed better look at them..


Got the tweeters installed...







I'll get the door panels back in a day or so, so I haven't really tuned the doors yet but I got some work in on the L4s and I'm pretty excited about them. I see a lotta potential in them and the 8s together.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Half assed better look at them..
> 
> 
> I'll get the door panels back in a day or so, so I haven't really tuned the doors yet but I got some work in on the L4s and I'm pretty excited about them. I see a lotta potential in them and the 8s together.


Those turned out really nice, man!


----------



## Gurpreet

They look awesome!


----------



## 1FinalInstall

Gurpreet said:


> They look awesome!


+1 Awesome Brad! :2thumbsup:


----------



## dengland

bradknob said:


> I'll get the door panels back in a day or so, so I haven't really tuned the doors yet but I got some work in on the L4s and I'm pretty excited about them. I see a lotta potential in them and the 8s together.


Looks good. How does it sound? As always I am interested in the tune. Where did you cross? How is the response?


----------



## bradknob

Door panels finally installed. Actually smoothed out the lower midbass response a bit.






















dengland said:


> Looks good. How does it sound? As always I am interested in the tune. Where did you cross? How is the response?



Sounds pretty good as of now. Got a little top end to work in and to get the sub in and running. Could almost get by without sub if I had to. 

I'm having some trouble getting the mids to play under 300 but I'll address that down the road.

X-overs are still a work in progress but as of now...
Midbass is 40-300 24db
Mids are 300-10k 24db
Tweets are 10k and up

This is what it looks like now.... without the tweets












Gurpreet said:


> They look awesome!






DavidRam said:


> Those turned out really nice, man!






1FinalInstall said:


> +1 Awesome Brad! :2thumbsup:




Thanks fellas.


----------



## gregerst22

Nice job on those pillars and sails! Maybe i missed it but what headliner material are you using on those pillars?


----------



## bradknob

gregerst22 said:


> Nice job on those pillars and sails! Maybe i missed it but what headliner material are you using on those pillars?



Thanks

For these I actually used grill cloth from your auto trim. Com


----------



## gregerst22

bradknob said:


> Thanks
> 
> For these I actually used grill cloth from your auto trim. Com


Ah. from the pics the material looks smoother than grill cloth would be. What did you use to apply the cloth? I am scratching my head on how you got it to stick to the middle contour. By the way what 2 part expanding foam did you use. It seems to be a great way to create complex shapes.


----------



## bradknob

gregerst22 said:


> Ah. from the pics the material looks smoother than grill cloth would be. What did you use to apply the cloth? I am scratching my head on how you got it to stick to the middle contour. By the way what 2 part expanding foam did you use. It seems to be a great way to create complex shapes.




It's stretched pretty good so it's smoothed out some. I used landau too and trim adhesive, stuffs amazing.

I also used uscomposites 2lb 2 part foam. Stuff is also amazing. Ridiculously easy to sand and shape


----------



## MoparMike

Great work on the Jeep, Brad. Car sounded really good last weekend and the contours on those pillars is impressive in person.


----------



## bradknob

MoparMike said:


> Great work on the Jeep, Brad. Car sounded really good last weekend and the contours on those pillars is impressive in person.




Thanks man. Glad u got to get a little seat time in it. Like to soak up as much Feedback as possible.

Your Durango is no slouch either. One of the better 2 way setups ive heard. Hope to catch up with you again some time


----------



## bradknob

Back from the dead...

Since photobucket is a *****, I’ll post some pics of where I left off with this build. And of course where I’ll be picking up again 

This was my car posted up at my first finals ever. Threw the back area together in 2 weeks before the show. I finished 7th of 18 in IASCA, about where I expected to fall given the competition. MECA judges were less than impressed. 13 of 16 or something like that. Lost a lot of points due to the overall volume and the areas that affected such as impact and linearity etc etc. So.... things are changing

Here it sits as of now...


----------



## Shane

Would you go back to using the GB25's ?? The HAT's were that much of a huge improvement?? What tweeters are you now using??
(I cant see any of the previous build pics as I get a Photobucket error - am I the only one?)

Your pillars look AWESOME!


----------



## bradknob

Shane said:


> Would you go back to using the GB25's ?? The HAT's were that much of a huge improvement?? What tweeters are you now using??
> 
> (I cant see any of the previous build pics as I get a Photobucket error - am I the only one?)
> 
> 
> 
> Your pillars look AWESOME!



Thanks bud, 

And No ur not the only one, photobucket wants to charge your first born child to be able to share images now. Here’s a link to my album if you care to dig around.

http://s313.photobucket.com/user/bradknob/library/jeep build

http://s313.photobucket.com/user/bradknob/library/jeep redux


As far as the GB25, would I go back... no. Not that they weren’t great drivers for what they were. Tonaly, they are in a different ball park as the HATs. Granted that’s going from a 2” to a 4” driver. Had the AF gb40 been a little smaller, it was definitely an option.


----------



## mrichard89

Those pillars are straight up sexy!!!


----------



## Shane

I am using the GB25's as well, but am very interested in those HAT drivers.

What tweeter are you using? Mid bass driver?

I just got rid of the JL HD amps and replaced them with the Zapco Z150.6 SP amp, so I cant wait to get back to the Class A/B amps!

(I also have a 3way + sub setup)

Thanks!


----------



## bradknob

Shane said:


> I am using the GB25's as well, but am very interested in those HAT drivers.
> 
> 
> 
> What tweeter are you using? Mid bass driver?
> 
> 
> 
> I just got rid of the JL HD amps and replaced them with the Zapco Z150.6 SP amp, so I cant wait to get back to the Class A/B amps!
> 
> 
> 
> (I also have a 3way + sub setup)
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks!




Nice!....I’m using L4SE, L8SE and some tang band tweets. They only play 8k and up. I actually have a buddy selling his HAT L3SE flangeless. Prob close to the same OD as the GB25s


----------



## WhereAmEye?

Is that it? I thought you were going to fix things? Gees hurry up man 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## fordriver1

photo bucket sucks...


----------



## bradknob

WhereAmEye? said:


> Is that it? I thought you were going to fix things? Gees hurry up man  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yup I’m done. Lol


A couple people apparently had bigger plans than me, and i dont get paid to build my own stuff. But!.... I did get the pac audio ampro until I figure out what I wanna do with my signal chain. This way I can by pass the oem processing and have digital straight to the dsp. We’ll see what CES has to bring for the next year







fordriver1 said:


> photo bucket sucks...



Tell me about it... I posted a link to my photobucket a few posts before this.


----------



## Iamsecond

Which system did your jeep come with. I have the 6 speaker base system and can’t figure out which pac unit to use. The AP4-CH41 says it can only be used with the alpine and Harmon amplified system but isn’t the base system the same head unit and an external amp?


----------



## bradknob

Iamsecond said:


> Which system did your jeep come with. I have the 6 speaker base system and can’t figure out which pac unit to use. The AP4-CH41 says it can only be used with the alpine and Harmon amplified system but isn’t the base system the same head unit and an external amp?




I have the alpine system. I’m not sure if there’s different 5” oem head unit for amplified and non amplified systems to be honest. I’d imagine if you have no amp, you should be able to get the signal from directly behind the head unit. Maybe call or write PAC audio and see what they say


----------



## EricP72

Brad, how much deadner did you use on the doors? I'm trying to figure out how much I need to buy. I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee.


----------



## bradknob

manish said:


> Brad, how much deadner did you use on the doors? I'm trying to figure out how much I need to buy. I have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee.




A lot. Between, outer door skin, the plastic door card and door panel, I used over 30sq ft. No kill like overkill. Still, there are some parts of the door panel I cannot stop from rattling at certain frequencies. But remember I have 8”s playing down to 45hz


----------



## ekaz

Sorry to dig up an older thread here, but Brad are you up for making another set of pillars for the GB25s?


----------



## Bradkn0b

ekaz said:


> Sorry to dig up an older thread here, but Brad are you up for making another set of pillars for the GB25s?



Hey bud, saw u tried to DM me but it seems my account has been deactivated for some reason. I’ll be glad to help, will shoot you a DM shortly


----------



## bradknob

Digging my own thread from the grave. Been neglecting my ride long enough. Between work, side Work, and moving, I decided to skip this year of competing and start the rebuild now for next year.

First order of business is getting the mids out of the doors. Been tossing the idea of kicks around for some time. I did a little exploring, and what I found made the decision a no brainer.

Pulled back the kick panel and carpet and there’s a little black flap... behind that flap was a little patch of what looked like expanding foam, I pulled it out and behind that..... a wide open cavern full of glorious air space that goes all the way up to the apillar...
























So I grabbed the sawzall and got







to work


----------



## bradknob

My test mid is about .5” shallower than the L8SEs I’ll Have in there so I should have plenty of room and have them completely sealed off from the cabin










After this, I will address the mids in the pillars. Got an idea to try and get the L4s into the sail panel area


----------



## juiceweazel

He's baaaack! :beerchug:


----------



## brett

hey brad, thanks for taking the time to explore this. i've been tossing around the idea of where to mount mids/midbasses in my '11 overland. are you doing a 2 or 3 way, and what was your experience with mids in the doors? also, what size (diameter) can you fit in that kick cavity?


----------



## ErinH

I have to ask... and I am sure this is something you've already considered but just in case...



> glorious air space that goes all the way up to the apillar..


Is this sealed off from the pillar/rest of the car? If not, and if you didn't already plan on it, I would advise doing so. Otherwise those sound waves can/will travel to other areas in the car and either cause you cancellation issues or (most importantly) resonance issues.


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> hey brad, thanks for taking the time to explore this. i've been tossing around the idea of where to mount mids/midbasses in my '11 overland. are you doing a 2 or 3 way, and what was your experience with mids in the doors? also, what size (diameter) can you fit in that kick cavity?




Ooh it’s been my pleasure lol.... I’m running 3 way and I do t have much experience with mids in the doors. Where I want to move mine will be about the same height just wider by a few inches. 

I’m tired of fighting door resonance from my midbass. Our panels just have too many mechanisms and moving parts to beat on like I do and not make some sort of noises.

The cavity in the kick is about 5.5” x 5.5” with a few inches of mounting depth.


----------



## bradknob

ErinH said:


> I have to ask... and I am sure this is something you've already considered but just in case...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is this sealed off from the pillar/rest of the car? If not, and if you didn't already plan on it, I would advise doing so. Otherwise those sound waves can/will travel to other areas in the car and either cause you cancellation issues or (most importantly) resonance issues.




As far as I can tell, this cavity goes up behind the metal of the a pillar. Only holes I could see were the ones that the pillar cover snap into.

Also, the speaker will not be mounted in the cavity like the pic above, that was more to show the space that was back there. It will be more in the corner of the floor with an enclosure that vents into that area.

What are your thoughts on the directivity of the drivers down there, playing 45-250 or so? Would 20-30 degrees off axis one way or the other make much of a difference?


They will most likely end up like one of the pics below...


----------



## brett

Exactly; those black panels, while stiff, don't appear to be ideal mounting locations for big midbasses. That's one of the reasons I've been delaying the process because it just looks like a rattle machine and it probably flexes more than what's ideal. However, I was thinking of putting midbass in the kick area and potentially using the door for a larger midrange. You think that might work?


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> Exactly; those black panels, while stiff, don't appear to be ideal mounting locations for big midbasses. That's one of the reasons I've been delaying the process because it just looks like a rattle machine and it probably flexes more than what's ideal. However, I was thinking of putting midbass in the kick area and potentially using the door for a larger midrange. You think that might work?




I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how larger mid range down in the door would works I’ve always kept them
As high and on axis as possible. Back in the day, mids in the kick were big but it seems to have faded out some. Not sure of the reason why. I feel there’s just too much in the way down there that would it a tuning nightmare. The door panel, your legs, the seat, reflections Off the console that it firing directly towards... seems like a tuning nightmare to me but like I said, that’s just my opinion. I have no experience with them down there.


----------



## dengland

juiceweazel said:


> He's baaaack! :beerchug:


I have to agree. Ready to lurk with the best of them. Go Brad go!


----------



## brett

how are the kicks going?


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> how are the kicks going?




Lol, yeaaaa, bout that....

I actually just moved and had 2 pretty big builds to wrap up for this coming weekend. I took some time Off side work to get my garage in workable order and possibly get some time on my car in the next few days. It’s happening, so stay tuned


----------



## bradknob

But for the sake of something tO look at, this is what I did...


Trunk for a Bagged scatpack Charger


----------



## bradknob

Another for a hellcat challenger


----------



## brett

oh wow, that's awesome! i wish i was that proactive. 

good luck on the kicks, waiting patiently for your progress. it is an inspiration.


----------



## BP1Fanatic

That bagged charger is sitting RIGHT!


----------



## bradknob

Managed to squeeze a few hours into the jeep this weekend....








































I can still use the parking brake as it sits in these pics, but I’m considering just taking a hacksaw to it.... unless someone knows the easy way to remove it without taking the dash out.

Other side is glassed also but didn’t get pics.











Also snagged one of these bad boys, gonna try and squeeze it in the cubby under the HVAC controls


----------



## EmoJackson

Lovely install! Great location for the director.


----------



## brett

so, are you using the space behind the metal as additional airspace then or is it simply to allow the magnet to rest deeper?


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> so, are you using the space behind the metal as additional airspace then or is it simply to allow the magnet to rest deeper?



There’s a hole in the fiberglass, so it’s used for both extra airspace and allows the speaker to deeper into the kick


----------



## vietjdmboi

instead of cutting or removing the parking brake, what if you heated it up and bent it so it gives you clearance?


----------



## adrianp89

IIRC it was only three bolts to the remove the parking brake on my Challenger.... wasn't bad at all.


----------



## DavidRam

Looking good, Brad! 

I am sure the parking break would be easy to remove, reshape and reinstall to where it remains fully functional... I would put it in a vise, heat it with a torch, and then bend it to a shape that works for you.

Edit: Just noticed others had mentioned this already...


----------



## brett

depending on how far you want to take this, you might be able to leave the park brake alone. i know in my gc that there's the foam insert that can be removed, which it looks like you did and i would expect that. however, i found that, if you pull the carpet back/up, you can slip a woofer a littler deeper. i believe there's a wiring loom down there that might be able to move a little as well. if you're willing to potentially cut the carpet, you might be able to get that woofer to sit completely off-axis and flush to the kick allowing you go leave the brake alone.

but, if you change/remove the park brake, let us know with pics because that might work too. i just prefer to try to retain as much of the functionality of the vehicle as possible, especially when it comes to safety, etc.


----------



## bradknob

It was dark when I was working but didn’t give a great deal of time in how to remove it but after 90k miles, and literally haven’t used it once... I doubt I’ll miss it, until i get rid of it of course. I’d rather not take a torch to it so I may just Make it a little bunny so I can still use it if I had to


Brett- The carpet is actually already cut under the fiberglass. It does free up some space but the only thing is on the passenger side, there’s a lot more going on so I wouldn’t be able to use that corner. Not sure I would be able to
Mentally cope with the kicks not at least somewhat asymmetrical.


----------



## bradknob

adrianp89 said:


> IIRC it was only three bolts to the remove the parking brake on my Challenger.... wasn't bad at all.




Winner winner chicken dinner. 3- 1/2” bolts hold it in

One bolt right at the bottom of the bracket, behind the pedal.










The other can be accessed by pulling the panel off the side of the dash










The bolts make a triangle so it’s hard to decipher where the 3rd is but it’s closer to the fire wall. I was holding the camera behind the brake pedal. I had to press the e brake pedal in order for the socket to fit on the bolt










And voila!










Now I can fit a gaggle of midgets in my kicks!


----------



## Onyx1136

Is your tetanus booster up to date?


----------



## brett

thanks brad. who's your midget guy?


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> thanks brad. who's your midget guy?



Looking for a new one. Current one is a little short... on stock at the moment.


Ba dum tss



Onyx1136 said:


> Is your tetanus booster up to date?


Think I’m immune at this point.


----------



## adrianp89

Pretty sure I cut my hand on mine as well. Good stuff. I just left it out until I traded the car in.


----------



## bradknob

Got one of them wrapped up. Need to
Make a new trim ring with Metal grill. This is temporary to see if they would “disappear” down there. Still need to wire it up also.


I needed to add some weight to the kick so I used that tack weather seal and stuffed the inner edges, the stick a bunch of bolts to it. Then covered that with a fiberglass/body filler mix.... good ol milkshake. Then added some deadener.






































































Should have the other wired up and both playing this weekend


----------



## juiceweazel

Looking really good. Always enjoy watching your Jeep evolve. Do you have a protective grill or just using speaker cloth? Personally I'd end up kicking those speakers because I'm so absent minded.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Looking really good. Always enjoy watching your Jeep evolve. Do you have a protective grill or just using speaker cloth? Personally I'd end up kicking those speakers because I'm so absent minded.




Thanks.... I will def be putting a metal grill, jus waiting for it to come in. I did this just to see what it look like covered up.


----------



## chesapeakesoja

That's looking really good! Nice work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## brett

looks good. they ended up being more on axis than i thought they would. so, they are vented to the kick then? can't wait for results/impressions.


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> looks good. they ended up being more on axis than i thought they would. so, they are vented to the kick then? can't wait for results/impressions.




Yep, you can see in this pic the hole in back the enclosure where it vents into the hole I cut in the metal

















That cavity is open all the way up to behind the a pillar


----------



## bradknob

Ok, so I didnt get the passenger kick playing but I do have the driver side going. I filled the kick with some bluejean denim and took a measurement, and holy peak Batman...


Top pic is door measurement and bottom is kick with no eq or x-over applied...










I played with some x-over pints and not much changed, so I stuffed some more insulation in there and it helped a bit.

Top measurement is double the insulation as the bottom one. Smoothed it out quite a bit.











Now my main goal was to eliminate resonance, get a longer path length, and have a more solid enclosure to help clean up the midbass. If the response got better, that would just be lagniappe, and I think that natural peak will play to
My advantage. 

Here is the speaker with no eq and a 50-400 x-over... mush less sloppy than when they were in the door.










With just one side going, I’m extremely excited with the potential. More coming soon ....


----------



## BP1Fanatic

I guess that's why they call them KICK panels!


----------



## bradknob

BP1Fanatic said:


> I guess that's why they call them KICK panels!




Lol, they definitely added some kick. About 15 db worth


----------



## nadams5755

the kick is corner loaded so you'll get a huge peak. it's pretty common with kick builds.

depending on where you've got the mids high-passed, you may be able to low-pass them at like 140/24db and use a crossover to squash the peak without all the eq. (i've got my kicks crossed at 150/24db and mids crossed at 250/24db. cabin gain takes care of the gap.)


----------



## bradknob

Ok, got the passenger side wrapped up. Still waiting to make the grills....

Results are far better than I hoped for. Here is a before and Afyet of the In door response vs kicks. Both are about 50-300hz with no EQ set

















Also got the Sony half ass installed. Just wanted to hear it and see if it will
Fit down there.


















Still have quite a bit of tuning to do but pumped about the results so far. Dis gon be güd


----------



## brett

looking good dude. have you noticed a reduction in rattles/resonances?


----------



## juiceweazel

brett said:


> looking good dude. have you noticed a reduction in rattles/resonances?


Probably more so an increase of rattles :laugh:


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Probably more so an increase of rattles :laugh:






brett said:


> looking good dude. have you noticed a reduction in rattles/resonances?




Honestly haven’t heard a single one yet. Sounds like a different system.


----------



## juiceweazel

bradknob said:


> Honestly haven’t heard a single one yet. Sounds like a different system.


Deadened properly. Carry on :2thumbsup:


----------



## brett

good to hear and encouraging.


----------



## bradknob

Made grills for the kicks, not crazy about them. Kinda like the stealth look so I’ll probably just leave the grill in place and cover them with grill cloth. Next I’ll re Work the actual oem kick to make it flow a little better.



















I also cut a buncha **** behind the dash to fit the GS9...










































I’ll make a panel to flush it in with the rest of the dash and wrap it in the same color vinyl.

Also started in a lil something else, not sure exactly where I’m going with this lol... but more on that later


----------



## chithead

Well alright! As if it wasn't already, stuff getting serious now!!!


----------



## bradknob

chithead said:


> Well alright! As if it wasn't already, stuff getting serious now!!!




Lol yea, it escalated quickly. Scary what I get myself into with a few days of spare time.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Made grills for the kicks, not crazy about them. Kinda like the stealth look so I’ll probably just leave the grill in place and cover them with grill cloth. Next I’ll re Work the actual oem kick to make it flow a little better.
> 
> 
> 
> I also cut a buncha **** behind the dash to fit the GS9...
> 
> 
> 
> I’ll make a panel to flush it in with the rest of the dash and wrap it in the same color vinyl.
> 
> Also started in a lil something else, not sure exactly where I’m going with this lol... but more on that later


You're crazy! Keep it up!


----------



## bradknob

I brought my little fiberglass mold on the door to the point of no return, and cut a big ass hole in the door panel so I guess I gotta roll with....




























I thought I had some expanding foam to start shaping them but it must have disappeared, so next week I’ll get those shaped up.

On to the Sony... 

made a little baffle...










Then I went to bed and let the fab elves do their thing....



















They still got some work to do at the bottom but when it’s done, it’ll be vinyl wrapped silver to match the rest of the dash.


Then part 2 of the head unit came in so Ima start making plans for it....


----------



## nadams5755

i like wide. 









consider sealing up the factory speaker opening at the bottom of the door if you get cancellations, lowered stage, or tactile feedback. 

i can't tell by the pics, how big is the vent?


----------



## bradknob

nadams5755 said:


> i like wide.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> consider sealing up the factory speaker opening at the bottom of the door if you get cancellations, lowered stage, or tactile feedback.
> 
> 
> 
> i can't tell by the pics, how big is the vent?




Nice! My goal here is to get more room and a much more solid pod than the pillar currently provides. I still have some cutting but the hole will probably be about 3” x 6” when it’s all done. Enough for the magnet and basket to fit in it. Good call on the door speaker hole too. Hadn’t considered that yet


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I brought my little fiberglass mold on the door to the point of no return, and cut a big ass hole in the door panel so I guess I gotta roll with....
> 
> 
> 
> I thought I had some expanding foam to start shaping them but it must have disappeared, so next week I’ll get those shaped up.
> 
> On to the Sony...
> 
> 
> 
> They still got some work to do at the bottom but when it’s done, it’ll be vinyl wrapped silver to match the rest of the dash.
> 
> 
> Then part 2 of the head unit came in so Ima start making plans for it....


Damn dude, you have some balls...  Respect.

Have you looked at Doug Bernard's dash kits? 

https://soundman.co/collections/all


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Damn dude, you have some balls...  Respect.
> 
> 
> 
> Have you looked at Doug Bernard's dash kits?
> 
> 
> 
> https://soundman.co/collections/all




I checked them out before but what Ima do will be a removable piece. Too much integrated on the dash to jut toss it. Some glass and a buncha magnets or something and will just cover everything else and pop on and off when needed


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> I checked them out before but what Ima do will be a removable piece. Too much integrated on the dash to jut toss it. Some glass and a buncha magnets or something and will just cover everything else and pop on and off when needed


Sounds cool!


----------



## GMCtrk

Curious how you find the GS9 to work with the Samsung tablet? My GS9 does not like my Galaxy S9+.


----------



## bradknob

GMCtrk said:


> Curious how you find the GS9 to work with the Samsung tablet? My GS9 does not like my Galaxy S9+.




I had a 7” tab A that had a jitter with any app I used. This S2 works flawlessly. Which music app are you using?


----------



## GMCtrk

Google Play and Apple Music. Apple music has it's own issues running on the Samsung.


----------



## bradknob

GMCtrk said:


> Google Play and Apple Music. Apple music has it's own issues running on the Samsung.



Ah, I’m new to android so not sure how much help I can be. Maybe try neutron or usb audio app via OTG to the Sony and see what happens.


----------



## GMCtrk

Best thing for me is just to go back to the iphone. I haven't been happy with the Galaxy. 

The biggest irk for me is that the GS9 won't recognize the Galaxy thru USB1. It only works through the micro USB port. I prefer USB1 because it charges my phone while driving wheras micro port does not. Also, with the USB-DAC input the HU can no longer control the phone. Much easier to switch tracks from the HU than fiddling with the phone while driving. Yes, USB-DAC will have better SQ in theory than USB1 but I can't hear it with my system.


----------



## nadams5755

GMCtrk said:


> Best thing for me is just to go back to the iphone. I haven't been happy with the Galaxy.
> 
> The biggest irk for me is that the GS9 won't recognize the Galaxy thru USB1. It only works through the micro USB port. I prefer USB1 because it charges my phone while driving wheras micro port does not. Also, with the USB-DAC input the HU can no longer control the phone. Much easier to switch tracks from the HU than fiddling with the phone while driving. Yes, USB-DAC will have better SQ in theory than USB1 but I can't hear it with my system.


w/ the iphone, you can use a lightning to usb3 camera adapter (MK0W2AM/A). then usb-a to micro-usb into the USB-DAC port. this will let you charge your phone at the same time with your regular lightning cable into the camera adapter.


----------



## DavidRam

Is it a PIA to pull the inner door skin on these Jeeps? After all the bolts come out, I am guessing the power window motor just slips out of the gear?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Is it a PIA to pull the inner door skin on these Jeeps? After all the bolts come out, I am guessing the power window motor just slips out of the gear?




Not sure, I never pulled mine. Read a how too, and it wasn’t something I wanted to get involved in. Lol. I thinks it’s a bit more than just unbolting and pulling off


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Not sure, I never pulled mine. Read a how too, and it wasn’t something I wanted to get involved in. Lol. I thinks it’s a bit more than just unbolting and pulling off


I see... Were you able to get cld on the door through the speaker opening?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> I see... Were you able to get cld on the door through the speaker opening?




Yes, and there a little hatch that opens up on the opposite side as the speaker hole. U can open it and it use both hands to get back there


----------



## bradknob

For the sake of an update, this is where I’m at...

Finished up the trim around the GS9, came out pretty decent. Still hate the inputs on the front...


















Pods are just sprayed black for testing, until I decide I want to keep them. The extra airspace and weight of the pods really opened them up. Try se much more transparent and stage is a lot wider. Crazy how much wider from just moving them over a few inches. Most likely catching some reflections working in my favor. Will probably just wrap them and call it a day and move on to the back....








Great potential....


----------



## bradknob

Had a few min last night, so I started on my tablet holder dealy thingy...

Made a mold of the dash, and epoxied some magnets in it. Also epoxied magnets on the back side of the plastic.










I don’t have pics of the process, but I rabbeted the edge of a few 3/4” wide strips of acrylic, half the thickness of the tablet deep. Then sandwiched them together to make a channel for the tablet to slide into. After that, poured some expanding foam, sanded to shape and glassed over it....





















A quick fill and sand and test fit.... not bad. I was scared it would look goofy since i had to raise it high enough to fit over the HVAC knobs. Doesn’t look too much like a dick on a fish.... I’ll finish body working and paint or vinyl wrap it flat black in the next few days. What y’all think?


----------



## adrianp89

Looks great so far - reminds me of my truck lol... submit it to FCA


----------



## optimaprime

Looks telsa meets soundman f150 dash !! Looks sick man!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Ooh, fancy


----------



## ErinH

fancy!


Dude, it was nice meeting you at finals last month. I'll be sub'd to see where this goes.


----------



## bradknob

ErinH said:


> fancy!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dude, it was nice meeting you at finals last month. I'll be sub'd to see where this goes.




Likewise man!

A few of y’all s cars lit a fire under my ass to my stuff together for this year. Hope to see u in 19’


----------



## brett

well, it's cool, but im not super stoked on the way it looks. though, given my understanding of what you're doing, im not sure there was another route to go. are you preserving all of the oe headunit function, or just the hvac controls? btw, i really like the hu in the lower compartment.


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> well, it's cool, but im not super stoked on the way it looks. though, given my understanding of what you're doing, im not sure there was another route to go. are you preserving all of the oe headunit function, or just the hvac controls? btw, i really like the hu in the lower compartment.




The whole oem system is %100 functional. This piece is held on with magnets and just pops off and on in seconds. It’ll likely only be used when I’m driving by myself or demoing at shows. Trying to upload the video of it but not having any luck at the moment


----------



## bradknob

See if this works, i are is tarded....

https://imgur.com/a/8dZujHt


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Man, that tablet holder came out nice as h3ll!


----------



## juiceweazel

Saw this on Strictly Sound Quality, insanely nice glass work. Now if only you could find a way to put the USB port in the back of that damn Sony!


----------



## chesapeakesoja

So sick! Nice work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

chesapeakesoja said:


> So sick! Nice work.
> 
> Thanks man!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk






BP1Fanatic said:


> Man, that tablet holder came out nice as h3ll!



Thanks, I really like the simplicity of it. 



juiceweazel said:


> Saw this on Strictly Sound Quality, insanely nice glass work. Now if only you could find a way to put the USB port in the back of that damn Sony!




No kidding huh.... I’ve asked a few people but they didn’t wanna mess with it. May just need to get a shorter OTG cable to clean it up a little bit.


----------



## jake789

Very creative. Nice work man!

My last vehicle I used a samsung tab in a permanent mount. I had alot of overheating issues but probably the FL sun.


----------



## mattkim1337

Another in dash tablet build! Great work on everything sir.


----------



## LBaudio

I like tablet holder,.... Nice work man!


----------



## JH1973

What a beautiful build! Those pillars are so sweet.


----------



## carlr

So cool and the fitment seems spot on.


----------



## bradknob

With the speakers not in the pillars any more, it’s time for another overhaul. Not sure how many rebuilds they have left in em, but here’s they are so far...



















Had a general idea of the design I wanted to go with. Then once I got to this point, it hit me that I could put some insulation or black hole stuff behind the hole and cover it with some grill cloth. Maybe help tame some reflections from the dash/windshield.... maybe, maybe not. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Also got creative with some aluminum I had lying around. 




















Here’s how they sit now. Will polish the aluminum and maybe engrave something in it, then wrap em up.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## carlr

Looking forward to see them pillars all wrapped up.


----------



## Redliner99

bradknob said:


> Ooh, fancy




Why did you choose use the gs9 over just straigh usb or coax to dsp and not use a headunit at all?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Redliner99 said:


> Why did you choose use the gs9 over just straigh usb or coax to dsp and not use a headunit at all?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I was running it that way for a while with the PAC Ampro module going digital to the dsp. I couldn’t be sure there wasn’t some sort of digital to analog conversion before the DSP when using the oem usb input. Plus the Sony DAC is head and shoulders above that of the helix. Difference is very obvious between oem head unit digital and GS9.

And I just lie building **** and wanted to switch it up.


----------



## Redliner99

bradknob said:


> I was running it that way for a while with the PAC Ampro module going digital to the dsp. I couldn’t be sure there wasn’t some sort of digital to analog conversion before the DSP when using the oem usb input. Plus the Sony DAC is head and shoulders above that of the helix. Difference is very obvious between oem head unit digital and GS9.
> 
> And I just lie building **** and wanted to switch it up.




I was more referring to your iPad straight to the helix rather than through the gs9? I'm still new to this so seeing some people use headunit a and others don't just gathering some reasons why 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

Redliner99 said:


> I was more referring to your iPad straight to the helix rather than through the gs9? I'm still new to this so seeing some people use headunit a and others don't just gathering some reasons why
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Ah I gotcha... mostly boils down to the dac in the Sony being much better than the helix.


----------



## Redliner99

bradknob said:


> Ah I gotcha... mostly boils down to the dac in the Sony being much better than the helix.




Ah makes sense thank you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ndm

bradknob said:


> See if this works, i are is tarded....
> 
> https://imgur.com/a/8dZujHt


Oh boy! I do my best at trying it be an original type of thinker. Every now and then an idea is just so good that it has to be replicated...... that thing you have created is fricking tits!

I am sooooooooo fricking copying it! Maybe not exact copy but definitely LOVE how the factory equipment is hidden behind there.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> With the speakers not in the pillars any more, it’s time for another overhaul. Not sure how many rebuilds they have left in em, but here’s they are so far...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Had a general idea of the design I wanted to go with. Then once I got to this point, it hit me that I could put some insulation or black hole stuff behind the hole and cover it with some grill cloth. Maybe help tame some reflections from the dash/windshield.... maybe, maybe not. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.
> Also got creative with some aluminum I had lying around.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here’s how they sit now. Will polish the aluminum and maybe engrave something in it, then wrap em up.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Brad, did you get these done?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Brad, did you get these done?




Just half assed. Been so damn busy on everyone else’s ****, mines been neglected. But I plan On having them ready for aggieland at the end of April.

Here’s how they sit now...


----------



## bradknob




----------



## juiceweazel

Wow!! Love the pillars, amazing work here yet again!
PS nice album choice. Love me some Danny Carey drumming.


----------



## bradknob

juiceweazel said:


> Wow!! Love the pillars, amazing work here yet again!
> 
> PS nice album choice. Love me some Danny Carey drumming.




Thanks man. Once I redo the trim
Piece they should be something to brag about.

I can’t get enough of all their albums.... it’s like they were mastered specifically for lossless to the HAT L8s. Lol, just sounds so damn good


----------



## juiceweazel

Hmm then maybe I should look into the HAT series LOL!
My favorite is still Undertow. So raw & well recorded. Seeing them live is an experience in itself. I've been lucky enough to catch them 3 times now.


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Those pillars are CRAZY nice!


----------



## bradknob

BP1Fanatic said:


> Those pillars are CRAZY nice!




Thanks, I built them out a little to try and hide the hugeness of the sail pod. It worked out pretty well I think.


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Brad, did you get these done?






juiceweazel said:


> Wow!! Love the pillars, amazing work here yet again!
> 
> PS nice album choice. Love me some Danny Carey drumming.






BP1Fanatic said:


> Those pillars are CRAZY nice!






















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bbfoto

bradknob said:


> (updated A-pillars)


Beautiful work, man. Those look slick. :thumbsup:

I'm hoping to achieve something similar to your sail panel pods with the build I'm working on now. Thanks for the inspiration!


Oh, and what you did with the "hollow" A-pillars with grill cloth and absorbtion behind them is something I've done with a few of my vehicle's B-Pillars. 

With the driver's seat in its far back position for critical listening and demos, my head and ears were perfectly opposite of the B-pillars.

I took a large kitchen hot pad mit and put in on my left hand, then swiped it in and out of position between my left ear and the hard plastic B-pillar.

It made a HUGE difference in reducing the L-to-R skewing of the Soundstage, improved the L/R snare drum track spacing and center image FOCUS, and increased DEPTH a ton.  It made balancing the L/R FR heaps easier.

In essence it kills or reduces the reflection off of the driver's side window/B-pillar that is coming from the Passenger side mid & tweet in the sail panels, and the same for the passenger side, basically reducing crosstalk drastically.

I used 1/4" square metal yardcloth/hardware mesh and made a form around my OEM B-pillars, then wrapped the outside with thick fleece, then with color-matched grey grill cloth. Then I stuffed Roxul insulation behind the mesh form. Epoxied Neo magnets around the perimeter of the mesh to attach it to the steel B-pillar. Voilà!

The hardest part was making & trimming out the opening for the front seat belts to come through, but I think that would be a breeze for you.  

I discovered this by accident years ago when I was sitting in my car listening/tuning and pulled off my sweatshirt...my sweatshirt ended up sort of waded up in my left hand next to my head momentarily blocking the B-pillar and I heard a dramatic shift in tonality & focus. :bulb:


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


B.E.A.U.tiful!!!


----------



## bradknob

Interesting bbfoto, I’ll definitely experiment with that...


----------



## autokraftgt

BK, those pillars are totally unreal....I love them! Your work continues to impress. Between you and Davidram, I feel like I should get into a new hobby....like kite making or some sh*t.....im no longer worthy as my stuff is usually function over form.
Again, beautiful work BK!!!


----------



## bradknob

autokraftgt said:


> BK, those pillars are totally unreal....I love them! Your work continues to impress. Between you and Davidram, I feel like I should get into a new hobby....like kite making or some sh*t.....im no longer worthy as my stuff is usually function over form.
> 
> Again, beautiful work BK!!!




Lold @ kite making...

But thanks bud. I actually just finished up an enclosure for a ram. Feel i set the bar pretty high with this one... cut out the cubby hole wall thing that was under there


----------



## mfenske

Brad, your work is crazy good. I'm enjoying this build log-thanks for doing it!


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Ditto!


----------



## bradknob

mfenske said:


> Brad, your work is crazy good. I'm enjoying this build log-thanks for doing it!






BP1Fanatic said:


> Ditto!




Appreciate that, just wish I had more time to devote to my own car. Lol

U can keep up with all the projects I have going on @bradknob on Instagram if ur interested 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## BP1Fanatic

No Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or other social media besides forums.


----------



## Coppertone

^^^. Sadly I am the same way so if it’s not on the forum I am not privy to it..


----------



## Chaos

This certainly is creative, and your fabrication skills are quite impressive.


----------



## bradknob

Chaos said:


> This certainly is creative, and your fabrication skills are quite impressive.




Thanks. 

Eventually I’ll have an actual update of the Jeep. Plan on making finals this year so I gots work to do


----------



## ErinH

bradknob said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Eventually I’ll have an actual update of the Jeep. Plan on making finals this year so I gots work to do


Git 'r dun!!!!


See you at finals, boi!


----------



## T_StPe

We're you in Slidell a few weekends ago?

Saw a black Jeep with SRT rims at sams.


----------



## saltyone

Geaux Tigers!!

Buck Fama!


----------



## bradknob

Well it’s time for once a year check in, where I start something new, then let life get in the way and never follow through.....

Except now, I’ve given up all side work for a while to focus on my build. I will still compete, but my focus is to just build something wild and have fun enjoying it. Whatever class I end up in, so be it.... likely extreme class

In the coming weeks I will test the theory that “cone area is king” 

First order of business is to destroy everything...





























Here’s an idea of where this is going. Cut first, measure later...


----------



## bradknob

So we have HAT 12” clarus, IB in the kicks.
A handful of 6.5” drivers I’ll be trying our for
Midrange duty in sealed enclosures in the dash. And satori beryllium large format tweeters.

One of the greatest milestones to date, being able to fit my vehicle in my garage











Here, we start aiming and glassing the enclosures























































Testing figment of the satori driver










This is actually as it sits now. Will continue on the other side and kick baffles in the next couple days


----------



## brett

dude, **** yeah! would love to see more pics or hear details about the kicks, specifically what areas you cut and what's behind them.


----------



## dgage

Wow! I’m jealous!


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> dude, **** yeah! would love to see more pics or hear details about the kicks, specifically what areas you cut and what's behind them.


I’ll try and get some pics but the hole is directly behind the tire, behind the wheel well liner. There a few wires and a small harness that’s easily relocatable, and was also super dry back there. 

When u cut through the floor there’s another cavity, that once You cut through it, ur outside.

You can see it in this pic, almost enough room for a sealed 6.5 in the floor

















This pic u can see the wheel well liner. Theres about 4” space between it and the metal











I was prepared to pull the fenders and all
Kinda ****, but turns out it takes minimal effort to completely **** this car up


----------



## DavidRam

Dude you are nuts, that's freakin awesome!! Just for kicks, you should list your Jeep for sale on Craiglist with those pics!!! 

"Slight Dash Modifications"


----------



## brett

please tell us you have something crazy planned for subs


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Dude you are nuts, that's freakin awesome!! Just for kicks, you should list your Jeep for sale on Craiglist with those pics!!!
> 
> "Slight Dash Modifications"


Lol, “like new, premium speaker package”



brett said:


> please tell us you have something crazy planned for subs


Something run of the mill, couple IB 18”s most likely.


----------



## brett

salivation, engage


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Lol, “like new, premium streamer package”
> 
> 
> 
> Something run of the mill, couple IB 18”s most likely.



Here ya go. A couple of these would do you just fine... 









NDFEB-2 18" 4" Coil | hutchinsoncaraudio


The NDFEB-2 18" is Hutchinson Car Audio's largest competition focused subwoofer, focused on efficiency and reliability. With 8 2.5"x1" N52 Neodymium magnets, this motor has a very high field strength, allowing this sub to take full advantage of all the power you give it. The RMS is 4000 watts...




www.hutchinsoncaraudio.com


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Here ya go. A couple of these would do you just fine...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NDFEB-2 18" 4" Coil | hutchinsoncaraudio
> 
> 
> The NDFEB-2 18" is Hutchinson Car Audio's largest competition focused subwoofer, focused on efficiency and reliability. With 8 2.5"x1" N52 Neodymium magnets, this motor has a very high field strength, allowing this sub to take full advantage of all the power you give it. The RMS is 4000 watts...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.hutchinsoncaraudio.com


Lol I wish, his subs are some of my favorites. I’ll prob go with 2- FI IB3 18”s.


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Lol I wish, his subs are some of my favorites. I’ll prob go with 2- FI IB3 18”s.


The FIs were my second choice, but I couldn't fit one so I went with a 10" Hutchinson with custom finish and all CF dust cap and cone.


----------



## ejeffrey

Go big or go home, but this is next level! Awesome!


----------



## dengland

Crap... Why do I feel I am going to catch an upgrade bug again... Damn you Brad!

Been doing home audio stuff lately...


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> The FIs were my second choice, but I couldn't fit one so I went with a 10" Hutchinson with custom finish and all CF dust cap and cone.


I found your thread, that sub looks so damn good.



ejeffrey said:


> Go big or go home, but this is next level! Awesome!


Next level is def the plan



dengland said:


> Crap... Why do I feel I am going to catch an upgrade bug again... Damn you Brad!
> 
> Been doing home audio stuff lately...


Man that’s awesome, I’m jealous. Not gonna Between the WAF and the layout of the new house, it wasn’t in the cards for me. I put that battle to rest for now. 

Still trying to find away to sneak some 24”s IB in the attic tho lol...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Iamsecond

bradknob said:


> Still trying to find away to sneak some 24”s IB in the attic tho lol...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


bud that is not easy. When I put my 2 24s in my attic ib I had to get an electric wench and mount it to the rafters to get the subs into the attic. Then had to assemble the manifold and speakers in the attic and I found the place to install the manifold when I lost my balance and stepped through the drywall in the ceiling. Just said “well, just made the whole, lol”. And it was stunning. Don’t worry about sneaking it in, just do it. A single 24 in that Jeep would be sick and it will put perform 2 of those 18s. 
just some thoughts from a person who has done it.


----------



## bradknob

Iamsecond said:


> bud that is not easy. When I put my 2 24s in my attic ib I had to get an electric wench and mount it to the rafters to get the subs into the attic. Then had to assemble the manifold and speakers in the attic and I found the place to install the manifold when I lost my balance and stepped through the drywall in the ceiling. Just said “well, just made the whole, lol”. And it was stunning. Don’t worry about sneaking it in, just do it. A single 24 in that Jeep would be sick and it will put perform 2 of those 18s.
> just some thoughts from a person who has done it.


LOL! That’s so extra .... love it.


----------



## BP1Fanatic

I love it BK..."cut and measure later!"


----------



## LOST_llama

This is over the top!


----------



## bradknob

I got the mid enclosures, enclosed and sealed up. Filled them with filler and BBS to add mass.




















Also got one of the kick molds Pulled out, mocked and trimmed up


----------



## WhereAmEye?

This is the kind of install that I can’t show my family because they would put me in rehab just in case 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## bradknob

WhereAmEye? said:


> This is the kind of install that I can’t show my family because they would put me in rehab just in case
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


lol, my wife hasn’t seen what’s going on in there yet. I’m sure it’ll be a similar conversation


----------



## farfromovin

Curious if you’re gonna wrap just the dash pods to meet up against the dash or are you gonna wrap the entire dashboard with new leather?


----------



## bradknob

farfromovin said:


> Curious if you’re gonna wrap just the dash pods to meet up against the dash or are you gonna wrap the entire dashboard with new leather?


I’d need to take the dash out to wrap the whole thing.... no way I’m messing with all that. I’m gonna basically make some speaker grills or covers, whatever you wanna call it, that go
From the windshield to the front of the dash to
Just hide it all..... that’ll be coming soon


----------



## bradknob

farfromovin said:


> Curious if you’re gonna wrap just the dash pods to meet up against the dash or are you gonna wrap the entire dashboard with new leather?


Here’s a professional artist rendering. May cnc an aluminum logo or trim or something


----------



## DavidRam

WhereAmEye? said:


> This is the kind of install that I can’t show my family because they would put me in rehab just in case
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Preventative rehab! Lol


----------



## bradknob

Quarantine update.... my plan was to have everything playing and tuned for aggieland next month, looking like **** or not..... It was postponed til August, but not til after I whipped up some quick sail panels. Which I hate more and more every time I see them. But they’ll do for now.

Remember I have to cover the huge holes I already cut when the L4s were In The sails. Driver side isn’t too bad....





























Got the grills and mesh covering the holes in the floor and subs installed. Rivnuts hold them in place



































Kind of hard to see but they’re down there. Took a quick measurement to try and gauge x-over points....

Pretty fukn sexy if u ask me. At my kind of listening levels, they will get in the mid to low 30s with authority and without losing their cool.











This measurement was with the ground zeros bridged, getting about 460 watts. I threw the zapcos in yesterday, about 500 per and there’s an obvious difference in the sound. Mainly the top end. I’ll get a little more time I gotta done and see how it goes. Hopefully this weekend I’ll start making this cluster fuk look decent


----------



## brett

hey brad, hope you're still active and things are ok. was hoping to get some long term impressions of your new kicks vs. your previous version. and/or any other updates in general as yours serves as an inspiration for many of us.


----------



## DavidRam

We def need an update on this, Mr. BK!!!


----------



## Ssopus

I was also curious how this turned out and your impression on the new kicks.


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> hey brad, hope you're still active and things are ok. was hoping to get some long term impressions of your new kicks vs. your previous version. and/or any other updates in general as yours serves as an inspiration for many of us.





DavidRam said:


> We def need an update on this, Mr. BK!!!





Ssopus said:


> I was also curious how this turned out and your impression on the new kicks.


Yoooo..... good to see theres still interest here lol. Guess theres been decent enough progress to share. As always, life gets in the way and ol girl been on the back burner. I got a half ass tune on it, and really all the kicks need are 1 band dropped a couple DB. Now i dont know how ill ever, not have giant drivers in the kicks. they are effortless down to 32hz, at the hood rat levels i like at times. And easily into the mid to high 20s at “SQ levels”. Impact is absurd, with these and the 6.5”s in the dash. its just so damn fun to listen to, but can be tamed and balanced like an SQ vehicle should. Heres how they sit currently. (Still gotta redo the door speaker grills, dont judge me) but IMO it was absolutely worth cutting the hell out of the vehicle, and i will most likely do it to every vehicle i own from here on out



















And that brings me to this......


----------



## seafish

GOOD thing I wasnt actually drinking my beer when I scrolled to the last pic !!!


----------



## DavidRam

bradknob said:


> Yoooo..... good to see theres still interest here lol. Guess theres been decent enough progress to share. As always, life gets in the way and ol girl been on the back burner. I got a half ass tune on it, and really all the kicks need are 1 band dropped a couple DB. Now i dont know how ill ever, not have giant drivers in the kicks. they are effortless down to 32hz, at the hood rat levels i like at times. And easily into the mid to high 20s at “SQ levels”. Impact is absurd, with these and the 6.5”s in the dash. its just so damn fun to listen to, but can be tamed and balanced like an SQ vehicle should. Heres how they sit currently. (Still gotta redo the door speaker grills, dont judge me) but IMO it was absolutely worth cutting the hell out of the vehicle, and i will most likely do it to every vehicle i own from here on out
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And that brings me to this......


Prosthetics trick


----------



## brett

welcome back dude! so, are those kicks vented to the outside or into the body cavity? i'm not sure which direction i want to go with mine. i've got the 10's in kicks that are kinda vented into that kick cavity, but not cleanly. i could cut into the kicks if need be, but i'm hesitant to cut the floor panel. really hoping you could dive into this.

also, please show us what you're doing in the back! i've been wanting to cut and extend the spare area as well. or, are you going ib with your subs?


----------



## bradknob

DavidRam said:


> Prosthetics trick



Lol, Guess well find out




brett said:


> welcome back dude! so, are those kicks vented to the outside or into the body cavity? i'm not sure which direction i want to go with mine. i've got the 10's in kicks that are kinda vented into that kick cavity, but not cleanly. i could cut into the kicks if need be, but i'm hesitant to cut the floor panel. really hoping you could dive into this.
> 
> also, please show us what you're doing in the back! i've been wanting to cut and extend the spare area as well. or, are you going ib with your subs?


Thanks! They are vented to the outside. Had to cut the floor and the 2nd floor in that little cavity. The hole is behind the fender liner, with a few inch gap between the hole and liner, nearly impossible for rain or water to contact it directly. Not exactly apples To apples, but going from the sealed 8”s to these IB was a drastic difference.


Heres whats going on on the back,

Welded a steel box together











Cut a big ass hole and welded said box in it


















Chopped up some wood and rivnut it to steel box


















Threw in some SS mesh and expanding foam























Add some hydrophobic mesh and foam










Drop in a couple 18” BBCs and now we wangin





















Threw an ampere 2k i had lying around on them and Did some basic tuning. She peaks around 23hz. its a monster down to about 15, and still audible er, feelable below 10. Very happy with it









o


----------



## bradknob

My buddy is doing a vlog of his build for his podcast and i happened to show up so he got a demo. Around the 5:00 mark. Of course vid does no justice but its how the car sits currently


----------



## brett

dude, i love it. i wish i had the means to weld, but an apartment balcony is not the best workshop. you're really making me want to cut holes to fit the 10's i have.  not sure i'm ready to cut the dash just yet. if you ever get around to it, i'd like to see more of the holes you cut for the kicks, just so i can plan a little easier. my hope would be that, if i needed to sell the vehicle, i could body work them back into place easily enough. 

also, i don't recall from going through the thread, but what are you doing for electrical? did you upgrade to a ho alt or different battery?


----------



## BP1Fanatic

Killer subs in the kicks and trunk floor!


----------



## bradknob

brett said:


> dude, i love it. i wish i had the means to weld, but an apartment balcony is not the best workshop. you're really making me want to cut holes to fit the 10's i have. not sure i'm ready to cut the dash just yet. if you ever get around to it, i'd like to see more of the holes you cut for the kicks, just so i can plan a little easier. my hope would be that, if i needed to sell the vehicle, i could body work them back into place easily enough.
> 
> also, i don't recall from going through the thread, but what are you doing for electrical? did you upgrade to a ho alt or different battery?



These are the pics i have. Awkward angles and such make it kind of a PITA, i cut it in a bunch of different pieces so theres no 1 piece that could be welded back in place.

1st floor cut











2nd floor cut









Driver side, red is the first cut.



















Here i sandwiched mo flow vent mesh between








2 mesh grills and used rivnuts and construction adhesive to hold and seal it.


----------



## seafish

[QUOTE="bradknob, post: 5904458, member: 30318" ... I cut it in a bunch of different pieces so theres no 1 piece that could be welded back in place.
[/QUOTE]

Did that so there was NO turning back, eh ??? JK/LOL!!!


----------



## bradknob

seafish said:


> [QUOTE="bradknob, post: 5904458, member: 30318" ... I cut it in a bunch of different pieces so theres no 1 piece that could be welded back in place.


Did that so there was NO turning back, eh ??? JK/LOL!!![/QUOTE]

Lol yup, had to take a long deep look into the soul of this jeep and decide if she was the one or not. Cuz no ones gonna want her when im done with it.


----------



## BP1Fanatic




----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> These are the pics i have. Awkward angles and such make it kind of a PITA, i cut it in a bunch of different pieces so theres no 1 piece that could be welded back in place.
> 
> 1st floor cut
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2nd floor cut
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Driver side, red is the first cut.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here i sandwiched mo flow vent mesh between
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2 mesh grills and used rivnuts and construction adhesive to hold and seal it.


Hey Brad..thanks for posting these pics. Wanted to get your opinion...do you think the existing factory holes were enough to let the L8se breath without cutting a larger opening? I’m not afraid to cut but only if it’s necessary. not sure if you tried them before enlarging the hole?


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> Hey Brad..thanks for posting these pics. Wanted to get your opinion...do you think the existing factory holes were enough to let the L8se breath without cutting a larger opening? I’m not afraid to cut but only if it’s necessary. not sure if you tried them before enlarging the hole?


You talking about the holes in the sides of the kicks, that go behind the fender? I think it would be cutting it close, but doable. I had a ton of power to help with the low end but i had no issues playing them to 40hz.... which IMO was asking a little too much of them at the levels i like to listen.


----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> You talking about the holes in the sides of the kicks, that go behind the fender? I think it would be cutting it close, but doable. I had a ton of power to help with the low end but i had no issues playing them to 40hz.... which IMO was asking a little too much of them at the levels i like to listen.


Yes the existing holes in the kicks. Sorry I should have been more specific. So better safe than sorry to open the up at least 4-5 square inches more? I’m going to be driving them with an as200.2.


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> Yes the existing holes in the kicks. Sorry I should have been more specific. So better safe than sorry to open the up at least 4-5 square inches more? I’m going to be driving them with an as200.2.


I guess it couldn’t hurt, mostly bc the hole is filled with a foam and the larger hole would make it easier to dig out. Also on the driver side, the bigger hole will help the magnet of the speaker sink back more to get out the way of the e brake if i remember correctly.


----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> I guess it couldn’t hurt, mostly bc the hole is filled with a foam and the larger hole would make it easier to dig out. Also on the driver side, the bigger hole will help the magnet of the speaker sink back more to get out the way of the e brake if i remember correctly.


Thanks for the input. Trying not to remove anything visible to the dealership (like the parking brake) at least until it’s out of warranty. Lol. I like the angle that your kicks are at so I may not have a choice. Loving your build! How did you like the L8se in the kicks?


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> Thanks for the input. Trying not to remove anything visible to the dealership (like the parking brake) at least until it’s out of warranty. Lol. I like the angle that your kicks are at so I may not have a choice. Loving your build! How did you like the L8se in the kicks?


I cant remember what all i posted in here but i found these pics. I was wrong, e brake did have to come out for the 8s. But the L8SEs are little monsters. Loved them down in the kicks


----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> I cant remember what all i posted in here but i found these pics. I was wrong, e brake did have to come out for the 8s. But the L8SEs are little monsters. Loved them down in the kicks


Thanks again for the pics. Yeah I’ve been trying to get the right angle with a dry fit and just can’t quite get them where I like them with the brake. It’s just 3 bolts so taking it out. I was leaning in that direction anyway. Happy to hear you liked the hats in the kicks. I’m expecting a little extra tuning but didn’t want to deal with issues from putting them in the doors. Your build has been an inspiration.


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> Thanks again for the pics. Yeah I’ve been trying to get the right angle with a dry fit and just can’t quite get them where I like them with the brake. It’s just 3 bolts so taking it out. I was leaning in that direction anyway. Happy to hear you liked the hats in the kicks. I’m expecting a little extra tuning but didn’t want to deal with issues from putting them in the doors. Your build has been an inspiration.


Glad to hear this journeys been helpful.... and there was actually a lot less EQ needed from the kicks. Theres a huge peak around 125 that needs to be knocked down and a big dip on the passenger side around 300 i believe, from the console.


----------



## brett

all of this is helpful, thanks brad.

do you think it's possible make a cutout to the kick panel cavity to try an achieve an i.b. setup? i'm really hesitant to cut the floor, but wouldn't think twice about those cavities/channels. i'm really considering throwing some 8's in the kicks, mounting as flush as possible to the body panel. after a decent drive, i realized that i need a little more room to rest my foot. i thought i could work around it, but i need to try and accommodate my ears and feet equally.


----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> Glad to hear this journeys been helpful.... and there was actually a lot less EQ needed from the kicks. Theres a huge peak around 125 that needs to be knocked down and a big dip on the passenger side around 300 i believe, from the console.


That is very good to hear. I was a little worried the kicks were going to be a tuning issue. Have some fabrication ahead of me so it will be a bit. looking forward to following your build. Fearless is the word that comes to mind! 😁


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> That is very good to hear. I was a little worried the kicks were going to be a tuning issue. Have some fabrication ahead of me so it will be a bit. looking forward to following your build. Fearless is the word that comes to mind!


Fine line between fearless and mentally challenged.Not sure what side of the line im on yet lol.

Will be a few weeks before i get anywhere on this build but ill share when i make progress


----------



## ndm

Brad, coming from a Jeep grand cherokee brother that also put his jeep under the knife..... Dude, you Rock!

Im a ***** though, I welded the metal back in after a drunk driver rear ended me so you win the big balls contest!


----------



## Ssopus

Hey Brad. Just curious..did you have to relocate much behind the kicks. Not sure if FCA changed some things but damn there is a ton of stuff behind mine. Also they changed the shape of the opening into the body cavity and put a large rubber panel over it. Hard to describe...









I’m still going to cut the opening larger but relocating all of this would be too big of a pain. Thinking about molding right over the top of most of it then gasket between my opening in the kick and the body for a seal.


----------



## bradknob

Ssopus said:


> Hey Brad. Just curious..did you have to relocate much behind the kicks. Not sure if FCA changed some things but damn there is a ton of stuff behind mine. Also they changed the shape of the opening into the body cavity and put a large rubber panel over it. Hard to describe...
> View attachment 298907
> 
> 
> I’m still going to cut the opening larger but relocating all of this would be too big of a pain. Thinking about molding right over the top of most of it then gasket between my opening in the kick and the body for a seal.


Lol, i just taped and glassed over all that ****. wasnt about to attempt to relocate. I pulled the rubber panel off too and there was some foam behind it that i just dig out and cut tye hole bigger


----------



## Ssopus

bradknob said:


> Lol, i just taped and glassed over all that ****. wasnt about to attempt to relocate. I pulled the rubber panel off too and there was some foam behind it that i just dig out and cut tye hole bigger


Nice! Exactly what I was planning to do. Entirely to much **** to mess with. Just finished taping everything off so making molds tomorrow. Cutting the hole about three time the size of the current opening. I truly appreciate your input!


----------

